Chapter 331: The kindness truly cannot be repaid!

Not good, Master!

The monkey rushed into the commandery in a panic and hurriedly reported to Lin Six: 'Many people have come outside, both heavenly officials and mortals; they demand an explanation from us! They have justification in hand, I dare not act rashly, I can only hold them back for now…'

I know.

Lin Six's face also showed anxiety and helplessness; he had known about this earlier, but he had no good solution, so he could only say:

First hold them back, try to calm them… and say I'm thinking of a solution, so don't rush! If anyone gets overly emotional and starts fighting, take them first to the heavenly prison!

Having received the master's order, the panicked monkey finally found its backbone—not that it couldn't defeat the petitioners, but in this matter it had no justification; it was like being confronted for unpaid wages, which would be embarrassing, so how could it dare act rashly?

Fortunately, the master gave an order; it just needed to follow it…

After the monkey withdrew, Lin Six stroked his beard and asked in a low voice: 'Does the Heavenly Emperor know about this one or two?'

The black-clad youth sitting opposite him shook his head helplessly:

Don't ask me about this—I've never seen such a scene before…

What he meant by 'scene' was not the petitioners demanding wages, but cultivators failing to become gods!

How could it fail? That makes no sense—before, I'd never heard of anyone failing to become a god; at most, wild gods would die of old age because they couldn't gather enough incense.

As for those who gathered enough incense but were barred from the gate of godhood… this is unheard of.

Even the knowledgeable Heavenly Emperor was at a loss, let alone Lin Six; vexed, he twisted his beard harder and harder—if not for the strong constitution of a true god's body, he'd have likely pulled out several white beard hairs!

Why would it fail?

Lin Six racked his brains in vain, so he pulled out the files of heavenly officials who had and had not become gods, examining them carefully in hopes of finding some key information.

After searching a while, he still couldn't find what he wanted; everyone's résumé lacked any obvious key factor…

But the Heavenly Emperor, watching him flip through the files again and again, seemed to have formed a hypothesis, pondering: 'How many people are in this batch of those who became gods?'

Lin Six raised his head, frowned, and replied: 'Two thousand one hundred sixty-six. What's up?'

The Heavenly Emperor didn't rush to answer, but instead asked again:

How many people are in your Eight Banners?

Including me and the monkey, that's eight hundred thirty-two.

The Heavenly Emperor gradually realized:

That means, adding both sides gives two thousand nine hundred ninety-eight… plus me and the Venus Star Lord, that's exactly… three thousand?

Three thousand?

When that number appeared, Lin Six's heart stirred: three thousand is no ordinary number; in various classics, three thousand is a number that harbors special qualities.

And right now, the number of gods happens to be stuck at that figure, making it impossible for him not to associate…

Could it be… that three thousand is an upper limit?

Lin Six was somewhat uncertain.

Whether it is or not, just give it a try!

The Heavenly Emperor smiled, Lin Six hesitated a moment, then nodded: 'I'll go find Li Ziliang right away…'

No need, just use me.

The Heavenly Emperor's face showed no trace of fear, only curiosity and relief: 'If what you said before is true, then if I am awakened by the【alarm clock】, it would be the same as returning to that eternal primordial chaos… Since it's not death, I might as well be the experiment—I really want to feel what it's like to be awakened.'

This…

Lin Six stared, then finally nodded with mixed feelings: 'Thank you!'

【No need to say as much as to others; you merely mentioned Zhao Si's name to the Heavenly Emperor, and his whole body shook, his eyes then showing a look of sudden realization…】

【In the brief moment of awakening, the previous-generation protagonist who had regained his self looked at you, his successor, with eyes full of utter helplessness.】

【In that helplessness, he seemed to want to say something but didn't get the chance, as if some force were preventing him… finally, he slowly collapsed, his consciousness also quietly fading…】

【Not even a moment passed feeling sorrow for the Heavenly Emperor's passing before you immediately began the experiment!】

【While ordering people to bury the Heavenly Emperor in the 'God's Tomb', you personally went out and, amidst the furious crowd of petitioners, seized the most unruly heavenly official old-timer!】

【Everyone was shocked and terrified: Could it be that the General intends to personally unleash a massacre?!】

【The crowd felt afraid; the captured old-timer's eyes quickly cleared, his former fury vanishing, replaced by trembling fear.】

【General! My gratitude is not yet repaid!】

【Hearing the old-timer's fearful pleas for mercy, you said nothing more and directly commanded: 'Now give me a breakthrough!'】

【The old-timer trembled with fear, but dared not speak up; he nervously sat in place, and under the gaze of everyone present, he barely began to attempt a breakthrough again…】

【Not long after, his body suddenly shuddered and his face showed excitement!】

【After several hours, an illusory figure emerged from his body and gradually turned into an identical likeness; the scattered divine power naturally formed various phenomena, a splendid sight! Meanwhile, his physical body had no breath left…】

【A true god, breakthrough achieved!】

【The old-timer who had just broken through was overjoyed; his dissatisfaction and anger turned entirely into excitement and exhilaration.】

【Pa!】

【Under everyone's gaze, he disregarded the true god's dignity, dropping to his knees on the spot; when he lifted his head, tears were already streaming down his face!】

【"I knew it! The General won't abandon us! From today on, I will swear to defend the General, to defend Great Xin!"】

【"The General's kindness is higher than heaven, deeper than the sea, and cannot be repaid!"】

【A brainless fan who doesn't need the Blood God Son has just been born!】

【Moreover, the watching protest groups were also stirred; the heavenly official cultivators who had been hiding in the crowd for fear of being caught suddenly jumped out, startled.】

【"General! I can also love Great Xin! I can also defend you!"】

【"General! General!"】

【The scene once fell into chaos…】

【But you felt no joy about this at all; instead, you fell into silence.】 【Experiment successful.】

【This dream world can bear the upper limit of true god numbers, which is three thousand!】

Although I don't know exactly why, this experimental result solidly shattered your fantasies and plans; the foundation of the rotation system no longer exists at this moment.

