Chapter 336 - Giving Out Benefits

Chapter 336 – Giving Out Benefits

At this moment, what looked like a massive bolt of blood-red silk unfurled from the surface. It hung upside-down over the reddish-black qi ocean. Its source, which was submerged in the depths of the qi ocean, couldn’t be seen. This was a torrential river of blood. Its vicious currents soared into the sky, and its cruelty knew no bounds.

The manifestation of the reddish-black qi ocean was unexpectedly an upside-down blood river!

Despite Gongyi Tianheng having prepared himself earlier, he was also slightly taken aback.

It was actually — A blood river?

Soon after, he faintly furrowed his brows.

Although the blood river’s might appeared endless, it didn’t seem complete. It was just like that thing hidden inside the reddish-gold qi ocean, which wasn’t fully nurtured.

But overall, after this blood river was generated, no other manifestations appeared inside Tianheng’s dantian. He only felt the qi oceans rumble and open expansively. He sensed strength surging through his body like waves. It was extremely refreshing.

After he considered many of the previous martial skills he was practicing, he comprehended the corresponding ultimate knowledge. He knew it had been difficult to perform them a few times before his breakthrough, but now it would be a piece of cake to use them dozens of times.

Outside the blood pond, Gu Zuo blinked distractedly.

If he saw it correctly, within the reddish-black color of that black hole…a roiling river of blood was gushing out?

That overbearing stench of blood practically struck one in the face, but with a bit of careful observation, a person would feel that the blood river was somewhat cold and deserted. Merely, its powerful presence also caused people’s hearts to palpitate.

However, before Gu Zuo could figure things out, those six black holes suddenly disappeared. After that, Tianheng opened his eyes, which sharply contrasted the deep black of his pupils. An obscure sharpness flickered through them, which would make others feel a sense of inexplainable fear…and distance.

Originally, Gu Zuo wanted to rush over to offer his congratulations, but after seeing this kind of scene, his footsteps came to a halt. Without realizing it, he was staring in awe, and his heart became a little hesitant.

Nevertheless, when Tianheng suddenly smiled, it was like the frosty ice had shattered and spring had returned to the earth. His qi emissions had become gentle: “Ah Zuo, come here.”

Gu Zuo snapped out of it, and felt that the sense of distance was gone. At once, he scampered over. His face was flushed red, and he was a bit emotional: “Big brother, congratulations! You’ve made it to the Immortal Realm!”

Tianheng smiled and said: “It was a daunting experience, but nothing dangerous happened.”

Gu Zuo thought about the many unusual sights that were shown, and guessed that the breakthrough process certainly wasn’t easy. However, after some consideration, he didn’t pursue the matter — That was because Gu Zuo directly grabbed his big brother’s wrist to take his pulse.

Regardless of what happened, he would find out what the final outcome was in the end!

Tianheng never obstructed Gu Zuo, and now was still the same. Since Gu Zuo wanted to look, he let Gu Zuo to examine himself with a thread of psychic power.

With the psychic power of the Core Psyche Realm, it was naturally extremely compact. It quickly swam through Tianheng’s meridians. When the thread came out, Gu Zuo sighed. He already understood Tianheng’s condition.

Tianheng smiled, and asked: “Ah Zuo, how am I?”

Gu Zuo sorted out his train of thought, and replied: “Big brother’s qi oceans are special, majestic, and vast. Compared to the qi oceans of ordinary martial artists, yours are much more powerful. However, big brother’s main problem still lies with the meridians and balancing the five elements. Even with regards to geniuses, big brother’s meridians are already wide and strong enough, but if you want to circulate the profound qi of various attributes from six qi oceans, it would be very easy to be harmed… Furthermore, big brother’s internal organs are somewhat weakened due to the excessively vigorous qi and blood. You’ll need to supplement it with elementally-balanced medicine for a long time. Using medicinal cuisines, decoctions, and pills together can regulate big brother’s constitution. Big brother won’t be encumbered by his internal organs and meridians, which would otherwise make future advancements harder.”

Tianheng had prepared himself psychologically long ago, and nodded his head: “What Ah Zuo says is reasonable. This elder brother will bear this in mind.”

Gu Zuo sighed in relief: “Actually, I also have a way to settle this once and for all…”

Tianheng looked at Gu Zuo: “Is there a written account in the follow-up medical texts?”

