A Disciple at the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer

"After hearing the Family Head's words today, I, Chang Lao Si, finally realized I've lived my whole life in vain. No wonder they say when people are compared, one must die of shame. Compared to someone like the Family Head, I've truly wasted half my life. I have made my living through gambling all my life. In order to follow my master and learn gambling techniques, when I was eight, I broke off two of my own fingers as my Apprentice Ceremony gift. But I have never regretted it, because I am obsessed with this trade. My master told me that the path of gambling was boundless and endless, but sadly, I, Chang Lao Si, have never been able to comprehend it."

"My master once said that gambling was not merely about victory or defeat. It was something sacred, a calling worthy of a lifetime's effort. Yet I have kept striving. Even though I turned Chang Le Gambling House into one of Jade Capital City's three great gambling houses, I still could not change anything, much less reach that level. After hearing the Ren Family Head's words today, I can die without regrets. If the Ren Family Head did not possess such status and standing, then even if I had thirty fewer years to live and only twenty years left, I would still be willing to take you as my master and learn from you."

"However, the Family Head's identity is extraordinary. I, Chang Lao Si, would not dare reach above my station. I only ask to follow at your saddle and before your horse, joining you in creating the glory of this gambling industry. So long as I can witness that glory in my lifetime, then I will not have lived this life in vain." As Chang Lao Si spoke, he actually knelt down respectfully and performed a grand salute, begging Ren Jie in turn.

At that moment, nothing else mattered to Chang Lao Si anymore.

Damn! Fatty Gao Ren's eyes spun as he watched. This worked too?

But thinking about it, if there really were someone in alchemy who could leave him so astonished, someone who showed a future and hope beyond even his imagination, he too would follow them at any cost.

Gao Ren was equally obsessed with refining medicine. In the future, he wanted to become the most powerful Spirit Alchemist, even surpassing the legendary Top-Tier Spirit Artifact Refiners.

Thus, he could understand Chang Lao Si's actions at that moment. Yet whenever he looked at Ren Jie, he felt something was off. It was fucking strange.

After all this time, how had he not known that Ren Jie had so much in his head? Back then, Ren Jie had been treated as a sucker and fleeced by countless people. Only with Gao Ren's help had he managed to win money a few times; before that, he had never won at all.

To Chang Lao Si, who was obsessed with gambling, it was like a believer seeing a god. One could imagine how steadfast that faith was. Everything else had become unimportant.

Yes!! Ren Jie also let out a long breath inwardly. Before making this request to the Fang Family, he had sorted through his inherited memories and learned that Chang Lao Si was a man mad for gambling. What he ran was not merely a casino, and he did not do it merely for profit.

Now, it seemed he had been right. What such people wanted was not as simple as making money. Just as an artifact refiner without pursuit or dreams, one who worked only for money, could hardly become a Top-Tier Spirit Artifact Refiner. In every field, there were people fanatically devoted to that field. That drive surpassed their pursuit of money and everything else; it was their faith.

Ren Jie had originally prepared many things to persuade Chang Lao Si and achieve his goal. He had not expected that he would not even need to speak. The result was so good that even Ren Jie was surprised.

"I believe you can see it, Fourth Old. If I give this my full support and push it forward, then once it succeeds, even if I give you only half a percent of the shares, what you possess will be more than ten times what you have now. And..."

"No!" Before Ren Jie could finish, Chang Lao Si said excitedly, "If I only cared about making money, then with my cultivation, I could go anywhere outside Jade Capital City and dominate a region, earning more than ten times what I earn now. And with my gambling skills, I could roam the world unhindered. There would be no need for me to remain in Jade Capital City like this. Because of the cultivation technique I practice, I have devoted my feelings to gambling. If I wish to break through, I must also make a breakthrough in gambling. Whether for my own dreams or to break through into the Yin Yang Realm, I must remain in Jade Capital City and fulfill my dream. That is precisely why I founded the Chang Le Gang."

"After hearing the Ren Family Head's words today, I, Chang Lao Si, feel as if clouds have parted and the moon has appeared. I can even sense that if I truly elevate gambling to such a level, I will definitely rise another floor, whether in gambling skill or strength. The Ren Family Head need not give me anything. So long as you have need of me and do not disdain me, the Chang Le Gang will be yours from now on, including all my private property." What were these assets and this little gang's power worth?

Chang Lao Si was a figure at the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer. With cultivation alone, he could look down upon ordinary princes and marquises, much less with his gambling skills. Just as he had said himself, if he were willing, he had far too many choices, and every one of them would be better than what he had now.

One had to know that the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer represented true strength. It was only one step away from surpassing the limits of human power. The Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer's strength was formidable to the extreme, yet it did not increase one's lifespan because of it. The Yin Yang Realm was different because once one entered it, one's lifespan began to extend. That was why it was such a dividing line.

For Chang Lao Si to reach the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer at his age was already astonishing. This was also why ordinary people were unwilling to provoke him lightly, why the Chang Le Gang could become one of the Top Ten Gangs of Jade Capital City, and why all the Great Powers wanted to win him over.

