Chapter 647

The bitter wind howled, sweeping up snow across the sky.

Snowflakes like knives struck Wu Tie and the others repeatedly.

The God-Beating Whip emitted a faint purple-gold light, illuminating a radius of a hundred zhang around Wu Tie in bright clarity, and also lighting up the twisted, unsightly faces of the three Great Martial Divine Kingdom god-realm powerhouses.

Xiahou Xiao lay limp in Wu Tie's grasp, unable to move, unable to speak, not even able to turn his eyes.

Wu Tie made a motion to strike Xiahou Xiao's head with the God-Beating Whip, and the three gods of the Great Martial Divine Kingdom hastily retreated far away.

How much is a god born of the Xiahou imperial clan worth? This account is hard to settle.

A god, from wailing infant to toddler, to child, to adolescent, to youth, to adult… all the way growing, how much resources must he consume?

Not only cultivation resources, but for such a vast imperial clan, tens of thousands of newborns each year, the total population numbering in the hundreds of millions, all bloodlines from the same ancient ancestor, their aptitudes hardly differ…

On what basis can you achieve eternal immortality as a god, while we must wither and age, ultimately exhausting our yang lifespan and vanishing between heaven and earth?

A god, what they consume is not merely cultivation resources.

They also must consume far too many complex things… such as friendship, familial love, romance, and various tangible and intangible complexities of the human heart-desire, and so on, and so on, and so on.

The situations of the three kingdoms also differ.

Setting aside the current internal chaos and the yet-undetermined formation of divine kingdom powers in the Azure Hill Divine Kingdom, let's not mention it.

In the Great Martial Divine Kingdom, one family reigns supreme: the Wu clan of the Great Martial imperial house. They are the world's premier military clan, the top family of the divine kingdom, and the Wu clan, with strength that overwhelms the world, has seized over ninety percent of the kingdom's resources and over ninety percent of its authority.

What noble houses, what military clans and civil officials—all are merely servants, even slaves, of the Wu clan.

Thus, the elder statesmen of the Great Martial Divine Kingdom's imperial clan basically decide which junior generation can become a god.

Because it is a one-man rule, disputes are minor; conflicting interests certainly exist, but they are absolutely not intense.

As for the Great Wei Divine Kingdom, the Xiahou clan 'governs the world together with the scholar-officials'; the Xiahou clan is more like the alliance leader elected by countless aristocratic clans, responsible for mediating the contradictions and conflicts of the major factions and orderly dividing their respective shares of profit.

Under this state system, for the Xiahou clan to elevate a new god, they must expend great benefits and bargain with the other aristocratic clans.

Thus, a god of imperial birth is not worth much in the Great Martial Divine Kingdom.

Because the god-realm powerhouses of the Great Martial Divine Kingdom are basically of imperial descent.

But in the Great Wei Divine Kingdom, a god-realm powerhouse belonging to the imperial clan is, to the Xiahou clan, a national treasure; losing one is an earth-shattering matter. Thus, to the Xiahou clan, Xiahou Xiao is very valuable.

However, to the other aristocratic clans of the Great Wei Divine Kingdom… the fall of an imperial-clan god…

'Hehehe,' perhaps now there are gods from the top clans of the Great Wei Divine Kingdom hiding secretly in the distance, silently observing this scene, hoping Wu Tie will strike a killing blow.

"Speak, how much is a god born of the Xiahou imperial clan worth?"

Wu Tie, in front of the three Great Martial Divine Kingdom gods and before the countless hidden onlookers possibly lurking in the dark, tore off Xiahou Xiao's garments.

Xiahou Xiao's spatial ring and the like had long been looted clean by Wu Tie; as expected, his spatial ring was extremely rich, dripping with oil.

Nevertheless, Wu Tie still gave Xiahou Xiao enough dignity; his clothes, hairpin, belt, boots, and so on were all treasures.

Now, before so many people, Wu Tie took off Xiahou Xiao's garments piece by piece, finally leaving him only a set of close-fitting undergarments. Pure white as snow, of fine fabric, the clothing clung tightly to his body when the wind blew; at a glance, he looked no different from a death row inmate awaiting beheading at the execution ground.

Those condemned prisoners, before execution, wore nothing but a set of close-fitting white coarse hemp garments.

Xiahou Xiao's clothing, aside from being of somewhat better material, is virtually identical in color and style to the garments worn by those death row inmates.

"This matter, we have no say in it." The old man who first struck at Wu Tie coughed heavily, then said in a low voice: "Prince An Huo Xiong, we are acting on the Emperor's orders to redeem that waste Wu Nu Lei."

