Chapter Eighteen: Borrowing a Ladder to Climb Up

  It was already the fourth watch of the night, and Yu Ze Cheng ended his cultivation, lying on the bed to take a short nap. As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep immediately. In the vague dream, Yu Ze Cheng entered his own spiritual sea, also known as the subconscious space. In the boundless spiritual sea, the chanting voices of "Formless Annihilation Spiritual Transformation Technique" and "Universal Soul Slaughter Refining Evil Spirit Scripture" appeared once again, this time not as simple as before.

  They swirled in Yu Ze's mind, taking shape as characters, yesterday just a vague impression, today it was like they were alive. The text of the "Invisible Annihilation Spirit Birth Technique" was like a demonic obsession, transforming into a serpent that coiled and rose, dancing ceaselessly.

  "The Heavenly Slaughter of the Soul Refining Demons" Through cultural creation, countless demons were produced, in groups of three to five, with over a hundred of them tumbling and jumping about. The demon snakes and demons began a great war, killing each other as they touched, their bodies colliding, some scriptures growing weak and dissolving, others absorbing the scriptures of others, growing stronger, starting a fierce struggle.

  They fought for a long time, neither of whom could gain the upper hand. When they were evenly matched, a bloody sea suddenly appeared and engulfed both of them, transforming into blood energy. The Blood Sea was transformed from the scripture of "The Supreme Taoist Blood Seal". He is three points more cunning than yesterday, not like yesterday's fierce attack, knowing that he waited until the two sides fought to weaken each other before taking action.

  Yu then suddenly woke up, it was already five watches into the night, the sky was about to brighten, it was time to practice the Fierce Tiger Roars at Heaven Technique.

  Everything in the spiritual sea is so illusory, but the five blood threads in the body have become three points thicker, and there seems to be a tendency of splitting. Is it because I swallowed two more books of scriptures evolved from dreams?

  I only slept for a short while, but my body feels light and refreshed, my spirit is revitalized, it's incredibly comfortable, not sleepy at all. Although the state is very good, it didn't increase as much as yesterday, but that's also inevitable, there can't be such a magical effect every time.

  Yu Ze Cheng walked out of the room, and outside was Fu Chen waiting for him. Yu Ze Cheng nodded to him, then touched the wall with his hand, and blood flowed down to his feet. With a burst of energy, he climbed up the high wall, grasping the eaves, and in three or two strides, he reached the rooftop, no longer needing to use ladders as before. Arriving at the rooftop, Yu Ze Cheng found the highest spot and waited for the sunrise.

  On the rooftop, Yu Ze Cheng found that the Shanzhu branch was indeed not as good as the main hall. At this time, everyone in the main hall had already come out to practice martial arts, either absorbing the morning sun or practicing sword techniques. However, there were only a dozen or so people on the rooftop of the Shanzhu branch, all of whom were elderly. It can be seen that the discipline within the branch was lax, and many disciples lacked ambition.

  Yu Ze nodded and began to practice the Tiger's Roar Heaven Technique, absorbing true energy and then converting it into blood energy. Although the road ahead was long and the conversion of true yuan blood energy seemed impossible, as long as he didn't give up and persisted to the end, his efforts would definitely be rewarded.

  As the morning sun rises, the first ray of sunlight shines on Yu Ze Cheng's body. Yu Ze Cheng inhales and exhales, instantly producing white mist, his internal true energy circulating, every strand transforming into blood energy.

  After collecting his pay, Yu Cheng did not eat at the helm and took Fu Jia's father and son to leave the helm and head to their own base.

  Ma Tianyu was indeed a local snake. Early in the morning, he had already procured all the goods and the chef had started preparing breakfast. When Yu Ze Cheng returned, everyone was delighted.

  Everyone sat down together to drink congee and have breakfast. All travelers reported back:

  "Last night I've already contacted the brothers from various families, they are all capable disciples, about thirty people will come to join you, don't know if Boss Gang will accept them or not?"

