by <unknown>
The essence of the modern Cultivation civilizations was not the chainswords, not the crystal cannons, and not the crystal warships.
It was the popularized training arts and magical equipment, such as fertilizers and pesticides that could increase the yields of the farmlands and kill the pests, the automatic reaping machines, and the meteorological magical equipment deployed in the sky that could forecast and even change the weather.
With the help of such civil magical equipment, famine, a problem that troubled mankind for tens of thousands of years, was revolved once and for all, allowing the exponential growth of the population!
A civilization only had endless possibilities when its population was beyond a trillion!
It was so for the modern demons, too. The first creations of the botanists of the Blood Demon Sector, of whom the Fire Ant King was a good example, were not the ferocious, carnivorous plants but hybrid rice, wheat, potato, or bananas, which were resistant to the cold and drought and had a high yield.
What was the foundation of the overwhelming beast tides? The demonic plants such as hybrid rice, wheat, potatoes, bananas, and everything else that filled their stomach!
Every civilization's development was in the shape of a pyramid. However spectacular the experts at the tip of the pyramid were, they had to be supported by the tough bedrock at the lower level.
The more solid the bedrock was, the more likely the experts at the tip of the pyramid would be able to break the limits of the civilization.
Although the logic was self-explanatory for modern human beings and demons, it might not be understandable for the ancient Cultivators.
In many worlds of ancient Cultivators, when the mortals were rising up because of starvation, the Cultivators often thought that it was no big deal and were still enjoying their own life!
It seemed even easier to support the rebellions such as the White Lotus Cult and the Heaven Battering King than to support the Great Qian Dynasty.
Li Yao did not know how developed the space cruising technology of the Star Glory Federation was right now after a hundred years.
However, it should not be a problem to summon a few carriers that brought cold-proof, drought-proof, high-yielding, genetically-modified crops as well as tremendous humanitarian assets once the space gate was established.
With enough people, people would be calmed down. He could impose influence on the rebellions as a representative of the federation and even transport the excessive population of the Ancient Sages Sector to the federation, which would partly relieve the population pressure of this world and partly build up the strength of the federation. Was the stone that killed two birds not perfect?
If the Great Qian Dynasty, the White Lotus Cult, and the Heaven Battering King were hopeless, the Ghost Qin troops in the north could also make a potential strategic partner.
Li Yao was an alien to the Sector. He had no concept of 'rightfulness' at all.
For him, there were only two things that mattered, the first being the people's rights of survival and development and the second being the local regime's long-term cooperation and even integration with the federation.
Generally speaking, when an ethnic minority overthrew the central dynasty, barbaric slaughters and bloody suppressions would always follow.
However, if the 'iron riders' on Dragon wolves with hard bows found hundreds of crystal warships over their heads, they might want to change their policy.
The ethnic group 'Ghost Qin' was the last candidate on Li Yao's list if he absolutely had no choice. After all, it did not matter who claimed the central plateaus in the end as long as the process was fast enough, which would be far better than a hundred years of fighting and killing.
Of course, for the federation to influence the politics of this Sector, two questions had to first be figured out.
Firstly, Li Yao had to get to the bottom of the mysterious signal sent to the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector a hundred years ago. Judging from the civilization level of the Ancient Sages Sector, it was technologically impossible!
Secondly, Li Yao needed to find out whether or not scouts from the Imperium of True Human Beings who had similar missions to his were now stirring trouble in the Ancient Sages Sector.
Li Yao had learned most of his tricks from Su Changfa, a professor of the Imperial Colonization University in the Imperium of True Human Beings.
It was not hard to imagine that, if the scouts of the Imperium did sneak into the Ancient Sages Sector, they would certainly support the local forces to achieve their purposes.
Chances were that the Dark Cloud Iron Knights in the north were already each holding a machine gun now!
Li Yao could not help but feel chilly when he imagined them riding Dragon Wolves and shooting their machine guns.
Li Yao would never establish the space gate, which could potentially expose the coordinates of the federation, until the two questions were figured out.
But they seemed too far away right now.
Li Yao sorted through his thoughts and continued his report.
"As for the military forces of the Ancient Sages Sector, I'm only seeing the tip of the iceberg because I'm at the southwest corner of the country. It is hard to estimate the specific scale of the forces here.
"I can only say that one state of the Great Qian Dynasty seems enough to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers, and there are eighteen such states in Great Qian.
"Their weapons are rather shabby, but because of the abundant spiritual energy, their average body build is even better than the federal army's, which makes them rather tough warriors in head-on battles.
"As for the high-end warriors, I haven't found anyone in the Divinity Transformation Stage yet. But according to the southwest barbarians, of the more than thousand sects in the Ancient Sages Sector, the top hundred are almost all supervised by Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators. The top ten sects even have more than one Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
"Chances are that there are around five hundred Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in this world. Their quality is amazingly high, too. Many of them are in the high level or even at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage!
"Up until now, there are three 'super experts' worth my attention.
