3: Chapter 3: Planting the Seal of Slavery, Generations of Slavery!

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Shi."

"Now that Ye Mingyuan and Old Ghost Lin are dead, they surely left some backup plans before leaving the city. If their clans wait too long for their return, they might sense something is wrong."

"If we don't head back soon, those juniors might get desperate and flee overnight!"

Hearing this, Shi Jian rolled over, his massive bear frame kicking up a cloud of dust.

That made sense.

When a Family's Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor dies, their first reaction isn't revenge but flight—taking their valuables and fleeing overnight to seek refuge with other powers.

If they ran, all those spiritual fields, mineral veins, and stockpiles would go to waste.

Shi Jian immediately perked up. These were all his now! Those damnable little thieves dared to waste the resources of Old Ancestor Shi Jian? They were simply courting death!

"Let's go."

—

Hongtian City, the third quarter of the Hour of the Rabbit.

As the city gates opened, two Sun Clan Qi Refining Disciples witnessed the most absurd sight of their lives...

Their Old Ancestor, Sun Hangchun, was actually riding on the back of a black bear, traveling atop a pitch-black demonic cloud, rushing toward them at high speed from the horizon!

No, wait.

He wasn't straddling it.

He was sitting.

Sun Hangchun looked like an old farmer heading to a market, sitting sideways on the bear's back with his legs dangling. His Face was ruddy and he looked energetic, showing no trace of his previous frailty.

And that black bear...

The two Qi Refining Disciples' legs went weak on the spot.

The aura of a Foundation Establishment Stage Yao Beast was as oppressive as a mountain. It didn't even need to be intentionally released; just by approaching, it sent all spiritual birds and beasts within a hundred-zhang radius fleeing in all directions.

Even the stray dogs crouching at the base of the city walls had to tuck their tails and run three miles away.

"Old... Old Ancestor?"

"Pass down the order: beat the drums and gather the clan."

Sun Hangchun's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for everyone to hear.

He paused, then added another sentence.

"Notify the Ye and Lin clans as well. Tell them that Sun invites them for tea."

Shi Jian let out a lazy yawn, revealing a mouthful of snow-white fangs.

Drinking tea.

He liked the sound of that.

—

Hongtian City wasn't particularly large, with thirty-six main streets, eighteen marketplaces, and one hundred and eight alleys. It had no more than two hundred resident Cultivators, though it housed over three hundred thousand Mortals.

Though small, it was well-equipped.

The entire city was built atop a second-rank Low Grade Spiritual Vein. Although its quality was average, it was more than enough to sustain three Foundation Establishment families.

With this Spiritual Vein as the source, three main Spiritual Qi branches extended out, marking the locations of the three Foundation Establishment families' ancestral homes. Together, they had cultivated three hundred mu of spiritual fields.

One hundred and twenty mu belonged to the Sun Clan, while the Ye and Lin clans held ninety mu each. The three Foundation Establishment families lived squeezed together like this, jointly guarding the Spiritual Vein as a crude cultivation Alliance.

Half an hour later, in the Sun Clan's ancestral hall.

Shi Jian lay in the center of the hall on a temporary animal-hide mat. Before him were three plates of spiritual fruit, two dishes of Spiritual Rice Cakes, and a pot of spiritual wine.

Sun Hangchun's arrangements were very thorough.

On both sides of the hall, the Sun Clan members stood in rows. From the ninth level of Qi Refining down to the first, all thirty-seven Cultivators, young and old, were deathly silent.

Everyone's gaze was focused on that Foundation Establishment bear yao.

It really was a bear.

A Foundation Establishment Stage bear yao was currently curled up in front of their ancestors' memorial tablets, eating Spiritual Rice Cakes.

And he was eating quite heartily.

Shi Jian sensed the fear, curiosity, and unease in those gazes, along with a tiny hint of... greed. He didn't care.

Qi Refining Cultivators weren't even qualified to scratch an itch for him.

"They're here."

Sun Hangchun said softly. Outside the main gate, there was a mess of footsteps, mixed with arguments and sobbing.

Thirty-one people from the Ye Clan and twenty-six from the Lin Clan arrived.

The leaders were the Ye Clan's acting Clan Chief, Ye Qinghe, at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and the Lin Clan's Elder, Granny Lin, at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

When the two groups were led into the hall by Sun Clan Disciples, the scene was momentarily chaotic.

Ye Qinghe saw Shi Jian first, and his Face instantly turned pale.

