Chapter 110

Actually, the matter of establishing the four main halls was indeed a joke to some extent, but what Zhou Shuo did was just set up a framework; the personnel allocation and position assignments for the four halls still needed Li Kai to consider, which is also his purpose—if Zhou Shuo could do everything himself, what would he need this little brother for?

Li Kai also had a very clear understanding of his own position; Zhou Shuo saved his wife and daughter, fulfilled his love, and now gave him such a major undertaking, which also completed his career—love and career are the two pursuits of a man's life, and Zhou Shuo has helped him achieve both, so what reason does he have not to give his all?

Zhou Shuo didn't interfere with Li Kai's work, leaving him to handle things as he saw fit; he merely kept the two enchantresses, Madame Mingzhu and Yan Lingji, by his side, plus Nongyu—these three are his personal attendants who obey his direct orders, though they are also subordinates, they do not hold hall-master posts, so naturally he finds some idle tasks for them to do.

Even when he first entered this world, Zhou Shuo had already made a deal with Liushā and the Qijue Hall, using their channels to stockpile a large amount of treasures—nothing more than spiritual medicines, strange metals, and martial arts manuals, etc., not counting living things that couldn't be brought; several large wagons were transported from Xinzheng, and Zhou Shuo handed all these treasures over to the three women to manage, while also telling them to keep an eye out for similar items to collect for him, women being meticulous, just right for the job.

After the Fangsheng Pavilion underwent one reform and expansion, handling affairs became swift; soon Li Kai also arranged all personnel matters properly, and additionally bought several large ships from Daliang, loading the willing brothers and various supplies onto them, with Zhou Shuo leading the fleet directly via water to the Yellow River, then north along the river to Zhao State, while he himself led people overland eastward to Qi State.

After a nine‑day stay in Daliang, Zhou Shuo took his people aboard ship and set off, while Li Kai remained in Daliang, with Lady Hu accompanying him; Dian Qing and Suo Yi stayed behind to assist, whereas Nongyu, Ye Jiejie, Lady Mingzhu, and Yan Lingji followed Zhou Shuo northward, tasked with helping him manage miscellaneous affairs.

Zhou Shuo used his divine sense to turn into a dark wind, directly leading several large ships into the Yellow River, then sailing upstream; in less than a day he covered a distance that would take at least ten days by land. After replenishing supplies in Gaotang, Qi State, he hoisted sail and went out to sea, then continued north along the coast, entering Yan State via the Guanwater inlet, passing through Luyang to reach Shanggu of Yan State; once they crossed Yan State's Zhaoyang Great Wall, they would be in the territory of the northern wolf tribes.

In Zhaoyang of Yan State, Zhou Shuo heard the news that Zhao's Handan had been breached by the Qin general Wang Jian leading his army; Zhao's territory was vast, and although it had not been outright annexed like Han, this was merely a matter of time. Since Yan and Zhao are neighbors, there was a sudden panic within Yan's borders, fearing they might become Qin's next target.

Regardless of whether Qin's target was Yan, Zhou Shuo accelerated his actions; after acquiring sufficient horses, carriages, and grain from Zhaoyang, he crossed the Yan Great Wall himself and entered the northern wolf tribes' territory, where the mountains and rivers gradually flattened, endless expanses of lush green grass stretching to the horizon, making one feel refreshed and exhilarated.

Refreshment aside, after leaving Zhaoyang and entering the grasslands, Zhou Shuo walked deeper into the northern borders while his subordinates scouted; they finally settled on a spacious, waterside plain and began constructing a settlement. During this process Zhou Shuo inevitably employed some cheat‑like abilities, purchasing large quantities of cement, steel plates, etc., from the modern world and transporting them via his divine soul to the Qin era for use.

After spending over three months on and off, Zhou Shuo finally settled his subordinates, sent people to inform Li Kai and the others in the south, entrusted various matters to Ye Jiejie and Nongyu, then left this world; although being the boss was fun, the responsibilities of a leader were also a headache, keeping him constantly on the move—he couldn't even cultivate, only occasionally sacrificing and refining his sword implements.

"Being alone and free is nice; being the boss isn't easy!" Zhou Shuo gazed at the scenery of Longhu Mountain in the world of the gifted, couldn't help sighing, then took out the phone Lü Liang had given him earlier, checked the missed calls and messages—basically all from Lü Liang and Xia Liuqing, and only those two knew his number.

"Huh, the Heavenly Master is hunting us down—I shit, Zhang Zhiwei is shameless!" Zhou Shuo quickly skimmed a few congratulatory messages from Lü Liang and Xia Liuqing about obtaining the Heaven's Tome, then upon seeing a message from Lü Liang he was startled:

The Heavenly Master has launched a full‑scale hunt against us; everyone is a target—you must hide well.

The eminent figures of the gifted world, one of the Ten Elders, Tian Tong Daoist Zhang Zhiwei, the head of the Heavenly Master's mansion, a centenarian Heavenly Master, is conducting a full‑scale purge of the Quanxing members—this is truly throwing caution to the wind. Zhou Shuo felt his eyebrows twitch upon reading this, but then thought that Quanxing had indeed gone overboard, stirring up Longhu Mountain like that and even causing the death of his junior disciple Tian Jinzhong; pursuing them a bit is understandable, but making everyone a target is excessive—even someone like me, who's done nothing wrong, gets caught up!

