Forty millenniums of cul.., p.893
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 893
"Not half an acre," Han Yuantai said. "For the local Cultivation sects, however much they despise the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty, they have to submit taxes more or less. Most of the taxes, as you can imagine, are from the half acre of land.
"The Jade Crystal Pellet is a good thing. With the Jade Crystal Pellet, the training will be very efficient. Also, together with the enhancement of the natural paradises, the Cultivators in the southeast are larger in number and stronger on average. The more Cultivators and the stronger they are, the higher the demand on Jade Crystal Pellets. The more Jade Crystal Pellets that they eat, the more Cultivators. The more Cultivators, the greater the consumption of the Jade Crystal Pellets… When do you think such a vicious cycle will end, Master?"
Lost for words, Li Yao furrowed his brows.
"Therefore, even in the prosperous land in the southeast, where people can squeeze oil out of the soil, the folks are starved every year and can barely make ends meet. Why else do you think the Riot of White Lotus broke out?"
His interest piqued, Li Yao craned his neck and asked, "I've heard of the White Lotus Cult recently. What is it exactly? I'm told that it was founded by a woman named 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu, who claimed to be 'mother of all ghosts'. Is she really so tough?"
Han Yuantai nodded and said, "'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu is certainly the troublesome leader of spectral Cultivators in the Ancient Sages Sector. She is definitely among the top ten experts of the Ancient Sages Sector. Even my brother Han Baling thinks very highly of her!
"However, the rise of the 'mother' was merely the doing of the Cultivators in the southeast themselves.
"As I said earlier, the Cultivation sects in the southeast, in order to raise more Cultivators, expanded the coverage of the 'Jade Crystal Pellet' and the marvelous herbs in the farmland. Ninety percent of the yields of the farmland were unenjoyable for the ordinary people. As a result, the folks in the southeast were hungry all year long. When there was anything wrong with the climate, famines would break out.
"During a famine, a person might resort to anything when they are too hungry. Although knowing that eating the Jade Crystal Pellets meant death, a lot of folks still couldn't bear the temptation of a round, fragrant Jade Crystal Pellet.
"They would die of starvation if they did not take the food, and they would be killed because their stomach was blown up if they did. Therefore, they might as well take the food and die with a full belly!
"Such things happened all the time, but however gory the situation was, the Cultivators would not plant any crops edible for ordinary people on their precious land at the risk of starving themselves!
"However, it never occurred to the Cultivators that the Jade Crystal Pellet, as a supreme hybrid strain of rice only invented hundreds of years ago, had an expected feature.
"The Jade Crystal Pellet boasts immense spiritual energy. Although the ordinary people would be killed because they could not digest the spiritual energy, it would nurture their soul when they were dying and make their souls purer and stronger. Their odds of being transformed into spectral Cultivators was significantly higher!
"Haha. After a famine, it was common for countless folks to die because they stole the Jade Crystal Pellet as food. Corpses whose guts were flowing on the ground were left everywhere. However, there were countless ghosts full of hatred, too!
"Those folks were harmless ants who posed absolutely no threat to the Cultivators when they were alive. However, the Jade Crystal Pellet had nourished their soul and endowed them with the capability of inhaling and exhaling natural spiritual energy.
"Also, because of their miserable death, their hate often lingered on in their soul, turning them into very troublesome, haunting ghosts!
"The White Lotus Cult is an organization made of the haunting ghosts and their families.
"Because the Jade Crystal Pellet cleansed their soul, they were able to keep part of their memories when they were alive, unlike the more common ghosts that kill anyone randomly they met. They still recognized their family, and they blamed the Cultivation sects for their misfortune!
"Naturally, the haunting ghosts that transformed from the ordinary people were the spectral Cultivators of the lowest level. Even the Cultivators in the Refinement Stage could kill dozens of them easily. Therefore, the Cultivation sects did not think much of it in the beginning.
"However, the famines in the southeast would never end as long as the coverage of the Jade Crystal Pellet and marvelous herbs was not reduced. There would only be more and more haunting ghosts.
"A million haunting ghosts are savaging the southeast today. Even if the Cultivation sects could eliminate 999,999 of them, the lucky survivor would absorb the hatred of their companions and grow even stronger!
"It is the same logic as how you raise the 'king of insects' in the Southland of Sorcerers. When many insects are kept in the same cage for elimination, the last survivor will certainly be the strongest of all!
"Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu is deservedly known as the mother of all ghosts, born after absorbing the hatred of a million haunting ghosts!"
Chapter 1370: Heaven Battering Fiendish King |
Li Yao was fascinated.
On his way there, from the chitchat between the father and the daughter of the Ling family and the conversation among the barbarian Cultivators, he had heard the names of the top Cultivators. 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu was the one with the highest frequency.
However, the barbarian Cultivators did not know much about the outside world, and Ling Shoujing and Ling Lanyin, because of their biased stance, decried Wan Mingzhu as a brutal, hideous ghost queen while mentioning how exactly the 'ghost queen' rose in the southeast where the Cultivators were most powerful.
It was the first time that Li Yao had heard the story from a different perspective. Whether it was true or not, it was refreshing enough.