  This sentence has a story, Yu Ze Cheng can only have thirty apprentices under his command because the monthly stipend provided by the pavilion is only that much, three taels of silver per person, plus the stipend of ten taels for the leader, totaling one hundred taels. If Yu Ze Cheng recruits more apprentices, he will have to pay the excess amount himself.

  Yu Zhen smiled and said:

  "Take them in, one at a time, but each person must go through ten moves with either you or Ling Ye Hong before they can be accepted, otherwise it's just a waste of resources."

  Du Youzi replied:

  "Alright, don't worry, I've found disciples who are battle-hardened and no trash. I've also found someone familiar with this terrain, they'll be here soon."

  Yu Ze nodded and said:

  "Good, it's really satisfying when things are done efficiently and well."

  The disciples who were supposed to come had not arrived yet, but Gao Feng came first. He didn't come alone, he brought five people with him, one of whom was Chen Cuozi, who had high expectations placed upon him. There were also two of Chen Cuozi's disciples, and the remaining three were not from Tangguo, and Yu Ze Cheng had never seen them before.

  When he saw Gao Feng, Yu Ze immediately stood up to welcome him and introduced him to everyone. This was his future master. Gao Feng had made a thousand guesses about the situation here, but who would have thought that it would turn out like this? His own plans were all useless, and he couldn't help but take a look at Yu Ze.

  When Gaofeng introduced Chen Cripple to everyone, others didn't know that Fu Gang and Lin Ye Hong stood up with utmost respect. Chen Cripple was once one of the Qinghong Twins of Hei Hu Dang, and had fought against Mo Tian Lang many times, so the older generation knew his reputation.

  Chen Cuozi wore a monk's robe, his head shaved bald, his legs still limping, his face old and withered, his bones thin as firewood. No matter how you looked at him, he didn't look like a master.

  At this time, the twenty-four disciples of the Tianlang Sect who had been recruited by Youzi arrived, along with a group of ten people brought over by Liu Huizi's master. They were all senior members of the sect, around thirty years old, with exceptional martial arts skills. Looking down on Tan Er Lang, they had been ostracized and sent over by Liu Huizi. Suddenly, everyone gathered together, creating a lively and noisy scene.

  Yu Ze Cheng then began the disciple competition conference, where Dou Zi, Lin Ye Hong and Fu Gang took turns to go on stage, accepting challenges from disciples. As long as they could withstand their ten moves, they would be officially admitted into Yu Ze Cheng's disciple ranks.

  Of course, this martial arts competition is not as intense as yesterday's. Everyone just tries their best to let the new disciples show off their skills and abilities. Among them, three people are not very good at martial arts, but because of their other outstanding abilities, they were exceptionally recruited by Yu Zecheng.

  Yu Ze Cheng has disciples such as Gao Feng, Chen Que Zi, Fu Jia Fu Zi, Yang Yi Ming, Lin Ye Hong, Dou You Zi, Ma Tian Yu, and a total of 54 disciples, exceeding the limit by 24 people, but Yu Ze Cheng doesn't mind at all.

  In the Mountain Tiger Branch, a senior elder was invited to register all disciples, including their names, birth times, family members, martial arts specialties, physical characteristics and so on. Although the branch is only responsible for the monthly allowance of thirty disciples, it will still record everyone's information, making them all direct disciples of Yu Ze Cheng. If anyone becomes disabled or dies, the branch will also pay funeral expenses and a monthly stipend to their family members, which may be small but enough to support a family's livelihood. After all, Yu Ze Cheng's family relied on this allowance to make a living in the beginning. Of course, if someone violates the gang's rules, they will be expelled from the gang and their name will be reported for removal.

  After all the records were in place, Yu Ze Cheng began to release the list of his disciples. Gao Feng was the master's assistant, Chen Que Zi, Lin Ye Hong, Dou You Zi and Fu Gang were the four major fighters under him, with Chen Que Zi ranking first as the Red Pole Golden Medal disciple.

