Built from the Ground up

As the Mountains and Rivers Sect was about to receive the report about Wei Huoran, the man in question was now back on the island surrounded by hundreds of people. He made his way to the council members that were there to arrange the basics for the new citizens. The older woman, Ren Baozhai, and the younger, Liang Huling were responsible for today's introduction to the island and greeted Huoran as he approached them.

"Greetings Lady Ren and Lady Liang, thank you for your hard work, do you mind if I take a moment to address the audience?", he asked.

The pair nodded and Houran stood on a nearby table to speak to the crowd.

"Welcome to your new home everyone. You are all new citizens of this island. Let me introduce myself, I am Wei Houran and I could best be described as the director of operations here. These two here are members of our council and you will learn more about them later. We have just started a new city here and are still in the process of organizing everyone, but let me tell you one thing I promise will always be true. There are no slaves here!" Huoran beards stacks of scrolls in his hand. Most of the audience recognized these as the slave contracts used when people purchased them. A moment later, all the documents in his hand burned to ash and floated away. He made a few seals with his hands and collars on the over seven hundred people fell off their necks. He continued, "You all are free people now. You can have a roof over your head, food to fill your bellies, clothes on your backs, and safety from danger. We are building a new city from nothing, a city that this world has never seen before. The initial cost for your help and work will be food, shelter, training, cultivation resources , and pay. You will be taught to read, write, math, tradeskills and have the opportunity to advance to higher positions. I will now turn it over to Lady Ren Baozhai and Lady Liang Huling and they will help guide you through the introduction to life on the island."

He waved to everyone, hopped off the table, and walked to his cave to rest for the day. He sent a message to the council's chat room, 'Thank you for your hard work, let's meet tomorrow morning around ten'. He took a bath, ate a quick dinner, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Wei Huoran followed his normal routine and then went to meet the council.

"Good morning everyone", he greeted as he entered the temporary council office.

The seven returned the greeting and sat down at the table.

"Today we have several topics to discuss and a lot of work to do. We need to enshrine a system of laws and punishments and I will be introducing several new jobs and projects. Does anyone have issues that need our attention first?", Huoran asked and after no one raised an issue, he continued, "Excellent, we need to discuss the laws we want to uphold and the punishments for attempting or succeeding in forgoing said laws."

The eight of them spent many hours defining terms and laws, including theft, assault, murder, extortion, broken contracts, abuse, property damage, unlicensed practices, unorthodox practices, and more.

Once this was concluded, Wei Huoran suggested they break for lunch and return in an hour and everyone agreed. After the quick break and a satisfactory lunch, they returned to the meeting room.

"The hemp and cotton I planted a few months ago is almost ready for harvest. Once collected, weavers will use looms to create rolls of cloth and tailors will use designs to make clothing. If you check the boxes I brought back, you will see I bought silkworms. I will teach some of the farmers how to raise them and collect the silk", Wei Huoran stopped and realized he was leading the briefing incorrectly.

"Wait, I will start again", he pulled out his tablet and switched on the holographic display, "Ok, there are currently seven council members, and I want each of you to not only be the voice for your people, but to be the ministers to oversee certain operations. First will be the Ministry of Agriculture, they will have oversight on farming and animal welfare. This will include plants and animals for food, clothing, companions, and alchemy. Next is the Ministry of Law, they will manage law enforcement and crime investigations. Then is the Ministry of Education, this office will handle all training at all levels and certifications of proficiencies. After that is the Ministry of Production, this will cover all workshops and artisans of every profession. The Ministry of Commerce will be set up but will take some time to get up to speed as we still have create markets and products. Once complete, they will watch over merchants, currencies, and contracts. Another one will be the Ministry of Administration, and they will be a citizen's access to the government. Their responsibilities extend to taxes, information circulation, and record keeping. The final one will the Ministry of Infrastructure, they will be responsible for the construction and inspection of facilities and roads."

Wei Huoran took a drink from his cup to soothe his voice after a long explanation.

"Council members, or I should say Ministers, you don't need to answer right now but in three days, we will return to finalize the positions", Huoran explained but continuing, "Once it has been decided, I would suggest that you start putting a small number of people together to be you staff. For now, one to four people maximum, don't only recruit family because on this island positions can't be inherited. Choose people that will make your job easier."

