Ding Huan returned to the City Patrol and found Yan Mei and Lao Liu happily counting Crystal Stones.
"Brother Huan…" As soon as Lao Liu saw Ding Huan return, he immediately came up to greet him.
Normally he wasn’t so enthusiastic, but he had identified a problem—that he simply couldn’t achieve Foundation Establishment here.
Without the possibility of Foundation Establishment, the world lost its color and appeal to him.
But today, he found his value and color in life.
Strutting around West Wind City with a gang of underlings and acting as an official representative—wasn’t establishing a foundation all for this sort of prestige?
As for revenge for past lives, huh, if he couldn’t even establish a foundation, what revenge could he speak of?
"Brother Huan…" Yan Mei also came over to say hello.
Gu Bin, Wu Xun, Behol, and Peng Leizhi, seeing Lao Liu and Yan Mei calling him Brother Huan, also hurriedly called out "Brother Huan."
Ding Huan swept the ground with his Divine Will and saw a pile of Crystal Stones, amounting to several thousand.
It seemed Yan Mei and Lao Liu had made quite a fortune this time.
"Well done. From now on, in the City Patrol, just call me Captain. Sit down first, let’s chat," Ding Huan said, clearly pleased.
Once everyone was seated, Ding Huan then said, "Starting today, the City Patrol will take over the entire West Wind City."
"Brother… Captain, what about the City Lord Mansion?" Yan Mei didn’t understand the intricacies and asked immediately.
After all, in terms of official rank, the position of City Patrol Captain held by Ding Huan was a far cry from that of the City Lord in the City Lord Mansion.
Ding Huan waved his hand dismissively:
"Don’t worry about the City Lord Mansion. If they dare to obstruct us, Lao Liu can deal with it directly."
Hearing this, Lao Liu immediately slapped his chest:
"Leave it to me, Brother Huan."
Titles like captain didn’t really register with him. In his eyes, he didn’t fuss where he could show his strength.
Gu Bin and the others listened with horror. After all, in the previous distribution of power, their City Patrol was under the City Lord Mansion.
Now Ding Huan was dismissing the City Lord Mansion outright, clearly intending to sideline the City Lord.
However, remembering the Iron Power Alliance that had been wiped out by Yan Mei and Lao Liu earlier that day, and the hundreds of shop owners who had helped them and were killed, they wanted to say something but didn’t dare.
Their new Captain was not a man of half measures.
"Yan Mei, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to establish a foundation in the short term. If you want to join a Sect, then wait. If you don’t want to join a Sect, why not follow me in cultivation? What do you think?" Ding Huan turned to Yan Mei.
Without hesitation, Yan Mei said, "Brother Huan, I will follow you in cultivation."
Ding Huan’s own talent might be inadequate, but the Extreme Shadow Jutsu that he taught him was definitely a top-notch Cultivation Technique.
And he had seen Ding Huan’s method of killing today, those invisible Wind Blades, unbelievably powerful. He suspected that even Foundation Establishment experts wouldn’t necessarily be able to handle Brother Huan.
"Alright then, I’ve found a good place to live in the Crystal District. After you finish your tasks, I’ll come teach you the Cultivation Technique I practice," Ding Huan declared on the spot.
He currently didn’t possess a Foundation Establishment Technique and was searching for a small residence in the Crystal District to create a Foundation Establishment Technique for himself.
With such an exceptional opportunity, if he didn’t seek out methods that suited his own path to foundation establishment, then it would be no one’s fault but his own if he ended up trampled by others in the future.
"Captain, just give your orders," Yan Mei said, firm in his voice, though not slapping his chest like Lao Liu did.
He understood Ding Huan’s intentions best—hiding and avoidance were not the goals. Finding a quiet place to enhance his strength was the real purpose.
Ding Huan had chosen West Wind City and certainly wasn’t planning to stay stagnant.
He trusted his own eyes and choices. He had made a wrong choice once with the Dual Soul Sect due to inexperience. If he chose poorly again, it would mean he truly wasn’t up to par.
Speaking to someone as clever as Yan Mei made things easy for Ding Huan:
"Yan Mei, take Lao Liu and the four here and recruit a City Patrol force in West Wind City. The number... let’s start with twelve hundred."
"Ah…"
Those who were just envious of Yan Mei, like Gu Bin, were stunned by Ding Huan’s words.
Recruiting twelve hundred people? Was this a rebellion?
Ding Huan had said not to mind the City Lord Mansion, and that if they interfered, let Lao Liu handle it—these were already rebellious words.
"Captain, I feel, feel..." Gu Bin gritted his teeth, deciding it was still best to speak his mind.
The entire day had been too intense, not knowing how many times they’d face life-and-death situations.
"Now that we’re all here among our own in the City Patrol, speak freely," Ding Huan said to Gu Bin.
He thought Gu Bin was wasting his potential; the fellow actually had some promise.
With Ding Huan’s nod, Gu Bin quickly said:
"In fact, in East City and South City, there are Alliance Hierarchs named Pan Qi, while in North City and West City, there’s one named Gu Zhanjian.
These two are ruthless and have killed countless of our City Patrol. If we start recruiting, they are bound to act against us."
Ding Huan laughed heartily: "Take some men with you later and clean up the bodies on Shengdao Street. I killed Pan Qi and Gu Zhanjian on my way here, no need to worry."
The big surprise left Gu Bin and the others speechless for a good while.
Although Yan Mei and Lao Liu had helped them take down the Iron Power Alliance, they still didn’t feel safe.
As long as Pan Qi returns, they might even attack the City Patrol Guard.
