by <unknown>
"When the giant beast collapses, the maggots and rats hiding inside its body will only flee in panic in search for the next host. They will never live and die together with the beast!"
Chapter 1368: Disasters of the Cultivators! |
Li Yao had never thought that Han Yuantai—an 'outdated' person and a 'barbarian' in the eyes of the central dynasty—would have such sharp insight into the relationship between the Cultivators and the nation. Also, the man's mind was very clear besides his bravery. He indeed deserved to be the right-hand man of Han Baling, the magnificent dominator of Ghost Qin!
He was the first sign of the formidability of Ghost Qin as a force and its leader Han Baling!
With a smile of derision, Li Yao said coldly, "You are exaggerating, aren't you? Cultivation sects have existed for as long as Cultivators. It's been a tradition for a hundred thousand years. Are they all as unworthy as you claimed?"
"Exactly, they are unworthy!" Han Yuantai declared. "It was exactly because the cancer named Cultivation sects has been attached to the nation over the past hundred thousand years that almost a hundred dynasties replaced one another, causing infinite tragedies!
"Let's leave the history aside and focus on the Great Qian Dynasty's rise a thousand years ago!
"Before Great Qian, the world was in blood and chaos for hundreds of years. At that time, the thousands of sects of the Ancient Sages Sector were the kings in their own territory. The wars between them never ceased. Not just the ordinary people, even the Cultivators' death rate was unbelievably high. It would not be overstating to say that none of the people at that time were confident that they would see the end of a day in the morning!"
"It was not until the Thunderous Qian Hall, the predecessor of the Great Qian Dynasty, rose unstoppably and unified the world, leading eighty sects, that the new dynasty was founded, and the peace in the Ancient Sages Sector was restored!
"However, the peace was merely temporary!
"The world was unified by the Thunderous Qian Hall and the eighty sects together. Naturally, the contributors needed to be properly rewarded. At that time, countless sects and Cultivators who disobeyed the Great Qian Dynasty could be swallowed. After clearing away all the opposing forces, the ruling class lived in peace for hundreds of years with the resources that the dissidents left.
"However, during those hundreds of years, because of the peace and prosperity, the number of Cultivators grew exponentially!
"A Cultivators' longevity is almost as impressive as their ambitions. None of them are willing to be below someone else. When a senior brother and a junior brother in a sect are on par with each other but have a certain conflict, they will often establish their own branches to avoid the conflict and expand the influence of their original sect.
"Just like that, after hundreds of years, the eighty sects under the 'Thunderous Qian Hall' continued branching. Many unaffiliated Cultivators in the world founded their own sects, too. Gradually, they have evolved to the almost four thousand sects today!"
"The more Cultivation sects, the better." Li Yao sniffed. "What's wrong about that?"
"There will be nothing wrong if there are infinite resources."
After a bitter smile, Han Yuantai said, "But there are only limited spiritual energy and treasures in the world. One more Cultivator means a reduction in every Cultivator's share, and every newly founded Cultivation sect will add to the pressure of the nation. Although the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty seem to be getting stronger and stronger, they are in fact approaching their doom fast!
"According to the rules established when the Great Qian Dynasty was founded, the emperor and the Cultivators shall reign over the world together. Cultivation sects have too many privileges!
"We don't need to talk about the powerful sects such as the 'Purple Pole Sword Sect'. Let's just take a regular, medium-sized sect for example. Such a sect often boasts hundreds of core disciples and ten times more non-core ones. It may occupy hundreds of thousands of acres of the finest farmland. The folks that are attached to the sect can make up more than a hundred thousand households!
"According to the rules, Cultivation sects have little responsibility in tax and labor service. Once the Cultivation sects claim the farmland, it will be difficult for the nation to levy the tax. If someone becomes a disciple of a certain sect, or if they are a relative of a disciple in the sect, it will be difficult to force them to serve in the army or carry out other duties when the Cultivation sect is backing them!
