[Congratulations, Host! Xiushui City has been successfully constructed. Your sect has obtained its first subordinate city, triggering a hidden reward. The reward has been delivered to your private vault. Please check it.]
Lin Xiao didn't have time to check the reward from the system. His mind was fully occupied with the desire to personally see Xiushui City now that it was completed.
Xiushui City covered a large area, with the city gate only ten miles away from Cuifeng Town. The original Xiushui Village was situated in the deepest part of the city.
Although Lingxian Sect wasn't technically within Xiushui City, the city itself was backed by the sect, with the city walls connecting seamlessly to either side of the sect's protective barrier.
The small estate that Xiushui Village had gifted to Lingxian Sect was transformed into the Trade Affairs Center, with a large sign outside announcing its new function. From now on, any cultivators coming to Xiushui Village to conduct business would register their goods there.
The fields surrounding the Trade Affairs Center had also been converted into spiritual fields by the members of Lingxian Sect, where basic spiritual plants were cultivated.
Even this vast array of basic spiritual plants would leave mortal world cultivators in awe.
The village of Xiushui itself had undergone a dramatic transformation.
While the layout of the village hadn't changed, the villagers' homes had. What were once simple mud-brick and straw houses had now turned into sturdy, blue-tiled houses, their quality comparable to the grand estates of wealthy families in the provincial capital.
When the shaking and noise finally subsided, some brave villagers, stunned by the changes to their homes, rushed inside to inspect them. Although the materials of the buildings had changed, the furniture and household items remained the same, giving the villagers a comforting sense of familiarity.
Curious, the villagers went from room to room, checking out every corner of their newly improved homes.
One villager soon discovered that even the outhouse had changed!
What was once a smelly pit where manure was collected was now gone. Panicked that their hard-earned manure had vanished, the villagers ran outside, asking their neighbors:
"Did your manure disappear too?"
"Yeah, I can't find it! Did yours go missing as well?"
"It's gone! Where could it have gone?"
"I have no idea! Should we ask Yunan about this?"
"Let's do that. I saw him heading east earlier. Let's go ask him."
However, before they could find Liu Yunan, he had already anticipated their concerns. After checking that nothing major had gone wrong in other parts of the city, Liu Yunan gathered the villagers in the drying yard to explain the changes to their homes.
When they learned that their manure hadn't disappeared but had instead been moved from directly beneath the outhouse to a new, more efficient system with a pump to extract it, eliminating the need to scoop it out themselves, the villagers sighed in relief.
As long as their manure wasn't gone, everything was fine.
Next, Liu Yunan explained another significant change regarding their water usage.
The villagers were puzzled. What could have changed about using water?
Liu Yunan led them to an unfamiliar device near the drying yard. In front of everyone, he turned a mechanism, and from the spout below, clear water began to flow continuously.
Everyone was stunned.
What was this contraption? How could it be so convenient?
"This device is called running water. Every household in our village has one. From now on, you won't need to carry buckets to the well anymore!" Liu Yunan explained.
"Ohhh!" The villagers couldn't contain their excitement and cheered with joy.
The immortals had truly thought of everything!
Running water—once they heard the name, they immediately understood. It was indeed "water that comes on its own." All it took was a simple twist of the handle, and they would have an endless supply of water. Such convenience was beyond their wildest dreams!
The entire city of Xiushui had been outfitted with a complete water system beneath the ground.
Not only that, but many other conveniences had been introduced into the city, all of which were concepts Lin Xiao had come up with and researched with Mo Yuanjiao over the past few months in the Array Hall.
These innovations could be seen in various buildings and small adjustments to people's homes throughout the city, and Liu Yunan patiently explained each one to the gathered crowd.
In addition to the new toilets and running water, there were also street lamps that automatically lit up when it got dark, and carriages that operated without horses—set to run at regular intervals. However, these couldn't be called horse-drawn carriages anymore, as there were no horses involved. The immortals called them public carriages because they were shared by everyone.
Anyone entering the city who wished to ride the public carriage only needed to pay one copper coin, and they could travel to any of the designated stops within the city.
The funds collected from these public carriages would be managed by the Xiushui City Lord's Mansion.
But the most surprising thing for the villagers was that their entire residential area had been enclosed!
The village was surrounded by a low fence that created a boundary around their homes. Liu Yunan explained that from now on, outsiders wouldn't be able to enter Xiushui Village freely.
The villagers, however, could come and go as they pleased.
If someone from outside wanted to move into Xiushui Village, like a newly married bride, she would first need to register her details at the city's population management office before being granted access to the village.
Liu Yunan informed them that from now on, their area would be known as Xiushui District.
He also explained why this was necessary.
Since Xiushui City would eventually see a large influx of people, Lin Xiao wanted to provide an extra layer of protection for the villagers. While the city itself was already safe, he felt it was important to offer the villagers an additional sense of security.
One reason was to preserve the villagers' sense of community.
Lin Xiao didn't worry about the villagers becoming too isolated; in fact, he welcomed the idea. To him, these villagers, who had been with him since the beginning, were far more important than any outsiders. While Xiushui City would provide security to the general populace, he wanted to offer the villagers a deeper layer of protection.
This decision was part of Lin Xiao's desire to create a sanctuary for the villagers within the city.
He wanted to ensure that they had a peaceful living space amidst the changes brought by the new city.
While the construction of the city was undoubtedly beneficial to the villagers, Lin Xiao knew that for some of them, these changes had been a lot to accept in such a short time. He couldn't know for certain whether every villager was genuinely happy with how dramatically their lives had transformed over the past few years.
In this world, there are people who strive for progress and people who are content with their current lives. As long as no one else is harmed, Lin Xiao believed there was no right or wrong in either approach—living with sincerity and finding happiness in one's choices was what mattered most.