Chapter 619: Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao
Xiang Shaoyun was in a good mood after recruiting a powerhouse like Shang Jifeng as his subordinate. He brought Shang Jifeng inside the villa and gave the 10 new recruits a drop of dragon liquid each before solemnly saying, "I don't care what your background is. The moment you join the Overlord Legion, you will be required to obey my leadership and the rules of the Legion. Don't blame me for being merciless if I find anyone violating our rules."
He then allowed them to make their self-introductions, allowing everyone to know each other. Of the 10, 2 of them were worth Xiang Shaoyun's attention. One was Zhuge Zhantian, and the other was Ma Qihao. Zhuge Zhantian was a slightly chubby young man who wasn't very good looking. He looked to be 30 years old, and he had only recently reached the Dragon Ascension Realm.
He did not have the look of an outstanding martial cultivator, and he definitely didn't have the looks to match his name, "Zhantian", which meant "heaven battler". However, he gave Xiang Shaoyun the feeling he was an extremely shrewd person. He was also the only person who had been kept behind from the first batch of applicants.
Ma Qihao had a steadfast face and a sturdy body. He looked like a carefree, straightforward, and generous person. Of the 10, he had the strongest combat prowess. He was only a tiny bit away from reaching second-stage Dragon Ascension Realm and was in urgent need of some dragon liquid to help him advance to the next stage. He was also in the top 100 on the Serpent Fowl List, but since he had offended the Fengsha Gang, he had no choice but to seek protection by joining the Overlord Legion.
The Fengsha Gang was the faction founded by Feng Xiaosha. As for the other eight recruits, each of them had their own unique characteristics, and they were all first-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivators. He split the eight under the commands of Tang Longfei and Shang Jifeng, while Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao were kept under his direct command.
Although the recruits had joined the Overlord Legion, they weren't subjected to any restrictions and were allowed to focus on their own cultivation and works. Of course, when the Legion required help, they had to provide it.
For example, when a member took a mission, they would prioritize working with fellow members. Or if a member was bullied by someone and wanted to take revenge, the other members would need to provide help.
For now, Xiang Shaoyun did not have the time to focus on the eight new recruits. As for Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao, he had the intention to personally develop them and see if he could make them his capable assistants.
That did not mean that he didn't attach any importance to Shang Jifeng. Rather, he couldn't provide Shang Jifeng much help apart from giving him five drops of dragon liquid. So for now, Shang Jifeng was under observation to see if he could get used to his new status as a member of the Overlord Legion.
Currently, only Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao were left in the villa. The others had all left.
"Zhuge Zhantian, are you interested in being the butler of 1 Dragon Villa?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
Zhuge Zhantian gave it a thought and answered, "Sure. But when you are not around, Overlord, I hope I can use your cultivation room."
He was quite gutsy to make such a request.
Xiang Shaoyun smiled. "I'm fine with that. Of course, the premise is that you can do your job well."
Zhuge Zhantian's eyes brightened as he said, "I used to have a dream to become the strongest butler, supervising all the affairs of a powerful clan or sect. I shall start with a villa. I will definitely do the job well!"
Ma Qihao gave him a mental thumbs-up when he heard his response. He thought, This is truly a unique ambition!
The Strongest Butler.
The title had a nice ring to it. Of course, it also gave the impression that the person holding the title was a servant, and a regular person would definitely not wish to be a servant. Zhuge Zhantian was most likely a descendant of a big clan and was a genius cultivator in his own right. For someone like him to have such an ambition, it was truly odd. On the other hand, Xiang Shaoyun had a feeling Zhuge Zhantian had more than one meaning in his words.
The "supervise a big clan or sect" could also be understood as him wanting to become a clan patriarch or a sect master. If that was really the case, then his ambition was truly quite big.
"Good. I'll be looking forward to your excellent performance," said Xiang Shaoyun.
He was not afraid of Zhuge Zhantian's ambitious nature. Only someone ambitious would work hard. In fact, he was more afraid that Zhuge Zhantian would have no ambition and remain a nobody. He was confident he could control Zhuge Zhantian. He wouldn't have kept Zhuge Zhantian by his side otherwise.
He then moved on to Ma Qihao. "Ma Qihao, I can provide you with a sufficient amount of dragon liquid to enter the second-stage. But I also hope you can stay here and become my main guard. What do you think?"
"Sure. But first, after my advancement to second-stage, you will need to fight me and convince me with your strength, Overlord," answered Ma Qihao.
Instead of battling now, he mentioned battling after his advancement. He knew that at the same cultivation stage, he wouldn't be Xiang Shaoyun's match. After all, Xiang Shaoyun had already defeated someone from the Serpent Fowl List's top 10 when he was still a Skysoar Realm cultivator. In fact, there were rumors that he had recently defeated Li Haonan from the Jiao Luan List. Thus, Ma Qihao would only have a hope of winning after his advancement. And if he won, Xiang Shaoyun would no longer be qualified to make him a guard.
"Sure. I accept," said Xiang Shaoyun.
And thus, Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao became temporary residents of 1 Dragon Villa. Since Ma Qihao was going to attempt his advancement, Xiang Shaoyun let him use the villa's cultivation room. When news of it spread, the outsiders lowered their evaluation of Xiang Shaoyun. He was actually giving his subordinate his own cultivation room? So was he going to let his subordinate be the overlord next?
Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun did not seem to mind. He had agreed to let Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao use his cultivation room because he did not care about the concept of prestige that outsiders held so dearly. The Overlord Legion was newly established. Now was the time to instill loyalty in the new recruits, and by treating them nicely, their devotion might increase.
Xiang Shaoyun was confident that before long, Zhuge Zhantian and Ma Qihao would no longer request to use his cultivation room. He was confident he could properly instill awe in them. At that point, the two would willingly stay by his side. In less than three days, Ma Qihao managed to advance. It had been quite a while since he had reached the peak of first-stage. Thus, it wasn't hard to reach the second stage with some dragon liquid in hand.
After the breakthrough, he impatiently looked for Xiang Shaoyun for their battle. He was confident he could defeat Xiang Shaoyun and start challenging the Jiao Luan List. Alas, the ultimate result of the battle was that Ma Qihao would have to obediently become the guard of 1 Dragon Villa from now on.
The battle was only witnessed by members of the Overlord Legion, so no outsiders knew the contents of the battle. The battle had also successfully caused all the members to approve of Xiang Shaoyun as their leader. But for Xiang Shaoyun, that much was not enough to awe his new followers. He made a shocking decision—to challenge Di Lin from the Dragon Phoenix List!