Calamity Messenger

Chapter 162 - 129: Foundation Establishment Legacy

"Robbing Spiritual Jade naturally involves finding landowners, merchants, and bureaucrats whose families are prosperous yet lack the protection of communicators; they are like the shrimp dumplings from before, thin-skinned with large fillings."

Shang Xinlei took a large scoop of ice cream and popped it into his mouth. Even Yan Qing felt his teeth ache from just watching: "Hence, a strange phenomenon arose in the Liang Kingdom — the further you are from the Emperor’s reach, the less oppression and exploitation the commoners face. Those without communicator guards who dare to act recklessly either get beheaded by passing demonic messengers or find a quasi-messenger appearing out of nowhere to wipe out their family."

"Why not hire communicator guards?" Yan Qing asked.

Shang Xinlei laughed: "Even the weakest first-turn messenger, with just one token, participating only in the simplest first-turn secret realm tasks at a military town, earns at least six hundred Spiritual Jade a year. A major landowner occupying an entire village might not earn even six hundred Spiritual Jade annually; what can they afford to hire communicators with? At most, they can hire some strong men."

Is the wealth disparity that vast?

Yan Qing was somewhat surprised but upon reflection found it reasonable: this world does not lack regular resources.

The total annual output of an ordinary village might hardly match a day’s output from a first-turn secret realm. What can landowners and local gentry sell besides being surrounded by the poor? The resources of towns around the military towns are excessive.

In terms of productivity, one secret realm messenger can match the output of hundreds of farmers. Compared to messengers, landowners and gentry are the real poor ones.

"Though there are indeed scum who also target ordinary people, there are quite a number of demonic path practitioners who focus only on rich and powerful gentry. After all, ordinary people simply cannot be squeezed for profit, so the general public has a good perception of them; among the heroic figures, good fellows, and righteous thieves, there are quite a few who are demon path practitioners." Shang Xinlei pointed to himself: "When I used to scavenge as a Feathered Serpent in Chang’an City, the residents even gave me a name as a righteous thief."

"Sounds quite good," Yan Qing objectively evaluated: "Although not good people, these rogues existing outside the order can pose a certain threat to court bureaucrats."

"The premise is that there aren’t many of them," Shang Xinlei said: "When the number of demonic path practitioners increases, it’s another story. Once they finish robbing easy targets, whether they want to or not, they must attack villages near the military towns. To them, the depletion of Spiritual Jade equates to death."

"But which wealthy family in military town areas doesn’t have relatives who are messengers? The military town doesn’t even need to intervene, just issuing a martial soldier’s quota can cause everyone to spontaneously search for demonic path traces. Many messengers might even actively apply for the capture; while demonic path practitioners covet the Spiritual Jade, they covet the demons’ tokens."

"Facing an abruptly intensified confrontation, demonic path practitioners either die, surrender, or grow increasingly brave and become great demonic figures. Whatever the outcome, they inevitably go on a killing spree; no one maintains sanity and compassion between life and death. Many years ago, Taihu Lake had a demonic disaster. Initially, dozens of demonic path practitioners attacked Taihu Military Town’s surroundings, later evolving into hundreds who rampantly slaughtered around the town. Even the military town commander was lured into a trap and murdered; my father had to draw messengers from other military towns to quell this unrest, leaving Taihu Lake’s surrounding population reduced by nearly eighty percent."

"Eighty percent?" Yan Qing found it hard to believe.

"That’s why they’re called the demonic path," Shang Xinlei’s expression turned gloomy, "Once, there were demonic path bandits around Jiangnan City, committing atrocities consecutively. I was already transferred to other duties and thought of tracking down the culprits. Upon arriving at the crime scene, I couldn’t take it... everyone was dead. The demonic path bandit probably wanted to save Spiritual Jade, using fists the entire time; victims had heads blasted, or chests caved in, even children weren’t spared... Also, the bandit was in such a hurry that he didn’t even plunder the estate’s Spiritual Jade. He killed not to rob, nor for pleasure, purely to kill."

"This is not an isolated case; they seem to utterly fall, like secret realm demon fiends, becoming insane after killing enough."

Yan Qing’s mouth moved as if wanting to say something, but he didn’t speak. Shang Xinlei noticed his thoughts and asked, "Are you wondering why they don’t join the court, instead of going down the demonic path?"

"Mm."

"Because many demonic path practitioners originated from military towns. Common people have no qualifications to become demonic path members. They might have been oppressed, or they might be greedy; in any case, they cannot accept having to endure hardships for years to become true messengers, so they simply steal Spiritual Jade tokens from military towns and run... so-called demonic path, is a group forever marginalized by order. They’re akin to floods, storm winds, Great Snow Mountain avalanches, disasters that inevitably emerge once population numbers grow." Shang Xinlei paused: "That’s what my father once told me."

It’s a structural conflict.

Upon hearing this, Yan Qing understood. Communicator resources are limited, and too many reserve communicators exist, hence the proliferation of demonic paths is inevitable; this is unsolvable, even if society is entirely just and strict—the Three Kingdoms’ ruling class monopolizes the promotion channels? No wonder demonic paths are abundant.

Why do those who fall into demonic paths seem mad?

"If you want to send people into evil lands, you must send strong and fierce individuals, preferably in large numbers to take care of each other, or else even small-time crooks could wear your men down," Shang Xinlei warned, "demonic paths are all lunatics; even Third-turn messengers might get ambushed and murdered in such places."

She paused, "Do you really need the Third-turn secret realm? If you’re not in a hurry, you could wait for me to reach Third-turn, then I can apply to join Third-turn secret realm expeditions. You and Jiang Shi can enter with me, Jiang Shi will be my guard, and you, well, you could be my servant."