Granny Lin noticed the long-absent, self-satisfied smile on Sun Hangchun's Face before her attention shifted to the mountain of flesh in the center.

"Senior Sun, what about our two clans' ancestors?"

Granny Lin asked with a guilty conscience, feeling an inexplicable sense of panic in her heart.

"Dead."

Sun Hangchun picked up his teacup and blew on the tea. "They died at Mingqiu Mountain. They followed me with the intent to harm, so Fellow Daoist Shi slapped them to death in passing."

When he said the words "slapped them to death," his tone was nonchalant, as if he were talking about stepping on an ant.

The hall became deathly silent.

Granny Lin's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

Ye Qinghe's legs were shaking—visibly shaking.

Shi Jian lifted his eyelids at the right moment. Just that one movement...

...made Ye Qinghe drop to his knees immediately.

"Old Ancestor Sun... Shi... Senior Shi!" Ye Qinghe's voice cracked. "It was Ye Mingyuan who acted on his own; it has absolutely nothing to do with my Ye Clan!"

"The Ye Clan is willing... willing to offer up all our spiritual fields, if only you spare our lives!"

Granny Lin was still holding on, her lips trembling as her gaze darted between Shi Jian and the main gate, looking like a thief with a guilty conscience.

"Old lady."

Shi Jian spoke, his voice booming throughout the hall.

"Sit down and talk. Don't stand; it's bad for your legs."

Granny Lin's legs gave way, and she knelt straight onto the ground.

It wasn't that she wanted to sit; it was that his words carried a trace of a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast's aura suppression. As a mere eighth-level Qi Refining Cultivator, she couldn't withstand it at all.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, you decide how to handle the Ye and Lin clans."

This was a masterfully phrased statement.

On the surface, it was giving Shi Jian Face, but in reality, it was making him the shield. The infamy of the killings would be borne by the Yao Beast, while Sun Hangchun was merely "following orders."

Shi Jian sneered inwardly.

Old man, you're playing this game with me?

It didn't matter. Killing them was just clearing obstacles anyway. Infamy?

He was a bear; what did he need a reputation for?

"It would be such a waste to kill them."

"Qi Refining Cultivators are labor, after all. Someone has to farm the spiritual fields."

He looked at Ye Qinghe and Granny Lin, his tone as casual as if he were assigning farm chores.

"From today onward, the spiritual fields, mines, and stockpiles of the Ye and Lin clans shall all be incorporated into the Sun Clan."

"Every member of both clans will be branded with a Slave Seal. From now on, you shall be slaves and servants for generations, working as tenant farmers for the Sun Clan, tending the spiritual fields..."

"If you're unwilling, hehe~"

Shi Jian waved a bear paw, leaving the rest unsaid.

There was no need to say it.

Ye Qinghe kowtowed three times and scrambled away.

Granny Lin was hauled out by two Sun Clan Disciples. Her legs were still limp as she left, and a pungent, foul stench was particularly sharp.

—

That afternoon, Sun Hangchun led his clansmen to begin taking over the assets of the Ye and Lin clans, conducting a thorough investigation of all their members and branding them with Slave Seals.

Shi Jian didn't go to keep watch. He didn't trust Sun Hangchun's character, but he trusted his intelligence. Embezzling his share at a time like this would be suicide.

He curled up at the entrance of the Spiritual Vein on the Sun Clan's back mountain, feeling the Spiritual Qi rising from underground. He hummed with comfort; this was the life!

A second-rank Low Grade Spiritual Vein might have ordinary quality, but for a wild Yao Beast like him, it was already a paradise-level cultivation environment.

After thirty-five years of bitter cultivation on Mingqiu Mountain, it was no exaggeration to say that lying here at the mouth of the vein for an hour provided more than he'd get elsewhere.

"It was worth it."

At dusk, Sun Hangchun came to report the accounts.

"The spiritual fields total three hundred mu and have all been added to the Sun Clan's inventory..." He flipped through the ledger. "The Ye Clan had four hundred and twenty Spirit Stones in storage, and the Lin Clan had three hundred and ten. Combined with our Sun Clan's original six hundred, that makes a total of one thousand three hundred and fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"There are seventeen bottles of Medicinal Pills, thirty-two Jade Slips of Cultivation Techniques, and several Magical Artifacts."

"We have acquired fifty-seven Immortal Slaves. The Mortals of the Ye and Lin families will also be gradually broken up and absorbed by my Sun Clan..."