Chapter 331

Conditions?

Hearing Qin Chuan's words, the Second Realm representatives of all races' descent were shocked and bewildered, even starting to wonder if they had misheard.

They had already occupied half of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway, yet the Human Race Leader before them actually had the nerve to propose conditions?

"What conditions do you want to propose?" Paxia spoke with an icy expression; even though he was always known for his calm and caution, he could hardly contain his anger now.

However, facing the fury of these powerhouses before him, Qin Chuan seemed oblivious, speaking calmly: "If it weren't for you, the Human Race could continue to seize more territory and gain more resources; now that we have stepped back, you certainly ought to give compensation."

"Are you crazy?" the Crystal Clan's Second Realm powerhouse stared wide-eyed, his expression utterly astonished.

They had already taken so much of their territory and plundered so many resources, yet this guy actually demanded compensation from them?! "I'm certainly not crazy."

Qin Chuan looked at the gathered Second Realm beings and said, word by word: "Compensation for one territory is worth the resources of 100 Legendary Stones; the Heavenly Stairway still has thirty-two unoccupied territories. You shall hand over resources equivalent to 3200 Legendary Stones, and the Human Race will cease hostilities."

Upon saying that, an uproar broke out among the crowd.

The Legendary Stone is merely a red item, but as a usable item for all races, it often serves as the standard for measuring the value of equipment; a piece of golden equipment is worth roughly 5 to 10 Legendary Stones.

With that opening remark, Qin Chuan demanded several hundred items of resources—truly a lion's huge mouth.

Even the Blue Moon Chief Priest, who was idly watching from the side, now looked at Qin Chuan with a somewhat strange gaze.

"Impossible!" Paxia growled lowly, "We absolutely cannot produce such compensation."

"Even if we fight to the death, my clan will absolutely not make such compensation!" the Dragon Clan representative said in a deep voice.

"Exactly, better to fight to the death." a Second Realm being of the Nether Ghost Clan echoed.

"Is that so?" Qin Chuan narrowed his eyes, "Then let's do it. When the Human Race occupies the entire First Realm of the Heavenly Stairway, we will block all races from entering the Heavenly Stairway from the Dream World."

"One comes in, one gets killed."

"You Second Realm beings can't descend, and I don't plan to go up either—let's just drag this out."

"If the Race War breaks out, the losers will surely be exterminated; why would we Humans rush to the third level?"

"I'll just stay in the First Level until the end of time." Qin Chuan smiled blandly at the gradually changing Second Realm beings, "I've heard that Second Realm beings can live five thousand years, and Third Realm beings can live over ten thousand years."

"We Humans will stay in the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway for tens of thousands of years, wear you all out; once the other races have no fresh blood replenishment, won't we Humans become the victors?"

"You..." Pasiya's face completely changed; upon careful thought he realized that what Qin Chuan said was truly feasible.

"As long as we occupy the First Level and prevent all races from coming up, cut off their fresh blood replenishment, and wear out the Second and Third Realms, the Human Race will naturally become first."

"But then he realized the problem, his eyes icy as he looked at Qin Chuan: 'How could you possibly live tens of thousands of years? Without entering the Second Level, the mythic First Realm only has a lifespan of a thousand years!'"

"Is a thousand years not enough?" Qin Chuan's expression unchanged, "Before I was just an ordinary person; living to a hundred was the greatest blessing, now I can live a thousand years."

"You all probably didn't grow up from ordinary people, right?"

"But I am."

"A thousand years is already enough for me."

"Moreover, compared to possible extermination, the Human Race doesn't mind trading a thousand-year lifespan limit for the race's long continuation." Qin Chuan looked at the Second Realm beings before him, "How about it? Have you thought it through clearly?"

"All the Second Realm beings fell silent in unison."

"If the Human Race really does what Qin Chuan said, they truly have no recourse."

"Damn it, how could such a major bug appear!"

"What should we do now? Really submit to the Human Race before us and pay such a huge compensation?"

"You know, given each race's millennia of accumulation in the Heavenly Stairway, such compensation would be enough to hurt their bones and sinews!"

"Meanwhile, Qin Chuan stood with his arms crossed, a smile in his eyes."

"He knew that such an operation was absolutely beyond the expectations of the six major races, completely rule-breaking."

"If it were the Heavenly Stairway of the past, such a practice would absolutely not work, because this kind of severe slowdown of game progress would inevitably draw the administrators' intervention, but the current Heavenly Stairway is essentially different from the past one."

