Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Blood Light Soul Splitting, Recalling the Luo Family

Recruiting cultivators.

For a Loose Cultivator, it was a troublesome affair.

Even Canghai himself had been quite troubled by it after his major cultivation breakthrough.

In the end, he had chosen to join forces with five Foundation Establishment families to rule the Immortal City together.

’But, compared to Canghai... the hand I’ve been dealt is much better...’

Su Ye’s eyelashes fluttered, and a gentle smile graced his eyes.

"Gazing at the sky at dawn, watching the clouds at dusk."

"Su Ye."

His fingertip traced the words, which transformed into spiritual light and were engraved into the jade scroll.

Finally, he imprinted it with his Magical Power signature.

’Done.’

Two Communication Jade Scrolls shimmered brightly on the wooden table.

"My friend, I’ll have to trouble you to go to Cuiluo Island and deliver these letters for me."

"Give this one to Luo Xiyin."

"And this one, to Luo Qing’e."

"Oh, and remember to deliver them separately!"

"You must remember! This is crucial!"

Su Ye instructed him solemnly.

"Uh... wait, there’s one more! For Qi Shuhui."

Su Ye called the messenger back, "copied and pasted" a jade scroll, changed the name, and altered the wording.

"Yes... Acting City Lord, sir."

The cultivator from Canghai Mountain bowed respectfully and accepted the jade scrolls.

Su Ye’s agreement with Canghai had not been kept secret.

Was there any need for secrecy?

Therefore, most of the Immortal City’s upper echelon now knew that Su Ye would be taking over as the next City Lord.

Furthermore, Canghai had also stated that he was willing to formally hand over the position of City Lord during the Core Formation Ceremony.

Thus, most cultivators in the Immortal City now addressed Su Ye as ’Acting City Lord’!

"Thank you for your trouble, my friend."

Su Ye smiled lightly and handed over several medium-grade Spirit Stones.

The messenger cultivator accepted the Spirit Stones, acknowledged his orders, and departed.

Su Ye exhaled softly.

He sat atop Canghai Mountain, gazing down at the clouds and mist, a sense of anticipation blooming in his heart.

’I imagine that after they receive my message... the Luo Family will arrive at the Immortal City soon, right?’

’And I’ll be able to see Qing’e and Xiying, too...’

Su Ye smiled, his gaze gentle.

Compared to a Loose Cultivator, Su Ye was the Supreme Elder of the Luo Family!

Moreover, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Luo Family had both... interacted deeply with him and shared a profound relationship.

In other words, Su Ye could easily secure the allegiance of the Luo Family’s cultivators!

This was a win-win situation!

For Su Ye, he would gain a group of loyal subordinates.

For the Luo Family, it was also a great opportunity!

They could establish a prime new territory for the family to prosper and multiply, far from Donglong Island!

This new territory had a third-rank Spirit Vein and also offered the rich profits of a trade hub!

How could it be anything less than ten times better than Donglong Island?

...

Recalling the Luo Family would provide Su Ye with some assistance.

However, Donglong’s Luo Clan was merely a Foundation Establishment family.

Their loyalty was acceptable, but their strength was limited.

But for Su Ye, this wasn’t a problem.

’I still have the Ghostly Flood Dragon!’

Ever since the Ghostly Flood Dragon had undergone a legendary evolution and advanced to the quasi-fourth rank, and its ship spirit was born, many of its abilities had been upgraded and perfected!

Among them was a new ability that had evolved from its original ’Conversion’ ability!

—Blood Light Soul Splitting!

It could create even more powerful cursed crew members.

According to Su Ye’s practical tests, Blood Light Soul Splitting had two modes.

The first was Conversion, which used a blueprint, flesh and blood, and a living soul as raw materials to convert someone into a cursed crew member.

This was the method Su Ye had used before.

The cursed crew members created this way essentially underwent a ’death of rebirth’.

The original body would die, its thought patterns and memories would be copied, and a cursed crew member would be created.

It was very inhumane.

Furthermore, these soulless counterfeits had many limitations.

They couldn’t advance in cultivation, nor could they leave the Ghostly Flood Dragon for extended periods.

