Chapter 334: Dharma Realm Premonition

The territory of Luzon is approximately 110,000 square kilometers, with about 45,000 square kilometers suitable for agricultural production, accounting for nearly 40 percent.

However, most of it remains undeveloped; neither the primitive tribal people nor the Luzon nobles, who were originally influenced by Central Plains culture, have the strength to carry out full-scale development.

Now that a state is being established, it is natural to begin integrating resources. Now that rewards are being distributed based on merit, those who submitted early have managed to obtain official positions and must begin surveying land and registering households.

The local indigenous population, plus overseas immigrants, is less than 100,000; it was originally estimated to be 200,000, but most of them had been sold by merchants to the Central Plains.

Ancient Kunlun slaves were partly African people brought from Persia and partly Southeast Asian islanders; many males were castrated and became servants in noble families and official residences, and some even entered the imperial palace and royal mansions.

As for female Kunlun slaves, the young and beautiful ones were sold to brothels—from ancient times to the present, there have been no shortage of people who like exotic customs—and those who were not beautiful could be sold to remote mountain corners to be wives for the poor.

But things are different now; Xu Jia has accepted these indigenous people and is willing to grant them the status of citizens. Of course, to truly become an "official," one needs to cultivate the Dao, pass examinations, successfully receive a Register, and start as a Dao Clerk. This is their ladder for advancement.

Precisely because Xu Jia treats them as his own people, the lower-class Luzon people even praise Xu Jia's merits.

Because Xu Jia abolished the slave trade and also abolished the slavery system.

The slavery system might seem to provide free labor tools and even rapidly increase the population, but in reality, they are all "unregistered" black-listed households from whom taxes cannot be collected.

Second, the productivity of slaves is very poor, and they cannot own their own land; they farm the land of the manor owners, which easily produces "feudal slave owners." They will actively build armed forces to protect their property and slaves, forming slave armies, much like the chieftains in the Southwest or the noble lords of Mizang Yu, which is extremely unfavorable for stability.

Third, slaves themselves will also constantly revolt...

In short, whether from the perspective of civilization evolution, economic development, or Xu Jia's personal vows, the slavery system is not suitable for the land of Luzon.

The fundamental strategy is to implement "benevolent governance" and gather the hearts of the people.

As for surveying the land, auditing farmland, and registering households, it is estimated that it will be completed within a month.

This is not the Central Plains, and it is not something that cannot be measured by human power; much of it has utilized the power of gods, spirits, and immortals, making their work much more efficient.

Moreover, there is no one here hiding land or hiding population; those who did have already been sent away to play at surviving on a desert island.

It has taken over a month, mainly because they had to give surnames and names to the various tribal peoples.

That Volcano tribe took the surname Ling, that Snake tribe took the surname She, that tribe that worshiped the Thunder God took the surname Lei, that tribe that worshiped the Ancient Tree took the surname Lin, that tribe that worshiped the Ocean took the surname Hai, those who revered rivers took the surname Jiang, and those who knew metallurgy took the surname Jin.

Another thing is that some tribes are in deep mountains and old forests, unwilling to communicate with the outside world and remaining self-sufficient; one must also find a way to subdue them. For people in such places, even among the indigenous people, few can communicate smoothly, so one can only start from the spirits and will need to engage in a round of magical combat.

Xu Jia originally intended to provide personal guidance, but sensing demonic atmosphere from the East and receiving a premonition from the Dharma Realm, he gained inspiration and saw future events: the Longevity Old Demon of the Longevity Sect is building a demon ship, summoning heavenly demons, blood-sacrificing living beings, and has trained tens of thousands of demon soldiers and hundreds of demon generals. The demon soldiers are treacherous—Human Immortal realm cultivators must join forces to refine them—and the demon generals are fierce; only Earth Immortals can subdue them.

It is the refining of zombies for their physical bodies, the cultivation of the Blood Demon Transformation, the summoning of heavenly demons for their souls, and the use of the Secret Demon Restriction, making the three demons one.

