"Oh?"
At the same time, not only the East Sea, but the other three forces also received this treatment immediately.
At the North Sea, the youngest son of the Duke of Wei was also struggling with his own thoughts as he looked at the Yaksha who had come to negotiate.
"Low-level dragons?"
"Yes!" Yaksha tried his best to make his smile look gentle, even though no matter how he smiled, he looked like he was about to devour someone.
"Now that the pure-blooded dragon race has temporarily run out of resources, even lower-ranking dragons can rule us. Think it over carefully," Yaksha laughed. " The Dragon King Breed isn't easy to create; even the best Dragon Transformation creatures have a success rate of less than 20%."
"But the lower-level dragons are different. Whether they are Poison Dragon, Azure Dragon, or grass dragons, they are all at least dragons, and their lifespan exceeds ten thousand years!"
"Furthermore, you can pass on all the Dragon Palace's inheritances and various advancement methods to your families. Isn't that better than gambling on a less than 20% chance?"
The youngest son of the Duke of Wei suddenly gasped for breath, and many sorcerers from the northern aristocratic families were also tempted and their hearts raced!
"Why choose us?" Bai Sang, the head of the Bai Family, suppressed his desires and asked rationally.
"I don't understand either!" The relatively younger Duke of Yue, Xiang Tianyu, frowned as well. "According to you, since you urgently need dragon forces, wouldn't it be better to directly utilize those Dragon Transformation creatures? Those demons won't Fusion with us, so the success rate will be higher, right? And they'll be easier to control, won't they?"
"Dealing with intelligent people is really troublesome," Yaksha chuckled. "Indeed, it would be better to directly use Dragon Transformation artifacts, but those demons have been frozen here for a long time. Their former demonic forces have probably vanished in the hundreds of thousands of years. How can they compare to you?"
"To have found this place, and considering that you all possess such power in this era of diminishing spiritual energy, it's no surprise that you must be one of the most powerful forces in the world today, right?"
"I see." Bai Sang smiled immediately.
These ancient families, stripped of their mystique, are actually quite similar to the major noble clans; they too are shrewd and calculating.
--
"Cooperate?"
At the location of the Heavenly Dragon Palace, the Third Prince of the West Sea was also saying the same thing to Chen Qing.
"Actually, you don't need to do this at all," the Third Prince said. "Even if the Dragon Palace is revived, top-tier human forces like yours will still be targets for our recruitment. We won't stop beings like you from wanting to Dragon Transformation and join the Dragon Palace; on the contrary, we will provide even greater support!"
These words left Yuchi Feihong, who was following behind Chen Qing, stunned for a moment before he could react.
"Why?"
Chen Qing remained silent, but Yuchi Feihong couldn't hold back any longer.
"Because we are more useful than those Dragon Transformation demons!"
It was not the Third Prince Ao Xin who answered, but Chen Qing.
Faced with Yuchi Feihong's doubts, Chen Qing provided the answer.
"Those Dragon Transformation creatures, though easy to control, lack their own power. Now that the Dragon Palace is recovering and desperately needs resources, a force capable of mobilizing vast amounts of resources is far more valuable than some wild demons."
Chen Qing looked at the iceberg where Ao Xin was. "What's the worst thing about these old monsters who have been sealed away for so many years? Resources, intelligence, and manpower!"
"Manpower?" Yuchi Feihong was puzzled. Resources and intelligence were understandable; ancient forces had been isolated from the world for a long time, and their revival required resources, while their unfamiliarity with the outside world necessitated intelligence to maintain control. But manpower?
Why would we need this?
"What's so strange about that?" Chen Qing chuckled. "Even our own official forces need countless manpower to support them. Do you think a top-tier power like the Dragon Palace wouldn't need it? Countless projects need to be restarted, from the dragons' most proficient magical arrays to defensive fortifications against other forces, including the various facilities that need improvement and repair after the Dragon Palace's return to the mortal realm, plus all the offerings and resource gathering. Doesn't all of that require manpower?"
"Don't the Dragon Palace have these themselves?"
"In the past," Chen Qing said calmly, "When natural disasters struck and the Earth Spirit slumbered, these guys chose to freeze themselves to survive. But as you've seen, such ice jade is a precious resource that can't be wasted on people of little value. We need pure-blooded dragons and high-ranking nobles. Apart from retaining some top-tier guards and indispensable Blood Guard, do the billions of dragon slaves we once had deserve such treatment?"
Yuchi Feihong: "."
"Mr. Chen is truly knowledgeable," Ao Xin remarked with some admiration. "Mr. Chen seems to have witnessed events from so many years ago firsthand. I am now genuinely curious about your background; you are definitely not an ordinary human."
"I still feel something's not right," Yuchi Feihong said doubtfully. "Your Majesty, you just said that the Dragon Palace needs to rebuild various fortifications, most of which are in the sea, right? How useful can the human race be?"
"Of course we joined." Chen Qing sneered, "When the Dragon Palace was at its peak, there were billions of aquatic creatures. Did you think they were all demons? Humans are skilled in craftsmanship, and no other race can compare to them. Countless people were turned into aquatic creatures back then."
