Lu Ping’s large palm strike killed Chief Leng and the other five people. The rules in the Sky Thunder City completely changed. A notice was put up outside the City Lord Mansion, which announced the crimes of Chief Leng and his group, which were reported to Elder Tang of the Lu Clan. Whether Chief Leng and his group were really guilty or not, everyone in the city understood that there would only be one voice that made the call in the Sky Thunder City—Chief Jiang’s voice!
Big Sister Bell issued the messages that she would leave in a few months. Niu Deng and Yang Dong were, strictly speaking, Jiang Yi’s men. No one in the city dared to oppose Jiang Yi anymore. Jiang Yi feted all the Heaven Monarchs again on that night. There was one sentence inside the invitation letter: ‘those who submit shall prosper, those who resist shall perish’.
Nobody wanted to die. Many slaves had yet to complete their services and couldn’t leave the Sky Thunder Island. However, what difference it would make if they left the Sky Thunder Island? Merits were needed in every city. Without merits, one could only wander outside. They would either be killed by bandits or join a legion of bandits.
There were more than 10,000 bandit legions near the White Dragon Archipelago. They waged wars against one another from time to time. One would either be killed or kill others. Their lives were precarious, and they might die anytime in the wild. Even if one joined a bandit gang, he had to start climbing up the ranks all over again and might be assassinated.
Therefore, in the Hundred Flower Inn, 80% of the Heaven Monarchs came that night, which meant that they came under him now. Of course, there were also over a dozen Heaven Monarchs who left the city on that night to make a living outside the Sky Thunder City and find a new home for themselves. These men were the most loyal subordinates of Chief Leng, Chief Li, and the rest. They knew that they wouldn’t be put in important positions even if they stayed.
Qian Wanguan was crazily happy. He, just a Young Master of a small clan, could even command over 100 Heaven Monarch Realm martial experts and nearly 10,000 Vajra Realm martial experts someday. No matter what happened in the future, at least at this moment, he was so excited that he didn’t have the mood to eat and sleep. He devoted days and nights to incorporating the newcomers. He strove to control all the slaves in the city as soon as possible.
Niu Deng and the others were very excited, too. They, who were the first batch of Heaven Monarchs that submitted to Jiang Yi, and the high-level subordinates of Big Sister Bell all flourished now. Everyone had mighty soldiers and strong horses working for them. They either became chiefs, Guardians, or captains.
Of course…
Everyone was clear-headed and had no intention to organize gangs or have other plans. They were all aware that there would only be one chief in the Sky Thunder City— Chief Jiang!
Whoever dared to show a slight bit of rebellious thoughts would be reduced to nothingness. Even if one had stronger abilities than Jiang Yi—which no one did, would it matter? Could the person be stronger than Lu Ping? Jiang Yi was backed by the dominator of the Sky Thunder City.
Jiang Yi stayed in the city for half a month. Qian Wanguan didn’t let him down; he devised numerous sets of systems and guidelines with Feng Luan. They set up a secret agency that directly followed Feng Luan’s orders and closely monitored everyone in the city. With this secret agency, the Heaven Monarch in the city would never dare to even think of rebelling against Jiang Yi. They would control everyone tightly in their hands.
At the same time, a Covert Group was formed that was commanded by the golden flood dragon and followed the orders from Qian Wanguan. This group was in charge of selling the thunder stones.
Qian Wanguan started to select people. He planned to secretly take in some Vajra Realm martial experts, who would be turned into soul slaves by the golden flood dragon. Only the soul slaves were the most loyal men.
Of course… when selling the stones, the group had to be guarded by the Heaven Monarchs. Qian Wanguan had to decide the candidates for this task, too. However, the guards were simply responsible for safety matters. Qian Wanguan would never let them know the inside story or obtain any evidence.
Everything was heading in a good direction. Lu Ping was pleased with Jiang Yi’s progress towards consolidating the slaves in the city. They had arranged with Commander Lu Feng and would start selling the first batch of thunder stones in three months.
Jiang Yi threw everything to Feng Luan and Qian Wanguan. He took Jiang Xiaonu to the other side of the Thunder Mountains for cultivation.
The city was just unified. Jiang Yi left the city just like that, causing a commotion in the city. Was Jiang Yi really this confident? Did he trust his men so much? What if someone hatched a plot and secretly planned to besiege and kill him altogether?
