“Hmmm, what would I possibly stand to gain besides more mouths to feed if I take you all in?” Zhang asked, interested to see what these sea dwellers would say.

“My lord, you would stand to gain an army specializing in aquatic battles, although I'm sure someone of your caliber could raise an army of millions with a single call I believe there are few forces out there within a hundred thousand miles of the Blood Coral Cove that can best our soldiers in a battle in open waters.” The female saint with a star fish sticking to her hair said humbly.

“They would make a great addition to the Aurora Navy.” Zhang thought as a long silence swept over his surroundings.

“My lord if you allow us to be of service to you, not only would you become the new ruler of the Blood Coral Cove and all of the seas and islands within one hundred thousand miles of it, all of the riches and treasures accumulated by that turtle over the past five hundred years would, of course, be yours also.” The woman said, hoping to appeal to Zhang. If he did not want more underlines then hopefully he would want territory or perhaps wealth, if he didn't want any of the three then she could consider her fate and the fate of the rest of the sea dwells present forfeit.

“Five hundred years’ worth of treasure… One hundred thousand miles of ocean filled with islands that most likely are filled with treasure…” Zhang thought while keeping a cold face which served to filled the sea dwellers with dread and anxiousness. How were they supposed to know that Zhang was someone whose heart would begin to beat rapidly at the mere mention of treasure?

Although by now the amount of riches and treasure that Zhang had accumulated already reached an astronomical number, he was still always on the lookout for more.

“Seeing as you are all sincere in your words and gestures I suppose that I could take you all under my wing.” Zhang said in an audible voice that reached the ears of everyone present.

Instantly almost as if a giant weight had been lifted from their shoulders all of the sea dwellers felt a sense of relief sweep over them.

“My lord then shall we show you the way to the Blood Coral Cove?” Another lesser saint asked.

“No, not yet there are pressing matters that need my attention.” Zhang said as he looked up into the sky toward the four columns of heavenly energy descending through the Azure Tower and into the Sky Fortress’s inner sanctuary.

“You two will accompany me while the rest of you are to return to the place you refer to as the Blood Coral Cove. After my wives finish their ascension I’ll go have a look at my new territory.” Zhang commanded to his new subordinates as he flew into the air toward the Sky Fortress with two lesser saints in tow while the rest of the sea dwellers began diving into the dark depths of the sea.

“I almost forgot, have them fish up that giant turtle’s corpse for me also.” Zhang said to the lesser saints who were about to descend beneath the waves.

“We will have it ready for you when you visit the Blood Coral Cove, my lord.” A lesser saint said before he disappeared beneath the water’s surface.

Despite only becoming Zhang’s subordinates for mere minutes, the lesser saints and those below them were more than willing to go out of their way to please their new master.

As the old saying go, the weak flock to the strong and most forms of loyalty were comparable to a castle made of sand, likely to crumble within a heartbeat.

Although not all of the lesser saints and their subordinates were pleased to lose Shen Yu as their master, they were extremely happy with the fact that their lives were spared.

Perhaps some may judge these sea dwellers to be cowards who lacked a backbone and whose allegiance bent with the blowing wind, but they should be reminded of the fact that these people were in fact not people or human at all.

While the lesser saints were all divine beasts, the Flying Fish and Mantis Shrimp riders could trace their heritage back to the descendants of divine beasts who had departed from the land and made their way into the sea.

With his two new underlings flying beside him, Zhang opened a small hole in the five layered barriers and flew directly into the Sky Fortress.

“We will stand guard here until their ascension is complete. Please make yourselves comfortable.” Zhang said with a warm smile.

“If you wish my lord we shall patiently wait.” The female saint with a starfish stuck to her hair said.

“I almost forgot… Both of you take these and heal your wounds. They should be effective even if you're a saint.” Zhang said as he produced two blue colored Restoration Pills from his interspatial ring. Since these two were the ones to sustained the most damage out of all of the saints he has spared, with one having been stabbed in the shoulder while the other had two of his three hearts ripped out of his chest.

“Tha-thank you my lord.” The woman and man with eight tentacles protruding from his back named Chu Shou said at the same time. However, after receiving the pills gifted to them by Zhang a hint of hesitation would be seen as they looked down at the two blue colored pills.

From the look on their faces it was obvious they were afraid that instead of giving them medical pulls, Zhang was giving them some sort of poison. Dozens of different scenarios and horrific scenes began to race through their heads as they stared at the blue colored pills in their palms.

They believed that due to the current circumstances if they did not consume these pills then they would be disobeying their new master which would possibly invoke his wrath. However, if they did consume these pills then there was a high chance of being poisoned.

“If I wanted to kill you then you wouldn't be standing here.” Zhang said with a laugh as he saw the look on their faces. Although he couldn't really blame them because he did ripe put two of the man’s three hearts and stabbed the woman in the shoulder before kicking into the sea.

“We wouldn't dare think that you would poison us, my lord.” Chu Shou said, however, his facial expressions said otherwise. But as Zhang’s gaze locked into Chu Shou and the woman with a star wish stuck to her hair, they gave each other a glance before tossing the blue colored pills into their mouths and gulping them down.

In the next instant, an explosive force began to make its way throughout their bodies and cause their wounds to heal in an instant. Of course these pills were not some kind of miracle pill, so they merely mended superficial wounds and a small fraction of the internal wounds that were sustained.