You now have only one path left…

…

In the 67th year of the New Calendar, due to unknown reasons, after the new batch of True Gods experienced a well eruption, all remaining cultivators failed their breakthroughs!

The cultivator-officials who failed their breakthroughs could not accept that all their efforts had been wasted, nor could they accept that their boundless futures were suddenly cut off; thus protests rose and fell, and petitioners came in crowds!

This wave even spread from the cultivator-officials to the loose cultivators, and then further to ordinary people…

The cultivators' unrest mainly stemmed from the loss of their positions, the good iron rice bowl gone, decades of toil as beasts of burden yielding nothing, with anger and despair driving them to strike.

Some even went dark, turning from guardians of order into destroyers, believing only destruction could vent their resentment!

The ordinary people's unrest was mainly caused by the beasts of burden striking; when the beasts of burden strike, the high welfare they once enjoyed vanishes instantly, and ordinary people long accustomed to it cannot bear this!

The ordinary people roughly split into two factions: one sympathizes with the beasts of burden who worked hard but gained nothing, thus choosing to support their rights defense; the other advocates that the shogunate court launch a heavy-handed crackdown on these riotous commoners!

This is not because they are cold-blooded, but because the beasts of burden's strike truly affected societal operation; although they also sympathize with the strikers, their own interests are clearly more important…

And at this storm's eye, you, as the nexus of contradictions, must make a reasonable response…

"Damn it, these rascals dare to cause trouble! They're no longer ordinary rascals; we must strike hard!"

At the Eight Banners' political assembly, many True Gods who had long held high positions angrily denounced the rascals:

"General! We can't hesitate any longer—quickly issue the order!"

"Exactly, General—send them one by one to the heavenly prison! Send those rascals up to heaven one by one!"

"General…"

Amid the crowd's various proposals, the eight banner chiefs below said nothing; together with the monkey, the seven elders all gazed with different thoughts at Lin Six in the middle, hoping he would come up with an idea.

Lin Six remained silent…

Suddenly, a banner chief proposed: "General, actually we can arrest those troublemaking cultivator-officials, give them a lesson, then let them continue working; that way we wouldn't have to cause bloodshed…"

Seeing the master still silent, the monkey understood his dilemma in its heart: the master sympathizes with the beasts of burden.

As the master's filial great son, it naturally should share the master's worries, so it retorted:

"You say we should force them to keep working, but they can't become gods now; even if they could keep working, what will we do when they die in the future?"

"Simple!"

The banner chief said indifferently:

"Anyway, we now have reincarnation; once they all die, we'll help them reincarnate…"

"Then after reincarnation?"

"Naturally, to continue repaying the favor!"

The banner chief took it for granted:

"Endless reincarnation also counts as immortality… such a great favor, shouldn't they keep repaying it?"

"…"

The monkey was so angry it laughed: "Damn, this really is the general's favor that will never be paid off, generation after generation!"

Yet this improper proposal actually gained unanimous approval from over eight hundred True Gods: "This is good!"

"Excellent insight, Chief Ding!"

The monkey was speechless, remembering: this group now spouting favor rhetoric from the Eight Banners were once hardworking laborers just like those beasts of burden.

As a result, now that they've raised their banner and obtained positions, they instantly became high-and-mighty lords, shouting for beatings and killings against these unfortunate comrades, completely forgetting their own past as beasts of burden…

Why make things difficult for beasts of burden?

The monkey felt a surge of indignation in its chest; even though it resides in the highest ruling class, it finds this bunch of scum utterly detestable…

"Alright."

Just then, the long-silent Lin Six finally spoke:

"I have decided to temporarily detain those troublemakers, and for serious cases, impose punishment!"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but congratulate each other: "The general is wise!"

Then Lin Six shook his head and said: "However, regardless of whether they committed offenses, the shogunate must provide material compensation; if there are deaths, we must properly arrange their rebirth… Although immortality is hopeless, after serving all beings for many years, their merits should not be erased!"

"As for serving as cultivator-officials again in the next life, that's unnecessary; let them just live peacefully…"

The crowd looked at each other:

"Who will fill those vacant posts? Do we have to recruit new loose cultivators?"

"Without the lure of immortality, probably no one will come…"

"Come? If they come, they'll be beasts of burden for life—who in their right mind would want that?"

"They're just pretending to be blind, not really blind; talking about favors to fool others is fine, but don't fool yourself…"

Amid the crowd's bewildered gaze, Lin Six slammed the table and solemnly said: "Cultivators will ultimately be limited by lifespan, and with low cultivation, their work efficiency is poor; many high-level tasks regulating heavenly disasters and human calamities are also beyond them."

"Therefore, starting today, all official posts throughout the Four Continents of the Great New shall be held entirely by True Gods!"

"Let those who have just become gods repay the favor to all under heaven!"

…

(End of chapter)