Chapter 1164: The Original Rules
Yang Haoran had naturally considered the point Tang Shi was worried about. If the Underworld Office knew he was secretly cultivating Spirit Mediums, it would undoubtedly be a dead end for him, even if he was one of the Underworld Office's forty-five Guardians. However, just as he questioned Tang Shi at that moment, if the Underworld Office knew he was the master of the Myriad Ghost Grotto, that vast organization of spirits, his fate wouldn't be any better than if they discovered he was cultivating Spirit Mediums. Since he had already committed a capital crime, Yang Haoran naturally didn't care about adding another one. Tang Shi, questioned by Yang Haoran in such a manner, naturally understood why Yang Haoran dared to act this way, and at the same time, he began to form some conjectures about why Yang Haoran wanted to cultivate Spirit Mediums. Although Tang Shi understood what would happen if the Underworld Office learned Yang Haoran was the master of the Myriad Ghost Grotto, he didn't dare to say it directly to Yang Haoran. So, he dodged Yang Haoran's question and instead voiced his own guess.
“Does master mean to cultivate a sufficient number of Spirit Mediums, and our spirits from the Myriad Ghost Grotto can just become these Spirit Mediums' Guardian Spirits? This way, it wouldn't just save time in finding Guardian Spirits for the Spirit Mediums, but it would also significantly boost the strength of our Myriad Ghost Grotto in a short amount of time? ” Although Tang Shi had already confirmed this guess in his mind, he didn't state it with a definite tone, but rather with an uncertain one.
Yang Haoran smiled and nodded, then gave Tang Shi a definite affirmation. “That’s right, that is indeed what I’m thinking. Aside from methods that involve just throwing immense resources at it, if we want to maximize the strength of the Myriad Ghost Grotto in the shortest possible time, cultivating enough Spirit Mediums is indeed an excellent choice. This is because the growth between Spirit Mediums and Guardian Spirits is mutual. As Spirit Mediums improve, their Guardian Spirits also gain certain benefits. Similarly, as Guardian Spirits improve, their Spirit Mediums also gain certain benefits. This advantage not only greatly reduces the time it takes for Spirit Mediums to mature, but also accelerates the cultivation speed of Guardian Spirits. It’s truly killing two birds with one stone. ”
Upon hearing this, Tang Shi pondered for a moment before responding. “If we’re talking about which profession in the entire New Beginning Realm improves the fastest, it would have to be Spirit Mediums. As long as they have powerful spirits serving as their Guardian Spirits, even a blank slate can develop considerable abilities in a very short time. With the strength and financial resources of our Myriad Ghost Grotto, it won’t take too long to cultivate a group of usable Spirit Mediums, and it can indeed maximize the strength of our Myriad Ghost Grotto in the shortest amount of time, but. . . ” Tang Shi trailed off, and Yang Haoran, seeing this, chuckled. “Heh heh, feel free to speak your mind, I won’t blame you. ”
Yang Haoran’s promise seemed to give Tang Shi immense courage. He hesitated slightly, then continued, “But, given the enmity between Spirit Mediums and the Underworld Office, even if we forcibly abduct a group of talented individuals from among Spirit Mediums, it would certainly take time for them to completely pledge loyalty to master. And before they are fully loyal, they might cause significant trouble, affecting both our Myriad Ghost Grotto and master. ” Tang Shi voiced his inner worries, and Yang Haoran, after listening, chuckled again, counter-questioning him. “Heh heh, do we *have* to abduct talented individuals from Spirit Mediums? ”
Hearing Yang Haoran’s words, Tang Shi’s expression subtly shifted, as if he had realized something. “Master’s meaning is. . . ” Tang Shi stopped there, but even though he didn’t finish his sentence, Yang Haoran knew what Tang Shi wanted to say next. “You just said yourself that with the conditions of our Myriad Ghost Grotto, even a blank slate can be trained to possess certain abilities in a very short time. If that’s the case, why would I need to forcibly abduct people from Spirit Mediums? There are ordinary people as numerous as ox hair in this New Beginning Realm; finding suitable candidates won’t be difficult. ”
When Tang Shi had said that earlier, he was merely speaking metaphorically; he didn’t actually intend to find complete novices who knew nothing to train. Nor did he think Yang Haoran would do so, as that approach would comparatively take longer. But Yang Haoran’s words now confirmed that Tang Shi had guessed wrong; Yang Haoran truly intended to cultivate novices who knew nothing. In truth, both methods had their own advantages and disadvantages. If they forcibly abducted a group of talented individuals from among Spirit Mediums, the disadvantage would be the time required to change their perspectives and use various means to make them completely loyal to Yang Haoran, for only then could these individuals be put to use. During this period, certain risks would be unavoidable. The advantage, however, was that they weren't blank slates, so training them would be more time-efficient and save more resources. If they chose suitable candidates from among ordinary people to train, it also came with pros and cons. The benefit was that cultivating these individuals’ loyalty would be easier, and the likelihood of them causing trouble before becoming fully loyal to Yang Haoran would be very small. However, truly cultivating these individuals would consume significantly more time and resources than the former method. Apart from this drawback, after a brief consideration, Tang Shi thought of another rather troublesome issue.