"Forced demonization?" A cold glint flashed in Yuchi Feihong's eyes.
"Do we need to force them?" Ao Xin's voice was filled with arrogance. "Back then, my Dragon Palace ruled the four seas and protected countless living beings. Anyone who could join my Dragon Palace was protected from any demons. Even the lowest-ranking servant held a transcendent status in this world. Did we need to force them? Countless people wanted to join my Dragon Palace as shrimp soldiers and fish minions back then. A large clan would offer hundreds of boys and girls to us for sustenance every year, and we only had three to five spots available!"
Yuchi Feihong: "."
He hadn't experienced the era when demons ruled the world, but he could imagine how lowly the human race must have been back then. He never imagined it would end up this tragic.
The lowest-ranking servants, from a large clan, were required to offer hundreds of boys and girls as food to these beasts every year?
Are those days about to return?
The thought sent Yuchi Feihong's spine!
But as for resistance, he sees no hope at all!
"Of course, that only applies to lowly humans," Ao Xin gently. "Outstanding individuals like you will naturally be treated differently. If you successfully Dragon Transformation, your family will become nobles of my Dragon Palace, and you will naturally not need to offer blood sacrifices!"
"But we have to cooperate with you and have our people offer sacrifices, right?" Chen Qing said with a smile.
"Why must we make offerings?" Yuchi Feihong mustered his courage and said, "Since the Dragon Palace has the power to transform humans, why not just transform them all? Since your Dragon Palace has people, wouldn't it be better to turn all humans into your people?"
This was the best solution Yuchi could think of.
Although after the transformation they would all be relegated to the lowest level of menial labor, isn't that what ordinary humans are destined to do for the rest of their lives?
Living the life of a lowly worker ant, as long as they have enough to eat and wear, what difference does it make who they offer sacrifices to?
What difference is there between following the human race and following such a top-tier demon?
In such a terrifying world, it wouldn't be a bad thing if everyone could transform into demons.
"This method probably won't work," Chen Qing said with a shake of his head and a smile.
"Why?" Yuchi Feihong asked excitedly.
"Because demons are bloodthirsty," Chen Qing sighed. " Magic City crave human flesh and blood; it's their nature, and it can't be changed. If they all turned into sea creatures, where would their delicious snacks come from?"
"This"
"Besides, transformed demons cannot reproduce. Without humans to continue producing offspring, how can we sustain ourselves?" Chen Qing laughed. "Humans reproduce quickly, are delicious, and constantly produce useful resources. Back then, which power didn't fight over them? Do you think the weak human race could have survived to this day in that era?"
Yuchi Feihong: "."
"Mr. Chen really knows a lot about what happened back then," Ao Xin with a gentle smile. "If you know so much, why did you still do such a thing? You released the Heavenly Ghost Octopus. Didn't you consider that it could destroy us, and it could destroy the human race? This thing doesn't reason like us."
Yuchi Feihong felt a chill run down his spine. Reason with me?
Does "reasoning with them" mean raising them in captivity and feeding them slowly?
In that light, it would have been better to have been completely devoured by that so-called Heavenly Ghost Octopus in one go.
Chen Qing smiled. This ridiculous setting was something he had come up with to make it seem reasonable, but after actually becoming a human here, he realized just how cold it was.
The Creator is ruthless; it's not just a saying.
"The Third Prince is already trying to win us over while we're still on the road. What? Is he in a hurry?"
Upon Ao Xin paused slightly, and after a long while, replied, "Why do you say that?"
"Our human race, including myself, has infiltrated the Dragon Palace with five different forces. Various forces have also entered the Four Seas Dragon Palace. Given the Heavenly Dragon Palace, I believe that the major Dragon Palace will lower their noble heads and instead extend invitations to them, won't they?"
"That's true." Ao Xin smiled. " The Blood Guard just reported that most of your companions have accepted the agreement."
"And you, Mr. Chen? Don't you want to Dragon Transformation?"
"I don't want to." Chen Qing shook her head.
"Mr. Chen, are you serious?"
"It's absolutely true!" Chen Qing sneered. "What? Is the Third Prince implying that if we don't want to Dragon Transformation, he won't let us leave?"
"Does Mr. Chen intend to leave?" Ao Xin sneered. "You've taken so many of our supplies. If you don't want to be one of us in the Dragon Palace, what makes you think you can leave?"
"Of course it's because your West Sea Dragon Palace is about to be destroyed!"
Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the entire space instantly turned icy. Yuchi Feihong shuddered and looked over in confusion. Judging from Chen Qing's tone, it seemed that the situation in the West Sea Dragon Palace was the most precarious.
"You must have received the news by now, right?" Chen Qing looked at Ao Xin, whose face was grim, inside the iceberg. "What went to your West Sea Dragon Palace were biological weapons you cultivated yourself— the Ancient Insect that you were willing to hand over the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley to a human, but dared not let in!"
I'm having severe writer's block. I sat in the office for four hours this afternoon and still couldn't finish a single chapter. I can't add any more chapters today.
Let's continue tomorrow.