Gu Zuo smiled bashfully, and loosened an inward sigh of relief.
This kind of personage could speak to him in such a way, and seemed quite genuine about it. This was certainly out of respect for his big brother. And sure enough, when the Blood Transformation Palace Master spoke with his big brother, the palace master treated his big brother with great importance. This was for the sake of protecting one’s weak points.
It truly put one at ease.
As for the somewhat peculiar appearance of the Blood Transformation Palace Master, Gu Zuo didn’t have much of an opinion. After all, in the modern world, there were so many people who would put on crazy and bizarre makeup styles. Hadn’t he become used it already? The Blood Transformation Palace Master’s looks were certainly brought about by cultivation. He just treated it as if the palace master had put on a strange costume.
Soon after, the Blood Transformation Palace Master gave Gu Zuo something. He said: “This is a welcoming gift. It’s not worth much, but I hope that Ah Zuo will accept it. In the future, I only hope that Ah Zuo and my apprentice will get along well. Don’t fail to live up to that friendship.”
When Gu Zuo heard this, he naturally agreed right away. He took the offered object with both hands.
Gongyi Tianheng also smiled and said: “Ah Zuo is someone this disciple has absolute faith in. I want to make him this disciple’s personal pharmacist. Master, rest assured.”
The Blood Transformation Palace Master listened, and faintly nodded his head: “If this apprentice is fond of him, then everything’s fine. If anyone dares to gossip behind my back and makes this apprentice unhappy, then you may punish them in my name.”
Gu Zuo’s good impression of the Blood Transformation Palace Master silently rose — A fellow who cared this much about his big brother was definitely a good person.
Tianheng expressed his thanks once more.
Afterwards, the Blood Transformation Palace Master said nothing else. He only extended a hand, and made a pushing motion. Then, an incomparably mighty force surged over.
Gu Zuo only felt the bottoms of his feet lightening, and his entire body floated upwards. He almost staggered and fell over. Fortunately, Tianheng reached out a hand in time, and pulled him into an embrace.
In the blink of an eye, under the light swipe of a gigantic, bloodied hand, a vast and powerful crowd of people vanished from the vacant space in front of the mountain gates.
Traces of the Blood Transformation Palace Master were also nowhere to be found.
By the time Gu Zuo reacted, he had been drawn up against Tianheng’s shoulder. They were standing outside of a huge manor.
Tianheng smiled and said: “This is where Ah Zuo and I will live in the future. Ah Zuo can take a look. Do you like it?”
Gu Zuo lifted his head, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Wasn’t this place…a little too big?
One couldn’t blame Gu Zuo for his wide-eyed appearance. Indeed, this place was a bit too expansive. It might be called a manor, but its size wasn’t any inferior when compared to a city.
Moreover, surrounding the outside of the manor were city walls constructed out of unknown stones. These walls were no less than three hundred meters tall! Only the city walls of Shijue City were just as high!
What’s more, these stone walls stretched out in both directions as far as the eyes could see. A single glance simply wouldn’t be able to tell how vast the encompassing lands were.
And this place — All of it belonged to his big brother?
Gu Zuo rubbed his face.
Sure enough, wherever his big brother went, he would always be a first-class male god. Tall, rich, and handsome… Ah.
Tianheng kept his hand on Gu Zuo’s shoulder: “Let’s go.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head, and followed Tianheng through the top-quality iron doors, which matched the height of the stone walls. In a split second, a burst of extremely pure ambient qi rushed out. In between breaths, a faint pressure entered through the nasal passages, and seeped into the internal organs. It brought about a powerful, overly-full feeling to the meridians of the whole body. However, there were no doubts that this environment was an excellent one. If a person could adapt to this place, then their body’s starting points would come to be higher and their strengths greater than that of martial artists and pharmacists who stayed in areas with weaker ambient qi.
After entering the compound, Gu Zuo couldn’t help gasping in amazement.
Although he knew that this manor was incredibly large when he looked at it from the outside, he discovered that his imagination was still a little lacking once he went in.
