South China Sea, Clam Island.

Yuan Ye, who had been notified in advance of the cargo s.h.i.+p's arrival, had been waiting for a long time at the northern port before a large cargo s.h.i.+p finally docked. When he saw Tang Xiu floating down from the s.h.i.+p, his tall figure rushed a few steps forward to greet him, "You're finally back, Boss."

"Our previous actions were a big display, so I had to delay for a while on our way home," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "But I brought you the people you need; they will stay here to help you later."

"Where are they?" quickly asked Yuan Ye with a surprised but happy face.

Tang Xiu turned around. After staying silent for 10 seconds, he smiled and pointed to the direction of the cargo s.h.i.+p and replied, "There they are."

Yuan Ye looked towards the direction of Tang Xiu's finger. But when he saw a line of men and women of Caucasian, African, and colored descents, the expression on his face turned into wonder. He took some glances at them and then looked at Tang Xiu with a forced smile, "Are you perhaps teasing me or something, Boss? You told us to train those children and turn them into the most elite immortal cultivators to build an army of immortal cultivators. How and where did you get these foreigners from? Do they even understand the path of becoming immortal?"

"I already taught them the immortal cultivation technique and five people have already stepped into the early stage of Qi Refining." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "Just give them some time and use some cultivation resources on them. I'm sure that most of these guys can become immortal cultivators in no time."

"But Boss, they are all… beginners" said Yuan Ye with a helpless expression. "How can they teach people? You…"

Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "Don't you want to know their origins?"

'Their origins?'

Yuan Ye wore a blank expression and looked confused as his eyes landed back at the foreign men and women debarking from the cargo s.h.i.+p. After ten seconds or so, his pupils suddenly shrunk and his eyes gleamed. He caught sight of some familiar faces among them.

"Boss, you… where did you get these… these evil-doers? These pariahs…"

"Do you know them?" Again, Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him and asked thoughtfully.

Yuan Ye was unable to groan and felt weak inside as he replied with a forced, wry, and bitter smile, "I know a few of them—some comrades who have fought side by side with me; some enemies I once fought in the battlefield, and there are two faces… two faces that are extremely wicked and vicious. Notwithstanding the fact that I haven't yet crossed paths with them, none of them are easy to deal with."

"They are prisoners; convicts that I bought from labor camp 1319 in Israel," said Tang Xiu with a pale smile. "I used some means to subdue these fellas and they will be our Everlasting Feast Hall's peripheral members later. Also, they will be yours to manage other than Spectre."

"Hiss…"

Despite having a firm mind, Yuan Ye was still shocked and gasped after hearing Tang Xiu's explanation. Awe could be seen sparkling in his eyes as he hurriedly asked, "Labor camp 1319 is the world's most horrifying large prison; those detained there are highly dangerous criminals sentenced for no less than 100 years… and yet… you were able to buy so many criminals from there?"

"You see, money makes the world go round; it can even make the devils work for you," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "Besides, it's not so difficult to achieve by resorting on some means and flexing your muscles."

Yuan Ye understood in a flash, yet he still said with a bitter smile, "But Boss, giving me all these outcasts is kind of too tough of a job for me. Although I'm confident that I can defeat them, they are still vicious and unruly. Managing them will prove to be quite… difficult."

"I have their lives in my hands. They will only meet one end if they dare to disobey your order: death," said Tang Xiu. "My request is that you must also drill these guys when you train the children. Carry it out with the harshest of military discipline and do your best to smoothen out their wild and unruly characters as fast as possible. That way, they can become qualified members of the Everlasting Feast Hall quickly."

Yuan Ye's expression stirred and he immediately replied, "That would not be a problem then."

Tang Xiu inhaled deeply and slowly said, "But keep in mind one thing. You must repeatedly brainwash them. Make them loyal to our Everlasting Feast Hall and pledge fealty to me. I don't want the internal harmony of our Everlasting Feast Hall to get disturbed due to them joining."

"I'll do my best," answered Yuan Ye, a wry smile on his face.

Tang Xiu was silent for a moment and suddenly said, "I'll a.s.sign Zidan, Feng Yang, Shui Gui, Hei Wuya, and Ye s.h.i.+san to temporarily stay here and help you. Contact me directly if there's a problem you can't solve later."

Yuan Ye knew that these five men including Zidan were the elites of the Everlasting Feast Hall who had been selected to become Tang Xiu's bodyguards. Anyone of them was much stronger than him, causing the worries in his heart to finally vanish without a trace.

"With those five staying to help me, I'll definitely train these evildoers you brought from labor camp 1319 and turn them into a qualified elite force of our Everlasting Feast Hall, Boss."

Tang Xiu patted his shoulder and looked at the crowd who were now lined up with their respective squad. He spoke in a deep voice, "I'll introduce you to this man. His name is Yuan Ye and he will also become your highest commander during your stay in Clam Island. His orders are my orders from now on, and you all must obey him unconditionally; else, don't blame me for being ruthless later."

