Chapter 538 - 531: I Treat You As a Brother, but You Want Me As a Mount
Chapter 538: Chapter 531: I Treat You As a Brother, but You Want Me As a Mount
"You’re absolutely right, Brother Xiao," Xin Shijiao said, handing all of Deng Shuanghai’s dropped Storage Treasure Pouches and Treasures to Du Youqian. "These were on my Senior Brother. Brother Xiao, you should take inventory."
Du Youqian actually kind of missed his old, defiant self.
Instead of rushing to count his loot, Du Youqian smiled at Xin Shijiao. "You’ve already taken back half your life. When do you plan on retrieving the other half?"
Xin Shijiao gave a wry smile. "The stakes are too high. Please, give me a little more time."
After all, he had managed to turn the tables and profit handsomely thanks to Xin Shijiao. So, Du Youqian didn’t press the issue. He just smiled and put away the Nourishing Spirit Jade.
The Tier Five Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor had shrunk down and was now nuzzling its head against Du Youqian’s chest.
Considering she was a hen, Du Youqian barely resisted the urge to crack her skull open.
Little Wukong leaped onto Du Youqian’s shoulder and kicked the Long-tailed Golden Chicken’s head in disgust.
The Long-tailed Golden Chicken lowered its head meekly and endured it.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, we did pretty well, didn’t we?"
Du Youqian nodded, making no effort to downplay their performance. "It was acceptable. You completed the mission flawlessly."
The Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor raised its head, its small eyes full of hope. In a pleading tone, it asked, "Could you... could you let us see that Thorny Insect again?"
The other Tier Four Long-tailed Golden Chickens also crowded around, all staring with wide, expectant eyes.
Unafraid that they would try to snatch it, Du Youqian smiled, took out the Jade Box, and opened it.
As they watched the fat, greasy Thorny Insect squirm within the Jade Box, the look in the Long-tailed Golden Chickens’ eyes was like men seeing a stark-naked Richard Theron. They were in a near-frenzied state, and their heavy panting—HUFF HUFF—betrayed their excitement.
Little Wukong couldn’t help but hide behind Du Youqian. ’The look in those chickens’ eyes is terrifying!’
’If I don’t put this Jade Box away,’ Du Youqian thought, ’these Long-tailed Golden Chickens will stare at this Thorny Insect all day long.’
He pushed the Jade Box forward. "Take it."
The Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor seemed not to understand, looking at Du Youqian with a bewildered gaze.
"Friend Jin He, don’t be shy. If you like it, take it. It’s just a Thorny Insect, my gift to all of you."
The Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor nodded in refusal. "No, we don’t want just one. We want many, many of them. Fellow Daoist Xiao, you promised us a continuous supply of Thorny Insects."
Du Youqian smiled. "Then, Friend Jin He, please try and recall... Did I not mention that there would be conditions?"
The light in the Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor’s eyes flickered, dimming for a moment, but it quickly brightened again.
"What conditions? As long as you don’t ask our entire clan to become slaves, anything is on the table."
Du Youqian had always known the Long-tailed Golden Chicken clan to be straightforward.
But he never expected that a Tier Five Demon Emperor, an old hen that had lived for who-knows-how-long, could be so utterly guileless.
’With a statement like that, isn’t she completely at my mercy?’
’Now I’m starting to regret holding on to this thing called ’conscience’.’
Looking into the Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor’s limpid little eyes, he couldn’t quite bring himself to fleece her.
After a moment of contemplation, Du Youqian said, "First, I need the Long-tailed Golden Chicken clan to provide fifty-one Dao Soldiers each year. Fifty of them must be Tier Two, and one must be Tier Three."
"That’s far too many! Our clan cannot bear such a cost!" the Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor cried out.
’When this straightforward creature says she can’t afford it, she really means it.’
’One Tier Three every year?’
’The entire Long-tailed Golden Chicken clan might not even produce one new Tier Three each year.’
But Du Youqian was just starting with a highball offer. He smiled and asked, "Then what can you offer?"
The Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor replied quickly, "Ten Tier Two annually, and one Tier Three every five years. Moreover, they cannot be used in combat against our Five Races Alliance."
’She just slashed the demand by four-fifths, but this number actually fits my expectations quite well.’
"Agreed," Du Youqian said, adding a new condition. "But you’ll also have to add fifty Tier One chickens each year."
As if afraid he would go back on his word, the Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Emperor quickly nodded. "Deal!"
Du Youqian smiled with satisfaction.
’This way, both the Four Principles Sect and Ruihan City can quickly raise a contingent of Long-tailed Golden Chicken Dao Soldiers.’
’That’s equivalent to adding the combat strength of at least a thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators and twenty Core Formation Cultivators every century.’
’Besides, Dao Soldiers can be Promoted...’
’What’s more, there’s always an attrition rate when raising Dao Soldiers.’
’A little ’attrition’ among the Tier One and Tier Two Long-tailed Golden Chickens each year would be acceptable, too.’
