Cultivation: Being Immortal Chapter 781

In the year 6850 of the Xia calendar, Ying Continent

At the street's edge, Li Qing together with several top officials observed the sight, where a vast queue of individuals awaited, extending close to three kilometers in length.

These folks lined up for minimal rations to satisfy their hunger, as beggars and the destitute sprawled across the nearby pavement.

This heartbreaking view stirred deep concern and fury in Li Qing and his companions, since Huaxia bore the blame for this dire state.

Upon Huaxia's initial revelation of Jiang Star to the world, analysts in Ying Continent spotted the potential for heightened resource extraction from surrounding areas, yet they never anticipated the severity of Huaxia's tactics.

Initially, Huaxia raised vast sums through bonds for the Jiang Star initiative's funding, with Ying Continent snapping up most, eager to boost their own orbital advancements, lured by Huaxia's aerospace firms as enticements.

Next, citing unstable global currency fluctuations, Huaxia forged numerous pacts and regulations on exchanges in their own capital, leveraging state authority and insider ties in Ying Continent to steadily inflate the value of Ying Continent's money.

Once Ying Continent's currency strengthened, its buying power surged dramatically. Over the initial decade, the region boomed, with imports exploding and capital inflows overwhelming the economy, sparking an odd era of affluence.

Throughout that period, traders from Ying Continent roamed globally, snapping up whatever they could. They even acquired key monuments in Huaxia's major urban centers and boasted of eclipsing Huaxia's economy within two decades.

Amid this false boom, Ying Continent's shipments abroad plummeted, as the robust currency eroded their cost competitiveness, resulting in the gradual erosion of export channels built over centuries.

Yet back then, such losses barely registered, since foreign sales formed a minor slice of their GDP. Earnings from a full cargo vessel paled against a single day's market gains, and the populace voted with their actions.

As the economic froth expanded, Li Qing and fellow decision-makers heeded their advisors and snapped awake. Horror struck them upon seeing their nation's core industries gutted. They hastily rolled out countermeasures like hiking rates, desperate to avert a plunge into total ruin.

Yet these frantic efforts failed to rescue Ying Continent; rather, they shattered the illusion. As growth stalled, crises exploded: lenders drowned in toxic loans, factories saw margins vanish, equities tumbled, properties devalued sharply, and the whole system crumbled in mere months.

Centuries of built-up riches were ruthlessly seized by Huaxia, leaving Ying Continent seething with resentment. In a misguided bid for retaliation, they resorted to heavy-handed interventions, imposing steep duties and probing Huaxia firms within their borders.

This sparked a confrontation where Huaxia's top figures visited Ying Continent. But the arrival of over twenty Tao Achievers alongside the Space Battleship quashed any defiance from Li Qing and his allies, particularly when the colossal thirty-kilometer Space Mother Ship docked, instilling overwhelming dread across all, from cultivators to civilians.

Combined with prior shocks, this broke the resolve of Ying Continent's administrators. More than a hundred million jobless citizens rose in unrest against every tier of government. Li Qing himself waded into the chaos to impose calm, eventually dismissing the entire bureaucratic cadre to rebuild trust.

In this saga, the parallel realm's square accord obviously favored Huaxia above all. Presently, Ying Continent holds under ten percent of its former external trade share, with Huaxia claiming the lion's share at around seventy percent worldwide.

"Zheng Yi, has our economy shown any recovery signs yet?"

"Master, we're facing severe challenges. Huaxia dominates over half our production sector. They exploit their tech superiority to hammer our firms nonstop, leaving us unable to advance."

Zheng Yi appeared distressed. Unlike the authentic Blue Star, this realm offered no respite from Huaxia. Following Ying Continent's downturn, Huaxia swooped in to reap the spoils. Top talents got poached, businesses acquired. Post-buyout, they wielded tech edges to undermine rivals. Thus, Ying Continent's entire financial framework lay under Huaxia's iron control.

"Zheng Yi, without a quick fix, we'll be forced into all-out resistance. You see how our domestic divisions have deepened through the years."

Li Qing clenched her jaw. The masses of idle workers spawned endless societal woes. Merely millions out of work posed a nightmarish threat. School attendance had plunged to dire lows, slashing the influx of new cultivator prospects. Even those with rare Single Spiritual Roots lacked cultivation aids.

"Master, we need to purge the infiltrators. Over half of Ying Continent's upper crust has become turncoats."

Zheng Yi noted how Huaxia shone like a beacon, drawing the intellects and loyalties of Ying Continent's best, compelling them to back Huaxia and sabotage their homeland.

"These wretched informants."

Li Qing burned with rage. She was aware of the issue, yet confronting suspects directly proved impossible for many. The state operated by protocol. Eliminating them sans proof would unsettle the populace and worsen their fiscal woes.

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"We've nearly squeezed this Ying Continent lamb dry of its vitality."

In Haigang City, Cao Ying handed Lin Jiang a dossier on Ying Continent's fiscal woes for review.

"Indeed, it's wise to ease the stranglehold slightly. We must avoid overkill, despite our confidence."

Lin Jiang agreed with a nod, skimming the document swiftly. It revealed unemployment in Ying Continent exceeding twelve million among the workforce alone, excluding seniors and youth.

Acute shortages of essentials had unleashed myriad issues in Ying Continent, including soaring school abandonments, self-harm incidents, and the like. Life spans there had shortened by roughly ten to fifteen years on average. The regime diverted over thirty percent of funds solely to aid the needy.

One could say tensions in Ying Continent society had hit critical mass. Without change, total breakdown loomed, potentially rippling back to Huaxia.

"What's your strategy here?"

"Offer aid: prevent outright famine first, then extend cheap or zero-rate financing, and lastly grant some leeway to small businesses for bare survival—but no real growth, as foreign territories remain forever beyond their reach."

Lin Jiang explained that specialists handle the details; he merely outlines the objectives.

"This Plaza Agreement packs a punch; it seizes others' assets bloodlessly, stripping Ying Continent of centuries' worth of gains."

"Credit goes to Huaxia's sharp minds; I merely suggested the concept, they executed the rest."

"Right, and meanwhile, batter Qingyun and Zhou Liao to near ruin."

"They're mere pieces; across the five-alliance nations, billions now fall under our influence."

Lin Jiang declared, pride swelling at the thought; this was true authority—the power to sway billions' fates with a mere directive. Countless crave such dominion; even Lin Jiang, with his steady resolve, relished the thrill.

"Mankind's history brims with predation; truthfully, we're the cruelest beings on the planet."

"Not quite; natural selection and predator-prey dynamics rule all life. Humans adhere too. Experts in biology view us as just another species, no exceptions."

"Fair enough, you've convinced me. Still, what if we exhaust Blue Star entirely—where do we turn for resources?"

"Truthfully, no clue. For now, I've backed Liang Long's work on energy transformation tech. A major leap might emerge."

Lin Jiang mentioned that fully depleting Blue Star seemed inevitable. Hence, long prior, he'd funded Liang Long's energy conversion research.

This innovation had entered manufacturing stages, though yields remained dismal, demanding more refinement. Persistent progress could offset vast energy needs, preserving spirit stones for Blue Star's future.