Alas, the temptation of the Orb of Will was still stronger, otherwise for what purpose would everyone come running over to yield and be controlled by others? All for the sake of the Orb of Will!

Under the murmurs of the fellow disciples of the same sect, w.a.n.g Zifa gnashed his teeth, and took this as a way to step down. He let out a sigh and exclaimed, "I answer to every Senior Brother and Sister's opinion. It's not my plan to call the shots alone. "

"Naturally!"

"Of course!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, one after another. They also understood Senior Brother's difficulties as these weren't the best circ.u.mstances for a person to take sole responsibility. It required everyone to be involved in the decision, otherwise in the future, there would always be that uncertainty of whether someone might get upset and spill the beans about the entire incident. If everyone took responsibility, only then would they all feel at ease.

After the group agreed in unison, they cupped their hands together and exclaimed, "We're willing to obey Cave Master's command!"

Having witnessed the drastic change with their own eyes, Yan Xiu and the rest cast Miao Yi expressions filled with admiration. In a short while, he was able to drag along the School of Blue Jade's disciples to collude with him in his deceit. They didn't have any other choice but to respect him for it.

But thinking back on it, he discovered that their own situation wasn't entirely fortunate either. Song Fu had been personally killed by the three of them. If the incident were to be leaked, they could toss away any hope of living a peaceful life. Of course, everyone had now boarded Cave Master's s.h.i.+p of deceit, and no one would dare dream of disembarking from it.

"Good!" Miao Yi flashed the silver spear in his hand, and put it away into his storage ring. He dismounted from his steed, with hands clasped behind his back as he stood on the flight of stairs. He put on a smiling face and said, "It's still early so everyone might as well write it now. If there are no issues after I look through them, I'll send someone over to deliver it to Mount Calming Sea; they can report it directly to Mountain Chieftain so she's aware."

All of them went speechless. They realized that this Cave Master wasn't even going to give them the slightest chance to back out—he couldn't even be at ease with leaving the issue overnight.

The situation had turned out this way, so what else could they do? They could only nod their heads in agreement.

Miao Yi immediately lifted his hand and said, "Yan Xiu, get the jade archives and give them to everyone."

Yan Xiu answered in receiving the order. He quickly ran into the grand hall, grabbed a stack of jade archives out and one by one, delivered them into everyone's hands.

Thus, a crowd of people stood at the bottom of the grand hall stairs, each and every single one of them invoking their arts to write.

There were some people who, after moving their hands, felt uncomfortable about it and felt unsure as to whether this was fitting towards their fellow dead Senior Brother...

After someone finished writing, he went up the flight of stairs and presented the item to Miao Yi for inspection.

After Miao Yi looked it over, he gave a slight nod and exclaimed, "Very good!"

After looking over the jade archive who was handed in by another person, Miao Yi furrowed his brows and said, "You write it in this manner, making it seem like Song Fu's sin was not worthy of death. Isn't it a bit too sketchy?"

The person smiled apologetically and uttered, "I'll rewrite it, I'll rewrite it."

After he looked at another that was presented to him, Miao Yi shook his head. "You wrote too excessively. It's good enough to be practical and realistic. After looking at this, even I was left wis.h.i.+ng for a chance to kill him once again for being guilty of such terrible crimes… Primarily, it will cause your School of Blue Jade to be put on the spot, so make it slightly frivolous."

Yan Xiu and the others were also not forgotten, each of them wrote one too.

After everyone had finished and given their jade archives to the receiving Miao Yi, Miao Yi also wrote a report, saying that Song Fu refused his orders, leaving his place of duty, which caused the mountain gates to be destroyed. He also dared to contradict the Cave Master, so Miao Yi himself, killed him as punishment as according to the law, and to serve as a warning to others.

What he wrote was more subdued than the others because he felt he should manifest the heart of a Cave Master. Since there were already so many people speaking ill of Song Fu, his comments as a Cave Master wouldn't make much of a difference.

After finis.h.i.+ng and signing it with his own insignia, he held it in his hands along with the report delivered from the City Lord of East Arrival City, which he had Yan Xiu amend and copy. Lifting his head, he shouted, "Dan Biaoyi!"

Dan Biaoyi immediately stepped forward, cupping his hands to obey the order. "Here!"

"Immediately set out throughout the night to deliver these to Mount Calming Sea and report to Mountain Chieftain, without fail!" Miao Yi pa.s.sed the items to him.

"Understood!" Dan Biaoyi accepted the order and left at top speed.

It was uncertain as to what kind of expression Qin Weiwei would have after seeing these reports., who had been continuously worried that Miao Yi would not be up to to the task.

