Book 6: Chapter 94: Joyful to receive the Sacred Image! Barbarian King's Sacred Body Technique |
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"Waiter, bring the dishes and the best wine."
Wang Lici confidently entered Yingxian Tower and chose a large table by the street to entertain the newly acquainted Giant Barbarians.
Before long, the food and wine were served, and after a few drinks, everyone quickly became familiar with each other.
"By the way, Old Cang," Wang Lici suddenly remembered what the Cangping Divine Emperor had said earlier and turned to him, "What delicious food did you say you brought me?"
"Well..." Cangping Divine Emperor glanced at Lici and then at the surrounding group of burly men, whispering to her, "I'll give it to you later, you can enjoy it slowly."
"Old Cang, we're all friends here, don't be so stingy. Just treat it as if you're giving it all to me, won't you?"
"Alright, alright." Cangping Divine Emperor took out a piece of dragon leg meat weighing several hundred pounds and emphasized, "This is a family heirloom."
"This is some good meat~ Old Cang, you're really good to me." Wang Lici's eyes lit up as she sensed the pure energy emanating from the dragon leg meat.
Such a piece of meat was barely enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of a group of big eaters.
However, after this incident, the Giant Barbarians' attitude towards "Old Cang" became much warmer. This human was indeed as straightforward as Lici.
After a round of drinking and toasting.
Wang Lici barely filled her stomach and brought up an old topic: "Yamie, tell me, how much salary are you owed?"
"We haven't been paid for a thousand years." Yamie sighed, "In total, the Stone Hammer Tribe of the Giant Barbarians is owed 930 Immortal Spirit Stones."
"That's outrageous!" Wang Lici gasped.
930 Immortal Spirit Stones, that's nearly ten Chaos Spirit Stones! If someone owed her that many Chaos Spirit Stones, she'd definitely want to chop them up.
She immediately shared Yamie's indignation, slamming the table and angrily saying, "How can they be so shameless, owing money and not paying it back? You guys are fighting for them, and they dare to owe you your life money! It's too shameless!"
"That's impossible!" Cangping Divine Emperor also jumped up, furious, "Our Divine Dynasty allocates funds every ten years, not a single coin is owed to the Stone Hammer Tribe."
With these words, everyone's eyes turned towards him.
"Old Cang, how do you know about the funding?" Wang Lici asked curiously.
"Well..." Cangping Divine Emperor was at a loss for words, stammering, "I have a wealthy relative, I heard it from him last time."
"Wealthy relative? Probably a bird of a feather with that old man from the Divine Capital." Wang Lici pursed her lips, expressing her distrust.
"Lici brother, Old Cang brother." Yamie directly took out a notebook and slapped it on the table, "We giants of the Stone Hammer Tribe never lie, these are all IOUs signed by the Void Sea Command."
Wang Lici took it and began calculating: "According to the defense agreement, the Stone Hammer Tribe of the Giant Barbarians maintains no less than... 15,000 warriors of the ninth to tenth rank, 800 warriors of the eleventh to twelfth rank, 50 warriors of the thirteenth to fourteenth rank, and 3 warriors of the fifteenth to sixteenth rank, with the Giant Barbarian King spending most of the time on the front line."
Then, she flipped through the IOUs and found that indeed, a thousand years of defense employment fees were owed.
These IOUs all had the seal of the Void Sea Command, with the divine sense imprint of the relevant responsible person, so they couldn't be fake. Adding up all the IOUs, the total debt reached 930 Immortal Spirit Stones.
"Old Cang, take a look yourself, what do you have to say?" Wang Lici handed the account book to Cangping Divine Emperor, "The Stone Hammer Tribe's accounts are clear, your relative is indeed not a good person."
Cangping Divine Emperor's expression also became slightly serious.
He took the account book, flipped through it, checked the seals and divine sense imprints on the IOUs, and calculated all the debts. His expression finally changed completely: "Lici, you're right, my relative is indeed not a good person. It's wrong to owe wages, I can help pull some strings, let the court settle the money as soon as possible."
"Pull strings my foot!" Wang Lici said angrily, "Owing money and paying it back is a matter of course, especially when it's their life money."
"Lici." The Giant Barbarian King Gangbadié said in a deep voice, "We are very grateful that you can speak for our Stone Hammer Tribe. However, it's already very good that Brother Cang can help pull some strings, and we are very grateful."
