A Demon's Journey

In the meantime, Yrellea and Ralph had stayed in Veninza Town. Yrellea's Misty Flower Pavilion was earning her quick and huge profits. And the Dragon Tiger Palace had already tried to poach several members of her Pavilion, but she had already dealt with them efficiently.

The Dragon Tiger Palace had no idea that their spies and informers had already been found out. Yrellea was instead using them to make the Dragon Tiger Palace spend more income on the Misty Flower Pavilion.

Yrellea didn't need to do any advertising or marketing for the Misty Flower Pavilion. The Dragon Tiger Palace's branches in various cities were doing this task for Yrellea. After some time, Yrellea knew that it was time for her to expand her influence.

Yrellea knew that if she left, the Dragon Tiger Palace would actively poach her members of the Misty Flower Pavilion. They would try to gain complete control over her Pavilion. As Yrellea concluded this, she became even sure that she must leave the town for some time!

She was familiar with the Dragon Tiger Palace's methods now and was confident in dealing with them. Yrellea knew that she had to make the Dragon Tiger Palace believe that they had a good chance of controlling the Misty Flower Pavilion, or else, they could change their methods.

It would boost their confidence if they were successful in recruiting the Misty Flower Pavilion's higher-ups. This confidence would leave them vulnerable, allowing Yrellea to move on to the second step of her strategy.

Azaroth established Misty Flower Pavilion and entrusted it to Yrellea to operate as his eyes and ears in the general public. However, Yrellea wanted to take this a step further and create her informers within the various associations and sects of the Glerian Kingdom.

Moreover, her informers wouldn't be mixed with the outer sect disciples or inner sect disciples. They would be involved with the highest-ranking members of the sect. The core disciples or the top elders of that sect.

Naturally, it would be a very challenging task to get any association or a sect to trust them. Thus, Yrellea had informed them all of what they should do if someone comes to them with an offer of recruitment.

"If they come to recruit you, the first thing you should do is appear hesitant and scared. If you appear hesitant, it will show that your task has a great risk involved and you would be in a position to demand a better deal for yourself."

"I don't actually care if you betray me for whatever reason. However, the core secrets of the Pavilion must not be spread out. I am sure you already know but let me remind you. There is a memory lock in your mind. If you ever try to reveal those core secrets or even mention them to someone, your soul will be extinguished, instantly."

Yrellea managed to do this by using her Mystical Spiritual Connection Rings. Azaroth's projection appeared, and he created a memory lock in their mind. Even if someone drugged them, they would never be able to reveal the information sealed within this memory lock.

Yrellea's subordinates swallowed a mouthful of saliva nervously. No one wanted to have that death. They swore in their minds to never mention it to anyone. Yrellea noticed the expressions of her subordinates and was satisfied with their terrified looks.

At this moment, a woman asked Yrellea, "Miss, what about when they try to recruit us? How much should we inform them? If we accidentally mention more than we are supposed to, our soul will immediately shatter, and we will die."

Yrellea nodded her head and spoke, "An excellent question. Today, I will inform you of what you should do and say when someone is trying to recruit you or threaten you for information about the Pavilion. You need to remember all this information and make sure to act appropriately because this could save your life. In fact, after this, you would even have the opportunity to become my informers within that sect or association."

Yrellea noticed that not all her subordinates were excited at the prospect of becoming informers. She thought 'They understand that becoming informers would greatly endanger their lives. However, this is only natural.'

"I know that all of you realize that if you become double agents for me and for the sect, it would greatly endanger your life. I am a fair person. I would naturally provide you with appropriate benefits in return. You will receive a constant income in the form of crystals, cultivation or combat techniques, or pellets."

Yrellea grinned as she saw her subordinates' astonished looks. She realized she had piqued their interest. It was now time for the final blow! A determined look appeared on Yrellea's face as she spoke, "Always remember that your own strength is the only constant in this world. And I can help you grow much stronger than any sect or association! If you are smart, you will know which side to pick."

Yrellea remained silent about something. It was feasible that they could become true informers for rival sects or associations. Yrellea decided to be merciless and would assassinate them with the aid of her other informants.

Naturally, this knowledge would remain a well-guarded secret until one of them betrayed them and Yrellea was compelled to murder her. Yrellea departed from Veninza Town after instructing her subordinates on the many scenarios that may arise and what they needed to do or say in response.

Meanwhile, Ralph and his team were living in the Origin Sect. His team was a mercenary group that took all sorts of contracts within Veninza Town. The contracts could range anywhere from dealing with beasts to collecting rare herbs and materials for the Veninza Town.

Ralph had to deploy a small party with a merchant caravan on missions in which he had to defend them from any catastrophes along the road. Ralph would never go on a mission like this. He would pick one of his trusted commanders to lead the party and accompany the merchant caravan.

Typically, sending a small team of two-star warriors and a three-star warrior to command them would be sufficient to keep anyone from having any weird ideas about the trade caravan. Most fighters would be intimidated by the sheer number and equipment of the team sent by Ralph.

In this manner, Ralph was building a great relationship with all the influential individuals within Veninza Town. Ralph had also expanded his group by slowly adding the Origin Sect Branch's disciples.

He personally led them on a number of perilous expeditions and formed strong bonds of loyalty with them. Ralph was well aware that under hardship, they would divulge their actual sentiments. They could only build strong ties with each other if they had a sense of transparency with one another.

However, Ralph gradually understood that this approach had a limitation. And no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to break through this limit. This was because his group had grown so huge that forming deep ties with each of his subordinates was impractical.

Ralph knew that he had to change his approach. After consulting with a few of his close friends, he gradually found a solution. He was going to have his close friends create their own groups and lead them.

Ralph's close friends' groups would be branches of the primary group he managed. His close friends would take the new recruits on dangerous missions and instill loyalty in them. This would save Ralph a lot of time and work. He could use that time to survey the area and seek a new place to settle.

Ralph's group had built up quite a reputation within Veninza Town. The general public called them 'The Scarlet Badger Gang'. This was because all the members of Ralph's gang wore scarlet badges on their chests.

These Scarlet Badges had now become a symbol of their identity. Ralph's badge was dark red in color while all the other members had a light red colored badge. Moreover, Ralph's badge looked slightly different from all the other badges that his subordinates possessed.

This badge indicated that he was the leader of the gang. Naturally, they had mixed different materials and created them using a special technique to ensure that they couldn't be duplicated. The blacksmith had already left the town and settled in a large city far away. He was living a rather prosperous life right now.

Ralph was planning to expand the Scarlet Badger Gang to other cities. He was planning to go to the Vlashire City since Yrellea and Sargan had built an impressive information network in that city.

It would make things much easier for Ralph to set up his Scarlet Badger Gang there and deal with all sorts of formalities and issues. Ralph had already informed Sargan about this and had received Sargan's support.

Yrellea had also informed her subordinates who were managing the Misty Flower Pavilion in Vlashire City to assist Ralph as much as they could.. Naturally, they had to discreetly help Ralph since Azaroth had sternly ordered them to ensure that the general public wouldn't realize the relationship between their respective groups and organizations.