Gu Zuo hesitated before saying: “There is.”

Tianheng’s gaze was inquiring.

Gu Zuo paused. Nevertheless, he stated: “It’s to find five types of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects that have been nurtured by and produced from ley lines…”

Tianheng had a tentative guess in mind: “What are those Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects?”

Gu Zuo said: “Wondrous Metal, Wondrous Wood, Wondrous Water, Wondrous Fire, and Wondrous Earth.”

Tianheng: “Oh?”

Gu Zuo recited: “Metal enters the lungs, wood enters the liver, water enters the kidneys, fire enters the heart, and earth enters the spleen. These five types of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects will consolidate the five viscera. Afterwards, a small cycle will develop from the five viscera, allowing the five elements to grow endlessly within those organs. Meanwhile, the strength and toughness of these organs will be provided a steady stream of power through these five Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects. If we can find these things, big brother can channel them into his organs, and the Tiandu Body’s maladies can automatically recover. At that point, we won’t have to conduct long-term treatments any longer.”

Tianheng asked: “This won’t impede the meridians?”

Gu Zuo nodded: “The weakness and frailty of your meridians are largely related to the weakness and frailty of your five viscera. Once big brother mends these organs, they’ll also be nourished by the power of the five elements and will be continuously strengthened. At that time, you still might need some medicine as a supplement, but the general situation won’t cause any negative effects.”

Tianheng faintly nodded his head: “Then, what this elder brother needs to do now is to find these five types of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects.”

Gu Zuo pondered, and shook his head: “I can’t say it’s quite like this. According to the Wondrous Fires I’ve obtained, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects are divided into yin and yang. There are some that are balanced in yin and yang, some that are partial towards yin, and some that are partial towards yang. There are also some that are extreme yin or extreme yang… As a result, although we need to find Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects, we need ones that are balanced in yin and yang. It’s true that there are certain types that are balanced, but only one type won’t work. We’ll need pairs of slightly yin and slightly yang, or pairs of extremely yin and extremely yang. As such, I can only say that we’ll either need at least five or at most ten types of different Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects.”

Tianheng understood: “In that case, this elder brother will send someone to begin the search right away.”

Gu Zuo hastily said: “Big brother, I have several Wondrous Fires here. The Earthen Core Flame is partially yang, the Will-O-Wisp Yin Flame is extremely yin, and the Violet Bedrock Flame is partially yin. Their spiritualities are also pretty good. You don’t have to look for more Wondrous Fires. However, if big brother comes across a balanced flame or an extremely yang flame, that would be a better match than the partially yin and yang flames I possess.”

Tianheng paused: “Ah Zuo has already subdued these Wondrous Fires. There’s no need to give them to your elder brother.”

Gu Zuo said: “Big brother doesn’t have to worry about this. There’s no use in having so many Wondrous Fires. When the time comes, I’ll separate a fire seed to nurture myself, and I’ll hand over the matured parent fire to big brother. In any case, once I raise the fire seed for a period of time, it’ll become another parent fire.”

Tianheng heard what was said, and his expression softened: “Ah Zuo, keep your Wondrous Fires for now. If I can’t find something better in the future, then I’ll come to get Ah Zuo’s help.”

Gu Zuo listened, and nodded with satisfaction: “Then, it’s settled.”

The matter of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects was set aside for now. Gu Zuo and Tianheng had both broken through to the Immortal Realm. The strengths of the two had improved by leaps and bounds. At this moment, they were relaxed and alert as if they had thrown off some sort of shackle. Moreover, since they could break through this quickly, not only did this prove that Gu Zuo’s potential deserved Tianheng’s special attention, it also set the minds of Tianheng’s retainers and servants at ease.

Look, their young master had previously endured the allure of breaking through while on the Peripheral Continents, and firmly accumulated. After arriving at the Central Continent, he obtained bountiful resources, and promptly had a smooth breakthrough. With his strength, this allowed him to become an absolute powerhouse in equivalent realms! Wasn’t this indisputable proof that the one they followed was a wise and capable master? Wouldn’t this make them feel even greater confidence in him?

Naturally, Tianheng, who had now broken through, ought to have gone to announce his strength to the world to prove himself.