The more Jiang Yi acted like this, the more apprehensive and cautious the Heaven Monarchs and martial artists in the city were. They were also impressed by Jiang Yi’s charisma. This was how a boss should behave—with overpowering confidence. The crowd was more afraid and didn’t dare to have other thoughts. They obediently followed Feng Luan and Qian Wanguan’s arrangements.
After one month, the city was completely calmed down. Everything was in perfect order. Chief Leng and his group seemed to be forgotten. People only had Chief Jiang, Lord Qian, and Feng Luan in their minds.
People went out of the city to collect thunder stones in groups. Jiang Yi didn’t follow the old rules this time. Instead, he collected all the thunder stones and handed them in to the City Lord Mansion on their behalf!
Jiang Yi compensated for the extra thunder stones that one submitted with celestial stones. Although it didn’t follow the ways of compensation in the City Lord Mansion, which was one thunder stone in exchange for 1,000 celestial stone, the price he offered was pretty good. The crowd could exchange the celestial stones for merits in the black markets outside.
No one knew what Jiang Yi did with the collected thunder stones, and no one dared to ask. Ordinary martial artists weren’t aware of the selling of thunder stones. The Heaven Monarchs who knew this didn’t dare to slip a word or even think of it. They were afraid of getting themselves killed if they did.
Actually, a few Heaven Monarchs in the city suspected that Lu Ping might be cooperating with Jiang Yi to sell thunder stones. However, it wouldn’t have any impact if they told others as they needed the evidence. If they reported Jiang Yi and Lu Ping without any evidence, they might be accused of framing innocent people.
Qian Wanguan was very subtle in dealing with the businesses and made very strict rules. The members of that secret agency were everywhere. People were all aware of the presence of this secret agency, but nobody knew who the members were.
“Very well!”
After two months, Qian Wanguan reported to Jiang Yi that he would take the covert group out for trade after three months. Jiang Yi was very pleased with the results and let Qian Wanguan execute the plans on his own. Jiang Yi didn’t return to the city. He continued to cultivate near the Thunder Mountains and comprehend the dao pattern.
The cultivation of essence force was very quick. Jiang Yi was gratified at the progress. Unfortunately, he had been comprehending the dao pattern for several months… but had yet to have any breakthroughs. After Qian Wanguan left, Jiang Yi looked at the distant Thunder Mountains and pondered in secret, whether he should give up comprehending this dao pattern or not.
What if he was unable to comprehend this dao pattern in one year, five years, or even ten years? Would he devote all his energy solely on this dead-end? He didn’t have much time; Su Ruoxue was waiting for him to rescue her.
“Ah… this dao pattern is so advanced. I might as well just give up!”
He gave the distant Thunder Mountains a glance again regrettably. He had worked hard for several months but ended up with nothing. Deep down, he refused to resign.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, piercing the sky and tearing the space apart. Suddenly, Jiang Yi felt a bolt of lightning struck his head at this moment. A look of confusion flickered past his eyes, he murmured, “Advanced? Advanced? Advanced!”
“I was wrong!”
He mumbled before golden brilliance radiated in his eyes. He stood up excitedly and looked at the Thunder Mountains in the distance, crying out, “I was wrong! I comprehended in the wrong direction! The trace of the dao pattern presence that I comprehend is not really a dao pattern. In other words… it’s not a common low-tier dao pattern presence. Instead, it is a mid-tier… even an upper-tier dao pattern presence! It is not just one dao pattern, but an advanced dao pattern consisting of three, or nine low-tier dao patterns. The fused dao pattern is so complicated, but I wanted to comprehend it without truly understanding it. How will I be able to comprehend it instantly?”
A mid-tier dao pattern was fused by three kinds of low-tier dao pattern. An upper-tier dao pattern was fused by three kinds of mid-tier dao pattern. The dao pattern presence that Jiang Yi tried to comprehend was not just one, but three or nine dao patterns fusing together. No matter how gifted he was, he couldn’t just comprehend the fused dao pattern easily.
“Hahaha!”
He burst out laughing. After figuring the reason behind, he was as happy as finally seeing the sky through the thick clouds.
This dao pattern was infused very delicately, but he could peel off the trace of dao pattern presence layers by layers, gradually comprehend the low-tier dao patterns inside, and finally fuse them back together. Then, he would comprehend an upper-tier dao pattern!
