Chapter 518: The Two-Way Rush Between the Boss and His Cadres

At the highest pavilion of Langya Pavilion, the Ice Emperor leaned against the railing and gazed into the distance. Looking out, the Langya Pavilion disciples were arranged in neat square formations within the Martial Arts Arena, performing their daily training move by move. Several Elders walked among the crowd, their eyes sharp and experienced, correcting the disciples' mistakes with meticulous care.

"Are you planning to just stay in the Dou Qi Continent like this?"

Xiao Han walked over from behind, leaning one hand against the railing, and asked.

Not long ago, he had learned the news that the Ice Emperor intended to replace Xiao Yan in guarding the Dou Qi Continent. After a moment of thought, he could only say it was unexpected, yet reasonable.

As the master of Langya Heavenly Palace, Xiao Han naturally could not stay in the Dou Qi Continent for long. The Ice Emperor, like Xiao Yan, possessed the home-field advantage within the Dou Qi Continent; in terms of strength, he might even have the edge over the slightly more inexperienced Xiao Yan, making him the most suitable candidate to replace him.

Hearing this, the Ice Emperor did not even turn his head.

"Since I have already seen the Great Thousand World, I should naturally fulfill my duty."

"You are at such an age, wouldn't it be better to return to your roots?"

"Heh~"

Xiao Han could not help but laugh. Return to one's roots? Was he joking? With the former's cultivation, living another ten thousand years would be easy. Had he not seen the ancestor of the Ice Spirit Clan, also a Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign, who remained alive after tens of thousands of years?

"Returning to one's roots is fine too."

Xiao Han would not interfere much with the Ice Emperor's choice. After saying a few perfunctory words, he added,

"The Dou Qi Continent is entrusted to you; guard our home well!"

"You don't need to tell me."

Xiao Han exited the pavilion. Xiao Yan, who was waiting at the entrance, came forward and opened his mouth to speak. The former seemed to know in advance and raised a hand to stop him.

"Just accept his good intentions, don't overthink it!"

"If you truly feel bad about it, then cultivate hard. One day, when your strength is sufficient to resolve the crisis of the Dou Qi Continent, that will be the best repayment to him."

"Many thanks for the Ancestor's guidance."

Xiao Yan was silent for a moment. He was not a squeamish person and soon understood.

"It is good that you understand. Prepare yourself; we depart for the Great Thousand World in three days."

"Make all necessary preparations as soon as possible. Once we go, I fear it will take decades before we can return."

"Yes."

Three days passed in a flash without any interruptions. Langya Pavilion was much busier than usual. Xiao Han's return was no secret among the top factions of the Dou Qi Continent, and the former had even taken the initiative to invite major factions to travel to the Great Thousand World together.

As expected, the factions that received the invitation—whether they were Ancient Races, large sects, or even lone experts, Magic Beasts or Humans—none could refuse such a temptation.

Clan Leaders, Sect Masters, Supreme Elders, and the like, upon receiving the invitation, completed the selection and handover of their successors with high efficiency. Those who truly could not get away also carefully selected key juniors to be invited to visit Langya Pavilion.

In the void outside the Dou Qi Continent, Xiao Han scanned the hundred or so figures before him. Most of them were his acquaintances who had participated in the past great war against the Soul Clan.

Besides a few Dou Di experts like Xiao Yan, there were also Clan Leaders like those of the Lei and Yao clans, the Tianman Sect Master Huang Jingtian, the Puppet Saint Jiang Yu, the Heavenly Mansion's Yao Lao...

All of them were Dou Sheng experts of the middle stage or higher.

Among them, Yao Clan Leader Yao Dan, Yao Lao, and the lone expert Shennong Elder were either too old or disliked fighting and had not intended to go to the Great Thousand World; it was Xiao Han who personally "dragged them up the mountain."

For no other reason than that he quite recognized the alchemy skills of these three. If one were to ask what left the deepest impression on him from his experience in the Great Thousand World, besides strength, it was that mastering a craft was very important!

Taking himself as an example, if he had not mastered the art of setting up arrays in his spare time, how could he have integrated a super faction and gained a firm foothold in such a short time?

The current Langya Heavenly Palace was already at the forefront of the Great Thousand World in terms of Spirit Arrays. Xiao Han believed it was time to expand into other tracks, and the Dou Qi Continent, with its advanced alchemy, provided an excellent direction.

His own wife's alchemy skills were not bad, but she was ultimately unable to handle it alone. Bringing these three elders over would also add to the foundation of Langya Heavenly Palace. Of course, some of them would eventually leave, such as Yao Chen.

Xiao Han's perception was exceptionally clear. That kid Xiao Yan was not born with a temperament that could stay idle, nor was he suited to be under someone else; sooner or later, he would roam the Great Thousand World and eventually establish his own faction.

Once Xiao Yan established a faction, Yao Chen, as his teacher, would definitely go to help. Langya Heavenly Palace would certainly not be able to keep him, and then the Alchemist faction under the Heavenly Mansion, the Pill Tower, would certainly respond and follow suit.

Therefore, his targets were Yao Dan and Shennong Elder. If these two joined, and with the cooperation of Yi Huang, the alchemy department of Langya Heavenly Palace could at least achieve self-sufficiency and no longer have to look at the faces of those alchemists from the Ancient Myriad Grass Plains.

Besides this, Xiao Han was also secretly calculating to bring over old acquaintances like Jiang Yu and Huang Jingtian, letting these "specialist experts" contribute to the development of Langya Heavenly Palace's cultivation paths.

