Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 631

Chapter 629 Refugees

“The spiritual energy of this Eight Desolate World is so rich, comparable to that of our Nine Provinces.”

“Indeed, in such an environment, it’s no wonder eight Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivators appeared.”

“I’d only heard of stories from the Eight Desolate Worlds before, but didn’t pay much attention. Only after arriving here did I realize that the Eight Desolate Worlds is actually a starry world.”

“Mortals and immortal cultivators coexist on a planet. The Divine Transformation Stage cultivator who rules this planet is called a Star Lord.”

“A region composed of life-bearing planets is called a Star Domain. Above the Star Lords are the Fusion Stage cultivators we see, called Domain Lords.”

The three transformed into mortals and landed on an ordinary life-bearing planet. Walking along the official road leading to the Imperial City, they discussed the information they had just gathered.

“Domain Lords’ domains vary in size, ruling over anywhere from dozens to hundreds of life-bearing planets.”

“Above the hundred Domain Lords are the eight Desolate Lords.”

“So, the Eight Desolate Worlds has more people than the Nine Provinces, but the proportion of cultivators is very small.”

Star Lords, Domain Lords, and Desolate Lords—this is the ruling class of the Eight Desolate Worlds.

“As for the three immortals mentioned by Lord Ganhuang, they’re just groundless legends, not real.”

Jiang Li shook his head. This planet was too isolated from the outside world. There were several nations on it, and the so-called history books only recorded the history of each nation.

The myths and legends were mainly about the Star Lords, with only a few mentions of “Domain Lord” and “Wasteland Lord.” Their reference value was almost zero, devoid of any useful information.

“Ordinary people used copper coins as currency, while a simple book cost three taels of silver, affordable only for officials and merchants.”

“Mortals were clearly divided into classes. A peasant remained a peasant for life. Without money, they couldn’t go to school, and there was no chance they would pass the imperial examination and enter the imperial court.”

The three of them arrived at the gates of the imperial city. Before they could take a closer look, they heard a noisy noise coming from the gates.

“Get out, you unsightly bastards! His Majesty has been so merciful, allowing you to live outside the city is a great blessing, yet you’re pushing your luck even further, trying to enter the Imperial City.”

“Don’t you even look at yourselves? You’re as dirty as if you’d crawled out of the mud, without even a single piece of clothing. How dare you enter the city?”

The guards at the city gates threw a few refugees out, their faces full of disdain and their mouths lashing out with curses. There

weren’t just a few refugees outside the city, but thousands of them. They were starving, emaciated, and half-n*ked, living in makeshift tents.

This scene reminded Jiang Li of the refugees he had seen in the zombie world; it was a starvation nightmare

. Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin were somewhat unaccustomed to this situation; Jiuzhou hadn’t seen refugees in thousands of years.

“Good sir, please be kind and give this child something to eat?” A woman, noticing the rich and noble attire of Jiang Li and his companions, knelt before him and begged for food.

The woman was so emaciated that, without a closer look, it was impossible to tell whether she was a man or a woman. She held a child in her arms, also utterly starving.

Bai Hongtu squatted down, touched the child’s tiny hand, and exclaimed in surprise, “Your child is burning! You have a fever! You need medical attention immediately.”

But the woman had no money for medical attention.

Bai Hongtu, understanding the woman’s plight, took out a pill and fed it to the child. The pill transformed into a stream of water, entering the child’s body, and the child’s rapid breathing gradually calmed.

Yu Yin took out some food, intending to share it with the woman and child. Seeing the food, a group of refugees quickly surrounded Yu Yin, reaching out for her food.

Their plight was similar to the woman’s.

Just as Yu Yin was about to offer more food, she heard the clanging of a gong.

“Dinner’s ready! Dinner’s ready! Hey, hey, hey, people over there, if you don’t get in line, you won’t get any today!”

The refugees, upon hearing this, stopped pestering Yu Yin and quickly picked up their broken bowls and lined up at the soup kitchen.

The man beating the gong had a resonant voice and a stable chassis, evidently a man of practice.

He unloaded hundreds of pounds of porridge from the cart without even breathing.

The man beating the gong asked his companions to share the porridge, and then he came over to Jiang Li.

“Whose family are you, young man or young lady? Handing out food in front of refugees, be careful they might rush over and snatch all your valuables!”

Jiang Li clasped his fists and said, “Thank you, brother, for your help. Where did these refugees come from, and why is the court ignoring them?”

Seeing Jiang Li’s words, the man beating the gong softened his tone and his aura subsided.

“My name is Feng Qiang, and I’m the eldest senior brother of the Qingfeng Martial Arts School. A few months ago, there was a severe flood in the south, which washed away the crops. Some areas had no harvest at all. The funds allocated by the imperial court were embezzled by corruption at all levels. The people in those areas had no choice but to leave their homes and come to the imperial city to beg the court for some food.”

“But now the Hualong Sect, where the Star Lord is from, is coming to inspect the imperial court. The imperial court has no time to take care of these people. Master is kind and asked me to come here to distribute porridge as a charity, but we in the Qingfeng Martial Arts School don’t have much money, and the daily porridge can only ensure that they don’t starve to death.” ” There

are floods in the south, and the Hualong Sect is not taking any action?”

Feng Qiang laughed as if he had heard a very funny joke: “Action? How could those monks care about the lives of mortals?”

Feng Qiang sneered: “In my opinion, it won’t be long before the imperial court will drive these people ten miles away from the imperial city on the grounds that they are an eyesore, so as not to offend the eyes of the Hualong Sect masters.”

“Everyone knows His Majesty’s desire for immortality. It’s impossible to cultivate with the Five Elements spiritual roots, yet His Majesty remains single-mindedly devoted to the Hualong Sect, begging them to bestow the cultivation method.”

Feng Qiang realized he’d said too much and quickly stopped talking, changing the subject. “If you gentlemen and ladies wish to do something charitable, you can donate some money, and our Qingfeng Martial Arts School will purchase food for you.”

Bai Hongtu pulled out some gold and handed it to Feng Qiang, who was startled. “You are truly generous! With this money, the refugees can easily buy enough food to have a good year.”

“I wonder if you could give us your names, so we can express our gratitude.”

“My name is Jiang Li, and these two are Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin. We are cultivators, not from any aristocratic family.”

“Cultivators?” Feng Qiang was stunned. In his impression, cultivators weren’t so amiable.

Even the sect servants, at the first level of Qi training, walked around with disdain, looking down on those who practiced martial arts.

“I see that you have a long breath and steady steps. You must be a martial artist. I wonder if you could talk to us about the martial arts?”

Feng Qiang sighed, feeling a little inferior: “What’s there to talk about martial arts? It’s just a trick to bluff people.”

“The source of martial arts can no longer be traced. I heard that it’s because we can’t cultivate our five elements spiritual roots, and cultivating is a waste of spiritual energy.”

“Some people were unwilling to be oppressed by cultivators all their lives, so they created martial arts, trying to stand on the same platform as cultivators.”

“Unfortunately, although martial arts was created, we also became slaves.”

“Slaves?”

Feng Qiang rolled up his sleeves, revealing the green pattern on his arm: “This is the slave mark planted by the Hualong Sect. Anyone who practices martial arts must plant this mark. If anyone is found practicing martial arts without the slave mark, they will be wiped out on the spot.” “

Some people also call us martial slaves.”

(End of this chapter)