“To think these pills are that effective.” Zhang thought as he eyed his two new subordinates. Originally these pills were a part of a large batch of a few hundred pills that he managed to retrieve from the interspatial ring belonging to the grand elder of the Sun Hall Sect.

Although Lingqi could tell that it was a medical pill she wasn't exactly completely sure how effective they were. Thus these two lesser saints more or less served as guinea pigs.

“Thank you, my lord, for sharing your grace with us despite having been enemies not too long ago. To think you would gift us with such treasures simply makes me marvel at your kindness.” Chu Shou said politely as his impression of Zhang increased exponentially.

“No need to worry, it only took me and my wife a year to track down all of the ingredients needed to make those pills.” Zhang said casually while trying to make himself appear to be an amiable and compassionate master who was willing to share with his subordinates. By doing so he was hoping to inspire more loyalty in his new subordinates. Usually since if a master is willing to share the fruits of his harvest with his subordinates they would be more willing to lay down their lives for him.

“Alright now your wounds are healed I have another gift for you.” Zhang said while he sat cross-legged in front of the massive gate that led into the Inner Sanctuary. With a wave of his hand, he made five corpses belonging to the four lesser saints that he had killed earlier appear on the ground.

“You may refine their heavenly energy and use it to strengthen yourselves.” Zhang said with a smile.

“My lord we definitely cannot! How can mere servants such as ourselves dare to take something so precious?” The female saint in a hurried voice. Considering there were only two ways to obtaining heavenly energy, the fact that Zhang was sharing five corpses worth of heavenly energy with them, these two lesser saints were left utterly stunned and felt as if they were dreaming. How could there possibly be a master willing to grant his new subordinates such precious medicine and to top things off heavenly energy.

“Say no more and simply show me your gratitude in the form of loyalty so that I won't have to regret what I'm doing in the future.” Zhang said with a smile, instead of wanting to listen to their words of gratitude he wanted those feelings to bottle up within them and manifest in the form of loyalty.

“Yes my lord.” The two lesser saints said. As they sat on beside side of Zhang, wife smiles could be seen on their faces as they began refining the heavenly energy seeping out of the corpses of their former comrades.

Despite serving under the same lord there wasn't much of a sense of comradery amongst Shen Yu’s subordinates so there wasn't even a hint of hesitation evident when Chu Shou and the female Saint began the refinement process.

While Zhang sat guard in front of the Inner Sanctuary, deep beneath the waves news of Shen Yu’s death had begun to spread at what could only be considered an alarming rate. One after the other the various lords of the ocean were alerted of what had happened.

Little did Zhang know the small splashes he made in the open sea were making big waves as a mixture of different emotions arose from the various rulers of the waves. Regardless of how they received news of Shen Yu’s death, the lords of the sea each reacted to this news in a different way. While some laughed at Shen Yu’s incompetence, others were alarmed and displeased about the change of ownership of the Blood Coral Cove. Overall the various forces that governed the seas were caught in a frenzy of activity.

Although most of the rulers of the sea weren't going to have much to do with Zhang directly, it was only a matter of time before the ones who ruled territory close to the Blood Coral Cover acted.

Now that Shen Yu was no more, past alliances he had set in place to maintain peace were void. There was also the fact that now that Shen Yu, Niao Wang and the five other lesser saints who were slain by Zhang were dead, the other lords of the sea believed that the Blood Coral Cove had lost a large portion of its fighting force.

To them, it would be a perfect opportunity to conqueror and add the Blood Coral Cover to their domain.

But things for now things meant for the future have yet to happen so thus Zhang was still seated in front of the Inner Sanctuary.

After Zhang lost track of time as he sat meditating for countless hours, a pair of gentle hands awoke him.

“Did you wait long?” Yuying’s voice drifted into Zhang’s ears as he felt a pair of well-shaped hills press against his back.

“A few days isn't much.” Zhang said with a laugh as he turned his head around and engaged in some intimate lip locking.

“Ahem…” A pair of voices suddenly disrupted Zhang and Yuying private world. Not too far from this, our lovely couple was a pair of lesser saints with awkward looks on their faces.

“How are the others coming along?” Zhang asked after a few awkward coughs.

Although they were only his subordinates and could have simply ordered them to leave, Zhang still felt the situation was rather awkward and uncomfortable.

“They should be finishing up soon.” Yuying said with a grin as she continued hugging Zhang’s neck while propping her chin atop his head.

“Who are those two?” She asked in a whisper with a curious look on her face while somewhat trying to make the previous situation less awkward by pretending to be oblivious to Zhang’s new subordinates despite having looked at them in the eye for a split second after being disrupted.

“Let's wait for the others and I'll tell you all at the same time.” Zhang said with a laugh.

“This is my wife, her words and commanders should be weighed with the same authority as mine.” Zhang said.

“Yes my lord. Greetings madam, we are at your service.” The two lesser saints said in unison. Even without Zhang’s words, from the difference in power between them and Yuying who was new a full saint, Chu Shou and his female comrade wouldn't have dared to disobey her anyway.

“Once everyone’s ascensions are completed and you two have a bit of rest we can go to the Blood Coral Cove.

“We've had our share of rest meditating beside you for the past two days my lord, if you wish to visit the Blood Coral Cove then we can guide you there whenever you please.” Chu Shou said in a respectful tone.

“Then we shall depart once the madams complete their ascension we can leave right away.” Zhang said with a smile.