“Master, if we select suitable candidates from ordinary people to train, it will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among our subordinates. After all, the lowest-ranked members of our Myriad Ghost Grotto are all Evil Spirits. To let ordinary people choose them as Guardian Spirits, and even acknowledge them as their masters. . . this is somewhat difficult to manage. Although this subordinate can silence any dissenting subordinates and demand strict adherence to orders, doing so will certainly breed resentment in their hearts. Even if they don’t dare to speak openly, a sense of resistance will undeniably be present. This will greatly impact the cohesion of our Myriad Ghost Grotto and hinder its development. If this continues long-term, it will definitely lead to major problems. ” Tang Shi spoke with a serious expression, his tone filled with undisguised worry. Moreover, his words were well-reasoned and not at all alarmist. However, his words did not cause the slightest change in Yang Haoran’s expression. A faint smile still graced Yang Haoran’s face. Seeing his calm demeanor, he either hadn’t realized the severity of the problem and thus wasn’t worried at all, or he had long ago considered this point and already prepared countermeasures, which was why he remained so composed.
“Please elaborate, Master. ” With intense curiosity, Tang Shi responded. Yang Haoran noted the surprise and inquiry on Tang Shi’s face, and without further ado, continued. “Firstly, the Spirit Mediums I plan to cultivate will not have a master-servant relationship with their Guardian Spirits, but rather a partnership. There will be no superior or inferior, thus eliminating the shame of acknowledging a master. Secondly, regarding the selection of partners, it won’t be the Spirit Mediums unilaterally choosing Guardian Spirits, nor the Guardian Spirits unilaterally choosing Spirit Mediums. Instead, both parties will mutually select each other. Only after both feel that the other is suitable and free of issues will they sign a contract to become partners through life and death. ”
Yang Haoran’s words caused a thoughtful expression to appear on Tang Shi’s face; he was clearly pondering something. The two points Yang Haoran mentioned now were not new rules he had specially formulated for cultivating Spirit Mediums, but rather pre-existing ones. These two points were, in fact, the most original rules governing the relationship between Spirit Mediums and Guardian Spirits. It was just that very few Spirit Mediums followed these two rules anymore. In the eyes of most Spirit Mediums, the Spirit Medium was the master, and the Guardian Spirit was the servant. And for the vast majority of the time, it was the Spirit Mediums who chose their Guardian Spirits, not the Guardian Spirits choosing the Spirit Mediums. Even more so, to obtain their ideal Guardian Spirits, they would employ every means, using both coercion and enticement to forcibly bring the desired spirit under their command as a Guardian Spirit. If the spirit refused, it would face endless suffering, leading to many Guardian Spirits having very discordant, even hostile, relationships with the Spirit Mediums they were contracted with. Over time, not many Spirit Mediums remembered what the original rules with Guardian Spirits were. In their eyes, only they, the Spirit Mediums, chose Guardian Spirits; there was no concept of Guardian Spirits choosing them, the Spirit Mediums, because Guardian Spirits were servants in their eyes, and they, the Spirit Mediums, were masters—what logic was there in a servant choosing their master? This phenomenon had long become the norm within the Spirit Medium community. Not only did Spirit Mediums think this way, but people outside the community also held the same belief. The root cause of all this was naturally status and self-interest. Spirit Mediums wanted to possess a status that Guardian Spirits lacked and gain sufficient benefits, which naturally required them to be above Guardian Spirits. However, in Yang Haoran’s view, the current practices of Spirit Mediums were somewhat inappropriate. Instead, the original rules between Spirit Mediums and Guardian Spirits were more conducive to mutual coexistence and improvement. Therefore, he intended to apply these original rules to the Spirit Mediums he planned to cultivate!
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