Chapter 344: Yin Xingtian’s New Arrangement

“Hall Master!”

Hong Kaibao brought his people over to Wangchuan and clasped his fists in salute.

Lin Jiahe and the others all came to a halt.

Wangchuan dropped down from the rooftop and smiled faintly.

“Brother Lin, Curator Chen, how much have you come to understand about this game?”

“It is a real-world projection. That comes with both advantages and disadvantages.”

Lin Jiahe spoke briefly and forcefully. “A great many people have died abroad because of this game, so everyone inside 《spirit realm》 must proceed with the utmost caution. Otherwise, their lives will be in danger.”

“That’s right.”

Wangchuan nodded and said, “Since you are inside the Caobang hall, as long as you are not assigned to outside missions, you will basically not be in danger. After all, this is inside the city. That is the greatest convenience I can provide for you.”

“We understand.”

Hong Kaibao had actually already told Lin Jiahe and the others a great deal about the various accidents that studio players might encounter in the game. They did not need to worry about mere survival, nor did they need to go out. So long as they stayed in the hall, practiced martial arts, trained diligently, and raised their ranks, they would already be far removed from ninety percent of the danger.

And besides—

With 《spirit realm》 heading toward global promotion, they would all be drawn into it eventually anyway.

By entering 《spirit realm》 ahead of time and having Wangchuan’s protection, they were already far ahead of far too many other people.

“My position remains the same as before. As long as you can teach us an internal cultivation method, it would not matter even if I placed my life in your hands.”

Lin Jiahe’s words struck the ground with force. His promise had not changed, even if the process had turned out rather strange.

Chen Gang and Li Xiangyang had originally assumed that Wangchuan had reached his current level because he had begun training from childhood under the cultivation of an ancient martial family. Now that they knew Wangchuan had only been exposed to 《spirit realm》 for a single year and had already grown stronger than people like them, who had struggled in martial practice for ten or even twenty years, their view of the world had nearly collapsed.

Naturally, they were unwilling to leave 《spirit realm》.

They, too, wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

“Good!”

“We’ll follow you.”

Wangchuan smiled.

“In that case, I’ll buy the cultivation methods you need. First cultivate 《Archery》, 《Five-Finger Rapid Flick Technique》, and some movement skills. Raise your Agility a little. Once you break through, I’ll pass on 《Xuanwu Art》 to you.”

“Many thanks!”

Lin Jiahe and the others all clasped their fists together.

They had already heard that 《Xuanwu Art》 was something incredibly difficult to obtain. Even a thousand taels of gold on the black market would not guarantee a purchase, and if one were discovered possessing it, it could easily bring down the Caobang’s pursuit.

One had to know that one hundred taels of gold could be exchanged for five billion!

And now Wangchuan was planning to spend that much on them for a single martial art alone.

That favor was enormous.

“As for the specific key to cultivation, Junior Brother Hong, teach them…”

“Yes!”

Hong Kaibao accepted the order.

The group then took their leave.

Wangchuan watched them depart, then resumed cultivating.

Only when the cooldown for producing 《Xuanwu Art》 ended did he return to his room and produce a second copy of 《Xuanwu Art》.

…

That very night, 《Cloud Ladder》 advanced to Minor Mastery. Then, at dawn the following morning, Wangchuan rose and continued training. In only three more hours, he heard the system prompt:

“Ding!”

“《Cloud Ladder》 has advanced from ‘Minor Mastery’ to ‘Practice Makes Perfect’! Reward: +2 Agility.”

His Agility rose to 73 points.

Wangchuan could now not only leap upward with ease to a height of more than one zhang every time, but could also now use one midair foothold, reaching a maximum vertical rise of eight meters and arriving at the rooftop of a two-story building.

As for horizontal movement, he was as light as a swallow. Covering ten-plus meters in a single step was no problem at all.

When good things came in succession, even one’s spirit felt refreshed!

With two fourth-rank martial arts both reaching their current bottlenecks, he felt as though he had stepped onto the fast track.

It felt as though it would not be long before he could charge into the fourth rank!

“Next…”

“Should I cultivate the third-rank hidden weapon art 《Star-Plucking Hand》?”

“Or should I cultivate a power-based technique?”

Wangchuan found himself unable to decide.

