Chapter 1446: Two More Organizations
Ma Ling was the first to receive a reward, and it was even split into two separate instances. Although no one knew the exact value of these two rewards, it was clear from this how highly Yang Haoran regarded Ma Ling.
Naturally, there were those who envied her, but no one felt jealous or thought Yang Haoran shouldn't have done so. In their view, Ma Ling deserved it. If she hadn't painstakingly set up the long-distance teleportation array, their current situation would have been dire; some might have already perished in the Underworld Office's pursuit.
In the time that followed, Yang Haoran distributed rewards according to their contributions. After Ma Ling, it was, of course, Old Master Wu, who had been responsible for the personnel transfer. Like Ma Ling, Yang Haoran didn't immediately present Old Master Wu with a reward. Instead, he first asked Old Master Wu what he desired, seeking his opinion.
Old Master Wu was not as straightforward as Ma Ling. After a suitable exchange of polite pleasantries, he finally, at Yang Haoran's insistence, revealed his thoughts. What he wanted was simple: merely Soul Pills.
To an ordinary Underworld agent, a Soul Pill was an incredibly precious and anything-but-simple existence. However, for the immensely wealthy Yang Haoran, Soul Pills were indeed quite common.
Old Master Wu desired Soul Pills because he needed them. Although he now possessed the body of a Ghost King, he hadn't broken through to the Ghost King realm long ago, so he required a large quantity of Soul Pills to stabilize his realm and enhance his strength. Thus, the more Soul Pills he had, the better, much like an ordinary person's concept of money—no one feels they have too much money and don't want more. Moreover, his need for Soul Pills far exceeded an ordinary person's need for money.
Yang Haoran didn't find Old Master Wu's request surprising. After all, Soul Pills were excellent for enhancing a ghost's strength. He knew that what Old Master Wu needed most at the moment was a large supply of Soul Pills, so he did not refuse.
Old Master Wu was Yang Haoran's trusted confidant, virtually his right-hand man. Of course, he wouldn't casually hand out a few Soul Pills to be perfunctory. He generously bestowed a hundred Soul Pills upon Old Master Wu in one go, equivalent to thirty years' worth of salary for an ordinary Underworld agent. Such lavish spending startled not only the bystanders but even Old Master Wu himself, who wondered if he had misheard.
As for the senior members of the Medicine God Society, Yang Haoran's rewards were more varied: some chose Dānyào, some wanted pill recipes, and others desired medicinal ingredients. Although their requests weren't entirely uniform, Yang Haoran fulfilled each one.
Not only did all his close subordinates receive their due rewards, but Yang Haoran also bestowed generous rewards upon everyone else. This "everyone else" didn't refer to a small group, but rather all personnel Yang Haoran had brought from the Ninth District, excluding the Night Watchers, including ordinary mortals.
His Emissaries of Death all received Soul Pills as rewards, which was undoubtedly a considerable fortune for them. As for the more than six thousand Night Watchers, they didn't receive further rewards, as they had already received immense gifts from Yang Haoran before arriving at Half-Moon Island.
Members of the Flock of Demons Society also received rewards such as Demon Pills and medicinal ingredients, though the quantity and quality naturally varied among the higher-ups based on their strength and status. Even the lowest-ranking lesser demons received rewards, and these rewards were not mere trifles but genuinely rare and valuable items for them.
In contrast, the Medicine God Society had far fewer members, but every single member was, without exception, an invaluable treasure to Yang Haoran. Thus, even those who weren't high-ranking members of the Medicine God Society received exceptionally generous rewards from Yang Haoran.
Finally, there were the ordinary people, whose rewards consisted of essential daily necessities like gold and silver. Non-supernatural items, even if given to them, would be useless; it was more valuable to provide practical things. Those with higher status and greater contributions received gold coins. Those with lower status and fewer contributions received silver coins, with differing amounts, of course.
