Bab 28: Gaining Merit Points for Humanity’s Xia Clan
Lord Si An continued, "Si Liang Hong is a well-known Legend rank mage, who has lived past 500 years! A normal mortal can normally live up to a maximum of 200 years, but the transformation into a Blood Demon allowed her to increase her longevity. This old hag, who has lived through five centuries...has unfathomable strength. Even the Blood Demon Tower she resides in for practice consists of countless traps that can keep even Transcendents out.
"Si Clan, the utmost honourable family tribe of the entire Azure River County! The prefecture magistrate of Azure River County, the general of the army of County City, and even the lord of several other cities such as Water Rites Town and Windy Town belong to the Si Clan. Nearly 80-90% of the county’s cities belong to the Si Clan! Furthermore, they occupy many prestigious titles and positions throughout Azure River County."
"In other words, in the Azure River County, the Si Clan can easily manipulate situations to their likings." Si An stated calmly.
Xue Ying gasped in surprise, "The prefecture magistrate, the general, and several other mayors...So many important positions are taken by the Si Clan?"
"The entire Empire has always been like this."
"This is the not the world of mortals, but the world of Transcendents!" Si An proclaimed. "Si Liang Hong that old witch. While she is not a Transcendent, she is just a stone’s throw away. Furthermore, with her excellent relationships with many renowned Transcendent Families, she is able to obtain considerate amount of management power. The management of power is in the grasp of the Si Clan. In other words… if the Si Clan deemed you guilty of certain crimes, there is no way out of it even if you are innocent! Likewise, if they deemed you innocent, then even if you are guilty, you wouldn’t be guilty anymore!"
Xue Ying was still recovering from this shocking news, "This, this…"
"Have you already forgotten? Despite being nobles, your parents were captured and taken away from just a decree?" Lord Si An continued swiftly.
Xue Ying’s facial expression sunk gradually.
"Those who are Transcendents are able to send out those decrees! They can even manipulate the law to a certain extent!" Lord Si An explained.
"Does the Mo Yang Clan have any Transcendent beings?" Xue Ying pressed on.
Saving his parents was a wish that he had been pursuing for years.
"They have one Transcendent being, but he is a pseudo-Transcendent." Lord Si An replied, "Those types of pseudo-Transcendents are the weakest amongst all the Transcendents. I am afraid Si Liang Hong, that old witch, and Xiang Pan Yun, that deranged figure, have potential on par to that of the Mo Yang Clan’s Transcendent."
"Pseudo-Transcendent?" Xue Ying hesitated.
"The Mo Yang Clan had been around for ages with one generation after another. It was an extremely powerful Transcendent that founded the first clan bloodline. However, after the death of that Transcendent, the Mo Yang Clan has begun to deteriorate... Fortunately, because of their deep rooted background, around a few decades ago, a member of the family’s Legend Knights used some form of shortcut and managed to enter the world of Transcendents. However, because he is still one of the lowest ranks amongst the Transcendents, even some of the peak Legend ranks were able to defeat him.
Xue Ying instantly remembered his book.
In his book, he recalled seeing that ‘Woodcutter Knight’ who had awakened their primordial bloodline.
That Woodcutter Knight was able to kill a Transcendent with just an axe while only being a Legend ranker. It was entirely possible to defeat a Transcendent while only being a Legend Ranker.
The Woodcutter Knight became even more invincible among the Transcendents after becoming a Transcendent, and became known as the ‘Strongest’ of that era.
"The matters concerning Transcendents are far out of reach." Lord Si An chuckled, "All I wanted to tell you is, do not offend those of Legend rank and higher. Each Legend ranker possesses tremendous strength! Especially Si Liang Hong and Xiang Pan Yun, who are the most frightening figures of Azure River County, as they represent the two skies of Azure River County.
"The Si Clan is deeply rooted into the Azure River County."
"Xiang Pan Yun is a terrifyingly crazed fellow as well." Lord Si An commented.
"Crazed?" Xue Ying inquired curiously.
"Yes." Lord Si An replied, "On the Bloodshed scroll, not many choose to disclose their real names, but Xiang Pan Yun is one of the few who did! Not only that, he is also extremely fond of killing. However, all the missions are received from the Bloodshed Tavern so he is not guilty of murder."
"Killing is not a crime if it is your mission from Bloodshed Tavern?" Xue Ying frowned.
"You can go to the Bloodshed Tavern for missions; however, the bounty of the missions are decided by the tavern itself! The Bloodshed Tavern will take a commission of 80%, leaving 20% for the hunter." Lord Si An continued, "The rewards issued by the Bloodshed Tavern are set according to the target’s rank, strength, background and other aspects. The bounties are usually quite high."
Lord Si An whispered in audible range, "You should know that Bloodshed Tavern has existed on the surface of this realm for countless millennia throughout history. It co-exists with the Temple of the Earth God as one of the two most ancient spiritual forces."
Xue Ying nodded.
Gods and spirits did indeed exist in this world.