In the blood pond, Tianheng extended a hand: “Ah Zuo, can you pull me up?”

Gu Zuo was slightly conflicted.

Actually, he didn’t need to pull Tianheng out. His big brother could get out just fine… However, Tianheng was expressing the closeness between brothers, and he couldn’t help but follow suit… Right, it wasn’t that he had any wicked desires. Rather, he was acting as an obedient and good adoptive brother.

After thinking as such, Gu Zuo reached out with a clear conscience, and gripped Tianheng’s palm.

The corner of Tianheng’s lips curled up.

Gu Zuo’s face warmed. He exerted a bit of strength, and easily pulled Tianheng out.

Tianheng emerged from the bloody liquid. Dark-red fluids flowed down the curvature of his bare chest, causing his entire body to glisten. The soft material of his underclothes stuck to his skin even more tightly, revealing his dense muscles and his strong, shapely legs&#k2026;

It was rude to stare.

In a great rush, Gu Zuo averted his eyes, and he turned his gaze towards his big brother’s face.

Immediately following which, Tianheng released Gu Zuo’s hand, and patted his head. His tone carried an indistinct smile: “Ah Zuo, in the future, you can also be as sturdy as your elder brother.”

Gu Zuo rapidly nodded his head: “I think so, too.”

Tianheng paused, and muffled his laughter.

Gu Zuo: “…”

Okay. As a pharmacist, he felt that the toughness of his physical body could never compare to that of his marital artist big brother no matter how many realms he advanced through.

But being laughed at was still very embarrassing! His big brother’s temperament was too fond of teasing others!

Yet, as it happened, Gu Zuo’s heart felt secretly delighted at being teased like this…

Whatever. Who asked his thoughts to be improper?

Tianheng didn’t keep teasing Gu Zuo. After walking out of the blood pond, qi energy swept across his entire body. He had already resumed his neat and tidy appearance. It was just that his originally silk-white underclothes had been stained red by the bloody liquid, which made it clear that he had just gone through a period of arduous cultivation.

After this, the two climbed straight to the summit, took a bath, and changed their clothes. Then, they started adapting to their own bodies’ various changes and the numerous abilities they could utilize after breaking through.

Soon, under his instructions, the news of Tianheng’s breakthrough to the Immortal Realm was announced to his many subordinates. As for the Blood Transformation Palace Hall and the palace master, someone was appointed to make a report.

Closely following this, the Blood Transformation Palace Master’s rewards arrived. Because Tianheng’s inside information had been confirmed, the rewards were incredibly generous. These were stored away by Tianheng. Among them, the most precious rewards were given to Gu Zuo to be placed inside the Divine Medicine Palace Hall. This way, it was even more hidden. Presently, some seniors under the palace master came to deliver congratulatory gifts. Amid the remaining nine palace halls, all of the somewhat famous and outstanding disciples did the same, unless they had extremely eccentric temperaments.

While Gu Zuo was checking and storing the numerous congratulatory gifts, he said with amazement: “Big brother, Ten Ultimates Sect’s disposition of forces is huge enough. If someone gets presents every time they make a breakthrough, do we need to pay attention to this matter in the future?”

Tianheng smiled and said: “Naturally, we need to keep this in mind, but it doesn’t have to be done personally. Also, not everyone is treated like this.”

Gu Zuo didn’t understand, and looked over.

Tianheng explained to him: “During this time, there have been many fellow disciples who’ve come to offer their congratulations. Because I have just joined the sect and displayed my potential, it has made everyone think that they can make friends with me. In addition, because they don’t know my temperament, they’re afraid of me bearing a grudge and harming any potential friendships if they don’t come to congratulate me. In the future, when I make another breakthrough, those who intend to become friends will still come to offer their congratulations. As for the others, they won’t take notice.”

He looked at Gu Zuo, who was listening with rapt attention, and the corner of his mouth hooked up: “And later on, when someone else makes a breakthrough, if this person previously gave me a congratulatory gift and I don’t want to become friends with them, I will simply give a parcel of the most ordinary things. There won’t be any need to overthink it. Moreover, it’ll only be this once, and there wouldn’t be a next time. However, if this person is also someone I want to befriend, then I’ll need to make careful preparations, and tailor a gift for them. Finally, once the sect accepts another prodigy-level disciple, and that disciple makes a breakthrough, I’ll do the same as everyone has done for me today, and give that person a congratulatory gift as well.”

