Chapter 218 The Ruthless Senior Brother of the Path of the Path of the Cannon Fodder (Part 1) The Sky...
The Azure Continent, a world full of opportunities and dangers.
Here you'll find cultivators who are single-mindedly focused on ascending to immortality and attaining enlightenment, as well as cruel and bloodthirsty demons. There are elixirs that can extend lifespan by hundreds of years, and evil formations that require thousands of lives to complete.
Xiao Mo's country, Anguo, is an ordinary country in the mortal realm of the Azure Sky Continent. If ranked according to the entire mortal realm, his country would probably be ranked seventh.
This isn't bad at all. Compared to those small countries where demonic cultivators might target them at any time and sacrifice their entire city, in his country, demonic cultivators would at most only dare to secretly slaughter a village.
However, that was a thing of the past. After their country's backer, the royal family's ancestor, Qingyuan Daojun, failed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage and instead went mad and died, his country became a coveted prize in the eyes of evil spirits and heretics.
Although the Xuan Yue Sect might show some consideration and offer assistance, it was merely a matter of saving face. They didn't care when the demonic cultivators would abduct dozens of civilians every few days.
The mortal realm and the cultivation realm here are closely intertwined. Behind every country lies a cultivation sect, and the emperor's position is often held by a descendant of a powerful cultivator.
The sect to which a powerful figure belongs provides protection to the country, which is known as eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path. In return, the entire country must pay tribute to the sect on a regular basis.
This includes, but is not limited to, disciples with exceptional talent, various herbs and jade from the mortal realm, and even a certain amount of gold and silver.
As for the main reason for having a powerful backer, the official explanation is that they have a close relationship, but putting aside all the high-sounding rhetoric, it's probably to prevent the sects that have received benefits from renege on their debts.
Anguo has paid tribute to the Xuan Yue Sect over the years, but Anguo is not a large place, and even with all its resources, it can only barely scrape together enough tribute. Now that the ancestor has passed away, the Xuan Yue Sect immediately began to take advantage of the situation, doubling the amount of tribute.
Emperor Hengzheng reduced the expenditures seven times, barely managing to gather enough tribute for the year, in exchange for a few arrogant immortal masters stationed in Anguo.
Not only do immortal masters live in places more luxurious than the imperial palace, but they also eat the finest food and wear clothes and other necessities supplied by the entire nation. And even then, they are paid when they are needed to exorcise demons.
In order not to increase the burden on the people, all expenses of the palace have been reduced again and again. Forget about luxurious tributes, His Majesty can barely get enough to eat three meals a day.
Heng Zheng understood, of course, that relying on the Xuan Yue Sect was just a drop in the ocean, but he also needed to buy time to come up with a solution.
Three months ago, Xiao Mo was just a pitiful child who grew up relying on the kindness of others. The turmoil in the country made his life even more difficult, and all he could think about every day was trying to survive and see the sun rise tomorrow.
Until one day, he and all the other kids in town who were under twenty were led to an empty house.
A kind uncle gave each person a candied hawthorn skewer, and then taught them one by one to hold a fist-sized, crystal-clear, and obviously very valuable beautiful stone.
When others held the stone, there was either no reaction or only a faint light, until Xiao Mo held the stone and, following the uncle's instructions, concentrated, and the stone lit up with a dazzling pale blue light.
Xiao Mo then realized that those who could make stones glow possessed spiritual roots and could cultivate themselves to become legendary celestial masters.
Of course he knew what a Celestial Master was. It was the dream of everyone on the Azure Sky Continent. To enter the Celestial Gate was to undergo a complete transformation. Even the lowest-ranking servant would be called a Celestial Master by ordinary people.
Although they are a country with immortal sects as their backers, the Xuan Yue Sect doesn't care much about their An Kingdom because of its scarce resources. Unless the demonic cultivators make a big show of it, the Xuan Yue Sect won't take action.
Xiao Mo knew that every year, a dozen or so people from his county were captured by demonic cultivators. Even the granddaughter of the wealthy Liu Yuanwai was snatched away on the street by demonic cultivators because of her good looks.
Master Liu was a very good man. He always talked about how difficult the world was, and he would give out porridge every now and then. Although it was made with old rice, he had persisted in doing so for many years.