The crowd of people followed Dan Biao Yi with their eyes until he vanished, thinking, he's seriously not going to leave things overnight?

After settling his official business, Miao Yi relaxed himself and told Yan Xiu, "Inform the City Lord of East Arrival City and ask him to come meet me tomorrow in the morning. Send over the staff that were required to be sent over. We mustn't disturb everyone's normal livelihood and hold up anyone's cultivation."

Everyone was content with this matter, hence the crowd immediately cupped their hands and said, "Cave Master is wise!"

"Don't be happy too early." Miao Yi swept a glance across everyone from the School of Blue Jade. "Don't think I don't know what kind of crafty thoughts you all had in mind with Song Fu before. Song Fu was detrimental in guarding the mountain gates, thus causing those mountain gates to collapse. All of you won't be able to escape this blame. Tomorrow when the person arrives, I don't want him to be greeted by the sight of my East Arrival Cave's signboard all smashed by others. You guys will cut into the mountain and dig out stones this very night for me. Repair the memorial arch in order to atone for your crimes. Don't work half-heartedly. You'll need to repair it to be pleasing to the eye. It has to have that grandeur! "

Now, no one could object and they could only agree. On the contrary, those who were supposed to guard the mountain gate tonight weren't worried, since there were quite a few of them to help out.

With a wave of his hand, Miao Yi dismissed the group. He turned to tell Qiu Shaoqun again, "Clean up the grand hall."

Yan Xiu then lead Miao Yi to the back of the hall, which had a private cultivating and bedding area belonging to the Cave Master. Charcoal completely paid no heed to the rules, and also tagged along behind.

Yan Xiu, in the middle of leading the way, couldn't help but lower his voice to ask, "Cave Master, you're giving out so many Orbs of Will to everyone every year, isn't it a bit too excessive?"

He treated himself as a trusted subordinate, and put up a front that appeared concerned for the Cave Master.

Miao Yi raised his brow and exclaimed, "Why do you think I made Dan Biaoyi send the items in the starry night? Of course, that was all to cement the situation first, so that when time comes and I don't give it to them, what will they dare do? If they're not scared of the School of Blue Jade looking into their own responsibilities, they can feel free to try to turn against me! "

"..." Yan Xiu was stupefied.

"Don't think too much, I'm only saying it. As long as the Orbs of Will gathered every year is enough, I'll do as promised."

Reaching out his hand to pat Charcoal at his side, Miao Yi sighed. "After going out to settle the matter, I've finally understood the principle of a horse that doesn't get fat without extra feed. Everyone conscientiously staying here and taking in a fixed fund is not a solution. We have to think of other ways to plan ahead to increase our gains."

What he said were not empty words, but were in fact, in all seriousness, his true feelings. Not mentioning the first Orb of Will gifted by the gorgeous woman, he had also gained some from killing Mo Shengtu and Zhang Shucheng, and he again had s.n.a.t.c.hed one away from Head Guard Huang. He was itching to try it out again, even after he had already done so. And earlier on, he'd wished to come to East Arrival Cave to reorganize the troops to do bigger jobs. His strength alone was still too weak.

Charcoal was slightly unresigned that he was stopped at the courtyard between the front and back hall. Up ahead was Cave Master Miao's quarters and cultivation area, so it was true that it would be inconvenient to have a lug like him entering it. Thus, he could only lie on the ground at the doorway, being completely lazy.

But the courtyard here was quiet, with old aged trees and potted plants, pavilions, flowerbeds and ponds. The environment was filled with elegance, and it was much better than lying outside.

Miao Yi entered his own private area with hands clasped behind his back, and couldn't resist clicking his tongue as he realized that the treatment of a Cave Master was indeed out of the ordinary. Under his feet was a thick velvet rug and the surroundings were decorated with all kinds of exquisite furnis.h.i.+ngs, the styles of luxury and elegance in harmony as one. He had never seen such things before, so today had really opened up his eyes.

However, Yan Xiu's mind was not present here, and instead was concerned with plotting a way forward as mentioned by the Cave Master. He also wanted to know where the Cave Master's...o...b..of Will, that contained the power of will of ten thousand people in a year, had come from. He tested the waters, "Cave Master's plan of seeking another way to improve the gains, how would this be done, exactly? "

Miao Yi laughed, "The best solution is obviously to be like the Manor Head, taking possession of the entire South Edict."

Yan Xiu was incredibly shocked, and he quickly waved his hands around. "You mustn't! Our strength is not enough to annex the surrounding domains."