Though the rewards varied, everyone was delighted because they were all satisfied with what they received. In the eyes of most, they had merely been passively relocated, contributing nothing and doing nothing, yet they received gratifying rewards—how could they not be happy? In truth, there was one point they hadn't realized: they weren't entirely idle. Their obedience to the relocation orders, their lack of disruption, and their full cooperation with the transfer were, in themselves, a form of assistance to the administrators and a contribution of effort. Without it, the orderly execution of the transfer would have been exceedingly difficult.
Of course, had they disobeyed, their outcome certainly wouldn't have been good—a fact they knew, and the authorities also understood.
All personnel from the Ninth District, including ordinary people, had successfully transferred to Half-Moon Island. However, this didn't mean all of Yang Haoran's forces had been successfully relocated. He had only transferred his overt forces and personnel; his covert powers had yet to be moved.
These two forces, which had not yet been transferred to Half-Moon Island, were the Myriad Ghost Grotto, managed by Tang Shi, and the Iron Blood Demon Hall, managed by the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao.
These two organizations had always been Yang Haoran's secret forces. The Myriad Ghost Grotto had long since matured, boasting numerous members and astonishing strength. Whether in terms of combat power or the value it brought to Yang Haoran, it far surpassed the Iron Blood Demon Hall.
This situation didn't arise because Yang Haoran favored the Myriad Ghost Grotto, but because the Myriad Ghost Grotto had been established longer. Coupled with Yang Haoran's full-throttle support in the early stages, the Myriad Ghost Grotto grew at an astonishing rate, like a snowball, growing larger and faster with each roll.
Yang Haoran's support for the Iron Blood Demon Hall was also considerable, but due to the Iron Blood Demon Hall's nature being different from the Myriad Ghost Grotto, Yang Haoran's support didn't have as dramatic an impact on the Iron Blood Demon Hall.
The Myriad Ghost Grotto consisted entirely of ghosts. As an Underworld Office Guardian, Yang Haoran possessed vast resources for ghosts to enhance their strength, which greatly shortened the Myriad Ghost Grotto's growth period.
Conversely, the Iron Blood Demon Hall, from its Vice Hall Masters Jing Qi and Jing Miao down to its smallest and weakest members, were all living beings of flesh and blood. Moreover, the chosen members were all children. Additionally, the Iron Blood Demon Hall's needs were not ghost-path resources, which was not where Yang Haoran was wealthiest. Therefore, in terms of growth speed, the Iron Blood Demon Hall was significantly slower than the Myriad Ghost Grotto.
This time, when Yang Haoran faced the Tong Continent Great Emperor in a life-or-death situation, he did not summon these two covert forces for help. One reason was the suddenness of the incident; even if he had summoned them, it would have been difficult to gather the true strength of these two forces around him in a short time, as most of their power was scattered across various parts of the New Beginning Realm, especially the Myriad Ghost Grotto.
Another reason was that, facing a powerhouse like the Tong Continent Great Emperor, even if these two forces were gathered, it would only be to send their members to become cannon fodder, providing little real impact.
These two forces were built with a tremendous amount of his effort and care. The Myriad Ghost Grotto, especially, managed by Tang Shi, had created immense value for him. He was certainly not willing to let the members of these two forces become cannon fodder for him. What he needed to do at that time was find a genuine solution to his crisis, so he never even considered letting the Myriad Ghost Grotto or the Iron Blood Demon Hall go to their deaths. It was precisely for this reason that he didn't contact either the Myriad Ghost Grotto or the Iron Blood Demon Hall then.
However, shortly after the incident, he successively received Communication Talismans from Tang Shi and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao. The commotion in Lecheng had been so immense that their people had discovered it and reported the news. Tang Shi and the siblings Jing Qi and Jing Miao, unaware of the situation and without his orders, could only immediately send him Communication Talismans to understand the circumstances, while also awaiting his next command.
And his command was but one: immediately gather their forces and secretly relocate, not only leaving Jingling Continent but also moving far away from the Underworld Office's territory, then await his next command.
Now, with the work on Half-Moon Island already arranged, he felt it was time to issue new orders to the Myriad Ghost Grotto and the Iron Blood Demon Hall!
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