Realms In The Firmament

Ye Xiao stared at Du Qingkuang and blandly said, “I know that you don’t feel good about it. I understand. When a man falls in love, he can’t help but follow the feeling in his heart. However, you must understand that the woman you love doesn’t love you back. It means you are never going to get what you truly want. You should understand that your big brother and the lady have wasted so many years just to protect you…”

“There is something we should never do. Everything has a bottom line. If you go extreme, things will get extremely back on you.”

“What does a man care the most? I don’t think I need to give you the answer. As a man, if somebody chases after my woman, and never stops, I will do whatever I have to kill him!”

“However, you guys have been getting along well with each other because they care about you. You are their brother, and they care about you and the relationship with you.”

“Du Qingkuang, it is your right to love somebody, but it doesn’t make you more important than anybody. It doesn’t mean people should always step back for you and your love. Nobody has to sacrifice themselves to give you what you want, especially not your respected big brother and your beloved lady!”

“I shouldn’t have said too much because it is something between your brothers, but we are like a family now, since you decided to join the Monarch’s Hall. I don’t want to see any problem between any two members of my family.”

Ye Xiao nodded and said, “Tonight, I will hold a feast to welcome you, to celebrate the fact that you have officially joined the Monarch’s Hall. I hope you will think it through, Du Qingkuang. I will be glad to hear about it!”

Ye Xiao paused and said, “Old Lei, Lady Feng’er, please come to me before the feast. As a witness at your wedding, I have a present for you!”

After that, Ye Xiao left and walked somewhere else.

On the other side, Master Guan, the old man, Guan Tiemian, was putting in the information about the new members into a book. His disciples were helping him…

After that, they had finished collecting the basic information about the newly recruited members. It was only the basic information, and what next was to put down the experiences of every member in their lives before joining the Monarch’s Hall…

Who were these people’s enemies?

Who might become their enemies?

Monarch’s Hall had to keep the information up to date.

Lei Dongtian and the other four men did not say a word, just saw Ye Xiao off.

Du Qingkuang kept his head low. He was like a sculpture, completely lost in liveliness and hope.

Lei Dongtian and Feng’er seemed to be worried. They felt guilty.

The pure love between a man and a woman was the most beautiful thing in the world, but it was not anymore if there was guilt in it…

The other two brothers were staring at Du Qingkuang.

The youngest brother, Xiao Fei, who had asked Ye Xiao for help, went mad while staring at Du Qingkuang. He said angrily, “Brother, what is this? Why do you look like a dead man now? Do you want your big brother and sister Feng’er to feel guilty for the rest of their lives? You are being pretentious! Is it what a brother should do? Is this what you do for the man who has cared for you all these years? Do you have a human heart? Or do you use your heart on plotting others…”

Du Qingkuang was shaken.

“Xiao Fei!” Lei Dongtian shouted to stopped Xiao Fei.

Du Qingkuang raised his head and started to smile bitterly.

He didn’t say anything and just kept his head low, not because he was pretentious, but he was shocked by something Ye Xiao had said!

“Du Qingkuang, it is your right to love somebody, but it doesn’t make you more important than anybody. It doesn’t mean people should always step back for you and your love. Nobody has to sacrifice themselves to give you what you want, especially not your respected big brother and your beloved lady!”

What Ye Xiao said made Du Qingkuang feel like it was burning inside his body.

The same words kept resounding in his ears.

For the first time, he finally realized how dishonorable and selfish he was.

“Brother, my lady, Du Qingkuang wishes you two the best. May happiness be with you forever.” Du Qingkuang stood up, bitterly smiled, but then the smile became casual. He said, “There are two things I want you to do for me.”

“What are they?” Lei Dongtian asked, “No matter what they are, just tell us.”

“You two finally found your happiness in marriage. I am so jealous. There is one thing I need your help with. Please, help me find a good girl. When I am married, I won’t be jealous of you anymore…”

He laughed at himself and said, “I think I can trust you about it, my lady.”

