Chapter 55: Getting on Track
The six deacons of Tongzhou Hall—Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng—had been gone for less than a month when they suddenly returned all at once.
At the headquarters of Tongzhou Hall, Yun Zhouzi was arranging for his disciples to construct cultivation caves for the six of them. “Ah… Deacons, how did you return so quickly?” Yun Zhouzi exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the six of them in the air.
To build these cultivation caves, Yun Zhouzi had gathered many treasures collected by his disciples, aiming to create magnificent and spacious caves that would satisfy the six, thereby motivating them to work diligently for Tongzhou Hall. The original plan was for a three-month timeline, but now they had returned in just one month. Naturally, Yun Zhouzi was astonished and couldn’t figure out what they intended.
When Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng landed, they all greeted him with smiles and said kindly, “Hall Master, we have already finished building our own cultivation caves. Please tell your disciples to stop working, and let’s find a place to discuss things.”
Yun Zhouzi was once again surprised by how quickly their attitude had changed—they were now so friendly toward him.
Soon, overjoyed, Yun Zhouzi halted the disciples’ construction work and took the six of them to a high peak to sit down and talk. “Deacons, what is the matter?” Yun Zhouzi asked directly.
Luo Ning glanced at the other five and smiled at Yun Zhouzi, saying, “Hall Master, the six of us are currently just outer disciples. Our only goal in becoming deacons of your Tongzhou Hall is to amass enough wealth to purchase elixirs from the Lingdan Academy, so we can advance our cultivation levels. Only by becoming lower-tier Human Soul Immortals can we become core disciples, truly enter the core of the Youhan Sect, and become influential figures in the immortal realm. Therefore, we have decided to assist Tongzhou Hall in growing stronger, but a portion of the benefits obtained must be given to us six.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Zhouzi’s smiling expression turned calm.
With his experience, Yun Zhouzi knew full well that such demands were normal. Without benefits, these six would not have become deacons nor would they have the motivation to help Tongzhou Hall take on tasks.
“Deacons, how much of the profits do you want?” Yun Zhouzi asked after calming down.
Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng all showed delighted expressions as they relaxed.
“Hall Master, we won’t be too harsh on your Tongzhou Hall either. Give us six out of sixty percent of the hall’s profits,” Luo Ning said calmly.
Yun Zhouzi immediately stood up as if his blood surged throughout his body, his face turning red with anger as he stared at the six of them.
If sixty percent of Tongzhou Hall’s profits were given to these six, and they then used that little power to demand ten percent each…
Hua Hai from the Alchemy Institute, seeing Yun Zhouzi’s reaction, wasn’t angry at all. He smiled lazily and said, “Hall Master, there’s no need to get so angry. In the Youhan Sect, isn’t every executive like this? Throughout the entire Immortal Realm, the most important thing is one’s own strength. Hall Master, once we six improve our cultivation levels, we’ll be able to help Tongzhou Hall secure more missions. Moreover, you too can gain more wealth, allowing you to buy better pills in the Youhan Sect and accelerate your cultivation. We all understand these things, so let’s not ruin our relationship.”
After hearing this, Yun Zhouzi’s expression indeed calmed down a lot. Realizing that the six of them understood his true intentions, he couldn’t pretend any longer.
In Yun Zhouzi’s eyes, Tongzhou Hall was merely a tool for making money. Initially, he allowed Huo Zun to operate within Tongzhou Hall precisely so that Huo Zun could help the hall earn more wealth. His agreement to merge Tongzhou Hall with the Youhan Sect was also aimed at gaining more wealth and leveraging the sect’s resources for better cultivation opportunities.
Now that he knew the six people’s goals, he realized they were the same as his own—improving their cultivation levels. Therefore, he wanted to do the same as them: take ten percent of Tongzhou Hall’s profits for himself to use on pills and enhance his cultivation.
“Since you’ve proposed it, I’ll go along with it,” Yun Zhouzi said, sitting down with a smile.
Hahaha!
The seven of them sat on the peak and laughed together. The future profits of Tongzhou Hall had already been divided among them.
However, while Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng laughed, they felt intense pain inside.
Half of the profits they would receive had to be given to Huo Zun.
It turned out that after subduing the six, Huo Zun had made them come and negotiate with Yun Zhouzi over the division of profits. Moreover, Huo Zun had stipulated that half of whatever they earned had to go to him.
Therefore, in the future, one-tenth of the profits from Tongzhou Hall will go to Yun Zhouzi, while the other three-tenths will be divided among Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng—six people in total—leaving three-tenths for Huo Zun alone.
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The Sect Affairs Council assigns various tasks, including those related to crafting immortal artifacts, which are also issued by the council.
Subsequently, the Artifactory distributes these tasks to various crafting branches.
