Qin Li stepped forward to greet the captains and lieutenants entering the manor, who also dropped down to one knee in the snow as soon as they fully entered in "rise" came the command from Hartley.
The reverent guild members all stood in silence as they waited for the command of Hartley, to them right now, Hartley was a martial god who could reign over the whole Wawrika province. Hartley pointed with a straightened index finger to Qin Li and said "his orders are my orders," then looked at Ryu Hang and said "you shall put things in order here."
Ryu Hang's face shone with shock, he stammered and tried to get out some words. "I am not qualified to...."
Hartley waved his hand casually cutting off Ryu Hang's words, he then took Zhi Ruo to explore the lavish manor stood behind them leaving Qin Li to reorganize and integrate the guilds.
The decadent manor had all the lavish accessories of a duke, the interior of the main hall on the first floor was made of expensive stones cut and laid to form exquisite walls and the floor was as shiny as an oil slick, Hartley hadn't even seen some of the things in there before.
Oil paintings of exquisite women dressed in royal garments hung on the walls and luxurious fluffy beast pelts lined parts of the floor keeping the stone floor warm as the main fire place in the middle of the room spat and crackled. Hartley led Ruo and inspected every luxurious room one by one, he pushed out his awareness to cover the whole building and even discovered some secret rooms.
Hartley entered a small dusty room located in the basement which was out of place with the luxury of all the other rooms, the room looked as if it had been sealed for a long time, after slicing through the thick metal door with his silver sword, the tiny dark room exposed its contents after Zhi ruo took a candle from the hall and entered behind Hartley. There were about 8 chests made of old iron with signs of rust sitting proudly on the chests covered with a layer of dust.
As he opened each chest, Zhi Ruo mouth fell open, even Hartley could barely keep calm, he discovered gold and gems packed to the brim inside, the glow of the treasure illuminated the room with rainbow colors as he searched through the various chests. The Roving Wasps truly had a lucrative business going. Hartley helped himself to the contents from four chests, placing them into his space ring until he had no more room to carry another coin, he then loaded Zhi Ruo's space ring and had Qin Li control the final two chests. For the last couple of months Hartley had hardly ever thought about money, his spoils of war filled at least 6 space rings and now he had the biggest profits he had ever seen.
Hartley was truly on the road to great influence now with all these riches he could even raise an army if he so chose. The days passed by quickly as Qin Li reorganized the guilds, Hartley made his head quarters the Rikers guild, he had chosen to stay in the degenerated neighborhood in the unremarkable two story building shying away from the limelight of the gaudy four story manor.
The guilds operated as usual without the outside world knowing of the take over that happened in the last few days, the guards got paid, the pick pockets worked their assigned area and the whores serviced the lecherous men at night. Hartley didn't desire to save each and every orphan in a bad situation, all he could do was make sure they were clothed and fed properly for the time being. In the event that he needed man power he would probably recruit some of them to work for him directly but for now he just went with the flow.
The grey skies and swirling snow outside accompanied by the howls of the wind that whistled against the wooden window frames of the building was a typical winter's day in the Wawrika province, Hartley had gotten used to it and developed a routine of cultivating,meeting with Qin Li and dealing with minor problems before taking Zhi Ruo to dinner in the restaurant at night time.
Zhi Ruo was on the verge of entering the xanthian realm by now, she never neglected her cultivation even though the empathy she had for the children made her go out of her way to offer her help.
On this day Hartley was by himself cultivating in one of the lavish rooms on the second floor, Zhi Ruo had all the kids gathered in a warm room on the ground floor where she taught them to read and do some basic maths. Biyu Jie sensing this was one of the only times Zhi Ruo had been away from Hartley's side during the past few days, made use of the opportunity and went to knock the door of the room Hartley was cultivating in.
The room brightened with a bight blue flash as Hartley opened his eyes , he knew who was on the other side of the door and was puzzled, why would she be here? anything to do with the organization of the guild would be handled by Qin Li.
"Come in" Hartley answered. Biyu Jie, the slim blonde busty young woman wearing a long thin yellow dress as if the temperature had no bearing on her, entered smiling while giving a respectful bow.
"Guild master I haven't seen you around the guild in the past couple of days, is there anything I can do to make you happy?"
Hartley was even more puzzled, he stood up with furrowed brows and asked "what are you talking about, I have no time for idle talk right now go see Qin Li if you have matters to discuss..."
She approached closer with a serious yearning look in her eyes, she then whispered, "I can help relieve your stress sir, let me help you."
While facing Hartley she slowly moved forward then dropped down to her knees as if she was going to beg for mercy but instead she whipped away the front of Hartley's robe and started to make slobbering slurping noises, Hartley's eyes bulged with surprise, he almost retrieved his swords but then his body went as rigid as a wooden plank as he stared down at Biyu Jie performing an act he had never experienced before, he couldn't help but let out a moan of pleasure as he reacted to the wet stimulation on his lower part.
This pleased the shameless Biyu Jie to no end. This was what the former guild master had loved the most, in his satisfaction he had even made her a captain and by this point she had performed it so many times, she had become as skilled as one of the high level whores in the local brothel.
Hartley stood on the tip of his toes wide eyed and watched until Biyu Jie finished, she gulped down the evidence, stood up and wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand smiling.
"I hope I have pleased the guild master," Hartley said nothing, feeling a shameful blush on his face, he just pointed to the door with a cold expression, disappointment flashed across her face as she quietly left the room.
No wonder she's a captain Hartley thought to himself, he was confused as to why he had let her finish, he wanted to stop her but for some reason he had to admit he had enjoyed it which disappointed him even more, was it his inexperience with women or was he just selfish? his mind immediately went to Zhi Ruo, guilt washed over him like sweat on a summer's day.
What on earth would he tell her? if anything. She would surely slice Biyu Jie like a vegetable if she caught wind of this, he wasn't feeling too safe himself either. In Aidonia it was not uncommon for men to have multiple wives or partners, it was actually quite normal for the most outstanding men to have multiple lovers but Hartley had a special connection with Zhi Ruo and wasn't interested in acquiring a gaggle of women, certainly not Biyue Jie anyway.
After the incident Hartley left strict instructions not to be disturbed and avoided Biyu Jie like the plague over the following days, sat cross legged in the second floor room Hartley's body had turned all blue from neck to toe, white steam roiled upwards and crashed into the ceiling then snaked outwards towards the window, the windows steamed as the whole room began to resemble a bathhouse.
Everything was silent inside the room, the ambient whistling noises of the wind against the window frame disappeared leaving only a peaceful atmosphere. Hartley on a whim had activated his advance state of focus, time inside the room was now moving eight times slower than outside. He had tried to cultivate in this state numerous times before, now the guilt of cheating had stressed him so much that he had pushed all his concentration to the limit and was now able to maintain his advance state of focus while he cultivated. Inside Hartley's consciousness a shining blue mini version of himself was sat cross legged in a clearing situated in a dense forest of trees 20 meters tall.