BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1004: Fishing (1)
Chapter 1004: Fishing (1)
The guard gave them a glance and named the price in a straightforward manner. And for that price, they would only be allowed to enter through the side door beside the gate.
When the guard noticed them looking at the gate, he said, "The strong enjoys our respect. Entry is free of charge for the top 100 races. They are also allowed to enter through the gate. Don\'t say stupid things like the Thousand Region Alliance looks down on minor races. We are minor races as well. Even our own people have to use the side door."
It was that simple. The division between classes was very strict here. After all, they needed money to keep the city operational. That was important because this was a city founded by the Thousand Region Alliance itself.
The guard said, "At the Mountainsea Realm, you can use the gate regardless of race. This rule is put in place for the safety of people like you. Don\'t look at me like that. A lot of experts have terrible tempers, especially those from powerful races. They might find you tolerable if you\'re at the Mountainsea Realm, but below that, they will view the act of walking the same road as you as an insult."
In short, the guard was telling them to accept reality. That was the only thing one could do without sufficient strength, sufficiently strong race, and sufficiently strong backing. It was that simple. Some of them might not feel too happy about this, but what could they do but accept reality?
Everyone paid up, including Su Yu. What else could he say? If even their own members needed to pay and use the side door as well, there was nothing to be said. What could he do if he was a garbage iron-winged bird? At the very least, he was a tiny bit better off than those from the fire hog race.
That was the most widely acknowledged weakest race in existence. Right after he stepped into the city, a powerful individual appeared above a tall building at the center of the city. His voice reverberated throughout the city.
"From today onward, nobody is allowed to approach the 810 western entrances of the Luminous Domain Mansion."
Nothing else was said. Su Yu was left confused. What was the meaning of those words? Right after entering the city, he saw a random divine proclaiming that nobody could approach some random entrances.
What was happening? Was this related to the Luminous Domain Mansion? He was quite confused. When he looked at the people who had entered the city alongside him, some of them looked confused as well.
Ying Yun, the leader of the escort team, was preparing to leave. When he heard the proclamation, he sighed and spoke through voice transmission, "With this, the number of spots available to the minor races during the next Luminous Domain Mansion opening will drop even further."
Seeing that some of them were confused, he added, "The Luminous Domain Mansion is a unique place. Only a limited number of people can enter the mansion each time. The manor can be entered from four directions, and each direction is split into nine levels and 810 entrances. Each entrance can allow the entry of one individual. In total, only 3,240 spots are available per opening."
"And now, the divines have monopolized the 810 western entrances. Since they\'re making this announcement, they must have completely sealed the area off from all outsiders."
Su Yu was surprised to hear that. Was that actually a thing? True. The spots to enter the manor had always been limited. As far as he knew, Great Ming had ten spots while Great Xia had twenty spots. One ought to note that Great Xia was one of the three strongest human prefectures. Thus, it was actually quite impressive for Great Ming to actually receive ten spots.
As a whole, the human race would probably only have a few hundred spots. Even if each prefecture was given ten spots on average, the human race would only have 360 spots in total.
So the humans didn\'t even have as many spots as the divines? After all, the divines had taken 810 spots all for themselves. Of course, the divines might not actually use all their reserved spots themselves. Some would probably be given out to reward their vassal races.
After the divine spoke, a different voice rang out, "You guys sure are fast at sealing off the western entrances..."
The same voice spoke lazily, "Since the divines have spoken, let me make my announcement as well. From this moment, the 810 southern entrances belong to the devils. Nobody is allowed to approach."
"The 810 northern entrances belong to the immortals."
"The 810 eastern entrances belong to the humans..."
The first three announcements went unchallenged. But when the fourth announcement was made, a cold voice rang out, "Since when has that been agreed upon? Of the 810 eastern entrances, the humans can get 300 of them. The dragons will also get 300 of them while the rest will be split among the other races."
"..."
Su Yu was still in a state of shock, but upon hearing those words, anger started building within him. Why couldn\'t humanity get 810 entrances as well? The divines, immortals, and devils had each monopolized a direction. But the moment the humans laid their claim, they were denied.
First, Su Yu was furious. But next, he turned gloomy. The humans...had actually conceded.
The same human laughed and said, "Fine. The humans will get 400 eastern entrances. Everyone else can share the remaining entrances."
The same expert who had denied the previous claim spoke again, "Are the humans even capable of keeping the 400 entrances?"
The same human laughed and said, "I represent the War Shrine. These 400 entrances belong to the War Shrine. As for the Knowledge Seeking Realm, they can fight for what they want. If you disagree, you can talk to Great Qin King. Don\'t waste your time on me. I\'m only here on behalf of the Invincibles. I\'m not an Invincible myself. It\'s not like the claims made today will be final. During the day of the opening, things might still change."
One expert after another spoke. Everyone else in the city listened silently. The same show was starting. This show would repeat itself every ten years. Meanwhile, Su Yu was left confused. What was up with the humans? Why was the War Shrine laying a claim for themselves? What about the Knowledge Seeking Realm?
Was humanity still playing with their internal politics even out here in the Allheaven Battlefield?
Su Yu was left completely speechless. Whatever. So be it.
This was embarrassing. What a joke.
War Shrine and Knowledge Seeking Realm. The two holy lands of humanity. Each of the other major races was acting as one when it concerned the Luminous Domain Mansion. But the human race was unable to unite even in this matter. And from the reaction of the other races, this wasn\'t even surprising. Clearly, this wasn\'t the first time this had happened.
"They\'re letting their internal conflicts spread to even the Allheaven Battlefield..."
Su Yu cursed inwardly. But he was also inwardly hoping that this was merely an act to fool the myriad races. However, after thinking more about it, he cursed even harder than before. It was very likely that the internal situation of the human race was really this bad.
