Hei turned to Jingfei, who seemed to be conflicted.

“You should know, any considerations that you would make, we have already factored in. If there are any unique abilities you had because of your prior cultivation technique, it is only a matter of time until we include them into a technique made especially for you.”

Hei didn’t like it that Jingfei was hesitant to switch to their techniques.

She was like a small child refusing to be shown the correct way. So, he decided to just pick her up and put her on the right path.

It was the same thing she had done when he had been complaining about the changes to his room caused by Onyx.

He continued.

“After we take in all of the information within the sect, and reunite with our brother, we will create a technique specifically for your constitution. And the best part is, you won’t have to abandon your cultivation this time.”

“Right…”

Jingfei was still feeling weird about the whole situation. She had felt what it was like to be utterly worthless, and then in the next moment, she felt valuable beyond compare.

It was quite the jarring experience, to say the least.

And then there was the fact that before she knew it, her entire cultivation system had changed. Even her spirit roots were different on a fundamental level.

Sure, her new spirit roots were vastly superior to the original, and the new technique was better by a mile. But to have no choice in the matter...

According to the sect, she should feel violated, but that wasn't it. It was hard to put into words.

Qiuyue, on the other hand, was paying attention to something else.

“Did you say you will create a technique for Jingfei?”

Hei turned to Qiuyue.

“That’s right.”

He smiled.

“Does that make you want to become my maid?”

“No thanks.”

Hei exaggeratedly snapped his fingers and said ‘darn’.

“Well, as you spend time with my sisters, I’m sure you’ll realise how inferior your current lifestyle is. You’ll see just how different my Shao Clan is from the rest of you riffraff.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Qiuyue didn’t have any noticeable negative reaction, which was something Hei liked about her.

“Just watch as Jingfei soars far above you in terms of cultivation. Watch as she shocks the sect with her rapid improvement, claiming the undisputed number one position. And realise that, while you can’t beat her, you can join her.”

Knowing Qiuyue’s personality, Hei felt it was only a matter of time until she saw the benefits of becoming his maid. When she saw everything he described coming true, she would ask to be his maid of her own volition.

That is, of course, if she didn’t seek freedom first and foremost.

Unless one wanted freedom in all things, Hei couldn’t see a better path than being his subordinate. Especially since he was aiming straight for the peak of the world.

It was essentially a free ride to greatness.

Most of the people in the lower continent would never even leave it. That included those like Qiuyue and Jingfei unless they had joined some main character’s harem.

Of course, Hei realised that other people didn’t necessarily believe he would be able to achieve such things. But it only took a little pushing to let them see.

The main character aura was strong indeed.

And Hei wasn’t wrong.

Qiuyue had always felt that sect life was quite mundane. She always wanted to see what was out there but didn’t leave the sect due to the fear they had instilled in her.

However, if she had an umbrella like the Shao Clan, then maybe…

The only thing she didn’t like, was that Hei seemed to know her a bit too well. They had only briefly exchanged words, but it felt like he knew her well enough to be able to predict her decisions.

She smiled.

“If that happens, then count me in.”

“Eh?”

Hei was truly surprised this time. He never expected Qiuyue to say these words.

She really was his kind of Senior Sister.

If she was so easily able to see benefits and decisively go after them, then they would get along quite well.

The only thing was, it seemed a little rash.

For all she knew, he could be a terrible monster with a smile on his face. Maybe this was truly an elaborate scheme meant to lure innocent young ladies into his clutches.

He would have to assess her a little further to see whether she was truly a good role model for Bai. He didn’t want Bai to go seeking benefits without assessing the risks.

He didn’t consider the possibility that she was only jesting as he smiled.

“Then I guess I will soon have a partner in flash.”

Hei was quite an... interesting fellow. He didn’t want his siblings to be flashy, but when it came to himself, he wanted to show off all over the place.

If he had a flashy maid at his side, he could do a whole lot of flashy performances.

Imagine a little boy and a maid dressed in a battle uniform flying in on a dragon. Swooping down into an encirclement of enemies.

The maid and the boy would jump off the dragon, and land right in the thick of it. Making sure to strike a cool pose as they did.

The maid would then grab the little boy’s hands and spin him around.

From his feet, chains would emerge and ensnare all of the enemies, bringing them to the ground.

After all of the enemies were subdued, the maid would throw the boy into the air, he would flip several times, she would jump up and catch him, and while they were still in mid-air, the dragon would swoop back in, collecting them, and clutching the enemies with its claws before flying off into the sunset.

That was only one of the scenarios Hei had conjured up.

As Hei was going off on a tangent in his mind, Jingfei was testing out the new cultivation technique.

When Hei notice this, he decided to warn her.

“This new cultivation technique uses far more mental energy than what you're used to. So be sure not to overexert yourself.”

Jingfei didn’t appreciate that this kept getting mentioned. She wished they could just move on.

Hei continued.

“Since you have been practising alchemy, your mental energy has improved significantly. And as you practice this technique, it will get easier and your mental energy will also improve further.”

Jingfei nodded her head. She could see this point on her own.

After Hei gave Jingfei several tips on the cultivation technique, he had the three visitors take their leave.

After they had left, Hei turned to his sisters.

“Since the strength of our enemies is about to take a leap, I’ve decided to go back home and add some formations to the bakery.”

Hei had considered the fact that taking on Jingfei’s side quest would likely bring him some enemies. And in many of the stories he had read, they would go for the family when they failed to get to their target.

Even though there was always this unwritten rule amongst cultivators that one wouldn’t attack their enemy’s family, Hei didn’t buy this for a second. It always bit the main character in the behind.