’Du Youqian still couldn’t forget how delicious Long-tailed Golden Chicken meat was.’
But he would, at most, toe the line. He would never truly reduce the Long-tailed Golden Chickens to livestock just to satisfy his own appetite.
Even if he were to achieve Enlightenment one day, he would ensure that under his arrangements, the Long-tailed Golden Chickens would have a safe space to survive, not just be farmed as poultry.
In Du Youqian’s mind, there was a clear distinction between sapient and non-sapient beings.
He wasn’t hypocritical enough to believe all life should be respected, like some self-righteous scholar who abstains from meat.
Nor would he debase creatures with human-like intelligence into mere food.
"Also, I need a mount. At least Tier Four."
Jin He turned her head, her sharp gaze sweeping across the three Tier Four Long-tailed Golden Chicken Demon Kings.
Each of the Demon Kings she stared at shuddered involuntarily, lowering their heads to avoid her gaze.
"You," she said, singling out one. "Jinrong. From now on, you will serve Sui Xiao True Monarch properly. Do you understand?"
An expression of shame and indignation appeared on Jinrong’s feathered face. He looked up at Du Youqian, his eyes filled with a mixture of pleading and rage.
’I thought of you as a brother, and you want to ride me like a beast!’
’Is that right? No, it’s not!’
’Hurry up and refuse him, brother!’
"Heh, excellent. Jinrong was the one who flew me here. He’s both fast and steady."
"Then it’s settled, Sui Xiao. This boy can be a bit wild, but he’s loyal enough. If he gives you any trouble, feel free to beat him."
Jin He smacked Jinrong hard with her wing. "From now on, just focus on serving Sui Xiao True Monarch. Don’t worry about the clan, understand?"
’It’s a lost cause...’ Jinrong could only reply dejectedly, "I understand."
Jin He nodded in satisfaction and asked Du Youqian in a fawning tone, "Sui Xiao, do you have any other requests?"
Du Youqian said, "One last thing. I won’t ask you to betray the Five Races Alliance, nor will I ask you to fight your own allies. However, if the Human Race, under my leadership, goes to war with the Five Races Alliance, you are forbidden from participating. You must find an excuse to avoid dispatching troops."
Jin He thought for a long while before blinking. "Sui Xiao, when you’re leading, we are not to join the battle. But what about when you aren’t leading?"
Du Youqian just smiled without a word. Jin He understood.
’This human is truly devious.’
After they exchanged great Dao Heart oaths, Du Youqian asked, "How can we cultivate Thorny Insects to rapidly increase their population?"
Jin He nodded, looking a bit lost. "I don’t know... We’ve never farmed Thorny Insects. They’re something of a natural predator to us. Despite their size, they sometimes even kill and eat our Tier Three clan members."
A thought struck Du Youqian. "Is it possible... that these Thorny Insects need to consume the flesh and blood of your clan to thrive and multiply?"
Jin He pondered this for a long time, then finally shook her head. "It’s worth a try. I’ll make the arrangements when I get back. Sui Xiao, you can take a few of our clan members with you."
"Elder!" Jinrong pleaded urgently.
He hadn’t sounded this distressed even when he was being assigned as a mount.
Jin He stated, "If we can raise a large number of Thorny Insects to strengthen our bloodline, enhance our combat strength, and restore our clan to its ancient power, their sacrifice will have been worth it."
Jinrong opened his beak as if to argue, but ultimately, he was left speechless.
The good of the clan outweighed all else. That was their creed.
~~~~~~
That night, after attending a banquet in the Long-tailed Golden Chicken’s Imperial Court, Du Youqian received a Storage Treasure Pouch from the Demon Emperor. Inside were the fresh corpses of over a dozen Tier One and Tier Two Long-tailed Golden Chickens.
He nodded, then returned to his treehouse to rest and take inventory of his haul.
Little Wukong had gone off to visit the neighboring territory of the Green-eyed Golden Silk Monkeys.
Du Youqian took out the Nourishing Spirit Jade, Xin Shijiao’s residence, and had him help identify the various items.
Although he had only managed to kill two Divinity Transformation Late Stage cultivators, Zhong Yu and Jia Yongzhou, Deng Shuanghai had escaped with just his Nascent Soul, leaving his Treasures and Storage Treasure Pouch behind.
Thus, the haul was quite substantial.
All three of them had been wealthier than Xin Shijiao. This was mainly because Xin Shijiao had spent the bulk of his fortune refining his Gu Insects, most of which had been wiped out by Du Youqian’s "Annihilate" Sword Intent, leaving him looking rather poor in comparison.
The three of them possessed a considerable amount of Tier Five Treasures and other precious resources. While there was no single item of extraordinary value, selling the entire lot for seventy or eighty million Spiritual Jade would be no problem at all.
Before he knew it, Du Youqian’s personal wealth had already far surpassed that of an average Void Step Cultivator...