Refuse to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, and must go on slowly and steadily

“Who are you? Why are you sneaking around, following us?”

Outside a small city, three Late Stage Earth Immortal Cultivators surrounded a Middle Stage Earth Immortal Cultivator who was shabbily dressed and whose Aura was unstable.

Their eyes filled with killing intent, they coldly stared at the man.

“Damn it, I’ve been discovered,” the surrounded Cultivator thought to himself, feeling a bad premonition.

It was Ye Tian!

Ye Tian had been traveling discreetly, keeping a very low profile.

Passing by a small city, he planned to enter and buy some clothes to cover himself, and also take a hot bath to wash away the fatigue and grime on his body.

Unexpectedly, just as he reached the city gate, he was surrounded by three Cultivators who had turned back midway.

Ye Tian didn't want to get into a conflict right now; he only wanted to follow the guidance of the Broken Blade to find the Eternal Immortal Palace and seize the greatest Opportunity.

Therefore, Ye Tian smiled and explained, “Three Fellow Daoists, there’s no need to be nervous. I, Ye, am just passing by and was not following you three Fellow Daoists. It was merely a coincidence.”

He spoke very amiably, revealing his good intentions.

However, these three people didn’t buy it.

Because in their eyes, Ye Tian’s goal was definitely the same as theirs: the Mortals in the city.

Everyone knew by now that slaughtering Mortals would yield benefits, increasing one’s Comprehension Ability, and if one was lucky, even Cultivation Techniques could be dropped.

Within the Eternal Gate, all the larger Mortal cities had been almost completely slaughtered, with less than one in a hundred surviving. Now, finding a small village of a hundred or so people was already very difficult.

The three of them had spent half a month, searching through countless mountains and rivers, just to find this city with over three hundred thousand people. Naturally, they were unwilling to add another person and share their spoils.

So, when they saw Ye Tian, their first reaction was to come up and surround him.

“Coincidence?” The three of them didn't believe his words.

“Two Fellow Daoists, what should we do?” one of the three asked.

“What else can we do? Since we’ve started, we might as well finish it. If we let him go and he brings back reinforcements, how can we peacefully claim the Opportunity here?”

“Fellow Daoist speaks sense. With over three hundred thousand people, each of us can get over a hundred thousand. That would be an immense gain.”

“Right, for every ten thousand people killed, roughly one will yield a peerless Cultivation Technique. This is a Heaven-Defying Opportunity!”

As the three conversed, they decided on a plan.

That was, Ye Tian could not be allowed to leave.

Ye Tian was confused. Killing people? Opportunity?

Along the way, he had heard more than one person talk like this; it seemed everyone was saying the same thing.

A perplexed Ye Tian asked, “Fellow Daoists, what are you talking about? Why don’t I understand?”

The three sneered, “Are you playing dumb?”

“However, no matter how well you pretend, we cannot let you leave alive.”

Having made up their minds, the three immediately cast spells and began to attack Ye Tian.

Ye Tian was seething with anger. He had shown weakness first, yet these people still attacked, clearly not putting him in their eyes.

Recalling the scene of being ganged up on by thousands a few days ago, and the humiliation of his silent defeat, he couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, his sharp nails digging deeply into his palms.

Ruthless!

He didn't want to make a move, not because he was afraid of these three, but because he was afraid of causing too much of a commotion.

But these three were pressing him step by step, leaving no room for retreat. He would unleash all the pent-up frustration he had endured these past few days at this very moment.

“You want to fight? I’ll accompany you then!”

He couldn't beat thousands of people, but beating three of them was more than enough.

Ye Tian’s heart turned ruthless, and he no longer cared about his wounds tearing open. He immediately began to fight the three.

A Child of Destiny was indeed a Child of Destiny; drawing aggro was a basic operation, and eliminating enemies was as easy as pie.

The three aggressive Late Stage Earth Immortal Cultivators, facing Ye Tian, a Middle Stage Earth Immortal Cultivator with an unstable Aura, surprisingly couldn't gain any advantage.

Not only that, Ye Tian fought more fiercely as time went on.

This battle lasted only an hour. Ye Tian unleashed various killing moves, forcing the three to retreat repeatedly.

Especially Ye Tian's crippled version of the self-harming lightning technique, which, through a sneak attack, actually killed one of them.

The other two were not well either, also severely wounded and on the verge of death by Ye Tian's hand.

The greatest damage Ye Tian sustained, however, came from the backlash of the crippled version of the Divine Lightning.

The two severely wounded Cultivators, knowing they had kicked an iron plate, immediately begged for mercy and even brought up their factional background.

One of them said, “Fellow Daoist, it was we who offended you. We hope you can be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones.”