If those people seeking to recruit Chang Lao Si discovered at this moment that he was kneeling and begging Ren Jie to accept his assets and gang, asking to follow Ren Jie, they would probably think they were dreaming and be scared senseless.

"No need." Ren Jie waved his hand. "Listen to me first. I will not give you too much, but I will not give you too little either. And you must accept it—not only for yourself, but for your subordinates and your descendants. In the future, I will hold seventy percent and control everything. Fourth Old, you will hold ten percent. Your brothers will divide another ten percent, and the final ten percent will all be used for relief. This relief is not about donating it to others. It must be put into real practice. You may not believe in gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, but you must believe in conscience. Act with conscience and seek a heart free of shame. Ten percent is neither much nor little. Your thirty percent will never change. Any future investment or expansion will all come from my seventy percent. Over time, the accumulated amount will be terrifying."

If they truly reached the level Ren Jie described, then ten percent would already be terrifying. Moreover, this ten percent meant reaping the rewards without lifting a finger. There was no need to invest, yet as the scale expanded, the returns would grow. The income from that ten percent would truly be terrifying.

Others might not understand, but Chang Lao Si, who had always dreamed of this and had even taken it as the key to breaking through into the Yin Yang Realm, understood it too well.

"Keep listening." Chang Lao Si was about to speak excitedly, but Ren Jie directly stopped him and continued, "And even if you did not say it, I would have said it. Because of my special identity, there are times when it is inconvenient for me to show myself, so you will have to handle everything."

Chang Lao Si nodded fiercely, nodding with all his might. Ren Jie would not let him speak, so he used this method to express his feelings.

"Therefore, I will not let you suffer a loss either. Unlike Fang Yan and the others, I will not merely see your strength and your ability to make money and seek to use you. When the time comes, I will publicly accept you as my disciple. As the Family Head of the Ren Family, I can also teach you some things. By the saying that the accomplished may be a master, it would not be improper for me to take you as a disciple. At that time, you will be my, Ren Jie's, disciple. The entire Ren Family will be your backing—not some secret support. Also, I only said that earlier so you would not feel such resistance in your heart. It was I who proposed that the Fang Family spend money to purchase your Chang Le Gambling House. I need not say more about the rest." Ren Jie knew that this kind of matter had to be cut through with a swift blade.

The Fang Family wanted to use this incident to subdue Chang Lao Si and the Chang Le Gang once and for all. Added to what had happened before, if Chang Lao Si merely followed Ren Jie, Ren Jie could already imagine how long Chang Lao Si would live. They would not allow the Fang Family to gain another Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer expert. At his age, he even had a chance to challenge the Yin Yang Realm.

Fang Qi and Fang Yan would be even more likely to retaliate. They did not dare attack Ren Jie directly, but Chang Le Gambling House and Chang Lao Si, who had pledged themselves to him, would be in dire straits. Ren Jie had originally been thinking about what to do, but when Chang Lao Si mentioned taking a disciple just now, Ren Jie had been delighted. Fine, then he would take a disciple.

However, before taking him as a disciple, Ren Jie had to make everything clear. Ren Jie did not wish to deceive his own people. At first, it had merely been a negotiating tactic, preventing Chang Lao Si from becoming so resistant that he could not listen to Ren Jie's words. Now that he was going to take him as a disciple, Ren Jie also had to lay everything bare.

"This..." Chang Lao Si could hardly believe it. In truth, after hearing Ren Jie's words and kneeling to declare that he would follow him, he had already considered that he might be drawn into the struggle between the two great families, perhaps even become a sacrificial pawn.

But he also knew that even death would not make him give up.

Yet he had not expected Ren Jie to be so thorough, to have considered even this. Ren Jie was going to protect him.

As for Ren Jie's final words, Chang Lao Si was stunned at first, but then warmth filled his heart. Ren Jie had absolutely not needed to say those things, but saying them proved one thing: he truly wanted to treat Chang Lao Si as one of his own and did not wish to deceive him. Though Ren Jie had started this matter, the Fang Family had clearly been planning to swallow up the Chang Le Gang for far more than a day or two. That was why this situation had arisen. Chang Lao Si immediately understood the key to it all.

"What, were the words you said earlier not sincere? Now you do not wish to acknowledge me as your master after all? Or do you think I deceived you before?" Ren Jie asked jokingly.

Bang... Bang... Bang... Chang Lao Si knocked his head heavily against the ground three times, then said with excitement, "This disciple, Chang Si, greets Master."

It was over. This was really fucking over.

Mad. They had all gone mad.

The fatty had long since been rendered speechless at the side. He clawed fiercely at his own hair, wishing he could pull it all out.

Because this was simply too, too, too unbelievable.

Ren Jie had actually accepted a disciple at the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer in such a short time. Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer! An expert even the emperor wanted to recruit, not to mention someone with the potential to challenge the Yin Yang Realm and become a person capable of supporting a powerful lineage alone for a hundred years.

At the Divine Power Realm Ninth Layer, one could found a sect and establish a school; it was more than enough for an ordinary small sect. If one reached the Yin Yang Realm, one would absolutely become an overlord of a region, someone even the Five Great Families would not provoke lightly.

And now... he had actually... become a disciple just like that. It was too insane.