When Gu Zuo finished listening, he silently nodded his head: “So it’s like this.”

The interpersonal relationships that existed between martial artists seemed quite complicated.

However, Tianheng smiled again: “But we don’t need to trouble ourselves with this matter. Our subordinated monkey race and mouse race can collectively manage these affairs. Some trifles will naturally be handled by them. You and I only need to focus on grasping opportunities and cultivating. Furthermore, this matter isn’t absolute, and there are some who have strange temperaments who’ve never cared about social relationships. However, so long as one’s own strength continuously increases, far surpassing that of common people, there’ll be countless sycophants trying to curry favor. If Ah Zuo doesn’t like it, there’s also no harm in keeping good relations with only those of the same palace hall.”

Gu Zuo hurriedly shook his head: “In any case, I feel that we don’t need to waste so much time pondering this. We shouldn’t be too standoffish. Also, big brother isn’t strange. Why should we deliberately act like those eccentric people? Besides, big brother still needs to recruit people. It’ll be fine so long as we can keep things under control, but being excessively disagreeable will always make people hesitate. Big brother is strong, and you’re not hard to work with, so there will certainly be more people to come.”

Tianheng saw that Gu Zuo was considering all these things on his behalf, and faintly smiled: “Then, I’ll listen to what Ah Zuo says.”

Gu Zuo: “…”

Oh no! His ears were heating up!

Afterwards, for many days in a row, Tianheng and Gu Zuo consolidated their realms and studiously cultivated.

Every day, Tianheng would leave early and come back late. He proceeded towards the Path Comprehending Pavilion, and developed an understanding of countless martial skills through comprehensive studies. Most of all were the derivative martial skills of the <<Endless Blood of the Divine Body>>. After Tianheng practiced them, he integrated these martial skills into his own moves. This allowed the Blood Palm he learned to absorb all kinds of profound mysteries, and its attack power became even stronger. After the Blood Palm struck out, it would be even harder to withstand or evade.

Although Gu Zuo wanted to stay with his beloved day and night, he knew that their current positions were high. In fact, if they wanted to truly take root, they needed to constantly improve — After all, a person’s own strength was the basics of establishing oneself. As a result, he also didn’t have the time to preoccupy himself with little thoughts every day. Instead, he carefully studied the new item book that the system gave him — That is, the Immortal Realm <<Divine Medicine Cultivation Method · Advancement Chapter>>.

However, while the inner cultivation method had been upgraded, there weren’t any changes to the hand seals. It was still <<Primary Medicine Refining Hand Seals>>. Afterwards, Gu Zuo considered things. It was probably because he wasn’t even a profound-level pharmacist right now. If he wanted to utilize the mid or high level hand seals, his spiritual path realm needed to have reached the Nurturing Psyche Realm at the very least. At that time, he would be able to refine earth-level pills, right?

He thought that this conjecture was certainly reasonable.

As for other means of cultivating his psychic power… <<Spirit Refining Seal>> was enough for his uses.

Under the circumstances where Gu Zuo hadn’t completely mastered the Spirit Transforming Chapter, there truly wasn’t any need to be greedy.

Of course, Gu Zuo was spending even more time on refining medicinal pills.

When he was pill refining, he discovered a peculiar matter.

Unexpectedly, the medicinal qi he obtained became even more numerous and pure!

Gu Zuo was puzzled. After a period of research, he learned the reason why he previously could only generate a single strand of medicinal qi. Apart from the fact that the levels of the pills he refined were comparatively low and the ambient qi wasn’t dense enough, the bigger cause was that he wasn’t an Immortal Realm!

There was a huge relationship between the formation of medicinal qi, the overflow of medicinal properties from refined pills, the concentration of ambient qi, and the quality of internal qi while performing hand seals. So long as one component wasn’t high enough, the medicinal qi would be reduced. It was to the point that, when Gu Zuo initially refined Houtian pills, he only acquired medicinal qi because his hand seals were sufficiently profound!

Otherwise, even if he refined flawless pills and no medicinal properties were wasted, he still would’ve failed in generating medicinal qi…

Gu Zuo was a bit regretful.