The other also said, “Yes, we have also paid the price. Oh, right, we are from the Liu Family of Beiyuan. We have a bit of reputation in the Eternal Immortal Domain. Let’s make friends through this fight.”

“Right, Fellow Daoist, what do you think of this? There are over three hundred thousand Mortals in this city. The three of us will divide and conquer them. The two of us will take a loss and only want fifty thousand each. The rest will all be yours.”

“Yes, we only want fifty thousand people, and all the rest are yours. What do you say?”

Ye Tian’s eyes were filled with cold indifference.

Foolish, if I kill you, everything will be mine.

However, he was very curious as to why these people were so obsessed with Mortal lives.

Over three hundred thousand Mortals, even for a Golden Core Cultivator in the Human Realm to refine a Myriad Souls Banner, wouldn't cause much of a stir. Why did these people value them so much?

Ye Tian asked, “Are these Mortals special in any way? Why do you want to kill them?”

The two exchanged glances. Only then did they believe Ye Tian was truly unaware.

They felt some regret. If they hadn't provoked him, would the outcome have been different?

But there was no medicine for regret in this world.

Feeling the killing intent from Ye Tian, the two hoped that what they revealed might be useful to him, allowing them to spare their lives.

“Fellow Daoist, this isn't anything new. As long as you spare my life, I’ll tell you immediately,” one of them tried to bargain.

Ye Tian gave him a cold look, then punched his head, blowing it apart.

This made the sole remaining person shiver with cold.

Ye Tian said coldly, “Do you choose to speak, or to die?”

“If I speak, will you let me go?”

“No,” Ye Tian said indifferently.

“No, then why are you even asking?”

Seeing that death was certain, the man’s heart turned ruthless, and he directly chose to self-destruct his Divine Soul and Physical Body.

Blood splattered across Ye Tian’s face, and the violent Immortal Qi generated by the explosion fiercely impacted Ye Tian, forcing him to retreat dozens of miles.

The Mortal city was destroyed along with it.

Before dying, the man also said:

“What I can’t get, you won’t get either.”

“Hmph, you killed a person of my Liu Family, you have no way out. My Divine Soul self-destruction just now carried a secret technique of my Liu Family. As long as my clansmen see it, they will know that you are stained with my blood.”

“By then, even if you escape to the ends of the earth, there will be no way out!”

Ye Tian’s mouth was bleeding, which only made his already severely injured body worse.

He inwardly examined himself and found that a brand had been imprinted on his body. No matter how he tried to clear it, he couldn't erase it.

“Alright, another one of these branded baits.”

Ye Tian was secretly pleased.

To others, this was a death warrant.

But to him, it was a lure to kill.

As long as he carried this brand, an endless stream of Liu Family members would come seeking revenge, and he would have a reason to seize everything from them.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t experienced this before!

He was too familiar with being hunted down; it happened too often.

He had originally wanted to collect a few Storage Pouches, but this self-destruction left Ye Tian with no gains.

“I wanted to grab some Storage Pouches, but he self-destructed and died.”

“Speaking of which, what use are Mortals that they value them so much?” Ye Tian grew even more curious.

However, the self-destruction of an Earth Immortal also wreaked havoc on this small city; not a single one of the over three hundred thousand Mortals survived.

Ye Tian felt a bit regretful.

It wasn't that he felt heartbroken that these people died, but rather that he felt helpless that none survived for him to kill.

“I’ll find a city and kill a few people to see what benefits there are.”

Ye Tian got up and left.

The journey to the Eternal Immortal Palace was long, and finding some Opportunities along the way could be considered making good use of time.

Soon, Ye Tian found a small village with only about a hundred households. Smoke curled up from every chimney, and young children with yellow hair were playing with a goose at the village entrance.

Although the result was the goose flapping its wings and pecking at the children, making them squeal and run around.

When Ye Tian saw people, he gently swept his hand, and instantly, a strong wind swept through the village.

The thatched roofs of the houses were blown away by the strong wind, bamboo fences, stone mills for grinding beans, and yellowish-brown gauze were all swept into the sky, creating a chaotic scene.

The people, like duckweed in water, floated aimlessly.

In an instant, all 127 people in the entire village were dazed and dizzy from the impact, and many were instantly crushed to death by flying debris.

Ye Tian selected a living person. He reached out and the person flew towards him.

“Who are you? We didn’t provoke you, why did you destroy our village?”

“Destroying you has nothing to do with you.”

Ye Tian said indifferently. He narrowed his eyes, and the person who met his gaze had their pupils turn white, lost consciousness, and their head tilted to one side.

Dead, without any struggle.

But the Dao Rhyme on his body was extracted by Ye Tian.

