"Kill?" Chen Feng had figured it out; his mind became active. People like this were better off subjugated; killing them would be a net loss.

Staring at the listless Baldy and Tattoo, he said flatly, "You two now have two paths to choose from: submit to me, and I can increase your strength manifold in a short time—that is life; refuse to submit, or feign obedience, and that is death!" With that, he controlled the flames within their bodies, instantly causing both of them to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"Short-term increase in cultivation? Impossible. One's ** cultivation is very difficult to advance once it reaches its peak," Baldy mumbled groggily. "If you can truly make my strength grow, why wouldn't I submit to you!"

Chen Feng smiled. "My current cultivation is Golden Armament Master, and I am only 17 years old!"

This statement served to illustrate his cultivation speed. A 17-year-old Golden Armament Master—if he didn't have a way to rapidly advance his cultivation, no one would believe him.

Joy immediately surfaced on the faces of Baldy and Tattoo. To have a chance at survival and the opportunity to enhance their strength—only a fool wouldn't know how to choose. Before long, the two had completed their internal struggle and were officially placed under White's management.

Gathering everyone together, Chen Feng unleashed his Aerial Movement Technique and slowly ascended into the air.

His flight immediately impressed everyone further. In their minds, only experts at the Nether Venerable level could fly; they never expected their Great Chief to be capable of flight as well!

Seeing the look of envy in everyone's eyes, Chen Feng smiled faintly and said, "If you all swear allegiance to me without any second thoughts, I can teach you all how to fly within three months!"

"Learn to fly in three months?" Everyone was astonished, not knowing how to react. But simultaneously, the excitement in their hearts was indescribable.

If these words had come from someone else, it might have been dismissed. But spoken by a youth who had reached the Golden Armament Master cultivation and could fly at the age of 17, it carried a convincing weight. This was certainly also due to Chen Feng's cold nature of always keeping his word.

Everyone simultaneously knelt on the ground, vowing eternal loyalty to Chen Feng from that moment on.

Chen Feng casually tossed the Fighting Qi Secret Manual in his hand to White. "Pass this item around for everyone to study. Set up a training ground here and let everyone begin cultivating!"

White nodded and immediately led the group into a frenzy of cultivation.

Although these bandits' cultivation was not high, their bodies were robust, and many were already Silver Armament Masters. As Yan Long had said, the physical body was the greatest reliance for cultivation. Allowing these people to cultivate the Fighting Qi Secret Manual, their speed was more than double that of the people in that other world back then!

Furthermore, Chen Feng had promised them that as soon as they achieved some success in Fighting Qi, he would teach them the techniques for flight. This spurred the bandits to cultivate even more diligently and arduously.

One month later, Chen Feng successfully broke through the Fourth Level Fighting Venerable strength and advanced to the Fifth Level Fighting Venerable. His subordinates had also made significant progress.

Strangely, the fastest improver was not Baldy, the Ninth Level Silver Armament Master, but White.

In just one month, the Fighting Qi within his body reached the level of a Fifth Level Fighting Squire!

Advancing five levels in one month—even Chen Feng hadn't been that swift back then. However, upon reflection, it was understandable. White was vastly experienced and exceptionally clever, and his internal meridians, having been broadened by years of physical training, were incredibly open, making such rapid advancement somewhat normal.

Of course, at the start of the training, more than half of the bandits showed no sign of spiritual energy sensation. Chen Feng had no choice but to bring out the cultivation platform. If someone couldn't sense any spiritual energy even on the platform, which was nine times denser in ambient spiritual energy than the outside world, that person couldn't be called human; they could only be called a pig!

Seeing White advance to Fifth Level Fighting Squire, Chen Feng was not stingy and passed on the Aerial Movement Technique to him. White grasped its essence after practicing for one day, but his internal Fighting Qi reserve was too low; he could only float up a mere dozen meters before falling back to the ground.

However, that rise of ten-plus meters acted like a catalyst, igniting throughout the entire bandit group. Everyone was filled with hope for flight and trained with even greater intensity.

Diligent training did not impede mining; on the contrary, with the improvement in cultivation, the mining speed also doubled. What they initially thought would take a year to complete now looked like it could be finished in less than half a year.

"This cultivation speed is still not fast enough, and we are too short-handed," Chen Feng observed them training wholeheartedly, thinking to himself. "Those below the Fighting Venerable level are not very useful in battle. If we wait for these people to become Fighting Venerables, who knows when that will be? It seems relying only on them is insufficient; we must find some experts at the Fighting Venerable level!"

He shared this thought with White. Upon hearing Chen Feng's plan to recruit more people, White pondered for a moment before saying, "My former subordinates included no less than a thousand Golden Armament Master experts. If I were to summon them, I could probably only gather about half."

