Just then, a respectable and dignified-looking elder from the indigenous side finally spoke up, breaking the awkward stalemate. "Gentlemen, who are you? It seems you are not from the Xuanwu Sect!"
Before coming to Planet Huaxia, every exorcist had the planet's common language implanted in their minds. Therefore, they could fully understand every word spoken by the indigenous elder. However, some of the exorcists' family members couldn't understand it very well. But, this language was quite similar to the ancient northwestern dialect of Earth. Therefore, Zhuo Xiaowei and Zheng Cuiyun were able to understand about 70% of it.
Xuanwu Sect?
What kind of organization is this?
The exorcists were all suspicious. However, someone had to step forward and negotiate with the old native.
Everyone looked at each other, and no one really wanted to go out and talk.
I chickened out!
These exorcists arrived swaggering around, but when they actually saw the natives of the Chinese planet, they cowered in fear!
At this moment, Gao Jianfei could no longer hold back. "Old man, we are a group of people without any sect or affiliation, from a large family. We came here through certain means. Please rest assured, old man, we have no hostility whatsoever. Of course, our family is also a family that produces martial artists. Most of us are martial artists."
There was no other way; he had to cooperate with a bunch of cowards. Although Gao Jianfei was reluctant to take the lead, he couldn't hold back in this emergency. He vowed never to cooperate with these damned guys on any mission again.
Hearing Gao Jianfei step forward and speak, the exorcists secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Gao Jianfei's words were quite sophisticated. On one hand, he stated his position, indicating he meant no harm. On the other hand, he revealed that his group were also martial artists, essentially telling them, "We are also martial artists, so don't mess around, or we'll both suffer."
"A powerful martial arts family?" the old native muttered to himself. "I reckon they were transported to our Sangtu Village through some kind of spacetime teleportation array. That makes sense; we've seen most of the Xuanwu Sect members before. This group, numbering over a thousand, are all unfamiliar faces. The Xuanwu Sect couldn't possibly find so many strangers all at once. Hmm, they're not from the Xuanwu Sect!" After muttering this for a while, the old man immediately announced loudly, "Everyone, don't be nervous! Villagers, don't be nervous! They're not from the Xuanwu Sect!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the natives, who were holding various tools, softened. They were no longer as tense and hostile as before.
Gao Jianfei was now racking his brains, repeatedly deducing information from every word the old man said.
Just now, the old man's words clearly revealed a signal... This group of villagers seems to be on guard against the Xuanwu Sect!
After careful consideration, Gao Jianfei was almost certain of his guess. He immediately changed his tune, saying, "Oh, old man, don't worry. Our family is far from here and is definitely not from the Xuanwu Sect. We've never even heard of such a small sect!"
Gao Jianfei gambled!
He bluntly stated that the Xuanwu Sect was a minor sect! Moreover, his tone deliberately revealed a hint of disdain.
What a stroke of luck! Gao Jianfei made the right gamble!
Hearing Gao Jianfei's disparaging remarks about the Xuanwu Sect, smiles spread across the villagers' faces. The old man laughed heartily. "Hahaha, so you're not from the Xuanwu Sect? Then you're a guest!" There was a cunning and calculating glint in the old man's smile, like a fox. He then glanced out of the corner of his eye at the several men standing beside him, men who seemed to hold considerable status and were different from ordinary villagers. Those men all nodded in agreement.
Gao Jianfei, discerning their expressions, immediately spoke. “Everyone, our entire family lost our way during a journey, which is why we ended up here. However, since we've come this far, it means we have a connection with you all! Judging from your tone, you seem to have some dissatisfaction with the Xuanwu Sect. I see that you are all exceptionally honest and simple; if you are dissatisfied with the Xuanwu Sect, it must be because they have gone too far. Has the Xuanwu Sect oppressed you? Of course, this is just my guess, and I cannot be certain. However, if I am right, I hope you will tell me the truth. Our family, after all, has hundreds of martial artists stationed here. If there is anything we can do to help, we will certainly lend a hand!”
"Really?" Gao Jianfei's words seemed to strike a chord with the old man. The old man's face flushed red!
The other villagers also immediately looked at Gao Jianfei and his group with eyes full of friendship and goodwill.
Immediately, the old man spoke directly. "Gentlemen, if you don't mind, you can rest in my village. Ah, as for the oppression of the Xuanwu Sect... well, if you are interested, I am willing to tell you the whole story!"