These zombies are not ordinary zombies; that Wanshou Emperor of the Longevity Sect occupies the Ryukyu Islands, and even the Shinto Yin-Yang Masters of the Wonu Country together worship him as their sect leader. They also learn the spells of the heterodox demon sects, using secret methods to refine zombies, pouring them with molten copper and iron. Their weapons are forged by the great craftsmen of the Wonu Country using gods and ghosts sacrificed in demon furnaces; they are a type of demon soldier. Such demon soldiers refined through this combination are invulnerable to blades and spears, impervious to water and fire, and can even withstand a strike or two of natural lightning without dying.

The only drawback is that their bodies are turbid and heavy, they cannot fly, their movement speed is slightly slow, and they do not understand exquisite demonic spells; only the evil cultivators among the followers behind them are skilled in spells.

This force of demon soldiers was originally refined by him to counterattack the Central Plains. After all, refining zombies and forging demon soldiers are technical jobs, and quick success is difficult. Now that he has made up his mind, he intends to eliminate Xu Jia, seize the fruits of merit, and then descend upon the world as a demon to achieve a great feat.

What Xu Jia saw in the premonition of the Dharma Realm was more than just this; this demon head truly has the ability to "found a state." The Mandate of Heaven of the previous Great Heng dynasty has not yet ended, and there are sacred beings in the heavens who want to make an issue of this, so they deliberately allowed this person to have the calamity of slaughtering living beings, granting him a destiny of a dozen years or so.

After these dozen years of destiny, one will see a great sun descend, and all the demons will be burned to death by fire, thus achieving peace and tranquility.

Xu Jia received this inspiration and premonition and felt it was suspicious, just like when he had already achieved the status of an Earth Immortal but still dreamed, dreaming of the Beheading Dragon, which led to the subsequent matter of the Mirage Dragon; it was a premonition.

But now that he is a God Immortal, he does not dream, so he directly received an inspiration and premonition.

This was not a whim of Xu Jia's, nor was it calculated by pinching his fingers; rather, it belonged to being forced to receive a signal and a hint.

If it were the will of this world's heaven and earth, it would be difficult to see what the sacred beings of the Shangjie are thinking or what kind of issue they want to make. Therefore, there must be a pusher standing on his side who does not want to see that kind of outcome.

Xu Jia is sharp-minded and wise, so he stopped guessing and thinking. He only has one backer, and that is sacrificing to the Three Pure Ones on Sanqing Mountain, receiving the favor of the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, being bestowed the Lingbao Register Method, and obtaining the position of Lingbao Heavenly Master of this world; he is the spokesperson and missionary of the Lingbao Lineage.

Thus, he simply set up an incense table, offered incense, flowers, and fresh fruits, and in the name of founding a state and establishing a sect, sacrificed to the Lingbao Dharma Lord, namely the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable and the Supreme Dao Lord.

Xu Jia prayed piously for three days, offered the Dragon-Shaped Kunlun Divine Jade, and naturally wrote a memorial to report his work.

"Superior leader, I have already started my venture. Can you provide some support? Support on the surface would allow me to carry out my work better."

Xu Jia was not anxious about that demon king. During the magical combat the other day, he captured an object close to that demon king. He only needs to set up an altar to perform the Nail-Head Secret Technique. Although he would lose some fortune and longevity, if he could truly nail that demon king to death, the merit would surely be immeasurable, enough for him to achieve perfection and ascend.

But if that demon king also has a backer and is carrying out a mission to cause trouble, then he cannot be cursed to death recklessly. If this one dies, another will come, and it would likely be someone specifically sent to deal with him first before executing a mission, or even if he ascended to the Shangjie, he would be treated coldly or made things difficult for.

In his previous life, Xu Jia lived a vain life of over a hundred years and spent fifty or sixty years within the underworld bureaucracy. Now that he has cultivated into a God Immortal, although he has great vows, he understands the ways of the world: only by staying alive can one continue to make revolution; if one is dead, then it is all over.

This is why he prayed piously.

Otherwise, he would definitely have waited until the formal establishment of the Dao Kingdom Zongtan to hold a celebration banquet.

(End of chapter)