Looking at the heavily injured and unconscious Erniu, Lu Ming reached directly into his storage bag.
He took out a recovery pill he had refined himself and stuffed it into Erniu's mouth.
Within moments, Erniu's pale, deathly face returned to normal.
His faint breathing gradually stabilized, and the bleeding wound on his chest scabbed over and shrank at a visible rate.
Seeing this, Diao San was overjoyed.
He looked at Lu Ming. What did he ever do to deserve meeting such a good person?
His eyes flickered, and he made a silent decision in his heart.
Just then, Erniu let out a low groan. His eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes in confusion.
“Senior Brother Diao, am I healed?”
Erniu's honest voice rang out, and he scrambled up from the bed.
He looked at Lu Ming and Big Yellow, about to ask a question, when Diao San spoke up.
“Quick... quick... thank the two seniors! They were the ones who saved you.”
Erniu honestly knelt before Lu Ming and Big Yellow with a heavy thud, speaking with utmost sincerity, “Erniu thanks the two seniors for saving my life... I have nothing to repay you with, so I can only—”
“Stop. No thanks needed. You don't need to thank me...”
Lu Ming interrupted him before he could finish.
He was truly afraid the guy would say something like “repay you with my body.”
This completely dumbfounded both Erniu and Diao San.
Even Big Yellow looked at Lu Ming in confusion, not understanding why he was acting this way.
Thud, thud...
Once Diao San snapped out of it, he knelt directly. The others who had been peeking from outside the door also followed suit and knelt.
“Senior Lu, thank you for saving our lives. We beg of you, please let us work like beasts of burden by your side to repay you...” Diao San said loudly, his face full of hope.
Lu Ming had helped him so much just because Diao San had been his guide for a single day. This favor was simply too immense.
There was truly no way to repay it!
They weren't in a position to offer their bodies, so they could only sell their lives.
Lu Ming was originally planning to refuse, but then he remembered that he still had to stay in Black Fiend City for a while to wait for the secret realm to open.
Moreover, he indeed had the idea of establishing a small force.
Having them gather information would prevent him from being completely in the dark.
Just like the opening of the All Beings Equal secret realm—if Elder Gou from the Xiaoyao Sect hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known at all.
Besides, having a small force would also help him look for his sect and find his third disciple!
Meanwhile, Big Yellow's eyes rolled. It would just listen to its boss.
Lu Ming did not rush to agree. Instead, he looked at Diao San and asked, “What is your story? Why are you all here?”
Hearing Lu Ming's inquiry, Diao San's eyes lit up, sensing a chance. “Senior Lu, we are all rogue cultivators who were kidnapped and trafficked...”
As Diao San explained, Lu Ming gradually understood their situation.
It turned out they had been tricked and were about to be sold to demonic cultivators.
However, during the transaction outside Black Fiend City, they ran into a double-cross. In the end, both the sellers and the buyers were killed.
Left with no one to claim them, they had drifted into Black Fiend City. They wanted to return home, but they were all merely Qi Refining cultivators.
The strongest among them was Diao San, who was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. They feared that the moment they stepped out of Black Fiend City, they would be captured and sold again.
As for Erniu's injuries, they were caused by his employer from that day, who refused to pay him and beat him half to death instead.
Qi Refining cultivators were basically at the absolute bottom of the hierarchy in Black Fiend City.
Without a backer or money, anyone could bully them.
“Alright, you can follow me from now on.”
Hearing Lu Ming agree, Diao San and the others' eyes lit up, and they cheered excitedly, “Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!”
From now on, they finally had someone backing them!
“Big Yellow, what do you think we should name our organization?” Lu Ming asked, patting Big Yellow's head.
Big Yellow grinned widely, looking incredibly happy.
It and its boss finally had underlings of their own now.
What should they name it?
“Woof woof!!”
Big Yellow tossed its head back, suggesting they call it the Dog Head Gang.
The pack of dogs it had put together back in Peace Town was called that, and it sounded incredibly majestic.
Lu Ming couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to it. This fellow was completely useless.
Instead, dreams from the web novels he read in his previous life began to flash through his mind.
There are thousands of demonic cultivators in this world, and everyone here counts. If you don't cultivate hard today, we'll be brothers inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner tomorrow...
Haha... he definitely had to establish a majestic, domain-dominating force.
Let's call it the Overlord... no, let's call it the Heavenly Demon Sect.
After pondering for a long time, Lu Ming decided on the Heavenly Demon Sect.
After all, he just wanted to set up a force to gather information and the like.
On the surface, he was a disciple of the Qingshan Sect, which gave him the identity of a righteous cultivator.
Having a demonic cultivator identity as a cover would also be quite nice. Yes, let's go with that.
Then, Lu Ming looked at Diao San and the others and spoke, “From now on, our faction will be called the Heavenly Demon Sect. Do any of you have any objections?”
“Understood, Sect Master!” Diao San and the others agreed without the slightest hesitation.
As for the sect having a demonic name, what of it?
What hadn't they seen in Black Fiend City? Being able to survive was all that mattered.
Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction, then pointed at Big Yellow. “This is your Second Sect Master...”
Diao San was taken aback. Was this how the ranks were divided?
But it didn't matter. Second Sect Master it was, as long as the Great Sect Master was happy.
“Greetings, Second Sect Master.”
“Woof woof!!”
Big Yellow's tail wagged so fast it looked like a spinning firewheel again. Not bad, not bad...
After that, Lu Ming divided them into two teams, with Diao San and Erniu as captains.
Each led eight people. According to Lu Ming's original plan, he wanted each to lead ten people.
It made the math easier, but since they didn't have enough people, this would have to do for now.
Having recruited them, Lu Ming was not stingy either.
He directly gave each person ten thousand spirit stones, along with bottles upon bottles of various pills.
As for weapons, Lu Ming planned to rob some when the opportunity arose for them to choose from.
Receiving the resources distributed by Lu Ming and Big Yellow, the group was so moved that their eyes turned bloodshot. They wished they could immediately lay down their lives for them.
However, Lu Ming only assigned them to gather information in Black Fiend City.
“Great Sect Master, Black Fiend City will be hosting an auction in three days,” Diao San reported, running over to Lu Ming.
Since recruiting Diao San and the others that day, Lu Ming had rented all the nearby houses and moved in here as well.
Hearing Diao San's report, Lu Ming raised an eyebrow.
He had been planning to find suitable cultivation techniques for Diao San and the others. It seemed he would have to make a trip to this auction.
Just then, Diao San continued, “Great Sect Master, there is an alchemy furnace up for bid in this auction. It is said that pills refined with this furnace are three times more effective than ordinary ones.”
He had seen the Great Sect Master refine pills before. It was literally like stir-frying vegetables, and yet the resulting pills still had pill veins.
If the Great Sect Master could win this furnace, the possibilities would be unimaginable...
Lu Ming naturally thought of this as well.
“Let's go, Big Yellow. We're paying a visit to the auction house.”
Lu Ming planned to prepare some spirit stones. After all, there would definitely be many people competing for such an alchemy furnace.
He was worried that the spirit stones in his hands wouldn't be enough. Compared to those large sects, his meager savings were practically nothing.
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