Tang Xiu spent some time chatting with Banshou. He could see that the fellow had become more mature and dependable in the past year. He complimented and encouraged the guy sincerely before sending him off.

"Would you like to visit Clam Island too, Grand Master?" Gu Xiaxue asked while standing beside Tang Xiu. The intoxicating smile on her beautiful face was enough to topple a city.

Tang Xiu thought for a while before he nodded and replied, "Since I came to Jingmen Island and the Clam Island is pretty close to here, let's go there, then! Would you like to go with me, Auntie?"

Tang Min was interested in seeing the results of Tang Xiu's endeavors in forming an army of cultivators, so she replied without hesitation, "I'm going with you."

****

Early in the next morning, a liner was moored at the newly built port on Clam Island. Tang Xiu, Tang Min, and Gu Xiaoxue just stepped out of the cabin and saw more than ten strong, burly men standing guard at the port. One of the men came striding in, but his face slightly changed when he saw Tang Xiu and Gu Xiaoxue. His expression turned wild as he swiftly greeted courteously, "Boss."

Tang Xiu nodded with a smile and asked, "Who's in charge of Clam Island now?"

"It's Yuan Ye, Boss," answered the man.

"How's it going with the Clam Island construction project?" Tang Xiu nodded and asked again, "Also, where are the children being settled down?"

"The project is still progressing, but it's difficult to see the results as of yet," answered the man. "As for the children, all of them are being settled in the southern peninsula. It's a restricted area that even we have no rights to enter."

"Alright, tend to your duties. I'll go to the southern peninsula to have a look myself," said Tang Xiu.

"Affirmative." The man nodded reverently and quietly retreated to the side.

While leading Tang Min, Tang Xiu didn't fly to the destination due to the Clam Island being under construction. They slowly approached the southern peninsula along the coastline of Clam Island.

Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+

Two ghostly silhouettes silently dashed out of the dense thicket as two strong men appeared in front of Tang Xiu while releasing obvious killing intent.

"Presumptuous," scolded Gu Xiaoxue as she stepped forward.

As the two st.u.r.dy men saw that it was Tang Xiu and Gu Xiaoxue, their killing intent instantly disappeared and they became a bit fl.u.s.tered. They hurried to salute respectfully.

"No need to blame them; it's the responsibility of their job," Tang Xiu waved and said with a pale smile, "Notify Yuan Ye—tell him to a.s.semble all the children immediately. I need to have a look at them."

"Yes, Sir!"

One of them replied and vanished instantly, while another man led Tang Xiu and the rest to enter the forested hill quickly. They promptly approached a two-plus meters tall wall which they jumped over to enter a s.p.a.cious area. A lot of one-meter-high blocks of bluestones were densely laid out on the flat ground—so many that they couldn't be counted.

A few minutes later, Yuan Ye sprinted in at his top speed while wearing a black wushu suit and tied-up long hair. He then came to the front of Tang Xiu's group and reverently greeted, "Boss."

"You're Yuan Ye?" Tang Xiu nodded and smiled, "How's your cultivation, and what's the stage that you've reached?"

"I'm at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment," answered Yuan Ye.

"Not bad." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "But you need to persevere. Your rank in our Everlasting Feast Hall should be not low since you can be a.s.signed here. According to the reward rules, the first ten members who break through the Golden Core Stage will be generously rewarded. Keep working hard and strive well to get into the top ten."

A gleam flashed in Yuan Ye's eyes, and he replied firmly, "This subordinate will strive to do his best!"

Tang Xiu produced a Spirit Ama.s.sing Pill and smiled lightly, "Don't tell the others that I give you special attention and just do your best! Whether you can be one of the best men to stand around me or will be stepped on by someone else, it will all depend on your own efforts."

"Thank you, Boss. I will!"

Yuan Ye was a bit excited. It must be noted that the medicinal pill produced by the Everlasting Feast Hall was a very important resource for cultivation. Additionally, it was quite difficult to obtain even one of them.

10 minutes later.

Tang Xiu finally learned the reason why there were a lot of bluestones in this wide area. Shadowy figures came from the low-rise buildings in the area to the north. It was a long line of skinny children marshaled by dozens of strong men who swiftly ran between the orderly arranged bluestones.

They seemed to know which block of bluestone was supposed to be their position, judging from them climbing on their respective bluestone one by one. Using his spiritual sense to sweep over them, Tang Xiu was both amazed and surprised that there were 62,200 blocks of bluestone, each with a child standing on top.

"How interesting."

From his survey using his spiritual sense, Tang Xiu found dozens of children less than three-years-old under the escort of the stocky men who then placed them on the bluestone.

Yuan Ye then reported respectfully, "All the children have arrived, Boss."