"Five hundred Golden Armament Masters?" Chen Feng laughed upon hearing this. If he could gather these people and then have them cultivate Fighting Qi, their progress would surely be faster. However, if he could find people at the Nether Venerable strength to serve him, that would be even better—such individuals could be leveraged, and if they reached the Saint Domain, each one would be like a Great Elder!

"Can you find anyone at the Nether Venerable level?"

White shook his head. "Most Nether Venerables belong to the Church personnel, and some free-roaming Nether Venerables are controlled by various major families, so they are difficult to assemble!"

Chen Feng acknowledged this with a sound. Though disappointed, he couldn't help but be impressed by White's capability to gather five hundred Golden Armament Masters.

"However..." White's face showed hesitation.

"However, what?"

"These Golden Armament Master level experts cannot be recruited smoothly without sufficient leverage..." White didn't elaborate clearly, but Chen Feng understood the general meaning.

These bandits could be placated with a few hundred or a few thousand coins, but those Golden Armament Masters were different; they had their own territories and influence. If your cultivation or ability couldn't surpass theirs, even the greatest benefits would be in vain.

Chen Feng smiled faintly. "Don't worry about that. As long as you can gather them, I naturally have methods of control!"

White had always been convinced of his abilities and nodded. Then, he suddenly said, "Actually, it's not that hard to recruit Nether Venerables. If one possesses Perfect Crystals, a large number of Nether Venerables can be gathered. But Perfect Crystals, as you know, even if we refine all the ore from this mine, how many can we extract?"

Chen Feng couldn't help but laugh. Perfect Crystals? That was the one thing he didn't lack.

"Good. Leave the matter of recruiting Golden Armament Masters and Nether Venerables to you. You can announce publicly that anyone at the Nether Venerable level who comes to serve can be offered 2 Perfect Crystals each!"

"Two?" White's eyes gleamed slyly. "Two Perfect Crystals is enough to recruit Cardinals from the Church, even experts at the Nether Saint level would find that a worthwhile price. Can we... afford such a price?"

Chen Feng said, "If we can find experts at the Nether Saint level, that would be best. The price for one person is 1 Perfect Crystal!"

White wiped the cold sweat from his brow and stammered, "One? Great Chief, you aren't joking, are you... A price of 1 Perfect Crystal—even the Eight Great Churches cannot afford such a price..."

Chen Feng knew he was skeptical. He flipped his wrist, and a pile of Perfect Crystals appeared on the ground, numbering over 3000.

These were the "waste products" left over from absorbing the energy of Purple Fire Crystals over the past month.

White was utterly shocked, nearly fainting from excitement. He looked at the Perfect Crystals on the ground, then back at Chen Feng, his face a mask of disbelief.

"These... these are all Perfect Crystals?" White crouched down, placing each crystal into his palm. The more he looked, the more alarmed he became, and the more fear he felt. When he looked up at Chen Feng again, his gaze held even deeper reverence.

Before, he simply couldn't see through Chen Feng; now, he was completely unable to comprehend how a 17-year-old youth could possess so many Perfect Crystals? Moreover... where had these Perfect Crystals been stored just moments ago? Did he possess a spatial ornament only Red-Robed Bishops of the Eight Great Churches carried?

It took nearly ten minutes for White to recover from his shock. He stared intently at Chen Feng and said, "With these Perfect Crystals, I can certainly gather many Nether Venerable level experts for you. However, if we want to gather a large number of Nether Venerable experts, we must create some significant stir. But if the stir is too large, the Church will surely intervene and obstruct us. Additionally, housing and feeding so many people requires massive expenses, and we have very little money left on hand!"

"Hmm," Chen Feng considered for a moment and then asked, "In which town is the Kega Church, and how far is it from here?"

"The Kega Church is in Kega City, several hundred thousand li from here," White explained.

Chen Feng hadn't expected his current location to be so remote. He then asked, "Is there any quick method to reach Kega City directly?"

"Yes, by utilizing the Gate of Nature!" White replied.

"Gate of Nature?" Chen Feng was momentarily stunned.

"Exactly. They were teleportation gates specially established by the God of Justice so his faithful could make pilgrimages quickly. However, this place is managed by the local church, and only Nether Knights can use them. Unless one is extremely devout, they simply cannot ride it!"

"Good, prepare yourself. The two of us will make a trip and use that Gate of Nature!" Chen Feng stated directly.

Since he intended to develop his strength and find a way back to the 'Dragon Domain' world, contact with the Church was inevitable.

Going to Kega City now was the first objective: to see the world; the second was to acquire some funds. He had plenty of Perfect Crystals on hand; simply auctioning a few would solve the money problem easily.

White nodded, made arrangements for his subordinates, and set up numerous contingency plans in case someone from the town's church came investigating after their departure. However, with Baldy, the Ninth Level Silver Armament Master, the bandits' training was on the right track, and for defense alone, as long as no Golden Armament Master experts appeared, self-preservation should be manageable.

With all arrangements settled, Chen Feng grabbed White's arm and flew straight out into the sky. (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www**com for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!) First published