Feng’er felt relieved. She said, “I was worried. It turns out to be just that. I will do it even if you don’t ask me to.”

The others all smiled. It became more harmonious now.

“The second thing is simple. I am sure you will agree.” Du Qingkuang raised his head and said, “When you have your children, I want to be their first godfather! That is not a problem, is it?”

The other two brothers abruptly stood up and said angrily, “Pah! No way! How could you? Why do you get to be the first godfather? We are all their father’s good brothers! You shameless prick! How could you ask for that? Just give it up now!”

“I am older than both of you! That’s why! If there is anything you want to do, do it. Otherwise, go away!” Du Qingkuang said loudly, “Just get the f*ck out of here! I am talking to my big brother and the lady! What is wrong with you two?”

“Pah! We are the children’s uncles! We do not agree with what you asked!” The two of them stared at Du Qingkuang. There were no children at all, yet they were ready to have a big fight about it now.

“Well, guys… Let’s not make any reckless moves… We don’t have children yet.” Feng’er blushed. ‘We haven’t married yet! How could you keep talking about we, having our children.’ She was always a straightforward lady, but now she was bashful. She wanted to say something more, but couldn’t think of a word.

Lei Dongtian and the other three brothers were all shocked because they had never seen Feng’er like this…

Feng’er was suddenly enlightened, so she said, “It is not our decision to make now… If we are going to have children, whoever gives the best gift to the children will be their first godfather! If you think you can be the first godfather by giving some touching speech now, you are wrong!”

The three men all said, “Okay! It’s a deal! Who gives the best gift will be the first godfather!”

Du Qingkuang laughed and said, “You two little bastards! You are definitely not as rich as I am!”

The other two didn’t agree. “It is the meaning of the gift that matters! You can give them a mountain of purple spirit coins, but it is not the best!”

Lei Dongtian shook his head and sighed. “It is true that the meaning of the gift matters, but if any of you gives us a mountain of purple spirit coins, I will be so touched! Who will not?”

That was such a harmonious circumstance because even Lei Dongtian started to make jokes, and he was usually solemn!

Xiao Fei and Huo Qun both said, “Hey, stay out of this, big brother! This is not for you! How can you be bought over by just a mountain of purple spirit coins?”

Du Qingkuang laughed and said, “It turns out a mountain of purple spirit coins is good enough! I am going to win. The two little bastards together don’t have as much money as I do. Now we have joined the Monarch’s Hall, so we are going to earn a fortune soon. One mountain of purple spirit coins is easy! I am going to be the first godfather for sure!”

Xiao Fei and Huo Qun both said, “You wish! We can make money too! Humph! We are all working for Master Ye now, and we are at the same starting line. You think you are going to win, but you are wrong. One of us is going to be the first godfather, not you…”

While talking and laughing with the other guys, Du Qingkuang felt that the darkest part inside him was slowly going away.

It was like the dark clouds scattering in the shining sun!

It was all gone!

As the negative feelings were gone, Du Qingkuang felt much more relieved and delighted.

Although he still felt upset, he wasn’t desperate anymore. Moreover, he didn’t want to do anything stupid to ruin others’ happiness anymore.

‘If the person I love lives in happiness, I am in happiness!’

Everybody felt his sincerity, so they all forgot about what had happened.

Finally, they were like a family again.

For all those years, these people felt depressed all the time. They all knew why, but they had to pretend they didn’t. Time and time again, they pretended nothing happened… Now, it was all gone.

“We should free ourselves in drinks. Three happy things are happening. We have to get drunk for that…” Lei Dongtian was so excited. He was always the most serious and steadiest one, so it was rare that he asked for drinks.

“No way! Is drinking good for your health? No! You can’t get drunk!” Feng’er said angrily, but everybody knew she was caring.

