Clan leadership

After the classes, Nie Li decided to deal with his properties. He will move into his new mansion today since Nie Wen informed him that the cleaning of the mansion was finished. He hired more than fifty of their clansmen both male and female. None of them was even a 1-star bronze rank fighter and most of them attended other cheaper cultivation schools.

That was the policy of the current patriarch. To allow everyone in the clan to attend one or the other cultivation school. And Nie Li approved this policy. Everyone must be given a chance to advance. Unfortunately, previous patriarchs tried to allow only their relatives to advance further keeping other branches from surpassing them.

In the end, because of those politics, their clan was in this desperate situation. And the current patriarch could see that. They were barely holding onto their aristocratic title. So he allowed everyone to attend cultivation schools even though the money was tight.

Of course, there was still unfairness. The clan couldn't afford to send everyone to an elite school like the Holy Orchid Institute. So nepotism still played a role. For example, without the influence of the elder Nie En, Nie Li most likely wouldn't have been able to attend this school. His other clansmen here also had such "backers".

Those who had no backer would be sent to simpler schools. Considering the level of education at the Holy Orchid Institute Nie Li could only imagine how worse it must be there. So none of them showed impressive results. If they could reach one or two star Bronze rank fighter stage they would be grateful for their good fortune. Many of them couldn't even reach that.

So they returned to the clan and took many common jobs. Nie Li wanted to hire some of them for mundane tasks around the mansion. Even though the mansion wasn't big by this world's standards it was still huge by the standards of Robert's world. The main building was a three-story 12-bedroom house and there were other side buildings. Also, someone must take care of the gardens as well.

Hiring outside of the clan may bring spies into the household. And as a member of the clan, Nie Li had a right to hire his clansmen for such tasks. Of course, he had to ask permission from one of the elders, which he didn't think would be a problem, or show his cultivation level, making it clear that he was now part of the clan's elite. The clan's leadership didn't like when members decided to work for others outside the clan. They usually took it as a betrayal. But if someone from the clan hires them they won't be against it.

So Nie Li was able to hire two chefs, both 16-year-old girls, who were in their last year of the school but haven't reached any rank. If nothing changed, they would return to the clan, and continue the work of their parents on the farm or will be married off. And the school they attended could barely be called a cultivation school.

But they were very good cooks and Nie Li decided to hire them full-time offering them 2000 a month. Maybe Nie Li will teach them some cultivation techniques related to cooking in the future. Yeah, those existed. But, were very rare and only employed by some sects and great families in the Draconic Ruins Realm. Their value was in their ability to prepare a meal from demon meat that was not just edible but extremely delicious and beneficial for cultivation. Their effects weren't as strong as those of the alchemy elixirs but some people just liked to eat a tasty meal while getting benefits from it.

The rest of the workers were part-time and got 500 a month. Except for the guards. Four Silver rank fighters and one 3-star Bronze rank Demon spiritualist were hired to protect his properties 24/7. Of course, they weren't much protection against anyone with decent cultivation, but it was still much better than nothing.

He couldn't rely on the guard, appointed by the City Hall after all. Because they were practically spies. Who knows how many people they reported to. So he paid his new guards also 2000 yaolinbi for just standing at the gates and chasing away all kinds of nosey people. He will replace them in the future or help them advance their cultivation.

He must rebuild the protection barriers around the property and put up some self-cleaning arrays too. That would allow him to limit the number of personnel for the upkeep of the manor. But he can do it after moving in. The rebuilding of the second property was a more time-consuming task. So he hired two construction teams to tear everything down and rebuild it from scratch.

Even though it was a big property, the constructors assured him that they will finish everything in a month. The design was drawn by Nie Li himself. There were some administrative buildings, residential buildings, training grounds, warehouses, and so on. It is going to be the closest thing to a military base in this world. It cost him 20 million yaolinbi, but Nie Li was sure that finishing everything fast was worth it.

Deciding that the day's job was done Nie Li moved in into his new house. Another good news was that the elder Nie En was coming to visit him tomorrow. He had sent the message through the merchants as well and Nie Wen informed Nie Li about it. It was a good thing. His visit was essential to many of his plans. That's why he sent a message to him after all asking to visit him as soon as possible.

Nie Li mostly kept all of his things in his interspatial ring. The only things that couldn't be kept in interspatial storage were his cellphone base station and cloud memory crystal. They were hidden under his bed in his dorm. After warning those that held the phones about temporary problems with connection and moved them into his manor as well.

Nie Li chose for himself one of the bedrooms in a wing that he was planning to turn into a temporary base for his 'extracurricular activities' until a special base will be built in the second mansion. The master bedroom he left for his parents when they come to live with him.

His new employees moved into servant quarters.

Nie Li immediately started creating the barrier arrays. He found the old array stones of the manor. But their quality was low so Nie Li replaced them.

The arrays he was creating would protect the manor from fire, attacks, and some kinds of surveillance. Up to a certain level of course. Someone really powerful could just overpower the array. There was no perfect defense in the world.

Nie Li also created a cultivation room for himself. Since he started using silver rank demon spirits, his tent's efficiency wasn't enough anymore. It was just a small chamber adjacent to his bedroom with arrays covering every surface of it. Nie Li decided to stop for the day because it was already night. He must not miss his cultivation session.

The next day when Nie Wen contacted Nie Li to inform him about elder Nie En's arrival he was still working on the arrays. Surprisingly the patriarch Nie Hai and grand elder Nie Wei had also come with him.

Patriarch he could understand, but why the grand elder also joined them Nie Li had no idea. Nie Ruogang could not have informed his grand uncle so fast. That means the old man had been informed by someone else or Nie Ruogang for once in his life used his brain and called the grand elder earlier.

Nie Li doubted it. He will see it when they meet. He told Nie Wen to bring them to his new house.

In half an hour they disembarked from a carriage in front of his manor where his new servants greeted them and invited them inside.

Nie Wei grumbled all the way up to the drawing room where Nie Li was waiting for them. Nie Li chose this drawing room because of the table here.

It was quite a democratic circular table surrounded by four armchairs. This way Nie Li won't be forced to choose who will sit at the head of the table.

"Nie Li why weren't you waiting for us when we came. Didn't elder Nie En inform you beforehand?" Nie Wei asked accusingly.

His grandson Nie Xiaori, who accompanied the patriarch and the elders, smirked at him. Nie Li looked at Nie Wen and motioned towards the arrogant kid. Nie Li did not know why they would bring him here.

Nie Wen understood him correctly. "Brother Xiaori, let me show you the training grounds." He dragged Nie Xiaori not caring about his exclamations.

The trio of elders also noticed the exchange. While Nie En and Nie Hai became thoughtful, Nie Wei became angrier.

"Patriarch, Elders," Nie Li bowed slightly cupping his hands. "What's the purpose of your visit on this fine day?" He wanted to talk with Nie En alone first before approaching the patriarch, but as they say, no plan survives the first contact with the reality.

"Are you mocking us? You called the elder Nie En yourself asking him to visit as soon as possible as if he is your servant," shouted Nie Wei.

"Yes, I wanted to see the elder Nie En on some personal matter. But what are you doing here?" Nie Li decided to cut to the root of the matter because there was no way the grand elder would act sensibly. And the patriarch was keeping silent.