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Chapter 330: Chaos in People's Hearts

"Sure, who doesn't know that?"

"No, I mean, there's a mastermind behind it stirring up chaos in the market of Da Yu Dynasty. Do you know who it is?" the drunken man asked.

"A mastermind? Who?"

"Who else could single-handedly cause such havoc across the Da Yu Dynasty other than the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty!" the drunken man chuckled.

"Yeah, that's right!"

"However, with the Governor General around, things will soon be back to normal."

"That's just part of it. Do you know how much spirit stones and cosmic stones Great Luo took away from Da Yu this time?" the drunken man continued.

"Now nearly a third of the population has left the cities. Everyone knows it's a terrifying figure."

"Yeah, these masterminds have taken away so much money. If caught, they will surely face severe punishment!"

"Spirit stones can be taken away, but cosmic stones cannot!" the drunken man said incoherently.

"Oh?"

"What do you mean?"

"To take away cosmic stones quietly, you have to turn them into storage bracelets. But the cost is too high. Once made into bracelets, destroying them to retrieve the cosmic stones would result in losing half of the space. Who would be willing to do that?" the drunken man shook his head.

"So what are you suggesting?"

"Cosmic stones are still within the boundaries of Da Yu!" the drunken man pointed out.

"What? Still within Da Yu?"

"Yes, it's rumored that endless cosmic stones are buried in certain places within Da Yu. That's an immense quantity. If one gets those cosmic stones, there would be no more worries in cultivation. One could even establish a small kingdom and rule over it," the drunken man said longingly.

The people in the tavern exchanged glances and then turned their gaze back to the drunken man.

"Treasure? Haha, my friend, you must be joking. How could the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty possibly bury cosmic stones within Da Yu? Even if they made them into storage bracelets and took them away, even if only half of the space remained, they wouldn't bury them in Da Yu," someone replied.

"Do you think I'm lying to you? Do you know how many there are? Not to mention the 150 cities in Da Yu, even in Sky City alone, there are as many cosmic stones as there are tall mountains. Do you know how many that is? Because of their confidence, Great Luo Dynasty buried them in places unknown to others, planning to retrieve them later!" the drunken man said angrily.

"Hehe, I don't believe it!"

"Do you know the Zhao family who runs the 'Stork Tower' in the city?" the drunken man asked urgently.

"I do, the eldest son of the Zhao family is a captain in the southern part of the city."

"Haha, good to know. Do you know what the Zhao family found? They've discovered a treasure trove with large quantities of cosmic stones, which have been brought back to Sky City and are now being sold outside. Go and see for yourself how much profit the Zhao family has made!" the drunken man laughed.

"The Zhao family found a treasure trove?"

"Do you think I'm lying to you? Go and see for yourself. The truth is out there!" With that, the drunken man collapsed onto the table.

In the tavern, after hearing these words, people discussed fervently, their hearts filled with both anticipation and skepticism about the future.

Inside a tavern, the patrons exchanged glances, and soon after, in just a short while, the previously bustling tavern emptied out completely.

At this moment, the drunken man 'woke up', glanced at the slightly dazed shopkeeper, and staggered out.

Sky City erupted into commotion.

At the Stork Tower of the Zhao Family, a treasure trove was discovered — the cosmic stones that had been swindled from the Da Yu Dynasty through economic means were found in the "Great Ink Gorge," located three million miles outside Sky City.

By rights, this treasure trove belonged to the Zhao Family.

After retrieving it, the Zhao Family sold the cosmic stones at market prices, and they were quickly snapped up.

Twenty million, they sold twenty million top-grade spirit stones.

It was a terrifying amount. Even if the Zhao Family continued to squander for a thousand years, they would never exhaust their wealth.

Although the quantity of cosmic stones found was only one-eighth of what Sky City possessed in its prime, even one-eighth was an astonishing number.

Twenty million spirit stones!

Those who heard this news couldn't help but swallow nervously.

If this was just one-eighth of Sky City's holdings, what about the other seven-eighths? No, not just Sky City, but the other cities as well. One hundred fifty cities in total — how much would that be?

Many people's eyes turned red. The news spread throughout the city in an instant. Almost everyone was trying to find out how they had been discovered and whether there were any treasures left.

Meanwhile, the head of the Zhao Family was summoned by the Governor General.

Inside the imperial palace, in the main hall, Yi Yan anxiously awaited, as did the court officials. Emperor Nalan Piaoxue frowned in anticipation.

Finally, after waiting for a long time, Yi Yan received the bad news he had feared. It had finally come!

The discovery of the treasure by the Zhao Family was understandable, and all the court officials considered it reasonable.

"Master Zhao, how did you discover this treasure?" Yi Yan asked sternly, looking at the middle-aged Zhao Family head.

"That day, I was walking in the mountains and came across two corpses in a valley. I was curious and went to investigate. I happened to see one of them holding a parchment map. I took a look and saw a red dot on it. The location was familiar to me. Later, I led a team to explore and found these cosmic stones at the bottom of a sea in a vast ocean!" the Zhao Family head explained.

