[A.B.P.P.E.] Bk 2 - Chapter 66 - What Do I Want?

The party stopped to stare at Yin Hu, awaiting his final decision and the path they would tailor everything to go toward. 

Yin Hu’s entire plan to help develop Jun’s leadership had nearly backfired and was quickly shown why it was not the wisest decision due to simple dynamics he hadn’t really considered. It only proved the importance of having people like Zhong Da and Da Ruis within his Hu Clan to help him with these things. They understood the nuances of existing in a world like this. 

All of which he was a complete foreigner to. 

Being stuck on an island for hundreds of millions of years tended to not be the perfect background for this whole situation. 

What do I want?

Yin Hu sat there for a long moment, just thinking. 

He had the obvious things that he could plan for the long term. Things like making the girls into superpowered nukes, finding a wife or multiple and a family, and establishing a Clan so powerful that nothing could threaten him and with enough barriers that bootlickers couldn’t reach him. 

Yet, they were all distant ideas that would likely not come to fruition except decades from today. 

There needed to be small goals that they would work toward. Achievable things that didn’t seem nearly impossible for the rest of his Clan members and potential disciples. Those would work toward a final long term goal that is planned out with leeway for mistakes, derailed plans, and the potential of failure down the road. No one was perfect and neither was he. 

It was human to make errors, but it was foolish to not plan for it just in case. 

What’s the smallest goals I can think of?

Yin Hu would need to start at the city and establish the Hu Clan. Maybe he could head straight toward the conquered territory and start a war with the entire Demonic Bloc, yet that would not have been a wise decision as a Patriarch when they numbered so little and could end up fighting against monsters that outdated Rong and were stronger too. There was no telling exactly how powerful they were.

That meant he needed to start a recruitment drive. Build numbers and talents more than powerful enough to hold their own as the war wages on. 

Generals, tacticians, strategists, leaders, and everything else that would be needed to win. 

All of which Yin Hu had no clue about. What did efficient battle logistics look like in a cultivators war? Sieging? Was espionage necessary at all or did he need to just bust through lines of soldiers and walls until he conquered everything or killed everyone. 

There was simply too much he had to plan with just that. 

Yin Hu hadn’t even considered the need for basic infrastructure to judge the newer members of his inner and outer court. He didn’t want to be sitting and scanning people as thousands of kids, adults, young men and women, and everything else under the sun made lines that wrapped around an entire city multiple times over. Just the thought made him shiver slightly. 

He would need people he could trust to pick out the best of the best. 

Then he had to take care of them in the process of caring for the girls first. He couldn’t just grab a thousand disciples and call it a day. 

No, Yin Hu would need to feed them, provide living spaces, safety, stability, structure to their cultivation, water sources, latrines and basic amenities, libraries with sect manuals, elders to take in disciples and develop them, furniture and everything else that normal people would require, Spiritual Plants, Qi Stones in the hundreds per disciple, and the list just kept getting bigger and bigger. 

Maybe I could skimp on some of these things…?

As soon as the thought appeared he banished it to never rear its ugly head again. 

Weak disciples meant a weak protection force for him, Jun, and Shui. Threatening their existence just because he did things wrong would be something he would end up regretting for the rest of his life if anything bad happened to either one of them. He would do things right from day one or he would not do it at all. A simple motto he had developed during his endless amount of time practicing and trying to perfect his kungfu and physical prowess. 

It was more than he had ever considered until this very moment. 

Should I start feeding everyone some of my rice too? No one else has gotten a single bowl other than me and the girls. 

Rong had been hunting for himself, the Warg, and the dragon hatchlings. Zhong Da and wife had their own food from their spacial pouches and rings. 

And Da Ruis didn’t need to eat. 

Yin Hu came to a realization he had never figured out. Being a Clan Patriarch was a busy, hard job to do. Directly in opposition with his plan to relax and let others do all the work for him. Especially with the way he had distributed the inner and outer court. His very direct disciples were the only members of the inner one. That meant he was the very pinnacle without a stratosphere under him to take care of things. 

Unaffiliated Elders that wouldn’t direct all of their decision making to him due to their power dynamics. 

Da Ruis and Zhong Da would have made fine Elders had they been given autonomy from the start. Alas, he hadn’t and going back on his decision was not something he wanted to do and risked messing with his built up persona. Precedent had been set in stone now. 

A basic plan began to formulate in his mind. 

“Da Ruis, Zhong Da and Wu Xui, the girls, and I will head to the nearest city to establish ourselves,” Yin Hu said, intent on making the old ghost do more work. “Rong and the Warg will scout ahead toward the Hu Clan’s lands. I am assuming you are more than capable of handling yourselves. Just don’t get stuck fighting the entire Demonic Bloc until we’ve prepared ourselves.”

Rong tilted his head. “You don’t plan to participate in the liberation of the Hu Clan’s estates and compounds?”

“No,” Yin Hu shook his head. He would fight only if necessary when he needed to be the very banner that gave them purpose. Even seeing him struggle would lessen their cohesion and unity. Zhong Da only made it more clear that the whole Hu Clan currently hinged on him. Would they all break apart and go their own ways the second he vanished, leaving his girls all alone? “I do not plan on it.”

“Yes, Patriarch. Just let me know where the original Hu Clan is located and I’ll scout them thoroughly for weaknesses and strengths.” Rong shot up to his feet and saluted. 

Yin Hu turned to Zhong Da and Da Ruis. “Both of you know how to scout for talent?” He made sure his eyes locked with the old ghost for a few seconds longer than necessary. “I will provide you with the necessary resources and items to make it easier, but we need to establish ourselves quietly. Build a proper foundation to create the perfect environment for development and in tandem with the Sparring Instance as well.”

Both looked at each other before nodding their heads. 

“That is the base of what I want. Establish a clan secretly as we prepare for a long war…” Yin Hu said out loud and kept his thoughts to himself. 

His plan would always be to enjoy himself as thoroughly as possible. Yin Hu had already spent his fair share of time practicing, drilling, focusing on getting stronger and consolidating power… or at least trying to. 

It was his turn to get all the advantages of looking like an Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era. 

Zhong Da waved his hand.  “There we have it. All of the plans we discussed would have been thrown out. Now Lady Jun can navigate through this whole thing without being blindfolded.”

Yin Hu smiled and nodded along. 

The man was already proving his worth outside of his normal tea pouring duties.