The Luminous Domain Mansion had yet to open, but humanity had already lost their momentum. Furthermore, they had also openly displayed their disunity in front of so many people.
Su Yu didn\'t know what to say. What were the Invincibles thinking? He only knew that there was a serious problem with humanity. The problem was so serious that even with the high number of Invincibles humanity could produce and their status as the hegemon of the eastern sector, they were unable to get as many spots as the other major races.
When the divines, devils, and immortals spoke, nobody dared to dispute their claim. But when the humans spoke, it felt like they were haggling in a market. This was too embarrassing.
No matter how much Su Yu resented some humans, he was still proud of his identity as a human after witnessing the pitiful fates of the minor races in the Allheaven Battlefield. Just look at how strong the human race was. Just look at the number of Invincibles they had.
They were the hegemon of the eastern sector!
But now, he realized that there was nothing to be proud of. The human race was inferior to the other major races. They were below the divines, devils, and immortals. Even the dragons dared to challenge them.
The humans liked to claim that the humans, divines, immortals, and devils were the four hegemons of the Allheaven Battlefield. But in practice, only the divines, immortals, and devils were first-class races. Meanwhile, the humans, dragons, and the ancient races were second-class races. The top 100 races were considered third-class races. As for all the other races, they were below the third-class races.
The human race was merely a second-class race. This realization hit Su Yu like a hammer. His excitement faded and he grew listless.
Back in the Human Realm, he had been quite proud thanks to all the heroic stories he had heard about humanity, such as how Great Xia caused the divines and devils to shit themselves on the battlefield, how Great Qin specialized in killing the immortal fairies of the immortal race, and how the various prefectures had always suppressed the myriad races on the battlefield.
But when he was finally in the Allheaven Battlefield himself, he found that the human race wasn\'t that big of a deal, after all. The divines, devils, and immortals had merely been holding back against an all-out war with humanity to avoid major losses. Out here, everyone still believed that the three races were superior to the human race.
They had merely been waiting for a better opportunity to defeat humanity once and for all. Meanwhile, humanity could only survive, not prosper. Just look at how quiet the humans were when the experts of the other races were trying to kill Su Yu. Since the major races were involved, humanity was forced to stay silent.
What if the situation was reversed? Perhaps the human Invincibles could try to kill Mo Duona as well. The devils would most definitely react intensely. It was fine if Mo Duona was killed in a struggle against other geniuses. But if an Invincible tried to get involved, things would not be pretty. That was how overbearing the devils were. And that was applicable to the divines and immortals as well.
Even the dragons enjoyed much more respect among the myriad races than the humans. That was because the dragons were also known to be extremely protective of their own. Humanity was the exception. They couldn\'t afford to be protective.
Su Yu was greatly dispirited. He felt empty inside. He had personally witnessed a human expert staking a claim before conceding the moment the other major races disputed the claim. He couldn\'t help feeling sad despite knowing that humanity had no choice.
Even when humanity was disadvantaged against the other races, they still persisted with their internal conflicts and politics. Served them right for being bullied by the other major races.
Su Yu cursed inwardly. Served them right! Not only that, but humanity had somehow even produced a traitor among their Invincibles. They deserved this treatment from the myriad races.
***
While Su Yu was thinking about all that.
On the top floor of a certain high-rise building. The top floor had been booked by a single individual.
Inside, Zhu Guangshen was sipping tea while smiling, "Who\'s the fellow earlier? The one from War Shrine."
Umbra answered, "Jin Shili."
"The one from Great Jin?"
"Yes." First, Zhu Guangshen nodded. Then, he sighed. Eventually, he smiled again, "That fellow sure is soft. But fortunately, it wasn\'t Xia Longwu or Qin Zhen here as the representative or a fight would have broken out earlier."
The general of the Heavenly Dao Army said, "It\'s not that he\'s soft, but he\'s simply weaker than the two names you mentioned. He couldn\'t afford to be as unyielding as the two of them. Furthermore, the Knowledge Seeking Realm has been acting quite mysteriously as of late. They didn\'t even bother to send any representative here this time..."
"I\'m here, right?" Zhu Guangshen laughed, "I\'m one of the nine family heads of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. How am I not a representative of the Knowledge Seeking Realm?"
"..."
The others blanked out upon hearing that.
Ignoring their reactions, Zhu Guangshen laughed again. When all the experts stopped speaking, he spoke, "The human cultural researchers will be claiming two hundred of the entrances. I\'m here on behalf of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Don\'t bother to reject me. I honestly don\'t care. I\'m only here as Great Zhou King\'s messenger. You can look for Great Zhou King if you have anything to say."
After saying those words, he proceeded to ignore them all.
Their objections had nothing to do with him.
Umbra asked in astonishment, "Prince, since the Knowledge Seeking Realm sent you here to fight for these spots, why didn\'t they send more people to assist you?"
"Nah. I only made that claim for fun." Zhu Guangshen spoke indifferently, "Even if Great Zhou King learns of what I spoke, so what? Do you think those from the War Shrine will share their spots? Will Great Zhou King feel troubled because that\'s too many spots? Also, who\'s to say the claims made today won\'t change when the actual day arrives? None of this matters."
He laughed again. He was merely babbling nonsense when he uttered those words. It didn\'t matter if they wouldn\'t be able to actually get all those spots. At the very least, they had to look good, right?
So what if Great Zhou King eventually learned about this? He was one of the nine family heads. Since nobody else from the Knowledge Seeking Realm was here, he naturally had to say something on their behalf, right? Nobody would say no to more spots, right?
The one to say no would be scorned by all human cultural researchers. Thus, they would agree with him even if they weren\'t being sincere about it.