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Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Page 899

by <unknown>


  "But such a brutal man, together with Master Black Moon, was not able to resist one attack of yours, senior. Within a breath, one of them was captured, and the other died. It's obvious enough that your Cultivation must've reached the peak, too!

  "Before I left for the mission, my master told me the basic criteria to determine one's capabilities.

  "The Three Saints, Four Rapscallions, His Majesty, and Master Bitter Cicada belong to the level of 'super experts'. Han Yuantai, in the middle level of the Nascent Soul Stage, belongs to the tier of 'first-rate experts'. There is an enormous chasm between 'super experts' and 'first-rate experts'. Without rarely-seen opportunities, and without extraordinary personal aptitude, the chasm is barely crossable!

  "Now that you can suppress a 'first-rate expert' easily, senior, you must belong to the tier of 'super experts', too. You are absolutely qualified as one of the top ten experts in the world!

  "Haha. Hahahahahahahaha!" Li Yao burst into the craziest, most arrogant laughter. With greenish, ghostly fire beaming out of his black eyes, he stared at Ling Lanyin without blinking for a long time. Then, he nodded and said, "Well put!

  "I picked up the greatest treasures that nobody could ever imagine in… that place by accident, and I trained myself in seclusion for decades, holding back the pain of being skinned and reborn as many times as I narrowly escaped the dangers of becoming mentally deranged. Finally, I have grasped the best techniques in the world, which shall not be wasted in the Southland of Sorcerers!

  "Top ten experts?

  "Hehe. Hehehehe. It's fine that I'm not on the rank, but if I am, I will be the top one!

  "Kid, I don't need to hide my ambitions from anyone. I'm not interested in dealing with the messy trivia in the Southland of Sorcerers at all. Your father, Huo Wuji, and the chiefs, priests, and sorcerers from the hundred tribes here can make arrangements however you see fit!

  "For me personally, I'm going to travel the world and meet the great heroes of the present day, including the 'super experts' in your eyes, the Three Saints and the Four Rapscallions and such!

  "Let's begin my journey from the Purple Pole Sword Sect. What do you think?"

  Ling Lanyin thought quickly. The barbarian Cultivator from a desolate area who had suddenly grasped unparalleled techniques was almost like a bumpkin from countryside grew rich overnight due to a windfall. It was quite understandable that he wanted to show off in the fabulous world outside.

  After all, the old monster was in need of the resources and refining facilities of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. There was certainly room for cooperation between the two parties. It was unlikely that the guy would go on a rampage the moment he arrived at the Purple Pole Sword Sect, right?

  Since he had consented that Huo Wuji would be appointed as the new Chieftain of the Southland and was not stopping her father's actions in the Southland of Sorcerers, it was obvious that he was still vaguely on the Great Qian Dynasty's side.

  If that was the case, everything was simple!

  The Purple Pole Sword Sect had been in peril over the past few months. If such a tough and brutal old monster came to visit, other people who did not know that he was there to rent a place for refining would inevitably think that he had been invited by the Purple Pole Sword Sect to help the situation. They would certainly have more concerns if they wanted to start more trouble.

  Thinking about that, Ling Lanyin bowed deeply. "It will be our honor to have Master Spiritual Vulture in our sect. You will certainly be welcomed most warmly, senior!"

  After making a deal with Ling Lanyin, Li Yao asked her to forward the message to Ling Shoujing.

  Although Ling Shoujing did not get thousands of soldiers immediately, persuading such an old monster in the middle-high level of the Nascent Soul Stage to visit the Purple Pole Sword Sect was an accomplishment even better than drafting a hundred thousand barbarian soldiers. Naturally, Ling Shoujing could not have been more satisfied.

  Huo Wuji, Meng Duo, Gu Siduo, and other leaders of the barbarian tribes, after hearing the news that Li Yao was going out to 'travel', were not sure whether they should feel happy or worried. Of course, they were all crying as if their parents had just died and were almost clinging to Li Yao's thighs, begging him not to leave.