"Such a Cultivation sect, after rooting in a certain place for hundreds of years, will monopolize all the powers in the local area. From the local officials to the local celebrities, everybody will be a disciple of the Cultivation sect. The rules of the sect will even replace the law of the nation. Also, thousands of fearsome warriors, who are not engaged in any kind of production activities but focused on building up their body and grasping new techniques, pasture on the Cultivation sect, which make it even more like an independent kingdom!
"Such 'independent kingdoms' hide their properties in the most stunning ways, resist the court's orders to levy tax or to draft soldiers, and often demand privileges from the court with the pretext of famines or natural disasters. What are they if not unhelpful, bloodsucking cancer?
"When the Great Qian Dynasty was first founded, there were only eighty such 'cancers', and the nation was still healthy enough to bear them!
"But right now, the cancers are getting greater and greater, and they are even giving birth to smaller cancers. They are becoming ever more vicious in stealing the nation's wealth, and they care less and less about the consequences! How can the Great Qian Dynasty not collapse when its emaciated body is burdened by four thousand such 'cancers'?"
Li Yao's eyes glittering for a moment before he said coldly, "If someone from Ghost Qin such as you sees through it so clearly, why do you think the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty turns a blind eye to it? Didn't you say that the Thunderous Qian Hall that the emperor belongs to was the greatest sect in the past? Can they not come up with a solution to eliminate the 'cancers'?"
Han Yuantai smiled and shook his head. "The emperor, which should be the supreme authority in the world, naturally wouldn't be happy to see so many disobedient 'cancers' who act on their own in his territory.
"However, it is more than difficult to eliminate the cancers!
"It's true that the Thunderous Qian Sect was the most powerful sect a thousand years ago, but it was only able to compete with twenty Cultivation sects at best. If the other eighty sects joined hands, there would have been nothing that the Thunderous Qian Sect could do about them!
"That's why the Thunderous Qian Sect had to, however unwillingly, cooperate with the eighty Cultivation sects and found the 'Great Qian Dynasty' together!
"The Great Qian Dynasty was more like an alliance of the eighty-one sects of the Ancient Sages Sector than a nation. The so-called emperor was nothing more than the leader of the alliance!
"When the Great Qian Dynasty was first founded, the friction between the emperor's Thunderous Qian Hall and the local sects was not very intense yet, and the two parties were still able to live in peace for hundreds of years.
"But when the friction escalated after the local sects expanded uncontrollably, the Thunderous Qian Hall declined and lost the ability to rectify the situation!"
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, "Now that the Thunderous Qian Hall has the power of the royal family of the Great Qian Dynasty, they must be entitled to the best resources, techniques, and magical equipment. When the local sects were expanding, the royal family should be growing stronger, too. Why was it declining?"
"It's understandable that you do not know this, Master," Han Yuantai said with a smile. "There are mainly three reasons for the royal family's decline.
"Firstly, every emperor is busy attending to national affairs. They are constantly participating in various meetings every day and dealing with one problem after another.
"I
f the emperor is diligent and works on everything in person, he will not have time for training at all. Even if their level improves, their combat ability will often be dropping!
"If the emperor entrusts the national affairs to the ministers and focuses on training himself, it will be an opportunity for the rise of the local sects because most of the ministers come from other Cultivation sects and not just the Thunderous Qian Hall alone.
"Secondly, the emperor's throne is the seat of supreme authority. Even if the title is just the nominal leader of the world, many people still covet it!
"The political struggles within the royal family and the parricidal tragedies have never ceased in the past thousand years! The emperor won't be assured when he entrusts the national affairs to the Cultivation sects, but he will be less assured if he entrusts the task to his brother or the other disciples of the Thunderous Qian Hall!