“This trace of pure white Qi, could it be the Opportunity they spoke of?” With a testing mind, Ye Tian’s Divine Sense probed into it.

Just this instant of contact, he felt his mind clear up considerably, and many problems that had troubled him for a long time suddenly showed signs of resolution.

“This!”

Ye Tian couldn't help but be shocked.

“How is this possible!”

“It can actually increase Comprehension Ability!”

He recalled now that it seemed what those people said when he passed by was exactly this.

“Killing people can increase Comprehension Ability. No wonder they are so crazy.”

Ye Tian understood. No wonder those three attacked him on sight; they must have thought he would steal their people.

Comprehension Ability is difficult to define clearly, but cultivating spells, comprehending alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Formation techniques all heavily rely on Comprehension Ability.

Ordinary people are born either dull or intelligent, it is predetermined.

But now, killing people can increase Comprehension Ability, this is a truly Heaven-Defying Opportunity.

It is no different from changing one's fate against the heavens!

“No wonder everywhere I’ve walked, there are corpses strewn across the land.”

Ye Tian knew in his heart that Comprehension Ability was ineffable, but its importance was self-evident.

Poor Cultivators focused on Immortal Stones and divine materials.

But Cultivators who were a bit wealthier or had backgrounds focused on Comprehension Ability; this was called foundation.

It was the upper limit of cultivation!

People with low Comprehension Ability found it extremely difficult to reach high levels; this was a flaw that could not be compensated for by having endless Immortal Stones and divine materials.

Having tasted the sweetness of Comprehension Ability, Ye Tian’s killing became swift and decisive.

“If I don’t kill you, you will still die if others find you.”

“Just depart peacefully; you’ll suffer less pain.”

Ye Tian felt he was somewhat benevolent. They were going to die anyway, and he was still concerned about whether they suffered before death; he was truly too benevolent.

To verify if killing other creatures could also yield Comprehension Ability, Ye Tian also killed the goose and indeed extracted a trace of Comprehension Ability from it.

“Ah, killing this poultry counts too?”

What he didn't know was that the Eternal Saint King had preached the Dao for three thousand years, and countless beings had listened, including birds and beasts. All who listened to his preaching could receive his enlightenment, and those who understood naturally possessed Dao Rhyme.

Thus, wherever Ye Tian went, not a blade of grass grew.

He even tried with insects and mice in the fields. Although a few could yield Dao Rhyme, the quantity was not much.

“Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat!”

During this process, Ye Tian also extracted a Divine Ability from an old man’s body, which made Ye Tian extremely excited.

He now completely understood why those people were so frantically slaughtering the Mortals of this world.

This Opportunity carried no risks, was safer than any Secret Realm, offered stable gains, and occasionally even yielded Divine Abilities.

Zero risk, super high returns!

The only thing required was the time spent searching for Mortal cities, and for Immortal Realm Cultivators, that amount of time wasn't even considered a cost.

After slaughtering this village, Ye Tian felt it wasn't enough; there were too few people.

With only about a hundred people, Ye Tian extracted all the Dao Rhyme from them in the blink of an eye.

Having experienced this wonderful feeling, he now wished he could find a Mortal city and continue the slaughter.

“No, this is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

Ye Tian quickly snapped back to his senses.

Since these were all living people, why not act as a savior and rescue them?

Raise them!

This way, he could also gain the respect and love of the world, enjoying the incense offerings of countless households.

The Dao of cultivation was not just about cultivating with the Immortal Qi from Immortal Stones; the Power Of Will from Mortals’ incense offerings could also become a source of cultivation power.

Cultivators who accepted incense and Power Of Will for cultivation could better comprehend the Mortal Heart, gaining benefits that Cultivators relying on Immortal Stones could not.

Just by thinking this, a perfect plan flashed through his mind.

First, rescue them, liberate them, take them out of the Eternal Gate, and find a Human Realm to settle these people.

This way, he would become a savior and could receive incense offerings from the world.

Once the population grew, he would then instigate conflicts from behind the scenes to harvest Dao Rhyme.

A huge profit with minimal investment.

With a large population base, the number of Divine Abilities produced would also increase significantly, and even the most basic Dao Rhyme would surely see a substantial increase.

Eating one leek from both ends, gaining both fame and fortune!

The more Ye Tian thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He would just do that.

“Now, it’s likely that the Mortals of this world are living from hand to mouth, their lives short-lived. If I raise the banner of saving people at this time, they will surely pledge allegiance to me.”

“It’s always good to have another path of cultivation, and I also need some time on my way to the Eternal Immortal Palace, so I’ll use this time to do this.”

With a plan in mind, Ye Tian immediately began to act. What era was this, still killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?

He must ensure a steady, long-term flow!