  Fearing that some of the barbarian Cultivators might be Master Spiritual Vulture's old acquaintances and notice something wrong about himself, Li Yao simply dismissed all of them after a few words.

  The chiefs, priests, and sorcerers of the Southland of Sorcerers then delivered him tremendous local specialties to Li Yao as farewell gifts. Snakes, rats, ants, poisons, and bugs as thick as Li Yao's arm were offered to Li Yao in baskets. Li Yao greatly frowned at their kindness.

  Later at night, Li Yao set Han Yuantai and the hundreds of knights from Ghost Qin free.

  Quite a few barbarian Cultivators were still loyal to Huo Wujiu. If they were kept in the place, chances were that they would run into conflict with Huo Wuji's supporters again. So, Li Yao asked the Ghost Qin people to take them away, too.

  Although they were allowed to go, the souvenirs were forced to stay there.

  Li Yao was new to the place. He could not use the currency of the federation. Therefore, as a poor boy, he was in dire need of a generous magnate such as Han Yuantai.

  After all, Han Yuantai had brought many treasures and crystals on his trip south, which should have been given to Master Black Moon and other barbarian Cultivators who supported Ghost Qin as gifts. Naturally, they were all Li Yao's property now.

  After the guests from Ghost Qin were dealt with, Ling Shoujing held a ceremony to decree Huo Wuji as the new-generation Chieftain of the Southland.

  Li Yao had announced that he would not be concerned with the issues in the world of mortals. The way he saw it, Huo Wuji did not look like a man blindly loyal to the Great Qian Dynasty. Instead, the guy was simply acting like such a person. If Ling Shoujing intended to mobilize his barbarians for battles, the two of them would certainly have long talks and meetings!

  Ling Shoujing's army would be stationed in the Southland of Sorcerers to demonstrate the power of the court and to maintain order.

  Since Ling Lanyin had been sent by the Purple Pole Sword Sect to reinforce Ling Shoujing and was not restrained by the emperor's order, she was free to leave.

  Therefore, with Ling Lanyin leading the way, the two of them flew all the way to the central plateaus on their swords without being troubled by the terrain anymore.

  With Li Yao and Ling Lanyin's Cultivation right now, and with the intense spiritual energy of the Ancient Sages Sector, it was not entirely impractical for them to fly thousands of kilometers and directly return to the headquarters of the Purple Pole Sword Sect in a dozen days.

  However, because Li Yao intended to observe the life of the Ancient Sages Sector, they put their swords away after they reached the north of the Sorcerers' River, which was the borderline between the Southland of Sorcerers and the central plateaus. Li Yao disguised him as a low-level, unaffiliated Cultivator and bought himself a boat that was driven by spiritual energy. Asking Ling Lanyin to pretend to be his servant, he went along the river all the way north.

  Ling Lanyin was rather anxious that her sect had already fallen into war with other Cultivation sects while she was away. She almost could not wait to fly back to the Purple Pole Sword Sect immediately with her back stabbed with swords.

  However, she knew that the old monster near her was quite temperamental. Although he had expressed his intention to cooperate with the Purple Pole Sword Sect, he might change his attitude at any moment if he was unhappy.

  Therefore, Ling Lanyin—as one of the youngest female Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, praised as the most brilliant star in the younger generation of the Purple Pole Sword Sect, nominated as the Orchid Angel of the 'Four Angels' by the fellow Cultivators when Wang Xi was still in power—could only cover her face and work diligently as Li Yao's servant, hoping that he had found enough entertainment
in the outside world soon.

  Although the Sorcerers' River was not the longest river in the Great Qian Dynasty's territory, it was definitely the most twisting, dangerous, and thrilling one.

  It was especially so in the north of the river, where the cliffs were high and the forests were misty. Tigers and leopards were roaring all the time. When the boat was floating amid the surging tides, and when the noises of all kinds of demon beasts were coming over from the depths of the obscure woods, Li Yao felt that he was travelling along the Styx. The journey was quite breathtaking.

