At the base of the Fierce Tiger Gang.
The atmosphere here was more suppressive compared to the past.
There were quite a few unfamiliar Qi Refining members who walked around within the building, and he figured that his subordinates did a rather good job at recruiting.
He took out his communication jade and ordered for them to gather in the empty meeting hall within the building.
When his subordinates who were each on their own tasks, be it giving instructions to the new Fierce Tiger Gang members, or deep in cultivation, they all swiftly left towards the meeting hall.
The moment they appeared and saw Long Chen, they simultaneously kneeled onto the ground, "Young Master!"
Long Chen was still quite unused to this, and he lightly coughed before he told them to rise.
"Where is the other two people?" Long Chen asked when he saw that there were only 8 people, including Hun Yan, in front of him.
Being the one with the greatest authority amongst the subordinates, Hun Yan stepped forward and answered, "Young Master, the other two has went to the forests to hunt for monsters."
"Okay." Long Chen lightly nodded his head, before he continued, "How is the progress of the Fierce Tiger Gang so far?"
"Our forces have now increased to 100 people. Amongst these 100 people, not including us 10 subordinates, there are 30 Mid-Stage Qi Refining, 20 Early-Stage Qi Refining, and the rest of the 40 are all in the Body Refining Realm."
"Out of the 10 of us, I have reached the 3rd Elementary Realm, and the other nine are all close to breaking through to the Elementary Realm." Hun Yan spoke in crisp voice as he reported.
Long Chen took some time to digest this information, before he cast his glance back at Hun Yan, "How are the resources here?"
Resources was honestly the most important thing. The main reason why he would have accepted these subordinates, other than for extra strength, was for the resources that they would have been able to gather.
A few pairs of hands were always better than his one.
"Young Master, out of the assets that we have accumulated, we have 120 Low-Tier Crystals, 1400000 gold, and 7 Low-Grade 1 Spirit Weapons." Hun Yan answered.
As Long Chen heard this, he focussed his attention onto the Sprit Weapons. Spirit Weapons were weapons that made by Blacksmiths.
The difference between a Spirit Weapon and a Normal Weapon was that a Spirit Weapon could be imbued with Qi Energy to make it stronger and sturdy, and explode with even more power.
His own sword was just a mere Normal Weapon he had bought from a random stall on the streets, and although it was powerful, it was mainly because of his combat skills that added to its power.
Now that his cultivation had risen explosively, there was no need for him to continue using the weapon anymore.
"Bring me to the area where the Spirit Weapons are stored at." Long Chen instructed.
Hun Yan instantly followed his instructions, and along with the other 9 subordinates behind, they went to the warehouse of the base.
The warehouse was where the Fierce Tiger Gang had stored all the valuable items in, and Long Chen could see a few weapons laying neatly at a corner of the place.
Out of the 7 weapons, there were a few broadswords, machetes and knifes, and Long Chen's sight landed on the slender sword placed there.
He walked towards it, he picked it up and felt the difference between this Spirit Weapon and his sword.
He could feel a faint connection between the Elemental Qi within him, along with the Spirit Weapon, which was something he had never felt when he was using his Normal Sword.
As he inserted his Elemental Qi within it, the sword in his hands began to radiate with a slight glow. He casually gave a slight swing on his hands.
A long line mark was created on the walls surrounding the warehouse, and Long Chen smiled in satisfaction. The power of a Spirit Weapon was indeed different, even if it was of the lowest grade.
He looked towards the hilt of the sword, and he saw few words imprinted there.
It was "Shining Light Sword", followed by a smaller font, "Low-Tier Grade 1" below it.
So this sword was named the Shining Light Sword. He remembered this name within his heart, and without being polite, he placed it within his storage bag.
Then, he turned towards Hun Yan, "Have you registered as an Alchemist yet?"
"Young Master, with the help of the book, I have already became a Grade 1 Alchemist." After saying this, Hun Yan took out an ancient looking book and cupped it towards Long Chen with two hands.
Long Chen was quite surprised by how fast he was able to learn, but after he thought about the Alchemy talent he had shared with him, he found it rather logical.
