Realms In The Firmament

Meng Youjiang waited for a while. When his wife was gone, he fiercely said in a low voice, “You stupid woman! I will beat you up to death! She used to be unbelievably obedient to me… I have no idea why she acted like that… Ah, it must be the medicine… Listen to her nonsense. She talked like she was the best… Hah hah… I didn’t want to hurt her in front of others. If we were at home…”

He humphed and turned around. He looked at his subordinates and said, “You must listen to me, brothers! A man should always be strict with his wife, or she will go crazy. Because you are all here, I didn’t want to humiliate her. When I get home tonight, she will beg for my forgiveness!”

The others rolled their eyes, looking at the sky and then looking down at the floor. Some of them couldn’t stop twisting their lips. Nobody dared to look Meng Youjiang in the eyes.

‘Is this… really the head of our department?’

‘Come on… What a coward!’

‘He didn’t dare to make a sound when his wife is around. Now he pretends to be like the strongest when his wife left… Listen to him… That’s absurd…’

‘Nobody believes that!’

“Pah!”

Somebody couldn’t help spitting on the floor to show disdain…

“Who was it?” Meng Youjiang was not feeling well about it. As somebody frankly showed disdain, he was furious, so he shouted and said, “Who spat? Stand out now!”

The subordinates were all shocked.

‘The master acts like a powerless worm in front of his wife, yet a powerful dragon in front of us…’

Finally, the guy who spat was recognized. It was the Old Worm…

The Old Worm lowered his head but didn’t feel guilty at all.

He couldn’t help spitting to the floor, and he thought nobody would notice. However, he was wrong…

“Speak! Why did you spit?”

“I… Well… My throat is itchy…”

“Bullsh*t! I want the truth!”

“I… I… I… Hm… You are such a great man, my lord, and I saw just the best of you. Boiling blood filled my chest, and I was so inspired. I don’t know what to say because I am not that well educated. All the words that I wanted to say to praise you are in that spit! I was simply showing my admiration to you…”

The others were all impressed by the Old Worm’s incredible capability of lying. He said it like it was the sincerest voice from the bottom of his heart!

“Holy hell! Do you think I am stupid? I know you are lying! You think I don’t know, don’t you? Bastard! Did your family teach you to show your respect and admiration by spitting?” Meng Youjiang raged up and said, “Oh, fine! Let me give you some reward then! Go to the Department of Penalty, and you are going to get ten whippings!”

“My lord… I just spat to the floor. That is it! What have I done wrong?”

“Humph… Are you trying to argue? You disrespect your superior by spitting… That is unforgivable…” Meng Youjiang got a chance to vent the anger in his chest, so he wouldn’t easily let it go. “Ten whippings! Do not miss even one!”

When he said it, a prime master of the other sect happened to walk over. As he heard Meng Youjiang, he was terrified.

‘Isn’t the Monarch’s Hall too strict? That is brutal!’

‘That man only spat in front of the others, and that brought him ten whippings. Really?’

‘If we…’

‘Well…’

‘I can’t imagine it.’

‘It may not kill us, but we will be severely injured for sure! That is totally murder!’

“Please, who is Leader Meng?” He asked.

“What? I am!” Meng Youjiang was still angry, and he turned around staring at the prime master. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The prime master was shocked by the murderous qi that hit him in the face. He nearly pissed himself. ‘This is not nice… He wants to kill me… Is he going to kill me and take my territory?’

“I… I am the owner of those houses… I am here to talk about the deal… Please… Are you available now?” ‘Oh, my heavens… I guess I shouldn’t do more useless talking… I should just tell him what I want frankly.’

‘He may cut me into halves if I try to take advantage of him… I can’t give him the reason to kill me. I must stay low… The most important thing is to stay alive.’

“Hmm?” Meng Youjiang widely opened his eyes.

He looked at the prime master, who was as cowardly as a little bird. He was confused. ‘I was going to talk to him… Why does he come first? Does he want to let go of his land so eagerly?’

“I wonder how much you are going to pay for our place…” The prime master affably asked. He had to ask because he had no idea how much Meng Youjiang was willing to offer him. He thought he shouldn’t ask for more than Meng Youjiang was willing to pay because that might get himself killed immediately.

