do not hesitate

After some small talk between Ji Li and the others, he stood up and prepared to go out. He didn't change his robe, as it was naturally enhanced by various effects, and it would automatically clean him and clean itself too. He only patted off the non-existent dust off of his clothes before he went down, followed by the brothers and the guards.

The steward joined along the way but kept quiet, and at the entrance the town chief naturally positioned himself next to the steward but didn't say anything after seeing that he wasn't talked to but only treated as part of the entourage.

Ji Li went out of the branch yard and entered the town; at this hour one would think that only some servants would be rushing around and there would be no higher ranked person moving about. But there was a surprisingly large number of people that had several guards and servants behind them, standing just a few metres from each other and forming a circle all around the entrance of the eunuch yard, as if to greet a very high person.

Of course, they had no chance to greet Ji Li. The moment they looked at him, they felt like their eyes would freeze. It wasn't a physical phenomenon, but it felt like an attack on the soul. Although most regained their composure not much later, they didn't look up at the eunuch again and looked away or down, ashamed of themselves for trying to spy.

They quickly understood that the cultivation of Ji Li was above theirs and even those of the same cultivation became wary, as not everyone could get Nature's Gift if they weren't high enough. Some had envy in their eyes, but what could they do? Even in their families, only those with the highest talent would get it, after their father contributed largely. How could they even think of it?

So, a weird atmosphere came to be where no one dared to approach but all of them still kind of blocked the entrance, making it difficult to leave further. But Ji Li didn't care, he didn't stop even when he saw them react like that, and only thought 'Damn, good that I consolidated my cultivation, not only do I feel stronger and healthy, but my icy cold act is even stronger! I'll make them all freeze for trying to act up in front of me!', he continued towards one direction without stop, and all nearby 'young masters' instantly took a few steps, giving way to Ji Li and his troupe.

He didn't spend long thinking of them and directly went around the town, inspecting all the shops and workshops along the streets as well as the amount of ware that were stocked up again. He instantly knew that the town profited a lot from all that, but didn't say anything about splitting yet, as it was something they could still discuss later when he recruited them.

He thought about it, and then decided to also not visit the central plaza. It wasn't like there would be anything of interest, the construction should also be working fluidly under the hands of dwarven construction workers. The same was for the competition camp, especially since that was already inspected, and he didn't want to spend time doing useless things.

He just went back to the branch entrance, which was now relatively clear, besides that there was still one group waiting even closer. Once he stepped close to the entrance, the group came up to him and the foremost person blocked his way by bowing and cupping his hands as he said, "I have seen the esteemed eunuch, may you please let me introduce myself".

Ji Li wasn't very interested, but he still stopped to see what would come out of these young man's mouth. Seeing his brother stop, Qianyu nonchalantly answered instead of his brother "You may". The young man instinctively looked up, when he saw that it wasn't the foremost person answering, he was slightly confused before he just accepted it as part of the temperament.

So, he just went ahead and replied "I am Minghua of the Craftsman Yi family. I have seen the esteemed eunuch and wanted to greet as well as invite the eunuch to my humble abode…"

Before Minghua could speak out what he wanted to say, Ji Li already moved forward and pushed away the hindrance with just his aura as he stepped into the branch yard. Sure, the Yi family might be prominent, but why would he care currently? He was still part of the Eunuch Palace, and the Yi family isn't even their vassal, why would he care for formalities with these people, especially since they just want to pretend and use this chance to get out information's about the competition beforehand.

It wasn't that he really hated bribery, but they were too cheap expecting that one meal would be enough! No matter if they would have offered something better, he doubted that it was truly useful to him. If he finished this recruitment well, then he was sure to instantly be promoted and would strive to quickly hasten his cultivation speed, as it would be faster to become of higher cultivation and directly join the ranks of palace eunuchs than wait and contribute to become senior eunuchs, a rank that was basically only assigned temporarily to promising eunuchs or just old men who worked long.

…

Back inside of the indoor garden, Ji Li looked at town chief, who was nervously sitting on the other side. He was thinking for a short time, before he directly said, "Town Chief, do you wish to become a vassal of the Eunuch Palace?" This was the first time that he asked for an opinion from Rong Xi, before he would always order him.

Shixuan and Qianyu were taken aback by the sudden question, as they planned to do this talk much later. But they quickly just accepted the situation and didn't react anymore. Rong Xi on the other hand was so surprised, it was pretty obvious on his face. 

'What? A vassal? US? Are they talking about the Rong clan? Even though we might not be prominent, but the dwarven council already couldn't keep us, why would we… well, the Eunuch Palace is differently. I heard that they share a lot of benefits to their vassals and that the vassals are never forced to do anything but are only given missions they can either accept or decline… the only hard rule being that they have to give away part of their annual income. But why are they asking it now so suddenly… wait, did they plan that from the beginning and just made the tournament as a bait so I couldn't resist? Don't tell me they plan to cancel it now and push the trouble to us if we decline?'

Ji Li saw the frowning and confused look on the town chief, and before the latter declined, he already raised his hand and continued "The competition will be going as is, the rewards won't be changed either, so you do not need worry. I am giving the chance to become a city to this Ferrarius Town, for I have seen potential in yours. The competition would have been to pick out some talents to recruit and then leave, but it would be a shame not to try recruit the whole Rong Clan since we are here."

"Chance for us to become a city? Esteemed eunuch, we are but only missing one thing to become a city… I am not sure how you might…" Rong Xi was once again shocked at what he thought and quickly asked "Esteemed eunuch, you don't mean that you would truly make it happen?"

He couldn't understand why that would happen! Of course, he understood what Ji Li meant. It could take up to a decade before the town became a city, and in normal circumstances it wouldn't be bad. But now that there is trouble brewing, how would they manage that? The residents that aren't part of the Rong Clan, which is a very large portion, would be bought out of the town, and even the Rong clan members might have to split up if the benefits largely outweigh becoming a city. For the town chief, nothing would be better if he became a talent refining stage cultivator and with that became a rank 6 small city lord. That would not only give him more authority, but also make sure that all the residents stay with him. After all, who wouldn't prefer to stay with a young lion, when the old one already has built up their own large family?

He was just wondering if it was truly real, that he would become a city lord and that his clan would be one step closer to prominence once again! As a vassal of the Eunuch Palace, he would surely get enough resources to make his clan at least well known. But he still needed to think about it and discuss, as it wasn't a decision, he could just willy nilly take, no matter how tempted he was. He wanted to ask for some time, although he was already sure, before he was stopped once again.

"This will be your only chance. Do know, that chances are to be obtained by the brave and not the sly. It is the sly that will miss the large gain for small ones, but the brave takes the large ones and fight for the smaller ones. Tell me, are you brave or sly?" Ji Li was telling nonsense to this literary inexperienced dwarf. How could braveness and slyness be separated? Stupid braveness would just end in death while slyness is useless if not used. But he had to make up a front, so he continued "Town chief, if you worry for your clansmen, then you should know most how they all trust you. Do you want to destroy this chance of prominence, just for the sake of being righteous? I shall give you some time still. Go wander around this garden and then come back, if you do not have an answer by then, then we also do not need you." 

What a weird statement, why should he go around the garden and not just sit still to think? Clearly, they wanted him to see the wonderfulness of this garden and the Eunuch Palace. If only Rong Xi remembered that it was him who paid for everything, but well… he was too busy thinking and barely noticed the flowers in the first place, bit it still gave him a good impression.