Chapter 754: Surprising Conditions
‘This jade slip… it is nothing like I’ve ever seen.’ Minister Ting was surprised.
It seemed to be made from a single piece of a crystal and was not like the normal jade slips. There were no visible runes on it either and he couldn’t figure out the formations hidden in it either.
‘It’s as if there are no formations in it…’ Minister Ting through.
He even wondered if this was a jade slip in the first place. The material was certainly not jade, thus he didn’t know if it was right calling it a jade slip in the first place. The slip was made from an emerald green crystal, but he was sure it was not actually an emerald gemstone since it could conduct spirit Qi.
Normal gemstones couldn’t do something like that. At least not at the start. They would have to be refined by a master refiner before they could be used in any spirit tools of spirit weapons.
Minister Ting could tell that this crystal slip had not been refined. Refining will leave behind traces that most cultivators could detect. And those who were at the Nascent soul realm would be able to tell them very easily.
‘Let’s see what the list actually is…’ Minister Ting decided after realizing that there was no way for him to figure out any more information about the crystal slip.
Minister Ting was fully expecting the list of humans to be something the beasts would be using as food even if they had denied it at first. But when he actually read it, he was left confused.
“Huh? Cooks? Weavers? Seamstresses? Musicians?” Minister Ting read one by one.
Many kinds of occupations were mentioned in the list, though what was surprising was that not all of them needed to be cultivators. There were over thirty different entries in the list, with some of them having extra details.
The other elders were wondering what had made Minister Ting like this and were curious about the contents of the list as well.
“So then, do you agree with it?” The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape questioned.
“Uh… sure. I’ll convey this to the king.” Minister Ting answered.
He was confused, but a little happy at the same time.
‘At least it’s not anyone sensitive or problematic. They aren’t even asking for any resources. They just want average humans, huh…’ Minister Ting thought.
The kingdoms could very well afford this, though he wondered if the commoners would even be able to survive here. With the way they as Nascent soul realm cultivators were being threated, he wasn’t sure if the weak commoners will even survive a single breath from the beasts.
They might just die from the aura alone if not run away from fear.
~Sigh~
‘It’ll be hard to find people willing to come here. This is no different from a death sentence to them perhaps… and it is still doubtful if they will believe it all. The three kings and the sect leaders might just deem it better to attack the Millennium forest.
But that might not go well…’ Minster Ting analyzed.
The thoughts he was having were known to the Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape and even the Slim Arm ape king. They could very easily guess them now, and their intellect was high from the start.
Also, since the Slim Arm Ape king had plenty of experience dealing with humans, he knew their expectations and thinking.
They were already prepared to see some lapses in the deal.
“Now then… the third condition..” The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape spoke.
~gulp~
Minister Ting, as well as the other Nascent soul realm elders, swallowed their saliva anxiously. They had no idea what next they would ask for. So far the first condition was the hardest to fulfill, while the second was relatively mild.
With this vast difference in conditions, they wondered if this third condition will be harsh.
“The third condition is something that you humans will benefit from too. Or rather than a condition, it would be more accurate to call it a deal.” The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape spoke.
“Oh?” Minster Ting was surprised. “What is it?”
“After the Millennium forest is deemed as a Kingdom, we will not be isolating and shutting our borders. We shall still allow the humans to enter the forest… and even gather some resources.” The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape continued.
All the Nascent soul realm elders were stunned by these words, as they were literally opposite to the first condition for them. To them, the only reason why the Millennium forest beasts would like to become a kingdom was to be protected.
They would not want themselves or their kin to be attacked by humans. Or so was the common thinking.
But a factor like this would still allow them to operate on some level. At least they would not be cut off completely from the resources that the Millennium forest had. There were still a lot of basic resources that they needed from there.
And these were things that were either not found elsewhere, or it was simply not viable enough to grow them on their own.
Minister Ting had some other thoughts after a few seconds, though.
“What is the limit? I doubt you will allow us to hunt and gather as before?” Minister Ting was still a minister who was skilled at diplomacy and knew how to read between the lines.
“The extra condition on this is that the humans can only hunt in the first three rings of the millennium forest. Though if they want to hunt in the fourth ring, they can still do so, as long as they pay the toll.
The toll will be decided later, after the kingdoms come to an agreement.” The Emeraldine Sky Light Monk Ape answered.
Hearing this, Minster Ting eased his furrowed brows.
‘This seems more like a territorial exploitation agreement… we can deal with this.’ Minister Ting thought.
The kingdoms had such agreements between each other, for things like mining rights and other such things.
