At first, we considered letting the Moon Maidens take the primary leadership role, but I ultimately decided that establishing them as a central division under our direct command would be more effective. This structure allows us to maintain central authority while distributing power through other specialized branches that can operate autonomously after they receive the command—a necessary model for the global secret organization we intend to build.
As for the Iron Fist, they passed my test. Few men can hold onto their belief until the very end like Wei Hu. His men also proved loyal to the extreme. After the duel ended, they immediately charged in, aiming to attack me. Aykuz, who was hidden, instantly used the Whispering Tongue to hold them in place while I forbade him from dying.
After I studied the healing techniques of Cynthia and Jiang Xu for a while, I finally created my own method. While Cynthia mainly uses the energy of the Earth and other external sources for healing, Jiang Xu manipulates inner energy to regenerate oneself and channels some of his own energy to assist others. Since I can only control energy related directly to me, I had to pour my energy in and manipulate the healing process inside them. When we helped Kara Yulduz, Cynthia who knew I couldn't yet control my own power, made me use my heart's blood—which was actually my pure Divine Energy.
I had already let Wei Hu absorb some of my energy when I slashed him, but I needed to ensure his men understood the gravity of the moment. So, I cut my left palm open and poured a few drops of blood into Wei Hu's mouth, and declared, "Take my power and live once again!"
I was becoming more and more like a con artist. I levitated him to my hip level and began the healing process. After witnessing this ritual and realizing I was not a mortal man, his men began to panic—though not in a harmful way as a moment ago. When Wei Hu's wounds were completely healed, I placed him back on the dry courtyard.
"Rise up, the Steel Tiger!" I announced loudly.
But they didn't listen to me at all, everyone was on their knees and bowing down. Wei Hu looked up and spoke, "Thank you for reviving me, please allow us to serve you, Sir!"
"Please allow us to serve you, Sir!" his men repeated in a thunderous chorus.
I was speechless. I had calculated and planned for countless possible outcomes, but I never imagined such a perfect result. Even the Moon Maidens standing nearby seemed to respect me even more.
I kept my gaze steady as I walked toward them, allowing the moment to sink in. "Today, the Iron Fist will be reborn!" I announced, my voice ringing across the courtyard. "You are no longer simple thugs. From now on, you will become the guardians of men, the Iron Guard."
This is how we acquired our little army. I decided to keep the name Iron Fist as a memorial and use it as a title for the few selected leaders who serve directly under Wei Hu. They will be next in the chain of command and groomed to become the next leader, if the Steel Tiger is ever out of the picture. I only intend to personally teach the Iron Method to Wei Hu, allowing him to train the Iron Fists and anyone else he deems worthy.
The next critical step was to secure the two merchant guilds that would serve as the organization's main transporters. With the help of Wei Hu, the chief enforcer, a meeting was finally set up with the two guild leaders. The Caravan Merchant Guild members have traveled extensively with our partners, Cynthia and Erik, who likely demonstrated a touch of our Divine Power to solidify their loyalty. Thus, the Han River Guild became our main target for persuasion.
After our friends secured a few long-term trade deals and returned, the summit began on the Iron Guard's territory. A unique but familiar large white table was placed in the center of the courtyard of a newly acquired, luxurious house. We had intended to speak with the guild leaders at that table, but it seemed all of them had chosen to remain on their knees.
The kneeling group was led by Altunay, publicly known as Zhao Jinyue, followed by Jin San, the middle-aged leader of the Caravan Merchant Guild and Jiang Hui, the leader of the Han River Guild. At the back of this group were Wei Hu and Huo Deming, the respected blacksmith. Huo Deming was already set to take charge of the Hanzhong artisans, craftsmen, and merchants, and would lead the entire Production Department moving forward.
We also invited Huang Yi and Jiang Xu to be seated here at the table with us. Their involvement will ensure the status of our organization as a shadow empire. The organization will function as a piggy bank, a Divine Energy generator, and a transporter for us. They would also be responsible for the highly sensitive mission of delivering Divine Resources directly to the Two Emperors.
"Since you are kneeling, that means you know our status as the Five Supreme Deities of this land by one way or another. From now on, you will serve under us, Shang Wu Xing—The Upper Five Phases. As you will be our forms and patterns on the earth, we will name you, Xia Xing Men—The Lower Form Gate." I announced.
"Yes, Sir!" They responded in unison.
"Each one of you will have a specific Lower Form Badge with the raised script of the Flower, Horse, Boat, Hammer or Fist," Jiang Xu spoke, showing the stone-grey, natural matte ceramic badges that lay on the table.
"While the five of us will use these Five Phases Seals to give you your orders," Huang Yi continued, placing the shiny colored jade seals with the script of the Five Elements on the table. "When you touch your badges with our seals, they will change into our colors as a symbol of receiving the order: Yellow for Earth, Azure for Wood, Red for Fire, Black for Water, and White for Metal."
"Later, we will issue simple Command Badges that are engraved with the same five scripts for your subordinates," Erik announced. "They too, can receive the colors from your Lower Form Badges to solidify the order and clarify the specific unit responsible for that mission. So, no one can interrupt our continuous divine will."
"You have the freedom to operate your divisions, but our orders and goals will be your absolute priorities," Cynthia declared. "Our goals are to protect the people, uplift the commoners, and patronize the lower classes. From this moment forward, you will protect without asking for money, help without asking anything in return, trade without seeking excess profit, craft without failure, and kill if it is needed."