Every time Xiao Mo went to collect porridge, Master Liu would specifically instruct him to make it thicker. His little girl was only seven years old when she was arrested, and she even gave Xiao Mo snacks and candies twice.
But even someone like Master Liu, who was rich and powerful in Xiao Mo's eyes, could do nothing but cry after his granddaughter was taken away.
Xiao Mo remembered that when she was worried about the young girl, she went to ask him why he didn't ask a magician to save her. The smile on Master Liu's face was extremely bitter.
"Xiao Mo, let alone my granddaughter, even if she were the prince's own daughter, she wouldn't be able to persuade a celestial master to save her."
The kind uncle, seeing that he was in a bad mood, patted Xiao Mo's head comfortingly. Then he gathered Xiao Mo and all the other children who had made the beautiful stones shine together, put them in several carriages, and quietly went to the neighboring country, which is ranked second in the world.
Xiao Mo counted, and there were only three children in the entire county whose stones made the stone shine. Their group of more than twenty children came from all over Anguo. It must have been that all the children in the country had been tested.
It wasn't until they left their own country that Xiao Mo realized that the uncle, who was dressed no better than Liu the rich man, was actually their country's emperor.
Although he was inexperienced, he wondered if the emperor was really that stingy. He had seen it with his own eyes many times: after everyone had finished eating, His Majesty would carefully pack up the remaining dry rations, and then he would eat with the two guards and the eunuch who had escorted them.
If there is leftover food, you can even see His Majesty eating leftover dry rations, but all the children's food is the best and freshest.
Emperor Hengzheng, who was munching on a dry steamed bun, looked up and met Xiao Mo's bright eyes. He smiled gently and asked, "Xiao Mo, are you full? Would you like some candied hawthorn?"
Before the other person could answer, he magically flipped his hand and presented a string of candied hawthorns coated with translucent sugar to Xiao Mo.
His Majesty's eyes were kind and gentle, with a hint of expectation and encouragement, much like the teachers Xiao Mo had seen before who led their students to take the imperial examinations.
Having grown up in the streets and alleys, Xiao Mo had witnessed too many human natures. He had a very accurate intuition about these things. He originally thought that this emperor was going to sell them for resources. You know, children who can cultivate can be traded with immortal masters for things.
But he didn't see a trace of exploitation or treachery in His Majesty's eyes, only the loving kindness of an elder towards a younger generation, like... the father he had imagined.
Xiao Mo took a bite of the candied hawthorn, the sweet and sour flavor filling his mouth. He lowered his eyes to hide his emotions and tentatively asked in a soft voice, "Is Your Majesty sending us to the Immortal Master Sect? Why go so far? Isn't the Xuan Yue Sect the closest?"
Emperor Hengzheng did not dismiss him because of his young age, but explained seriously: "The Xuan Yang Sect, which ranks third in the cultivation world, holds a test to recruit disciples in Qingyang Kingdom every year at this time. The Xuan Yue Sect may look similar to them, but it is actually ranked at most tenth. Of course, we should go to a better school for the exam."
After speaking in a low voice, Emperor Hengzheng gave a brief introduction to the latest developments in the cultivation world that he had just inquired about. Although these were all extracted from the mouths of those who served the immortal masters or from gossip in the marketplace, their authenticity could not be guaranteed.
For example, the top-ranked Wenjian Sect is actually very poor. It is said that the sect leader has worn the same clothes for 180 years, and he always wears the same outfit on every formal occasion without ever changing.
For example, the Baiyue Sect, which ranks second, has a top-grade water spiritual root in its chief disciple, making him the most suitable for dual cultivation. Not only are many female celestial masters pursuing him for marriage, but many male cultivators are also eager to try.
For example, the Xuan Yang Sect we're going to this time has a Supreme Elder who is the number one cultivator in the world. The reason the Xuan Yang Sect is ranked third is because this Supreme Elder never gets involved in anything.
For example, the Hundred Flowers Sect, ranked sixth, is said to recruit mostly women. They may not be good at fighting, but they marry many disciples to various sects and can easily summon a large number of in-laws to help them.
…………
Hengzheng's rambling remarks, always accompanied by words like "I heard," "probably," and "maybe," suggest that this is just gossip, something to be taken with a grain of salt.
Xiao Mo listened attentively and even asked, "What about the Xuan Yue Sect in our country?"
