Chapter 628: Refugees
“The spiritual energy in this Eight Desolations World is incredibly dense, comparable to our Nine Provinces.”
“Indeed, in such an environment, it’s no wonder they could produce eight Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators.”
“Previously we only heard some scattered stories about the Eight Desolations and didn’t pay much attention. Now that we’re here, we’ve discovered the Eight Desolations is actually a world of stars.”
“Mortals and cultivators coexist on the same planet. The Spirit Transformation cultivator who rules this planet is called the Star Lord.”
“Regions composed of life-bearing planets are called star domains. Above the Star Lords are the Unity Stage cultivators we encountered, called Domain Lords.”
The three transformed into ordinary mortals, landing on a completely average life-bearing planet, walking along the official road leading to the imperial capital while discussing the information they had just gathered.
“Domain Lords’ territories vary in size, ruling anywhere from dozens to hundreds of life-bearing planets.”
“Above the hundred Domain Lords are the eight Desolation Lords.”
“Calculating this way, the Eight Desolations has more people than the Nine Provinces, though the proportion of cultivators is very small.”
Star Lords, Domain Lords, Desolation Lords – these formed the ruling hierarchy of the Eight Desolations.
“As for the three immortals mentioned by the Qian Desolation Lord, there are only some unreliable legends and rumors, not worth taking seriously.”
Jiang Li shook his head. The information on this planet was too limited. There were several countries on the planet, and the so-called history books only recorded this particular country’s history.
Myths and legends mainly concerned the Star Lord, with only occasional mentions of “Domain Lord” and “Desolation Lord” in fragments, offering almost zero reference value and no useful information.
“Ordinary people use copper coins as currency, while a regular book costs three taels of silver. Only officials, merchants, and aristocratic families can afford them.”
“Among mortals, social classes are strictly divided. Peasants remain peasants for life. Without money, they can’t study and have no possibility of entering government service through imperial examinations.”
The three arrived at the imperial capital’s gates. Before they could observe carefully, they heard noisy sounds coming from the city entrance.
“Get out, you wretched refugees! His Majesty is merciful, allowing you to live outside the city is already tremendous fortune, yet you push your luck wanting to enter the imperial capital.”
“Look at yourselves! Filthy as if you crawled out of mud, not even a complete set of clothes between you. What face do you have to enter the city?”
The city gate guards threw several refugees outside the walls, looking disgusted while continuously cursing and scolding.
Outside the city weren’t just a few refugees, but tens of thousands of them. They were starving, pale and thin, barely clothed, living in temporarily erected tents.
This scene reminded Jiang Li of the refugees he had seen in the Zombie World – almost identical.
Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin felt somewhat uncomfortable with this situation. The Nine Provinces hadn’t seen refugees for thousands of years.
“Kind sir, please show mercy, could you spare some food for this child?” A woman, seeing Jiang Li’s trio dressed in luxurious clothes indicating wealth or nobility, knelt before Jiang Li begging for food.
The woman was emaciated to the bone – without close observation, one couldn’t even tell her gender. She held a child in her arms, also severely malnourished.
Bai Hongtu crouched down, touched the child’s small hand, and exclaimed in surprise: “Your child is burning up! This is a fever, he needs immediate medical treatment.”
But how could the woman afford medical care?
Bai Hongtu understood the woman’s predicament and took out a pill, feeding it to the child. The pill dissolved into liquid entering the child’s body, and the child’s rapid breathing gradually stabilized.
Yu Yin took out some food, intending to share it with the woman and child. A group of refugees seeing there was food here quickly surrounded Yu Yin, reaching out to beg for food.
These refugees’ conditions were similar to the woman’s.
Just as Yu Yin was about to take out more food, they heard loud gong-clanging sounds.
“Food distribution! Food distribution! Hey hey hey, you people over there! If you don’t come line up, you won’t get any food today!”
Hearing this, the refugees stopped pestering Yu Yin, quickly turned back to grab their broken bowls, and lined up at the porridge distribution point.
The gong-beater had a powerful voice and very stable footing, clearly someone who had trained in martial arts for some time.
He lifted hundreds of pounds of porridge from the cart without even panting.
The gong-beater had his companion distribute the porridge while he came over to Jiang Li’s group.
“Young masters and miss, which family are you from? Taking out food in front of refugees – be careful they might swarm you and steal all your valuables!”
Jiang Li cupped his hands respectfully: “Thank you, brother, for helping resolve the situation. May I ask where these refugees came from, and why isn’t the imperial court doing anything?”
Seeing Jiang Li remain polite despite his blunt speech, the gong-beater’s demeanor softened.
“My name is Feng Qiang, head disciple of Qingfeng Martial Arts School. Several months ago, floods in the south destroyed crops, leaving some regions with no harvest. Funds allocated by the court were embezzled layer by layer. People from those areas had no choice but to leave their homes and come to the imperial capital, begging the court for some food.”
“But now the Dragon Transformation Sect where the Star Lord resides is coming to inspect the court. The court simply has no time to deal with these people. My master, being kind-hearted, sent me here to distribute porridge and do good deeds. But our Qingfeng Martial Arts School doesn’t have much money either. The daily porridge only ensures they don’t starve to death.”
“The floods happened in the south – did the Dragon Transformation Sect take any action?”
Feng Qiang laughed as if hearing a very funny joke: “Action? Why would those esteemed cultivators care about mortal lives?”
Feng Qiang said sarcastically: “In my opinion, it won’t be long before the court uses ‘unsightly appearance’ as an excuse to drive these people ten miles away from the imperial capital, lest they dirty the eyes of the Dragon Transformation Sect’s esteemed members.”
“Everyone knows His Majesty’s obsession with seeking immortality. With a Five Elements Spirit Root, it’s impossible to cultivate, yet His Majesty still focuses entirely on the Dragon Transformation Sect, praying they’ll bestow cultivation methods.”
Feng Qiang realized he had said too much and quickly stopped, changing the subject: “If you young masters and miss wish to do good deeds, you could donate some money. Our Qingfeng Martial Arts School can handle purchasing food on your behalf.”
Bai Hongtu took out some gold and gave it to Feng Qiang, who was startled: “You all are truly generous! With this money, the refugees can buy enough food to last until next year’s harvest.”
“May I know your names, so the refugees can properly thank you?”
“I’m Jiang Li, these two are Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin. We’re cultivators, not from any aristocratic family.”
“Cultivators?” Feng Qiang was stunned. In his impression, cultivators weren’t this friendly.
Even Qi Refinement First Stage sect laborers walked arrogantly here, looking down on martial artists like them.
“I observe your breathing is deep and steady, your steps firm – you must practice martial arts. Could you tell us about the martial path?”
Feng Qiang sighed, somewhat self-deprecatingly: “What’s there to say about the martial path? It’s just flashy moves to fool people.”
“The origins of martial arts can no longer be traced. I heard it’s because we with Five Elements Spirit Roots can’t cultivate properly – cultivation would just waste spiritual energy.”
“Some people, unwilling to be oppressed by cultivators their whole lives, created martial arts, trying to stand on equal footing with cultivators.”
“Unfortunately, although martial arts were created, we became slaves.”
“Slaves?”
Feng Qiang rolled up his sleeve, revealing a blue pattern on his arm: “This is a slave mark planted by the Dragon Transformation Sect. Anyone who practices martial arts must receive this mark. If they find someone practicing martial arts without a slave mark, they execute them on the spot.”
“Some people also call us martial slaves.”