Huoran saw a few faces change when he reminded them and they returned to their thoughts.

"Ministers, for now I will take my leave, I believe I will breakthrough a small realm soon and I need to prepare. That reminds me, from what I can sense, a lot of citizens will be breaking through to the Body Perfecting stage soon. Here is some literature to spread to those residents to assist them in this process", Huoran added and then turned to leave.

For the next three days, Wei Huoran was cultivating, building artifacts, studying talismans and alchemy, and assisting others. He returned the Ministry's office and they told him their decision. Ye Peizhi stood first, "I have volunteered to head the Ministry of Administration", Song Shi spoke, "I will serve as the Minister of Commerce", Xia Yanlin was next, "Ministry of Law Enforcement", Ren Baozhi stood, "Minister of Agriculture", Wu Long was next, "I will head the Ministry of Infrastructure", Fu Kai smiled, "Minster of Industry", and finally Liang Huling said, "Ministry of Education".

"Wonderful, we will make the announcement tonight when everyone is gathered for dinner and over the next several days, I will meet with each of you in private starting with Wu Long. We have a lot to build, and now that we have more people, we can do more. I also need to see Lady Liang, we have many new residents and they need to be taught the basics just like you all were taught. So let's schedule meetings for you two tomorrow and and I will update the rest of you over your device", Huoran arranged.

The next few weeks consisted of Wei Huoran teaching the ministers their responsibilities and establishing each office. All the new residents attended classes and quickly began learning reading, writing, and math. When he wasn't cultivating, Huoran would bring potential architect candidates to the drafting table to teach them how the design structures and the importance of knowing about materials. He taught them about material strengths and weaknesses and how to apply different techniques to achieve stable designs. He also was a studying in his personal time, analyzing his storage ring and the grand array to learn about special runes and how they work. Unfortunately, the amount of Qi needed to draw them was higher than his current capacity. He would visit residents' homes and the dormitories to set up arrays for lights, water, and heat. He designed and installed stoves and refrigerators made using arrays in people's homes. He still attended classes to teach the first students more advanced techniques about cooking, weaving, plant harvesting, animal shearing, and more.

Two months later, "Wu Long, can I get you and your two best foremen to come over today or tomorrow?", Huoran asked.

"Boss Wei, my two best firemen will return to the office in a few hours, and you can expect over at that time", Wu Long replied.

"Understood", Huoran said and a couple hours later, three men entered Huoran's cave.

"Welcome, thank you for making time to come here", Huoran told them.

"No, No, it's an honor to visit Boss Wei's home", Wu Long humbly said.

"Let's move past the formalities, I'm asked you over to discuss the plans to build a city", and as he stated his intentions, Huoran turned on the tablet holographic system. Two different designs were displayed, but what confused Wu Long is that they were only a few buildings in each picture.

The title above the designs read Sun and Moon Island and the first design was name Market Square, while the other was name Sun and Moon City.

"Boss Wei, is that the name of this island?", Wu Long questioned.

"Yes, it's the name I settled on, anyways, tomorrow the three of use will travel the island. Once we find the perfect spot, one foreman will be responsible who leading the build of one the design, while the other will be leading the development of the city. I will transport materials to each site and check on the other projects that are ongoing, like the school, city hall, and other facilities", Huoran explained.

He handed scrolls with the plans to Wu Long, "This is important, one is the home for everyone, and the other is for visitors to come see."

Wu Long and the other two left afterwards and headed to his office to look over the plans and gather the teams needed. In his cave, Wei Huoran cleared his mind and sat down at his current meditation room. This room was even further down than the last one, the result of Huoran breaking through to mid Qi gathering stage. As he sat there, he suddenly felt bloated and the next moment his Qi capacity changed. As he experienced another small realm breakthrough, he observed and recorded all the changes his body went through. He was a late stage Qi Gathering cultivator now and as he was exploring his new limits, he sensed a great reaction from village residents. His breakthrough had caused a chain reaction and a majority of the people started breaking through to the Body Perfecting stage. He could sense the mass of people panicking and running to their baths or the public baths.

He thought to himself, 'I'm almost at the Foundation Establishment stage, and tonight's event will establish the foundations of the city and its people. The stronger we are, the less we have fear in the future.'

He stepped out of bathtub and got dressed, leaving to help all the people who found their first opportunity.