Recruiting Troops

Yang Shan couldn't immediately recall who "Qing Hai" referred to.

He quickly pulled up the "List of Characters from the Original Battle Through the Heavens" released by Tianyao Official.

The relevant person was found in the Soul Hall's personnel list: Venerable Qing Hai.

The Venerable Elder of the Soul Hall, Two Star Dou Zun.

He appears during the battle between Xiao Yan and Ice River Valley.

His first words were to cripple Xiao Yan and take him back to the Soul Hall. Xiao Yan's expression turned solemn as he prepared to fight to the death with the Destruction Fire Lotus.

The tense battle situation at the time also showed a clear disparity in strength due to the appearance of the Qing Hai Venerable Elder.

He was at his peak from the moment he appeared! The oppressive aura was overwhelming! Then he was instantly defeated by Xiao Xun'er, who arrived at the perfect moment. In the original story, the only purpose of this Venerable Qing Hai was to make Xiao Xun'er's stunning entrance and showcase her outrageous cultivation and combat power! But in the game, that's a different story.

Even if Two Star Dou Zun Qing Hai Venerable Elder is just a Green Word Seal, he can still kill several Dou Zong with a single slap!

Moreover, judging from Old Mu Bone's expression, it seems that the two have quite a grudge in the game's background!

Yang Shan chuckled inwardly, wishing their feud would escalate further.

The greater the grudge, the higher the reward for "informing" him! Returning to the Ghost Wither Branch Hall was a wise move.

He might not be able to beat him, but he has a powerful background and extensive connections! What kind of Seven-Star Dou Zong is this? Elder Mu Gu would kill him as easily as swatting a fly! Old Mu Bone seems genuinely angry; his killing intent is palpable, and his robes are fluttering wildly!

"Cheng E, are you sure that only a few Dou Zong came from the Rock Valley Branch Hall?"

Yang Shan: "The information we have so far is as follows."

Old Mu Bone sneered:

"I won't hide anything from you. The venerable elder who oversees the Rock Valley Branch Hall is named Qing Hai. I do have some grudges with him. He's extending his reach into the Northwest Continent, most likely to steal souls!"

Yang Shan lowered his head:

"Mu Gu, whatever you need me to do, I will do my best!"

Yang Shan knew a little bit.

When you have no control over things, you should obediently follow the orders of the person in charge.

After gaining the trust of the leader, then consider whether you can slightly influence the leader's decision.

Yang Shan's current status and position, he is actually qualified to give advice to Old Mu Bone.

But Old Mu Bone was clearly angry. Yang Shan believed that this Dou Zun expert, who was from the same era as Venerable Yao, must have quite a few shrewd ways of dealing with this kind of thing.

"Cheng E, since you're the one who discovered this, you're now in full charge!"

"You want people? I'll give them to you. I only have one request: what empire?"

Yang Shan reminded him, "The Mulan Empire."

Old Mu Bone: "Yes, the Mulan Empire. Go to the Mulan Empire and bring back all the people from the Rock Valley Branch Hall for me."

After a moment's consideration, Yang Shan asked, "Lord Mu Gu, should we send one back to the Rock Valley Branch Hall to report to that Qing Hai Venerable Elder?"

In a top power structure with complex internal power dynamics, especially when there is no clear alignment, you should work for whoever is your current superior first.

Whether this move would offend the Qing Hai Venerable Elder was not within Yang Shan's consideration.

If the Qing Hai Venerable Elder want to cause trouble, they should go to Old Mu Bone!

A Dou Zun, how could he possibly challenge a Dou Emperor? Wouldn't that be utterly disgraceful, considering he's lived for hundreds of years?

Yang Shan's reminder brought Old Mu Bone back to his senses:

"Indeed, without anyone to inform him, how would that old scoundrel in Qing Hai know it was my arrangement? Cheng E!"

"This junior is here!"

The Old Mu Bone spoke with a murderous tone, "I'll give you 500,000 Contribution Points. You can arrange your own manpower! You can decide what message that messenger should deliver. No matter what you arrange, I'll cover for you!"

