When Lin Rui returned to the territory, the vibrant scene of the territory was somewhat unbelievable to him.
He still remembered when he first arrived in this world, the territory was a ruin, lifeless, with only a few people hiding in the cellar.
Even on the eve of the Dark Strike, there were only about one or two hundred people gathered around a small area of campfire.
These scenes reminded Lin Rui that the Golden Pansy Domain was a broken territory, a sparsely populated small village, where a single beast tide of a few hundred beastmen could set the entire village ablaze, leaving the populace dead or injured.
But now the territory was densely populated, with crowded buildings and bustling crowds, the number of people was not fewer than the densely packed Holy Temple Knights below the altar.
Griffins occasionally flew across the sky carrying knights, and massive sword-wielding statues patrolled the fields slowly like wild bosses, while supply carts heavily loaded with materials moved slowly on the countryside roads, accompanied by squads of ironclad soldiers marching with spears. The begonia-colored petals scattered by the Life Ancient Tree drifted over the golden wheat field, soaring towards the Sky Mountain, where they bloomed in the thunder with breathtaking beauty.
Wutong stood at the front of the territory, gazing at all this, her expression involuntarily revealing a nostalgic reminiscence.
Lin Rui looked at her, guessing that she must have once possessed such a beautiful, vibrant world, such a lively territory herself.
So Lin Rui said, "Actually, you can also treat this as your new territory, to cultivate and build together, sharing the joys and sorrows. In this world, you have no place to call home, right? Isn’t this more human than a desolate wilderness?"
Wutong glanced at him, her expression indifferent, noncommittal.
Wutong’s indifference was in stark contrast to the enthusiastic cheers of the soldiers.
The soldiers had already jumped off the war machines, running past her exuberantly, cheering as they rushed back to the territory.
Terion strode forward, leading Hanna and Soro, greeting Lin Rui with a bow and said, "Welcome home, honored Lord."
Lin Rui smiled and nodded, introducing, "This is our territory’s new hero, Empress Wutong."
The three had already seen the regal Wutong, for her bright red dress set off her snow-white skin, standing there with unparalleled charm, seemingly drawing the light of the entire world.
The three politely greeted Wutong, but Wutong just responded with a faint "Mm."
Lin Rui explained, "Wutong has always had a rather aloof nature and doesn’t like to talk, it’s not that she has any issues with you. Let’s let her rest at the manor first, while we talk about business."
Lei, who received a hundred Spirit Crystal Coins from Lin Rui, immediately shed her great mage dignity and eagerly attended to Wutong’s needs on the way to the manor.
Her style of conduct was entirely consistent with the deity worshipped by the commerce guilds, as long as the money was right, the service was bound to satisfy you.
Once Wutong was far away, Hanna bit her red lips and said, "What’s up with that, acting so imperious, so indifferent even to the Lord, not like a sister who just wants to wrap her brother in warmth and give him the utmost comfort."
"Shut up, I haven’t even been back for a minute, and you’re already running circles around me."
"Look at what you’re saying, brother, after all, it’s your talkative sister here, disturbing you."
Lin Rui, knowing better than to retort, chose wisely to ignore her, turning instead to Soro, asking, "How has the situation in the territory been? It feels like there’s been a lot of change these past few days."
Soro’s old face spread into a broad smile, quickly replied, "It’s been excellent, truly excellent. In these few days, many explorers have led people to seek refuge in our territory, and our territorial essence now has six pieces, with several other explorers waiting on better offers. Since you hadn’t returned yet, I didn’t eagerly bid higher, letting them stew."
Lin Rui smiled and nodded. Residents of this world might not be as knowledgeable as the explorers in some regards, but they were clever and wise enough to easily outwit many explorers.
Later, Lin Rui instructed, "There’s no need to be too strict with the pricing, just increase it a bit so everyone knows how generous our territory is, thereby encouraging more people to sell their territorial essences to us."
The reputation of the territory is very important. If it’s well-known that a shop pays very handsomely, above market price, and treats all fairly, then naturally everyone will want to sell their precious treasures to that shop.
Going to other territories, they might get swindled, cheated, or even robbed. But coming to the Golden Pansy Domain, there’s no such worry, making explorers inevitably vote with their feet.
For Lin Rui, any problem that can be solved with money is not really a problem.
Soro replied, "Understood, I’ll go to the tavern later to amend the notice. I believe more explorers will actively search the ruins, unearthing territorial essences to sell to us."
Some Explorer Territories destroyed by monsters may still have their territorial essences left behind. These ruins are places that explorers really enjoy searching.
Territorial essences are the key items necessary for the expansion of all territories. Besides waging wars against each other, every lord invests substantial money into acquiring them. Any explorer who finds a territorial essence will obtain considerable gains.
Lin Rui asked, "How many people are there in the territory now?"
Soro replied, "There are already 1132 people; once reaching 900 people, the settlement could upgrade to a large village. Since the Lord wasn’t back, we hadn’t upgraded yet."