“Hmm?” Meng Youjiang frowned and thought. ‘How much? My wife told me that ten thousand purple spirit coins were too much…’

The prime master’s face turned colorless.

‘Please, say something… How do I know what that means if you don’t say a word? Just give me a number and I will agree… Come on…’

“How much do you want?” Meng Youjiang squinted at him, waiting for the seller to make a price.

Some leaders of the twelve units wanted to laugh, but they didn’t dare. Nobody wanted to be punished like the Old Worm. ‘Leader Meng fears for his wife, and we all know it. That is not all. He doesn’t want others to know that he fears for his wife. He is angry, so we should better not to rile him.’

“That is…”

‘How can I make a price? I don’t dare! I am asking you to name a price. Just give me anything, and I will say yes! Why don’t you just say it?!’

“How about one thousand?” Meng Youjiang half-closed his eyes.

“One thousand? What?” The prime master kept his eyes widely open.

‘That is what I am worried about… This is an absurd price…’

The prime master really wanted to say something, but only dared to think in his head. ‘Those are two compounds and four houses over there, with a big square in the middle… There are several mansions with shops on the first floor… I have spent so much and overcome so many difficulties to get all these… It is a great fortune we are talking about!’

‘One thousand? Come on! Even five hundred thousand is not enough!’

However, Meng Youjiang seemed to be impatient, and his subordinates looked fierce and tough. They could plunder everything from him.

The prime master was a smart guy, so he knew what that meant.

He knew the expression in the subordinates’ eyes. When people were snatching credits from each other, they showed that eye-expression… It meant if he dared to say no, one of those people would cut his head off for the credit…

‘I don’t want to be somebody else’s spoils…’

The prime master was moaning in his own head.

“One thousand purple spirit coins… What? Don’t you like it? Aren’t you satisfied with it?” Meng Youjiang tried to smile, then pretended to be nice and friendly. ‘She is wrong. What she said doesn’t make sense. Look at this guy. He doesn’t want to sell the place for such a low price. So obvious… Well, let me try ten thousand. If he doesn’t accept ten thousand, I will raise the price. I am just doing everybody does in negotiation…’

When he was about to say something, the prime master suddenly shook his hand and shakily said, “That sounds great… One thousand… I would like to sell my place! I would love to! The Monarch’s Hall is so generous… Just as I expected!”

Meng Youjiang was shocked.

‘What the hell… You accept one thousand, huh? Do you really think we are generous to give you just one thousand?’

‘What the hell is this? Why?’

The prime master was bleeding with pain in his heart. ‘F*cking bloody hell… I don’t want to accept it, but I have no choice, do I? Look at your bloody smile… It is just so scary! You are going to kill me!’

‘I don’t care now… Just spare my life, and I will even agree to give you one thousand back…’

‘What does money mean to me if I am dead?’

“Really? Just one thousand?”

“One thousand!”

“Are you sure?”

“I am very sure!”

“Well then… Can you move out today?”

“Today?”

“Yes. Can you?”

“Well… Yes, I can!”

“Good! This is quick! This is a deal then!”

“…”

“Here you are. One thousand purple spirit coins. Please take it. What a fair deal!”

“Thank you… Thank you so much…”

“Hmm. Ten hours. I will give you ten hours to move out. I am generous, am I not?”

“Hmm… Yes, you sure are!”

The prime master left with tears in his eyes.

Meng Youjiang tilted his head, looked at the sky, rubbed his head, and felt confused.

‘Am I too charming? Is it my friendly smile?’

‘Anyway… I shouldn’t waste time… We need to clean up the houses as soon as possible. The enclosure walls should remain, and the rest of the buildings should be destructed. Well, after that, the Gray Parasol Sword Sect’s land will be linked to the headquarters… Let’s see how it goes!’

…

The next day, the Monarch’s Hall’s territory had already been twice as big as before!

They were still expanding.

As the Monarch’s Hall became more and more powerful, the small forces around it were more and more terrified. People of the Monarch’s Hall told the other forces that they would make peace to everybody, but the small forces would never dare to believe it. They couldn’t sleep tight around a horribly powerful force!