In truth, there’s no urgent crisis—Yan Qing’s inquiry was more for precaution. Jiang Shiyi Si can’t keep farming the Three Mountain Secret Realm, and Jiang Shi’s beauty is attracting more admirers, the day to break out of military camps is near, he needs to find the next home for the side-characters.

More importantly, the side-characters only need to clear daily tasks next; with no other commitments, starting new ones to explore other areas seems wise.

"I can’t pretend to be a servant, but you do fit the role of my maid," Yan Qing said. "Out of the five Demon Path Evil Lands, which one would you recommend?"

"In your dreams," Shang Xinlei stuck out her tongue and made a face, saying, "Recommending an evil land... I don’t know much, but if you ask me which one is the most valuable, without a doubt it’s Shu Dao Mountain, because it’s rumored to contain the legacy inheritance of Si Wuxie, a Demonic Foundation Establishment."

"Foundation Establishment Inheritance?" Yan Qing was skeptical. "Even if it really exists, wouldn’t it have been taken by others long ago? Besides, if it’s a Foundation Establishment inheritance, other Foundation Establishment Messengers would surely go for it."

"It truly exists," Shang Xinlei said, "because Si Wuxie hid his legacy in a place even Foundation Establishment Messengers can hardly reach—"

"The Fourth-Turn Secret Realm."

...

...

As Yan Qing closed the door, it seemed he could still hear Shang Xinlei’s farewell echoes in his ears.

He dismantled the bandages as he opened the game console and clicked on the notification bar, discovering that the Mansu Forest Land event had long since closed and no new events had appeared.

Mouse Monk was still on his way to Xuanwu Lake, Jiang Shi and Ye Si were taking a nap; these low-level characters were like grown pets, no longer needing much of his care—though he hadn’t really cared for them much, either, just sending them into fire and water.

In the corner of the room, four items that glowed with blue light were piled up, along with a damaged pair of Foundation Establishment Gloves.

Although he didn’t know what these items were, fortunately, there was Shang Xinlei, a traitor siding with outsiders. She had already investigated the origins of these items in the morning, and it was precisely this bait that made Yan Qing accept the invitation; he wasn’t just driven by greed.

These four blue-glowing items were the ’Water-Stepping Boots,’ ’Soul Refining Armor,’ and a pair of ’Steel Leg Guards.’ The Steel Leg Guards, needless to say, were similar to the Steel Belt that Yan Qing currently wore, which could permanently enhance Qi Blood and agility through prolonged use. However, while the previous Steel Belt was of a normal level, this pair of Steel Leg Guards was of a rare level.

The increase in rarity was also reflected in effect: once the leg guards were fastened, Yan Qing felt as if his feet were welded to the ground. If wearing the Steel Belt still allowed normal exercise, then equipping the leg guards required him to spend some time getting accustomed to daily self-care.

The Water-Stepping Boots had two powers, allowing for rapid gliding on water and land, with the latter requiring the expenditure of Spiritual Power. Yan Qing tried it, and within almost a breath he slid across the entire room. It was certainly fun but would take a lot of time to learn how to use. For him, who couldn’t perfectly dodge in reality, it was exactly the movement item he needed most.

As for the Soul Refining Armor, surprisingly, it was an item for cultivating the soul.

Yan Qing put on the Soul Refining Armor; it felt like a breathing life form, fitting his body based on his shape. Each of his hands held a string of a hundred jades, which he used to channel Spiritual Power into the Soul Refining Armor.

One hundred Spiritual Power... two hundred Spiritual Power... five hundred Spiritual Power... one thousand Spiritual Power... three thousand Spiritual Power...

As Yan Qing injected more Spiritual Power, he felt his soul becoming increasingly ’solid,’ as if his soul was pumping blood. After injecting ten thousand Spiritual Power, the blue light of the Soul Refining Armor dimmed completely and became unusable, and Yan Qing also felt the sensation of his soul pumping blood gradually fading away.

This was the function of the Soul Refining Armor, capable of strengthening the soul, requiring the consumption of ten thousand Spiritual Jade each use, and it could only be used once a day. The enhancement effect... should be very effective for ordinary people, but for someone like Yan Qing, a First-Turn Messenger, it seemed quite mediocre, probably only increasing around 0.3, and that’s because his soul was originally a weak point. Once he advances and his soul grows, the effect of the Soul Refining Armor will undoubtedly diminish further.

Moreover, it can only be used once a day, and players, even wealthy ones, can’t afford to wait.

No wonder it gathered dust in the Secret Vault; such a large consumption for such a low effect. In reality, a Third-Turn Messenger’s daily income might not even reach ten thousand Spiritual Jade, so how could they afford such waste? If Yan Qing couldn’t harvest the world’s wealth through the trading board, he wouldn’t even have the qualification to use it.

However, the price of swordplay manuals has gradually dropped to eight or nine thousand per book these days; as time goes on, this part of the income will inevitably decline further.

Having sorted these spoils, Yan Qing looked towards the most valuable yet useless find of this theft action: the damaged Hand of Melting Hundred Forms.

This had once been Liang Taizu’s mighty tool for conquering lands, with a glorious history more illustrious than Bingzi Pepper Forest and the Heaven-Swaying Sword, so much so that even damaged, it remained the royal family’s most treasured possession. It yearned to become the king’s sword once more, but unfortunately fell into the hands of a thief.

Yan Qing switched to Jiang Shi’s low-level character to find Gai Louxian and purchased an item that greatly surprised the latter: Refined Gold Furnace Liquid.