“There were obviously some internal instabilities. But there were instabilities before, and never such an explosion....” Muttering thoughtfully to himself, he pondered the situation in search of an answer. Meanwhile, the two panicked soul cultivators offered profuse apologies. However, then they considered the crisis their tribe was facing, and suddenly exchanged a glance.
“Grandmaster,” one of them said, “now that your immortal's cave is destroyed, could it be that you are temporarily without a place of residence? If so, why not come to our tribe to rest up a bit?”
Bai Xiaochun glanced back at the destroyed mountain cave, and then nodded. What he needed right now was exactly that; a quiet place to analyze the problem with the eleven-colored flame.
Considering how the soul cultivators and the savages were treating him, Bai Xiaochun finally understood what kind of a position necromancers occupied in the Wildlands. It was definitely beyond anything he had imagined before.
Off to the side, Zhou Yixing was stewing in his own anger. After all, he had mentioned that he was a master necromancer, and yet the savages and soul cultivators had refused to believe him.
Soon, the soul cultivators and savages were cautiously leading Bai Xiaochun back to their tribe. It wasn’t a very large tribe, with only about a thousand members, who made their home in one of the local mountain valleys.
The tribe was fortified, but in a very primitive fashion, with immortal's caves dug into the sides of the mountains. Bai Xiaochun was immediately treated as an honored guest, and was personally give an immortal's cave that had previously belonged to one of the two soul cultivators. Even better, they constantly provided him tribute in the form of vengeful souls.
There were other forms of compensation as well. Yet again, Bai Xiaochun was struck by how important necromancers were in the Wildlands. Whenever he ran into any of the savage giants, they looked at him with a mixture of fear and respect. Bai Xiaochun was quite sure that if he asked them to, they would do anything he wanted.
As for the two soul cultivators, they clearly respected and feared him, but at the same time, wanted something of him, although they seemed hesitant to speak of it openly.
Everyone assumed that Zhou Yixing was one of Bai Xiaochun’s followers, and therefore, they also treated him with great respect, and gave him handsome compensation, although not quite to the same level as Bai Xiaochun.
After being in the tribe for only about half a month, his daily usage of souls ensured that the two soul cultivators couldn’t prevent from gritting their teeth when they handed them over. Finally, Bai Xiaochun started to feel bad about it.
The next time they came to deliver souls, he sighed and said, “Alright, spit it out. What do you want my help with?”
The two soul cultivators couldn’t conceal their excitement. They had been holding back this entire time, so now that Bai Xiaochun took the initiative to bring up the subject, they exchanged a glance and then revealed the truth.
Two months before, the hell-emperor had issued a proclamation indicating that he would be selecting a successor to receive his legacy. Very demanding qualifications had been put in place for the successor, and virtually everyone in the Wildlands was going mad to prepare, including people in the city of the kings, as well as the necromancer clans.
There was a cultivation base limitation for those who could compete to become the successor, and for many, that meant that a vast quantity of soul medicine was needed to improve their cultivation base. As a result, the three great clans that lived under the control of Giant Ghost City were going all out in their preparations, which included issuing strict orders to the tribes in their respective areas of influence to provide large amounts of soul medicine. Any tribe who couldn’t meet the requirement would face potential execution.
Because of an event which had occurred recently, the Blackmountain Tribe was particularly weak, and was temporarily incapable of producing any soul medicine. As a result, they had come up with three ways to solve the problem: sell other products produced in their tribe; find a necromancer to help them; or resort to banditry to try to get soul medicine.
They were currently utilizing all three different options to try to escape from this disaster....
Bai Xiaochun found the whole explanation a bit confusing. However, Zhou Yixing’s eyes went wide. In fact, the news that the hell-emperor was looking for a successor caused his eyes to shine with unprecedented brightness.
Bai Xiaochun maintained a neutral expression, and managed to casually ask for some more details in a way that didn’t reveal his lack of understanding. Of course, Zhou Yixing was so excited about the whole matter that he didn’t notice that at all, and proceeded to tell Bai Xiaochun everything he knew.
It was only at this point that Bai Xiaochun finally came to understand that, in addition to the arch-emperor from the imperial city, there was also a hell-emperor in the Wildlands!
There was a legend about the hell-emperor which stated that after the first generation arch-emperor died, his soul didn’t vanish, but instead, became the Underworld River. It went on to control the aspect of death in the world, and was the spirit of the Underworld River. That was the origin of the hell-emperor!
From generation to generation, the faith of the people ruled by the arch-emperor would bolster the hell-emperor’s strength. In fact, over the years, the savages had been influenced by the soul cultivators to the point where they also began to exercise faith in the hell-emperor.
Essentially, the arch-emperor was a physical leader who everyone could see, whereas the hell-emperor was a symbolic luminary!
Also according to legend, the hell-emperor’s palace existed deep within the Underworld River, which was where the hell-emperor resided. Occasionally, he would send emissaries out into the world of the living, people who were always treated with the utmost respect, even by the reigning arch-emperor.
Two months before, the Underworld River had appeared above the imperial city, and a stone stele descended with a Dharmic decree. According to that decree, a successor was to be chosen within one sixty-year-cycle, a successor who could become the next generation hell-emperor!
The Wildlands were fully shaken; after all, this was the first time in countless years that there had ever even been mention of the hell-emperor choosing a successor.
All of the clans, marquis, and lords in the imperial city, as well as the powerful forces in the four kingly cities and even other influential groups, were profoundly moved. Everyone wanted the hell-emperor’s successor to come from their group!
Two prerequisites had to be met to be a potential successor: First, to have a Nascent Soul cultivation base. Second, to officially acquire candidacy qualifications!
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Chapter
575: Spirit Enhanced Nascent Soul!
Of the two requirements, the latter was the most important.
After all, even in the Wildlands, Nascent Soul cultivators were no rarity. That was especially the case because powerful necromancers could make soul medicine that gave them an advantage over the soul cultivators. For them, it was much easier to break through from Core Formation into the Nascent Soul stage.
Therefore, the most difficult of the prerequisites was to gain candidacy qualifications!
“How do you get the candidacy qualifications?” Zhou Yixing asked, looking very serious, his heart pounding in his chest. The matter of the hell-emperor choosing a successor was a monumental one for the entire Wildlands, so even Zhou Yixing, despite not having a Nascent Soul cultivation base at the moment, was still thinking of trying to join the competition.
Bai Xiaochun sat there listening thoughtfully as the two soul cultivators explained everything they knew. After all, the matter was no secret.