"Now, on the Heavenly Stairway, there are no administrators anymore."

"Here, everything is decided by the players."

"Several Second Realm beings glanced at each other, communicating secretly in a special way for a moment, then Pasiya gritted his teeth and said, 'Compensation is possible, but not that much.'"

"We, all races combined, are willing to compensate the Human Race with resources equivalent to 1000 Legendary Stones."

"A thousand..." Qin Chuan laughed inwardly, but put on a troubled expression outwardly, "The minimum is two thousand."

"After a round of haggling, the final compensation amount was set at 1600 Legendary Stones."

"All the races gritted their teeth, while Qin Chuan broke into a grin."

"This time he came to understand the advantage brought by the information gap, and felt the joy of the Moon Spirit."

"If they don't make compensation, can the Human Race really keep relying on staying in the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway?"

"Actually, no."

"Although no administrators intervene, we must never forget the deity that appears after the Race War ends."

"Although they won't constantly focus their gaze here, once a certain time passes without a final victor being decided, they will likely descend early; judging by the temperament of that deity when the Immortal King acted against it, at that point the Human Race will instead suffer disaster."

"In short, the Human Race is merely taking advantage of the administrators' absence to deceive these five information‑behind races."

"While Qin Chuan spoke, he had been covertly observing the reaction of the Blue Moon Chief Priest; as the representative of the race most eager for the Race War to begin quickly, the Blue Moon Chief Priest was startled when Qin Chuan proposed delaying for tens of thousands of years, yet showed no trace of anxiety or anger."

"They likewise understood that the Human Race could not achieve this."

"Alright, having finished stating that condition, let's discuss another one." Qin Chuan remained composed, while the other races' Second Realm beings simultaneously changed color.

"What other condition?" the Second Realm being of the Dwarf Demon clan growled low, his eyes already filling with red blood veins.

"We've already cut our flesh once; is this guy still not satisfied? 'Naturally it's your ransom fee,' Qin Chuan glanced with surprise at the several Second Realm beings present, 'You've descended; by rights I should make a move.'"

"Once I make a move, your descended forms will surely not be preserved, your true selves will also suffer heavy injury, unable to descend again in a short time—this loss is certainly not minor."

"Now that I'm not making a move, shouldn't you offer compensation to thank me for my magnanimity?"

"As Qin Chuan's words fell, the venue fell into a deathly silence."

"'In war, envoys are not slain.' Pasiya said with a grim face, 'We, representing all races, have come here to negotiate with the Human Race, and you actually intend to strike at us?'"

"We Humans don't observe that." Qin Chuan chuckled, "What 'envoys are not slain'? I've never even heard of it."

「Hurry up, either hand over compensation, 20 Legendary Stones per person, or die here. 」 The voice fell, Qin Chuan's figure suddenly vanished on the spot.

The Second Realm of the Nether Ghost Clan let out a miserable scream, in an instant being completely devoured by the fire of death. 「Do not try to actively end the Descent. 」 Qin Chuan smiled, 「Otherwise, just now that Nether Ghost Clan's... uh, I forgot to ask their name. 」

「In short, everyone paid the compensation, so it's good for you, good for me, good for everyone. 」

As Qin Chuan's voice fell, all the Second Realm cultivators present fell into deadly silence.

Just now, when Qin Chuan made a move, nobody present could see it clearly.

This guy really lives up to the rumors, possessing some kind of extremely terrifying power.

Should we refuse to hand over the compensation and fight to the death, or swallow this anger?

For the races that have already retreated once, this seems not to be a difficult choice to make.

「I'll pay. 」 Paxiya spoke weakly, raising his hand, and twenty Legendary Stones appeared in the void.

The other races followed suit, with Chief Priest Lan Yue wearing a strange smile on his face, also handing over twenty Legendary Stones.

This made Qin Chuan unable to help but glance at them again.

「I know, you all hate me very much. 」 Qin Chuan, after putting away the Legendary Stones, chuckled, 「I'll give you a chance for revenge. 」

「In three years, I will ascend to the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway. 」

「By then, I'll accompany you all to have a good time. 」

Three years?

The faces of all the races showed expressions of shock.

This fast?!

Previously, they had wished the human race would hurry up and ascend to the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway so they could have a chance for revenge, but now they felt the other side was coming too fast.