In effect, they became the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s ’Ship-bound Spirits’!

But after its evolution, the Ghostly Flood Dragon gained a new mode.

Su Ye called it—’Enhancement’!

...

WHOOSH.

"Please board in an orderly fashion."

"Follow the directions. Thank you."

Several dozen Qi Refining cultivators, nervous and apprehensive yet filled with anticipation, boarded the Ghostly Flood Dragon.

It was clear that most of them had some form of disability, such as a missing arm or leg.

Chen Zheng, a former Captain of the City Guard Army, was among them.

The sleeve of his left arm was empty, the limb seemingly severed at the shoulder.

During the battle for the Immortal City, his left arm was contaminated by the venom of some snake demon during the Beast Tide, forcing him to sever it to prevent the poison from reaching his heart.

But compared to the many comrades who had died in the battle for the Immortal City, he was already considered lucky.

At least he was still alive.

He could even collect his pension from the Immortal City, leave the City Guard Army, and go home to live out his days in peace.

Even if he was disabled, his potential exhausted, with no more hope of reaching Foundation Establishment... what could be done?

Pills that could regrow severed limbs were expensive even among second-rank items. What could a mere Qi Refining cultivator like him do?

Originally, Chen Zheng had already accepted his fate.

But just then, the Acting City Lord, Su Ye, had extended a helping hand to them.

"Greetings, everyone."

Dressed in a black robe, Su Ye stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile on his face.

"We greet the Acting City Lord."

The dozens of Qi Refining cultivators dared not show any disrespect and hurriedly bowed in salute.

Su Ye’s gaze swept over them, and he nodded slightly.

"I’ll keep this brief."

"I have a way to heal your disabilities."

"However, after the treatment, you will need to serve me for fifty years... with a salary, of course."

Su Ye smiled.

"You can think of it as ’the Acting City Lord is preparing to recruit his own team’."

"After all, I’m not a native cultivator of this Immortal City. I need some people to work for me."

"The specific terms and compensation are all here. Take a look for yourselves."

"If you find them acceptable, then sign the Spirit Contract."

With a flicker of his Magical Power, Su Ye sent several jade scrolls containing the information to them.

As expected, every cultivator present signed the Spirit Contract.

Su Ye’s terms weren’t harsh. Besides... even if they had been, it would have been a small price to pay for the grace of having their limbs restored and their cultivation paths reopened.

After the Spirit Contracts were signed, Su Ye began to repair their physical bodies.

With a stir of his Divine Sense, he plunged the cultivators’ consciousnesses into an illusion, causing them to collapse into a deep sleep.

"Jiaojiao."

"Let’s begin."

"AWOO!"

Jiaojiao appeared in a flash.

Bloody light surged around her body, extending outward like tentacles.

A few dozen breaths later, the cultivators’ missing limbs had been regrown and repaired, good as new!

’It’s done.’

Compared to ’Conversion’, ’Enhancement’ consumed less energy.

Furthermore, it preserved the cultivator’s original consciousness, allowing them to continue advancing.

They also didn’t need to return to the Ghostly Flood Dragon periodically.

It was like...

’Installing biological prosthetics?’ Su Ye muttered to himself.

With the dual restraints of ’Blood Light Soul Splitting’ and the ’Heart Demon Spirit Contract’, the loyalty of these cultivators was guaranteed.

At the same time, most of the cultivators who had survived the battle for the Immortal City had something extraordinary about them.

’Perhaps six or seven of them could reach Foundation Establishment?’

Su Ye guessed.

Relying on the Luo Family cultivators and these cursed crew members would likely save Su Ye a great deal of effort.

’However, I’m still lacking in high-rank combat power...’

Su Ye’s eyes flickered.

People like He Muyun and Sikong Xin were branded by their respective factions.

They needed to hold down their own forts for the long term.

They weren’t really suitable for doing his dirty work.

’If only I could get one more loyal, third-rank subordinate, that would be perfect.’

Su Ye thought.

If that were the case, Su Ye could truly relax and be a hands-off Shopkeeper!

But a third-rank fighter wasn’t easy to find.

’Wait...’

Su Ye’s eyes lit up.