"Sigh~~ If it weren't for the huge amount of unpaid wages, with our young adult giants on the battlefield, the children and elders of the Stone Hammer Tribe can hardly survive, we wouldn't dare to come to the Divine Capital to demand payment."
"No need to pull strings. I'll go to the Divine Capital and ask that old man if he's going to pay or not! If he doesn't, I'll make a scene in Luojing, let everyone know the old man owes money and doesn't pay." Wang Lici stood up, rolling up her sleeves, ready to cause trouble.
"Wait!" Cangping Divine Emperor hurriedly pulled Wang Lici back, "Lici, don't be rash. Leave this to me, I'll definitely get the unpaid wages back."
Normally calm and composed, he was now breaking out in a cold sweat.
If Wang Lici really made a big fuss, where would he put his old face? He wouldn't be able to face the ancestors of the Xuanyuan Clan.
"Old Cang, you're indeed generous and righteous." Wang Lici patted his shoulder, "No wonder you're someone who can eat more than me, people with big appetites have big hearts. Unlike those who are high and mighty all day, they're all heartless."
"Can you really help us get the unpaid wages back?" Gangbadié was also excitedly holding onto Old Cang, "Actually, there's also some compensation that hasn't been given. Brother, can you help us get it back too?"
Then, he took out a compensation list.
This listed the clansmen of the Stone Hammer Tribe who had sacrificed themselves in battle over the past thousand years.
Ninth and tenth rank, 2,300 sacrifices, with compensation according to the Divine Dynasty's standard of 0.1 Immortal Spirit Stone per person, totaling 230 Immortal Spirit Stones.
Eleventh and twelfth rank, a total of 175 sacrifices, with compensation of 1 Immortal Spirit Stone per person, totaling 175 Immortal Spirit Stones.
Thirteenth and fourteenth rank, a total of 15 sacrifices, with compensation of 10 Immortal Spirit Stones per person, totaling 150 Immortal Spirit Stones, while there were no sacrifices above the fifteenth rank.
The total owed compensation was: 555 Immortal Spirit Stones.
Seeing this, Cangping Divine Emperor's expression became even more grim, and he said solemnly, "Rest assured, whether it's unpaid wages or compensation, I'll help you get it all back. No later than ten days, you'll have it."
"Thank you both. Lici brother, Cang brother, from now on, you're the best brothers of our Stone Hammer Tribe." Gangbadié Stone Hammer was excited but kept his composure, sincerely thanking the two.
"Demanding money is one thing." Wang Lici suddenly said indignantly, "But the salary for this employment is too low, isn't it? I just looked, and the annual salary for a Divine Realm combatant is only equivalent to 3,000 Immortal Crystals. As I recall, our family starts at 30,000 Immortal Crystals for a Divine Realm family general. And for a Void Realm combatant, it's only 30,000 Immortal Crystals a year, is that even enough for food?"
"Well, food is covered by the army..." Cangping Divine Emperor quickly said.
"Our family also covers food and accommodation, I remember our family starts at around 300,000 for a Void Realm offering... with various tasks, there's additional rewards and income..." Wang Lici shook her head and sighed, "This salary is too stingy, isn't it?"
"Well, the army has the responsibility to protect the Divine Continent, naturally it can't be compared to the family... wait, your family's salary is that high?" Cangping Divine Emperor was about to explain, but suddenly realized, staring at Wang Lici, "A Void Realm offering can earn hundreds of thousands of Immortal Crystals a year? That's dozens of top-grade spiritual stones. And it includes food and accommodation... how rich must you be."
"Lici brother, no, Miss Lici." Gangbadié Stone Hammer was also shocked, looking at her with anticipation, "Does your family need people? Our Stone Hammer Tribe's giants are never afraid of hardship or death."
"Alright, I'll write to my Fourth Uncle, see how many guest offerings we still need." Wang Lici agreed with a sense of loyalty.
"Wait!"
Now it was Cangping Divine Emperor's turn to object.
Lici was poaching the front-line army!
Despite his previous chatter, he knew that the Stone Hammer Tribe of the Giant Barbarians was famously resilient and cheap.
If the Stone Hammer Tribe withdrew from the front line, the already unstable front-line situation would likely collapse. At the very least, he'd have to spend a fortune to mobilize the entire Divine Dynasty and recruit en masse to make up for it.
