At Dingfeng Slope, before the colossal beast’s skeleton.
The eight of them had all chosen the items they wanted.
Chu Fan was generous, but they felt they couldn’t be insatiably greedy, so after initially picking a few relatively less valuable items, they stopped.
However, Chu Fan ended up stuffing their hands with many more items.
After all, he had signed a Celestial Dao Contract with all eight of them, so their loyalty was beyond question. These people would become his true foundation.
Thus, Chu Fan had high expectations for their futures.
Having experienced this low point in his life, Chu Fan had seen through the fickleness of human nature and understood the importance of strength.
Therefore, after keeping only a dozen or so Sword Manuals, a few High-Tier Inner Power Heart Methods, and a small portion of the Elixirs and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures that he could use himself, Chu Fan had the eight of them divide the rest equally.
As for the weapons scavenged from the fallen masters, apart from finding the Biyun Sword, Chu Fan stuffed their Storage Rings to the brim with as many as they could hold.
He packed the remaining weapons into two other Storage Rings he hadn’t yet given away, keeping one for himself.
"We’ve been through life and death together, and now we’ve signed a Celestial Dao Contract. Our fates are truly bound."
"We swear to follow you to the death, my lord!" the eight responded in unison.
Chu Fan waved his hand. "The reason I kept so few supplies for myself and gave the rest to you is that I want you to do something for me."
"Please give us your orders, my lord," Jing’an said.
"After you leave Dingfeng Slope, I want you to use the resources I’ve given you to establish several forces. You can search the Eastern Domain for talented children to raise, or you can use the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and weapons to win over righteous Independent Cultivators."
"Jing’an. Lan Bing."
"Your subordinates are present!"
"Jing’an and Lan Bing, you both have genuine insight into the path of Cultivation. I want each of you to find a Land of Abundant Spiritual Qi and establish a Sect. You can come up with the names yourselves. My requirement is this: within three years, each of your Sects must have no fewer than a thousand disciples. At least one hundred of them must be at the Fusion Realm, and all of them must reach the Foundation Establishment Stage."
"We will do our utmost!"
"Liu Yisheng, Qi Biao. Each of you is to build a mercenary organization. In the beginning, you can rely on the resources you have to attract and recruit Independent Cultivators, then expand by earning commissions from completing missions. My requirements for you are a bit higher: within three years, each of your organizations must have a minimum of five thousand members. The lowest Cultivation level will be the Fusion Realm, with no fewer than five hundred people at the Heartbeat Realm. I won’t set requirements for higher Realms within these three years, but anyone who joins must be of upstanding character."
"We obey!"
"Che Dagui, Liu Yicai. Do you know why most of the items I gave you are valuable, but of little direct use to you?"
The two of them shook their heads.
"I can see that you both have a mind for business. Therefore, I want each of you to establish a commercial enterprise for me. Che Dagui, your business can develop freely, even delving into less savory industries. Liu Yicai, your enterprise will focus on auction houses. My requirement for you is to expand your businesses to every major city, at the state and county level, across the entire Eastern Domain within five years. At the same time, you must be able to provide aid to Ji Bufan."
They were somewhat confused, as they didn’t yet know what Chu Fan wanted Ji Bufan to do.
"Ji Bufan."
"Here, my lord!"
"I’m giving you five years to build an intelligence network for me that spans the entire Eastern Domain. My requirement is that five years from now, I should be able to ask you, and you alone, about the every move of the various Sects, the Royal Cities of each kingdom, and even some of the Noble Families. Che Dagui’s and Liu Yicai’s enterprises will give you their full cooperation."
"I obey!"
"Ying Xiao!"
The leanest, most stoic man of the eight stepped forward. He was the one who had been decapitated by Qi Power and then resurrected.
"The Xiezhi taught you a Killing Technique and the Invisibility Technique. These are methods for killing unseen, with a single fatal blow, which makes the assassin’s trade a perfect fit for you. I want you to create an assassin organization. You can infiltrate an existing organization and take it over, or recruit your own people—you have full authority to decide. My requirement is that in five years, your organization must surpass all others of its kind in the Eastern Domain. However, you must also establish your own rules about which contracts to accept and which to refuse."
"Yes!" Ying Xiao replied with a bow.
Chu Fan took out eight pieces of Mo Jade that he had taken the time to carve earlier and handed them out one by one.
Each piece of Mo Jade was palm-sized and identical, differing only in the character engraved on its face.
Each piece of Mo Jade was engraved with a single character. In order, they were: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, Yellow, Cosmos, Universe, Vast, and Primordial.
The eight of them received the Mo Jade tablets with great care, unable to contain their joy.
"My lord, once we leave this place, how will we find you?" Jing’an asked.
"For the next three years, you have no need to find me. After three years, I will appear in a certain County City in the Eastern Domain and present an identical piece of Mo Jade. I will then wait in that city for one month. At that time, Ji Bufan will notify you all to come and meet me. If Ji Bufan can’t even find me by then," Chu Fan said with a smile, "it just means he’s been slacking."
Everyone looked over at Ji Bufan, who flinched and said, "Don’t worry, I definitely won’t interfere with our lord’s important matters."
Chu Fan had carefully thought through these arrangements for the eight of them. Rather than keeping them by his side, where they could only serve as vanguards in a fight, it was better to send them out. His own power would always surpass each of theirs, so keeping them close would actually be of limited help to him.
’I’ve had a complete falling out with the Lingyun Sect. Who knows what kind of trouble will be waiting for me when I get back!’
’I’m afraid that even if I retrieve the Biyun Sword, the Lingyun Sect will still marry Yun Xi off to the Celestial Derivation Sect.’
’I might have to cause a huge scene, or just sneak Yun Xi away.’
’If that happens, I’ll have offended two major Sects—the Celestial Derivation Sect and the Lingyun Sect. Add the Red Blood Mansion to the list, and there will be three top-tier powers in the entire Eastern Domain who will want me dead.’
’Without sufficient power, how could I possibly fight against these Major Sects with only myself and these eight people?’
As for whether they could accomplish the tasks he assigned them while only at the Heartbeat Realm, Chu Fan wasn’t concerned.
After all, he had to reach the Golden Core Realm within six months or die trying. And once he reached the Golden Core Realm, the eight of them would naturally follow suit.
A Golden Core Realm Cultivator might not be considered a big deal within a Major Sect, but in the mortal world, they were powerful enough to do as they pleased.
’As for my Cultivation in three or five years... who knows, I might even have surpassed the Nascent Soul Realm by then!’
’If they can truly achieve the goals I’ve set, then in five years, who in the entire Eastern Domain would dare to ignore my words?’
Chu Fan also knew that all beginnings are difficult. That was why he only gave the eight of them general directions and requirements, leaving all the specific decisions up to them and granting them complete autonomy.
One should never underestimate anyone. Every person’s potential is limitless; the important thing is knowing how to unearth it.
Taking out the wine and meat that were already in the Storage Rings, the nine of them drank heartily through the night. The next day, after sobering up, they left Dingfeng Slope together and went their separate ways, agreeing to reunite in three years.
They encountered no further danger on their way out, but the thick fog surrounding Dingfeng Slope remained as dense as ever.
Whether others who came to Dingfeng Slope in the future would still encounter danger was unknown, but that wasn’t Chu Fan’s concern. His only thought now was to hurry back to Cuiyun Peak.