Chapter 282 - 254 Humanity’s Offering_2
Zhou Yi formed a spell, becoming invisible as he entered the highest power structure of the human race. Neither the overt nor covert sentries at the entrance, nor the detection spells, issued any warning.
Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a screen wall made of bluestone, over two zhang in height, with a simple design and a surface carved with a pattern of ten thousand galloping horses.
"I have long thought that as time passes, familiar faces would be everywhere, and now it seems about right!"
Zhou Yi looked at the screen wall, focusing on a scar several feet long, and murmured to himself.
"When the Duke’s mansion was attacked that year, I secretly protected it, and this mark was left by a martial expert..."
The current location of the Cabinet office was the former site of the Duke’s mansion in Fengyang.
In the past, the Imperial Clan of the Great Zhou announced their abdication and issued a decree to hand over the Duke’s mansion to the Cabinet, using it as a foundation to transform into an office.
The original Capital Magistrate’s Office, the Military Department, the Six Ministries, and so on were all opened to the public as tourist attractions and have now been torn down and replaced with air-raid shelters.
Centuries have passed, and the Cabinet office has undergone several renovations, with few traces of the Duke’s mansion left; pavilions and towers have mostly been built later.
Zhou Yi wandered around the yard before heading straight to the central hall, where he saw several Cabinet dignitaries engaged in conversation.
After quietly listening for a while, he found their talk to be nothing but empty congratulations. Indeed, no one would speak their true mind in public!
"I, Tang Xuan, have met the layman."
Zhou Yi suddenly revealed his form and saluted everyone with his hands clasped.
The officials hastily stood up and returned the gesture with a bow, performing the extremely proper Taoist etiquette. The Grand Secretary, with a slight frown, said,
"True Monarch, please take the seat of honor."
Zhou Yi, without being ceremonious, seated himself at the top left side, opposite the Grand Secretary.
"Has the Cabinet summoned me for any particular command?"
"Not at all."
The Grand Secretary waved his hands, smiling as he said, "If it were in the past, the True Monarch would be a celestial being beyond the emperor’s reach, let alone us mortals to command."
The Deputy Grand Secretary nodded, "We should be the ones visiting the True Monarch, fearing it might bring trouble, thus we trouble the True Monarch to come here…"
"There’s no need for such formalities, just speak directly."
Zhou Yi would rather listen to music in a brothel than talk to people from the Imperial Court; going back and forth is less straightforward than simply performing a Soul Search.
The Deputy Grand Secretary, with a smile still on his face, didn’t mind being interrupted and continued, "With the True Monarch’s temperament, I won’t beat around the bush. Firstly, naturally, it is the honor and power that the True Monarch deserves."
As he finished speaking, a secretary immediately passed over a stack of documents.
Zhou Yi’s divine sense swept over them, and he immediately understood their contents: the human alliance was inviting him to become a ceremonial offering.
What followed were dozens upon dozens of ceremonial rights, which in essence could be said to be equivalent to the laws of the alliance; even if a grave crime was committed, one would merely lose the ceremonial status.
"The True Monk has no obligations to fulfill?"
The Grand Secretary said, "The True Monarch agreeing to become a ceremonial offering, to suppress the fate of the human race, is already more than we can wish for; how could we dare to impose other obligations?"
"I have no reason not to sign."
Zhou Yi flipped to the last page, his fingertips sparkled with spiritual light as he casually signed the name Tang Xuan.
The atmosphere in the hall instantly became joyous; even though no one thought Zhou Yi would refuse, they still dared not speculate about the will of the True Monarch.
Normally, the alliance would not show such reverence towards a Golden Elixir True Monarch, yet Xiao Hong’s test data was a clear evidence. Saying he was a Land Immortal would not be an exaggeration; his power alone could overturn the entire Cabinet.
"The other matter concerns an ancient cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root..."
The Grand Secretary said, "The alliance currently has six cultivators with the Heavenly Spiritual Root, without a mentor, relying solely on self-cultivation. We hope the True Monarch could give them some guidance, and in the future, they will surely treat you with the respect due a mentor!"
Zhou Yi pondered briefly, then nodded, "First, let me see them."
After a short while.
Six beams of light descended into the hall, comprising four men and two women, each with a vigorous bearing and a robust aura.
The Heavenly Spiritual Root has unique advantages; not only is the speed of cultivation extremely fast, but there are also no bottlenecks before Core Formation, requiring no need for Foundation Establishment Pills to break through smoothly.
"Their cultivation is all at the peak of Foundation Establishment, reaching the limit of spiritual energy."
Zhou Yi’s divine sense swept over them, instantly seeing through each of them, their mana, meridians, magic artifacts, and more leaving nothing hidden.
Initially, the six of them had some pride, thinking the other was just lucky to have an early start; they subconsciously wanted to resist the invasion of divine sense, but in an instant, it felt as deep and unfathomable as a profound ocean.
Shaken to their souls, they all nearly lost their footing and almost fell over.
"Quite a few fine youngsters!"
Zhou Yi nodded slightly, their insides as pure as their outsides, unsullied by any malevolent or sinister energy, each harboring an Ancient Treasure within their dantian.
