Recruitment

The next morning, Yan Lenglei had woken up early. He had the maid give him a quick meal, as he left the Yan residence and headed off to town. Outside, Mo Jidong was already waiting for him, as they both traveled together.

"What do you think of Long He Yu?" Yan Lenglei asked. "Very good, I think he is a good seedling." Mo Jidong replied. Their words were short and concise, getting to the point immediately.

Neither of them liked to speak. Once they could, they would use their Divine Will to speak rather than using their throat. Shortly afterward, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong arrived in front of Long He Yu's residence.

Who was Long He Yu? He was Yan Lenglei's opponent in the semifinals, though he had lost, his potential was good, being able to reach great heights. They thought it was a waste for him to join a small sect like the Divine Dao Mountain, so they had another idea in mind.

Long He Yu's residence was small, while it wasn't extremely damaged, a few holes could be seen on the roof. Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong arrived at the front door and knocked, as they waited quietly for the door to open.

"Yes, I'm coming! Who is it?" a voice called out from within. It was a feminine but slightly haggard voice. Obviously, it was Long He Yu's mother. Even though she wasn't old, her voice was haggard due to her living conditions.

As the door opened, Long He Yu's mother was shocked. Seeing Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong standing in front of her doorsteps, it was as though she had seen a ghost. She hadn't been expecting any guests, so of course, she didn't expect the Golden Duo to appear at her doorsteps all of a sudden.

As a citizen of Blackcloud city, how could she not know them? This was especially so since she was there the previous day and watched them both fight. Without knowing exactly why they were here, she suddenly had a slight idea in her mind.

"Young Master Yan, Young Master Mo, please come in." she welcomed them in immediately. Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong nodded as they headed inside, looking inside the house, it was very plain with broken furniture and things that were reused after others had thrown them away.

"Mrs Long, if you need anything, please come to the Yan family, do mention it to your friends and relatives." Yan Lenglei said, as he sat on a chair that seemed to break at any moment.

"Please, we want to help every citizen live a better life, if it's not enough, we can donate some money." Mo Jidong continued.

"Thank you young masters, you are very kind, but we are used to this life, if we suddenly changed, it would be quite hard to adjust." Long He Yu's mother replied, showing appreciation for their concern.

She went into the kitchen and poured them some tea, as they sat down quietly on the dining table. Seeing Long He Yu's mother looking slightly sickly, Yan Lenglei waved his hand, as a small amount of his Spiritual Qi was injected into her body, instantly making her feel vigorous and filled with energy.

"Thank you, Young Master Yan!" she thanked him. His gesture was small, but it helped her greatly. After pouring them some tea, she sat down on the table across from Yan Langlei and Mo Jidong.

"I'm not too sure, but the young masters must be here for my son? Right now, he is working at one of his jobs, and won't be back until night time." Mrs Long told them.

"If you don't mind, may we stay here until he comes home? We don't mind." Mo Jidong replied.

"Ah?! Please, it would be an honor. I'll start to prepare a meal immediately, it should be ready in a few hours." she said, as she stepped into the kitchen to prepare a meal. As for Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong, they sipped on the tea and waited until Long He Yu would arrive home.

A few hours later, Long He Yu's father came home for lunch. Seeing the two brothers inside his home, he almost dropped the wine that he had just bought. He stumbled as he entered his own home, making sure he didn't enter the wrong house.

The four of them shared a meal that Mrs Long had prepared with great effort, as they waited for Long He Yu to arrive home.

******

At night, the sound of a door being opened was heard. A somewhat handsome young man, wearing clothing with patches all over entered his own home. As he opened the door, he saw his parents talking to two youths in exquisite clothing.

Seeing that their son was home, Long He Yu's mother boiled the food, while his father left to his room. Long He Yu came in and saw Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong who were waiting for him early in the morning.

"This… Young Master Yan, Young Master Mo, what brought you here today?" Long He Yu was speechless. He didn't think the two most famous figures within Blackcloud city would come to his house directly.

"Son, they've been waiting here for you since early in the morning, just a little bit after you left." his mother answered him.