After finishing reading the message, Zhou Shuo tried calling Lü Liang's number, but all he got was a buzzing sound, then a clear prompt: 'The number you dialed is not in service area.' He guessed Lü Liang was probably on the run from the hunt and hoped he wouldn't die; since he couldn't get through, he decided to try calling Xia Lao Tou instead.

"Hello, who's this?" Xia Lao Tou's phone was answered almost immediately, and an aged voice came through.

"Elder Xia, you're there! It's me, Xiao Zhou." Upon hearing the call connect, Zhou Shuo breathed a sigh of relief and greeted him with a smile.

"Xiao Zhou… who are you? Wrong number." The voice on the phone paused for a moment, sounding a bit confused.

"Hey, don't be like that, old man—I'm Zhou Shuo, the promising youth you met with on Longhu Mountain last time; is Balun with you right now?" Hearing the voice on the phone, Zhou Shuo hurried to explain.

"A promising youth? You little brat really know how to pat yourself on the back—I called you and you didn't answer, afraid I'd covet your Heaven's Tome? Now you suddenly remember me and want Balun?" The voice on the phone exploded in a tirade; he clearly remembered Zhou Shuo, had just been pretending not to know, and was angry that Zhou Shuo hadn't picked up his call.

"Nothing of the sort—I've been hiding in the mountains, my phone had no signal; I only just came out today and saw the missed call and message. If you want the Heaven's Tome, I'll bring it another day—I don't care for it myself, I only got it by luck. I'm not looking for Balun; I'm looking for you, because I heard the Heavenly Master is hunting everyone of us—what's the situation?" Zhou Shuo held the phone a bit away and chuckled while explaining.

"How is it? Never mind him, just worry about hiding yourself and staying out of sight—by the way, where are you now?" Xia Lao Tou's tone was sour and schadenfreude; the mess Quanxing made, getting hunted is what they deserve.

"Longhu Mountain!" Zhou Shuo understood Xia Lao Tou's implication, didn't say more, but looked at the distant temple on the mountain, gave his location, and the other end fell silent for a moment before a sentence slowly came through.

"Nice work, kid—you've got a trick up your sleeve; Tian Tong Daoist and Lu Jin probably never imagined you'd be on Longhu Mountain even if they racked their brains."

"I'm tired of staying on Longhu Mountain—where are you? I'll come find you. I originally wanted to look for Lü Liang, but his phone is unreachable; he's probably being hunted to death." Hearing Xia Lao Tou's voice, Zhou Shuo let out a wry laugh; in fact he was hiding in another world—Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Jin wouldn't know, and even if they did they couldn't catch him.

"If you dare, come to Liupanshui to find me; register a WeChat and I'll share my location directly."

"Alright, no problem—I'll register right away, old man, wait a moment!" Upon hearing Xia Lao Tou's words, Zhou Shuo quickly ended the call, registered and logged into WeChat on his phone, then added contacts; his phone's address book now had just three people: Xia Lao Tou, Lü Liang, and Wang Ye.

"Tsk, Liupanshui in Guizhou is still quite a distance from Jiangxi—no planes, no trains." Looking at the location Xia Lao Tou had just shared, Zhou Shuo couldn't help curling his lips; with the Heavenly Master's mansion hunting Quanxing members, if he showed up at a Jiangxi train station or airport he'd surely be spotted, and even if he could take a plane or train he lacks the money, but fortunately he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Fortunately, aside from doing manual labor these days, I haven't come away empty‑handed." After glancing at the shared location, Zhou Shuo zoomed in on the map a bit, examined the route, then drew the long narrow sword at his waist; a flash of cold light shot up into the air.

At this moment the long narrow sword's blade could no longer be seen clearly; its entire body was enveloped in a layer of light that was bluish‑white, which was the sword's aura—similar to the sword light emitted by the Panhuang Spirit Sword inside the champion's body back then, only weaker in power, but Zhou Shuo believed that given time he could train the sword's aura of the long narrow blade to catch up to that of his opponent.

Zhou Shuo lifted the long narrow sword into the air, extending its blade sideways; although the sword itself was only three feet long and nine tenths of an inch wide, its body was completely wrapped in a substantive bluish‑white interwoven light, which spread out flat, instantly becoming nine feet long and nine inches wide. Zhou Shuo leapt onto it, placed his feet on the sword light, and the floating sword in mid‑air first dipped downward, but as his will stirred it rose again, gradually climbing higher and higher.

"Good." Feeling the long sword supporting his weight, Zhou Shuo couldn't help feeling his blood surge; this was his first attempt at sword‑flight, a dream of soaring through the azure void that was now about to become reality.

"Come on, whoa." As Zhou Shuo watched the view rise higher, his excitement surged; he instantly directed his will to launch the sword, but suddenly, off‑guard, the sword light shot away like a wisp of smoke, while he himself was yanked off the blade by wind and gravity, falling straight to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.