Chapter 287

Having subordinates running around feels really good.

Yu Qi led dozens of cultivators, together with manpower from several nearby small and medium families, moving over ten thousand sleeping children and tens of thousands of Changsheng Sect disciples who cried to heaven and cursed heaven to Triple-link City.

These children's spirits were severely wounded, but under the nourishment of the Zen light emanating from Zhu Yue, their tragic memories blurred, their spiritual wounds healed, and in the future they can cultivate and live like any ordinary person.

Zhu Yue's strength is extraordinary, especially her profound attainment in Buddhist Zen.

Unless these children's future cultivation far surpasses Zhu Yue, they will find it extremely hard to recall this tragic childhood episode.

For them, perhaps this is a good thing.

As for those Changsheng Sect followers...

They are a bunch of despicable wretches who deserve death, male or female, their hands stained with the blood of innocents, their bodies soaked in evil and filth.

However, their aptitudes are quite good.

Among them, some Changsheng Sect members have aptitudes that can be called outstanding, and some even faintly carry a strange ancient bloodline, like the Giant Bloodline within Shi Fei, possessing extraordinary potential.

These scoundrels are corrupt to the core, basically impossible to reform and become anew.

Yet their offspring will become the urgently needed talent supplement for Triple-link City.

Parents with superior aptitude more easily produce offspring of outstanding aptitude.

Parents who possess a special bloodline also more easily pass that bloodline down.

In the eyes of Wu Tie and Lao Tie, these tens of thousands of Changsheng Sect followers are nothing less than ten or even hundreds of thousands of excellent cultivator seeds.

Triple-link City lacks no ordinary commoners; let these Changsheng Sect followers pair up, breed, then give their offspring to the city's ordinary commoners to raise, nurturing them with the city's resources.

It is foreseeable that before long, Triple-link City's appearance will be completely renewed; these new-generation young cultivators will make the city's foundations deeper, purer, and more vibrant.

Sitting on a large stone pillar, Wu Tie took out some melons and fruit wine to entertain Zhu Ri and Zhu Yue.

Gray rock lizards, big spiders, and huge pythons slowly walked past beneath the stone pillar, carefully slowing their pace lest they jostle the children they carried on their backs.

Yet those tens of thousands of Changsheng Sect followers whose cultivation had been abolished did not enjoy such treatment.

Barefoot, with long ropes around their necks binding them in a line of over a hundred, they walked with an unsteady gait.

Shouts and curses continually erupted from the massive column; the cultivators escorting them showed no leniency, whipping them with lashes across head and face until these twisted-natured Changsheng Sect followers cried out for mercy.

Wu Tie smiled and explained his disposal plan for these Changsheng Sect followers to Zhu Ri and Zhu Yue.

Zhu Yue sighed: "Separating their children from flesh and blood from a young age harms heavenly harmony."

Zhu Ri gave Zhu Yue a sideways glance, grabbed a jug of fruit wine, lifted his head and gulped down several dozen jin in one go, then let out a satisfied burp and snorted coldly: "A bunch of bad seeds—what good could they possibly teach? Fellow Daoist Wu Tie's planning is a boon for them."

Zhu Yue did not drink alcohol; she simply held a big, golden melon and happily took big bites.

After wiping the sticky melon juice from her face, Zhu Yue took a breath: "What the Senior Brother said is also… In this day and age, we humans must carefully conserve every bit of strength. Killing them would be a pity, letting them go would go against our conscience; better to raise them to bear children."

Wu Tie gave Zhu Ri and Zhu Yue a thumbs-up.

These two senior siblings are not hidebound; having such insight is excellent.

"Raising them for nothing won't happen," Wu Tie said calmly. "Triple-link City has vast uncultivated lands, medicinal fields, orchards, and so on—there will always be work for them."

Although their cultivation was abolished, these fellows are still accomplished cultivators; their physical strength far exceeds that of ordinary commoners. To put it bluntly, even Chonglou Realm cultivators whose cultivation was stripped would be far more useful pulling a cart than those large livestock.

Such precious labor, Wu Tie would not simply feed them for nothing.

"Labor reform," a term from Lao Tie's inheritance flashed in Wu Tie's mind; he chuckled and said, "Labor reform, to atone for their past sins."

Zhu Ri grabbed another large jug of fruit wine, gulped it down with a 'glug', then set the jug down and raised his right front hoof: "Fellow Daoist Wu Tie's actions clearly show he has grasped the true meaning of compassion—excellent, excellent."

Lao Tie shifted into hu lang form, lazily lying beside Wu Tie, squinting at Zhu Ri, that loud braying donkey.

