Chapter 133: The Shipyard and Light Armored Warships

Ye Mo arranged for Lin Zhi to lead a team to scout the resources of the surrounding wild islands. Meanwhile, Ye Mo himself headed to the Heritage Hall of the Qingyun Immortal Academy, intending to purchase a blueprint for a sea vessel and hire shipwrights to return to Ye Clan Immortal Village to construct a dock.

The construction of the dock could no longer be delayed. Currently, the Ye Clan Immortal Village possessed only a single light pirate ship. If neighboring immortal villages were to dispatch several vessels and cut off the sea routes between the main island and the various subsidiary islands, any number of occupied islands would be of no use. Furthermore, should a naval battle break out, the strength of a single pirate ship would be insufficient; once damaged, the village would be left immobile and unable to even perform repairs. Ye Mo clearly sensed that the lack of a dock would become a fatal weakness for his village in the event of war.

At the Heritage Hall, Ye Mo spent over an hour and two thousand spirit stones to purchase a vessel blueprint. Of course, a blueprint alone was not enough; he needed experienced shipwrights to build the ship within a short timeframe. Consequently, Ye Mo visited a Lu family shop in the immortal city and sought out the shopkeeper, Lu Tong. Lu Tong was a local cultivator of Qingyun Immortal City, and being well-acquainted with the area, he was capable of helping him find suitable shipwrights.

"City Lord Ye, you wish to hire shipwrights?" Lu Tong mused for a moment before replying, "That is not difficult. As long as you can afford the wages, there are quite a few shipwrights in Qingyun Immortal City. I know a few myself and can send someone to contact them. If you stay here for a while, you shall see them."

He gave instructions to an assistant, who nodded and hurried away. Lu Tong then asked Ye Mo, "How has the situation been at Ye Village lately?" He was quite interested in the state of the Aolai Archipelago.

"We are preparing to seize more subsidiary islands. However, the lack of sea vessels is very inconvenient, which is why I must build a dock as soon as possible. Currently, in the Aolai sea region, there are many immortal villages but few spiritual islands. In about a month, once all the villages have finished constructing their main islands, they will surely move to seize other subsidiary islands. The competition will be fierce," Ye Mo replied with a helpless, bitter smile. He did not hide the truth and briefly explained the situation in the Aolai Archipelago.

"You must definitely seize more subsidiary islands. The more you have, the more resources you will possess. Once your village has resources, it will naturally attract many rogue cultivators. By the way, Ye Clan Immortal Village should require many related supporting facilities—have those been prepared?" Lu Tong’s merchant nature kicked in, and sensing a profit, he could not help but ask.

"Is that not exactly why I am building the dock?" Ye Mo replied.

"Providing sea vessels is only the most basic requirement. An immortal village must also host numerous shops: pill shops, artifact shops, and general stores to purchase supplies—these are all indispensable. Only when these three are available will rogue cultivators be willing to come to your Ye Clan Immortal Village to hunt sea beasts. Otherwise, if they cannot replenish their supplies and have to return to Qingyun Immortal City, how much trouble would that be? Your Ye Clan Spiritual Island is too far from Qingyun Immortal City; a single teleportation costs two spirit stones, which is a significant expense for a rogue cultivator," Lu Tong shook his head repeatedly.

"Why, is Shopkeeper Lu interested in opening shops in my Ye Village?" Ye Mo asked with a laugh.

"Heh, I do have that intention. Your village's Artifact Hall can currently only forge first-tier Crimson Fire swords and armor; you lack other elemental first-tier gear, and you have no higher-tier equipment. You certainly cannot open an artifact shop yourself. The same goes for a pill shop; it needs a complete variety of medicines, and Ye Village does not yet have the strength to concoct them. My Lu family has a full stock, and I can open shops in your village. Of course, I would appreciate it if the taxes were kept as low as possible, as there won't be much profit to be made at the beginning," Lu Tong said with a smile.

"Fine. If you open all those shops in Ye Village, I will exempt you from all taxes for a year, and I will even waive the rent for the shops within the village." Ye Mo nodded gently. "Once the dock is built and we have sea vessels, rogue cultivators will be able to head out to sea to hunt beasts. That should attract quite a few to operate in the village." Ye Mo was pleased to see the Lu family opening shops in his village; having merchants settle in was necessary to provide villagers and rogue cultivators with basic spiritual goods.

"Excellent!" Lu Tong beamed. This was his goal in building a relationship with Ye Mo. As a commercial cultivation family, being on good terms with the City Lord provided many conveniences.

The two chatted for a while. Soon, an assistant from the Lu shop brought over a dozen men dressed as shipwrights, three of whom were Qi Refining stage cultivators. Ye Mo looked them over.

"City Lord Ye, allow me to introduce them. This is shipwright Mo Yun; he can build various low-tier sea vessels. He is a graduate of the Qingyun Immortal Academy and currently works at a large dock in the city. These two are Master Mo's apprentices, Li Zhao and Hao Yan. As for these dozen shipwrights, they all have experience working in docks, so you should find them useful," Lu Tong hurried to introduce them.

