Of the four who were killed, except for the one Immortal Ascension First Stage expert, the rest were at least True Element Boundary Eighth Stage cultivators. This level of cultivation wasn’t anything significant in terms of the entire Central Capital, but it was already an apex master for the Bamboo Knot Gang. The people who gathered here were of humble origins and lacked good Secret Arts and Martial Skills so it wasn’t easy for any of them to reach such a realm. But in an instant, these four people had been killed! The cold, decisive ruthlessness of the Yang Family Fourth Master’s son was obvious to all. The expressions of everyone else inside the hall all underwent a massive change, each of them now staring at Yang Kai in horror, their hearts filled with fear. It wasn’t until this point that all of them truly realized the tyranny of the Eight Great Families. Among the people inside, Pang Chi had the highest cultivation at the Immortal Ascension Second Stage, but he knew that it was impossible for him to kill these four people in such a short period of time like Yang Kai just did. Didn’t that mean if the two of them were to fight right now, he wasn’t even worthy of being his opponent? [Such a terrifying young man! How can a True Element Seventh Stage youth have such horrifying combat power?] “Who else wants to submit to the Huo Family? I don’t mind sending him off!” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he calmly swept his eyes over everyone in the hall. “Yo... Young Lord... thi... this humble servant asks you to show mercy!” Pang Chi’s voice trembled as he fumbled over his words. The four people who had wanted to submit to the Huo Family had all been killed, the rest of the people remaining all strongly opposed them and were only here to discuss the current state of the Central Capital. Pang Chi was really afraid that in anger, Yang Kai would slaughter the innocent along with the guilty. However... just now this Young Lord had clearly been outside the hall, so how could he instantly know that these four people were the ones with traitorous thoughts? This Young Lord’s methods were really incomprehensible. Yang Kai nodded gently, withdrawing his killing intent as he took back his two artifacts and sat down slowly. Seeing this, everyone else couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Pang Chi wiped the cold sweat on his forehead before rushing outside and shouting. After a short time, a guard rushed over, cupped his fists and ask, “What does Sect Master require?” “Take these ungrateful bastards out and bury them.” Pang Chi pointed at the four bodies. The guard glimpsed inside but after seeing the bloody scene, his face instantly paled, hurriedly running out and summoning some helpers over, all of them trembling slightly as they dragged the still warm bodies out. With the thick bloody smell still lingering about, everyone inside the hall breathed somewhat awkwardly, all of them waiting for Yang Kai to speak. “From today onward, the Bamboo Knot Gang will submit to me!” Yang Kai spoke offhandedly, his tone light and casual, “Does anyone have any objections?” “None! Bamboo Knot Gang is the Fourth Master’s attached force, Young Lord is the Fourth Master’s son, and this humble servant is willing to follow the commands of the Young Master!” Pang Chi quickly said. “Good, tell me about the Huo Family situation.” When he was outside the hall, Yang Kai had only heard a few words and didn’t understand the whole picture. Pang Chi paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before truthfully recanting the contents of the quarrel. The Huo Family was also one of the Central Capital’s Eight Great Families and naturally supported a number of hanger-on forces. Right now, it wasn’t the Huo Family who wanted the Bamboo Knot Gang to submit to them but just another of these subordinate forces. This force had already promised a lot of benefits and most likely bribed a few of the core members of the Bamboo Knot Gang, so just now, those members had been the ones stirring up trouble. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 The majority, headed by Pang Chi, didn’t want to betray Yang Ying Feng, but four of the gang’s core members disagreed. People seek higher heights just like water flows down to the sea. Although the Bamboo Knot Gang was supported by the Yang Family Fourth Master, but for many years they hadn’t even seen Yang Ying Feng’s face, so they were naturally not that loyal. With some external forces interfering, some of them would inevitably be tempted. Moreover, even if they betrayed Yang Ying Feng, with the personality of the Yang Family Fourth Master, it was likely he wouldn’t pursue it, but if they were to refuse the olive branch offered by the Huo Family, it would likely lead to trouble. So obviously, those four members didn’t have much resistance to the Huo Family, only thinking about seeking better prospects. But now, those four had all been killed, naturally no one made any noise about this issue again. After listening to Pang Chi’s remarks, Yang Kai nodded lightly, confident that he wasn’t concealing anything or trying to deceive him. Finish explaining, Pang Chi quietly sat, no longer speaking, everyone in the room staring towards Yang Kai hesitantly, seemingly waiting for instructions. Remaining silent for a long time, Yang Kai finally said, “Before I arrived, I had meant to show you some sincerity and slowly win you over, but now I have neither the time nor intention to do so.” “I will participate in Inheritance War soon. If you follow me, you will also participate in the Inheritance War. This is an opportunity as well as a gamble, no one here is a child, you should all understand this.” Everyone nodded, no on sitting in the hall was younger than thirty. If anyone could be considered a child here, only Yang Kai would qualify, so hearing him speak to them so inevitably made them feel somewhat awkward. “I’ll offer you a choice, if you don’t want to participate in this Inheritance War, you may leave now and I won’t pursue it, but this opportunity will only be available to you once, if you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to again.” Closing his mouth, Yang Kai waited quietly. Everyone glanced around at each other. Hearing Yang Kai speak so candidly was beyond their expectations, coupled with him decisively killing four people just now; everyone couldn’t help but realize that this Yang Family Young Lord seemed to be an extremely resolute person that disdained wasting his breath. For a while, no one dared to get up and leave. Pang Chi eventually cracked a smile and said, “Those of us here, though many have never had the honour of meeting the Fourth Master, have for many years taken shelter in the shade of his figure, only obtaining all we have now thanks to him. Now that the Young Lord has need of us, we are naturally willing to serve.” His words were neither hot nor cold; obviously he hadn’t whole heartedly recognized Yang Kai. About this point, Yang Kai was also clear; however, just as he had said, he had neither the time nor the intent to thoroughly win over the Bamboo Knot Gang as he had with the two Blood Warriors. Nodding, Yang Kai grinned fiercely, “I can tell you clearly, if you follow me, it won’t necessarily be good for you, but if you don’t follow me, there will definitely be bad things in your future!” Seeing his barely hidden demonic smile, everyone in the room felt a slight chill shoot up their back. Everyone in the hall immediately stood up and said with one voice, “We are willing to serve the Young Lord!” With Yang Kai saying things so straightforwardly, if they didn’t know what to do at this point, they would be no better than fools. “Good, everyone sit.” Yang Kai smiled dangerously, “Pang Chi, you sit too!” “Yes!” Pang Chi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead again, thinking that the Young Lord and the Fourth Master were complete opposites in terms of character. “How many members are there in the Bamboo Knot Gang?” Yang Kai asked. “Young Lord, there are probably around six hundred members currently.” “Six hundred people...” Yang Kai frowned. Although this number wasn’t that high, it wasn’t too shabby either, “How about everyone’s strength?” Pang Chi smiled awkwardly and replied, “Most of them are Separation and Reunion cultivators, while about thirty percent have reached the True Element Boundary. As for Immortal Ascension Boundary masters, there are only three of us, but just now... one person already...” One of the three Immortal Ascension masters had just been killed by Yang Kai, so now there were only two remaining. One of them was an Immortal Ascension Boundary First Stage, the other a Second Stage, this kind of high end strength was really quite pitiful. However, Yang Kai didn’t show any signs of disappointment. He didn’t want to control the Bamboo Knot Gang in order to add to his fighting strength. “Are all six hundred people in the Central Capital