  Li Yao appreciated the beautiful land of the Ancient Sages Sector, which had yet to be highly developed. After every pier he reached, he would dock the boat and observe the villages and towns next to the river.

  He realized that Han Yuantai was not wrong about one thing. The Great Qian Dynasty was truly heavily controlled by the Cultivation sects, which were essentially independent kingdoms.

  The towns of a reasonably large scale everywhere that he went had a Cultivation sect garrisoned, which would often occupy the best place and establish an 'inner city'. They built up coruscating buildings and fortresses. The colorful defense rune arrays were on all day. The sunlight, after the reflections of the defense rune arrays, further accentuated the splendor of the Cultivation sects.

  Such a view was a vivid contrast to the 'outer city', which was ragged and populated by ordinary folks. They were almost two worlds.

  In some places, Li Yao even saw floating mountains, where plants, pavilions, waterfalls, rainbows, and birds were flourishing, three hundred meters above the ground. What fascinating and unworldly paradises they were!

  However, on the ground three hundred meters below, the houses of the ordinary folks were just 'burrows' that were essentially holes in the ground mixed with fences and mud.

  Chapter 1380: Who's Right, and Who's Wrong? |

  When the handsome and elegant Cultivators, in their fancy clothes, rode their swords out of the splendid floating mountains and looked down upon the emaciated and even stinky folks in whatever clothes they had, it was the most vivid contrast of deities and mortals!

  "Ordinary people are ants!"

  Li Yao, born and raised in the modern era, found it hard to acknowledge the declaration.

  In the modern Cultivation civilization that the Star Glory Federation was, even the most weak ordinary people could be clean and tidy, with a healthy body and high spirits. At first glance, they were not much different from Cultivators.

  However, in the world of ancient Cultivators where productivity was low, the difference between deities and mortals did exist. What were the ordinary people struggling in their burrows for if not lambs and ants?

  Therefore, the Cultivators that Li Yao observed might not necessarily have had a malicious attitude toward the ordinary people, but their condescension was obvious when they were engaged with ordinary people.

  They looked at ordinary people with more 'indifference' than 'contempt'. It seemed to them that the difference between them and ordinary people was natural and self-justified.

  It was almost always the case after he passed more than ten sects.

  Such a sight sent Li Yao's thoughts into disarray. He was going to criticize the ancient Cultivators who despised ordinary people with the glorious theory that 'Cultivators are fish, ordinary people are water, and Cultivators are the sabers of humanity' from the Star Glory Federation, when the words of some locals of the Ancient Sages Sector slapped him in the face.

  It happened when he stopped by a town named Stone Martial Town. Seeing that the headquarters of the Stone Martial Hall was particularly spectacular, and the houses of the ordinary people nearby were more dilapidated than usual, he was quite interested and decided to stop to investigate.

  He found an excuse to get Ling Lanyin away before he entered Stone Martial Town disguised as a traveler on the road.

  As he expected, the Cultivators in this place was more arrogant than usual and simply viewed ordinary people as nothing.

  When he caught the casual conversation of a few customers in a tea shop below the mountain outside of the city, Li Yao could not help but feel infuriated.

  As it turned out, the Stone Martial Hall had been acting on its own in the place. Not only was it blocking the food and tax that was supposed to be submitted to the court, they were even demanding servitude in the name of the court!

  The households of ordinary people within the Stone Martial Hall's territory had to provide labor service for the Stone Martial Sect for three to five years, during which time they were paid little to nothing.

  The youngest son of this customer was at service in the Stone Martial Hall in the beginning. He had been toiling for three years for the Cultivators and was about to be free to go back home.

  But one day, the Stone Martial Hall threw his cold body out, claiming that he had died abruptly because of exhaustion.

  Judging from the body, it was indeed skinny, with veins bulging out. He had obviously borne too much work for too long.