“Alright! We’ll go into the village with you, old man!” Gao Jianfei said with great joy.
Thus, led by a group of exorcists, their families, and hundreds of natives of the planet Huaxia, they passed through the forest and entered the village.
Now, almost all exorcists have expressed their admiration and respect for Gao Jianfei's outstanding interpersonal skills, as well as his ability to adapt to changing circumstances and understand people's hearts.
After passing through a dense forest, we finally entered a village.
This is a small village with hundreds of stone houses. At this moment, wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys, and the village women are already cooking. Some children stand at the doorways of the stone houses, peeking out curiously.
However, to be honest, there are no farmlands, no rice paddies, no orchards, nothing at all in this village! The mountains behind the village are also barren, mostly scorched earth.
The group arrived at a large ancestral hall in the village and were settled inside. Gao Jianfei, accompanied by his men, entered a secret room alone with the old man and several other men, without any ceremony. The other exorcists wanted to join them, but were politely refused. They could only watch as Gao Jianfei, along with several village elders, entered the secret room for a private conversation.
After entering the secret room, the old man said, "Guest, I am the village chief of this Sangtu Village, 'Balie'." Then, the old man introduced the men to each of them. Their positions were equivalent to deputy village chiefs or something similar.
“Village Chief Ba, there are no outsiders here. If you have anything you want to say, please say it. Let me make this clear first: if we can help Sangtu Village, we will definitely not stand idly by. If we cannot help, we will swear in the name of our families that we will never spread what we heard today.”
Gao Jianfei's words immediately won over the group of people from Sangtu Village. The village chief, Naba, said gratefully, "Guest, you've put it so clearly, what is there for us not to trust? Guest, please listen to me..."
Gao Jianfei listened attentively. He knew that some information was about to be extracted from him.
"Guests, as you can see, our Sangtu Village is actually not conducive to planting or raising livestock. Yet, we have over 1,000 mouths to feed, young and old. What do we eat? As the saying goes, those who live near mountains eat from the mountains, and those who live near water eat from the water. Our Sangtu Village has nothing else, but we do have a mineral vein. Therefore, we rely on mining the vein and exchanging the ore with the Xuanwu Sect for grain and meat. We've survived like this for hundreds of years. However, in recent years, the Xuanwu Sect has become increasingly excessive and harsh. They've imposed numerous exorbitant taxes and levies, and they buy our ore at extremely low prices. They've even beaten and killed our villagers, treating us like pigs and dogs. We simply can't survive anymore! Therefore... we want to rebel! We want to rebel against the Xuanwu Sect!"
"Oh? I see!" Gao Jianfei understood. "Then, Village Chief Ba, what is the state of the Xuanwu Sect's power? Do you know anything about that?"
Chapter 671 Attack on Xuanwu Gate
Chapter 671 Attacking the Xuanwu Gate
671
Gao Jianfei began slowly extracting information about the Xuanwu Sect from Ba Lie of Nasangtu Village. A group of exorcists had just arrived on this cultivation planet, and everything was unknown. They had entered what appeared to be a very low-level village. The villagers were extremely easy to fool; once persuaded, they told Gao Jianfei the whole truth. Gao Jianfei was naturally happy to chat with them, exchanging information. However, Gao Jianfei suspected that these villagers might not have much useful information to offer.
"Well...sir, please listen to me. This 'Xuanwu Sect' is a martial arts sect. It rules over a hundred villages, including Sangtu Village. Our villages are responsible for providing the 'Xuanwu Sect' with young disciples, women, and resources. In return, the 'Xuanwu Sect' provides us with protection. To be honest, none of our hundred or so villages have any objections to this mutually beneficial arrangement. After all, there are many martial arts sects in this world. In a single province, besides the 'Xuanwu Sect,' there are at least a hundred other martial arts sects and numerous martial arts families. These sects are constantly fighting, killing, and annexing each other, adhering to the law of the jungle. If villages like ours don't align themselves with a particular martial arts sect, they are easily exploited and slaughtered. Therefore, we attach ourselves to the 'Xuanwu Sect.'"
Gao Jianfei nodded. From Village Chief Ba Lie, Gao Jianfei had gained some basic understanding of the Huaxia Planet. On Huaxia Planet, the bottom layer of the power structure should be villages, followed by large and small martial arts families and sects. Currently, Ba Lie hadn't mentioned the level of 'cultivators'. Gao Jianfei didn't know if Ba Lie, someone from the lower rungs of society, would have any knowledge of the advanced 'cultivators' on Huaxia Planet.