At this time, Hua Hai and Huo Zun flew from where Tongzhou Hall was located to the headquarters of the Artifactory. Since Tongzhou Hall had just been registered under the Youhan Sect, its space teleportation array had not yet been set up, so Hua Hai and Huo Zun had to rely on starships to travel quickly to the Artifactory’s headquarters.
In the air, inside the starship:
“Hua Hai, you six did a great job this time. The wealth of Tongzhou Hall now belongs to us,” Huo Zun said with a faint smile.
After reaching an agreement with Yun Zhouzi, Luo Ning, Lan Fei, Hua Hai, Chi Yu, Liu Qing, and Chang Cheng went straight to Huo Zun’s cultivation cave to inform him of the outcome. Huo Zun then ordered Hua Hai to go to the Artifactory together to take on the tasks.
Hua Hai looked at Huo Zun, a hint of confusion in his eyes, and asked directly, “Huo Zun, I really don’t understand. You have six Six-Star Earth Soul Immortals at your disposal—why not simply kill Yun Zhouzi and take over as the head of the hall? With that position, all the profits from Tongzhou Hall would belong to you.”
Huo Zun chuckled and replied calmly, “With Yun Zhouzi as the head, he can handle many things on my behalf. I don’t want to reveal my own strength.”
As the head of the hall, although Yun Zhouzi reaped many benefits, he also had to take on various responsibilities. Things like being bullied by the six executives this time or being called in to discuss profit distribution were still tasks he had to handle. Moreover, the difficulties Tongzhou Hall would face in the future within the Youhan Sect would also fall on him.
Thus, Huo Zun intentionally let Yun Zhouzi remain in the position of head, allowing himself to secretly control everything without Yun Zhouzi even realizing it—a process that brought him pleasure.
After thinking carefully, Hua Hai finally understood Huo Zun’s reasoning and showed a look of admiration.
In fact, there was one more thing Hua Hai hadn’t realized: Huo Zun wasn’t really interested in the profits from Tongzhou Hall. Qu Yi could already turn ordinary ores into Origin Stones, constantly generating wealth. Besides, Qu Yi possessed the secrets of the Emperor Hao’s treasure, which brought him far more wealth than what Tongzhou Hall could offer.
Qu Yi used Tongzhou Hall mainly to develop it and let it showcase its strengths, so that Huang Xu, the true master of the Huoxia Star Region, would notice it. Then, Huozun could approach Huang Xu and take the opportunity to avenge Emperor Hao.
The two remained silent for a while.
Huozun suddenly asked, “Hua Hai, how many are the lower-level Earth Soul Immortal disciples of the Youhan Sect?”
Hua Hai’s eyes widened in confusion. After a moment, he replied seriously, “About a hundred thousand.”
Huozun was also surprised. In the Yiyou Star Cluster ruled by the Youhan Sect, there were tens of billions of cultivation planets, yet there were only a hundred thousand disciples at the Earth Soul Immortal level, showing just how difficult it was to reach that realm.
However, Huozun wasn’t worried. It was only a matter of time before his own cultivation improved.
“Hua Hai, it seems that you Earth Soul Immortal disciples are unremarkable within the Youhan Sect. But for you, a three-star Earth Soul Immortal, to secure a position as an executive, you must be quite resourceful,” Huozun said with a faint smile.
Hua Hai’s face turned red slightly after hearing this. He said softly, “My third uncle works at the Armory Institute. He arranged things so that I could get this executive position.”
Huozun’s eyes lit up. If there was someone at the Armory Institute, then Tongzhou Hall would naturally have many more crafting tasks to undertake.
“Hua Hai, secure all the Human Immortal-level tasks for me!” Huozun shouted.
This shout made Hua Hai jump in surprise. Anxiously, he cried, “Huozun, that’s impossible! The Armory Institute has over nine hundred other crafting branches. How could they give all the Human Immortal-level tasks to our Tongzhou Hall? Moreover, the number of Human Immortal-level crafting tasks produced by the Youhan Sect is so vast that even with Tongzhou Hall’s thirty thousand disciples and their pre-set formation techniques, we’d be overwhelmed.”
The Youhan Sect had billions of registered Human Immortal-level disciples. Even with Tongzhou Hall’s thirty thousand disciples and their formation techniques, they wouldn’t be able to handle it all.
Huozun chuckled and said casually, “I was just joking. But in the future, our goal for Tongzhou Hall is to take over all the Human Immortal-level crafting tasks.”
Hua Hai slapped his own forehead, feeling that among all the grand declarations he had heard in his life, Huozun’s vow just now was the most ambitious.
After flying in the starship for three days, the two finally arrived at the headquarters of the Armory Institute.
Strictly speaking, the headquarters was a city, with at least tens of thousands of large buildings, each responsible for different functions.
Hua Hai controlled the starship and flew to a building called the “Chengci Hall.”