now?” “Yes, if the Young Lord needs it, I can have them mobilize at once.” Pang Chi nodded. “Call up two hundred people, I need them to inquire about the whereabouts of a group of people.” “Yes, Young Lord!” Yang Kai had Pang Chi quickly write down the appearance and characteristics of Su Yan and several of High Heaven Pavilion’s core members. “Also, find another fifty nimble members to act as messengers, have them stand by as soon as possible!” “Yes!” Pang Chi didn’t know what Yang Kai wanted so many messengers for, but since he was told to prepare them, all he had to do was obey. “Right, what is the main business of the Bamboo Knot Gang?” Yang Kai asked. Pang Chi awkwardly smiled, “The gang’s main business is to run some taverns, inns, teahouses, and restaurants. The gang’s disciples also will often pick up some odd jobs in the city.” “How much do you have in your reserves?” Pang Chi’s expression became even more embarrassed at this question, after a long time finally saying, “Right now, the gang has about 500,000 silvers in storage.” “So poor?” Yang Kai was stunned. Everyone in the hall had a red face, Pang Chi reluctantly replying, “It’s not easy to make a living in the Central Capital.” The influence of the Eight Great Families was simply too strong. Those secret forces who had powerful backers would often get better jobs and even some rewards from their back forces. Although the Bamboo Knot Gang was supported by Yang Ying Feng, the Yang Family Fourth Master didn’t have much status inside the Yang Family and for these past many years, in order to cure his dark injuries, he had also constantly been searching for famous Alchemists and healers which was no small expense. As a result, he couldn’t offer too much in terms of resources or money to assist the Bamboo Knot Gang. It was no wonder that four core members had been won over by the Huo Family. After understanding all this, Yang Kai took out a stack of silver coins and handed it to Pang Chi, “For now, use this money.” Looking at the big stack of silver coins, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a little harder. With so many silver coins, they had to be worth at least a few million silvers, this Young Master of theirs was really generous. Pang Chi froze up for a moment but didn’t reject, instead just thanking Yang Kai. Seeing his performance, Yang Kai smiled lightly. “For now, do what I’ve asked, I’ll come again soon with more instructions.” Saying so, Yang Kai stood up and walked out. Everyone in the hall quickly stood up and respectfully bid him farewell. After Yang Kai left, all the Bamboo Knot Gang’s core members glanced around at each other. “Sect Master, how much money did the Young Lord give us?” Someone eventually couldn’t help but ask. Counting carefully, Pang Chi said after a moment, “Three million!” Three million, naturally these were the silvers Lu Liang had given Yang Kai, and now they had been transferred to the Bamboo Knot Gang. Several sharp breaths were heard as everyone in the hall clamoured, “The Fourth Master’s son is much more up front than the Fourth Master.” “Yeah. Although this Young Master is ruthless, blunt and direct, he is by no means an evil man. From what I can tell, he is actually quite generous.” Pang Chi calmly said, “Now that we’ve accepted other’s money, no of us can have any traitorous thoughts, don’t forget, this new Young Lord of ours doesn’t hesitate to kill!” Everyone suddenly trembled and nodded solemnly, all of them remembering the sight of their four former companions dying before them. Silavin: Hello! Here’s the announcement XD. I managed to do it up faster than expected but here is the change. The payments are no longer monthly! They are finally charged upfront! So, you should be able to see the chapters when you make a pledge. This is amazing but you will need to take an extra step to read ahead. You will need to link up you Patreon Account to Discord via these steps: https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212052266 I’ve also just changed the Patreon Tiers to the following: $1 – 0 Chapters Ahead -> 1 Chapter Ahead $3 – 1 Chapters Ahead -> 2 Chapters Ahead $5 – 2 Chapters Ahead -> 3 Chapters Ahead $10 – 4 Chapters Ahead -> 6 Chapters Ahead $20 – 6 Chapters Ahead -> 8 Chapters Ahead $30 – 8 Chapters Ahead -> 10 Chapters Ahead $40 – 10 Chapters Ahead -> 12 Chapters Ahead $50 – 12 Chapters Ahead -> 16 Chapters Ahead You will be able to see this change on Thursday (The day I post the chapters in bulk!)