Gao Jianfei was not in a hurry and remained silent, waiting for Ba Lie to continue speaking.
"We were initially very happy to be affiliated with the 'Xuanwu Gate.' However, the Xuanwu Gate's taxes and levies on our villages are extremely heavy, getting harsher year by year! This year, the situation is even more difficult. They demand that our Sangtu Village pay 20,000 pieces of ore every month! It's...it's killing us! We work tirelessly every month, mining ore, and we can only extract a little over 10,000 pieces! Where are we going to get 20,000? We can't possibly pay that much ore! Not only our Sangtu Village, but other villages under the jurisdiction of the 'Xuanwu Gate' have also seen a sudden surge in the resources they pay to the Xuanwu Gate this year, all of them unable to meet the Xuanwu Gate's demands." "We begged and pleaded, but the people of the Xuanwu Sect completely ignored us. Eventually, they even started killing our villagers. In Sangtu Village alone, more than a dozen villagers have already been killed by the Xuanwu Sect! Therefore, the entire village gathered to discuss how to resist the tyranny of the Xuanwu Sect. We also united with dozens of other villages. Everyone felt that death was inevitable, so we might as well fight the Xuanwu Sect to the death. Even if we die, we must resist; we can't just die in vain. Therefore, when our guests arrived outside the village today, we all assumed they were from the Xuanwu Sect and were extremely wary, prepared to fight to the death."
After a pause, Village Chief Ba Lie stared at Gao Jianfei, his eyes pleading. "Guest, if you help us, these unfortunate souls, to overthrow the tyranny of the Xuanwu Sect, we are willing to submit to your family. I have observed that you and your family members are numerous and all are in high spirits, seemingly possessing extremely strong martial arts skills! If your family is willing to help, then… then our hundred-plus villages will be saved! Guest, please have mercy! If you do not help, then we will have no choice but to fight the Xuanwu Sect to the death! Blood will flow like a sea, and that will be the end of it all!"
Village chief Ba Lie began to weep.
Gao Jianfei didn't immediately give a response, nor did he refuse. He was trying every means to extract more information. "Old village chief, it's not impossible for my family to help. We are also willing to help you poor and innocent people fight against tyranny. Our family cares for the underprivileged. However, the current problem is... what is the true strength of the Xuanwu Sect? Does their sect have any particularly strong martial artists? And... does their sect have... cultivators?"
Finally, Gao Jianfei uttered the word "cultivator".
Feng Yun Wuhen also wanted to test the waters and see how much this native village chief actually knew about cultivators.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Ba Lie heard the words "cultivator," he immediately knelt down, his whole body trembling, as if he had heard something extremely terrifying in this world!
“Oh… cultivators… immortals… you mean immortals… no, no, there aren’t any! The Xuanwu Sect, a martial arts sect, doesn’t have immortals. A martial arts sect that rules over a hundred villages is unlikely to have immortals. Otherwise, how would we dare to rebel against the Xuanwu Sect? Immortals are incredibly powerful; they could kill us with a mere gesture! They could fill mountains and evaporate oceans in the blink of an eye… guest, there are no immortals, absolutely none!” Village Chief Ba Lie rambled on, his face filled with terror.
"Oh, so cultivators are called immortals." Gao Jianfei nodded subconsciously.
Afterwards, Gao Jianfei asked a few more questions.
Bare only knew of the existence of 'immortals,' that is, cultivators, but he did not know where cultivators specifically gathered in this world.
Within the Xuanwu Sect, even the strongest martial artist, who is also the sect leader, is only an 8th-level martial artist.
According to the martial arts realm classification of the Chinese planet... a martial artist can only reach the 10th level before they can establish a foundation and become a low-level cultivator... a foundation-establishing cultivator.
The sect master of the Xuanwu Sect was still two levels short of being qualified to establish his foundation.
In addition, within the Xuanwu Sect, apart from the sect master, most disciples are around level 5 or 6.
Of course, in villages like Sangtu Village, the villagers are still inclined towards martial arts. However, they only have some rudimentary martial arts training methods for striking with brute force, and most villagers are only at the second or third level of martial arts. Fourth-level martial arts practitioners are very rare.
After extracting all the information that Ba Lie knew, Gao Jianfei already had a preliminary plan in mind...
Attack Xuanwu Gate!