"Aren't Buddhist disciples supposed not to drink?" Lao Tie drawled: "Back in my day I also knew a few old baldies; I know somewhat about your Buddhist precepts."

"Plain liquor, this is plain liquor," Zhu Ri chuckled dryly, shook his head, opened his mouth, and grabbed another jug: "Besides… this poor monk's appearance is not that of a proper Buddhist disciple but an incarnation of the Seventy-Two Heavenly Demon Pillars… Is it strange for a demon god to drink?"

Wu Tie and Lao Tie stared at Zhu Ri, dumbfounded.

The term 'plain liquor' is already quite something, deserving of shamelessness.

As soon as the phrase 'incarnation of the Seventy-Two Heavenly Demon Pillars' left his mouth, Wu Tie and Lao Tie didn't know how to criticize it.

"Xiao Tie, remember, when talking to baldies you need to keep seven, eight, nine minds on guard… Their single tongue is adept at making the dead sound alive and making stones nod… In short, if you feud with them, don't argue; just roll up your sleeves and get to work—that's best."

Lao Tie fixed Zhu Ri with a fierce glare, angrily warning Wu Tie.

Wu Tie smiled, raised his cup, and offered a toast to Zhu Ri.

Zhu Ri happily nodded, then seized another jug of fine wine and downed it with a 'glug'.

"Great Samsara Temple, so poor," Zhu Ri set down the wine jug and heaved a deep sigh: "Every inch of land is measured precisely, and every inch's yield must go to support the people who take refuge under the Great Samsara Temple."

Zhu Ri looked at Wu Tie and said seriously: "Even the palm-sized world opened up by the abbot and several elders is used to grow grain—just enough to scrape by."

Zhu Yue nibbled a honeydew melon on the side, murmuring: "So many disciples are sent out as wandering monks, supposedly to contact fellow Buddhists, but hey, it feels like they're just sending us out to find our own food."

Wu Tie's mouth twitched.

Lao Tie's mouth twitched.

Wu Nu rolled about on Lao Tie's back, laughing heedlessly with 'heehee hahaha'.

Zhu Ri sighed: "As a poor monk not yet enlightened, it's rare to see such fine food and wine; craving some oral pleasure is indeed improper… yet it can't be blamed on the poor monk. Well, afterward, just recite a few more sutras."

Zhu Yue finished a honeydew melon, nodding repeatedly in agreement with Zhu Ri's words, then she hugged a big, round watermelon about her size.

Wu Tie again produced some melons and fruit from his bracer.

Tai Cang Realm cultivators possess great divine abilities and also big bellies; their life forms have transcended mortals, so they can go three years without food or devour a thousand sheep a day. With provisions running low, it shows Wu Tie's hospitality lacks sincerity.

Fortunately, Triple-link City's products are extremely abundant, and Wu Tie's bracer also holds ample stores.

The large procession passed slowly beneath the stone pillar; Wu Tie and company sat on the pillar, waiting until the convoy transporting over ten thousand children and escorting tens of thousands of Changsheng Sect followers had passed, after which another long line arrived.

This troop's scale was even greater.

The Demon Chapter King sent Yu Qi and them out merely to transfer the populace of the surrounding great and small clans to Triple-link City.

In a short time, Yu Qi had already contacted over a hundred great and small clans in the vicinity.

In these great clans, the populace numbers in the thousands or even over ten thousand, and they raise warriors and slaves by the hundreds of thousands; in the small clans, the populace ranges from dozens to nearly a hundred, and they also keep thousands of warrior slaves.

Over a hundred big and small families migrated together, their marching formation was magnificent.

The direct-line members of these families rode various mighty mounts—big lizards, big spiders, big pythons—as well as some strange flying mounts, for example giant bats slowly flapping their wings as they flew through the air.

Behind these direct-line members were family warriors and slaves of all kinds pulling carts, carrying packs, and shouldering pots, pans, bowls and ladles.

In the surrounding Sanlian Region, to all the big and small families, Sanlian City was a deified fairyland, a place of ultimate bliss, a supreme blessed land where rivers flowed with milk and honey.

Before, only cultivators at the Life Pool Realm among the big and small families outside Sanlian City were qualified to bring a handful of clanspeople into the city.

Moreover, even if they entered Sanlian City, they had to pay a huge monetary cost to be able to stay there long-term.

Anyone who had ever entered Sanlian City, upon leaving, would boast extravagantly, making the city ever more mythic.

This time, the Demon Chapter King ordered the surrounding populace to migrate into Sanlian City, and in many people's hearts, this was a 'supreme virtuous governance'!

No one hesitated, no one wavered.

Big and small families packed up all their possessions, bringing along every member, and set off in a mighty throng toward Sanlian City.