Tang Xiu nodded and his feet began to float. The 62,200 children watched him walking in the air as if it was like a staircase. He floated higher in the air with each step before eventually arriving in the north in front of the first row of bluestones. While standing over 10 meters in the air, Tang Xiu looked around before nodding with satisfaction and begun to speak in a deep voice, "Some of you already know who I am; some of you don't. But now, I'll introduce myself to all of you. I want you all to remember me and keep me in your heart."

"I'm Tang Xiu. I am the one who provides your food and clothing, and the Boss who provides you all your necessities and your education. From this day onwards, you only have to call me BOSS!"

"From today on, you will remember my name, memorize my ident.i.ty, and keep it in your heart that the most important thing in your life is I, Tang Xiu, for whom you swear fealty and loyalty to in your lifetime."

During his speech, Tang Xiu secretly released his imposing aura. The oppressing aura was extremely light, yet it still caused the 62,200 children's faces to change. They were unaware that Tang Xiu had used some special means to imprint his image deep into their hearts.

It was commonly used in the Immortal World—a useful method to subdue ones' subordinates and those who came under their service.

Half a minute later, Tang Xiu retracted his imposing aura and said with satisfaction, "Yuan Ye, take them back! All of them will be in your care in the future regarding their life, education, and cultivation. All of them must follow a program and curriculum of a modern military school and academy. If you don't understand the management model in the military school, I'll summon Wolf Head from Nine Dragons Island to help you here."

Yuan Ye floated to approach and respectfully replied, "I know the army training programs of various countries in the world, but I don't understand the administrative and management model for the military school."

"I'll notify Wolf Head to come over and help you," said Tang Xiu.

Yuan Ye complied and began issuing orders as the 62,200 children were brought back in groups under the leaders.h.i.+p of dozens of stocky men.

Tang Min looked at Tang Xiu who was standing up in the air, eyes full of brilliant light. Everyone had a fantasy of having a pair of wings that enabled them to fly freely in the sky like birds. Though Tang Min had currently become someone with a high stature, she had such a fantasy countless of times in the past.

"I must start cultivating. I must become a powerful cultivator."

The recent experiences and knowledge that Tang Min had encountered lately had constantly changed her state of mind. She watched Tang Xiu's figure in the sky while clenching her fists, and she secretly made up her mind.

Tang Xiu stayed on the island for the next two days. He communicated with the children to understand and solve their problems while combining grace and might to deepen their impression towards him. At the same time, he also saw the five little fellows again: Tang Jin, Tang Mu, Tang Shui, Tang Huo, and Tang Mu. To his surprise, these five little fellows were now able to sense Qi and were even able to control the flow of qi within their bodies. They could be said to have become young experts at the first or second layer of Qi Refining.

"Go on. Are there any unsolved problems that came up while training these children here?" Tang Xiu looked at Cheng Ye and smilingly asked before he left.

"We have a total of three of them, Boss," answered Cheng Ye. "First, the ident.i.ty of these children is highly confidential, so ordinary people can't contact them. This is especially a problem for the youngest among them; dozens of them are still in need of milk. There are tens of us here, but well, being a father or a mother for them is kinda a real headache."

Tang Xiu pondered for a while before he slowly nodded and said, "For the toddlers, you can send them to some nearby places temporarily and hire some qualified and good-natured babysitters to bring them up."

Cheng Ye nodded and then continued, "The second is our logistic supply. It's seriously lacking. We can hardly keep up with just food and water alone. We have more than 60,000 children here which leads to food problems since the consumption rate is too high, even if we send more food."

"This issue is easy to handle," said Tang Xiu. "Xiaoxue, a.s.sign some people when you go back and build a logistic supply fleet to transport necessary supplies here."

"Understood," Gu Xiaoxue nodded.

Cheng Ye continued, "One last thing: we only have dozens of teachers and instructors here, Boss. It's challenging to train our children comprehensively in accordance with the military management model with so few teachers. Could you a.s.sign some more people here?"

Tang Xiu shook his head and replied, "I don't have a problem with sending more people here. But the most important issue now is that there are too few core members in our Everlasting Feast Hall. Our most secretive plans will face the danger of being exposed and leaked out once we send outsiders here."

"What should we do here then? We…" Cheng Ye stalled.

Tang Xiu raised his hand and said, "For the workers you need, how many people do you think should we send to manage things here?"

"200 people," said Cheng Ye immediately. "At least 200 people should be sent to solve our problem with the scarcity of teachers and instructors here."

"200 people? That figure is out of the question." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "Give me some time. I'll send over 100 people in two months. However, I'll need you to a.s.sign some people to train those 100 people for three months."

"You mean… they are not our Everlasting Feast Hall's people?" asked Cheng Ye hurriedly.

"Not yet, at least not now," said Tang Xiu faintly. "But they will be soon."

The 62,200 former orphans here would be Tang Xiu's most loyal subordinates in the future—the very groundwork and foundation of his return to the Immortal World. Thus, the absolute loyalty of the instructors and teachers who trained these children was necessary. The plan he had been brewing and thinking about recently seemed like it was about to start now.