The old man coughed once, then said solemnly: "Our Majesty said our Great Martial armies can withdraw from the territories we occupy, your nation's original lands within the Three Kingdoms battlefield, and furthermore, our Great Martial armies can lift the encirclement on your trapped remnant forces within the Three Kingdoms battlefield."

The old man spread his hands, appearing very sincere: "Look, we are still, very sincere."

"Your nation, within the Three Kingdoms battlefield, has one hundred twenty-five major military cities occupied by our Great Martial forces, plus countless medium and small cities and forts; the number of regular troops, auxiliary soldiers, and city civilians we have captured is close to ten billion."

"Among them, the remnant forces of your nation surrounded by our Great Martial forces total about fifty million. Able to hold out stubbornly to this day, these soldiers can be called loyal and brave."

"Although our Great Martial forces have gained such great victories, we too have paid a tremendous price. We are willing to relinquish everything we have seized in the Three Kingdoms battlefield, if only to exchange for Wu Nu Lei."

The old man clapped his hands, looking at Wu Tie: "Prince An, what do you think?"

Wu Tie fell into thought.

He looked at the old man: "If I demand you withdraw all your armies from the southwest battlefield and hand over the nearly hundred southwestern prefectures you now occupy of my Azure Hill Divine Kingdom…"

The old man immediately replied: "Then first beat Wu Nu Lei to death; His Majesty and the assembled imperial elders have discussed this, you will surely propose this condition, but Wu Nu Lei truly isn't worth that price."

"Clearly tell Prince An, our Great Martial anti-Jin forces in the southwest have surged like a tide; the prefectures we now fully control number one hundred thirty-seven, and those entered by our anti-Jin forces total nearly two hundred."

"This is over three hundred prefectures… over three hundred prefectures… such vast territory, Wu Nu Lei, he is not worth that price."

The old man gave a cold smile: "So we can only abandon the territories we have already seized in the Three Kingdoms battlefield, release all your captured soldiers and civilians, and give up the complete encirclement of your nation's remnant forces… this is already…"

Wu Tie coughed heavily: "I have gone through great trouble to capture Wu Nu Lei alive; I need some compensation. Personal compensation."

The old man raised his eyebrows: "Fine, fine, just state your demands."

Wu Tie laughed brightly: "Then, however many of our soldiers and civilians you have captured in the Three Kingdoms battlefield, deliver to me five times that number of slaves… I want substantial numbers of ox-men, wolf-men, dragon-men, rat-men, dwarves, and midgets… slaves of mighty giants or other powerful races would be even better."

The old man narrowed his eyes: "Two times."

Wu Tie raised his eyebrows: "Three times, then… after all, he is a deity… you can't just take what originally belonged to our land and soldiers and send me off like that? These slaves, actually, aren't worth much money."

The old man fell silent for a moment: "Very well, they are merely worthless demon slaves; I'll give them to you. The quantity may not be precise, after all, the number of your captured soldiers and civilians is huge, and we can't be bothered to count them carefully."

Wu Tie nodded: "Hmm, that's excellent; I also need some stellar essence and similar cultivation resources."

The old man glanced at Wu Tie's hand holding the God-Beating Whip: "Prince An's exploits, we have heard of them in Great Martial; the stellar essence bestowed by the gods, you alone have monopolized the benefits of over a hundred prefectures… tsk, Prince An so bold and reckless, yet to this day he hasn't been beaten to death by a mob, which is rare."

"Considering Prince An's bold recklessness, we Great Martial admire such iron-blooded heroes… Prince An, name a figure; as long as it's not excessive, we'll agree. Those slaves are indeed worth little money, so let this cultivation resource be regarded as a proper ransom from Great Martial."

Earlier, when Wu Tie broke through from the peak of the Embryonic Storage realm to the demi-god stage, that lotus seed underwent an anomaly, devouring the stellar essence he had plundered down to nothing, leaving only 'a bit' for him.

Wu Nu Lei, this is a god who has lived for tens of thousands of years.

Wu Tie immediately offered an amount equivalent to roughly thirty percent of all the stellar essence he had gathered during those seven nights of starlight.

The faces of the three Great Martial Divine Kingdom gods twitched, then they bellowed loudly.

Wu Tie and they haggled back and forth, finally settling the figure at around eighty percent.

Wu Tie smiled and nodded: "Then let's proceed with this deal; once the territory, captives, slaves belonging to me, and cultivation resources are clearly transferred, I will naturally release Wu Nu Lei."

The three Great Martial Divine Kingdom gods glanced at each other, and the old man who had been bargaining with Wu Tie pointed at his own nose, saying solemnly: "I am Wu Kuang Lan, the uncle of that waste Wu Nu Lei… Prince An Huo Xiong, I have remembered you… hehe, I admire you; if you cannot make it in the Azure Hill Divine Kingdom, I welcome you to bring your troops and defect to Great Martial."