Heng Zheng sighed, "The Xuan Yue Sect has sent a celestial master to our side. Who dares to talk about their affairs? After all, celestial masters are incredibly powerful, and one wrong move could cost you your life."
After saying that, he explained, "The reason I don't want you to go to the Xuan Yue Sect is not only because they are ranked low, but also because they are not peaceful. I don't know about other sects, but the few immortal masters who are stationed there are the kind of people who would hold a grudge and cause trouble for two low-grade spirit stones."
The Xuan Yue Sect members lived in the Zhaixing Tower, the highest building in the capital, which was the most exquisite, luxurious, and tallest building in the city.
Aside from the five immortal masters from the Xuan Yue Sect, the rest were all people Heng Zheng had arranged to serve them. In addition to being efficient in their work, they also needed to be quick-witted. The immortal masters treated these servants like ants and never hid their actions from others.
This led to mutual framing, scheming, and infighting among the five members of the Xuan Yue Sect. After all the servants shared the information, the truth was pieced together.
Heng Zheng couldn't help but gasp when he thought about it. "The worst time was when we went to ask that immortal master to exorcise the demon. We needed three low-grade spirit stones as a fee, but one of the immortal masters intercepted the job and took all the spirit stones."
Then, a few days later, he was poisoned by someone, and it was said to be very difficult to cure. He returned directly to the Xuan Yue Sect, and later a new person was sent to replace him.
In a place where every step is fraught with danger, mistakes will be met with retaliation, talent will be envied, and having nothing will lead to being bullied, let alone a sect with a poor ranking, even if it were ranked number one, no one would want their child to suffer there.
Looking at the emperor's serious face, Xiao Mo understood his thoughts from his eyes and finally confirmed one thing.
His Majesty is a good person, but isn't his personality a bit too... simple-minded? He's over forty years old and has been emperor for over ten years, how come he doesn't seem to have any guile?
Along the way, whenever Xiao Mo had a spare moment, he would go over and chat with Heng Zheng. After traveling for more than half a month, when they were almost at their destination, his original worry about his emperor being sold out turned into worry about his emperor being sold out by someone one day.
Hengzheng was very frank with Xiao Mo, directly stating his thoughts: sending you here to participate in the sect's recruitment was actually because he thought that if any of you entered the path of immortality in the future, the country and the people would have another powerful backer.
They don't need to swear oaths or make contracts promising to serve Anguo or to receive a certain amount of spirit stones each year. All they need to do is lend a helping hand when Anguo is in dire straits.
The path of cultivation is long, and no one knows how long it will take. It is just to leave a way out for the future of Anguo.
Heng Zheng smiled and said, "If you can achieve something in your studies, that would be great. Even if you don't do well and can only be a menial disciple, it would still be much more peaceful and stable than life in Anguo."
Most sects would accept anyone who could make the spirit-testing stone glow and was under twenty years old. Cultivation sects also need servants. Simple tasks like cleaning and dusting, chopping wood and carrying water, and more complex tasks like planting crops and herbs, tending the stove, could be done with just a few low-grade spirit stones for a year.
Although these can all be done with spells or talismans, accomplished immortal masters don't like doing such trivial things. Mortals without spiritual roots can't use talismans, so as long as they have spiritual roots, no matter how bad they are, they can basically be accepted.
Although it's just a menial job, it's a job that mortals crave. Putting aside everything else, even if a menial worker only gets one low-grade spirit stone a year, that's still a thousand taels of silver in the mortal world.
Heng Zheng didn't explicitly say what "peace and stability" meant, but Xiao Mo understood that in the past few months, more and more demonic cultivators had come to Anguo, but the Xuan Yue Sect had done nothing, allowing the demonic cultivators to become increasingly reckless.
In the past month, the number of people captured by demonic cultivators in Xiao Mo's county has exceeded the total number captured in the entire previous year, and there is even a trend of gradual increase.
If things continue like this, where will Anguo find peace? The people live in constant fear, living in constant anxiety, afraid that one day they will be captured by demonic cultivators. Not only will they be forced to drink blood and eat flesh, have their tendons and skin peeled off, but their souls will also be twisted and stuffed into some kind of soul-summoning banner or soul-training flag.
In the immortal sects, at least no demonic cultivator would dare to treat them like a buffet.
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Author's Note: Connecting with the neighboring emperor Hengzheng...
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