"Since you have all come today, I presume there is no need for me to explain too much."

"Let's go!"

As he spoke, Xiao Han waved his hand, and a surge of Spirit Power flowed toward the crowd. Having been informed beforehand, the group did not panic and allowed this power to envelop them. Subsequently, a stream of light escaped into the depths of space.

In the Great Thousand World, Langya Heavenly Palace remained peaceful today.

In fact, ever since Xiao Han led Langya Heavenly Palace to annihilate their neighbor, the Man Mo Clan, with thunderous momentum, the territory around Langya Heavenly Palace had been very quiet, making many Langya Heavenly Palace disciples and Elders with abundant hot-blooded factors in their bodies feel unaccustomed for a time.

Unlike the many disciples and Elders, the five great Elders in charge of Langya Heavenly Palace's affairs—Yang Ling, Tai Yun, Qian Sha, You Ye, and Liu Qingyang—were on tenterhooks all day long, fearing that the news of their Palace Master's absence would be exposed and the Outer Realm Evil Clan would take the opportunity to attack. Although the Palace Master and Elders had left behind trump cards when they departed, it was better not to use such things if possible.

"Another peaceful and comfortable day!"

Yang Ling closed the ledger in his hand with a satisfied face, leaned back, lay on the recliner, and drank tea to moisten his throat, making a sound of relief.

Langya Heavenly Palace's market was now stable. Relying on innovative Spirit Array concepts, brand-new Spirit Array products, advanced marketing concepts, and excellent service attitudes, they were well-received in the Great Thousand World's Spirit Array market, and their revenue was climbing steadily. The monthly income of Supreme Spiritual Liquid reached an astonishing three billion, which was much faster than the four sects struggling to accumulate their foundation back then!

"Old Man Yang!"

Just as Yang Ling was dreaming of Langya Heavenly Palace growing bigger and stronger, the sudden voice made his vision go dark, and his face grew long. This was the voice he least wanted to hear and the person he least wanted to see, because...

"The funds for buying Medicinal Pills this month need to be given."

A money-grubber!

Qian Sha, with an expressionless dead face, began to stare at Yang Ling, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot. It ended with Yang Ling taking the initiative to pay. Tremblingly giving out one hundred million Supreme Spiritual Liquid, Yang Ling felt his heart bleeding!

If it were not for the fact that the Palace Master valued them, and that the Langya Guard was indeed impressive and had achieved brilliant results in the great war against the Outer Realm Evil Clan, he would have long been prepared to report them and demand that their funding be cut or even that this armed force be disbanded.

The expenses of the Langya Guard were truly too great; calling it a huge sum was no exaggeration. After expansion, the expenses of the Langya Guard, with only five thousand people, accounted for one-fifth of all the hundreds of thousands of disciples and Elders of the entire Langya Heavenly Palace!

The consumption of Divine Artifacts, Spirit Arrays, and the like was secondary; the biggest expense was Medicinal Pills!

As a violent organization, the Langya Guard naturally suffered bumps and bruises during daily training. If treatment was not timely, it would result in missing limbs or lifelong disability.

Although these injuries could be treated by the disciples and Elders of the Apricot Grove Hall, the Apricot Grove Hall served the entire Langya Heavenly Palace and often had to go out on field missions, rather than being exclusive to the Langya Guard.

Its own Disciples and Elders basically came from the Medical Saint Sect of the Tianlan Continent, as for the number of people in the Medical Saint Sect...

Those who know, know!

Even if one didn't call it sparse in population, it could still be described as just a few scattered souls.

Back then, after seeing the cultivation requirements of the Medical Saint Classic, all the Elders fell silent, and even exclaimed in wonder that the Medical Saint Sect could actually recruit so many followers; there are still many good people in the world!

Given the manpower of Apricot Grove Hall, Medicinal Pills remained an important supply for the Langya Guard.

Every time this happened, besides greeting Qian Sha, who was asking him for money, in his heart, Yang Ling would curse that bunch of bastards at the Ancient Myriad Grass Plains.

As a long-established Alchemist power, the Medicinal Pill quality of the Ancient Myriad Grass Plains was extremely excellent and the first choice for major powers; the Langya Heavenly Palace was no exception, purchasing in large quantities from the Myriad Grass Plains every year, and the Langya Guard, being a major consumer of pills, even purchased them monthly.

But the Myriad Grass Plains also had the common ailment of the vast majority of Alchemist powers—arrogance!

What made Yang Ling extremely unhappy was that as a major client of the Myriad Grass Plains, not only was there no discount on purchases, but the Myriad Grass Plains manager who dealt with him always had his nostrils pointed at the sky all day, and that arrogant appearance always made one unable to resist tearing him apart.

For many years, besides attempting to cultivate Alchemists belonging to the Langya Heavenly Palace, Yang Ling had been scouring the world for talent suitable for Apricot Grove Hall.

The former had meager results, as the vast majority of Alchemists with any level of skill were unwilling to come to such a "pill-refining desert" as the Langya Heavenly Palace, and cultivating them from scratch lacked both famous teachers and heritage.

As for the latter, Yang Ling could only sigh, "The flashy world is dazzling to the eyes!"

People in the Great Thousand World were, after all, not as simple and honest as the residents of the Tianlan Continent.

The melancholy Yang Ling did not expect that his own Palace Master was also working hard for the sect's Medicinal Pill needs; this wave was a mutual rush between the organization boss and his subordinates.

Just as Yang Ling was racking his brains for the development of the Langya Heavenly Palace, the commotion outside caught his attention.