They all laughed. “Big brother, you are such a poor thing. For the first time you ask for drinks, you got forbidden by your wife… You are in trouble marrying a woman like that. Hah hah… Oh, no. I think I am never going to get married…”

Du Qingkuang pretended to be scared, said, “Oh, no… That’s so scary… I am blessed not to marry Feng’er… It turns out she is so terrible… She didn’t look anything like this at all…”

Feng’er raged up and pretended to be mad at the guys.

“Hah hah…” They kept laughing.

Somebody suddenly said, “Well, that is a good idea. When you have a child, whoever gives the best gift becomes the first godfather. Everybody can join the competition, right? I am in.”

The five people looked over and saw the Dark Evil Spirit speaking!

Du Qingkuang and the other two guys said loudly, “Go away! It is among the three of us! What the hell are you here for?”

The Dark Evil Spirit shook his head and said, “Come on, I heard it. It is my right to join. I think you will all lose it. To win the title, you must be rich. I am the most important man to Master Ye. Heh heh…”

Then he left casually.

The three guys all started to scold him. However, they were worried. ‘If he is in, it won’t be a good thing for us. He follows Master Ye for the longest time after all…’

…

“I, Meng Youjiang, will lead the five thousand disciples of the Dark Wind Mountain to join the Monarch’s Hall!” Apparently, Meng Youjiang had made up his mind.

He couldn’t wait to say the words before when Ye Xiao approached.

“Five thousand?” Ye Xiao was shocked by the number.

‘He said three thousand and six hundred… How come it is five thousand now?’

‘That is expanding fast…’

‘Well, whatever…’

‘Am I going to have so many men working for me now?’

Looking at the construction work that was almost finished, Ye Xiao felt worried.

It seemed this place was not going to be big enough…

There were nearly four hundred people who were joining the Monarch’s Hall. Ye Xiao only saved forty-eight people, but these people’s friends and brothers had joined the Monarch’s Hall as well.

That was quite a lot. If five thousand more people were coming, this place would be stuffed!

Meng Youjiang laughed when he saw Ye Xiao’s expression. “Master Ye, don’t worry, please. I can’t let them all come to this place. Only a few important figures will come. The rest of the five thousand people will stay in the Dark Wind Mountain, as a branch of the Monarch’s Hall. They will be under your command.”

Ye Xiao felt relieved, and he said, “It is quite a good idea. In fact, you don’t need to let anyone come. Just give me information about every man in the Dark Wind Mountain, and we will pick a few men and tell them to come. We need people who are perfect for the position available here.”

“I see. You will get the report later.” Meng Youjiang nodded.

Ye Xiao rubbed his temples. He finally knew how difficult it was to run an organization. He was exhausted.

Guan Tiemian had brought his men to work on daily matters, but now they needed more people.

…

“Master Guan, do you think we can get more people to work for us?” Ye Xiao talked to Guan Tiemian. “I think we need more men here.”

Guan Tiemian was worrying as well. The Monarch’s Hall was definitely a new force in the world, yet it already had so many people join the league. Those were all capable cultivators. There was even an entire organization who had decided to join them. That was incredible.

Guan Tiemian had experienced a lot in the world, but he was still shocked. Suddenly, he couldn’t think of anything to do.

However, he was an experienced man in the martial world. Although he was weak, he was much more profound and intelligent than many high-level cultivators. After a while, he finally figured out the situation, and he said, “I can get us more men, but I need to know how many men can you take. I wonder if you can take all the men that I am going to recruit.”

Ye Xiao’s eyes lit up, and he said, “What do you mean, Master Guan? How many people? Where are they?”

Master Guan rubbed the long beard of himself and said with a smile, “Well, I should start with the changes that happened in the city lately. The governor’s house was changed because of the prohibition. The house became useless for the city.

“People who used to work in the governor’s house, the officials, have gone all back home and have nothing to do for a living.

“There are no high-level cultivators among these people, but they are good at many other things, finance, politics, the matter of law, and all other stuff… They know everything.”

“There are a lot of them there. If we only recruit the most capable ones, we can get thousands of them.”