For example, after going inside, what he saw was a gigantic mountain peak that cut across the compound. It seemed that it wasn’t the type that rose straight into the clouds, but in terms of width and breadth, it was quite considerable.
Surrounding the mountain peak were woodlands brimming with lush and flourishing trees. Inside were the roars and snarls of wild beasts. It seemed to be full of stunning vitality.
Gu Zuo sent out his psychic power, and discovered even more things.
In the vicinity of the woodlands, there were numerous courtyards of various sizes clustered together. Among them, the largest courtyards were distributed separately, and interspersed between them were some small and medium-sized courtyards. This formed a circular layout like the three legs of an ancient cauldron. The largest and sturdiest courtyard was situated upon a mountain that was three hundred meters tall, completely covering it.
The entire compound stretched long and unbroken for at least five hundred kilometers. It wasn’t known how many people the area could accommodate, nor how many races could inhabit and multiply within it. Currently, only three servile races and three hundred battle slaves had gone to establish a presence. Manpower was insufficient, and the land seemed somewhat spacious and empty — Even those courtyards were far from being filled.
Gu Zuo sighed.
Truly, this was a bit beyond one’s reasonable limits. However, this was undoubtedly a very good base of operations. Once he and his big brother occupied and developed this place bit by bit, the forces they managed would certainly be extremely formidable.
It had to be said that, upon seeing this manor, he genuinely felt that his big bother’s ambitions could finally have the foundations necessary to radiate outwards… Indeed, this saved them many years of painstaking work.
Tianheng let Gu Zuo size things up for a while before taking him all the way to the woodlands ahead. In the meanwhile, he gave an introduction: “Ah Zuo, this place has three large courtyards that can hold a thousand people each. In that courtyard on the mountain, the centermost dwelling will be our permanent residence. The other two thousand-person courtyards are spread across two tracts of land to the east and west outside the forest. One will be specially used for training and housing the battle slaves, and the other will be arranged for pharmacists… In the future, I’ll leave the recruitment of pharmacists to Ah Zuo.”
When Gu Zuo heard this, his footsteps paused: “Me?”
Tianheng looked at his widened eyes, and couldn’t help smiling: “The matter of medicine refinement is of the utmost importance. Although the sect can send several people over, and their strengths would be rather outstanding, they wouldn’t be people your elder brother trusts… Ah Zuo, this elder brother can’t ask you to toil day after day over those trifling matters. I only need you to manage over them to prevent the others from infighting or causing trouble. You’ll also have to guard against those arrogant and unyielding pharmacists who refuse discipline. Ultimately, the product grades of any medicines they produce will be inferior, which will negatively affect your elder brother’s plans.”
Gu Zuo knew that a trusted person was needed when it came to the matter of medicine refinement. He also wasn’t unwilling, but he had a problem: “Big brother, I’m not experienced in management.”
Tianheng smiled and said: “If there’s anything you don’t understand, just slowly learn about it. Right now, Ah Zuo only needs to supervise. Naturally, some miscellaneous tasks can be relegated to your personnel.”
Gu Zuo listened to this, and agreed: “Then, I’ll go and supervise them… In any case, so long as the medicinal pills are refined to the required standards, I’ll just ask big brother about anything I don’t understand!”
Tianheng heard what was said, and chuckled. His gaze also softened: “Okay.”
The two settled matters, and continued to unhurriedly walk forward.
Behind them, the hundred-something wild beasts, the numerous battles slaves and servile race members, and the members of the Wu and Hu Clans also followed closely.
The battle slaves and servile races produced within Ten Ultimates Sect weren’t bad. Although the Wu and Hu Clans were among the very best in Xuanwu City, Wu Xing’s vision was considered extremely broad. Now that he saw this kind of manor, he inevitably raised his evaluation of Tianheng and Ten Ultimates Sect’s foundations and strengths a step further.
Most of all, Wu Xing’s heart surged. He couldn’t help grabbing the forearm of the person beside him, and speaking in a lowered tone. He restrained the excitement within himself: “Seventh brother, look at this.”