Yang Shan was surprised that Old Mu Bone was so generous.

Five hundred thousand Contribution Points is no small amount.

Earth Grade Protector like Protector Wu spends many years in the Jia Ma Empire, and the mission quota only amounts to 100,000 Contribution Points!

Previously, the "support" that Old Mu Bone gave Han Feng to find Venerable Yao Chen was only one million Contribution Points.

[Ding! Player, please note that you have received a special mission under the alias "Cheng E": Ordered to capture someone. Please refer to the mission details for more information.]

[Note: The 500,000 Contribution Points given by Old Mu Bone can only be used to recruit people.]

Yang Shan: "This junior understands. This junior will definitely send the weakest one back to report, and bring back all the strong ones!"

Old Mu Bone was very satisfied with Yang Shan's answer:

"Do your job well. Although you are the Young Master's man, our Soul Hall is so big. The more connections we have, the more opportunities we have!"

"Thank you for your promotion, Lord Mu Gu!"

"Go down."

"Yes!"

Yang Shan stepped out of the room and saw Sha Feng standing not far away. He smiled and said:

"Sha Feng Protector, I have a few small matters I'd like to ask you."

Sha Feng was very polite. "Mister E, please feel free to ask me any questions. I will answer them to the best of my knowledge."

Yang Shan: "If you want to hire someone to do work in the branch hall, what would the price be?"

Sha Feng: "Is it Contribution Points, or rare and precious materials?"

Yang Shan: "Contribution Points".

Sha Feng: "Soul Envoy, I guess Mister E wouldn't be interested, so I'll talk about the Protectors. Generally speaking, asking Human-Grade Protector to help starts at 10,000 Contribution Points, Earth Grade Protector at 20,000, and Heaven Grade Protector at 30,000."

"Furthermore, the actual price varies depending on the difficulty of the task, and we'll have to discuss the specifics in person."

After considering for a moment, Sha Feng said, "If Mister E isn't in any big trouble, you can tell me, and I'll take care of it for Mister E. Contribution Points are hard-earned, so don't spend them too easily."

A Nine Star Dou Zong with a respectable position in the Ghost Wither Branch Hall was offered a free bodyguard position. It was clear that Sha Feng wanted to do Yang Shan a favor because of his identity.

However, it must be said that Sha Feng is good at seizing opportunities.

Yang Shan doesn't have any connections in the Ghost Wither Branch Hall yet.

He had some interaction with Old Mu Bone, Sha Feng, and Han Feng.

Since Sha Feng is so sensible, Yang Shan certainly doesn't mind building more of a relationship with him.

After all, he is Nine Star Dou Zong. What if he gets lucky and becomes Dou Zun in the future?

Yang Shan pulled Sha Feng aside and whispered, "Brother Sha Feng, I have a good job here. Let's keep the good stuff in the family. Let's leave the Main Palace and talk about it!"

Seeing this, Sha Feng took Yang Shan to the "Tea Eating Hall," a place where the branch hall staff usually went for leisure, and booked a private room.

Yang Shan then gave a general account of Old Mu Bone's mission.

Sha Feng was somewhat apprehensive:

"I am truly grateful Mister E you thought of me for such a good job!"

In this Ghost Wither Branch Hall, what job could be considered a "lucrative one"? Well, it would be the task given by Old Mu Bone! Yang Shan laughed:

"When I first arrived here, Brother Sha Feng helped me a lot, so I'm just returning the favor. May I ask how much Brother Sha Feng's fee was?"

"Um, 30,000 Contribution Points will do!"

Sha Feng his teeth and said a minimum guarantee amount for a Heaven Grade Protector.

However, Heaven Grade Protector only needs to reach the Seven-Star Dou Zong to be eligible for advancement, while Sha Feng is Nine Star Dou Zong! His fee will definitely be much higher.

Yang Shan frowned upon hearing this. "Brother Sha Feng, I, Cheng E, thought you were a reliable person, so I approached you first. But don't underestimate my Cheng E! I'll return the favor and give you a lucrative position. What's 30,000 Contribution Points? 100,000! If you don't want it, I'll find someone else."

