Chapter 2278: Chapter 2278 Human Nature
Ye Liuyun released his clone, allowing it to conceal itself with a Concealcape to gather information about the experts in this world.
He also lent two Concealcapes to Qiong Qi and Mo Shaowen, then gave out instructions, "Qiong Qi, you’ll gather information by eavesdropping on conversations among martial practitioners and soldiers. Shaowen, you’ll use illusions to uncover the actual state of this world."
Following that, Ye Liuyun put on his own Concealcape. With the help of his Scarlet Phantom Eyes, he created illusions. He then interacted directly with the martial practitioner.
Once enough information had been gathered, they regrouped to consolidate their findings.
"The martial practitioners here have the same mentality as those in the God Realm—they fear the foreign races deep down. Most believe that simply holding them off is already a victory."
Our arrival has greatly impacted them, boosting their morale. Among the lower-ranking martial martial practitioners, many actually hope to ally with us." Qiong Qi was the first to report.
Mo Shaowen then provided his analysis, "The three Royal Managements have nearly equal military strength and rarely engage in major conflicts, just occasional skirmishes."
As for the Devil Clan and Devil Beasts, they’ve been entirely eradicated. Many martial practitioners here have never even encountered a devil cultivator in their lifetime.
There are no Demon Beasts in this world either. Any feral beasts that begin to show signs of transformation into demons are swiftly hunted down. They neither use feral beasts for combat nor attempt to tame them.
Instead, they treat them purely as food. As a result, the feral beasts in this world have no opportunity to grow stronger, and their cultivation levels remain low.
They revere cultivation progress but disdain soul cultivators, believing them to be opportunistic and selfish.
"Whenever they encounter a soul cultivator, their armies take immediate action, using a special coffin-shaped artifact to capture and seal away the cultivator’s Divine Soul power before executing them."
Upon hearing this, the soul cultivators and Demon in Ye Liuyun’s group exchanged uneasy glances, unsure if these people would treat them the same way.
"So that explains it! No wonder none of the martial practitioners here have exceptionally strong Divine Soul power!"
Ye Liuyun’s clone had scouted the area extensively, yet he hadn’t found any martial practitioners with particularly potent Divine Soul abilities.
Ye Liuyun then shared his own findings with the group: "The people here are weaker than us in Weapon refining, alchemy, and Formation techniques."
"However, they do possess three valuable resources. The first is the Storage Stone, which can store genuine energy, allowing martial practitioners to fight longer and recover quickly after battle."
Ye Liuyun himself owned a Storage Stone, so he was well aware of its benefits.
"The second is called the Conversion Stone. It is used to craft energy-converting artifacts that transform Devil Crystals or foreign race virtuoso cores into Spirit Crystal energy, which martial practitioners can absorb."
"However, these resources are completely controlled by the three Royal Managements. The local trade guilds merely act as resellers, making a small profit from the transactions."
"In their armies, they have artifacts that utilize this conversion process, allowing martial practitioners to freely use the foreign race virtuoso they seize and convert them into cultivation resources."
Upon hearing about these treasures, everyone was already brimming with excitement. These were the very things they had long dreamed of possessing.
Ye Liuyun gestured for them to calm down and continued, "The last one is called Emerald Essence Liquid. Each drop contains highly refined energy that can directly help martial practitioners break through realms or be used for body tempering."
"This liquid originates from a spring located at the borders of all three kingdoms. It is jointly guarded and shared among them. Due to its extreme rarity, only members of the Royal Court may enjoy it, or it is granted as a reward to those who have rendered great merit."
"Wow!" The crowd couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
"Why don’t we just steal it?" Qiong Qi suggested bluntly.
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
Several others immediately voiced their support.
Ye Liuyun chuckled, "I won’t deny that these treasures tempt me too. But think about it, if we go around the stars forming alliances, yet seize resources wherever we go, then how are we any different from the foreign races?"
The group fell silent for a moment. Ye Liuyun’s words made sense.
Seeing this, Qiong Qi frowned, "So we just sit here drooling over it but do nothing?"
Ye Liuyun shook his head and replied, "Storage Stones and Conversion Stones are sold by their trade guilds. We can buy them with resources such as elixirs and weapons, things we excel at producing."
"Resource exchange and mutual benefit should be our approach. Our goal is to unite humanity against the foreign races, not to become like them, pillaging and plundering wherever we go."
"Regarding the Emerald Essence Liquid, since we are helping them fight against the foreign races, we can request some as a reward. The exact amount will depend on future cooperation. In any case, don’t always assume that just because we see something valuable, we have to take it by force."
"Even if we end up clashing with them, we can’t strip them of all their resources. They still need enough to defend against the foreign races."
His words sparked a heated debate. Some agreed with his reasoning, while others found it too idealistic.
However, in the end, they all reached a consensus—to first observe the attitudes of the locals.
Later, Ye Liuyun relayed everything they had learned to the women in the Spatial World. Even among them, opinions were divided.
"This is truly a test of human nature," Ye Liuyun mused.
For the first time, he fully understood the foreign races and the colossal beasts. They, too, were simply striving for their own growth, seeking out the best resources.
The difference was that they took the path of plundering and absolute dominance rather than resource exchange and mutual benefit.
The next day, Ye Liuyun immediately approached Grand Commander Man Feng. He proposed to take a few people to the local trade guilds and make some exchanges for resources.
After some discussion among the commanders, and following approval from the Royal Management, they agreed to Ye Liuyun’s request.
They also wanted to understand Ye Liuyun’s situation and determine what he was interested in.
However, they set a restriction, forbidding large-scale exchanges. They feared that if Ye Liuyun’s army grew too powerful through the acquired resources, controlling them in the future would become even more difficult.
To enforce this, they assigned Song Tianyang to lead a team of soldiers to monitor the group, though they claimed it was for their protection.
Ye Liuyun understood their concerns but didn’t mind. He simply took Qiong Qi, Mo Tianheng, and Mo Shaowen to the trade guild to gather information.
These individuals were all calm and sharp-minded, unlikely to easily expose their true intentions.
Once inside the guild, they inquired about prices and availability, asking about various resources. After making a full round of inquiries, they only purchased a map. Song Tianyang, despite his close observation, couldn’t discern what they were truly interested in.
"You’re not planning to open a trade guild here, are you?" He finally laughed in exasperation.
Ye Liuyun chuckled as well. "To be honest, we lack nothing. We’re just using the guild as a window to understand the situation here."
But in reality, their questions had already revealed key insights into the local resources and trade structure. Many of the questions had been carefully prepared by Liang Xue, Wu Qingcheng, and others beforehand.