"City Lord Ye? Are you the new City Lord who just passed the graduation assessment at the Academy this year? Shipbuilding requires blueprints. Does City Lord Ye possess one? Furthermore, my wages are at least fifty spirit stones per month, and my two apprentices require ten spirit stones per month. I will not go for anything less," Mo Yun said, looking at Ye Mo with surprise and a hint of doubt, then glancing at Lu Tong.

"This..." Lu Tong looked at Ye Mo.

"Fine," Ye Mo thought for a moment and agreed. He handed the design blueprint he had bought to Mo Yun. To recruit a skilled shipwright to build a dock in Ye Clan Immortal Village, it was impossible to do so without offering attractive wages.

"A 'Light-Armored Warship' design? This is a type of light standard warship—fast, but with light armor. It is a vessel specialized for naval battles between immortal villages." Mo Yun took the blueprint and looked it over with surprise. These were only used by villages at the Qi Refining stage; once they advanced to an Immortal Town, such vessels were essentially obsolete.

"Yes," Ye Mo nodded.

Mo Yun quickly agreed to go to Ye Clan Immortal Village. Of course, the fifty spirit stones were not paid in vain; Mo Yun had to guarantee the production of one light sea vessel per month. As for the martial artists, Ye Mo promised them first-tier Vitality Pills for outstanding performance. With this incentive, the shipwrights were willing to brave the dangers of working in his newly established village.

Upon returning to Ye Clan Immortal Village, Chang Fei was already leading villagers in a rush to complete the dock. After Mo Yun arrived with his two apprentices and over a dozen shipwrights, they immediately began modifications based on the warship blueprint and actual requirements. The dock was finished that same day and was ready to begin construction.

Building the ships required a vast amount of spirit wood, causing the demand to surge. After weighing his options, Ye Mo reduced the number of mineral slaves working in the mines and transferred them to the wood-felling site to ensure a steady supply. In fact, the production of Black Iron and Crimson Fire ore from the Crimson Fire Mineral Island had always been in surplus, with a batch of raw ore transported to the village every three days. Wang Hu and Yang You at the Artifact Hall, along with their young apprentices, could not keep up with the supply. The village did not intend to sell the raw materials cheaply, so they remained stockpiled in the warehouse.

"City Lord Ye, this type of light-armored warship is very suitable for the Aolai Archipelago. Although its defense is weak, its sailing speed is extremely fast, which is convenient for traveling between subsidiary islands. This ship is at least twice as fast as a large vessel, and it can be equipped with copper cannons, which will play a significant role in naval combat. It can also serve as a cargo ship; while its capacity is not large, it is sufficient to meet the needs of Ye Village," Mo Yun said after carefully studying the blueprints, looking at Ye Mo with amazement.

"Naturally. I have studied many naval records at the Qingyun Immortal Academy and analyzed naval warfare between villages. I chose this specific design for this reason," Ye Mo said with a light laugh.

Chang Fei leaned in to take a closer look and exclaimed with joy, "City Lord, this ship is excellent! It is even better than our current pirate ship. If we build it with third-tier spirit wood, even if the defense is lacking, it can withstand an attack of three thousand jin of force. It is very practical and sufficient for our needs."

"How many of these can be built in a month?" Ye Mo nodded and asked Mo Yun.

"That depends on the manpower at the dock. The more people, the faster the production. Light-armored warships are relatively easy to build, and the process is not overly complex. Given the complex situation in the Aolai Archipelago, it is not suitable to build large vessels; we lack high-tier spirit wood, and there may not be enough time," Mo Yun replied. He had been well-prepared since their first meeting at the Lu shop.

"I will assign the manpower you need. Twenty martial artists, plus the ten experienced shipwrights you brought—that is all I can provide for now. Once the village grows, I will send more," Ye Mo decided.

"Thirty men are enough. As long as the spirit wood supply is consistent, I guarantee two qualified light-armored warships every month," Mo Yun stood up and said with a smile.

Ye Mo left the dock in the hands of Chang Fei and Mo Yun. Mo Yun was responsible for production, while Chang Fei trained sailors and crew to man the vessels. Exhausted after a long day, Ye Mo returned to the City Lord's Mansion and entered the Ancient Painting Immortal Village.

Inside the painting, a loud "boom" echoed, and A-Li jumped out of the Alchemy Hall with a face covered in soot. It had been careless, and the furnace had exploded once again.

"I'm so angry! My success rate has reached fifteen percent, so why did it explode again? This shouldn't be!" A-Li shook its body, and its soot-covered face and messy fur returned to their original state. In the distance, A-Zhi glanced at it with disdain and turned away, ignoring it completely.

"Humph!" A-Li glared at A-Zhi, then scratched its little head with its claw, lost in deep thought. "Alchemy is much harder than forging. If forging fails, the materials can be recycled; if a pill is ruined, you have to wait for new herbs to grow—it's such a hassle. Let me check the 'Fundamentals of Alchemy' again. Did I overlook something?" A-Li took out the thin introductory manual and began to study it once more.