There weren't many military units in the world as cheap and effective as the Stone Hammer Tribe, otherwise, they would've been deployed long ago.
"Lici, what's going on with your family? Do you really need to hire the Stone Hammer Tribe so extravagantly?" Cangping Divine Emperor was somewhat lacking in confidence, "Currently, the Stone Hammer Tribe's total annual salary is nearly 10 Immortal Spirit Stones, if calculated tenfold, it would be about a hundred Immortal Spirit Stones, a Chaos Spirit Stone a year, are you sure your family can afford it?"
"Whether we can afford it, I don't know." Wang Lici shook her head, "But I trust my Fourth Uncle, as long as he has talent, he'll make the most of it, ensuring everyone plays a role, and definitely won't lose money. Don't worry, I'll write to my Fourth Uncle right away~~"
"No, no, no, I believe you, isn't that enough?" Cangping Divine Emperor said helplessly, "But if you take the Stone Hammer Tribe away, who will hold the front line? If we're not careful, the Annihilation Commander from the Void Sea might invade our Divine Continent."
"Let him come, let that old man from the Divine Capital handle it, and we have so many Immortal and Holy Clans in Divine Capital Luojing, are they just freeloaders?" Wang Lici pouted.
"Lici, you don't understand, don't speak recklessly." Cangping Divine Emperor grunted, "How do you know that old man from the Divine Capital, no, His Majesty doesn't do his job and just freeloads? We have many Immortal and Holy Clans in Luojing, and many of their clansmen are fighting on the front line, with many sacrifices."
"In the end, isn't it because that old man pays too little and owes wages?" Wang Lici said indignantly, "The Giant Barbarians are risking their lives on the front line, what's wrong with earning more to support the children and elders in their tribe?"
"Exactly, exactly."
The Giant Barbarians were also excited.
Gangbadié Stone Hammer couldn't help but say with emotion, "We indeed earn too little, our Giant Tribe eats a lot, it's fine in the military camp, but the elders and children in the tribe rely on our salaries to live. Because the salaries are too low, the old giants have to save food for the children. If the tribe wasn't starving, we wouldn't have asked for a raise. Moreover, due to the unpaid wages, our tribe owes a lot of external debts."
The giants were getting excited, one after another.
Cangping Divine Emperor was dumbfounded.
It looked like Lici was really going to poach his troops!
He quickly signaled to Old Tan and quickly transmitted a few words. Old Tan immediately understood and left.
After a while.
The Dingjiang Holy King, who was in charge of foreign affairs for the Barbarian Tribes, hurriedly arrived at Yingxian Tower.
The Dingjiang Holy King had obviously learned the real situation from Old Tan, and as soon as he arrived, he repeatedly apologized to the Giant Barbarian King, saying it was his work mistake that led to the Stone Hammer Tribe not receiving their due compensation and wages. He patted his chest and promised, "Brother Gangbadié, come to my Foreign Affairs Department tomorrow, and we'll settle the accounts for you on the same day."
"What about the salary increase?" Wang Lici said, "Just these meager wages, and you expect them to risk their lives for you, aren't you ashamed? If your Divine Dynasty can't afford it, our family will."
"Well, um..." The Dingjiang Holy King was sweating profusely, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards Cangping Divine Emperor.
However, just as he had this intention, Cangping Divine Emperor's voice sounded in his ear.
His heart settled, and he immediately said, "The warriors of the Stone Hammer Tribe have made great contributions, we absolutely won't be stingy about a salary increase. Starting tomorrow, salaries will be uniformly increased by ten percent."
"Ten percent, are you trying to brush off a beggar? At least double it." Wang Lici rolled up her sleeves and started negotiating for the Stone Hammer Tribe.
The Dingjiang Holy King couldn't take it anymore and also rolled up his sleeves, confronting her, "Young lady, don't be too greedy. Twenty percent, that's our bottom line."
The two argued back and forth.
After arguing for half a day, they finally reached an agreement, deciding on a fifty percent salary increase, and the Giant Barbarian King Gangbadié could go sign a new contract the next day.
After the Dingjiang Holy King left.
All the Giant Barbarians were very grateful to Wang Lici and Cangping Divine Emperor, completely treating them as their own, and everyone toasted and drank, having a great time.
Throughout the banquet, only Cangping Divine Emperor's mood wasn't very pleasant, yet he had to pretend to be enjoying himself, which was quite exhausting.