"Understood!"

Most people complied with a respectful face.

However, two middle-aged men in the squad stood out, wearing a strange expression.

"Who gave you the order to get out of line? Get back to your position!" scolded Mo Awu as he strode to block the two men.

"We have something to say," said one of them loudly.

Tang Xiu narrowed his eyes and observed the two men and said, "I don't know if you have ever trained under military discipline, but from now on, remember to ask permission to leave the squad if you want to speak. Alright, you two can come over."

Mo Awu coldly watched the two men and gave way to them.

The names of the two men were Kilstrom and Stan Matthew. As they came to the front of Tang Xiu and Yuan Ye, the former said, "Boss, we are acquaintance with the commander you just mentioned and we used to be comrades-in-arms in the past. We are crystal clear of his combat prowess and we admit that he's very strong, yet he's just a bit weaker than me. Since he can become a commander, I think I can take the job as well."

Tang Xiu let out a strange smile and he s.h.i.+fted to Stan Matthew and asked, "Do you also have this idea?"

'Yeah, we are Yuan Ye's friends but we refuse to regard him as our immediate superior," nodded Stan Matthew without hesitation.

"Yuan Ye, these two buddies of yours have fought with you side by side and they are not convinced that you're worthy to be their leader." Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "Is there something you wanna say to them?"

Yuan Ye was aware of his two friends' characters. He let out a confident smile and strode quickly to the front of these two men. He opened his arms wide and smilingly said, "Kilstrom, Stan, I thought you two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were dead long ago. Never did I expect that you two would be alive and kicking before me now."

After the hugs between the men, Kilstrom said with a bewilderingly laugh, "We made you stay in the team back in the past, but you still insisted to leave back then and we lost contact with you all these years. It turns out that this palace is your nest, huh? Now I really admire the Boss more, you know. To think such a guy like you is willing to pledge your loyalty to him, that's awesome!"

"You see, I've always been a member of Everlasting Feast Hall so of course, I'm the Boss's man," said Yuan Ye. "I'll always be his man when I'm alive and will forever be a revenant under him after I die."

Stan Matthew grinned and said, "Spare the nonsense, will ya? We brothers can reminisce about the old days later. But you gotta beat us first if you wanna be our commander. I gotta tell you, Brother, we are much stronger than we were back then."

Yuan Ye creased his brows and smilingly said, "I guess you're getting stronger indeed, but to me, there's still a chasm between us. Nevertheless, I won't hold back; if you want me to smack your a.s.sess, just remember buds, don't cry if you lose."

"Weeping? What a boast!" Stan Matthew mocked back and instantly sent rumbling punches to attack Yuan Ye. His style was truly vicious as each of his strikes was targeting Yuan Ye's vital portions.

Kilstrom didn't rush to attack but watched the two men engaged in a fight with folded arms. He was stronger than Stan Matthew, so he knew that if this guy could defeat Yuan Ye, there was no need for him to continue fighting the latter.

"Bam…"

After successively avoiding more than 10 strikes, Yuan Ye finally smirked strangely. His fists then counterattacked in a flash and barraged Stan Matthew's chest as his leg swiftly and fiercely whipped toward the side of Stan Matthew and flogged his face, directly sending him flying before he heavily fell on the beach.

"FYI, I just used a third of my strength," grinned Yuan Ye.

Kilstrom was utterly stunned. He didn't expect that Yuan Ye would directly defeat Stan Mathew as soon as he started to fight back. Adding more to his shock, he could hardly believe that Yuan Ye actually said that it was only a third of his strength.

"My turn." Kilstrom instantly jumped forward and barraged Yuan Ye with his punches unreservedly.

Yuan Ye confidently smiled and put his right hand behind his back, only using his left to block Kilstrom's attack while he kept using his footwork to change positions. Eventually, his left hand grabbed Kilstrom's attacking fist after more than a dozen moves.

"GET! DOWN!"

His foot then instantly kicked Kilstrom's chest lightning fast, causing the latter to fling upside down seven-plus meters away. Yuan Ye's figure then flickered and all the prisoners could see was a hazy shadow in front of them. The next moment they were able to catch his figure again, Yuan Ye had appeared in front of Kilstrom and spoke, "You've made some progress, old buck. But the rift between you and me is substantial now, like I told you. Nevertheless, don't lose heart. You chose to follow our Boss so you'll be as powerful as I am in the future."

Having said that, Yuan Ye looked at the pale-looking Kilstrom who covered his chest before he stretched out his hand and pulled him up from the ground after the later gasped for breath twice.

Tang Xiu faintly smiled and spoke while watching them, "You've lost, so you are no longer qualified to stop Yuan Ye from becoming your immediate superior. You must obey his orders during your stay on Clam Island. Disobey him, and death will come to you without mercy!"

"Aye aye, Sir!"