Wu Tie's mouth corner twitched.

Wu Kuanglan laughed loudly, and together with two other deities turned and left.

"Prince An Huo Xiong, Linghu Qingqing that brat won't last long; Great Wu and Great Wei joining forces will surely kill him. Come over to my Great Wu early—I'll call the shots and give you all the unmarried granddaughters of Wu Nuelei that brat hasn't married yet; then you'll be part of my Great Wu imperial clan and can run rampant over a region."

"You brat are talented; at half-step deity realm you can capture two deities alive—something unprecedented—I admire you."

"Remember my words: if you come over to me, first help my Great Wu destroy Green Hill, then take down Great Wei—heh, unifying the world would be delightful."

Wu Tie didn't pick up on Wu Kuanglan's remark; instead he raised Xiahou Yao and shook him hard.

"Hey, you haven't said yet—how much is Xiahou Yao worth?"

Wu Kuanglan laughed "ga ga", and together with his two companions sped up, disappearing into the wind and snow.

"Whether Xiahou Yao lives or dies is no concern of ours; we can't be bothered to set a price—do as you please, brat."

"Don't push further; if you keep advancing, my Great Wu's face won't look good—hmph, Wu Ba that brat is preparing to personally lead the expedition, and we're readying his headquarters up front. Keep pushing and don't blame us for sending a horde of old fogies to swarm you."

Wu Tie's eye corner twitched violently.

What a joke?

Does the present Divine Emperor of the Great Wu Divine State, Wu Ba, intend to personally lead the expedition?

In other words, after Wu Tie finishes his deal with the Great Wu Divine State, returns Wu Nuelei, and exchanges it for the territory the Great Wu Divine State now occupies in the Three Kingdoms battlefield, he'll have to face the army personally commanded by Wu Ba.

"Do it!"

Wu Tie stared blankly at the snow‑covered mountains and rivers ahead, then shook Xiahou Yao violently: "Hey, any of you Great Wei folks alive? Come out, Your Highness… how much is this Xiahou Yao worth?"

In the distance, a few thin streaks of evasive light flew in; a Great Wei first‑rank commander shouted loudly: "Prince An Huo Xiong, don't be arrogant—my Great Wei will absolutely tolerate no threat."

Wu Tie glanced at that commander from afar, shook his head: "Our statuses don't match—how can a mere mid‑stage Womb Storage Realm commander come discuss matters with me?"

"Hey, where are your big shots, Great Wei? Why isn't anyone showing up? I've been waiting for you days."

Shaking his head, Wu Tie wore an expression of helplessness and sighed: "Looks like you Great Wei don't care about Xiahou Yao's life or death either… then don't blame me for being impolite."

Having marched straight from White Wolf River all the way here, deliberately stirring up such a commotion, Wu Tie wasn't just here to complete the ransom exchange with Great Wu… the truth is, he must kill someone here.

Either Xiahou Yao, or Wu Nuelei.

Or both of them.

In short, someone must die here.

Since the Great Wu Divine State values Wu Nuelei highly, it specially sent people to reach an agreement with Wu Tie.

Then Wu Tie, holding Xiahou Yao, smiled faintly: "Isn't there a great feeling in sacrificing one to save countless soldiers? I've always wondered—how much are you worth? Since they won't answer, I can only… give it a try."

The God‑Beating Whip burst out with blinding light.

After chatting nonsense with Wu Kuanglan, Wu Tie's mana had already returned to peak perfection; now all his mana surged into the God‑Beating Whip, which emitted a purple‑gold divine light like a small sun, illuminating thousands of li of void.

The several Great Wei commanders in the distance roared in unison: "Don't—"

Wu Tie raised the God‑Beating Whip and slammed it hard onto Xiahou Yao's head.

With a tremendous bang, Xiahou Yao's skull exploded into countless specks of light, then a dragon‑like torrent shot straight up into the sky.

His entire divine form kept turning into light, then roared, transforming into a vast, nearly endless energy torrent that shot straight up into the high sky.

In the high sky, nine black disc‑shaped magical implements trembled in unison, emitting dark, deep light; void energy surged, forming a huge vortex that swallowed the torrent Xiahou Yao had become in one gulp.

Within those black disc implements, intense soul fluctuations burst into frantic, hysterical cheers and roars.

"This brat really did it."

"He actually dared to do this!"

"A deity—he killed a deity!"

"Such immense soul origin, such immense bloodline origin… a human‑cultivated deity—his worth, his worth…"

A silence fell in the void.

After a while someone laughed in delight: "At least it equals the gains from ten million‑scale great battles."

"I'm starting to like Prince An Huo Xiong…"

"If he could slay a few more human‑cultivated deities… I could even suggest granting him a Heavenly God Command."