"Ever since the Great Qian Dynasty was founded, the Thunderous Qian Hall and the entire royal family have been mired in the cruelest internal strife. Counting the new emperor who ascended to the throne last year, there have been sixty-six emperors in the Great Qian Dynasty in the past thousand years. On average, every emperor passed away after they were in power for less than twenty years. Their longevity was unbelievably short for Cultivators who can easily live up to two or three hundred years old!
"It's ridiculously unlikely that they died of old age, right? Nobody can tell how many clandestine tales were behind their abrupt death!
"Thirdly, the world is the royal family of the Great Qian Dynasty's world on the surface. Therefore, the emperor is a common foe for all the Cultivation sects. No matter how contradictory the Cultivation sects are among themselves, they will join their hands to compete with the emperor when they are challenged by the latter!
"The emperor lives inside the royal palace in the capital city. He does not know the real situation in the nation, and most of his army come from the local areas, too. If he ends up on bad terms with the Cultivation sects, he does not even know for sure whose orders the soldiers will take. How can he expect to fight against the world?
"After a thousand years of struggles, the Great Qian Dynasty has reached a point where every place is brimming with Cultivation sects. The folks only recognize the leaders of the sects but do not know the emperor. When they are in trouble, they go to the Cultivators, hoping that the Cultivators will 'serve justice', instead of reporting the issues to the local law enforcement. It is not strange at all that the emperor's orders cannot leave the capital city or even the royal palace!"
Deep in thought, Li Yao said, "So to speak, for the emperor, the Cultivation sects are truly untreatable and obnoxious cancers?"
"Not just for the emperor. They are cancers that are a hundred times crueler for common folks too!" Han Yuantai said solemnly. "Most of the members of every sect are aggressive, murderous soldiers! They do not work or have knowledge about any trade. What they do every day is train themselves in the ways of killing!
"Besides, their appetite is shocking, too. The food that they consume is dozens of times more than what ordinary folks need!
"To feed a Cultivator who does not have a job and practices his techniques all day long, even if he is only in the Refinement Stage, it will still require almost a hundred peasants to slog in their farmland day and night!
"Moreover, the Cultivators cannot be just satisfied with food. They also demand entertainment facilities, crystals and minerals, and marvelous pills and medicines!
"Therefore, when the Cultivators and Cultivation sects of the Great Qian Dynasty expanded crazily like mushrooms after a rain, their exploitation of the people became even harsher. The folks who were affiliated with the Cultivation sects couldn't live on any longer!"
Chapter 1369: Causes of the White Lotus Cult! |
The more Li Yao heard, the more surprised he became. He observed Han Yuantai up and down carefully.
Before his dialogue with Han Yuantai, and especially when he suppressed two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators easily, no matter how he reminded himself, he could not help but look down on the ancient Cultivators and feel too confident about himself.
He even found it difficult to consider his trip a perilous mission like his adventure in the Blood Demon Sector. Instead, he felt that he was having fun in an Ancient Cultivator Theme Park.
It never occurred to him that a world of ancient Cultivators that was entirely blocked from the universe could produce such an insightful man as Han Yuantai!
Han Yuantai was already remarkable. What kind of great hero would Han Baling, the magnificent leader of Ghost Qin, be?
What amazing accomplishments would such people have achieved if they were born not in the Ancient Sages Sector, which was enshrouded in the dark nebula, but in the boundless sea of stars outside?
But maybe it was not too late.
Whether Li Yao was willing to or not, the 'ancient Cultivators' who dominated the Ancient Sages Sector would break out of the dark nebula and appear in the world of modern Cultivators one way or another!
What would happen when three hundred ancient Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators appeared in the federation, the Imperium, or the Covenant Alliance?
Li Yao calmed himself down and pretended that he did not buy it. He sneered, "You must be exaggerating. The Cultivators in the Southland of Sorcerers have a long history, too. Why aren't such things happening here?"