"Lici, I saw you fighting with the young clan leader of the Stone Hammer Tribe before, your strength wasn't inferior to his." Cangping Divine Emperor changed the topic, "Are you cultivating some powerful body refining technique?"
"Body refining technique?"
Wang Lici tilted her head and thought for a moment, then took out two stone slabs from her storage ring, pieced them together, and showed him, "I'm currently cultivating this incomplete text, I was already strong, and after cultivating this, I became even stronger."
"This looks familiar... I remember the Primordial..." Cangping Divine Emperor stopped mid-sentence, realizing it wasn't appropriate, and whispered, "I heard the Primordial Dao Palace has a piece."
"Wow, Old Cang, you really have wide connections~" Wang Lici looked at him in surprise but didn't think much of it.
"Wait, let me see." The Giant Barbarian King Gangbadié Stone Hammer seemed to notice something, took the two stone slabs, examined them, and said, "This is an incomplete text of the [Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique], gather the other two pieces and it will be complete."
"Uncle Gangbadié, you recognize it too?" Wang Lici was shocked.
How come it seemed like everyone recognized her cultivation stone slabs, except her?
"Of course I recognize it. The [Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique] was created by an old human fellow many years ago, based on the bloodline characteristics of our Giant Barbarians, it's a holy-level technique." Gangbadié said, "After that old fellow died, he left the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique in our Stone Hammer Tribe. But a long time ago, someone stole two stone slabs from our tribe, and they were lost. Wait a moment, let me find them."
Gangbadié searched through his storage equipment, and soon took out two stone slabs and handed them to Wang Lici, "Here, these are the two pieces, since you have a connection with them, I'll give them to you."
Wang Lici was stunned, weakly looking at the Giant Barbarian King, "Uncle, is your family's ancestral holy relic just casually carried around and given away?"
"Not really." Gangbadié explained helplessly, "We came out to demand wages because the tribe couldn't survive, I was afraid we wouldn't get paid, so I brought some miscellaneous things from the tribe to sell for some food."
"Well, I can't afford this half of a holy-level technique's relic." Wang Lici glanced at the two stone slabs with some envy but forced herself to look away, "How about you keep these two stone slabs, Uncle, I'll write to my master and Fourth Uncle to ask for some money."
"Miss Lici, are you looking down on our Giant Stone Hammer Tribe?" The Giant Barbarian King said angrily, "We consider you one of our own. How could we ask you for money for two stone slabs? Besides, you helped us demand wages, confronted the Dingjiang Holy King for us, helped us get a raise, and we didn't say we'd pay you. Moreover, the [Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique] was created for humans based on our Giant Barbarian King's bloodline, it's of no use to us."
Wang Lici nodded, "Alright, I won't be pretentious, I'll accept it."
She wasn't one to be overly modest, and since it had come to this, she naturally wouldn't refuse.
She placed the four stone slabs together, aligning them carefully, and soon pieced them together seamlessly.
A flash of light passed, and the four stone slabs instantly became one.
Golden patterns flickered across the stone slab, and then it emitted a dazzling golden light, releasing a domineering and intense aura of wilderness.
At this moment, the stone slab finally took on the appearance of a holy diagram.
Soon, a cute little barbarian girl emerged from the stone slab, happily flying around Wang Lici, "Sister, thank you for releasing me. I'm Xiaoman, the spirit artifact of the [Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique]. While it's still warm, hurry and inherit me."
The Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique was essentially a holy diagram, and the minimum requirement for inheritance was reaching the Void Realm and having a bloodline above Heavenly Daughter Grade B.
The former was a hard requirement for inheritance; if one's cultivation wasn't strong enough, forcibly inheriting a holy diagram could result in body explosion and death.
As for the latter, if one's bloodline wasn't sufficient, inheriting the holy diagram wouldn't be a problem, but it would be difficult to cultivate to the Saint Sovereign level. Only those with a bloodline aptitude reaching Heavenly Daughter Grade B could, through the process of inheriting the holy diagram, break through to Saintess Ding Grade.
Wang Lici was already in the Void Realm, and her bloodline aptitude had reached the middle stage of Saintess Ding Grade, making her more than capable of inheriting the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique.
Moreover, she genuinely liked this technique that increased strength with cultivation.