After all, he had also managed to learn in just a day with his Mortal Tier 6 Alchemy Talent, and if not for the requirements of the System, he would have already promoted to become a Grade 1 Alchemy.
Long Chen took the Great Way of Alchemy book back from him. He had loaned him this book so that it could help speed up his learning speed, and since Hun Yan was his subordinate, he didn't have to care about betrayal.
"Focus some attention on refining pills, and sell it to the Trading Chamber Commerce for some Crystals." Long Chen glanced at Hun Yan, before he looked towards the rest, "As for the rest of you, after you manage to break through into the Elementary Realm, go to the forest to hunt some monsters, and sell their corpses to the Monster Hunting Association."
"And as for the recruitment of the Fierce Tiger Gang, raise the standard to High-Stage Qi Refinement Realm and above. Now that we have enough members to fill up this place, we aim for quality, not quantity."
"Yes, Young Master." His subordinates bowed their head and replied.
"There is still the matter about the destruction of the Wild Wolf Gang. I'm sure that the power behind them will be able to find out about their disappearance, and may even link it back to us. So stay as low-key and hidden as you could be, and if anyone comes to attack, immediately inform me through the communication jade!"
"Yes, Young Master." His subordinates yelled.
"Bring me a person who is loyal and trustworthy." Long Chen then directly ordered. He had 9 Lesser Subordinates, and there was still one empty slot that had yet to be filled.
After hearing this, they left, and not before long, coming back with a person in their midst.
He had a typical appearance of a hunter, and there was nothing too special except for that gleam within his eyes that spoke of persistence and determination.
"Leader, why are you bringing me here for?" The man turned to Hun Yan and asked while they were walking.
Hun Yan did not speak, but merely stepped forward towards Long Chen and bowed his head, "Young Master, I have brought the person."
"Young Master?" The man was evidently shocked by this term that the leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang, Hun Yan, was saying, and he placed his sights upon Long Chen.
"Are you willing to become my subordinate?" Long Chen directly asked.
"This…" The man was rather hesitant as he did know how to adapt to the current situation, when Hun Yan said, "Young Master is giving you a new chance in life! If you don't know how to grasp onto it, you will regret for the rest of your life."
After hearing what Hun Yan had said, the man thought for a while, before he uttered, "Yes, I am willing."
In his mind, since his leader was Hun Yan, and Hun Yan's leader was the man in front of him, there was not much of a difference whether if he was Hun Yan's or Long Chen's subordinate.
[Host has detected 1 person who wants to become Host's Subordinate]
Long Chen unhesitatingly accepted, and delegated him towards the rank of a Lesser Subordinate.
A similar process happened, when he absorbed the man's talent, while part of his talent was being shared to the man through the mark on his shoulders.
The man could instantly feel the changes to his body, and he went straight down on his knees, "Thank you, Young Master!"
[Host has filled up 10 slots of Lesser Subordinates. New feature unlocked.]
Oh? Long Chen's eyes flashed with a glint of shock. He didn't expect for such a thing to occur, as all the wanted to do was just fill up all available slots for the Lesser Subordinates to maximize its usefulness.
After getting his subordinates to leave, Long Chen went on to check up on the new features.
Lesser Subordinates (10/10)
Feature 1: Talent Sharing (Subordinate shares (Host's Talent minus 3 Tiers)
Feature 2: For every three breakthroughs Host makes, subordinate makes 1 breakthrough
Feature 3: Host gains 10% of Talent that Subordinates absorb – Note: Talent absorbed is currently only applicable to monsters.
There was now an additional feature, which allowed him to receive the talent points that his subordinates absorbed from dead monsters.
That meant that not only could his subordinates help him to gather resources, they could also help him to enhance his talent too!
When he thought of this, he called the group of his subordinates and gave them a new set of instructions – to kill as much monsters as possible and absorb their talents.
When his subordinates had heard of this, they were obviously quite stunned, because the idea of absorbing talent felt foreign to them.
Then, the marks on their shoulders shined with a light, and a new wave of information filled their brain.
Their doubts were cleared, and then they left to carry out their task.