It took Wei Yuan several days to bring some preliminary order to the entire Red Sand Oasis. The Leize Tribe's shaman subjects here were quite well-off; every household yielded a stash of immortal silver when searched. From several tens of thousands of shamans, they actually confiscated two million taels of immortal silver. In addition, other treasures amounted to three hundred fang, not even counting estates and farmland.
Wei Yuan naturally showed no false courtesy, taking half for himself and handing the remaining half to Tianyu. Tianyu neither asked about its origin nor refused. Upon receiving the fortune, he kept forty percent for himself, gave fifty percent as tribute to the Sun of the Great Desolation, and deposited the remaining ten percent into the tribal public treasury.
Wei Yuan could only shake his head as he watched from the side. Indeed, something relying entirely on conscience like a tribal public treasury could only exist in times of utter destitution. The moment there was a little surplus grain, such a system fell apart.
Following the confiscations, Wei Yuan moved the people of Qingming into the vacated estates. However, humans were unused to shaman architecture; to human eyes, many of the shamans' grand estates looked like water dungeons.
The residences of wealthy shaman families were not merely flooded with water, but teeming with a chaotic mess of worms, fish, and shrimp. Soaking in water akin to thick muddy soup was said to benefit the physical and spiritual health of Leize shamans, while those little bugs helped clean their wounds.
When Wei Yuan toured these estates, he was shocked by the aged mud soup in the rooms. This was even worse than the Land of Rain. At least the Land of Rain favored clear water rather than muddy sludge.
The Desolate Shamans were equally unwilling to live here, so Wei Yuan ordered the entire urban district razed to the ground. The earth was tamped down, spread with firewood and firestones, and burned for half a day to scorch all the ancient parasitic bugs in the soil to death before everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
From the four great sacrificial human families, a total of fifteen thousand young men and women suitable to serve as sacrificial offerings were selected. Wei Yuan then ordered them to hand over all healthy children between the ages of eight and fourteen to be placed under concentrated care, yielding another sixty thousand.
Sun Yu had already rushed over leading more than half of the clinic's disciples to examine the physical condition and aptitudes of these people. Xu Henshui had also arrived with a dozen men to survey the leylines across the oasis in search of rare medicinal herbs. He had recently made great progress in researching ancient immortal formulas, and several auxiliary ingredients appeared to be native to the Wu domain. Thus, the moment he received word, Xu Henshui had hurried over to gather herbs.
It took Sun Yu seven full days to complete the examination of everyone, followed by an entire night compiling all the data.
Sun Yu handed Wei Yuan several jade sheets and said, "All the conclusions are recorded here. How should I put it... these people can no longer fully be called human."
The sacrificial humans had been kept in captivity for ages. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the Shamans had long established a mature, systematic breeding regime. Among them, they were primarily divided into two major categories: fertile humans and sacrificial humans. Fertile humans possessed good physiological functions and were dedicated solely to bearing children; they could live to the age of forty.
Sacrificial humans, on the other hand, passed tests administered by the Shamans upon birth and were raised specifically as offerings. Everything from their living environment to their diet differed from that of the fertile humans. They were also made to take specialized medicines regularly and practice human-specific cultivation methods on a set schedule. Sacrificial humans cultivated this way could yield far more sacrificial power.
Upon examination, Sun Yu discovered that the sacrificial humans remained closer to pure humans, whereas the fertile humans exhibited numerous mutations.
Many older fertile humans were plagued with latent afflictions, some already hopelessly ill. Their internal organs were in utter ruin, riddled with wildly overgrown flesh and anomalous tissues.
In the Red Sand Oasis, "older" meant over thirty-five, and "advanced age" meant forty. Anyone over forty was sent to the sacrificial altar.
Among the captive humans, this was actually regarded as the supreme honor, believed to be the moment one returned to the embrace of the Ancestral Shaman to exist alongside the deity.
Yet very few fertile humans ever reached forty; the overwhelming majority died around the age of thirty-five.
Due to their diet, medicinal pills, and cultivation, the sacrificial humans were in far better physical shape. The batch delivered to the city lord's manor consisted entirely of sacrificial humans, and out of fifteen thousand people, two thousand were actually at the Great Completion of Body Casting. As for Dao Foundations, there was not a single one; the Leize Tribe had already taken them all.
Wei Yuan silently finished reading the files, took a deep breath, and asked, "The people here don't live past forty on average?"
"The environment here in Red Sand Oasis is considered relatively good. I estimate that those captive tribes deep within the Wu domain might not even live past thirty."
"Then how do they reproduce?"
Sun Yu said, "Girls here experience menarche at nine, can bear children at ten, and are capable of two births a year. Moreover, they have secret methods to produce multiple births per pregnancy. This region is known within the Wu domain as the Eastern Desolation; I've heard that the efficiency of fertile humans in the core regions of the Wu domain is even higher."
Wei Yuan now understood that within the shaman realm, these captive humans were no different from livestock. Perhaps the only distinction was that they were slightly smarter than beasts.
The offerings Tianyu had delivered were all sacrificial humans; he had not provided any fertile humans. Fertile humans had developed noticeable physical differences from ordinary humans. Old fertile humans held no value, while young fertile humans were like hens that laid eggs—extremely valuable and generally never traded. Only sacrificial humans circulated on the market.
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "How should we handle these fertile humans?"
Sun Yu had an answer ready: "The best course of action is to maintain the status quo and let them continue reproducing. The children born can be treated with shaman secret arts, and after a few years, they will resemble normal humans. Furthermore, their cultivation aptitudes are generally far superior to those of ordinary refugees. Every ten thousand can produce several hundred Dao Foundations—more than ten times that of common refugees."
Wei Yuan offered no comment and asked, "And what are the middling and inferior courses of action?"