They might not have noticed it, but the Lower Form symbols were actually connected to the Five Phases: the Horse running freely on the Earth, the Boat floating upon the Water, the Hammer striking the metal that has been heated by the Fire, the Flower coming directly from the Wood, and the Fist symbolizing the Metal of the Iron Guard.
We have at last, finished establishing Xia Xing Men before spring arrives. We will begin immediate expansion, moving to absorb local guilds and organizations across other regions. Our southern trade routes will be crucial, not only for funding our operation but for our eastward expansion into Guangxi and Guangdong, which are still part of the Lingnan region—The mainland base of the Two Emperors, which supplies the Space Launch Base that is hidden on modern Hainan Island.
If we secure a safe route to the island of Zhuya, older name of Hainan, Erik will be the one responsible for sending Divine Resources to them before he travels to the Middle East. Meanwhile, I must start mining in my Divine Realm now. Cynthia has also begun her Divine Peach Garden project, expanding the space outside of her White Room.
Even though we are all allies, the Divine Technologies Race is in full swing. The Two Emperors already possess automated robots and may have vehicles or aircraft powered by Spiritual Energy, with the ultimate goal of building spacecraft and a space station. Erik can use the souls of any living things as his warriors, while Cynthia already commands an army of Spiritual Beasts and can create more. This might seem like mythical power to many, but it is a form of advanced technology to me.
My ace in this race is the ability to create Artificial Souls, like Michelle and Lin Long. In terms of energy efficiency, my ability is far behind the others, as I must construct every soul and body directly from my own Divine Energy. But with Michelle already recording all of their powers and technologies, it's far too early for me to back out now.
We still have some time left before Liu Bang becomes the King of Han and Ba-Shu, so we will explore the Hanzhong region a little bit more. The weather here is very unique. It is wet and warm like the southern lands, yet it still gets cold in the winter, though not bitterly cold like the northern area. This is because the region lies in a basin between the Qinling Mountains to the north and the Daba Mountains to the south, with the ranges working as a natural shield. They successfully block the harsh, frigid winter winds from the north and significantly mitigate the heavy summer rains.
We also explored The Gallery Roads, which are often called Plank Roads, a network of treacherous mountain routes that formed the larger Shu Road system. This monumental engineering feat involved constructing wooden paths secured into holes carved directly into the sheer cliffs of the Qinling and Daba Mountain ranges. The network connected the northern basin of Guanzhong with the southern Hanzhong Basin and continues south to the region of Ba-Shu. These roads were vital for trade, administration, and military strategy.
Cynthia and Erik used one of these arduous Gallery Roads to travel south to Chengdu, the prosperous capital of the ancient Shu Kingdom. It was there that they successfully secured lucrative trade deals for essential foodstuffs and high-quality silk brocades. While alternate routes would lead travelers to Jiangzhou, the primary city of the ancient Ba Kingdom which is known as Chongqing in the future. Located at the strategic junction of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, Jiangzhou served as the essential logistics and water transport hub of the entire region, functioning as the primary gateway controlling all goods moving east toward the central plains and south.
As Jiang Hui already controls most of the Han River, establishing a base at Jiangzhou will solidify the Guild's hold on the vast Yangtze River trade network. The Han River flows east from the Hanzhong Basin and eventually merges with the Yangtze at the strategic junction where the city of Wuhan would later rise. From there, Yangtze travels east, linking other critical trade centers like Nanjing and finally reaching the sea trade networks. The Jiangzhou base, situated at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, is the essential logistics hub that controls all water-borne commerce flowing out of the resource-rich Ba-Shu region and downriver toward the central plains.
The river's upper, western reaches will be firmly controlled by Liu Bang, the future King of Han, who will use the Ba-Shu region as his base. This control will center on the city of Jiangzhou, which will serve as the key transfer point where goods leave the tributaries for the main river. In contrast, the middle and lower sections of the river, crucial for access to the eastern plains, are controlled by Xiang Yu. His influence dominates the major downstream ports like Jiangxia at modern Wuhan and Jianye on modern-day Nanjing area, which act as vital administrative and commercial hubs. Successfully pushing our trade downriver into this Chu-dominated network is a fundamental factor in supplying our overall operations throughout the entire southern region.
We established our new trade guild, the Yong Ming Guild, by using Huo Deming's blacksmith workshop name. The Guild will distribute essential resources to the people in the cities and will be responsible for crafting most of the resources received from our transport guilds into finished products. The commercial divisions will expand by cooperating, contracting, becoming partners, or simply purchase other organizations to ensure the secrecy, many people will work for us without ever knowing our central connection. Outside of Hanzhong, the Iron Guard will establish a presence by offering a bodyguard service business to attract new recruits while protecting the commoners.
The Moon Maidens are little bit different, they will not merge with external networks. They only need a few cover businesses to serve as secure meeting points. Their primary weakness lies in human resources, as we cannot depend on the Steppe Branch forever. Therefore, our recruitment will strategically target widows and orphans from this war-torn era. The widows will be hired as staff or to serve as our eyes and ears, becoming part of our intelligence network. Meanwhile, the orphans will be selectively trained, either as full Moon Maidens, artisan apprentices in the Yong Ming Guild or educated and placed as covert assets within the bureaucratic world.