I Come to Teach You Cultivation-Chapter 105 - 17: Great Xia’s Lord (2/5)

"When did you find out?"

After being exposed by Li Boyang, Xiao Yue slowly opened his eyes, knowing he could no longer keep pretending.

Xiao Yue prided himself on his ability to feign death and unconsciousness, believing that hardly anyone could see through him.

Back on the battlefield, it was this very skill that allowed Xiao Yue to survive until the end, and subsequently be granted his current status and abilities by the Witch King.

"That doesn’t matter..."

Lightly tossing the Celestial Destiny Bone Armor, Li Boyang replied with a smile.

"What matters now is what you’re willing to trade for your life?"

Upon hearing this, even Xiao Yue, who had long accepted his fate, couldn’t help but look up. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Are you willing to spare me?"

Xiao Yue’s surprise at this moment was genuine.

Ever since he learned that Li Boyang was the "little brother" Li Jingshu mentioned, he had lost all hope of his own survival.

"Not sparing you, but saving you."

Leaning over, Li Boyang touched Xiao Yue’s broken bones and said.

"I don’t know how you did it, but your bones are indeed fractured..."

"If you let them heal on their own in this state without setting them, you’ll be crippled for the rest of your life."

Before Xiao Yue could retort, Li Boyang continued.

"I can help you set your bones; all you need to do is tell me the purpose of the fox’s arrival here."

The conditions Li Boyang offered weren’t harsh, but they left Xiao Yue silent.

Fortunately, this silence didn’t last long. To everyone’s surprise, Xiao Yue asked.

"Are you truly willing to save me?"

"I swear by the name of the ’Huai River Witch!’"

Before Li Boyang could respond, Xiluo suddenly stomped on Xiao Yue’s broken knee.

Crack...

Amidst the sharp sound of fracturing bones, Xiluo roared in a suppressed, low voice.

"Little one, I think it’s best to just finish off such a daring fellow."

The pain contorted Xiao Yue’s face beyond control, but he gritted his teeth and kept silent.

"I... just need a guarantee..."

Through clenched teeth, Xiao Yue’s utterance was enough to prove that besides being rash, he wasn’t truly foolish.

Xiao Yue now knew where he was.

He also understood that the Mountain God Temple likely worshipped the witch from a millennium ago.

This red-haired child and mountain cat before him were likely descendants of the Huai River Witch.

"We don’t need to guarantee anything to you because you have no choice."

"You can only choose to trust me or not."

With a faint smile, Li Boyang, at this moment, made Xiao Yue feel a chill from within.

In fact, anyone facing such cold indifference and calmness far beyond youth wouldn’t react much better than Xiao Yue.

"Cunning" when applied to a child is far more terrifying than any verbal threat.

"I believe you!"

Realizing that Li Boyang was the leader among the pair, Xiao Yue quickly yielded.

...........................

Thousands of miles from the Hundred Lands Mountain Range, in Central Province, is a prosperous area where plains coexist with fertile lands.

There, countless mountain people left the wilderness, broke away from their tribes, and formed their own city-states and nations.

The most powerful of these nations is called "Xia."

And the sovereign of this nation is respected by all the nearby city-states as the "Common Lord."

The Xia Kingdom, through southern conquests and northern expeditions, eastward campaigns and westward advances, used nearly a millennium to establish a realm spanning the entire Central Province—Great Xia.

However, unlike the feudal empires and dynasties in Li Boyang’s impression.

Due to limitations in governing capabilities, Great Xia’s form of presence is more akin to a "vassal state system."

Each nation, each city-state, remains relatively independent.

Only required to pay tribute to Great Xia and declare fealty at specific times each year.

Naturally, to prevent vassal states from publicly conforming while secretly dissenting.

Every state conquered by Great Xia would voluntarily send an heir as a hostage to the capital region.

If any state chose to betray, Great Xia would use the name of this hostage to quell rebellion and support a sovereign favorable to Great Xia.

Over the years, a broad common cultural sphere was created.

"Central Province" is the self-designation of this cultural system, also how remote states like Guifang Kingdom perceive Great Xia.

In Great Xia, the Common Lord holds supreme authority.

In other vassal and regional states, priests were the main hosts of sacrifices and rituals.

However, in Great Xia, the Common Lord is also called the "Witch King," with the unique privilege of worshipping ancestor gods and deities.

But like all rulers.

The sovereign of Great Xia isn’t satisfied with his power.

Especially the current Common Lord, whose ambition is known by all.

Legend has it that this Common Lord was divinely conceived, a son of Sun God Hao on earth.

To establish his authority, the Common Lord not only had priests and great witches compile his words into manuals for dissemination but also mandated that all vassal temples must erect his statue.

At the same time, this Common Lord sought to abolish all nations’ blood sacrifices to the gods and live offerings, asserting that only he had the right to decide life and death.

The special system of "Minister of Justice" emerged under such circumstances.

Nominally, the Minister of Justice’s duty was to enforce smugglers’ arrests and suppress all unlawful acts.

Yet in this era, "law" itself is a highly precious resource, how could it truly be widespread among the common people?

Thus, in most cases, the Minister of Justice was executing the Common Lord’s commands, extending his will beyond Great Xia’s borders.

At least, that’s how Xiao Yue understood his role.

He frequently traveled between southern nations, mainly monitoring violations of the Common Lord’s prohibitions on blood sacrifices and live offerings.

As for certain nations’ "rebellious acts" of not erecting the Common Lord’s statue?

As long as they didn’t go too far, Xiao Yue generally wouldn’t intervene proactively.

Admittedly, this was also related to Xiao Yue’s own background—having been born for "human sacrifice," he deeply detested blood sacrifices and live offerings.

If not for the Common Lord’s pardon, Xiao Yue would likely have long become part of a certain ancestor god.

Therefore, whenever it involved "illegal live sacrifices," Xiao Yue would exhibit a determination contrary to his usual demeanor, pursuing it to the end.

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