  Then start the original program, worship ancestors, burn yellow paper, drink blood wine, make a poisonous oath, cut off chicken head, and from now on all become sworn brothers of different sexes.

  Everything came to an end, and Chen Cripple became the number one disciple of the Golden Medal. Many people saw his appearance and were very dissatisfied, especially the later disciples, who looked at him with a limp and crippled look, where was the demeanor of a master?

  Chen Cripple seemed to be oblivious to the discussions around him, and suddenly walked in front of the stone lion at the entrance of the fort, stretched out his leg and kicked it with one foot. The stone lion, which weighed over a thousand catties, was kicked into the air by him, flying more than two zhang high. Then he kicked again with another foot, and a huge true energy footprint flew up, striking the stone lion in mid-air. With a loud "boom", Chen Cripple kicked the stone lion to pieces, and then stood suspended in mid-air, three inches above the ground.

  At that time, everyone was stunned and floated in the air, which could only be done by a master with innate skills. The knowledgeable Lin Ye Hong said:

  "Heavens, this is a terrible mess."

  At that moment, everyone was stunned, including Yu Ze Cheng. Who would have thought that Chen Youzi had become a congenital master, able to condense his true energy into a shield and float in mid-air? Such a master couldn't even be retained by the Black Tiger Hall itself.

  Yu Ze Cheng glanced at Gao Feng, who had a bitter smile on his face and said in a low voice:

  "Damn, who knew his kung fu had reached this level? I was also deceived. He's taking advantage of our hospitality to build a good relationship. Tomorrow, Old Black Ma will come to invite him. However, this time I've also invited three skilled fighters, the Three Hawks of Luoyang, who are wandering warriors from Luzhou Wuguo. They offended powerful people and had to flee their hometown, so they came to seek refuge with me. I brought them along, and they all have skills similar to Fang Gang's, with a bold and generous character, making them reliable."

  As expected, the news of Chen Cripple's birth reached Hei Hu Tang before the second day. Ma Laohei rushed over with his men to invite Chen Cripple, who pretended to decline several times before finally leaving with Ma Laohei and becoming a senior elder of Hei Hu Tang, taking up residence there.

  Yu Ze and Gao Feng became the bridge for Chen Cui's rise to power, but they also gained something, receiving great praise from Ma Laohei and a reward of 100 taels of silver as expenses.

  Chen Cunzi left with his two apprentices and promised that there would be something to say in the future, but Yu Ze Cheng still felt uncomfortable in his heart.

  The three of them left, and the disciples suddenly became fifty-one people. Hooking up with San Ying was a talented person, generous and refreshing, but also a bit silly, which is why he offended the powerful and had to flee to a distant land. As soon as the three of them arrived here, they immediately became good friends with Fu Gang, who had similar personalities. In fact, this was also inevitable, as most of the other disciples were former members of the Wild Wolf Gang brought by Du Youzi. These outsiders naturally formed alliances to resist each other, so as not to be bullied in the future.

  Those who helped the middle-aged and elderly people had been fighting with the Wild Wolf Gang for many years, and they didn't get along with each other. They followed Fu Gang's side, and Ma Tianyu's original local snakes also gradually attached themselves to Fu Gang's group. This vaguely formed a confrontational situation between two groups of disciples. In fact, this was also what Yu Zecheng wanted to see. The disciples being too close together wasn't a good thing either.

  The disciples are in place, and I will start the next step of work, that is, the collection of taxes, also known as protection fees.

  In the past, this street had two members of the Wild Wolf Gang who collected protection fees. They were now under Yu Ze Cheng's command. One was Tong Lei, the original leader of this street, skilled in Dragon and Phoenix Cudgel. The other was his younger brother Tong Yun, whose martial arts skills were average, but he was eloquent and good at observing people's expressions.