Nevertheless, he had wasted quite a lot.

Fortunately, he was already an Immortal Realm now. With every cauldron of medicinal pills, he could obtain even more medicinal qi. If this wasn’t the case, then he would’ve worried that the amount of medicinal qi was insufficient. Also, now that he spent so much time on cultivation, he couldn’t go without medicinal qi!

Thinking in such a way, Gu Zuo worked even harder when he refined pills. Not only did he refine the Five Essence Pill’s strengthened version, the Five Elements Pill, for his big brother, he produced even more flawless pills that were suitable for Immortal Realms. An unending stream sprung up from his hands — Naturally, most of them were Qi Infusing Pills.

One cauldron could produce sixteen flawless pills at most. Since the monkey race continuously transported medicinal ingredients to him, he could refine several hundred Qi Infusing Pills every day. Most of all, his present realm had long been able to keep up, so Immortal Realm medicinal pills were no problem at all. While refining these Qi Infusing Pills, he also refined lots of Vast Spirit Pills, which allowed Atomic Realm martial artists to replenish their profound qi, as well as Profound Qi Pills, which suited Ascendant Realm martial artists for replenishing their profound qi.

After refining many of these types of medicinal pills, Gu Zuo handed seventy percent to Tianheng. Meanwhile, the remaining thirty percent was intercepted by Gu Zuo, and stored in a secret place. He knew that whatever was handed over would be placed in a public warehouse. There would certainly be many pills that would act as resources to be allocated to the lower subordinates. Only the thirty percent he intercepted would completely belong to the two’s private stash.

The facts were indeed like this. Tianheng immediately placed these medicinal pills into the warehouse. Moreover, the moment they were received, Tianheng had already sent battle slaves to issue a summons, whereby the leaders of numerous subordinates were called over.

The one from the Wu Clan was Wu Xing, the one from the Hu Clan was Hu Chang’an, and the ones from the three servile races were all elders of these races. Meanwhile, among the battle slaves, the ones from the three hound races were the strongest powerhouses.

Soon after, according to his recent understanding of the situation, Tianheng distributed the flawless pills.

Altogether, there were roughly eight groups of subordinated forces. Each of these organizations obtained many medicinal pills. As for the forces that made contributions, they obtained even more pills.

Tianheng acted with fairness and impartiality. When he declared the manner of pill allocation, it was enough to make one accept it wholeheartedly.

These huge quantities of flawless pills delighted the numerous forces, and even the Wu Clan was no exception. Although they were a medicine refining aristocratic family, they rarely saw this many flawless pills — If the pharmacists within their clan were substituted, even if these pills were obtained by their own clan as an incentive, the amount of time it would take was at least one or two years.

Wu Xing’s eyes flickered with a gleam of radiance.

He made guesses about the origins of these flawless pills…

But very quickly, he restrained these conjectures.

Currently, not only was he the sole decision-maker of the Wu Clan as the clan head, he was also an adherent. As such, he needed to have the discretion of a follower. He couldn’t pry into the matters of his master’s household.

After issuing the flawless pills, Gu Zuo opened his mouth: “Wu Clan Head, please wait a moment and stay behind.”

Wu Xing startled, but he soon reacted. He didn’t deliberately glance at Tianheng, and respectfully answered: “Yes, Pharmacist Gu.”

Tianheng’s eyes carried praise.

That’s right. This was how a subordinate ought to behave.

After that, the rest of the racial groups left. Gu Zuo saw that Ao Ying and the other two battle slaves remained. He was slightly surprised, but he didn’t say anything. He just led Wu Xing, and turned towards a side hall: “Wu Clan Head, please come with me.”

Wu Xing followed closely. It was like he didn’t notice that those people from the hound races weren’t leaving.

In the side hall, Gu Zuo looked at Wu Xing, and handed over three books: “Wu Clan Head, take these.”

Wu Xing: “…Yes, sir.”

This Pharmacist Gu really handled matters candidly. To his surprise, there weren’t any opening remarks nor was there any initial show of strength. This was so…straight to the point.

Wu Xing opened the three books one by one. After swiftly glancing through them, he suddenly revealed an astonished expression: “Pharmacist Gu, these are—”

His shock wasn’t strange. Contained within these books were two sets of medicine refining cultivation methods and hand seals that weren’t inferior to that of his Wu Clan, as well as one complete set of cultivation methods and hand seals that was superior.