Therefore, these people decided to move out, and sell their places to the Monarch’s Hall for some money…

The leaders of the Brotherhood Alliance were all shocked.

When the Gray Parasol Sword Sect people attacked the Monarch’s Hall, the Brotherhood Alliance did not show up. In fact, they wanted some other force to give the newly-born force a bitter lesson. They wanted the Monarch’s Hall to know that they should rely on the Brotherhood Alliance.

They wanted to tell Ye Xiao that staying on the Brother Alliance’s side was the only way to survive the chaotic time.

The leaders of the Brotherhood Alliance thought that the Monarch’s Hall would be defeated easily because they only had a few men. They wanted somebody to defeat the Monarch’s Hall so that the Monarch’s Hall would swear loyalty to the Brotherhood Alliance. However, after only one day, things had changed so much… Within one day, the Monarch’s Hall had recruited hundreds of Divinity Origin Stage cultivators and three Saint Origin Stage cultivators!

It was more powerful than a medium-sized organization in the Limitless Ocean!

The Gray Parasol Sword Sect people wanted to destroy the Monarch’s Hall within one battle but turned out to be wiped out. Now the Monarch’s Hall was taking over the territory of the Gray Parasol Sword Sect with a righteous reason. It couldn’t be more reasonable…

When the Gray Parasol Sword Sect attacked the Monarch’s Hall, the Brotherhood Alliance didn’t stop the fight. Now as the Monarch’s Hall was taking over the Gray Parasol Sword Sect’s place in return, the Brotherhood Alliance shouldn’t interfere as well!

There was some rule in the martial world that everybody must follow…

The Monarch’s Hall bought the land between the Gray Parasol Sword and the Monarch’s Hall. They had the right to do so… The Brotherhood Alliance couldn’t interfere either.

They spent a lot of money to buy the land from the four sects between the Monarch’s Hall and the Gray Parasol Sword Sect… Everybody knew it. Nobody had any problem with it… They were good deals… What gave the Brotherhood Alliance the right to interfere anyway?

In the end, the Monarch’s Hall connected all the pieces of land into wholeness, and the Brotherhood Alliance couldn’t stop them either!

The reason was simple.

The Monarch’s Hall bought all those places. It was their rightful territory. The Monarch’s Hall could do whatever they want on their own territory!

‘I can build ten cottages in my bedroom if I want because it is my own place!’

‘Nobody has the right to interfere!’

The Brotherhood Alliance people were having a headache about the rising Monarch’s Hall!

They first thought that Ye Xiao was only a rich but ignorant guy who built a small sect like playing a game. They thought the Monarch’s Hall could be destroyed with a slight palm hit. However, within several days, the Monarch’s Hall became a powerful medium-sized force in the Limitless Ocean. The Brotherhood Alliance promised to provide protection for three months, and it was merely on the ninth day of the three months!

The members of the Brotherhood Alliance were all itinerant cultivators who valued prestige greatly. The Brotherhood Alliance was the second most powerful force in the Limitless Ocean, and they would never break their promise to a small sect that had just been established. The Monarch’s Hall was growing, but the Brotherhood Alliance couldn’t do anything to stop it. Other than that, the Brotherhood Alliance also needed to console the neighborhood from panicking.

Well, the console from the Brotherhood Alliance didn’t work.

The Monarch’s Hall was too powerful!

There were two sects that had been living in that place for decades. When the Monarch’s Hall arrived, the two sects were kicked out! The Monarch’s Hall only paid the Green Wolf Sect one thousand purple spirit coins for the one hundred mu land!

People were forced to sell their territories!

What was the Green Wolf Sect?

It was one of the famous forces in the local area!

The Green Wolf Sect was kicked out, yet they did not dare to complain at all!

Even the Green Wolf Sect was so cowardly, so the Monarch’s Hall people must be domineering!

People all believed the Monarch’s Hall was malicious.

‘You are a powerful force, the Brotherhood Alliance. You are the second most powerful force in the Limitless Ocean. We know that, but… The Monarch’s Hall is right near us! Can you protect us from the Monarch’s Hall all the time? Can you send your men to join us?’

‘Come on… We are responsible for our own lives…’

That was why the Monarch’s Hall kept expanding extremely fast…

…