Immortal Father
Chapter 1272: 454: Inventing Deities! _2

Chapter 1272: Chapter 454: Inventing Deities! _2

Xuanyuan Huangdi said, “There’s nothing else, the Divine Court has already been enveloped by my Immortal Consciousness. Any disturbance, you and I will both be aware of.”

Qing Su asked, “What should we do next?”

“Observe,” Li Ping’an said concisely, “First, understand each part of the Southern Continent, have Brother Xuanyuan as our contact here, Master, Master uncle, we will walk separately, take a look at the Southern Continent.”

Guilingling tilted her head and asked, “Is there anything worth seeing? Can’t we just take a look with Immortal Consciousness?”

“What Immortal Consciousness sees is only the surface.”

Li Ping’an smiled:

“We are to walk and see, communicate with the people here, understand their ways of life, understand what they believe in.

“This is the first part of understanding the Divine Court of the Southern Continent.

“But remember, do not take any action, you must use the transformation technique, if you encounter danger, retreat immediately, do not alarm the deities here.”

Qing Su and Guilingling each nodded.

Qing Su, who was originally to act alone, was directly hugged by the arm by Guilingling.

“Qing Qing, take me along!”

“Very well,” Qing Su said, “We will supervise each other, and if we encounter anything displeasing, we have to endure it.”

“Yes! We must take the bigger picture into consideration!”

Li Ping’an smiled and nodded, the three immortals bid farewell to Xuanyuan Huangdi, left this small courtyard, and entered the small town.

Xuanyuan Huangdi felt relaxed, made some simple arrangements here, set up a bed, took out a few jars of fine wine, watched the Divine Court of the Southern Continent from a distance, leisurely and comfortably waiting for Li Ping’an and the others to return.

Half a month later.

Guiling, Qing Su, and Li Ping’an returned to this small courtyard one after another, gathering on the kang in the small house.

Xuanyuan Huangdi, with skilled movements, cooked a few small dishes, and the four immortals ate and chatted.

Guilingling’s expression was a bit sullen, mumbling softly, “Alas, the common folk here really aren’t as good as those controlled by the immortal sects in the East Continent.”

Li Ping’an asked with a smile, “How so?”

“Qing Qing and I went westward, visited a total of three to four big cities, dozens of towns, and hundreds of villages.”

Guilingling was somewhat lacking in appetite, speaking earnestly:

“Most of the villages are quite peaceful, each village has a well-built large house, usually accommodating seven or eight, or a dozen people, they are merchants.”

Seemingly afraid that Li Ping’an wouldn’t understand, Guilingling gestured with her hand:

“I don’t mean they are in business, they are people of the Shang Nation, those with the bloodline of the Shang Nation.

“The merchants are the current rulers, drinking the cleanest water, eating the most meat, and controlling the weapons and armor in the villages and towns. The others are divided into three types: commoners, Limin, and slaves.

“Slaves barely have any clothes, sleeping alongside water buffaloes… By the way, there are water buffaloes everywhere here, they can carry loads, pull carts, one water buffalo is worth ten strong slaves.

“These slaves are too miserable, they don’t even have names, doing all the dirty and hard work, eating and sleeping with livestock.

“Most of the Limin live quite well, besides farming, many have some skills, like weaving baskets, weaving cloth, cooking, and the like.

“The so-called commoners are Limin with their own family names, they receive similar treatment as the merchants, each family keeps slaves, some can even own weapons, but they can’t own armor.”

Xuanyuan Huangdi wrote four lines of small characters, merchants, commoners, Limin, slaves.

Xuanyuan Huangdi asked, “How did these slaves come about?”

Qing Su replied, “Most of them were born to parents who were slaves.”

“Absurd!”

Xuanyuan Huangdi cursed, “In the past there were slaves, but they were mostly war captives, making slaves bear slaves, isn’t it establishing that the child of a slave can only be a slave!”

Li Ping’an wondered, “Don’t you know about this, Brother?”

“After the Skycutter Great Array was established, I was required by the Holy Mother not to interfere with the Southern Continent, so I neglected it.”

Xuanyuan Huangdi sighed, “Continue, what else?”

Qing Su said, “Based on a rough estimate by Lingling and me, in a village, there are seven to eight merchants, thirteen to fourteen commoners, over a hundred Limin, and dozens of slaves. In a town, there are hundreds of merchants, hundreds of commoners, two to three thousand Limin, and seven to eight hundred slaves.”

Guiling continued, “A small city, surrounded by earth walls, holds over a thousand merchants, over a thousand commoners, over ten thousand Limin, and one to two thousand slaves. The larger the city, the more Limin and slaves there are, and in big cities, some Limin even hold weapons.”

Li Ping’an said, “Actually, Limin are selected into the army, forming regular troops in big cities, whereas merchants still hold the power in villages and towns.”

Xuanyuan Huangdi nodded slightly, “Not talking about the matter of slaves bearing slaves, this arrangement of villages, towns, and cities is much more rational than in ancient times… Ping’an, where did you go?”

“I traveled around various places.”

Li Ping’an picked up a piece of stir-fried spiritual bird meat made by Xuanyuan Huangdi.

Hmm, not very tasty.

He put down his chopsticks, filled with emotion, and said slowly:

“The Shang’s territory is divided into two parts, where we are now is the Shang Nation, occupying the center of the Southern Continent’s spiritual energy. Merchants use the layout you all described to firmly control this most fertile land.

“The current Shang King is called Xiao Yi, the twenty-first ruler, named Zi Lian, a kind of non-achieving, non-failing type.

“The vast lands surrounding the Shang territory contain four hundred principalities, six hundred fiefs, and thousands of tribes, all respecting the king of the Shang Nation as the Great King, while they are little kings.

“Shang Nation is at war almost every year, as long as a principality or fief doesn’t offer tribute, for whatever reason, Shang Nation will dispatch troops to conquer.

“Moreover, because the Southern Continent has spiritual energy but no cultivation methods, and the Divine Court protects, most ordinary people who can live peacefully live beyond a hundred years, and it’s common for Shang Kings to live for two to three hundred years.”