That these individuals had made such achievements was clearly not solely due to self-cultivation; the alliance must have expended an enormous amount of manpower and resources on them.
The Grand Secretary candidly said, "Over the years, there have been more Heavenly Spiritual Roots than these six, but many proved disloyal and were not recorded into the alliance’s training program."
"The stronger one’s power, the greater the potential threat!"
Zhou Yi strongly agreed. The Cultivation World recruits successors through multiple rounds of selection and observes them for over a decade before they endure various trials to finally become True Disciples.
The Grand Secretary asked, "They all have top-notch talents and temperaments. Would the True Monarch be willing to take them as disciples?"
"I am quite busy with preaching duties on normal days, and in the coming days, I will attempt to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Having six disciples is a bit too many..."
Zhou Yi’s gaze swept over and pointed to the youth on the far left, "What is your name?"
Jin Jiuxiao bowed respectfully, "Reporting to the True Monarch, this junior’s name is Jin Jiuxiao!"
"I have a predestined connection with the Jin surname." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Zhou Yi clapped his hands and smiled, "Would you be willing to be my nominal disciple, and if you can achieve the Golden Core in the future, you could be called a True Disciple!"
"Greetings, Master!"
...
Qiong Continent.
The birthplace of fierce beasts, the sacred land of the six-eared Demon Emperor.
The current six-eared Demon Emperor is the third generation. Perhaps due to the influence of catalyst elixirs, the bloodline of the Demon Clan is not as pure, and their lifespans are much shorter than what’s recorded in their ancestral memories.
Demon Emperor Mountain.
An eerie silence prevails, devoid of the usual roars of beasts.
At the mountain’s summit laboratory, surrounded by the corpses of fierce beasts, fresh blood stained half of the mountain red.
At this moment.
The ground thunderously split open, and from it emerged two fierce beasts, each tens of feet thick and hundreds of feet long, comprised entirely of fresh red flesh, like earthworms magnified by millions of times.
The flesh writhed and, with a leap, lunged into the sky.
"A Demon King? No, they possess merely flesh without spirit!"
Ao Qin stood in midair, hands clasped behind his back, watching coldly as the two fierce beasts pounced.
Roar!
The deafening roar of the beasts echoed, their mouths revealing dense teeth, like deep tunnels aiming to swallow Ao Qin whole.
"Ignorant of your superior, you shall be executed!"
Ao Qin reproached, his eyes shooting out a green divine light, easily slicing the beasts into four parts.
The carcasses of the fierce beasts wriggled on the ground, healing visibly at their wounds, surprisingly transforming into four separate beasts, albeit with somewhat diminished strength.
"Such strong vitality should rightfully belong to this king."
Ao Qin’s face showed a hint of joy as he formed a spell, green divine light enveloping the beasts.
Overwhelming vitality surged out, coalescing into specks of green light that entered and merged with Ao Qin, making his aura increasingly unfathomable.
At this time.
A six-eared macaque walked out of the laboratory, clad in a dark blue robe, curiously remarking.
"Could it be an ancient Demon Cultivator?"
"This king of the Greenwave Pond is the third prince, hmm, now worthy of the title Greenwave Dragon King. If you have any more tricks up your sleeve, let them out without hesitation; don’t say that I didn’t give you a chance!"
Ao Qin swept the macaque with his Divine Sense, its strength was but Foundation Establishment, not even comparable to those two earthworm-like fierce beasts.
"The might of a Demon King is beyond comparison for this junior."
The six-eared macaque bowed, pleading for mercy, "I am willing to hand over both the laboratory and the throne of the Demon Emperor, hoping that the Dao friend would spare the lives of my clan."
"Clan?"
Ao Qin’s brow rose, puzzled. "You all stimulate your bloodline with sorcery, born without father or mother, where do you have a clan? Don’t think of deceiving this king!"
After emerging from seclusion in the Four Symbols Sanctuary, Ao Qin had wandered among the hundred thousand mountains for a year, slaying several members of the Demon Clan to Soul Search and seize, and had come to understand a fair bit about new elixir technique.
"That’s a common new technique, involving only a transformation of the bloodline! The four Great Demon Emperors manage to sustain their lineage precisely because they discovered the secret of bloodline inheritance, refining the blood of their ancestors into an elixir and infusing it into ordinary macaques."
The six-eared macaque explained, "The macaques that survive in this way are all of the six-eared clan, naturally inheriting the memories of their ancestor’s techniques, aiding them significantly in exploring the origins of their bloodline."
Ao Qin’s expression became one of fascination, pondering the many possibilities, whether his Azure Dragon bloodline could transform and produce more Azure Dragons.
If those descendants contained the Azure Dragon bloodline, and he could separate the essence and consume it, perhaps it would compensate for his deficiencies.
Having thought this, he waved his hand to capture the six-eared macaque in his claw, directly performed a Soul Search to read the memory of the bloodline inheritance; indeed, as it said, the first generation of the six-eared Demon Emperor had split into a dozen six-eared macaques.
After the second generation, there are now dozens of macaque demons in the six-eared clan.
Ao Qin tossed the six-eared macaque to the ground, its soul damaged, eyes idiotic and body convulsing.
"Excellent, henceforth this king shall be the source for the dragon lineage!"