"Hey, no, no, no!"

One hundred thousand Contribution Points would require one million soul points to obtain.

This is the total amount of mission funds that a Earth Grade Protector would need to "go on business" for several years or even ten years! Even for Sha Feng, this amount is extremely considerable.

If he tries to raise the money himself, it will probably take him two or three years.

Seeing that Sha Feng was getting anxious, Yang Shan whispered:

"These Contribution Points were given by Lord Mu Gu, and I can allocate them freely. As long as the matter is resolved, let alone 100,000, even if I give you 200,000, no one will dare to say anything!"

Sha Feng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said:

"Don't worry, Mister E, I'll definitely handle this matter perfectly for you!"

Yang Shan: "Brother Sha Feng, do you have any other trustworthy people?"

Sha Feng answered honestly:

"Yes, I am one of the most senior protectors in the Ghost Wither Branch Hall. Apart from Elder Mu Gu's direct descendants, I am quite familiar with the other Heaven Grade Protector in this branch hall."

Yang Shan was taken aback. "Aren't you Mu Gu's direct subordinate?"

Sha Feng smiled bitterly:

"Lord Mu Gu only took over the Ghost Wither Branch Hall in recent years. When the last elder left, he didn't... he didn't take me with him."

Yang Shan quickly put the teapot aside, took out the wine from his Storage Ring, and poured it into a teacup.

Where there are people and wine, there are stories.

Perhaps it's because Yang Shan wasn't a direct descendant of Old Mu Bone.

Perhaps he also wanted to build a relationship with Yang Shan Shanduo.

Perhaps this alcohol, which is around ten degrees strong, has a powerful aftereffect.

Sha Feng started complaining.

Through Sha Feng's explanation, Yang Shan gained a general understanding of the Soul Hall's current operating model.

The leaders of the Soul Hall are from the Soul Clan, which can be seen as the "high-ranking officials in power".

However, due to external circumstances, the Soul Hall had to recruit people from outside, so these high-ranking officials began to recruit talent from outside.

That is, those celestial beings and elders.

The Soul Clan is not a monolithic entity. For something as big as establishing Soul Hall in the outside world, every "bloodline branch" would definitely want a piece of the pie.

Therefore, those in power are in competition with each other.

The Celestial Venerables and Elders recruited from outside all started at the Dou Zun level. They might be friends with each other, or they might have been mortal enemies.

As the Soul Hall's power and personnel expanded further, the resulting overstaffing led to a lack of centralized resources.

In order not to provide assistance to their "opponents," the Soul Hall, from the Dou Sheng down to the Elders, began to intentionally cultivate their own trusted subordinates, which is called the "direct line."

Those who did not become "direct descendants" became "ordinary employees" whom the Soul Hall would not invest resources in and would occasionally exploit.

The previous elder of the Ghost Wither Branch Hall and the current Old Mu Bone were both "leaders" who were directly parachuted in with their direct subordinates.

Sha Feng originally had the opportunity to return to Central Plains with the previous elder, but he was excluded because he offended the elder's direct subordinates.

Old Mu Bone has only been in the Ghost Wither Branch Hall for a few years. He is certain of Sha Feng's abilities, but he will not easily accept him as a direct subordinate.

Who knows, maybe Sha Feng was deliberately left behind by the previous elder? Yang Shan deeply sympathized with Sha Feng's experience and subtly suggested that as long as Sha Feng was capable and loyal, "Young Master's " side was a good way out.

Who knows, one day the Young Master might be in a good mood and give Sha Feng a lot of resources to help him become Dou Zun!

Don't underestimate the wealth of a Soul Clan Young Master!

Even a little bit leaking through your fingers is enough to Sha Feng endless benefits.

Yang Shan painted a picture of a pie with such eloquence that Sha Feng was deeply moved.

To show his sincerity, Yang Shan promised Sha Feng a quota of 300,000 Contribution Points. Let's see what kind of people Sha Feng can recruit for him!

Yang Shan left behind 100,000 as a safety net for himself.