Sun Yu said, "The middling course is to make the fertile humans bear fewer children and provide them with better living conditions so they can live a little longer. The inferior course is to slaughter them all, which is the same as butchering the hens that lay the eggs. It would take the Shamans several centuries to replenish so many fertile humans."
"Haven't you reversed your middling and inferior courses?"
Sun Yu replied, "Not at all. If you adopt the inferior course, the Desolate Ancestor Tribe will likely turn against you immediately. The advantage of the middling course is that normal sacrificial humans will still be produced, just somewhat fewer. We can take those offerings and grant the Desolate Ancestor Tribe certain compensation, essentially buying them out. On the surface, nothing would appear to have changed from the past, except that the ruler shifted from one shaman tribe to another. As for giving the fertile humans better living conditions and having them bear fewer children, they won't feel grateful to you. Just as a cow won't thank you if you milk it a few fewer times. Doing that is mostly to make your own conscience feel better—assuming you have one."
Wei Yuan understood, then said faintly, "Martial Uncle, that last sentence was entirely unnecessary."
Sun Yu laughed heartily and said, "If I didn't say it, my Dao heart wouldn't feel clear."
In the end, Wei Yuan decided to adopt the best course of action. The current changes were already drastic enough, and stability was paramount for now. If too much changed overnight, the captive humans would find it impossible to adapt.
Several days later, Yu Zhizhuo finally arrived leading a convoy of over a dozen wagons of equipment and five hundred Dao Foundation cultivators. Upon meeting Wei Yuan, he briefly reported on the situation at the brocade workshop, then hurried off to find Old Daoist Chuhe and begin excavating underground.
The reason Wei Yuan had taken an interest in this place was that, judging by the terrain and topography, there seemed to be deposits of gray stone. Even if there were none, Wei Yuan was quite intrigued by the arid, scorching climate. Generally speaking, when such a discordant patch of land suddenly appeared, there was usually a reason behind it.
Mining in the desert was exceptionally difficult, and neither the Desolate Ancestor nor the Leize tribes were skilled at mining. That was why Wei Yuan wanted to see if anything could be unearthed, which led him to summon Yu Zhizhuo.
When Yu Zhizhuo explained his purpose to Old Daoist Chuhe, the old Daoist chuckled. Holding a brocade rat in his left hand and balancing a flying sable on his head, he spoke with absolute confidence: "I knew you were coming, so I did my homework in advance. I've already located several subterranean rivers. Come, let's go scout them thoroughly first. If there are treasures, they won't escape this old Daoist's Dharma Appearance or the eyes of this divine sable!"
"Haha, excellent! No time to lose, let's go!"
The crowd headed underground in grand fashion, with five hundred Dao Foundation cultivators hauling down over a hundred pieces of equipment and tools.
Seeing that everything in the Red Sand Oasis was now on track while that fellow Lei Dong still made no move whatsoever, Wei Yuan grew somewhat displeased. That boy truly lacked any sense. Originally, Wei Yuan thought he lacked real ability and intended to let him sit on the throne of Leize. But since he refused to appreciate such grace, Wei Yuan was not about to remain polite. He had already mobilized the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang, after all.
Lei Dong's karmic luck had originally been an unbroken whole, but it had been shattered by the three-eyed bird head. Then Wei Yuan handed him another crushing defeat, causing his karmic luck to drain away by seventy to eighty percent. If he could once have been called a child of karmic destiny, now he could only be called a nephew of karmic destiny—and a distant one at that.
At present, Wei Yuan had plenty on his plate; how could he have the leisure to cater to that fellow's moods? Whenever Lei Dong crossed paths with Wei Yuan, he was countered and devoured at every turn. Anyone with half a brain should have recognized what was happening.
The Leize Tribe was split across several territories, some tens of thousands of li from Qingming, far beyond the reach of the domain. Thus, Wei Yuan currently held little interest in occupying all of Leize.
Yet refusing to seize land did not mean he wouldn't kill. Wei Yuan could at least slaughter all the Leize settlements within three thousand li, dealing another savage blow to Lei Dong's karmic luck.
Just as Wei Yuan began organizing the combat units of the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang, someone suddenly arrived to report: "There is a sneaky fellow outside claiming to be surnamed Lei who requests an audience!"
Wei Yuan was taken aback, then instructed his attendants to bring him in.
The one who entered was indeed Lei Dong. The youth still wore an expression of unwillingness, his eyes betraying poorly concealed resentment.
Wei Yuan looked Lei Dong up and down, smiling faintly. "You still have a bit of luck, kid. Had you been one day later, I would have marched over. When your lands were plunged into misery, you, the child of karmic destiny, wouldn't have enjoyed it one bit. But since you've come, that means you've made up your mind?"
Flames seemed ready to erupt from Lei Dong's eyes. Grinding his silver teeth to powder, he struggled to force out: "I... I—"
At that moment, the demonic blade on his back suddenly unsheathed itself, flying over to hover before Wei Yuan. It spoke: "Since I have come, I have naturally made up my mind. I have drifted through life for half my years, never encountering an enlightened master. If my lord does not cast me aside, I am willing to take you as... er, my lord!"
Wei Yuan was caught entirely off guard by this turn of events. He knew the demonic blade possessed sentience, but wasn't this sentience a bit too high?
Seeing that Wei Yuan did not immediately reply, the demonic blade grew slightly frantic and hurried to add: "The karmic luck is all on me! The child of karmic destiny you're looking for is me!"
Wei Yuan grew even more bewildered. Looking at the demonic blade and then back at Lei Dong, he asked, "Then who is he?"
"Him?" the demonic blade said disdainfully. "He is nothing more than a mount."
Chapter 627