Chapter 915: Laying the Foundation

The dozens of gang leaders who were on good terms with Yipin Hall surely knew about its orderly withdrawal from the capital city. But Meng Yun definitely hadn’t informed everyone—so as to make them go all out to resist and exhaust the strength of the Mu Family and the Xiyi Gate, he must have only told a select few.
Moreover, Meng Yun surely wouldn’t reveal the news at the last moment.
Yet, Happy revealing it ahead of time completely panicked Huang Sha!
In the hall, the gazes of several gang leaders converged on Huang Sha’s face:
“Vice Hall Master Huang!”
“Is what Happy said true?”
“How could you do this!!”
Bai Xiaosheng stood calmly aside. With hundreds of prominent figures from the capital outside, there was no reason for them to doubt Happy’s words. Half of them immediately rose in anger, glaring at Huang Sha with a sense of being deeply betrayed.
Those in the courtyard held their breath…
One after another, they watched as Yipin Hall’s allies in the hall stormed out in anger, leaving fewer and fewer people behind, while Huang Sha’s expression grew increasingly grim.
The few Yipin Hall experts standing behind Huang Sha also looked extremely upset, too afraid to face the other gang leaders who were gritting their teeth.
“Vice Hall Master Huang, since you were unkind first, don’t blame us for being ruthless. We’re leaving!” Another gang leader stood up, tossing out those words coldly before taking a deep breath and turning to Happy:
“Lord Happy, I won’t get involved in matters in the capital. I hope the Mu Family won’t bother us either…”
“…”
Happy casually fiddled with the cup in his hand:
“The resources of Yipin Hall will be taken over and reallocated by the Mu Family and the Xiyi Gate. Those that don’t belong to Yipin Hall won’t be touched by the Mu Family.”
“…” That man’s face turned pale. Though he understood Happy’s implied meaning, he couldn’t demand anything more. Could he really expect the Mu Family to protect Yipin Hall’s allies from being exploited by its own allies? That was clearly unrealistic!
“We’re leaving.”
“We’re leaving too.”
Many people simply ignored Huang Sha altogether, saying goodbye to Happy and Bai Xiaosheng before leaving, leaving him alone in the hall.
The few remaining gang leaders who had been informed also didn’t dare stay long. Not even daring to show any signs of being staunch supporters of Yipin Hall, they left one after another, not daring to linger for even a moment.
In the end…
Only five people remained in the hall.
Bai Xiaosheng, Happy, Ren Jie, Huang Sha, and Langya.
Langya from Tongtian Pavilion naturally couldn’t easily disengage from his connections…

Rumors of close cooperation between Tongtian Pavilion and Yipin Hall have been circulating in the martial world for quite some time. Of course, he couldn’t just walk away like other gang leaders and claim there was no connection with Yipin Hall. Seeing the hall suddenly become quiet, Langya looked embarrassed and nervously at Kai Xin, then awkwardly picked up his wine glass: “Lord Kai Xin.” “It’s not our first time meeting.” But he didn’t know how to continue. Because Huang Sha was already staring at the two of them with a face as dark as iron, his anger seemingly ready to erupt like a volcano. Without the support of many gangs, it was now impossible to complete the task entrusted to him by Meng Yun. The Mu Family and Xiyi Gate would have an even easier time moving northward, and might even be welcomed by all the local forces in the north—welcomed to divide up all of Yipin Hall’s resources as soon as possible. Yipin Hall’s carefully planned strategies had been shattered in just a few words from Kai Xin and Bai Xiaosheng. Now, Yipin Hall was truly alone, with no better option than to retreat. “Heh, Lord Langya, it’s good that at least you’re still here to talk to me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have anyone to speak to. Wouldn’t that be lonely in the capital?” Kai Xin’s laughter made Langya’s heart tremble. He quickly replied, “Isn’t it easy for Lord Kai Xin to find someone to talk to? All the gang leaders and notable figures in the capital are in the courtyard. There’s no one here. How about we go outside and get another seat?” These words already showed his allegiance to the Mu Family. “Is that really a good idea?” Kai Xin hesitated for a moment. “Lord Kai Xin, if you have any demands, please speak up. Langya has nearly a hundred thousand people under his command, and he still needs to support them.” “Lord Langya truly lives up to being the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei. You’re really straightforward. I like people who get straight to the point…” “Please give me your guidance, Lord Kai Xin.” Langya forced a smile. He held the largest share of the resources in Yipin Hall’s occupied locations—thirteen sub-temples covering over thirty resource sites, accounting for nearly 50% of the total resources. But now that Yipin Hall had been defeated and all its resources had been moved, preparing to retreat to the Western Regions, it was inevitable that the Mu Family would take control of the capital. If he didn’t act smartly, a single word from the Mu Family could reduce Tongtian Pavilion’s resources to zero, forcing them to start over from scratch. Now, he could only lower his stance, hoping that Kai Xin would at least leave him some way out—one-third, at least one sub-temple and one resource site with 50% of its resources.