"A treasure map?" The court officials exchanged glances. Wasn't this Zhao Family head too lucky?

Only Yi Yan suddenly looked up with a helpless and dismayed expression. This was bad, really bad!

"Yi Yan, what's wrong?" Nalan Piaoxue asked in a deep voice.

"The sky is collapsing!" Yi Yan smiled bitterly.

"A treasure map?"

From the servants of the Zhao Family, the people of the whole city suddenly heard this strange news. Wasn't this Zhao Family head too lucky?

Twenty thousand top-grade spirit stones, found just by walking around in the mountains?

While the entire city was still astonished, suddenly, the Zhou Family's Inn, the Zhou Family, was completely wiped out. During the people's attention, a servant-like figure from the Zhou Family timidly came out. The last servant of the Zhou Family.

This servant revealed explosive news to Sky City.

The head of the Zhou Family had also, by chance, obtained a sheepskin treasure map. However, before the news could leak, the person was killed and the map stolen.

Treasure?

Everyone was stunned by this revelation.

But before people could even think about what to do next, the bandits who massacred the Zhou Family were caught, yet the treasure map had been taken away by someone else.

Whose hands was it in now?

Outside Sky City, a group of twenty people swiftly flew westward.

"Brother, is this the treasure map? Twenty million top-grade spirit stones! Once we get them, we'll be set for life in cultivation."

"Twenty million? Who knows, this map might be worth forty million! Hahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Excited, the group sped off with the stolen map.

Although they had seized the Zhou Family's treasure map, within Sky City, numerous identical maps suddenly appeared.

Uniform in style, uniform in content.

The maps that had previously caused frenzy were now met with indifference; no one knew if they were real or fake. Besides this set, hundreds of different versions of treasure maps flooded out like mushrooms after rain.

Hundreds of treasure maps?

The maps depicted very small areas, making them extremely obscure. Even if you had a map, you would only recognize one or two places.

Before long, the treasure maps became a joke!

However, ten days later, when the group of twenty returned with several mountains of cosmic stones, everyone was dumbfounded once again.

Treasure? Where did this treasure come from?

Although they had only exchanged them for ten million top-grade spirit stones, these few mountains of cosmic stones were enough.

When everyone inquired about the location of the treasure and compared it with the maps they had obtained before, they realized they were the same.

People went crazy! Everyone in the city went crazy.

"Why was I so stupid? Why didn't I go for the treasure myself? Why did I let others take it? Ten million spirit stones!"

This was a real treasure. Many people slapped themselves hard.

What about the other maps?

Regardless of whether people had the ability, they left, they left the city in droves!

Unknown to many, ten days earlier, Yi Yan had sent out a large number of reliable troops to explore the locations indicated on the maps.

Not every map was real, but at least one-third of them were. That was enough to drive countless people crazy.

Sky City was like this, and so were the other cities of the Da Yu Dynasty.

Yi Yan sat somewhat dejectedly in his mansion. He could manage the chaos in Sky City, but what about the more than one hundred and fifty cities of the Da Yu Dynasty?

They had gone mad. The cities of the Da Yu Dynasty were all going mad.

The common people were rushing out of the cities. "Treasure, everywhere treasure!" Everyone had hundreds of different treasure maps in their hands. There must be some real ones. Because, every now and then, someone would come back with treasure! This wasn't a hoax; the treasure they brought back was real.

The people disrupted the cities, they were leaving the cities! But weren't the armies people too? Every city, the various commandants stared at the mountains of cosmic stones brought back and looked at their own treasure maps.

"Damn it, brothers, follow me. I know this place. Let's go and get it back. We'll strike it rich!"

"General, the Governor-General has strict orders. We're not allowed to..."

"Has your brain been kicked by a donkey? With twenty million spirit stones in our pockets, what can't we do? Damn it, if you won't go, we will!"

"General, I didn't say I wouldn't go!"

This was just one scene in one city. In the Da Yu Dynasty, in many cities, greed was rampant.

Treasure, there was so much treasure. Everyone had hundreds of maps, and one-third of them were real, which was enough. The Da Yu Dynasty had gone crazy! People's hearts were in turmoil!

Once people's hearts were in turmoil, it was difficult to restore them.

After nearly half a year of catalysis, the Da Yu Dynasty's desire for cosmic stones and spirit stones had reached an extremely high level, from the city lords to the common people!

At the highest peak, a sharp sword of "treasure" suddenly slashed through a mouthful, causing countless people's hearts to collapse in just a moment.

What was even more clever was that cosmic stones and spirit stones, these two urgently needed items, were presented in the form of cosmic stones. This was a symbol of becoming rich overnight. Instead of dividing them equally among everyone, Zhongshan used the situation of treasure to trend everyone's way.

This was the second step of the Tian Beng plan, turmoil in people's hearts, the dispersal of fortresses, and the oil exhausted and the lamp withered!