  More importantly, when the customer was talking about his youngest son's death, despite his sorrow, there was no dissatisfaction about the Stone Martial Hall at all.

  The fellow customers were also merely sighing about the fact that he was unfortunate and that his youngest son must have been fated to a short life. However, they did not dare to complain about the Stone Martial Hall at all. They did not even realize the Stone Martial Hall's responsibility.

  Li Yao could not take it anymore. With all kinds of thoughts rolling in his mind, he could not help but scorn the customers.

  But as it turned out, his words raised public fury, and he was lambasted by everyone. Even the customer whose youngest son had passed away due to overworking for the Stone Martial Hall also spat on him.

  The attitude of the customers dumbfounded Li Yao at first and then rendered him speechless. Eventually, he blushed in embarrassment.

  As it turned out, the area around the Stone Martial Sect was the most mountainous area with the densest forests in the basin of the Sorcerers' River.

  The tiny basin was surrounded by the highest mountains, which were mired in mist all year long.

  In many places inside the mountains, there were exceedingly few days with sunshine. The rest of the year was continuous rain.

  Such a desolate area was naturally packed with wildlife and demon beasts, which would not only swallow the villagers who accidentally trespassed into the forests but also sweep across the towns below the mountains in hordes, leaving nothing but bones behind.

  Despite such a harsh environment, one city, almost ten towns, and dozens of villages had been developed. It was all thanks to the Cultivators of the Stone Martial Hall.

  It was because they marched into the forests fearlessly slaying the evil in their way and expanding the safe regions time and time again that the ordinary folks could follow up, burn the trees to the ground, and establish new villages!

  "Over the two hundred years since the Stone Martial Hall was founded, they have eliminated the dens of fiends and demon beasts in the forests more than ten times every year. Twenty to fifty deities perish every year!"

  "That's right. In recent decades, to slay the evil, even two leaders of the Stone Martial Hall have sacrificed themselves!"

  "Without the deities from the Stone Martial Hall, the settlements within hundreds of square kilometers would've been savaged by the monsters. That is exactly why this place is named 'Stone Martial Town' in honor of the great help of the deities!"

  "You should thank others when gratitude is due. How can you be a guy who forgets what a great favor other people have done you? Even two of their magnificent leaders have passed away. Twenty or so regular disciples are killed every year, too. Almost ten disciples can be killed in a single trial. What's there to complain about when one individual from our household dies?"

  Li Yao did not expect that the numb and ignorant victims would say that. He stammered for a while but insisted that, reg
ardless, the Stone Martial Hall should not block the court's tax or initiate servitude without permission, which was a complete disrespect for the authority of the court. If every sect did what the Stone Martial Hall did, they would be independent kingdoms. Then, what would happen to the Great Qian Dynasty, which was shaking in the storm?

  His words raised even merrier laughter.

  At this moment, all the customers regarded Li Yao as a pedant who had read too many books and stopped bothering about him.

  A civilized-looking local, who appeared to be a teacher, counted his fingers and did the math for him.

  First of all, theoretically speaking, the Stone Martial Hall certainly did not have the right to block the food and tax that should have been submitted to the court.

  But then again, for ordinary folks, they had to pay taxes either way. If the food and tax was handed over to the court, God knew what they would be spent on. Or rather, they might take a few turns among the high officials in the court, only to be pocketed somewhere in between!

  In comparison, if they submitted the food and tax to the Stone Martial Hall, which was a local sect after all, most of the earnings would be devoted to the local area, even if some of it was squandered. So, the local people would rather not give their belongings to people from elsewhere.

  Moreover, annihilating the monsters in the forests in order to collect the rare materials and the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the forests was greatly beneficial for the Stone Martial Hall itself. It was even the fundamental approach to sustain the Stone Martial Hall's development.

  Without the motivation of the folks, the Stone Martial Hall would still try to slay the monsters. Most of the resources that they demanded from the folks would be dedicated to that end, too.

  To some extent, it was also kind of 'from the people and for the people'.

 

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