Chapter 337: Rumor Mill

Dou Deng, the kid, nodded his head. Sage grinned and put a pouch full of silver coins into his hand, “Use these. All you need to tell them is that someone found the corpse of a giant immortal rank butterfly in a canyon. If they promise to tell everyone they know, then give them some silver.” 

Dou Deng was pretty confused, but Sage just sent him off on his way. Dou Deng’s grandpa, Dou Cheng, stuck around to drive Sage’s coach. Over the next few days, Sage had Dou Deng continue to spread the rumor. He even passed him a few more bags of silver to hand out. There were more than twenty days before the next monthly auction, so Sage spent his time collecting information on the Core Formation cultivators in town and also in the whole of 10,000 Wave Province. 

There was already a Falcon in Golden Cricket Cove, one of the earliest that were trained in fact. After training his first team of Falconers, Sage sent one specifically to Lionheart Town and then Golden Cricket Cove. He of course wanted to have the strongest information network in his future home. With that in mind, there was already a pretty decent list of talents created. Sage just spent some time researching them. 

All Core Formation Cultivators were pretty sought after as they made up the main forces of the most powerful organizations. Rank 6 cultivators were the elites, and any first rank power needed to have at least one, but rank 5 cultivators were those organizations' strengths. The more they had, the more powerful they could be. Just a few meant control of a city, a dozen could hold a county, and the first rate groups that ran Provinces could have hundreds. That didn’t mean there weren’t any that were still free agents. Most of them came from powerful Sects and Clans, using their rich resources to reach their rank, but not all of them. There were always those without such deep support who form their Golden Cores through luck or talent. 

Sage was specifically aiming for this second category, as well as those groups that were close to collapse. Just like Wu Chang and Black Saber, he wanted to try and rope in individuals, or those that needed the backing of a stronger power. Other powers would of course do the same, but it was rare for them to offer such great conditions as the Jade Horde. Most groups would offer a position of power for a high rank cultivator, but it was more likely they’d offer a ‘guest elder’ position. They were important and powerful, but they wouldn’t have great power for the core decisions. Or, others would allow such a person a strong position, but completely ignore their old Clan or Sect. That said, Sage was far from the only group offering good conditions for joining, but nobody would join a group without any considerations. 

Over the next week, Sage met with a dozen prospective warriors, but only one of the meetings went well. Sage had mainly targeted Mercenary Groups, and one of them was quite pleased to meet with him. Of course, Sage used a fake identity. Claiming to be a recruiter hired by the Jade Horde to drum up interest. The man in charge was named Liu Ao, the leader of Brass Earth Company. They’re a mercenary team that are the remains of the Brass Earth Sect. Unfortunately, they were struck by disaster, when a Demonic Beast, the Eight Humped Yellow Oxen, nearly destroyed the entirety of their Sect. Only a few of their strongest elders and most promising disciples survived the rampaging beast. The Eight Humped Yellow Oxen that assaulted them was at the peak of rank 6 and attacked them to take their resources. 

Worse yet, they couldn’t even seek justice. After the Oxen consumed their medicinal fields and some of their other secret reserves it was struck with a Heavenly Tribulation and after barely surviving it flew into the air, walking through the skies and galloping through the clouds to an unknown place. The Brass Earth Sect would have joined whoever could avenge them, but now that the Oxen was gone completely there was nothing anyone could do for them. Others offered them places in their organizations, but since they were only a half dozen elders and two hundred disciples, nobody wanted to waste their resources nurturing ‘outsiders’. 

“The Jade Horde doesn’t have any ‘disciples’ as it’s run more like a military. Any of you are free to join and your rewards will be based upon your merits. Those who don’t wish to join the Horde directly can still live in the Jade Horde’s compounds and take up support roles. They will also be paid well, or trained in various professions. Others who don’t wish to be a Mercenary Soldier, or work in a Profession can still be considered ‘our people’ if they live in our territory. If your eminence, Liu Ao, were to become one of the Seven Stars, you would have the power to assist them with many things. Perhaps your disciples wish to run auxiliary businesses or start affiliated clans or sects? As one of the Seven Stars you would have a say in allocating the Jade Horde’s resources.”

Liu Ao, a skinny old man with long white beard and hair, smiled at this. He carried a steel stick that he used as a cane, but at this point he lifted it and tapped it on the table, “Excellent! Thanks for the position! I’ll appoint one of my Elders as my Vice Head and the rest will be restarting the Brass Earth Sect. How much funding can we get as an affiliated Sect? I will vote for the maximum support. We’ll also be needing servants and maids. Lots of maids, with a Sect to rebuild we’ll need our disciples to start families as soon as possible.”

Sage had to pause a moment to collect himself. This Liu Ao was far too shameless. He took a help wanted ad and walked in demanding a raise for his job as well as declaring his whole family to also be hired. It was a bit overbearing, but at the same time, such a person could be pretty useful. It was also a fact that Liu Ao was level 57, only one stage weaker than Wu Chang. He also had a group of five elders, two of them were level 52, while the other three were in the high forties. Since he already declared two of the rank 5 cultivators to be joining the Jade Horde, why would Sage turn them away? 

“Ahh… I see. Are any of your Elders or Disciples already Professionals? The Jade Horde is already manufacturing weapons and armor, but there’s still plenty of room for other support. What would the Brass Earth Sect like to be responsible for in the future?”

“In the past, the Brass Earth Sect was pretty diverse. We had Farmers, Alchemists, Chefs, Miners, and Blacksmiths. The Brass Earth Sect specializes in the Earth Element, so we know some techniques related to prospecting for minerals, mining, and improving the fertility of soil. Unfortunately, most of our Professionals were killed in the disaster, but our techniques have not been lost.”

“Excellent! The Jade Horde just acquired a Cloudmetal Charcoal Mine. The Brass Earth Sect can be responsible for mining and also finding new minerals to use in weapon production.” 

Surprisingly, Sage’s recruitment efforts weren’t wasted, though they came with a bit of overhead just like Wu Chang. Even so, it meant there was only one free slot in the Seven Stars waiting for an occupant. After that one was filled, anyone who wanted to be one of the Seven Stars would have to beat one of them in combat. Or at least that was the basic rule. It might be amended in the future if any of the Seven Stars became too important. In fact, if they ever got large enough Sage intended to have a council of the most influential generals. Then they could keep their expertise and experience even if they weren’t one of the seven strongest fighters in the Horde. 

Over the next few weeks, Sage continued to spread rumors and recruit for the Jade Horde. He wasn’t going to just up and tell everyone about the Treasure Map as it would be too obvious. Instead he just wanted to increase the fame of Immortal Butterfly Fairy and her giant butterfly pet. If the rumors about a giant butterfly carcass being found were spread enough, then when the list of auctioned items was released then some might form a connection. 

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