Chapter 21

I used to have the ability to send you to a martial arts school?

Reasonable! Very reasonable!

"Boss, I'm Ghost Foot. I've trained in leg techniques for years—whatever you order, I'll do."

I've figured it out.

Primary Loyalty members may be strong, but they lack special skills; Intermediate Loyalty members, built upon the foundation of Primary Loyalty, each possess their own unique abilities.

He turned his gaze to the last man.

The man looked simple-minded, yet he was the bulkiest of them all, holding a massive iron hammer that seemed capable of killing a man with a single strike.

"Boss, I'm Hammerhead. I haven't trained in any martial arts—just spent years forging iron. Hope you won't reject me."

He was the bulkiest, yet the only one among the three who had never trained in martial arts.

"Forging iron?"

Yet Ye Tian's interest in him grew even stronger.

"Can you forge weapons?"

"Of course I can," Hammerhead replied without hesitation, nodding naturally.

Ye Tian's eyes lit up further, and he immediately drew his Bǎi Duàn Dāo from his waist.

"Can you forge this?"

Hammerhead did not answer immediately; after taking the Bǎi Duàn Dāo, he examined it closely.

"What a fine blade!"

From Hammerhead's perspective, he could instantly tell this was an exceptionally high-quality blade. He tapped the blade's back twice with his finger before returning the Bǎi Duàn Dāo to Ye Tian.

"I can forge it, but it will require a lot of materials and take a great deal of time."

In other words, as long as the materials are sufficient, it can be forged.

"Hahaha!"

Hearing Hammerhead's reply, Ye Tian laughed even more contentedly.

"You don't need to forge it to this quality—just match this shape. As long as it won't break easily, that's enough."

The Tang Heng Dao's shape is among the most aesthetically pleasing of all blade designs, favored by many.

"No problem at all!"

Hammerhead immediately agreed. If he didn't need to match the Bǎi Duàn Dāo's quality, such a blade would be easy for him to forge.

"Good, good, good! With three brothers helping me, I'm like a tiger with wings!"

The weapons trade, in this era, is still highly profitable.

The only issue is finding iron ore—but Mei Yongning told me the Black Water Gang has halls selling iron ore. With Hammerhead, Ye Tian can fully develop his own weapons business.

As for Iron Fist and Ghost Foot, both are martial artists whose skills far exceed those of ordinary Fist Masters.

"You two follow me for now. As for Hammerhead, in a few days I'll build a forge specifically for you."

"At your command, Boss!"

All three had no objections.

,,,

The next day, at noon.

Lei Tang and his group emerged from a tavern, surrounding an elderly man.

As expected, by the next day, Red Snake arrived with men to negotiate. But the reason was clear: it was Poison Fang who first killed Lei Tang's nephew Lei Lu, triggering everything that followed.

Even though Red Snake came in a fury, he gained nothing from the peace talks.

It took over an hour to finally end the discussion.

"Hall Master, I..."

Lei Tang was about to speak, but the Old Hall Master raised his hand to stop him.

"Lei Tang, I won't be Hall Master much longer. If you truly want this position, you'd better behave yourself during this time."

At his age, even sitting for an hour made every part of his body ache—he simply couldn't deny he was growing old.

Without giving Lei Tang a single good look, he walked away.

Only Lei Tang remained standing there dumbfounded. The few men around the Old Hall Master cast mocking glances at him—they were all Head Bosses under the Old Hall Master, just like Lei Tang.

They too coveted the Hall Master position. Reducing a rival by one would make them ecstatic.

"Damn it!"

Only after everyone had left did Lei Tang mutter bitterly.

"Let's go find Ye Tian."

Lei Tang was seething with rage and had no one else to vent to—so he turned to the "mastermind" behind it all: Ye Tian.

Wang Hu, standing nearby, didn't hesitate—he hurried after him.

,,,

At the same time.

Mei Yongning, who had not slept all night, handed Ye Tian a neatly organized ledger.

This was the financial record of all territories Ye Tian now controlled, including the recently seized territory of Poison Fang—Mei Yongning had spent an entire night compiling it.

"These days, the most profitable business is always the brothels."

After this period of study, Ye Tian could now mostly read the characters of this era.

The ledger clearly showed that the bulk of profits came from the three brothels, especially Yùxuě Lóu, which earned over a hundred taels—and sometimes nearly a thousand—each month.

It seemed these people would go to brothels even if they had to forgo food and drink.

Next in profit came the gambling dens.

"Now all these money-making places belong to Boss."

Mei Yongning, standing to the side, said with a smile.

"Still have to split with others."

Ye Tian wasn't all that happy. Just thinking about this split was irritating—damn it, eighty-twenty, and one-tenth of that had to go to supporting the subordinates, meaning he could only take one-tenth. Whoever set this rule in the first place, how come they weren't hanged at the city gate?

Forget it, he'd already prepared the dirty money anyway.

After closing the account book, seeing Mei Yongning looking like he hadn't rested well and was out of sorts, he smiled and offered a word of comfort.

"This is only the beginning. Rest well. I don't want our territory to keep growing, only for you to be gone."

This sentence also showed Ye Tian's ambition—he would absolutely never stand still.

After understanding the meaning, Mei Yongning only felt his spirit lift.

"Don't worry, Boss. I'll rest well."

"Mm!"

He nodded, just about to say something.

But at that moment, Xiao Cao's figure suddenly came running over in a fluster.

"O-outside someone broke in, they-they're so fierce."

Looking at Xiao Cao's appearance, she seemed to have been scared.

"Ye Tian! Where's Ye Tian!"

Just from hearing this voice, Ye Tian guessed who it was.

"Boss."

Mei Yongning beside him was a little worried.

Ye Tian, however, gave a reassuring look, then walked over with a smile to greet them.

"Didn't expect Big Brother Lei to grace us with his presence. My apologies for not welcoming you from farther away."

The one who came was none other than the aggressively imposing Lei Tang. Wang Hu beside him was also staring fiercely at Ye Tian. Although he admired Ye Tian's strength, if Ye Tian had offended Lei Tang, Wang Hu would kill him without hesitation.

"Don't fucking pull that crap with me."

Facing Ye Tian's warm greeting, Lei Tang didn't give him any face at all, stepping forward ready to make a move.

But the next moment.

The figures of Iron Fist and Ghost Leg had, at some unknown time, blocked themselves in front of Ye Tian. Their sturdy bodies stood rooted like iron towers, looking down at Lei Tang.

Big Brother Lei? They didn't know him.

For Iron Fist and Ghost Leg, as long as Ye Tian gave the word, they'd dare to make a move at the first instant.

"You—!"

The gap in their builds made Lei Tang involuntarily take two steps back.

Where the hell did these bears come from.

"What do you want to do? Insult your superior?!"

Feeling he'd lost face, Lei Tang appeared even more furious.

,,,,,,,