“The Lord of Langya, I heard you’ve assembled a group of quite impressive Jinyiwei under your command… Each of them is qualified to arrest fugitives and martial artists.”
Langya was momentarily stunned. How did Kai Xin know everything? These people were carefully trained by him to capture more skilled martial artists, so as to sell or transfer them to other gang leaders for huge profits. However, since there weren’t many branches yet and they were still under construction, they hadn’t been put into use officially. Even the people of Yipin Tang weren’t aware of this, so Langya wondered where Kai Xin got the information… At this thought, his awe for Kai Xin grew even deeper!
“There are a few—eighteen in total. Their rank is only one level below mine. They can capture martial artists at the Wuwei realm, or buy death row inmates and serious criminals from the prison at high prices.”
This was Langya’s biggest secret, but under Kai Xin’s pressure, he had no choice but to speak honestly in a low voice. Given the survival of Tongtian Pavilion and not knowing where the leak might have come from, he naturally didn’t dare hide anything, fearing it might give Kai Xin a bad impression.
“…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Sha’s expression changed drastically as he stared at Langya: “Death row inmates from the prison?”
As a professional player, he knew full well the tremendous benefits such capabilities could bring to players and gangs. Capturing a master at the Wuwei realm was extremely difficult, often requiring a large team to successfully detain a suitable prisoner. But Jinyiwei of sufficient rank could easily buy and transfer them from the prison, allowing them to arrest fugitives and martial artists on their own… Such a group could easily enable a gang to establish a stable training facility—no need to search outside for suitable targets; just throw them into the gang’s prison, and that’s it.
Currently, many top gangs, including the Mu Family and Yipin Tang, only had a few fully occupied branches, with most prisons having few inmates and limited usage time. With Langya’s group’s help, they could quickly fill their prisons and accelerate their training progress. This was especially crucial for Yipin Tang, which planned to move to the Western Regions!
…
But what angered Huang Sha immensely was that even Yipin Tang wasn’t aware of this information, yet Kai Xin had it. And from Langya’s tone, it seemed he had no intention of hiding it.
“Langya!”
Furious, Huang Sha slammed the table and glared at him!
Langya frowned.

At this moment, he had already resolved to completely sever ties with Yipin Tang, so naturally he wouldn’t care about Huang Sha. Moreover, even when Yipin Tang was at its peak, if Huang Sha had scolded him in public, Langya might not have paid any attention.
“Shut up!”
With a cold snort, an astonishing sword intent enveloped Huang Sha and the bodyguards behind him, freezing them in place with its sheer murderous intent.
Only then did the group realize…
Besides Happy, who posed a huge threat, there was also someone who could control their lives and deaths at will—the disciple of Ximen Chuixue.
Ren Jie was now part of the Mu family!
Langya gave Huang Sha a cold glance before turning and saying, “If Master Happy is willing, Langya can help fill the prisons of Mu family’s branches in a short time.”
Happy also ignored Huang Sha, who was fuming.
“When will you help me train a group of Jinyiwei? When will Tongtian Pavilion’s resources be restored to their original level? For now, I’ll keep half of the resources for you.”
“Okay!”
Langya’s minimum demand had been one-third of the resources. Being able to keep half and getting Happy’s assurance that it would be restored in the future was beyond his expectations, so he readily agreed, “To reach a high rank in the Jinyiwei, one only needs to have sufficient skills and complete a few tasks assigned by the Jinyiwei. You can assign any experts from Mu family; within half a month, at most, I’ll return them to Mu family.”
“Very good.”
Happy was very satisfied.
Although capturing some experts from the demonic sects or heretical groups at the Wuwei realm wasn’t a problem for Mu family, having official positions meant they could hunt fugitives at even higher realms.
Like Myth!
If there was a prisoner at the Myth realm in the prison, or even several, many Mu family disciples could train simultaneously—safely and with remarkable progress!
Exchanging Langya’s most confidential information for current benefits was utterly beneficial for Mu family with no drawbacks.
“Very good. Vice Hallmaster Huang, eat and drink well. Hallmaster Lang, Xiao Jie, let’s go outside and greet everyone…”
“Okay!”
As a newly appointed official, Ren Jie was excited and quickly stood up upon hearing this.
Knowing he had gained Mu family’s recognition, Langya naturally wouldn’t miss the chance to show off to the various gangs in the capital and followed closely behind.
The hall was soon left with only Huang Sha and a few people from Yipin Tang. Facing the empty hall and comparing it to the lively scene outside filled with cheering and drinking, the group felt uneasy.
“Vice Hallmaster, let’s go.”

Someone whispered, “We won’t be able to complete the task assigned by the sect leader. If we wait until they’ve finished negotiating, we and those brothers won’t be able to leave at all.” The others nodded in agreement. Although Yipin Tang was powerful, it also had many enemies. If they were attacked one by one like a dog in the water, the journey to the Western Regions would be extremely difficult. Huang Sha sighed, exhaled a puff of foul air, got up looking disheveled, and left Bai Xiaosheng’s residence in a huff under the gloating gazes of many people.