Which of these races hasn't stayed on the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway for over a decade or even several decades before gradually ascending to the Second and Third Levels? In just three years, can the human race grow that strong? Thinking this, the faces of the races looked somewhat unpleasant.

Because they suddenly realized that the human race could grow this fast, all the resources consumed were taken from them.

Damn it!

Seeing the races' expressions shifting unpredictably, Qin Chuan grinned.

Regarding when to ascend to the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway, he, Feng Yin, and the representatives of various forces had held a discussion.

The result of the discussion was: the sooner, the better.

Affected by this large-scale campaign by the human race, aside from the Moon Spirits, all the other races can be said to have suffered great vital injury.

If we delay for several decades, these races can easily recover their vital energy; there's a saying: delay brings change, and that's the principle.

One year is enough for the human race to digest the resources gained from plundering half of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway, give birth to a large number of powerhouses, and firmly establish a foothold on the Heavenly Stairway.

Charging into the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway is more than sufficient.

As for the three-year deadline he gave to the various races, it's merely a smokescreen.

What he wants is to strike them unawares in the future.

「Alright everyone, there's nothing else, let's end this discussion here. 」 Qin Chuan smiled slightly, 「I'll only give you three days. 」

「If after three days we haven't received equipment worth 1600 Legendary Stones, the human race will continue to take action. 」

After saying that, Qin Chuan pushed open the conference room door, leading the human experts guarding outside away in high spirits, leaving only the representatives of the various races with shifting expressions.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The various races did not delay compensation, and within three days they provided equipment equivalent in value to 1600 Legendary Stones.

But they also played many little tricks.

Among the compensation, there was hardly any trace of the Legendary Stones that the human race currently needs most, and the vast majority of the equipment was relatively unsuitable for human use.

Obviously the ancestors of all the races saw that the human race intended to use this batch of compensation to continue strengthening itself; although they pinched their noses and endured the peace agreement, they also tripped up the human race as much as they could.

As for this, Qin Chuan and the others were not surprised.

As long as we got the stuff, in the future we will inevitably trade with the various races, and unwanted things can eventually be exchanged for what we need.

Let alone anything else, just the portion we previously plundered is enough for the human race to give birth to hundreds of Legendary Stage cultivators.

Among those Legendary Stage cultivators, if as few as one-tenth can break through to the Mythic Stage, the number of Mythic Stage cultivators of the human race will surpass that of all other races.

Having received the compensation, Qin Chuan also had no intention of breaking the agreement.

The human race halted its campaign of conquest, holding the lordship over 34 territories, turning 8 of them into bases exclusively for humans, and then began a lengthy period of rest and recuperation.

After two months of ceasefire, the human race had over five thousand Epic Stage cultivators, over two hundred Legendary Stage cultivators, and broke through forty Mythic Stage cultivators! After eight months of ceasefire, the human race had over ten thousand Epic Stage cultivators, over five hundred Legendary Stage cultivators, and broke through sixty Mythic Stage cultivators! The human race was secretly accumulating power enough to shock all the races.

And as the leader of the human race, Qin Chuan also never stopped his steps.

He, together with Lin Yue, traversed every corner of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway, seeking out ritual sites to help their contracted spirit beasts complete their final evolution and breakthrough.

Cry—

Accompanied by a sharp cry that echoed through the heavens, the fully evolved Little Green, clad in cyan-gold light armor, with a long plume trailing from its crest, swooped down from the high heavens at great speed, stirring up gusts of wind.

Like Shui Hua, this contract spirit beast had been following the two from the beginning, and it was the last of the twelve contract spirit beasts to break through.

As for the reason, it's also quite simple.

Because Little Green has an extremely special ritual.

【Wind Trace: Soar ten million li through the skies of the Heavenly Stairway, gathering the traces of wind as proof of one's own breakthrough.】

Because of this unique ritual, Little Green flew for several months before finally meeting the breakthrough requirement.

"We've already met the conditions for entering the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway." Qin Chuan took Lin Yue's hand and smiled.

"Hmm." Lin Yue nodded slightly, "It's faster than expected; I'm sure the other clans never imagined we'd be going up so soon."

Qin Chuan nodded, without hesitation clicking the 【Breakthrough】 on the panel and choosing to enter the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway.

A massive gateway appeared before the two of them.

The two joined hands and stepped inside, where a line of text appeared before their eyes.

【Welcome, player, to the Second Level of the Heavenly Stairway—Divergence!】

(This chapter ends)