Early in the morning, the small scenic box buzzed with activity.

The addition of one hundred new inhabitants significantly boosted the village’s vitality.

The newcomers wandered around the village as if touring some exotic spectacle, pacing back and forth while making embarrassingly awestruck exclamations.

“This iron roundhouse is amazing—how was it even built?”

“What’s the deal with this huge pond? With the drought lasting three years, even rivers are nearly dry. How does Gaojia Village still have such a big reservoir?”

“Chicken jerky! This whole place is covered in dried chicken jerky!”

The newcomers soon received an overwhelming lesson in wonder.

This was precisely what Thirty-Two wanted. He deliberately didn’t rush to greet them first thing at dawn, assigning them no tasks. Instead, he let them roam freely, hoping the village’s “divine artifacts” would awe them into compliance for later orders.

Only once this group grew thoroughly dazed did Thirty-Two gather them together: “The village urgently needs various skilled workers, especially blacksmiths. Those who can forge iron, step forward. You’ll receive an extra two liang of flour daily.”

Three middle-aged men immediately jumped out, stomping their feet in excitement. Never did they imagine their mediocre skills could earn them two extra liangs of flour per day.

Thirty-Two asked them, “Your households must have hammers and anvils, correct? Go fetch them. From now on, follow Master Li’s orders on what to forge.”

The men obeyed obediently.

Thirty-Two then addressed the remaining villagers: “The first task for the rest of you is to build a temple for Dao Xuan Deity.”

Watching from outside as Li Daoxuan saw this, he couldn’t help feeling both amused and exasperated. The village had countless pressing matters awaiting attention—it was practically starting from scratch—and here they were prioritizing a temple?

Such a useless distraction!

He started to summon Gao Yiye to intervene. But then he recalled something: in his favorite Civilization games, founding a new city didn’t begin with functional buildings; it often started with temples.

Expanding city borders relied on cultural influence.

Religious structures in early stages doubled as cultural centers.

Though just game mechanics, their design drew from historical precedent. A profound insight stirred within Li Daoxuan.

Instinct told him not to meddle with Thirty-Two’s actions. This seemingly chaotic approach might yield unexpected benefits.

Li Daoxuan abandoned the idea of calling Gao Yiye, choosing instead to observe silently.

Thirty-Two continued: “Those skilled in masonry, step forward. You’ll receive an extra one liang of flour daily.”

Several middle-aged men stepped out, faces beaming.

“You three will lead others in temple construction…” Thirty-Two paused, suddenly remembering something. “Does anyone here know how to carve statues?”

“I do!” Two men raised their hands instantly. After witnessing the blacksmiths and masons gain extra flour, they understood that specialized skills meant rewards. Hiding their talents no longer made sense—they needed to volunteer.

“The life-sized City God statue in the county’s City God Temple—I carved that.”

“Me too—I once carved a Guanyin figure.”

Both turned out to be seasoned sculptors. Delighted, Thirty-Two declared: “Excellent! The rest—gather stones and timber. Begin building. You two sculptors, come with me.”

He led them to where Gao Yiye stood: “Miss Gao, I brought two statue-makers. Kindly describe the Deity’s appearance so they can sculpt an image of Dao Xuan Deity.”

Gao Yiye reacted with surprise: “Oh? This… I need to ponder carefully…”

Li Daoxuan felt amused and deliberately lifted the top cover of the scenic box, moving his face above the scenic box and looking down below.

Gao Yiye saw it immediately. In the clouds, a young face vaguely appeared, with neat features, kind eyes, handsome and good-looking.

She couldn’t help murmuring: “The Deity is very young, with no long beard, and the features…”

The two middle-aged men quickly memorized it in their minds.

Before long, the two men dug out two lumps of yellow mud from a nearby ditch. First, according to Gao Yiye’s general description, they molded a young man’s head and then made minor adjustments.

“Here… the eyes need to be a little bigger…”

“The bridge of the nose a bit higher…”

“The lips should curve slightly upward. The Deity isn’t fierce; he’s kind and gentle.”

“The ears are a bit too large.”

In less than two hours, Li Daoxuan’s face was carved out.

He held a magnifying glass and carefully examined it through the glass. The face was carved vividly, yet Gao Yiye, when recounting his appearance, had clearly added some personal feelings. She gave him a makeover, changing his hair to long locks, enlarging his eyes a little bit, raising the bridge of his nose a tiny bit, and making his gaze more commanding a fraction…

All these little bits added together made him overall 32% more handsome and boosted his majesty by 320%, instantly transforming him from a modern young man to the imposing, youth-preserving Dao Xuan Deity.

After the head was done, making the body was much simpler.

The two middle-aged men worked together. Using a lot of yellow mud, they made a body sitting cross-legged, wearing a Taoist robe, holding a dust whisk in the right hand, and cradling a Tai Chi diagram in the left.

Finally, they attached the head…

The solemn and dignified Dao Xuan Deity Statue was officially completed.

Li Daoxuan held the magnifying glass, looking at his “statue” left and right, front and back. Hmm, he was satisfied, very satisfied. He really wanted to reach into the box, take the thing out, and place it in his collection cabinet.

The craftsmanship of this thing was way more detailed than those Gundam models or plastic soldiers. Though less than one centimeter tall, all details like the gaze, hair strands, and fingertips were exquisitely rendered.

“Huh? Wait a minute!”

Li Daoxuan turned to glance at his model collection cabinet, his eyes locking onto a plastic model that was only two centimeters tall but cost a whopping 288 yuan. He turned back to look at the Dao Xuan Deity Statue in the box, then back at the 288-yuan plastic model, then back to the Dao Xuan Deity Statue…

He compared and confirmed repeatedly.

That model he once couldn’t put down, spending 288 yuan to bring home, now compared to the Dao Xuan Deity Statue in terms of fine craftsmanship, was just a piece of crap, yes, really a piece of crap.

If that piece of crap could sell for 288 yuan, how much could this Dao Xuan Deity Statue sell for?

Hey! He had an idea.

Li Daoxuan spoke: “Gao Yiye, tell these two sculptors that I am very satisfied with their skills. There are some things I need them to do next. If they do well, they’ll receive enormous rewards.”

After speaking, he pulled up an image on his computer and clicked print. Soon, an A5 sheet printed with Supreme Treasure’s Sun Wukong from ‘A Chinese Odyssey’ slid out from the printer.