Thus, he would be taking matters into his own hands and protecting what he cared about with the utmost care. It would be an awful shame to have an avoidable tragedy.

Hearing Hei’s words, Bai and Mei also wanted to join in.

“Can I also come, Brother?”

“Count me in.”

Hei had no reason to deny their request.

“Sure, but before we go, we might as well take all of the knowledge on formations they have in this place. Jingfei already obtained the apprentice level material, as well as the one-star array master material.”

Hei handed Bai and Mei the manuals he had created with the information Jingfei had purchased.

This way they would be able to go through the first two advancement assessments.

His plans were derailed slightly when Bai responded.

“It’s not that easy, Brother. Even advancing in occupations requires having gone through the initiation first. So, if you want more information, then it will have to be Jingfei who obtains it.”

From the moment Jingfei had referred to Bai and Mei as Young Mistresses, their distaste for her had decreased dramatically.

It seemed she knew her place.

“Ah.”

It was a bit of a pain, but the result would be the same whether it was Bai and Mei, or Jingfei. Plus, this would be the low-key method anyway.

And now that he thought about it, he could have Jingfei go and purchase all of the cultivation techniques her merit points could buy.

Since she now had over 100,000 merit points, she should be able to obtain quite a few.

It was as if Bai could read Hei’s thoughts.

“If you are thinking of having Senior Sister Jingfei go to purchase cultivation techniques, that won’t work.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because disciples are strictly prohibited from sharing cultivation techniques with those who don’t have the access privileges to be able to obtain them on their own.”

-Tch.

Hei never considered this roadblock. This meant there were no shortcuts.

Mei looked to Hei with a raised brow.

“If we want them, why don’t we just take them? Would they be able to stop us?”

She had grown up in the forest, where if one wanted something and one was strong enough, one would just take it, and no one would be able to say anything.

And with their brother here, the three of them could walk sideways within the sect and no one would be able to say anything. Or at the very least, they could escape easily.

Hei shook his head.

“That is a fair point, Mei. But for the most part, we are not thieves.”

While Hei often said things like ‘let’s rob an old lady’, he wouldn’t actually rob an old lady. What he meant by that was that they would be taking advantage of somebody while still within the rules.

“Okay…”

Mei didn’t really understand why Hei would decide to do this. Everything she had known, told her that the strong did as they pleased.

Hei could see her confusion.

He smiled.

“We aren’t mere thieves. We are usurpers.”

For the most part, Hei wasn’t a thief. But when it came to positions of power, there needn’t be one outside of the Shao Clan.

Hei’s plan was to take every position from the top down and fill it with members of the Shao Clan.

That meant the throne of the world would be taken by a member of the Shao Clan, the same went for the position below the throne, and so on and so forth, until there were no more members.

Hearing Hei’s words, Mei remembered that she had something she had been wanting to ask.

“You said we were going to take over the lower continent, but who are you going to leave here to be in charge?”

Surely, if Hei wanted to maintain ownership over the lower continent, he would have to leave someone here for administration purposes.

Hearing her question, Hei turned to Bai.

“Do you have any idea?”

He wanted to see what she would think based on what they currently had, and what he had already revealed.

Bai thought for a moment before she answered.

“I think you’re going to make use of the subordinates in order to handle things for you. But the specifics…”

Hei smiled.

“That’s a good start.”

Hei leaned back in his chair.

“Do you know why we are collecting blues?”

To this question, Bai and Mei didn’t know the exact answer, so they chose to stay silent.

Hei continued.

“The purpose of the blues is to be a fishing net for us. We will cast them wide all over the continent to search for people who are likely to become main characters. That way we will save a lot of time and effort.”

This was one of Hei’s bigger plans. Once he collected a good number of subordinates, he would send them out there to collect more subordinates for him.

He planned to take full advantage of the indicators of a main character. If he could get them before they had their ‘fate changing experience’, then it would be easy to rope them in.

After all, main characters usually suffered a lot of difficulties before they were reborn. He would catch them just before they reached the breaking point and have them see him as their hero.

“Then we’ll rinse and repeat. Until we have combed through the entire lower continent for people who have potential. After we’ve done that, we’ll start our own pillar.”

The pillar Hei was referring to, was the same as the three pillars of the lower continent. These were the three highest powers within the lower continent.

Hei intended to make his own pillar, above even those.

“Then we will fill that pillar with main characters, blues and non-blues alike. After we raise them to be strong, we will take the blues up to the upper continent and have the non-blues take care of the lower continent.”

At this point, Bai was starting to understand Hei’s plans.

“Then we will do the same thing in the upper continent?”

Hei nodded his head.

“And it’s super convenient because the Eastern Guardian just so happens to be the perfect bodyguard. Once we take care of the lower continent, we won’t have to worry about enemies attacking our family anymore.”

Since the Eastern Guardian prevented any strong cultivators for moving down to the lower continent, once they had taken the lower continent as their own, the entire situation would be stabilised by the Eastern Guardian itself.

Hearing Hei’s plans, Bai’s and Mei’s eyes shone brightly.

Even the terrifying Eastern Guardian, who would send shivers down the spines of anyone who tried to invade the lower continent, was just another bodyguard in their brother’s eyes.

“And once we get our momentum going, no one will be able to stop us.”

Bai could picture it.

An invincible army, slowly building up, as they headed to the middle continent, led by her brother.

Who knew how many subordinates he would have taken in by the time he reached his goal?

Mei saw something different.

She saw the day she and Hei would be heading over to the Arctic Fox Tribe, accompanied by his multitude of subordinates.

That would be the day she would avenge her fallen family.