The caves possessed an absolutely vast territory.
Even a Saint-tier expert, without deliberate effort, might never reach the end of the caves in a lifetime. Countless kingdoms flourished here, and innumerable factions were entrenched.
The Orc Empire, the Human Empire, the Sea Domain Empire, and the Demon Empire.
These four great empires held the vast majority of the cave's territory.
Chen Yu, invited to the caves, had developed his camp from a single settlement to its current state of a thousand cities. Yet, it remained a precarious small boat in a vast ocean.
Since entering the caves, he had been in a state of heightened mental tension.
Finally, he had reached a stage where he could catch his breath.
"My Lord."
Lia, his eyes filled with joy, ran up in three quick steps, his familiar retinue following close behind. Since Chen Yu had confirmed his collaboration with Lia last time, their relationship had warmed, and Lia had become Chen Yu's most conspicuous yet indispensable eyes in the royal city.
Lia would contact him immediately regarding any developments within the royal city.
"Why are you here again?" Chen Yu, leaning back in his rattan chair, showed a hint of fatigue at the familiar face. "Why do you keep coming to me instead of staying properly in the royal city?"
"It's fun here!" Lia said with a smile as he sat down at the stone table.
This was not Lia speaking without basis. Months of stable development had led to a rapid improvement in Fengqi City. With Fang Xiu transferred to Fengqi City, Chen Yu no longer needed to worry excessively about city construction.
Chen Yu only needed to convey his simple ideas and future direction to him.
Fang Xiu executed them exceptionally well.
Moreover, the city's construction was indeed progressing in line with Chen Yu's vision, and he even felt that Fang Xiu's handling of the city's development was far better than he had anticipated.
The trial run in the free town had deepened Fang Xiu's mastery of city construction.
From initially adopting the construction templates from outside the caves, he had now begun to flexibly incorporate the many elements found within the caves.
The city's changes were appearing with each passing day.
The rebuilt Fengqi City had also, through word of mouth among merchants, regained its prominence in the public eye. More and more merchants were setting up shop in Fengqi City, and even the Ailton family had re-established a commercial district there.
All sorts of novelties and excitements could be found and satisfied in Fengqi City.
All of this was attributed to the earlier recruitment drive, with Luo Yu overseeing talent selection, which had allowed Chen Yu's city to enter a phase of virtuous operation.
With the city unburdened, Chen Yu also began to expand the livestock and agricultural zones.
The Magical Kitchen Maids and Coal Spirit Beasts entered the city.
Chen Yu was now completely hands-free, which allowed him to recline so comfortably in his rattan chair, enjoying the hard-won stability.
"You seem so excited. Did you just watch the black-market boxing?"
"Nothing can escape your notice," Lia said, his eyes brimming with excited laughter. "That kid Kano is indeed the boxing champion I picked. His methods are ruthless, simple, and direct, without all that fancy footwork. He just dealt with a seventeen-win streak opponent, and Kano finished him in three punches."
"That is what he should be capable of."
Chen Yu, leaning back in his rattan chair, casually accepted a strawberry cleaned by the Magical Kitchen Maid.
Kano was not actually a boxer. He belonged to the vanguard regiment of the elite legions under Yabo and was in the process of being promoted to the assault regiment.
The elite corps of Fengqi City were divided into five tiers.
Elite, Vanguard, Assault, Superior, and Legend.
Any regiment wishing to be promoted needed to pass corresponding assessments. For instance, the assault regiment Kano wished to join had a minimum requirement of Golden-tier.
Furthermore, one had to achieve a winning streak of 50 matches in the underground octagon's Golden arena.
Generally, participants in Golden-tier octagon matches were those at the peak of the Golden-tier. Exceeding this level required entering a higher competition bracket.
This meant he had to defeat 50 peak Golden-tier experts while in the Golden-tier.
Only then could he be considered an elite among elites.
The conditions for Superior and Legend tiers were even more stringent. Superior regiments needed a hundred consecutive wins in the Black Obsidian-tier underground octagon, and they also had to hunt more than five Black Obsidian-tier demonic beasts outside the city.
Even now, there were less than a hundred members in the Superior-tier regiments, and the Legend-tier positions were still vacant.
"Indeed, your elites, to lose to those slave owners' boxers..." Lia chuckled, shaking his head, his eyes filled with awe. "My Lord, I truly can't imagine if your Fengqi City's regiment members are all like this, who in the entire cave would be your opponent."
"Don't underestimate those dynasties."
The Magical Kitchen Maid floating nearby fed Chen Yu a strawberry, and Chen Yu murmured.
"Anyone who can establish a dynasty must have some trump cards."
This was not Chen Yu being modest. The more he developed, the more he could feel the terror of those who had established dynasties. Even he, as a city lord with a few cities, could find various ways to train elites and provide secret realms for his regiment members to cultivate.
Would a glorious dynasty provide an environment worse than his?
Absolutely not!
Any dynasty would have trump cards that outsiders could not see. What Chen Yu had now was at most child's play. If he truly wanted to shake a nation,
or rather, become independent,
it was still too early for him.
He rather felt that the current situation was quite good. They did not interfere with each other. His peaceful development and sufficient time to grow was the outcome he most desired to see.
"That's true, I suppose."
Lia put his hands behind his head and said leisurely.
"Even the Tatu Kingdom, which has been on the verge of collapse for a year, has not been rashly attacked by neighboring countries. They don't want to annex it; they are likely afraid of the Tatu Kingdom's royal family's trump cards. Unfortunately, I've been trying to uncover this trump card for half a year without success. Otherwise, I could tell you about it and help you guard against it."
"Trump cards, how can they be uncovered just by searching?"
Chen Yu was completely unfazed by this, leaning back in his rattan chair and smiling.
"It's quite interesting, actually. Old Seven wanted to seize my Fengqi City so badly back then. After the news came out, there was no movement at all. It's been more than half a year now... the northern district of my Fengqi City is almost repaired, and the magic energy barrier has been improved again and again, yet he remains completely silent."
"They want to fight, but with Luo Yu here, they can't." Lia snorted softly. "The Grand Tutor knows Luo Yu's capabilities. He knows that once Luo Yu is with you, Old Seven will have to cease hostilities. You haven't expanded your territory during this time, and of the cities under Fengqi City, you've only touched the resources cities nearby. As long as you don't shake their foundations, they won't resist. You are likely in a period of tacit understanding now, where no one interferes with anyone else, and everyone focuses on development."
"The question is, can they develop faster than me?"
During these six months of peaceful coexistence, Chen Yu had gone from building cities, stockpiling grain, to collecting debts from outside. He had collected the old debts from Tony, or the debts from his past exploitation in Fengqi City.
His Fengqi City, while he wouldn't claim it was militarily strong,
was definitely not lacking in wealth.
Whether it was funds, food, or equipment, there were no weak points to be found.
Development?!
If they continued to develop like this, they were walking towards their own doom.
"That's why Old Seven has become a bit restless lately," Lia said, putting down his strawberry with a smile. "My Lord, let me tell you something interesting."
"What is it?"
"The Grand Tutor seems to be suffering a backlash."