Back when she entered the Cloud Sea Cave Heaven, her master, worried about not finding a suitable holy diagram for her, gave her one of the strongest Immortal Scriptures in the cave, the [Heavenly Support Immortal Scripture]. It's known that Immortal Scriptures also have levels, and the higher the level, the better the effect of cleansing and refining the body.
Inheriting this Immortal Scripture had the advantage of a high level, with excellent cleansing and refining effects, allowing her bloodline to break through to the Saintess level. The downside was that this Immortal Scripture wasn't very suitable for her, and she always felt uncomfortable while cultivating it.
Now, with the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique, this problem could finally be solved.
Without further ado, Wang Lici immediately began to refine the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique. Instantly, the stone slab transformed into a powerful virtual image, merging into Wang Lici's sea of consciousness and Purple Mansion.
The vast and majestic power of laws exploded in her sea of consciousness, and her consciousness was instantly immersed, losing awareness of the outside world.
At the same time, a large amount of heaven and earth essence was infused into her body, assisting her in cleansing and refining her body.
Her aura began to transform bit by bit during this process.
Cangping Divine Emperor quickly called for a female waiter to open an upper room and moved Wang Lici there for cleansing and refining. Doing such things in public was improper.
Several days later.
When Wang Lici opened her eyes, she had completely inherited the [Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique].
After a thorough cleansing and refining, her bloodline aptitude had evolved significantly, reaching the upper stage of Saintess Bing Grade, just a small step away from Grade B.
Wang Lici was pleasantly surprised by this.
She had heard from her master in the Cloud Sea that the effect of a holy diagram was significant. In her estimation, after inheriting the holy diagram, her bloodline aptitude should reach the middle stage of Saintess Bing Grade. She hadn't expected the effect to be so much better than anticipated after inheriting the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique.
She knew how difficult it was to advance even half a stage after reaching the Saintess level.
With her Glutton bloodline, she was already exceptionally blessed, and it had taken years of eating to advance from the initial stage of Saintess Ding Grade to the middle stage, showing how challenging it was to enhance potential.
It seemed that the Barbarian King's Holy Body Technique was indeed exceptional.
She had found a treasure.
Cangping Divine Emperor, who came to visit Wang Lici, was also filled with emotion.
This girl seemed to have great fortune, casually obtaining a holy diagram, and a rather impressive one at that.
Even though he hadn't examined it closely, with his experience, he could tell at a glance that this holy diagram was anything but simple, likely stronger than the typical inheritance holy diagrams of cave heavens.
***
At the same time.
In the Void Sea of the Demon Domain, at the Hyperspace Corridor Base.
Since the fall of the Nine Prison Demon God, this place had completely fallen into the hands of the Wang Clan, and the second phase of the plan had been initiated.
Since Mo Yu Demon God had always represented the Nine Prison Demon God in communicating with the other side, it was still Mo Yu Demon God who continued to contact the Asura Great Demon Lord and the Overlord of Destruction, negotiating for more repair materials, primarily a large amount of spatial crystals and high-grade spatial crystals.
These materials were not only consumed in large quantities but were also very expensive. Moreover, they were the main materials for the Wang Clan's own construction of the [Hyperspace Teleportation Array].
Now it was up to the demons to decide whether they wanted to invest in the Wang Clan's array.
According to the Wang Clan's plan, they needed to extract materials worth at least fifty Chaos Spirit Stones from the demons, covering half the cost of the Wang Clan's Hyperspace Teleportation Array.
As Mo Yu Demon God used the hyperspace communicator to connect with the Asura Great Demon Lord.
Wang Shouzhe and Dragonblood Demon God Yuntai An sat face to face in the base.
Dragonblood Demon God Yuntai An had already returned to human form, wearing human clothes, but his face showed no joy of victory.
He held a jar of strong wine, gulping it down, getting himself drunk, and then said dejectedly, "Shouzhe, I've let you down."
"Don't..." Wang Shouzhe waved his hand dismissively, "You haven't let me down."
"Yes, you're right." Dragonblood Demon God said in pain, gulping down more wine, "I've let down Miaomiao. I've failed her expectations of me, I'm just a scumbag, no, a scum demon."
"Miaomiao is in Shenwu World, hoping for my return every day, but I... I... sob, Shouzhe, I'm tainted..."
"I can't go back..."
Wang Shouzhe's scalp started to tingle.
Why did this sound so wrong?
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