The stout-built ox-tribe warriors bore heavy tables, chairs and large beds.

Medium-built werewolves and lizardfolk carried various iron pots and candelabras.

The petite, weakest dwarves, ratfolk and the like carried small packs filled with assorted foodstuffs.

The troop was huge, yet varied but orderly.

Organized by family, the massive troop advanced in neat, orderly fashion.

Wu Tie and company sat on the stone pillars, watching this massive troop slowly set forward.

After a full day and night, Wu Tie suddenly opened his eyes: 'What patience—I thought that madwoman Xuan Zhu would come for revenge right away, but I never expected they wouldn't lift a finger.'

Zhuri placed a large basin before him, filled it to the brim with fruit wine, and stuck out his long tongue to lick the wine little by little.

Hearing Wu Tie's words, Zhuri grinned: 'With the penniless monk here, rest easy—no heretic or evil path will dare cause trouble. Hmm, no, that's not right.'

Wu Tie, Old Tie, and Zhuyue rose together, gazing toward the dimly lit passageway behind the troop.

There was movement, and a big movement at that.

Xuan Zhu hadn't given up on revenge; he simply hadn't had time to muster enough manpower.

After all, in the previous battle Heiluo's forces lost tens of thousands, and the Chang'an branch of the Changsheng Sect was nearly wiped out; trying to urgently mobilize troops—how easy could that be? In the winding, twisting passageway, those mid- and low-level cultivators couldn't move that fast.

But after a day and night, with Xuan Zhu's hysteria and the Dark Guild's power under Heiluo's command, they finally had everything set up.

A terrifying Cold Qi blew out from the rear passageway.

Along the passageway, all the luminous moss and luminous vegetation on the rock walls froze at once, accompanied by a piercing cracking sound, as the moss and vegetation 'crack-crack' exploded into a sky-full of ice crystals.

Wherever the Cold Qi passed, the luminous vegetation was utterly pulverized, and the passageway instantly fell into pitch darkness.

The Cold Qi surged like a demon dragon, howling as it lunged at Yu Qi and the others bringing up the rear of the migrating column.

Yu Qi and the others shouted in unison.

Yu Qi and his dozens of companions hailed from Great Lake City, their expertise naturally involving water. As the Cold Qi surged, Yu Qi brandished his long blade while the other dozens of cultivators waved both hands, instantly sending a great sheet of white water surging up from the ground, forming a water wall that filled the entire passageway.

The Cold Qi came flying.

The white water filling the passageway, which was about a li wide, shuddered violently, and with a 'crack' it instantly froze into a thick ice wall.

The ice wall shattered, Yu Qi and the others simultaneously spat blood and fell back, as the broken ice wall sprayed forth tens of thousands of sharp ice shards that screamed like countless arrows toward Yu Qi and company.

The ice shards moved at extreme speed, arriving before Yu Qi and the others in an instant.

Yu Qi and his party had no time to react; they could only close their eyes and await death.

'Burp!'

A tremendous belch rang out, and a pitch-black loud-braying donkey together with a pitch-black fox wolf stepped forward to block Yu Qi and the others.

The fox wolf raised its head to a long howl, and instantly the sky-full of ice shards exploded into powder.

The loud-braying donkey lifted its two hooves and slammed them heavily onto the ground.

Vast expanses of golden auspicious light scented with sandalwood coalesced into heavy walls of light, surging forward like a tsunami-hurricane.

Wave after wave of Cold Qi rolled in, while stream after stream of auspicious light rushed forward.

Where Cold Qi and auspicious light collided, the passageway stretching nearly a hundred li churned with countless gold and blue vortices.

Zhuri's body swayed slightly as he spoke in a low voice: 'His cultivation isn't strong, but he holds an extremely powerful treasure… hum, where does it come from?'

Old Tie's body writhed as he slowly rose to his feet, placing the shamaness upon his shoulder.

Gripping his staff with both hands, Old Tie said in a low voice: 'Never mind where it's from—kill it first, talk later… Donkey, compare? See who can kill more?'

Zhuri laughed brightly, 'Just compare, but the penniless monk has nothing, not even a monk's robe, so no stake.'

Old Tie gave a hehe chuckle: 'You actually know the word "bet"? Drinking and gambling—you're really not a good monk.'

A tremendous boom rang out from the passageway.

A beam of azure divine light enveloped a young man whose handsome face resembled a heavenly deity, his body emanating surging Cold Qi; he stepped one by one through the vortices born of the clash between Cold Qi and auspicious light, walking slowly toward Old Tie and Zhuri.

'I am You Chang, come to bestow upon you lowly beings eternal slumber.'