Chapter 2291: Prophet, Craftsmanship Heritage

Xia Duo was listening with interest to Sainide introduce the Territory's laws when suddenly, an old man with a forehead covered in deep wrinkles rushed out from the crowd, plopped down on his knees before Xia Duo, and began jabbering away.

At the same time, an extremely intense, extremely clear, and almost entirely unambiguous message from the conscious mind was transmitted through the Spirit Thought Network—

"Great Lord of the Heavenly Dynasty, I beg you to save my people!"

The thought was repeated over and over with such intensity, and this person was none other than the one Xia Duo had just identified as having the status of an Elder within the hidden faction of the Mulan!

This made him feel somewhat curious; according to his deductions, the highest level within the hidden Mulan faction might be the "Prophet," followed by the "Elders," with these individuals serving as the backbone to link the Mulan of Yimaska into a single whole.

If it could be said that Sainide, who was not an Elder, and other ordinary Mulan who were unaware of the truth were easily moved by the new hope Xia Duo promised, then those Elders who had long-standing plans should not be like this!

They ought to have had a relatively clear plan; as long as they could create a god, they would have no need for anyone else to give them hope—they themselves would be the hope.

Although their plan might not succeed in Xia Duo's view, as participants in the plan, they should possess a certain level of conviction. If it were so easy to change their Faith, then why bother participating in any God-Making Project at all!

"Look, aren't all those around you your people?" Xia Duo asked, knowing the answer, just to see what the other party was actually thinking.

"Those here are only a small portion of my people; there are still a vast number of my people in Yimaska who cannot obtain Jiusu. I beg you to save them!"

"The number of new subjects my Territory can accept is limited. Give me a reason to grant them Jiusu!"

"My people are the best craftsmen. As long as you are willing to grant them Jiusu, they can offer everything to you!"

The craftsmen mentioned here by the Mulan Elder were not the Psionic Creation craftsmen of Yimaska, but rather traditional craftsmen like stonemasons and carpenters; there was no ambiguity in the Spirit Thought Network.

And the "offering everything" mentioned by this Elder included their very lives, and they would not hesitate even if it meant remaining Slaves, just to leave a glimmer of hope for their descendants.

Yet Xia Duo was not satisfied with this answer. Of course, it was not that he wanted more—after all, "everything" was already the maximum—but rather that the other party's answer had not hit the mark.

So Xia Duo shook his head. "This reason is not enough to convince me. I do not need you to offer everything. Say it again!"

Xia Duo's response left the Elder stunned for a few seconds before he reacted. To a Lord who mastered such a great order, using the same old tricks from Yimaska was nothing short of an insult. This thought immediately made him break out in a cold sweat.

Thinking further, he suddenly realized that the Mulan were completely redundant to the other party. Kindness and mercy were not infinite, and the other party had also said that the number of people the Territory could accept was limited. So, what reason should he use?

For a moment, the Elder's expression shifted repeatedly, and various thoughts in his mind clashed fiercely. In the end, he had to admit that the Mulan, already a slave race, truly had no merits worth the extra effort of Jiusu.

Could it be that he should mention *that*?

The Elder struggled internally, unable to make up his mind for a long time, but this entire thought process had already been seen by Xia Duo. The Mulan actually possessed a heritage of Creation Craftsmanship!

This was something he had never expected. After all, it had been a recognized fact for hundreds of years that the Mulan lacked the talent for craftsmanship, although Xia Duo had speculated that the Mulan might possess such talent and were merely hiding it.

But the Yimaska would not think so; if you didn't have it, you didn't have it, and there was no need for any cultivation. Under such circumstances, how could the Mulan obtain and preserve those craft heritages?

Xia Duo had personally experienced the process of perceiving the Creation Power; he knew well the difficulties involved, not to mention that perceiving the Creation Power was merely the beginning of a long path of craftsmanship—he had only taken the first step, and that step hadn't even truly landed yet!

By what right did the Mulan possess it?

Heritage, heritage—it could only be called a heritage if one had the ability to pass it on; otherwise, it was just a bit of knowledge about Psionic Creation. Xia Duo did not deny that the Mulan might possess the latter; after all, living in a nation of craftsmen, they would inevitably come into contact with some of it through osmosis.

But a heritage was not so easily obtained. Did they have secret artifacts to assist in perceiving the Creation Power? Did they have secret artifacts capable of Control and regulating the Creation Power?

Did they have the Creation Principles summarized by countless Yimaska craftsmen over thousands of years? Did they have the Secret Artifact Manufacturing Technology that had also developed over thousands of years?

If they didn't have those, then what kind of craft heritage could it be called!

If not for the fact that there was no ambiguity in the Spirit Thought Network, Xia Duo would have even suspected that this Mulan Elder might have discovered the essence of the Spirit Thought Network's mind-probing and was engaging in thought deception!

However, this possibility was just a thought; it was actually quite unlikely. Even if it really happened, and the other party deceived him into purchasing—that is, granting Jiusu to—more Mulan, so what?

If there were no true craft heritage, wouldn't the other party worry about angering him, leading him to kill all those Mulan or sell them back to Yimaska?

It was not that things bought at a cost must be cherished; even ordinary people might smash a cup when angry. If a Lord of a territory felt offended, not to mention "corpses piling up a million-fold and blood flowing for a thousand miles," at the very least, they would not let it go easily.

But there was a problem now: this Mulan Elder had not proposed "craft heritage" to Xia Duo; all of this had been glimpsed by Xia Duo from the other party's Subconscious.

"Must find a way to make him bring it up voluntarily!" Xia Duo thought.

There was actually no technique to this. Since he already knew that a craft heritage might exist, he would never let it go. Although he had already decided to follow the path of the Creation Mythallar, having an orthodox path as a reference was of immeasurable value.

Not to mention that the heritage might also contain Creation Principles and Secret Artifact Manufacturing Technology—those were things he had sought in vain from the Yimaska authorities and could never stop thinking about!

How could he give this up!

So Xia Duo chose to show his cards. "To obtain something, one must pay a price. Elder Busouganglaisi, do you think my tolerance and mercy are so cheap?"

"My Lord, I, I—" Busouganglaisi clearly had not expected that Xia Duo would know his identity as an Elder, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

"Speak of the craft heritage! That is the only thing I have some interest in. If you don't have it, I can tell you that I will be leaving Yimaska tomorrow."

"Leaving Yimaska tomorrow?"

But before Busouganglaisi could feel surprised by this news, the craft heritage had already stirred up huge waves in his heart like a heavy object hitting water.

How did he know? How did he know?

Countless question marks echoed in Busouganglaisi's mind. His brain went almost blank for a moment, and it took a long time for him to recover. He realized that the most critical moment for the Mulan had arrived.

Whether it would be hope or despair depended on his next answer!