Just then, Li Na reported a piece of news to him.

After three consecutive days of recruitment, the number of new hires in the studio had surpassed five hundred!

At present, the docks of the Sanjiang Branch Helm were housing more than three hundred people, and the docks had already reached their saturation point. They could not temporarily accommodate any more. As for the remaining one hundred-plus people, they currently had nowhere to go.

She wanted to arrange for them to be sent to the docks of the Sanhe Commandery Main Helm.

But to do that, the hall itself would need to send people to handle the matter.

For Wangchuan, this was a trivial problem.

The reason was simple: the Caobang had always been recruiting. For the Main Helm to absorb two or three hundred more people posed no issue at all.

Wangchuan instructed Chen Ergou to deal with the matter.

The helm leader of the Main Helm personally went to the docks with his two deputy helm leaders to receive the newcomers, register them, and arrange temporary lodging for them. Everything was handled with absolute clarity.

…

“Old Seven.”

“You were looking for me?”

That day, Wangchuan had been training 《Star-Plucking Hand》 on the practice grounds when Cui Mingjue found him and brought him to Old Seven’s courtyard.

These days, Old Seven had been living in relative peace. Not only had his injuries completely healed, but with the Four Helms and Three Islands all operating normally, his mood was excellent, and his face was glowing with health.

“Wangchuan, you’re here? Come, sit…”

Old Seven motioned for Wangchuan to sit with him in the pavilion.

After sizing him up from head to toe, Old Seven smiled.

“Not bad. Your vigor is truly flourishing… I’ve heard that you’ve been training very diligently lately, and that you’ve also been managing the affairs of the hall in perfect order. As expected, you truly are worthy of being someone I took a liking to.”

“You praise me too highly, Old Seven.”

Wangchuan noticed that a letter had been placed on the pavilion table. He paused slightly, then asked, “Old Seven, did headquarters send down some instruction? Or was it Hall Master Yin…”

“Heh.”

With easy casualness, Old Seven picked up the letter and pushed it over in front of him.

“The neighboring commanderies haven’t had an easy time recently. According to what came down from above, one of the merchant convoys from the Qinghe Commandery hall was hijacked by local river bandits while escorting goods, and both the hall and the branch helms suffered grievous losses.”

“What kind of river bandits would dare be so bold? I’m afraid someone must be supporting them from the shadows, no?”

Wangchuan knew that the other halls had been having a hard time, but the Qinghe Commandery hall was no soft persimmon. How could it possibly be handled so easily by ordinary river bandits?

He picked up the letter, broke the seal, and read the contents inside. A moment later, a grave expression slowly appeared on his face.

Inside was a battle report detailing the Qinghe Commandery hall’s losses.

Qinghe Commandery had lost one Deputy Hall Master, two Branch Helm Leaders, several Deputy Helm Leaders, more than seventy ranked martial artists, and over a hundred full-fledged martial artists killed in battle…

This!

These were devastating losses!

The hall’s vitality had been gravely wounded!

Headquarters had ordered the hall master to go to the Capital and plead guilty.

At present, only a single Deputy Hall Master remained, struggling to hold up appearances with a small handful of people.

And yet…

What had Old Seven’s face glowing with health was the final part of the letter, detailing the disposition for the Qinghe Commandery hall:

Yin Xingtian was being transferred to Qinghe Commandery to assume the post of Hall Master!

Yin Xingtian was returning to the field and taking control of an entire hall once more.

Only now did Wangchuan understand why Old Seven was so happy.

With Yin Xingtian taking the post of Hall Master in Qinghe Commandery, it meant that Old Seven no longer needed to move from his own position.

Yin Xingtian’s influence, far from declining, had instead grown even greater.

Old Seven, too, would now be able to sit even more securely on his own seat here.

“Old Seven…”

“I’m afraid the handful of people left in the Qinghe Commandery hall won’t be enough to steady the situation. How many men can Hall Master Yin take with him when he assumes office?”

After reading the entire letter, Wangchuan frowned slightly and gave his own view.

“Our headquarters probably won’t be able to hand Hall Master Yin full control over an entire hall’s manpower. Shouldn’t we be preparing on our side to help Hall Master Yin bring Qinghe Commandery under control?”