Seventh Young Master Wu couldn’t help returning a smiling expression to his elder brother: “Fourth brother, the decisions you make are always the best ones.”
These decisions weren’t necessarily absolutely correct, but as far as the Wu Clan was concerned, they were always the most appropriate.
Wu Xing took a deep breath, and faintly nodded his head: “I haven’t been wrong yet.”
This was an all-star prodigy with extraordinary potential and unparalleled talent. He was backed by a veteran silver-ranked organization, and he had a great and powerful master who treated him extremely well and protected his weak points. This prodigy had the skills, means, aspirations, and capabilities of governance… At the same time, he had set out just recently. There were many things waiting to be done, and there was a lack of manpower.
Finding this chance to adhere to Tianheng was their Wu Clan’s greatest opportunity. If they waited till the other party was fully fledged, the insignificant Wu Clan wouldn’t be placed in the other’s eyes!
Wu Xing had already made some conjectures.
After this, their Wu Clan could enter this manor and become this prodigy’s first batch of retainers.
The Wu Clan’s starting point would also begin from this moment on!
Soon after, Wu Xing quietly spoke into Seventh Young Master Wu’s ear: “Seventh brother, although this elder brother trusts Young Master Gongyi’s vision, no matter the abilities of Pharmacist Gu, you must do your best to support him when he’s sent to supervise everyone’s medicine refinements. If there’s anyone who’s a detriment to him, you need to help him with suppression. Do you understand?”
Seventh Young Master Wu hadn’t gotten involved with many affairs in the Wu Clan, but this didn’t mean that he didn’t realize how things worked. Once he heard what was said, he nodded his head and replied: “Fourth brother, rest assured. I’ve seen that Pharmacist Gu’s qi emissions are upright and proper. He’s a good pharmacist, and his temperament isn’t hard to get along with. I’ll support him properly.”
Wu Xing nodded in satisfaction. Then, he said: “An old friendship exists between the three Hu Clan siblings and Pharmacist Gu. I’m afraid that you won’t be able to strive and get ahead of them in the short term. But this won’t cause any harm. Those two children still need to think about growing up first, and it’ll take a few years. You’ve already made some progress, and while you can’t become Pharmacist Gu’s friend, you can become his capable assistant.”
He continued: “However, you don’t have to become enemies with those two children either. Just focus on accomplishing all of your affairs. Conversely, if those two children target you, such acts will be noticed by Pharmacist Gu. Sooner or later, it’ll wear down his friendship, and even Young Master Gongyi won’t tolerate them. It also won’t hurt if you guys can live together in harmony.
“The Hu Clan has never been placed in our eyes, but now, we must work as subordinates under one man. Is there really any harm if we view them as colleagues? After all, the development of our Wu Clan and our loyalty to the young master are the most critical things.”
Seventh Young Master Wu nodded his head again: “Don’t worry, fourth brother. I got it.”
After that, the two brothers didn’t say anything else.
Up in front, Gu Zuo and Tianheng had already entered the dense forest.
A shadow suddenly flashed in front of them, and whispered a few words into Tianheng’s ear. Gu Zuo’s psychic power discharged and the shadow didn’t defend against it, so Gu Zuo listened to the shadow’s words, too.
Gu Zuo made an exasperated face: “Why didn’t Wu Xing wait until they settled in before speaking to his brother? Wouldn’t this be easily overheard by others?”
The world of martial artists was unscientific. It wouldn’t be hard for people with decent hearing abilities to listen to a bit of whispering. Even if the sound of one’s voice was controlled through profound qi, a person with a higher realm could decipher it. As for his big brother’s side, they had Ascendant Realms.
Tianheng’s smile was somewhat meaningful: “Perhaps, he wanted to talk precisely so that your elder brother could hear it.”
Gu Zuo: “So to say, he’s deliberately expressing his loyalties?”
Tianheng slightly nodded: “He’s a smart fellow.”
Gu Zuo: “…”
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
Please don’t forget to support the original author.