"The Southland of Sorcerers is different from the main territory of the Great Qian Dynasty," Han Yuantai replied very peacefully. "With all due respect, Master, the Southland of Sorcerers is still in an underdeveloped phase. There are few Cultivators in the first place, and the sects here are mostly small, with a membership of ten or so people.
"Take your master Elder Five Despairs for example. He only had two disciples, and he lived in a residence deep inside the mountain. He never had a high demand for the villages and tribes nearby.
"Also, despite the unfavorable climate in the Southland of Sorcerers, the yields of farmlands here are high enough for the ordinary people. If they are left with no choice, they can always feed on bananas if crops cannot be grown.
"Therefore, while the rest of the world is plagued by wars and famines, the Southland of Sorcerers is a unique, peaceful place!"
Li Yao was rendered speechless for a moment.
Although Han Yuantai was from the northern prairies, he truly had a lot of general knowledge about the world.
The Southland of Sorcerers was a typical tropical and subtropical rainforest. It seemed unlikely for a prosperous civilization to develop here. But if the locals did not have a high requirement on their living conditions, it was easy for them to survive by feeding on the bananas, cassava, and jackfruit.
Therefore, although most of the barbarian Cultivators looked ugly and creepy, even if they took one person for food every day, they would be eating only three to five hundred in a year.
But it was nothing unusual for a million people to be killed in a famine caused by a great war.
Therefore, it might be inappropriate to judge a regime superficially.
Li Yao sighed to himself and raised his eyebrows. "Is the rest of the Great Qian Dynasty different?"
"Of course. For ordinary people, the environment in the Great Qian Dynasty's main territory is much harsher than in the Southland of Sorcerers," Han Yuantai replied unhurriedly. "There are a hundred times more Cultivators in the Great Qian Dynasty than in the Southland of Sorcerers. Also, they are highly organized, greedy, and manipulative. Their demands on the folks are a hundred times higher than the barbarian Cultivators'!
"In the states of the Great Qian Dynasty occupied by the Cultivation sects, even including the fertile land of honey and milk in the southeast, the folks are merely struggling to survive under the oppression of the Cultivation sects!"
"Really?" Li Yao blinked and said, "I'm told that the southeast of Great Qian is the land with the most abundant spiritual energy. Of the hundred and eight natural paradises i
n the Ancient Sages Sector, more than half are in the southeast. How can the people's lives be difficult?"
"You might not know the details, Master." After a chuckle, Han Yuantai said, "It is exactly because the land in the southeast is too fertile that people's lives are difficult!"
"Oh?" Li Yao was truly puzzled this time. "How so?"
"It's simple. Because of the land is brimming with spiritual energy, naturally, the crops in the land belong to the Cultivators. How can the ordinary folks deserve them?
"In the southeast, near the towns occupied by the Cultivation sects, of every fifteen acres of farmland, at least seven are dedicated to the 'spiritual rice' that is specially grown as food for the Cultivators. Such rice grains are as large as pearls and contain bountiful spiritual energy. They are also known as Jade Crystal Pellets. Because of food's contribution to the buildup of Cultivation and the refill of spiritual energy, it is the most common food in the Cultivation sects.
"Since the Jade Crystal Pellet has so many merits, the ordinary folks who grow it are of course unqualified to enjoy it. All the Cultivation sects forbid such folks from eating a single Jade Crystal Pellet!
"Also, they are not able to eat such food even if they want to. The intense spiritual energy inside the food can only be dissolved with Cultivation arts in order to provide nutrition.
"If the ordinary people eat the food accidentally, one grain of the rice will be enough to blow up their stomach and kill them!"
"What about the other eight acres?" Li Yao asked.
"The Cultivators can't just feed on rice." Han Yuantai smiled. "The remaining land will be used to grow ingredients for pills, fodder for rare animals, and raw materials for the Cultivators' robes.
"As a result, most of the produce of the fifteen acres of land are for the Cultivation sects. What the folks have is just half an acre."
Li Yao was dazed. "Only half an acre?"