Volume 1, Chapter 41: Oh my! Why are you bickering so much with a concubine!

Lin Yao did not actually have any personal grievances with Su Longtao and the others. However, Su Longtao and his faction had already formed a vested interest group with Qin Tanlang and Zhao Wuji. Even if Lin Yao chose not to provoke Su Longtao, Su Longtao's group would not let him go. Therefore, Lin Yao's initial plan was to first build up his forces, level up, and hunt for treasures before engaging in a decisive battle against Qin Tanlang and the others.

Yet now, time was not on his side. Qin Tanlang and his associates were frantically slaughtering lives within this miniature different dimension to gather blood Qi. Barring any accidents, they would soon accumulate enough blood Qi to activate the Blood-Slaying Demon Array. A faint scent of blood seemed to linger in the air, unsettling everyone's minds.

No one could say for sure what lay hidden within the Rose Treasury. Should Qin Tanlang and the others make major gains inside the Rose Treasury, it would spell severe trouble for Lin Yao. After careful deliberation, Lin Yao decided to take a two-hour rest before setting off for the Rose Treasury to assess the situation.

"Everyone, make the most of the next two hours to rest and recuperate. Then we move out toward the location of the Rose Treasury!"

Hearing this decision, Xia Yumeng's delicate face instantly crinkled into a bitter frown. They were clearly about to face some extremely hazardous battles ahead. She asked weakly, "Old Monster Lin, aren't you able to continuously summon those werewolf beast companions? Can't we...?"

Before Xia Yumeng could finish, Lin Yao cast a half-smiling, sidelong glance at her and asked, "What did you just call me?"

Xia Yumeng reached out and playfully punched Lin Yao's waist, whining coquettishly, "Oh, come on! Why are you quibbling so much with your little wife?" She immediately switched to a flattering tone and muttered, "Anyway, what I mean is, husband, you can summon a few more werewolf beast companions before heading over to the vicinity of the Rose Treasury."

Xia Mengying nodded in agreement as well. "That would indeed be much safer. Should we prepare for a few more days?"

With both Xia Yumeng and Xia Mengying having stated their positions, Zhu Zhihan did not want to fall behind. She raised her hand and said, "I'll listen to my brother!" Leaving the decision-making to Zhu Zhihan was indeed a bit much for her; all she needed to do was follow her brother's arrangements.

Liang Xiaofei remained silent. At this moment, Lord Lin was conferring with his three principal consorts regarding their next course of action; it clearly was not his turn to speak yet.

Of course, Lin Yao was not the kind of person to stubbornly cling to his own opinions. Although Liang Xiaofei was currently his only subordinate, he harbored the ambition to become a supreme overlord in his own right. Thus, Lin Yao immediately looked toward Liang Xiaofei and asked, "Liang Xiaofei, what are your thoughts?"

Clearly, Liang Xiaofei had already pondered this question. The moment Lin Yao asked, he immediately replied:

"I fully support my Lord's plan. However, I have a small suggestion. Perhaps we could make use of my Heaven-Vision and Earth-Hearing talent to launch stealth attacks nearby. Once I discover isolated enemies, I can report their positions directly to you, my Lord, and you can dispatch werewolf beast companions straight to them for a precise hunt. Every success reduces our enemy count by one. With one less enemy, our advantage on this side naturally grows stronger by a fraction."

Lin Yao made his decision on the spot: "Good proposal! I'll reward you with a Shadow Mark."

Overjoyed, Liang Xiaofei cupped his fists and said, "Thank you for the reward, my Lord!"

During their exchange, Lin Yao and Liang Xiaofei did not deliberately avoid the Shen brothers. Although Shen Nanqian was also curious about what a Shadow Mark was, he refrained from asking too many questions. Shen Nankun, on the other hand, pulled out the reward he had previously promised Lin Yao while asking unable to contain his curiosity, "What exactly is a Shadow Mark?"

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't!" Shen Nanqian immediately reprimanded his younger brother.