Sha Feng knew that Yang Shan was testing his abilities, so he took it very seriously.

They immediately set off to find the person.

Yang Shan remained seated and continued drinking his tea.

Suddenly, a figure not far away caught Yang Shan's attention.

"Little Wù?"

"Hey! Mister E!"

Upon seeing Yang Shan, Protector Wu greeted him with the same warmth as if he were seeing his own father. His naturally cold face broke into a wide grin, revealing his gums, and he smiled brightly and obsequiously.

"Oh dear, Little Wù. Mister E, I never expected to have the honor of seeing you again. I thought Little Wù had been entrusted with an important mission and gone to Central Plains!"

Yang Shan always felt that Protector Wu was actually more suitable to be a dog than Black Da Sha.

Real!

Being a dog is an art, Protector Wu has mastered it perfectly. Just look at his expression and his words—you can't find fault with him!

Yang Shan invited Protector Wu to sit down, and after a few pleasantries, he learned that Protector Wu had not stayed in the Jia Ma Empire after collecting the required mission quota.

He returned to the Ghost Wither Branch Hall, wanting to hone his skills and see if he could try to break through to the Five Star Dou Zong.

It's a pity that Protector Wu isn't Yang Shan's "subordinate," otherwise, Yang Shan would have been able to obtain Protector Wu's training panel and see directly how much Extremely Fast Potential and Ultimate Potential Protector Wu currently possesses.

Yang Shan checked Protector Wu's favorability rating towards "Cheng E".

30 o'clock.

Perhaps that's enough.

Yang Shan decided to give it a try and poured another cup of tea for Protector Wu:

"Secluded cultivation? You've been in the Jia Ma Empire for so many years and haven't achieved anything. Aren't you going to collect some Essence Spirit Crystal?"

Protector Wu smiled wryly, "Mister E, please don't tease me. How could I possibly afford to exchange for Essence Spirit Crystal?"

Yang Shan stroked his chin:

"How many Contribution Points are needed for Seventh Order Essence Spirit Crystal?"

Protector Wu: "Two hundred thousand, and even then, it's not guaranteed. It depends on whether they have the goods. If they don't, you can only pay Contribution Points to get in line."

Yang Shan: "."

The Earth Chapter of "Dark Soul Mist," Earth Rank Middle-Level Dou Technique with Golden Word Seal, only costs 300,000 Contribution Points! Although this Dou Technique is considered a "special benefit" within the Soul Hall, 200,000 Essence Spirit Crystal is really expensive! However, Yang Shan can understand, since it is Seventh Order Essence Spirit Crystal, which enhances the potential of Dou Zong powerhouse.

It's much more valuable than a sixth-tier Essence Spirit Crystal.

Yang Shan: "How many Contribution Points do you have now?"

Protector Wu: "One hundred thousand is still a bit short."

Yang Shan: "How much difference?"

Protector Wu: "Fifty thousand short."

Yang Shan: "You, him."

Yang Shan almost started cursing.

"Fifty thousand short is considered 'almost'?" Yang Shan: "Didn't you just get 100,000 Contribution Points for completing a task a while ago?"

Protector Wu confessed honestly. "With the Contribution Points I had saved up before, I exchanged them for a mid- Earth Rank Middle-Level cultivation technique."

Yang Shan: "What kind of cultivation technique?"

Protector Wu: "The Gathering Darkness Secret Classic".

When Yang Shan went to the Secret Treasure Hall to exchange items last time, he took screenshots of all the items he saw Secret Treasure Hall and compiled them into a booklet for future exchange purposes.

He pulled up his information history and took a look.

Although this "Gathering Darkness Secret Classic" is not as good as the "Extreme Lightning Mystic Classic", it is still Purple Word Seal. What is most commendable is that this technique can accelerate cultivation.

Therefore, Protector Wu intends to rely on this technique to cultivate diligently and break through to the Five Star Dou Zong.

After Yang Shan had a general understanding of Protector Wu's current predicament, he finally confronted Protector Wu about the situation:

"Little Wù, interested in following me?"