Of course, Gao Jianfei wasn't so benevolent as to act as a saint and rescue these villagers. His main goal was to learn more about the world from the martial artists of the Xuanwu Gate after conquering it!
These villagers, living at the bottom of society, couldn't offer Gao Jianfei much information. Only by capturing a martial artist of far higher status than the villagers could he possibly learn everything he wanted to know!
On this strange and dangerous cultivation planet, knowing more information is always better than blindly venturing in.
"Alright, old village chief, I have decided to lead the family members to attack Xuanwu Gate!" Gao Jianfei said with certainty.
Chapter 672 Wang Wei!
Chapter 672 Wang Wei!
672
After a brief weighing of the pros and cons, Gao Jianfei finally decided... to attack the Xuanwu Sect! The best course of action would be to capture some important figures within the Xuanwu Sect and learn some secrets about the cultivation world of Huaxia from them.
Of course, upon hearing Gao Jianfei's words, the old village chief, Ba Lie, was extremely grateful and kowtowed repeatedly, as if pounding garlic.
Several high-ranking villagers from Sangtu Village behind Ba Lie kowtowed repeatedly.
After leaving the room, Gao Jianfei went to the village square. It was mealtime for the villagers of Sangtu Village, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. Gao Jianfei approached and observed that the villagers were all squatting by their doorways, eating their meals, bowls in hand. He noticed that their food resembled noodles, served in a thin, watery broth with little oil or meat. This food looked extremely coarse. On Earth, even pigs wouldn't eat this kind of food. Yet, all the villagers were wolfing it down.
Hundreds of exorcists, along with their families, stood by watching. Some wore expressions of schadenfreude, while others showed pity.
At this moment, a dozen or so villagers emerged simultaneously, each carrying a rough bowl, and walked towards the exorcists. Each bowl contained a small amount of "meat."
The villagers offered this "meat" to the exorcists.
The village chief approached Gao Jianfei and said, "Honorable guest, our Sangtu Village is truly impoverished. We have no crops and cannot raise livestock. Our food is all obtained from the Xuanwu Gate. Therefore... there is still some meat left. Please, all of you, try it."
As he said this, tears welled up in the village chief's dim eyes.
All the villagers stopped eating and stared longingly at the dozen or so bowls of "meat" food.
"Sigh... Damn it, I've softened again." Seeing this, Gao Jianfei waved his hand and said. "Old village chief, we brought some food ourselves. This way, we can't even finish our own food, so we won't take away your limited food. Old village chief, I'll give you some food!"
After saying that, Gao Jianfei moved his mind and took out a large amount of food directly from the ghost den!
Instant noodles, beef jerky, raw pork, raw chicken, eggs, beer, cola, apples, pineapples, lychees, and many vegetables... potatoes, bean sprouts, eggplants...
Anyway, Gao Jianfei's ghost den was filled with food that was equivalent to more than a dozen large supermarkets, with a wide variety of everything!
Seeing the villagers' pitiful state, Gao Jianfei was generous and took out half a supermarket's worth of food, piling it up like a mountain in the square!
"hiss!"
All the villagers stared wide-eyed, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets!
"Ah! It's 'meat'! Lots of 'meat'!"
"And vegetables!"
"Oh my god! There's fruit too!"
...
The villagers all roared.
Under Gao Jianfei's leadership, every exorcist with a shred of conscience and kindness took out large amounts of food from the ghost's lair and gave it away to the villagers free of charge.
Soon, all sorts of food from various planets filled the entire village. In terms of sheer quantity, there was enough food to feed all the villagers for six months!
Every villager was moved to tears.
Later, the villagers gave Gao Jianfei and his group the ore they had mined that month.
Gao Jianfei picked up a piece of ore, weighed it in his hand, and said to the intelligent program, "Analyze this ore. What special energy molecules does it contain? Can it, like the orange ore, enhance the quality of the Super Ghost Instrument and modify it?"
The intelligent program immediately replied, "Darling, this ore contains energy molecules that are somewhat similar to those in orange ore. However, this ore is not enough to modify the Super Ghost Instrument; it still needs to be processed and refined."
"Hmm? This ore, after processing and refining, can indeed perform the functions of orange ore!" the intelligent program said with certainty.
"What? It can actually be processed and refined? And then it becomes orange ore? That's great! I have to get some of this ore right away," Gao Jianfei exclaimed anxiously. He saw many exorcists carrying this ore to their ghost dens. They were carrying it away relentlessly, without any regard for the consequences.