"The City Lord can rest assured... no, the Captain can rest assured, I, Gu Bin, will certainly carry out the tasks the Captain has entrusted to me."
Gu Bin nearly blurted out the title of City Lord in his excitement when addressing Ding Huan.
Ding Huan stood up:
"Gu Bin, as Vice Captain Yan’s assistant, you will recruit for the City Patrol Guard in West Wind City, a total of twelve hundred men, with payment being one Crystal Stone per month.
In addition to that, the City Patrol Guard will also take over the City Guard of West Wind City. Not every person who wishes to come will come, and people can’t just leave as they wish..."
For the sake of not being disturbed in his cultivation and for the peace of West Wind City.
Ding Huan was not only recruiting over a thousand City Patrol Guards, but he also demanded that Yan Mei take over the city defense. At the same time, on top of the laws of the Blazing Star Lord Country, he established new laws for West Wind City.
This included collecting a management fee from merchants, some of the taxes, prohibiting fighting, reclaiming all houses in West Wind City without property deeds, or rather, those that were forcibly occupied...
Not just that, even Joy Sticks were banned by Ding Huan from circulating.
This stuff is just drugs. Since he was in charge of West Wind City now, then this stuff must be banned.
It wasn’t until two hours later that Ding Huan left the City Patrol Guard and returned to his residence.
He would endure the hardship for a few days; once West Wind City stabilized, then he could rest easy.
...
By the time Ding Huan returned to his small courtyard in the Crystal District and started studying the few Storage Bags, Xue Bo’s face in the City Lord Mansion of West Wind City was livid.
Not only was his face livid, but his hands were trembling slightly too.
Damn it, Ding Huan was simply too arrogant, a mere City Patrol Captain actually dared to recruit City Patrol Guards in West Wind City.
Since the garrison guards of West Wind City were disbanded, West Wind City had not had a single garrison guard for decades.
"City Lord," Xue Bo was finding it hard to keep his composure when a woman’s voice came from outside.
"Cang Yiyi is back, come in," Xue Bo tried to calm his emotions.
Moments later, a woman dressed in black entered.
She was Xue Bo’s trusted aide, Cang Yiyi. She came before Xue Bo, bowed, and then said:
"The investigation is clear, that Ding Huan is very strong. He easily killed Pan Qi, Gu Zhanjian, Shan Huer, and Kong Xin. During the process, no one assisted him, and he did not even use a Magic Artifact, relying solely on the Wind Blade..."
Xue Bo, whose face had just been livid with anger, suddenly calmed down. Pan Qi, Gu Zhanjian, Shan Huer, and Kong Xin were all cultivators with cultivation close to his.
"Is Ding Huan a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?" Xue Bo asked hoarsely.
Other than through Foundation Establishment, how could one kill four Qi Cultivation ninth level fellows at the same time?
Cang Yiyi shook her head: "I am not very clear on this, but if he has established his foundation, why would he come to West Wind City?"
Xue Bo fell silent for a long while before saying:
"I need to go into seclusion recently and strive for Foundation Establishment. Even if I have to leave West Wind City after establishing my foundation, I must kill this bastard.
Cang Yiyi, keep an eye on the people from City Lord Mansion, just collect the shop taxes in the Central District, and do not go against Ding Huan’s City Patrol Guard."
Cang Yiyi remained silent.
"What? Is there a problem?" Xue Bo frowned.
Cang Yiyi spoke with some apprehension:
"I’ve just received the news, Ding Huan has taken over the entire West Wind City, including the Central District.
It can be said that except for the City Lord Mansion, all the shops must be responsible to the City Patrol Guard, and taxes and management fees also have to be paid to the City Patrol Guard. Even the Household Registration Office has been taken over by the City Patrol Guard."
There was one more thing she did not say; she suspected that in a while, even the City Lord Mansion might have to pay management fees to Ding Huan.
"Good, good..." After gritting his teeth and saying the word "good" twice, Xue Bo actually calmed down.
After another 15 minutes, he finally sighed:
"If so, then just do the Joy Stick business, there is no need to compete with him."
Cang Yiyi then reluctantly said: "The Joy Stick business has been explicitly forbidden by the City Patrol Guard, I’m afraid we can’t do it anymore."
"Smack!" Xue Bo slapped his palm on the coffee table, also standing up.
His emotions, which he had been trying hard to control, couldn’t help but erupt again.
After all, was he, Xue Bo, the City Lord of West Wind City, or was it Ding Huan?
"Go call Ding Huan over, just say the City Lord Mansion has important matters to discuss." After pacing around the room for a few laps, Xue Bo decided to have a showdown with Ding Huan.
If he didn’t share some benefits with him, Xue Bo, was he here to just enjoy the northwest wind? What foundation was there to build?
"City Lord, I’m just worried that Ding Huan will harbour ill intentions…" Cang Yiyi couldn’t help but add.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.
Xue Bo snorted:
"He wouldn’t dare. No matter how indifferent the Blazing Star Lord Country is to West Wind City, if a City Lord gets killed here, they absolutely won’t sit idly by."
Cang Yiyi also thought that made sense; no matter what kinds of events had occurred in West Wind City for so long, no one dared to touch the City Lord.
Xue Bo knew in his heart that he probably was not Ding Huan’s match, but he still felt confident at the City Lord Mansion.
As long as Ding Huan had not achieved Foundation Establishment, he could rely on the Mansion’s Killing Trap Array to kill Ding Huan.
In his estimation, the possibility of Ding Huan having achieved Foundation Establishment was minuscule; at most, he was just killing beyond his level.
A Foundation Establishment Cultivator would have no reason to stay in West Wind City.