Moreover, with Wu Xing’s discerning gaze, he naturally could tell that these three sets were of different attributes. They were incredibly exquisite, with or without any follow-up cultivation methods or hand seals! It truly left people in disbelief!

One should know that no matter which medicine refining aristocratic families, none of their cultivation methods or hand seals would be revealed to outsiders. Even if they were subordinates of someone else, they would only hand over the finished goods. They would never divulge their own foundations… Right now, it hadn’t been long since his Wu Clan had cast their support, but he unexpectedly got to see these three new sets?

As far as Wu Xing was concerned, this was undoubtedly an extremely great temptation!

Although the Wu Clan’s cultivation methods and hand seals were good, when all was said and done, they weren’t suitable for all constitutions. For some pharmacists, when practicing the ones that didn’t suit them too well, it more or less went against their own attributes or failed to develop their best attributes. They suffered a few restrictions, which made it difficult for them to reach even higher levels.

But if they received these three books, then it would cause the entire Wu Clan to look brand new!

However, while Wu Xing had some guesses in his heart, he didn’t dare to say such things.

He restrained his own excited frame of mind, and waited for Gu Zuo’s reply.

Gu Zuo didn’t keep him in suspense, and immediately said: “These three books are ones that I obtained from a fortuitous encounter. Two of them are somewhat inferior, which I’m giving to your clan. There’s another one that’s slightly stronger, which suits your seventh brother’s attribute. I’m presenting this one to you, too.”

For each and every adherent, their attributes had all gone through testing. Furthermore, the results were recorded on file, and delivered into his and his big brother’s hands. When he read about the constitutions of the Wu Clan pharmacists, he had been keeping track of them. Then, he selected these two books. In order to make Wu Xing even more loyal, he also picked something out solely for Seventh Young Master Wu.

Once Wu Xing heard this, overwhelming joy swiftly flashed across his face. In the end, however, he was still a steady and calm person. At this time, he inquired with a solemn bearing: “Does Pharmacist Gu have any commands?”

Gu Zuo was direct and plainspoken: “Ever since your Wu Clan started following my big brother, the entire clan, from the highest elder to the lowliest servant, has been working their hardest. Having witnessed this, I felt that I should nurture you guys. Currently, your cultivation methods and hand seals can’t keep up, but my big brother requires even sharper talents. As a result, I’m giving these to you first. Study them properly. You need to be capable of handling your own responsibilities as quickly as possible to share burdens and resolve difficulties on my big brother’s behalf. In the future, after your Wu Clan’s pharmacists have been nurtured, they must be able to supply enough medicinal pills for my big brother’s forces.”

Wu Xing listened, and suddenly understood Gu Zuo’s meaning.

When the entire Wu Clan offered their servitude and handled matters swiftly, it had pleased this honorable Pharmacist Gu. Thus, he presented them this favor. The ultimate goal was to raise the Wu Clan into a powerful arm to serve their new master, Gongyi Tianheng.

Although he originally believed that they would receive important positions, he thought it would only happen after some time had passed. He didn’t expect to obtain benefits this quickly… Wu Xing increasingly felt that his own decisiveness had been worth it.

In particular, there was this inner cultivation method, which would be given to his seventh brother. He had to turn his seventh brother into Pharmacist Gu’s most indispensable arm!

Soon after, Wu Xing expressed his devotion once more: “Pharmacist Gu, please rest assured. My Wu Clan will certainly spare no efforts to serve the young master.

“One hundred deaths, no regrets! We’ll never betray you!”

Gu Zuo nodded his head with a taut face. He looked a bit serious: “Remember this well — If you guys betray my big brother, I’ll never let any of you get away with it.”

Wu Xing naturally reaffirmed himself.

There was a thought in his mind: This Pharmacist Gu seriously cares about the young master. The young master also regards Pharmacist Gu with such importance… This sort of friendship is truly hard to come by.

A subtle feeling suddenly rose within his heart, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

After showing both grace and might, Wu Xing was sent away. Meanwhile, Gu Zuo turned around and walked back to the main hall. He was just in time for Tianheng to finish delegating some matters. Ao Ying, Xi Ying, Feng He, and the other hound race powerhouses at the Atomic Realm concealed their figures one after another.

