“Sir, your food is all here.” The clerk smiled, practically glowing with happiness, and poured Ye Zichen a cup of wine.
To the clerk, it was as if springtime had arrived. Throughout the time Ye Zichen had stayed at their inn, he’d been practically swimming in money.
Remember, given his status, it wasn’t easy to find a wife.
But just a few days ago, he’d found himself a girl as beautiful as jade and flowers. Of course, that was in part because he’d always had a way with words, but his bulging coin purse had played a major role too.
Every night, he thanked his sharp eyes for finding this moneybags and leading him to their inn. By now, he saw Ye Zichen as an eminent member of the nobility, and waited on him with extreme caution.
“Sorry for the trouble. We don’t need anything else, so you can attend to your own affairs.” Ye Zichen nodded at the clerk, who took the hint. He saw that there were plenty of others at the table and knew that they’d gathered to discuss something important. He bowed and left the private room, and as he left, he shut the curtains and told the other clerks and waiters not to approach their room casually.
After he’d left, Ye Zichen waved his hands, placed a seal around their elegant private room, and took a sip of immortal brew. Bai Xiaosheng followed his example and raised his glass to his lips as well.
“Speak.” As Ye Zichen started eating, the two men sitting across from him flipped through their logbooks and reported the gang’s current status.
“Boss, our gang has already stabilized. We’ve recruited every former member of Axe Gang in the city. Add that to our recent recruitment of outside talent, and our ranks far exceed their former numbers. We currently have 2,743 body tempering cultivators, 1,140 false spiritual body cultivators, 120 spiritual body cultivators, 37 entering immortality cultivators, and six human immortals.
The one delivering this report was none other than Wei Jie, who Ye Zichen had promoted to gang leader. During this time period, Ye Zichen had once refined him a batch of pills, increasing his cultivation.
After learning that Ye Zichen was a pill refiner, Wei Jie was utterly astonished. As soon as he recovered from his shock, he was instantly overcome with delight. This further reaffirmed his conviction that following Ye Zichen was the right move.
Wei Jie was currently an early-stage human immortal. The man sitting beside him was Yuan Huo, the current vice-leader of the gang.
They’d chosen Yuan Huo since he was actually the most capable captain of the former Ax Gang base. He’d played second fiddle to Zhao Ye, but that was only because Huang Aogu hadn’t liked him as much. If Ye Zichen hadn’t killed Huang and Zhao Ye, he might have been stuck in second place forever. Joining Upheaval was a huge step up for him; he now had both status and power. He was quite grateful to Ye Zichen.
“Six human immortals?” Ye Zichen put down his chopsticks. He wasn’t particularly surprised by the number of spiritual body or body tempering cultivators. After all, the thirteenth district had no shortage of martial artists at that level. So long as they had enough resources, they could recruit as many as they wanted.
What he cared about were those six human immortal cultivators. Their strength might not count for much in the seventy-two districts, but in the mortal great district, human immortals were truly hard to find.
“That’s right,” said Yuan Huo. “I was surprised we could recruit six human immortals too. I brought them with us. How about I invite them in so you can meet each other?”
When Ye Zichen nodded his assent, Yuan Huo clapped his hands. Before long, five men and one woman appeared in their private room. “Your excellency, these are the six human immortal experts we recruited. This is Ta Long. He looks young, but he’s an early-stage human immortal. This slightly chubby fellow is Li Mo, who’s also an early-stage human immortal, and this…..”
Yuan Huo smiled in delight as he introduced them. Although he was a former member of the Axe Gang, he was now fully committed to Upheaval. He, too, was overjoyed that they’d managed to recruit these sky immortal experts.
“Then there’s Yue Zhilan, the only woman of the six. Don’t underestimate her because she’s a woman; she’s an expert at the peak of human immortality!”
“Is that so?” Ye Zichen nodded and smiled. Yue Zhilan looked about thirty and her long black hair was tied in a bun. With her slender waist and entrancing eyes, she was like a ripe peach.
“Your Excellency.” Yue Zhilan sensed his gaze and bowed in greeting. Her lustrous eyes carried a hint of confusion as she looked Ye Zichen up and down. Clearly, she was curious about him.
Upheaval had occupied the Axe Gang’s former territory. Everyone in Raging Flame City knew that. Although Wei Jie and Yuan Huo were pushed to the forefront, everyone knew that they were just the outside face of the gang. There was undoubtedly someone orchestrating this from behind the scenes.
This was especially obvious since Upheaval was replacing an Axe Gang base, which meant making enemies with their main base in the Profound Great District. Everyone initially assumed they’d keep a low profile, but to their astonishment, they’d only developed at an increasingly eye-catching speed. They kept expanding their territory and recruiting new talent. This only made everyone even more curious about the man behind the scenes.
Ye Zichen could sense the immortals’ evaluating gazes and laughed, “Are you a bit disappointed?” They smiled back appeasingly, but said nothing. In their hearts, they really were a bit disappointed. Ye Zichen was just too young.
“I know you’re still weighing your options, but I can guarantee that joining Upheaval is absolutely your best choice. In the not too distant future, we’ll become a force worth reckoning with, a top-level organization, throughout the four Great Districts, and even on the Divine mountains. I have to say, deciding to join now means you’ve got keen eyes.”
With that, Ye Zichen waved his hands, summoning six bottles of pills. “These are six bottles of Human Immortal Pills. All of you are human immortal experts, so these should be most valuable to you right now. Consider these a gift in honor of our first meeting!”
As soon as the pills appeared, the immortals were so stunned, they couldn’t even speak. The seventy-two districts were short on resources in general, but they lacked medicine most of all. Yet now the man behind Upheaval whipped out six whole bottles of Human Immortal Pills, just like that?
Remember, this was a fifth-grade pill. Only a fifth-grade pill refiner could produce them.
When they saw the immortals’ expressions, Wei Jie and Yuan Huo laughed too. The first time Ye Zichen stuck a bunch of pills in their faces, they’d reacted the same way.
“Why aren’t you moving? His Excellency gave them to you, so hurry up and accept them!” Yuan Huo smiled at them. In response, the human immortals hurriedly accepted the bottles, so fast, it seemed they feared Ye Zichen would change his mind.
They uncovered the bottle. A refreshing medicinal wafted up from within. They were now certain that these were indeed Human Immortal Pills.
The experts who’d received pills couldn’t calm themselves down. Finally, the only woman among them, Yue Zhilan, picked up her pill and asked cautiously, “Your Excellency, these pills…. Did you make them?”
In order to convince these people to give their all to the gang, Ye Zichen didn’t hide it. He nodded and laughed, “What do you think? Let me tell you: I’m actually a pill refiner!”