"The White Lotus Cult already thrived quietly in the southeast almost eighty years ago," Han Yuantai said. "The Cultivators labeled the White Lotus Cult as unpardonable devils. Claiming that they were 'slaying evil and serving justice', they suppressed the White Lotus Cult cruelly and broke into the headquarters of the White Lotus Cult hundreds of times!
"However, soon after the Cultivators announced that the White Lotus Cult had been completely demolished, new haunting ghosts of the White Lotus Cult were generated in the fertile land that was brimming with Jade Crystal Pellets again!
"Mother White Lotus herself had been executed by multiple Cultivators almost a hundred times. However, before long, she would be reincarnated in the hatred of the public again!
"The southeast is of paramount importance to the Great Qian Dynasty. As you have mentioned yourself, Master, half of the hundred and eight natural paradises of the Ancient Sages Sector are in the southeast. Almost all the powerful sects have established important branches if not their headquarters in the southeast!
"The southeast is the world of Cultivators. Why has it been haunted by so many ghosts for decades? How has the ghost queen trained enough to become one of the top ten experts in the world? Is it not a sign that the Great Qian Dynasty is on the brink of its doom?"
Li Yao slightly nodded. "Well…"
Observing his face, Han Yuantai thought that the old monster was changing his mind. Overjoyed and excited, he raised his voice and said, "The situation in the southeast is relatively better. A thousand Cultivation sects are there to suppress the enemy after all. The Riot of the White Lotus Cult often dies as quickly as it appears. The overall peace can be sustained for now.
"However, in the northwest of the Great Qian Dynasty, 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng's bandits are utterly untamable!"
Li Yao nodded and said, "I've heard the name of Heaven Battering King Qi Changsheng a lot, too. I'm told that he is also a super expert who rose to fame during my decades of seclusion. He is even more dominating than Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu. What's his background exactly?"
Han Yuantai burst into laughter. "He doesn't have any background at all! He was just a soil rat! However, during such a world-shifting era, one's background is the least decisive factor for one's success. Everybody can achieve great things with bravery and determination!
"The northwest of the Great Qian Dynasty used to be the center of the Ancient Sages Sector a hundred thousand years ago. Dozens of ancient dynasties thrived around the place, but after such a long time, the hundreds of thousands of years of consumption have almost drained all the spiritual energy. It is now a poor and desolate land with barely any resources.
"The folks in the southeast are still 'qualified' to be exploited by the Cultivation sects, but in the northwest, they do not even stand a chance to be exploited because there is barely any land, however infertile it is, in this area!
"Of all the barren land, the relatively acceptable part is all under the control of the Cultivation sects. Not the slightest scrap of land will be shared with the ordinary folks.
"A lot of folks starve even when the climate is ideal. You can imagine how serious the famines are when there's a natural disaster!
"When there's a famine, the peasants are forced to leave their homes and gather into locust-like mobs. If they plunder any food in their foray, they will survive one more day. When they are too hungry, they are even bold enough to attack the headquarters of the Cultivation sects and even lunge at the mighty Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!"
"The hungry folks in the southeast boast some combat ability after they are transformed into haunting ghosts by the Jade Crystal Pellets," Li Yao sneered, "but the northwest peasants have no access to the Jade Crystal Pellets, do they? Then, what can a million ravenous peasants do to the impenetrable Cultivation sects and the marvelous Cultivators?"
Han Yuantai nodded heavily. "That's exactly what the court and the Cultivators thought in the beginning, Master. Therefore, for decades, their attention was focused on the White Lotus Cult in the southeast. After all, however many homeless peasants there were in the northwest, they were still ordinary people. Ordinary people attacking the headquarters of the Cultivation sects was like eggs hitting rocks. It's just a joke!
"However, it would appear that the Great Qian Dynasty is truly doomed because the most bizarre things happened!
"The northwest of the Great Qian Dynasty was the earliest prosperous place in the Ancient Sages Sector. The Cloud Qin Empire, the first unified dynasty in the Ancient Sages Sector, rose from the northwest a hundred thousand years ago!
"Dozens of dynasties and countless traditional sects had been headquartered in the northwest. There were too many tombs, residences, relics, and secret treasures below the ground there, many of which escaped the explorers' attention after millenniums of excavation!
"Therefore, quite a few people in the northwest lived in ancient tombs, residences, and relics. The grave robbers are known as 'soil rats'!
"The ancient tombs, especially those of high-level Cultivators, were often deployed in the best terrain, secured by special rune arrays. The magical equipment of the tomb owner was often buried together with them, too. If…"
"You are fooling me again," Li Yao interrupted coldly. "The tombs of the high-level Cultivators must be protected by the most powerful barriers. Even a Cultivator might be killed if they broke in recklessly. How can an ordinary grave robber come and go freely?"
"It is, of course, the case for the tombs in the recent ten thousand years," Han Yuantai explained, "but even the strongest Cultivator cannot resist the passage of time!
"Spiritual energy can be vaporized, and venom may go dry. The traps will decay and collapse. For the solidest tombs a hundred thousand years ago, one earthquake might have been enough to trigger and deactivate all the traps inside, exposing the central room inside the tomb. If fortunate enough, even an ordinary person can go into the tomb and return with full loads easily."