Gu Zuo came over, and asked curiously: “Big brother, did something happen with them?”

Tianheng didn’t keep him in the dark, and replied with a smile: “A good thing.”

Gu Zuo: “…”

Fine, big brother was keeping him in suspense and teasing him again.

But Gu Zuo still satisfied Tianheng’s mischievous streak, and continued to ask: “Then, what good thing happened?”

Tianheng extended a hand, and ruffled Gu Zuo’s hair. He slowly opened his mouth: “The mastiffs, sighthounds, and wild dogs, these three races, have five tribes who are casting their support for me.”

Gu Zuo: “Ah?”

Tianheng smiled: “The mastiffs have three tribes, and the sighthounds and wild dogs each have one tribe. The battle slaves I’ve chosen all come from these five tribes. As it turns out, Ao Ying and the other Atomic Realm powerhouses also come from these five tribes. Their tribes have tentatively decided to become my battle slaves. Later on, the pups born within these five tribes will no longer be sent to the sect’s battle slave divisions for training. Rather, they’ll be raised within their own races, and they’ll ultimately become my manpower. It’s just that the resources for this nurturing process will come from me.”

Gu Zuo’s first reaction was: There’s not enough money!

But his second reaction immediately caused him to understand. The support of the battle slaves’ five tribes was an enormous advantage. Granted that this would consume resources, it was worth it! This also greatly increased his big brother’s manpower!

Merely…

Was it really a coincidence that the three hundred battle slaves all came from these five tribes?

Gu Zuo looked at Tianheng while bearing this doubt.

Tianheng’s smiling expression wasn’t hidden.

Gu Zuo understood instantly.

In actuality, his big brother had thought of this long ago…

Between the battle slave tribes, the hound races would deliver high numbers of pups every year. In Ten Ultimates Sect, the hound races had numerous tribes, and were a gargantuan force. Among them, the mastiff tribes were the most numerous.

As for these branches of the hound races, which were capable of becoming tribes, the population of each branch reached at least one thousand. Moreover, for each and every hound race, the soldiers weren’t divided by male and female genders. They were only divided by whether one was old or young. However, when the pups were already trained, their maturation period took no longer than ten years. After becoming adults, they would only step into old age when three years remained of their lifespan.

In other words, within the five tribes, only approximately thirty percent couldn’t fight. The other seventy percent were either formidable battle slaves or battle slaves who were slightly weaker. All of them could be utilized!

Gu Zuo exclaimed. He was a bit excited.

It had to be said that his big brother had both brains and luck. Ah, this was truly amazing!

The joining of the five hound race tribes allowed Gongyi Tianheng’s strength to improve by a large margin.

Any battle slaves who belonged to the five tribes returned to their respective tribes. Adding up the total number of battle slaves, it suddenly increased by two thousand. Furthermore, while there was a little more than a thousand hound race members who were slightly inferior to the battle slaves, they could act as bodyguards. All of them became the fighting strength of Tianheng’s forces.

Under the arrangements of the monkey race head manager and the mouse race second manager, as well as Tianheng’s written comments, the most valiant of these hound races were chosen to be trained as elite troops. Meanwhile, the rest who were not as good became bodyguards. They were each stationed beside a few people whose martial strengths weren’t that high — This was especially so for the pharmacists whose capabilities were relatively strong.

Due to the potential of some of the Wu Clan’s youthful generation, quite a few hound race bodyguards were arranged beside at least twenty young and outstanding pharmacists. Then there was Wu Xing’s younger brother who received the most importance. Next to Seventh Young Master Wu, whose talents were a cut above the rest, stood ten rather powerful hound race bodyguards. They protected him closely.

After Wu Xing found out, he naturally became even more thankful.

Tianheng didn’t discriminate against the Hu Clan either. Hu Chang’an was already being nurtured with the utmost care. As for Hu Changbi and Hu Changfeng, they were each assigned eight hound race members. Only, because they hadn’t offered to serve like the Wu Clan and the two siblings’ body attributes matched the inherited cultivation methods of their Hu Clan, Gu Zuo didn’t give them any special treatment.

However, Gu Zuo privately instructed a monkey race member to occasionally supply the two little ones with more medicinal ingredients to let them practice. This was considered the aid between friends.

