Most of the permanent residents here were disciples dispatched by the Blood Reversal Sect, stationed along with Foundation Establishnt cultivators to guard the entire city. The standing pillars were placed at the key nodes of the underground spirit veins.
They were connected to the formations laid out in this place, like fortified strongholds.
When Wang Yu suddenly descended, his cultivation of Qi Refining eighth layer was not concealed. The mortals near the city gate who were entering or leaving all revealed fearful expressions, cautiously stopping in place, not daring to look at him.
So this is the kind of ruling model...
While he was coming to understand it, two cultivators arrived together. Noticing the disciple token on Wang Yu’s waist, they quickly saluted.
“Greetings, senior brother.”
Wang Yu nodded.
“I am stationed at Spider Mountain. I ca to Heart-Erosion City to take a look around.”
The two of them imdiately showed knowing smiles. Leading the way ahead, one of them said.
“How should we address senior brother? I am Han Fei. I know all about the conditions in Heart-Erosion City and can guide senior brother.”
“Call Wang Yu. And this one, how should I address you?”
“Yang Shan. Please, senior brother Wang Yu.”
The three of them talked and laughed, soon stopping at one of the pillar palaces. Han Fei introduced.
“Heart-Erosion City has a total of one hundred and eight pillars. Each one can accommodate one thousand cultivators for cultivation. At present, each has only fifty or sixty stationed. So of our fellows went out to the Mountain Spring Market.
“Does senior brother Wang Yu wish to go anywhere? The places of pleasure here in Heart-Erosion City, although not as grand as the Azure Concubine Pavilion of the sect, still have their own features, young…”
“No need.” Wang Yu raised his hand in refusal.
“I heard that Heart-Erosion City is going to hold an auction. Is this true?”
“This…”
The other man Yang Shan looked hesitant.
“I do not know where senior brother heard this from.”
“Of course I have my own channels. Is it true or not?”
Yang Shan and Han Fei exchanged glances, their eyes eting as if making a decision.
“Since we are fellow disciples, we will tell senior brother. But this auction is not the kind you are thinking of. It is… Lord Zhou’s business.”
“Lord Zhou?” Wang Yu raised his brows. It must be the Foundation Establishnt cultivator stationed in Heart-Erosion City.
“Yes. These pillar palaces hold a Spirit Testing Assembly every year. Those who et the requirents are sent into the nine peaks of the sect. If they test below three spiritual roots, then they are divided into upper, middle, or lower grades based on appearance, and sent to the Immortal-Mortal Residence for training.
“There are separate camps for males and females. Every three to five years an auction is held. The auction items are them. After careful training, whether used as tools for venting desire or as dual-cultivation furnaces, the buyers will be intoxicated with pleasure.”
Wang Yu’s expression grew stern as he listened. Fortunately, he had been born in the Taihu Spiritual Domain. His clan was rely a mortal family. Strictly speaking, after his clan rose, he was part of the first batch to undergo spirit testing.
That made him second generation. If he had been born in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain and cultivated as a Spirit Slave, he did not know what would have beco of him.
Wang Yu could not help asking. “The sect needs large numbers of Spirit Slaves to supply the vast consumption of spirit sand. Why not send them to the nine peaks to be raised as Spirit Slaves?”
Han Fei said. “It is not that they do not want to. It is that they cannot.”
Yang Shan added. “Yes, senior brother does not know. The garrison posts change once every hundred years. These important figures belong to different factions. To which peak should they be sent?
“Providing Spirit Slaves for a hundred years is simple, but for the next stationed garrison, whether to send them or not becos a problem. And it is hard to make profit from it.”
Wang Yu more or less understood the operating logic. In short, the stationed guards rotated frequently and were divided into factions.
But Heart-Erosion City was only one. The resources produced by this city could not beco a tool of profit for any single faction. The main portion had to be handed over to the sect.
Thus, the stationed guards simply sought personal gain.
For example, this Lord Zhou ran the Mountain Spring Market and the Spirit Slave auctions. For a re early Foundation Establishnt cultivator to create so many sches, he was indeed a talent. He must have made no small fortune these years.
His background was surely not shallow. The Zhou clan…
Wang Yu’s thoughts were turning when Yang Shan suddenly spoke.
"Senior brother, we have arrived at the Immortal-Mortal Residence. Before the auction officially begins, we disciples of the sect can first pick spirit slaves we like. As long as we pay spirit stones, we can take them away."
Wang Yu froze for a mont. He had thought those ambushers lured him out with at least so truth. But in the end, it turned out to be just a spirit slave auction, wasting his ti.
There was no Foundation Establishnt spiritual treasure at all.
Still, since he was already here…
He might as well take a look. At least it would broaden his knowledge.
"Then let’s have a look?"
"Please, senior brother."
"Hey, you there, co introduce the goods."
"Yes, I am coming."
A cultivator standing at the gate quickly trotted over with a flattering smile. He was one of Lord Zhou’s subordinates, not a mber of the Blood Reversal Sect.
His cultivation was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, so he carried himself very humbly.
"My lords, please follow ."
The Immortal-Mortal Residence was a vast manor covering over three hundred mu. A green stone-paved road cut it into two sections, males on the left and females on the right.
At every intersection stood sword-bearing cultivators on guard. Those destined to be bought could only move about inside the manor.
The more outstanding the appearance, the higher the status here. Such ones underwent training in temperant, etiquette, and how to anticipate a master’s will.
Those with plain looks were trained from childhood in secret techniques that enhanced certain physical traits. They studied the arts of the bedchamber and beca technically skilled, regardless of gender.
Every one of them underwent harsh training. They were adept at serving others, even in the skill of the tongue.
When Wang Yu entered, he saw a youth with stone locks tied to his waist and a golden ring clasped by his tongue. His flexibility was astonishing. Nine golden locks could be undone with his tongue in fewer than five breaths.
Their cultivation was mostly at the first or second layer of Qi Refining. Those who reached the third layer were rare. It matched the standard of being nurtured only for short-term use.
When the servant boy saw Wang Yu pause on a covered bridge, he quickly introduced.
"My lord, do you perhaps have an interest in that pale-faced youth? I can—"
"No, keep moving."
"Yes, sir."
The more Wang Yu looked, the colder his heart beca. His mood grew heavy. Whether righteous path or demonic path, there was an iron rule not to recklessly slaughter mortals.
Because immortals all co from the mortal world.
Mortals were like the earth. They could give birth to rare ores and life, just as those with spiritual roots could beco cultivators.
Mortals were the foundation of everything. To have more cultivators, one needed more mortals. Their only value was to reproduce and pass on.
Once a child with spiritual roots appeared, the talented ones would enter the sect, strengthening it and continuing the path of the ancestors. The less talented beca servants and spirit slaves, providing comfort and pleasure for the strong.
Lord Zhou made his profits precisely by seizing this truth. The spirit slaves he cultivated were highly competitive.
It was likely he had even learned from experts of the Joyous Union Sect.
At this mont, Wang Yu faintly understood. The demonic path was not only filled with world-shaking butchers who committed endless massacres. There were also those who exploited and suppressed under rules and order.
There were madn who slaughtered mortals to refine treasures. There were also manipulators skilled in human nature, who turned the blood and suffering of others into their own road to the Dao.
At the root, all were people who would stop at nothing for cultivation.
This was the second ti he truly understood that saying.
Deeper and deeper.
At last, it turned into a long sigh.
User Comments
0 comments from readers