Book 10 Chapter 14 – Recruiting Followers

OCTOBER 31, 2017 ~ EMILYEVELAN

Lei Xinfeng explained. “Above Ninth Ring, there’s also Monarch. There aren’t many of them. For a Ninth Ring Sage to ascend to Monarch, they can’t use tricks such as these. For those that ascend with Yin rings, they have almost no chance of attaining Monarch.”

“Monarch?” Ay, I can’t even attain Fourth Ring by myself. If I can reach Ninth Ring, whether or not I can become a Monarch is really not that important,” Qi Xuan said, sighing.

Du Hongcheng nodded as well. If the alternative is to remain a low-level Sage for the rest of their lives, becoming Monarchs is but a dream anyway.

Lei Xinfeng took out a few Lun rings and gave them to Wen Yan, saying, “These Lun rings are enough for you to become a Sage.”

Seeing how happy she was, Lei Xinfeng reminded her of the risks. “However, you must realize that once you use these Lun rings and attain your first Ring Body, any further ascensions will require more Lun rings. It will be next to impossible to ascend under your own power.”

“So after you use Lun, Lunyin, and Yin rings, you must continue to use them?” Qi Xuan asked.

Lei Xinfeng replied, “Yes. If you have enough of them, you can ascend all the way to Ninth Ring. It’s fast too.”

“But where will we find more of these rings?” Qi Xuan mulled.

“Easy! Just join a Hidden Sect. Most of the people in Hidden Sects are empowered using these methods,” Jin Daya said.

“Are you all from Hidden Sects?” Du Hongcheng asked. It was his first time hearing of such an existence.

Fengying nodded. “Correct. Although there are many Hidden Sects, they rarely appear. Even if they do, you won’t know it’s them!”

“Your relation with Ah Feng isn’t bad. Why don’t you join us?” Jin Daya suggested.

Lei Xinfeng looked at him but didn’t say anything. He was indeed looking for followers. He had no objections regarding Qi Xuan and the others; at least it was better than finding random strangers.

Qi Xuan and Du Hongcheng were both surprised. They didn’t expect that they’d be recruiting, so they didn’t know what to say. This place was their base. If they leave, then it will probably be the end of this place. After a moment, Du Hongcheng steeled his heart and made his decision. “I can join?” he asked.

Wen Yan’s expression improved. She didn’t care where she was. If she could ascend quickly, then even if it meant becoming Lei Xinfeng’s strength, she had no reservations; she was just waiting for her master’s decision. Seeing that even her master agreed, she was so happy she almost jumped for joy.

Jin Daya peeked at Lei Xinfeng. Seeing a slight nod, he felt relieved that his own decision wasn’t wrong. “Welcome!” he said. “Since you people joined, then you’ll have to come with us when we leave.”

Du Hongcheng nodded. “No problem!”

Of course he had no problem with it. If he, a Second Ring Sage, joined a Hidden Sect, then there was hope that he could ascend to a Ninth Ring Sage. No matter how he calculated it, this arrangement was in his favor.

Qi Xuan also made his decision. “I’m also joining!” The offer was too alluring and rare. If he didn’t accept, he will probably regret it for the rest of his life.

Even Lei Xinfeng didn’t expect that he would be able to find two followers so quickly on this trip back home. Jin Daya and the others are guards, so they needed to find subordinates and train them from scratch.

Jin Daya nodded. “No problem. After you are ready, follow us back. However, we will send you back here with some resources. After you become Sixth Ring Sages, there will be more missions for you.”

Qi Xuan could barely hold in his excitement. With the way Jin Daya spoke, ascending to Sixth Ring was as easy as eating; he felt that his future was brighter than ever.

Lei Xinfeng immediately took out some Lun and Lunyin rings, holding back the Yin rings. Since they were low-level Sages, they didn’t need Yin rings. They must be at least Fifth Ring first.

After resting at Hongtong City for two days, Lei Xinfeng left with his new followers, Qi Xuan, Du Hongcheng, and Wen Yan.

After leaving Tailang Night Fortress, Jin Dapan never returned to the Western army. With the help of the treasures he gained from the Ancient Hidden Lun space, he successfully become a First Ring Sage. He was clever enough at first to follow Lei Bao and Lei Xinfeng closely, gathering a lot of goods. This fatty wasn’t only good at eating; he had good eyes too.

With Jin Daya leading the way, Lei Xinfeng and the others quickly found Jin Dapan.

Jin Dapan had long left the Western country and hid in a small fishing village in Wanhu Continent (Ten Thousand Lake Continent). Wanhu Continent was close to Lei Xinfeng’s sect, so they returned there.

Lei Xinfeng was startled when he saw Jin Dapan as well; the fatty became even more fat. He was practically a small mountain of meat. When they saw him, he sat on a boat, cooking a meal. He was startled when he saw Jin Daya. It wasn’t like he didn’t know that Jin Daya was an ancestor of the Jin family; when he saw Lei Xinfeng, he was even more surprised, but he still jumped up joyfully.