"For me? What could…"

"Please, come out to the back." he told them. Standing up, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong followed Long He Yu outside to the back. There, the three figures faced each other and began to talk.

"What have the two Young Masters come for today?" Long He Yu asked. He seemed slightly hostile, but he didn't think that they had come to harm him or his family, after all, if they wanted to do so; the family of three wouldn't be able to prevent it.

"Are you going to join the Divine Dao Mountain?" Yan Lenglei asked him. "I plan to, it's a good opportunity for me. Since you're asking, could it be that you two don't plan to?" Long He Yu asked back.

"En, whether we join a sect or not, it doesn't matter." Mo Jidong replied. Hearing this, Long He Yu knew that both Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong were extremely proud and believed in their own talents, for them to say such words.

"Are you possibly asking me to join you two? If so, I don't think I can agree. I know my own talents, while it may be high in Blackcloud city, I don't believe I can stand out in other places if I don't join a powerful sect and use their resources." Long He Yu declined.

"What if I say that we believe in your talent? Besides, the journey of cultivation doesn't only depend on talents, but also the State of Mind. Even with great talent, if one's mind has not reached a certain level, progress will be impossible." Mo Jidong said.

Hearing this, Long He Yu was silent for a while. After a while, he spoke up but didn't agree immediately. "Have a bout against Jidong." Yan Lenglei suddenly said.

Mo Jidong moved back and faced Long He Yu, while the former was caught off guard by the sudden approach. "A battle against Young Master Mo? I'm not sure if I can win." he muttered but agreed to the bout anyways.

A wooden staff suddenly appeared in his hand, as two clones appeared by his side. Yan Lenglei moved aside, to allow the battle to begin.

Whoosh!

Long He Yu's clones as well as himself moved in an instant. It was just like before, when he had used the same move against Yan Lenglei the day earlier.

In his hand, the staff was like another limb to him, Long He Yu struck, as his two clones attacked from multiple directions, preparing for the next attack if his blows were avoided.

Bang!

The staves all slammed hard into Mo Jidong's body. Even though he was struck, Mo Jidong didn't budge an inch, allowing himself to be hit. When the three staves landed, Mo Jidong allowed his unparalleled physique to soak up all the damage.

His body was incredibly hard, even after being struck by Long He Yu, his skin only became a little pink, and stared at the former as if he hadn't felt anything.

"..."

Long He Yu knew this and was quiet. While this combo attack wasn't his strongest move, he was dispirited when he basically did no harm to Mo Jidong. His staff was lowered, while his two clones dispersed into raindrops.

He put away his staff and walked back. "Convinced?" Mo Jidong asked. "Convinced? I couldn't do anything at all, how can I believe in my own talent like this?" Long He Yu was exasperated.

"Don't belittle yourself, Jidong is a freak, his physique is comparable to a Second Grade Spirit Beast. Judging from your earlier attack, it's enough to defeat an average person at the peak of the Awakening Realm." Yan Lenglei told him.

Being called a freak, Mo Jidong was speechless. "Your physique is half as strong as mine okay? I'm not that much of a freak." he thought.

"The only problem is the way in which you use your staff, you haven't comprehended the Concept of Staves, I think you might be suitable for one-handed staves more so than two-handed staves." Mo Jidong told Long He Yu.

"You might be right, I've tried all kinds of weapons, but only the staff felt different. Even then, it still felt a little off but was much better compared to other weapons." Long He Yu was shocked. They had noticed this just by watching his technique a few times.

It was as if they were the ones who had taught him like a teacher. "So what do you think? You're strong enough to come with us, if you perfect your technique, you'll be even stronger." Mo Jidong replied.

For a while, Long He Yu was quiet. He turned around and pondered for a while. "If you're thinking of your parents, why not let them be taken care of in the Yan or the Mu family?"

Hearing this, Long He Yu's hesitation was lessened. "As a show of trust, I can show you a secret that not even my parents know." Mo Jidong said. Long He Yu turned around, as he sensed an extremely dark and terrifying aura behind him.

He felt like kneeling as the aura suppressed him, making his blood boil. He felt like he had met a Demon Lord, wanting to kneel and submit under such majesty. Turning around, a black cloud-like aura emerged from Mo Jidong's hand.