Li Yao thought for a moment and realized that it did make sense.
He had excavated quite a lot of ancient relics himself. The underground fortress of the Star Ocean Imperium on Spider Den, 'Chaos' Ba Yanzhi's mausoleum, and even Kunlun had all been in serious states of disrepair.
That was why the latecomers were able to enter easily and retreat in one piece.
"Even if the soil rats who rob those tombs are ordinary people in the beginning, after activities in such tombs filled with spiritual energy for a long time, it is possible for them to become Cultivators if they are lucky enough to survive!
"Heaven Battering King Qi Changsheng was such a soil rat in the beginning.
"It was also one of the few professions that could provide enough food for a person in the northwest.
"Rumors among the Cultivators have it that he accidentally discovered an ancient tomb from ninety thousand years ago whose owner had turned into a deadly wraith.
"Then, there's no telling what incidents Qi Changsheng went through in the tomb, or maybe it was because something in him earned the deadly wraith's appreciation, but he was granted an indestructible body afterward!
"The profession of soil rat was certainly not intolerable for any Cultivation sect.
"Exploring the relics is the Cultivators' privilege. If the filthy ordinary people are qualified to claim the ancient relics, won't everything fall into disorder?
"Therefore, Qi Changsheng soon became a brutal bandit wanted by almost a hundred sects in the northwest!
"The guy truly deserved to be called a brutal bandit. Before he grasped the 'Thousand Miles of Bare Land' technique, his most dominating technique, he was surrounded by hundreds of Cultivators. However, he fought a bloody way out with a broken saber and escaped!
"It's said that the dry land in the dozens of square kilometers was dyed red after the battle. The bloody cloud soared up and did not fade away until three days later. It was truly a breathtaking battle!
"After breaking out of the siege, Qi Changsheng decided that he should pursue further. He summoned all the soil rats in the northwest and joined the army of the homeless peasants!
"The soil rats who earned their living in the ancient tombs certainly had their own expertise. Their participation significantly improved the capabilities of the army of the homeless peasants. After countless sacrifices, they were finally able to break into the headquarters of the first Cultivation sect!
"Everything became easier after the headquarters were broken into!
"The homeless peasants claimed all the crystals, magical equipment, herbs, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and Cultivation arts in the Cultivation sects!
"A lot of Cultivators were captured by Qi Changsheng, too!
"Qi Changsheng intentionally kept the low-level disciples in the sect alive and asked them to mince the high-level Cultivators in the sect into pieces and eat the flesh!
"Even if the high-level Cultivators had already been killed by Qi Changsheng, the disciples were still forced to cut up their flesh and eat it!
"Whoever disobeyed the order would be minced immediately, and their flesh would be divided between everyone, too!
"Slaying their seniors and even swallowing their senior's flesh were the greatest felonies. Nobody could save the low-level Cultivators!
"Henceforth, the low-level Cultivators could only work for Qi Changsheng because they would not be embraced by any Cultivation sect!
"In the meantime, he released false messages and pretended that he was still attacking the Cultivation sect, attracting the other sects to reinforce it.
"While keeping the homeless peasants in the headquarters as bait, Qi Changsheng led the low-level Cultivators who had just joined him and ambushed the headquarters of the reinforcing sects when they had dispatched their available forces to save the sect being attacked!
"After another Cultivation sect was breached, he did exactly the same. The captives were divided into two parts. The low-level Cultivators were asked to surround the high-level Cultivators and join his gang after they committed the unpardonable felony!
"After they joined the gang, they were coerced into attacking the nest of the third Cultivation sect without any breaks!
"Just like that, the army of low-level Cultivators under Qi Changsheng's command snowballed and swept across the entire northwest!
"When the Cultivators who reinforced the first sect finally annihilated all the homeless peasants that he had intentionally left there, Qi Changsheng had already broken into the nests of twelve Cultivation sects. By plundering the crystals, magical equipment, Cultivation arts, and low-level Cultivators, he turned the previous mob into a brutal army of Cultivators, the Heaven Battering Army!"
Chapter 1371: Eunuch's Conspirators! |
Although knowing that Han Yuantai could have been exaggerating, Li Yao was still quite shocked by the rise of 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng.
None of the guys who raised a storm of blood in the world were easy to deal with!
"This is about the situation right now. The White Lotus Cult is thriving in the southeast, and the Heaven Battering Army is raging in the northwest. Cloud Qin is also threatening from the north. The Great Qian Dynasty is already shaking despite its ostensible magnificence!
"At such a moment of life and death, the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty still do not change. They are too addicted to their internal strife to join their hands to revive Great Qian!"
"With the great enemies around, are the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty still busy dealing with each other?" Li Yao frowned harder.
"Great enemies?" Holding back his laughter, Han Yuantai asked, "If I may ask you, Master, who do you think the greatest enemy for the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty is?"
Li Yao pondered for a moment and replied, "There cannot be two monarchs. If I were the emperor, I would certainly not tolerate the local magnates who develop their sects into independent kingdoms. Therefore, the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty is the greatest enemy for the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty!"