The Hu Clan were aware of which aspects they were weak in. They were already very satisfied with being able to obtain these rounds of nurturing. And as for Gu Zuo’s considerations, they were even more grateful.

Merely, whenever Gu Zuo looked at the bills that the two managers handed over every few days, he couldn’t help having bursts of conflicted feelings.

This, this, this…was spending money like running water.

The properties opened for business hadn’t reached the point where funds could be withdrawn from circulation. Even with a prodigy’s monthly allowance and the great amounts of capital they previously acquired, he was afraid that they weren’t going to last for too long.

Gu Zuo felt that if things continued like this, they wouldn’t be able to make ends meet. It was quite the predicament.

Sure enough, the larger the family properties, the greater the expenses…

There was no helping it. Gu Zuo was considering whether he ought to refine some unorthodox flawless pills to fetch a high price, or think of other methods to obtain funds in the sect, or straightforwardly sell some pill prescriptions that weren’t the best but were relatively precious.

In short, he needed to raise money…

Just when Gu Zuo was silently scheming, Tianheng discovered that something was wrong with Gu Zuo. At once, he came over and asked: “Ah Zuo, what’s making you unhappy?”

Gu Zuo was always honest and forthcoming with Tianheng, so he talked about the worries in his heart.

Tianheng listened to what was said, and his gaze suddenly softened: “So Ah Zuo was concerned for this elder brother.”

Gu Zuo nodded his head.

How couldn’t Gu Zuo worry? Previously, this close relative was one layer of worry, but now it was a close relative in addition to a beloved sweetheart. Doubling the worries made Gu Zuo too anxious.

Tianheng’s expression was upright: “It’s true. Although this elder brother has some savings, there’ll be practically nothing left if this goes on. Thus, I’m going search for some lucrative things to do.”

Gu Zuo’s eyes shined: “Big brother already has a plan?”

Tianheng said: “The inner workings of the sect have considered this matter. In order to allow many remarkable disciples to feel at ease and improve their strengths, as well as to enable these disciples to have enough to spend, they set up mission boards long ago. These missions are divided into the four ranks of A, B, C, and D. Within each rank, there are numerous missions which can be used for obtaining resources.

“For example, I could help some small organizations under Ten Ultimates Sect’s jurisdiction. At that time, I could go kill the people trespassing through their territories, and it’ll suffice if I bring back the heads. As another example, I could go hunt some wild beasts and bring back their corpses. I could also explore secret realms as a show of force on the sect’s behalf, and seize gains for the sect and take a cut of the profits for myself.

“Taking these missions can both sharpen myself and make up for any deficits. Moreover, the sect doesn’t make these missions compulsory, so there’s a lot of freedom. Thus, there are many genius disciples who frequently go out for a bustling period and return with countless profits.”

Gu Zuo’s mind immediately relaxed: “This is great. With big brother’s strength, the missions on those boards will definitely be completed quickly!”

Tianheng saw how confident Gu Zuo was, and his smile deepened: “These are just the benefits on the surface. Once I do many missions, it’ll also showcase my skills, which will draw even more forces into casting their support for me. At that time, those who come will inevitably offer benefits on their own, so we won’t need to excessively worry about savings.”

Gu Zuo’s mood improved: “In that case, which rank of missions does big brother want to take?”

Tianheng smiled: “Normally, if I went to take a mission, it would need to be a B-rank at the very least. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough profits. If a mission is ordinary, it won’t be worth it. However, when I go, I need to pick an A-rank mission. It’s because this is my first time taking action. A-rank missions are always arranged for extremely outstanding geniuses and prodigies. If I choose a mission of another rank, I would be ridiculed by others.”

Gu Zuo slightly furrowed his brows: “An A-rank mission… Does big brother have any certainty of the outcome?”

Tianheng didn’t answer directly, and switched to say: “When my master made the previous summons, he had already given me some advice. Among the A-rank missions, there’s one that’s rather suitable for me.”

T/N: For the rest of this volume, the author wrote chapters of varying lengths. Until further notice, expect a regular-length chapter to release every three days, a double-length chapter to release every three to five days, and a triple-length chapter to release every seven days. As always, I’ll let everyone know about delays in the discord.

Thanks for the correction, Charysa.

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