"Isnât that the truth! The court is completely corrupt!"
What everyone had witnessed along the way was no different from what Zhong Yi described.
Everywhere people were suffering immensely, and their task was fabricated from nothing. If an ordinary citizen had taken on this deregistration officialâs task... they wouldnât even be able to gather enough grain, let alone send it to the capital; theyâd be better off becoming refugees!
Zhong Yi sighed softly.
"But... no matter how rotten it is, what can I do? I can only manage the affairs of my own city."
With tremendous strength and a sense of responsibility, Zhong Yiâs {Character Card} and storyline clearly marked him as... a righteous figure.
He was the first righteous person they encountered after entering the Legendary Land.
Thinking about this, Yang Qiangjin became a bit bolder and asked the question that puzzled them most tonight:
"But these soldiers have already starved to death... How did they become like this? Why are you keeping them?"
Zhong Yi remained silent for a while, then sighed deeply.
"I have let these brothers down... not allowing them peace even after death."
"But... if I donât do this, they would have died in vain."
"My army needs them; the citizens in the city still need them. They cannot leave... When this chaotic world ends, I will go to reincarnation with them..."
"They will help me deal with these Flowing Corpses that threaten the city... The least I can do is to make sure these brothers have enough to eat."
Fighting even after death?
Zhong Yiâs persistence and decisiveness left Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min both shocked.
At this moment, Yang Zhu and the others had also arrived.
Seeing that Yang Qiangjin and Yang Min were safe, they felt relieved.
Zhong Yi forced a faint smile at these Yang Family members.
"What happens here has nothing to do with you... I have taken your grain, so scatter and flee. Donât get caught by the court, otherwise... no one will show you mercy."
"With this grain I took away, Guangning City can last another half month."
Before they could respond, Zhong Yiâs legs slightly shook, and he disappeared in a blast of wind before everyoneâs eyes, so fast it was impossible to tell if it was space techniques or sheer speed.
"So powerful... A martial artist in the Phenomenon Realm can already achieve such feats; even a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage would struggle to hold him down, right?"
While Yang Min was marveling at this, a voice came from the sky.
"If any of you are stubborn enough to go to the capital to meet that Dog Court... watch the movements of those Flowing Corpses, perhaps you can find some more grain on them to hand over and beg the Dog Court to spare your lives..."
"This is a token I took from a group of Flowing Corpses, it might be useful to you..."
Whoosh~
A yellow streak shot from the city walls of Guangning City, and Yang Min, quick-eyed and agile, caught it.
It was a purple stone.
Emitting a strange glow... it clearly was a treasure.
{Qi Fortune Stone}
{Grade: Earth Level Miracle Treasure}
{Attribute: None}
{A stone played with by a Heavenâs Chosen One, over time it absorbed his Qi Fortune and became a miracle treasure, if wielded by this person, it can unleash incredibly strong power...}
{The person carrying this treasure, Qi Fortune +10.}
"What a good thing!"
High stats are the key!
Enough with the trivial stuff, just give me a boost!
This was the first Heaven and Earth Treasure Yang Genshuo had seen that directly increased an individualâs Qi Fortune.
Although it was only 10 points, it was already quite considerable!
Qi Fortune accompanies a cultivator for life; a 10-point Qi Fortune difference could be the difference between heaven and earth.
"If this Qi Fortune were given to Yang Qiangyou, who knows what terrifying things might happen."
If someone actually reached 100 Qi Fortune, wouldnât they be just like a Heavenâs Chosen One?
Someone who, while lying at home, has a broken engagement annulled, picks up a Spirit Stone on leaving home, discovers a mysterious hammer inside their body in times of danger, and then top-level experts come to recognize them as kin...
"If it is given to me... would this Qi Fortune be able to work?"
Yang Genshuo thought for a moment, then felt it was unlikely.
Because on Blue Star, there wasnât even Heavenly Dao interference when crafting {Heavenly Mechanism Talisman}, perhaps there was simply no such elusive concept of Qi Fortune on Blue Star.
Yang Qiangjin put away the {Qi Fortune Stone}.
"This item might be related to what we need to do next... The help Zhong Yi mentioned might be tied to the storyline of the Flowing Corpses, we must keep it safe."
"Auntie, perhaps we shouldnât follow the story entirely, we might have a better way... But if we can save this treasure, we can take it out and it will become our Yang Familyâs foundation."
Yang Min hoped more to take this kind of good thing out.
He was also becoming slightly anxious, still not having found what he wanted...
Upon hearing this, suddenly Yang Zhu asked: "Do you think... if I give Zhong Yi more grain, would he give us other treasures?"
Yang Genshuo chuckled.
"Itâs very possible; if Zhong Yiâs soldiers have starved to death, he surely has a fear of a food shortage... Use food to extort him, itâll work every time."
Seeing the old ancestor join the discussion, everyoneâs mood lightened significantly.
"Old Ancestor, should I try it?"
"Hmm... hard to say, after all, we donât know if weâll find more grain on the way; if not, wouldnât we end up risking our lives?"
Getting some grain isnât easy.
They were already short of three sets of grain.
If they didnât replenish it, who knew whether theyâd be questioned when they got to the capital.
"Ah, if someone who completely clears knows the way out... we would know the optimal actions to take at what time point."
Yang Zhu had been to the Liushui Tribe; with a strategy guide, they hadnât seen anyone die for years.
Itâs just that the treasures after that became more and more ordinary, rarely seeing anything particularly impressive.
In contrast, in this White Grain Warehouse, each group had obtained at least three treasures. Finally, dividing them up and surrendering some to the Yang Family warehouse would yield a handsome profit.
Compared to their calculations on these matters, Yang Genshuo seemed to view the situation from a higher perspective.
"Your actions tonight were successful, revealing the secrets of Guangning City, and thus receiving awards from the old woman and Zhong Yi. By rights... we have completed this stage of the story, Zhong Yi didnât have further requests, and he keeps urging us to leave..."
"Does that mean we should move to the next place?"
"Thereâs another group of Golden Core cultivators pursuing us, to avoid conflict with them, we must hurry."
Yang Genshuo shared his thoughts.
"Old Ancestor makes sense; we canât encounter them, otherwise our treasures... Since they arenât Yang Family, theyâll surely try to take them."
"Quit while weâre ahead? But... we only got two treasures; so many people are empty-handed, is this city really limited to these two?"
"It canât have less than a station, right?"
"Oh well, letâs quickly reach the end of the story; safety comes first, everyone!"
"By the way! Does anyone remember the great-auntâs first round clearance reward? For any Legendary Land, the first to finish the story always receives the best reward. Instead of searching here, letâs chase that best first clearance reward."
"Hmm... makes sense!"
Most people agreed with the old ancestorâs view and wanted to move forward quickly.
A few wanted to discover more treasures in this relatively safe city.
While everyone was debating, Yang Min waved his arm to silence them.
"Dear family and warriors, we still have a few who havenât caught up, maybe theyâre a bit slow, or ran into danger, or took a different path, but... thereâs a good chance theyâll come here, and I want to wait for them."
"I want to take more people... out together."
Yang Min referred to those Yang Family members unseen to the old ancestor.
At his words, all fell silent.
The Yang Familyâs descendants might include wastrels and loafers, but... Yang Family does not abandon its family.
"Then letâs wait for them..."
"Two days, if theyâre not here by then, weâll leave a note in the city and move on."
"In these two days, everyone try to obtain more treasures..."
"But donât give away any more grain, we canât be without grain."