Li Ling had not wasted these past years. Among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the North Sea, he might not have commanded a hundred responses with a single call, but summoning a dozen or more fellow cultivators to help, or even fight enemies of the same realm directly, was no trouble at all.
Nor did he make his friends work for nothing. For searching for and rescuing the treasure ship and investigating the truth alone, he offered several magic treasures as rewards. In the rough-and-tumble cultivation world, some came for friendship, others for profit. Together with the cultivators dispatched by the Merchant Association itself, they formed an imposing force that soon became known to everyone.
Ordinary rogue cultivators, even those who had reached Foundation Establishment, would have wilted on the spot at the sight of such a force.
One could say that without several hundred years of cultivation behind them, ordinary people would never have had the courage to face it. Seeing how formidable their own side was, his allies grew still more imposing and brimmed with confidence.
Out on the ocean, beneath a cloudless sky, a treasure ship sped along.
A voluptuous, alluring figure stood at the prow, his athletic body brimming with wild strength as he faced the wind. This was Blood Lion, the Third Chieftain of the Blood Shark Bandits.
Behind him, a shipboard underling was reporting secret intelligence sent by their informants ashore, including developments around the North Sea Branch Headquarters and Auspicious Ward.
"A lot of pointless fuss!"
Upon hearing that Li Ling had launched a large-scale search, rescue, and investigation effort, Blood Lion's lips curled slightly, revealing a trace of disdain.
Then he gave a slight nod and acknowledged, "A force like that is certainly worth a look. To build such a foundation in