Neither Lin Yao nor Liang Xiaofei were ordinary individuals. Whatever Lin Yao specifically chose to bestow upon Liang Xiaofei as a reward could certainly not be trivial. Shen Nankun's greatest virtue was that while he might lack a bit of cleverness, he was exceptionally receptive to advice. The moment his elder brother spoke up, he immediately apologized to Lin Yao: "I'm sorry, I was being presumptuous just now. This is the reward I promised our benefactor earlier. Please accept it, benefactor."

Lin Yao was quite satisfied with the conduct of the Shen brothers. After eliminating Lü Hongbo and his party, he had not ordered the shadow werewolves to surround the Shen brothers. He had done so precisely to test whether the Shen brothers would seize the opportunity to slip away. Treasures like the skill crystal three-piece set were things a beastmaster could only use once in a lifetime. Yet each of these three types of crystals was worth a king's ransom! Even if the Shen brothers could not reuse them themselves, they could easily sell them for a massive fortune.

Yet instead of choosing to flee, they honored their promise and voluntarily handed the skill crystal three-piece set over to Lin Yao. This clearly showed that the character of these two men was quite commendable.

After receiving the three skill crystals handed over by Shen Nankun, Lin Yao said to Liang Xiaofei, "If you are willing, you can study your Shadow Mark together with the Shen brothers."

As he spoke, he consumed a portion of his own energy and condensed a pupil-less eye mark right in the palm of Liang Xiaofei's hand. Liang Xiaofei had long since pledged his absolute loyalty to Lin Yao. Naturally, he was more than willing to help Lin Yao recruit two such talented individuals as the Shen brothers at this moment. He immediately spoke to the Shen brothers with courtesy, "If the two of you are interested in the Shadow Mark, please come with me."

Shen Nanqian nodded, while simultaneously requesting instructions from Lin Yao: "Benefactor, may we ask this Brother Liang about those shadow werewolves?"

Compared to the Shadow Mark, Shen Nanqian was far more interested in Lin Yao's shadow werewolf beast companions. Furthermore, Shen Nanqian could tell that Liang Xiaofei was a loyal subordinate to Lin Yao. Without Lin Yao's explicit permission, Liang Xiaofei would never dare to arbitrarily disclose any information concerning the shadow werewolves. Therefore, he simply sought Lin Yao's consent first before going off to study the Shadow Mark with Liang Xiaofei. That way, while studying the Shadow Mark, they could also conveniently gather intelligence about the shadow werewolves from Liang Xiaofei.

"Go ahead," Lin Yao nodded readily. If he wanted the Shen brothers to follow him, he had to showcase his strength and potential as much as possible. Only by making the Shen brothers feel that following him held a bright future would they choose to pledge their allegiance.

With Lin Yao's consent, Liang Xiaofei led the Shen brothers over to sit beside one of the shadow werewolves. He did this in hopes that Lin Yao could monitor the real-time situation on their end through the vision of the shadow werewolf.

Lin Yao had always been extremely pleased with this subordinate, Liang Xiaofei. This action alone was enough for Lin Yao to give him a high score in his heart. Of course, trust the person you employ and do not employ the person you suspect. By now, Lin Yao already placed a considerable amount of trust in Liang Xiaofei. Even if Liang Xiaofei hadn't done this, Lin Yao wouldn't have suspected any issues.

The moment the three of them sat down, Shen Nanqian took the initiative to speak: "I never expected that a beastmaster of Brother Liang's caliber would choose to follow our benefactor."

Just as Liang Xiaofei had heard of the Shen brothers, the Shen brothers had also caught wind of Liang Xiaofei's prominent reputation long ago. They had even witnessed Liang Xiaofei tailing Qin Tanlang's group from afar on a previous occasion. Therefore, in Shen Nanqian's eyes, Liang Xiaofei was far from a simple person. And the fact that Lin Yao was able to subdue Liang Xiaofei indicated that Lin Yao himself was undoubtedly extraordinary.