"Firstly, Wan Mingzhu, known as 'Mother White Lotus', who is the leader of the 'White Lotus Cult' that is causing trough in the southeast of the Great Qian Dynasty.
"Mother White Lotus is a strong spectral Cultivator without a body. She claims to be the 'forebear of all the ghosts'. Her whereabouts are unclear, and her attacks are unpredictable. She must be a super expert adept at attacks of pure energy. I've never seen such opponents before. I have to be very careful when I'm dealing with her.
"The second one is Qi Changsheng, the 'Heaven Battering King' who leads the millions of peasants in the northwest and has survived the hunting of the emperor's army dozens of times.
"According to my fellow barbarians, the guy has built an invincible, indestructible body. Wherever he goes, there is nothing but drought. He has killed countless people without leaving any living creatures behind. He is the scariest fiend of killing in the Great Qian Dynasty.
"Of course, such a description must entail the intentional vilification of the court, but it is evident enough of the guy's toughness, too."
Chapter 1353: Twelve Gold Statues! |
"The third guy is 'Han Baling', the regent of Ghost Qin in the north.
"The guy's expertise in military and fighting can already be seen in the battle to annihilate the three hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty last year with his Dark Cloud Ghost Knights.
"What is even more dreadful is that he is also a great politician and scholar.
"Ghost Qin was the collective name for the hundreds of scattered groups in the northern prairie, but they have been integrated with an iron fist by him into an intact, coherent army. He has also introduced many scholars who are not appreciated in the Great Qian Dynasty and modified the g
roups with the culture of Great Qian. He even changed his surname from 'Poliuhan' to 'Han' and his name from 'Poliuhan Baling' to 'Han Baling', in order to show everyone that he is not a foreign group but a rightful competitor of the throne.
"According to the standard of the modern Cultivators, the guy is definitely a standard 'hybrid-type Cultivator' who has shocking talent in both battle and administration!
"Although it is hard to gauge the specific capabilities of the three super experts based on hearsay, they are certainly between the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage and the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage.
"Right. When the army led by Han Baling marched to the capital city, and when the incumbent emperor died abruptly, it was only because of the young emperor right now who distinguished himself in the troubled times that the dynasty was saved.
"It is said that the young emperor was born as dictated by the fate and has concentrated the Great Qian Dynasty's thousand years of luck. Since assuming the throne, he has accomplished quite a few noteworthy tasks. The dynasty seems to be thriving again.
"Whether it is the dying glow of the Great Qian Dynasty or a new start, the young emperor's personal abilities cannot be underestimated. With a lineage of a thousand years and the enhancement of infinite treasures, it is also very possible that he is above the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage, too!"
The four of them were the candidates that could most likely be the 'strategic partner' of the Star Glory Federation.
Although he had executed a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator easily half a month ago, he did not dare underestimate the four of them.
No Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was the same.
It had been pointed out to Li Yao that the Southland of Sorcerers was the most remote and poor area of the Great Qian Dynasty in the first place. The number and the quality of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators there were the lowest. The arts and the magical equipment in their possession were little to none, too.
To quote the ancient Cultivators, they were like 'clowns' who did not deserve much respect.
The central plateaus and the Dark Cloud land in the north were the places where the top Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector gathered.
Such places boasted abundant spiritual energy and many talents. The major sects often had a history of more than a thousand years. The relics and the treasures of the dynasties in history were not rare. The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who trained in such an environment were certainly different from the barbarians like 'Master Spiritual Vulture' who had to figure everything out on their own and were overjoyed when they discovered a cave.
It was needless to mention the Cultivators with the supreme power such as Han Baling—the regent of Ghost Qin—and the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty—who had almost infinite secret arts and resources.
'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu and 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng, despite being rebels, had broken into the headquarters of quite a few Cultivation sects while they were on a rampage.
After every Cultivation sect was occupied, they would plunder the magical equipment and the secret arts. Their team was snowballing, too.
Right now, the leaders of the two rebel forces perhaps had more techniques and magical equipment under their control than many leaders of notable sects did!
If Li Yao mistook the 'super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' such as Han Baling, the emperor, Mother White Lotus, and the Heaven Battering King for 'third-rate Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators' like Master Spiritual Vulture, he would not even have the chance to cry.
"Let me just observe and consider for now. If the local affairs are too messed up for me to intervene, I'll have to figure out how to hire some of the local Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators as mercenaries.
"When the dynasty changes, many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the previous dynasty will certainly lose their home. I don't think that they will turn down the offer of the citizenship of the Star Glory Federation.
"Right. If the Great Qian Dynasty is truly falling apart, will it be more convenient for me be hire more Cultivators if I bring someone of royal blood and many Cultivators who are loyal to the royal family back to the Star Glory Federation? For what it's worth, we can make a deal with them to deal with the Imperium of True Human Beings together before we help them restore their dynasty by providing money, guns, and food for them!"
Li Yao began to think wildly.