As for ‘Temple of the Earth God,’ it was born not long after the birth of this world and shared a history similar to the Tavern’s. It’s also the only temple this Empire has acknowledged! The others were just devils or demons. ‘Bloodshed Tavern,’ has been providing service to bounty hunters just as long as the Temple of the Earth God has existed."
Lord Si An added, "Xiang Pan Yun is a terrifying madman, but it is rare to encounter him. That is unless there is someone from the Bloodshed Tavern that wants your life! As for the Si Clan, that’s another story...The Si Clan is literally spread throughout the whole of Azure River County, so it is easy running into a member. If you happen to meet one, you must be modest. After all, they can just make up an excuse to have you locked away!"
"Unless you possess the strength of a Legend rank, and manage to obtain a Bronze Order!" Lord Si An mused, "Then you have true power at your fingertips, and the Si Clan would not have the rights to just deal with you anyway they want. If you became a Transcendent, the Si Clan would have to show you respect… Of course, I mean a true Transcendent, not a pseudo-Transcendent."
"The authority of the Bronze Order?" Xue Ying became interested.
"Yes."
"This is the next thing I wanted to say. Getting a Black Iron Order does not only represent your identity, but also speaks on the behalf of certain special powers or backers." Lord Si An waved his hand again, after which he instantly appeared to be holding a thick book and a dossier.
Lord Si An handed over the dossier to Xue Ying, " The reason the Xia Clan has been able to survive in this world is because of the constant generations of numerous strong heirs of the clan’s bloodline. Long ago, our Xia Clan’s finest Grand Master Alchemist went on to set rules! Missions were divided into different difficulty levels, allowing the strong ones to accomplish the most important missions."
"Merit points can be obtained from successful missions."
"And these merit points can be used to exchange for the things you desire."
Lord Si An passed the book to Xue Ying, "This is the Book of Exchanges. It lists the available exchanges ranging from gold coins, to magical staffs, to killing a Transcendent, or even becoming the Emperor of the entire Empire! As long as your merit points are obtained from prominent and worthy accomplishments from the Xia Clan, with enough merit points, you can even become an Emperor. "
Xue Ying froze.
The Grand Master Alchemist from the human Transcendent Xia Clan set such domineering rules! If the merit points are sufficient, it means you could have anything?
"What about saving my parents?" Xue Ying could not hold back the urge to inquire.
"If the merit points are sufficient, annihilating the Mo Yang Clan is just a small portion of what can be done, not to mention rescuing your parents." Lord Si An shook his head and laughed in amusement. "Of course, everything costs merit points! All of it depends on how much you give to humanity, and how many accomplishments you can show the Xia Clan! These are the Iron-leveled missions, and the merit points that come with them are usually low. To even think of destroying the Mo Yang Clan with this amount is hopeless."
Xue Ying began going through the list.
There were pages upon pages of missions.
For example, killing a certain infamous bandit would award one with 10 merit points!
Another example would be entering the Mountain Range of Desolation in search of an extraordinary necklace, which would award one with 50 merit points.
...
Watching Xue Ying, Lord Si An stated, "This list of Iron-leveled missions and the Book of Exchanges, are the most important… You can take a closer look at them, and once you have over 1000 merit points, you will have the right to ignore certain laws, excluding the ones that you can never go against. Even for Transcendents, who have the right to not comply under a range of laws...they cannot violate these laws."
"1000 merit points?" Xue Ying was rendered speechless.
Missions like killing Gai Bin, generally only gave at most 10 merit points.
A long and dangerous mission into the Mountain Range of Desolation in search of lost treasure, where the mission wouldn’t necessarily succeed, might only award 50 merit points.
To scrape together 1000 merit points, it seemed almost impossible.
"The Iron-leveled missions’ rewards, generally range from 10 to 100 merit points." Lord Si An chuckled, "Bronze-leveled missions, have a minimum of 1000 merit points."
"I want to ask, what can I do to rescue my parents?" Xue Ying asked.
"There are many ways as listed in the Book of Exchanges." Lord Si An replied. "However, you have to find one that consumes the least amount of merit points. This way, I will be able to find your parent’s current situation through the Dragon Mountain Mansion’s intelligence network. Regarding the location of your parents, I will lend my aid... However, you must find a way to rescue them yourself."
Xue Ying was unable to conceal his feeling of appreciation. "Well, I’ll be leaving you with this mission then, to initiate the investigation, and find out my parent’s current situation."
"Leave it to me. Because the Mo Yang Clan is in the Eastfields province, I will need some time. I estimate it will take about a month. In a month we will be able to find out their detailed situations, and at that time I will help you find the easiest way to free them." Lord Si An promised.
"I’ll bother you to do so then." Xue Ying’s heart began to beat faster in anticipation.
‘Father, mother, are the both of you in good condition?’
"Very well then, I should be going." Lord Si An stood up. "Every month, people from my Dragon Mountain Mansion will deliver a news article regarding the Empire and a mission list. You can begin anytime, and start earning merit points from the Xia Clan."
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