“To recruit all these people, you need more cultivators for these people to serve.” Master Guan seemed to be excited. He said, “After all, these people used to manage the city of a thousand million people…”

“However, young master, you have less than ten thousand…”

Ye Xiao was still smiling, but he was smiling bitterly.

He could recruit all those officials because he had enough money to pay them. Even if he had run out of money, he could sell the metals in the Boundless Space for more money… He could hire as many people as there were with the money…

Those officials weren’t useless after all. They were all capable of something, and their capabilities could help the Monarch’s Hall. It was the right thing to do to recruit these people!

However, did he need to lead such a big group of people so soon?

After all, if he hired all those people, he would be like building a kingdom!

Those people were officials in the City of Chaos, and the City of Chaos was definitely like a kingdom, not a small one!

Guan Tiemian half-closed his eyes, looking at Ye Xiao. He was calm, and he just wanted to know what Ye Xiao was thinking.

He was testing the young master…

Ye Xiao frowned. He was lost in thoughts, so he didn’t pay attention to Guan Tiemian.

He was thinking about what should do and how big the organization should become…

Master Guan looked at Ye Xiao’s face. Ye Xiao didn’t say anything or made any choices, so Master Guan was a bit disappointed.

He blandly said, “Well, if you are worried that too many people in the management system will cause redundancy, we can just hire dozens more. It should be enough for now anyway.”

Ye Xiao was still silent, as if he didn’t hear Master Guan at all, or didn’t agree with him at all.

Guan Tiemian seemed to be more disappointed.

‘I am surprised that he doesn’t have the courage… Is he even a member of the great Ye Clan? How is this going to lead us to glory? Did I make the wrong choice to follow him… Why did I follow a short-sighted, narrow-minded, and cowardly master?’

After a while, Ye Xiao took a deep breath and said, “I believe you, Master Guan. Those men used to work for the government of the City of Chaos. They must be some capable men… After all, they are definitely experienced in managing a large amount of people…”

“Qiu Luo!”

Ye Xiao gave an order.

“I am here!”

“Go to the Brotherhood Alliance and tell them we are buying all the lands around this. Money is not a problem. The first thing to do is to broaden the territory of the Monarch’s Hall.”

“Yes! Master!”

Qiu Luo said in confusion, “You are always right, Master, but the City of Chaos is in the middle of a great disturbance. We are in the city, and we are not controlling a big area, so the Brotherhood Alliance thinks we are just a small sect. In fact, because we are only their client, they won’t go against us…”

“If we broaden the land to a huge scale, we will be threatening the Brotherhood Alliance’s leadership in this area. Even though we are not going to challenge them, they will take it as a challenge anyway… I think the Brotherhood Alliance will not be happy. If they are aiming at us, it won’t be easy for us to live through the coming days…”

Ye Xiao said, “I know what worries you. We are new, so we shouldn’t offend any of the old influential forces. Now, think. What is next to us?”

“The Brotherhood Alliance has taken the east of the city, so it won’t be easy to take over the territory from the east. The west belongs to the House of Chaotic Storms. They seem to have enough territory, so they will focus on defending their territory. We won’t get anything from the west. The south was taken over by the Hall of Returning Nature. The Xie League was taking somewhere in the south as well. The Thousand Sabers Alliance are fighting against some other forces for the north, which means the north of the city is the weakest…”

Ye Xiao nodded and said, “Assemble our men later, and I need you to pick the most capable ones among them.”

“We must take over some places from other forces little by little!”

Ye Xiao’s eyes looked vicious.

“The men who used to work for the government, I want them all!” Ye Xiao took a deep breath and said, “Not just the leaders, but also the other officials. I want them all!

“If any of them are people of bad conduct, we sack them, and the rest of them are all welcomed to join us! We need all of these people to build the best management system in the Monarch’s Hall!”

As Ye Xiao said so, Master Guan was shocked. He kept both eyes wide open. He was astonished.

He had just complained about it, yet suddenly Ye Xiao proved him wrong by doing something extraordinarily brave!