Soon, a chess piece formed on his hand, which was obviously the 'King' piece. Seeing this, Long He Yu was shocked once again as if he wasn't shocked already. One had to know that those born a 'King' would be destined to become a great figure.

Each of them were highly sought after even by a Grade One Sect, let alone a small Grade Nine Sect like the Divine Dao Mountain. Such people were less than one in a million, showing how incredibly rare they were.

Long He Yu didn't think that he would meet a 'King' during his entire life. He had only seen a 'Bishop' in his lifetime, seeing a 'King' made his blood boil unknowingly. As he thought about the situation, he knew that Mo Jidong always followed Yan Lenglei around, if so, it was highly likely that the former was also a natural born 'King'.

If so, Blackcloud city was incredibly blessed. This was all that Long He Yu thought during this moment. Seeing the shock on his face, Yan Lenglei and Mo Jidong weren't surprised, it was a normal reaction for anyone to see.

"So, do you want to become one of mine?" Mo Jidong asked. Long He Yu had been thinking hard for a while, he was leaning towards agreeing when he had lost easily and his only reason for becoming strong, being his parents; would be taken care of.

After seeing the 'King', all of his hesitation was gone. If he didn't agree after all of this, he would be stupid and would regret it in the future. Long He Yu stepped forward and nodded.

He kneeled on one knee, as he bowed to pay respects to Mo Jidong. This wasn't a necessary step, but Long He Yu still did so, he was truly convinced by the latter.

Mo Jidong's 'King' floated out of his hand and flew towards Long He Yu. As it approached him, Long He Yu's Piece flew out at the same time and resonated with Mo Jidong's.

Long He Yu actually had the potential of a Queen! One had to know, the 'Queen' was the strongest piece after the 'King' who was the absolute ruler of the Board. Those born with such potential were also incredibly rare, being less than one in one-hundred thousand. Actually, the 'Queen' had potentiql that was at the same level as the 'King' but couldn't directly control subordinates as the former could.

Soon, Long He Yu's 'Queen' resonated with the 'King' as its transparent color, was slowly transformed and was filled with black cloud-like energy. Since he was now under Mo Jidong, his Piece would naturally have the same aura.

His Piece transformed, becoming the shape of a men's 'Queen' which was just as powerful as the original, but just had a different shape. Even though his Piece transformed and contained Mo Jidong's aura, once he became stronger, his Piece would be filled with his own aura instead.

After a few moments, the two Pieces stopped resonating and returned to the bodies of their respective owners. Long He Yu stood up, as he instantly felt that his physique was more powerful.

Since Mo Jidong had such a powerful physique, Long He Yu had benefited just by being under him. His physique improved by a large margin, but alas, he wasn't a Body Refiner, so his physique was only one stage above his own realm.

Even then, this was a great blessing for him. His combat prowess improved by another level just like that. If this were a true battle, once the Pieces' true power were released, his prowess would increase accordingly to Mo Jidong's own strength.

Long He Yu stretched his body, getting used to his physique that had grown stronger, it didn't take long before he was used to it. "Good, since it's done, let's have a meal before setting off soon."

Long He Yu nodded. Just as they were about to return, Yan Lenglei stopped them. "I'm sure you're curious about me too." he said. Suddenly, a bright and golden light emerged from within Yan Lenglei's body. His Divine Rune shone, as a 'King' Piece floated in his hand.

Fortunately, nobody would discover anything and think it was odd even though it was night time. They would just think that somebody was playing with lanterns.

The golden Piece was released, as a majestic and holy suppression instantly enveloped Long He Yu's entire being. If Mo Jidong made him feel like meeting a Demon Lord, Yan Lenglei made it feel as though he had met a prestigious and heavenly Emperor.

The two feelings were incomparable and vastly different, but both were incredibly powerful and made him want to kneel. One had to know, after accepting Mo Jidong as his 'King', the effects of suppression from other 'Kings' were lessened, even then, the suppression he felt was no less than that of what he felt from Mo Jidong's at first.

Yan Lenglei quickly withdrew his Piece, as the three of them headed inside. By now, dinner would've been done, allowing them to eat.