Back then, Jin Dapan thought that he had a lot in common with Lei Xinfeng. He really took Lei Xinfeng as a friend and eating partner; he was especially interested in the opinions that Lei Xinfeng had in regards to his cooking, including the knowledge that Lei Xinfeng brought with him from his previous life.

Jin Daya scowled when he saw Jin Dapan, scolding, “Can’t you eat less? How will you fight if you get any fatter?”

Jin Dapan had a helpless expression. “Ancestor, I…can I not fight? I only want to eat…”

Lei Xinfeng couldn’t help but smile. “Uncle Jin, don’t mind him. He’d rather die than not eat!”

Jin Dapan nodded violently. “Yes! You know that after I ascended, my appetite doubled…doubled!” he repeated. “I can eat so much more food!”

Jin Daya was so angry he slapped him. “How shameless! Fuck. I can’t believe I brought Ah Feng here to take you in!”

Fengying couldn’t stop sniffing. “What’s this? It smells so nice!”

“Grilled fish steaks, grilled prawn,” Jin Dapan said proudly. “Ha! The food here and the food from the Western Continent is completely different! I stopped here for so long and finally found a few methods of cooking. Everyone, have a taste!”

After seeing Lei Xinfeng, Qi Xuan, Du Hongcheng, and Wen Yan, Jin Dapan looked really happy. He didn’t care about Lei Xinfeng’s standing and strength, only that he had friends to cook for. Eating was like that: if there are friends to eat together with, it was so much more fun and enjoyable than eating alone, so Jin Dapan was elated.

The fishing industry in Wanhu Continent was huge, not to mention the wide variety of fish. Aside from cultivating, the other pastime that Jin Dapan enjoyed was sitting on his boat. While drifting, he will randomly catch fish, prawn, turtles, and crabs. As he was powerful, he could hunt the predatory fish that normal fishermen dare not touch, so his menu was naturally larger.

“Here, here, taste the fish steak, prawn, and fish slice that I grilled! It’s a grilling feast today!” As soon as the subject turned to food, he became much more animated.

Everyone laughed. Jin Daya shook his head. It wasn’t that he was against Jin Dapan eating, but he did reject the fact that Jin Dapan prioritized gourmet over strength; he might suffer later because of it. “Never mind. He’d rather die than…”

Jin Dapan embarrassedly smiled and bid everyone to sit down. He began to cut up fish to make the fish steaks while ordering the fisherman he hired to catch more. He was so happy the smiles won’t come off his face.

After Lei Xinfeng sat down, he took measure of the boat. This boat seemed to be specially designed. Not only was it wide, it also had its own stove, table, and straw mats to sit on. Jin Dapan basically moved an entire kitchen onto the boat. There were also dried shrimp and fish meat hanging on the side.

“This here is a genuine glutton! There’s food everywhere!”

“I have some wine that I brewed myself,” Jin Dapan said. “The grain here isn’t bad for making wine. I got the method after spending a lot of money!” He never seemed to stop talking when it came to food. He normally didn’t have so many things to say.

A palm-sized fish steak was grilled to tender perfection, but the most noteworthy item was the special sauce that Jin Dapan made. After grilling, Jin Dapan slathered it with the sauce. After a bite, Lei Xinfeng fell in love immediately. Even in his previous life, he’d never eaten such a delicious fish steak; he couldn’t help but praise it. “Good!”

Jin Daya also followed up with his praise. The reason he recommended Jin Dapan to Lei Xinfeng was that he was impressed with Jin Dapan’s culinary skills from the start. Who would’ve thought that they knew each other already?

On the other hand, Fengying and Shihu tasted Jin Dapan’s dishes for the first time and became enamored. They were both full of praises and almost swallowed their tongues; it was too good.

Nothing was left. All these practitioners had big appetites; even Wen Yan had a bigger appetite than most people. Large slices of fish meat covered the big grill. Jin Dapan expertly flipped the fish steak, adding some oil and other condiments occasionally. When one was done, he would put it on a plate.

Everyone stared at the plate. When a fish steak landed, a few chopsticks will immediately jump toward it. Modest people get no food. At first, Qi Xuan, Du Hongcheng, and Wen Yan sat there modestly, but after a while, they saw that Lei Xinfeng’s group acted like pretas incarnated. Their chopsticks moved in a blur whenever a steak hit the plate. Lei Xinfeng even stole a fish steak midair when Jin Dapan was transferring it to the plate.

Soon, Qi Xuan and the others no longer acted modest and also fought for the food.

The only light in the darkness was Jin Dapan’s speed at cooking, barely keeping pace with the demand. However, he himself got nothing to eating.

“Oh right, Ah Feng, the reason you came here was not only to eat, right?”

Oops.