The future plans could still wait. After the two parties were officially in contact, the specialists in the think tanks of the federation would certainly come up with better solutions than his ill-considered ideas.
"I heard something interesting when I eavesdropped on the barbarian Cultivators.
"The greatest trouble of the Great Qian Dynasty right now is the 'Ghost Qin' soldiers on the Dark Cloud Prairie in the north.
"But 'Ghost Qin' is actually a contemptuous term used by the Great Qian Dynasty. They actually call themselves 'Cloud Qin'.
"The so-called 'Cloud Qin' refers to the 'Cloud Qin Dynasty', the very first empire that unified the Ancient Sages Sector a hundred thousand years ago. The northern ethnic minorities led by Han Baling consider themselves the descendants of the most ancient dynasty in order to justify their fight for the throne.
"But that is not important.
"What is important is that legends in this world have it that the Ancient Sages Sector was plagued by war a hundred thousand years ago. The tribes and the small kingdoms had been fighting each other for thousands of years.
"Then, the Cloud Qin Dynasty was born. It gathered all the magical equipment in the world and forged the items into twelve 'Cloud Qin Gold Statues'. Eventually, the world was unified with the help of the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues.
"It is said that the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues were all almost a hundred meters tall and boasted infinite physical strength. They were the invincible beings who could raise storm and thunder by waving their arms!
"Even today, the footprints and the claw traces of the 'Cloud Qin Gold Statues' can still be found on the ancient battlegrounds.
"A hundred meters tall, made of metal, and able to summon lightning and thunder? They are doubtlessly Colossi!
"It seems that some human beings in the Ancient Sages Sector discovered twelve intact Colossi and knew how to manipulate them in prehistoric times. With the twelve Colossi, they managed to unify the whole world.
"Traces of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues could be found in the few dynasties after the Cloud Qin Dynasty. They even became a symbol of power. Whichever force had one Cloud Qin Gold Statue would be able to claim the world!
"However, the Cloud Qin Dynasty was established a hundred thousand years ago. Considering the average longevity of each dynasty to be three thousand years, there have still been more than thirty changes of dynasties so far.
"With the passage of time, the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues were finally gone.
"The last time that they appeared in the history books of this Sector was about ten thousand years ago, when a bunch of slaves discovered a one-eyed gold statue in a river while they were dredging the canal.
"The one-eyed Colossus alone resulted in the fall of the dynasty at that time. However, the Colossus also disappeared in the chaos of the war. Perhaps, it was seriously damaged and ran out of spiritual energy and ammunition. Nobody knew how to maintain it, and eventually, it was buried again!"
The rumors about the twelve Cloud Qin Gold Statues made Li Yao respect the reserves of the Ancient Sages Sector even more. Right now, the information that he had collected was too little after all. He might as well wait and see for now."
Having finished the preliminary report, he stretched out his arms comfortably
His telepathic thoughts spread out again and immediately caught the laughter of many barbarian Cultivators.
A barbarian Cultivator with vipers all over his body, his face painted in various colors, was whispering to another Cultivator who was as slim as skeleton. They were both grimacing.
The barbarian Cultivator with vipers chuckled in a low voice. "Gu Siduo, aren't you Huo Laoer's dearest friend? Why have you joined the emperor's army instead of helping him? Hehe."
The Cultivator who looked like a zombie shrieked. "There are too many soldiers in the emperor's army. How can the few people in my village expect to defeat them? As the people from the central plateaus say, 'a wise man knows when to retreat'. Besides, the rewards that the Appeasing Ambassador offered are quite impressive. Why not join the emperor's army?
"After all…" Pausing for a moment, the zombie-like Cultivator 'Gu Siduo' smirked. "We'll take a few steps back after we go into the Fire Rude Village and watch the fight between the two groups of northerners first. If the emperor's army is winning, we will still help them. If the cute little girl's head is cut off, we are naturally going to help Huo Laoer. Meng Duo, what do you say?"
The Cultivators with snakes named 'Meng Duo' chuckled and nodded. "Exactly. Exactly. How about this? Let's gather the warriors of our two villages together later so that we can look after each other. We can wait until they beat the sh*t out of each other's pants!"
Gu Siduo moved his eyes and faked a smile. "I am only planning this because I'm a close friend of Huo Laoer's, but are you not the most trusted brother of Huo Laoda? Why are you so… disloyal?"
Meng Duo blinked and said, "Everybody knows that Meng Duo of the Black Mist Village is the most loyal one both to friends and to the court. It is impossible for me to betray the court!
"However, the court has truly crossed the line too much this time! Not only are they demanding the Southland of Sorcerers to submit so much food and livestock, they are also drafting fifty thousand soldiers to fight against the Ghost Qin soldiers in the north!
"Us men of the south land are as free in the woods as fish are in water. If we leave the woods for the north, we will be like fish out of water. How can we expect to live faced with the Dark Cloud Ghost Knights?
"The order is clearly one that asks us to participate in a suicidal mission!
