Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 284

Chapter 284 Human Life as Tribute

. Yu Feng noticed carriages rolling toward the Blood-Red Hall, the residence of the Blood River Ancestor. The ruts were deep, and the horses struggled to move, indicating they were carrying heavy cargo.

The Blood River Ancestor was the primary force in the establishment of the Immortal Dynasty, responsible for recruiting cultivators and handling external affairs.

“We pay homage to the Blood River Ancestor. Your magical powers are as great as the heavens, and you are eternally immortal.”

The mortal emperors gathered here, completely lacking the imposing aura of authority that often emanated from the court. Instead, they knelt and kowtowed to the Blood River Ancestor.

Now that the immortal cultivators of Tonggu Continent have unified under the Immortal Dynasty, their former patrons have abandoned them and arrived here.

To maintain their foothold on the continent, they must demonstrate their loyalty and cling to the strongest support.

They came to pay tribute. They

did not send envoys, but rather, the rulers of entire nations came personally to pay tribute, establish diplomatic ties, and kneel to beg for vassalage.

It was foreseeable that Tonggu Continent would become a place of universal adoration, with thousands of mortal kingdoms paying homage to the Immortal Dynasty.

The mortal emperors carefully handed the list of tribute items to the boy, who then passed it on to the Blood River Patriarch.

What list did the Blood River Patriarch need to see? With a sweep of his divine sense, he could see the tribute items on the carriage.

Gold, pearls, agates, antiques, collectibles, calligraphy and paintings… there wasn’t even a single spirit stone. They were

all commonplace things, very valuable to mortals, but not of much value to cultivators.

It was impossible for them to have them. Anything related to cultivation would be snatched away by the immortal cultivation forces within the country, and they would get nothing.

The mortal emperors thought that as long as the meaning was conveyed, they didn’t have anything that the cultivators would be interested in anyway.

The Blood River Patriarch put the list away, and the mortal emperors were delighted to see that the deal was done.

Unexpectedly, the Blood River Patriarch said, “I will accept these scraps, but you will also need to provide a certain number of mortals as tribute.”

“Take Xuanji Nation as an example. Xuanji Nation is a large nation and should pay tribute of 100,000 mortals annually. As for other nations, someone will inform you.”

The Xuanji monarch was stunned. 100,000 mortals annually was far too many. With so little time, where to find them and who to choose were all problems.

“But this isn’t urgent. We don’t need mortal lives yet. Even if we bring them here, we’ll still have to provide them with food, which would be a real hassle. For now, I’m just letting you know about this so you can make preparations. You can send them here on the eve of the founding ceremony.”

The mortal emperors breathed a sigh of relief; there was still time to prepare.

Then, the Blood River Patriarch glanced at the Xuanji monarch and said, “Xuanji Nation is setting an example by sending 100,000 mortals. Prepare immediately and make no mistakes.”

The Xuanji monarch didn’t understand why he was being exempted, but he didn’t dare question it. He could only kowtow and thank the Patriarch for his kindness.

The Blood River Patriarch harbored no good feelings toward the Xuanji Kingdom. His incompetent offspring had died there, and this incident had led to a cosmic war between him and Old Man Du.

Given his status, he wouldn’t harbor a grudge against the Xuanji Kingdom, but he also didn’t want to make things easy for them, so he created a small obstacle.

He was in a rush to kill, so he decided to start by slaughtering 100,000 people to start his meal.

Leaving the hall, the kings, taking advantage of the boy’s announcement regarding the number of mortals needed, immediately inquired if he could reduce the number of mortals.

The boy scoffed, mocking the monarchs’ ignorance. “Do you know how much it takes to establish an immortal dynasty? The national defense array, the anti-air array… all require mortal blood sacrifices to maintain their operation. Reduce the number of mortal tributes and use your heads to fill the array?”

The Xuanji Kingdom’s monarch boldly asked, “Can’t we use spirit stones and spiritual power?”

“How can mortal lives be compared to spirit stones? Besides, the Heavenly Venerable is benevolent and compassionate, caring for both the righteous and demonic paths. He also needs to provide cultivation materials for the demonic cultivators.”

Naturally, these materials are human lives.

Hearing this was the Heavenly Venerable’s intention, the mortal emperors no longer dared to bargain.

They revered cultivators as immortals, while cultivators revered the Heavenly Venerable as an immortal. The gap between the two was so vast that they lacked even the qualifications to meet the Heavenly Venerable.

“The Heavenly Venerable can’t possibly allow low-level cultivators to serve as material. So, we have to settle for mortals.”

The mortal emperors shuddered. This was blatant murder.

“Besides, isn’t it difficult for each country to provide tens of thousands of people? Don’t you mortals suffer from famine every year, killing countless people? Wouldn’t it be better to transport them to the Immortal Dynasty before they die?” the boy said casually, thinking it was a good idea.

Jiang Li frowned as his spiritual sense scanned the scene. Famine didn’t exist in Jiuzhou. Famines came from severe droughts and floods. The cultivators could intervene, using their magic to control rain and rivers, artificially ensuring favorable weather and harvests, so there wouldn’t be a shortage of food.

The cultivators of the Tonggu World were so high and mighty that they wouldn’t help mortals with farming.

This also led to the Tonggu World’s population density being far lower than that of Jiuzhou.

…

“Junior Brother, are you saying that the ancestor asked Xuanji Country to provide 100,000 people, and that they should prepare them immediately?” Ma Pingfan asked the boy for information, realizing this was an opportunity to curry favor with the ancestor.

The ancestor wanted to trip up Xuanji Country and kill people. Then he could cause trouble for Xuanji Country and have the monarch select the young, active, and rebellious as sacrifices, giving the ancestor a taste of the trade.

He acted on his thought.

“Yu Feng, Senior Sister Wu Lian, there’s good news.” Ma Pingfan found Yu Feng and Wu Lian, as if to give them a great gift.

“Since we share the same master, I’ll give you a chance to enter the eyes of the Blood River Patriarch.”

“What?” Senior Sister Wu Lian felt that Ma Pingfan was a dog that couldn’t spit out ivory, and that there was nothing good about it.

“I’ll take you to Xuanji Country to select 100,000 slaves and present them to the Blood River Patriarch.”

Yu Feng felt that Ma Pingfan might want to give Senior Sister a chance, but definitely not for himself.

His rich experience of death told him that Ma Pingfan wanted to kill him.

His intuition in this regard has always been very accurate!

Yu Feng’s intuition was not wrong, Ma Pingfan really wanted to kill Yu Feng.

He had beaten this kid before, and he might hold a grudge against him, and he was also a genius. These two reasons were enough for Ma Pingfan to kill him.

He always takes action in advance against those who might threaten him, and cuts off the signs before they become a threat.

But the Celestial Lord pays attention to the number and quality of cultivators. Killing this kid openly might attract the attention of the Celestial Lord, which would be bad.

To be on the safe side, Ma Pingfan wants to take Yu Feng out of the Immortal Dynasty and kill him in the outside world without anyone knowing.

It would be best to create an accident.

Yu Feng feels that he is really unlucky. He has done nothing but was targeted by a Spirit Transformation Stage cultivator.

Besides, what kind of genius is he? He became a first-grade Danjie at the age of eighteen. It was all because of the wise guidance of Senior Jiang and the careful teaching of various seniors in the Fusion Stage cultivators.

He is just a good student.

Senior Sister Wu Lian doesn’t like to do this.

Human slave, Blood River Ancestor, these two words put together definitely don’t mean anything good.

But Ma Pingfan doesn’t care about their opinions. He picked them up without saying anything and flew to Xuanji Country.

(End of this chapter)