Chapter 136: Kingdom Politics

The dead person was a white-skinned youth, with a pair of large, bright eyes. Even upon death, his eyes were still wide open as they gazed at the sky, filled with fear. His expression was one of disbelief.

It was as if he were saying, “How could this happen to me[1. https://youtu.be/y983TDjoglQ?t=46s]?”

A large hole was embedded in his chest, and blood flowed out from it, soaking his entire body.

However, the fatal blow was not there, but rather at his throat.

There was a similar hole there. It was not large, but it had pierced through his entire esophagus.

“It’s a sword wound. He was killed by someone else,” Su Chen said after inspecting the wound.

The Hidden Dragon Institute allowed deaths to happen. After all, in a battle where tens of thousands of people were involved, as well as countless Vicious Beasts, it was impossible to completely guarantee their security.

But allowing deaths to happen was one thing. When they saw the person lying dead in front of them, they were still unsettled in their hearts.

It was just a competition to secure an enrollment spot, not tempering via life-or-death battles, and even more it was not a place to wantonly massacre people. If they had died to a Vicious Beast, they could only blame their lack of skill, but to die to another human, what did this mean?

“The traces of battle go from there all the way over here. This person was chased down and killed.“ Wang Doushan gazed off into the distance, then towards the corpse’s midsection. There should have been a jade tablet there, but at that moment there was nothing there except a string which had been cut in half.

“The string was cut in half. He had no way of breaking the jade tablet and escaping. The perpetrator purposefully cut off his escape route!” Su Chen followed up.

“His throat was blown apart in one blow. That was not a common attack. It’s an Origin Skill which can explode after the sword penetrates the victim’s body, leaving behind a brutal injury. This Origin Skill possesses great killing power,” Wang Doushan said as he pointed at the victim’s throat.

Su Chen continued, “But there are around twelve wounds on his body as well. If he was able to kill his opponent in one blow, yet he wanted to toy around with his opponent......”

He didn’t finish that sentence. The two of them looked at each other and said, “He was enjoying the process of killing his opponent!”

A cold intent simultaneously seeped into their hearts.

“Hey, do you think that the perpetrator had a grudge against the victim, causing him to act like this?” Wang Doushan asked.

“That’s a possibility.” Su Chen dabbed his fingers in the victim’s blood, his eyes looking around as he said, “Hopefully, that’s it.”

“Yes, hopefully that’s it.” Wang Doushan also sighed.

If it was just a personal grudge, then everything would end now that this exam candidate had been killed.

But if it wasn’t, the situation was much more complicated.

Wang Doushan wanted to say something more, but he discovered that Su Chen was still staring at the blood. He asked with some curiousity, “What are you looking for?”

“The Origin Energy that the perpetrator used carried a fire-attribute and possessed an explosive nature. Although its power was not great, it could be used for long periods of time,” Su Chen said. “Thus, although it may seem like he doesn’t possess much power, if he injures his opponents they will be gravely wounded, and he might even be able to paralyze his opponent. Thus, his attack method should not rely on open, straightforward strikes. Rather, it would be the complete opposite - his sword should be quick and agile, focusing mainly on speed. As long as he could wound the opponent, the wound location would lose combat ability. The victim was wounded twelve times, not just so the opponent could toy with him, but also because with these twelve wounds, the victim had no strength to fight back anymore.”

“You can even see this?” Wang Doushan asked in shock.

Su Chen continued, “This kind of attack used to generate internal explosions should be some kind of Bloodline Origin Skill. Do you know which clans in the fifth region possess such a bloodline?”

Wang Doushan shook his head. “The Bloodline Extraction Instrument has existed for over twenty thousand years. If we assume that every year, ten bloodlines are produced, then there would be more than two hundred thousand Bloodline Nobility Clans to date. Although in reality there cannot be so many - after all, many have changed or disappeared with the passage of time - the human race possesses at least a hundred thousand Bloodline Nobility Clans. Just Long Sang Country alone possesses ten thousand, and the twenty-first region of Long Sang, the Three-Mountains Region, possesses roughly around five hundred bloodline Nobility Clans. How could I possibly know all of them?”

Upon hearing the number that Wang Doushan said, Su Chen was also quite shocked. “There’s actually so many Bloodline Nobility Clans. Northface City doesn’t even have a single one; I thought that Bloodline Nobility Clans were quite rare and not many remained.”

Wang Doushan laughed. “What Northface City? Quite frankly, it’s just a countryside. Most importantly, it’s very close to the Scarlet Mountain Range, the border of the Beast Race. It’s hard to say when a Beast Wave will come, flooding all of the bases there. Thus, many of the Bloodline Nobility Clans are unwilling to go there, giving clans without bloodlines an opportunity to rise up in those places.”

“But as Bloodline Nobility Clans, shouldn’t they guard the frontier, protecting the human race?” Su Chen said unhappily.

Wang Doushan laughed. “That’s what is said, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is willing, and it definitely doesn’t mean that they need to act as cannon fodder.”

“Cannon fodder?” Su Chen squinted his eyes. “To those from noble clans, are those who live near the border of the Beast Race merely cannon fodder?”

Wang Doushan patted Su Chen’s shoulder. “I know you don’t like hearing these words, but this is the reality. Places like the border truly do require cannon fodder. The Bloodline Nobility Clans will battle, but they definitely won’t bear the brunt on the front line. They will only appear at the right time and at the right place. Only by doing our best to preserve the lives of the Origin Qi Scholars of Bloodline Nobility Clans can we preserve the strength of mankind.”

Su Chen coldly harrumphed. “And this supposed ‘right time’ is determined by the Bloodline Nobility Clans themselves?”

Wang Doushan laughed. “I know you’re not happy about this, but unfortunately that’s just how it is. You haven’t had many interactions with Bloodline Nobility Clans yet. After you get into the Hidden Dragon Institute and you interact with them more, you will see even more unfairness. Better get used to it. In addition, Northface City is quite lucky. Although the Scarlet Mountain Range is the border between the human and beast territories, the Beast Race is not the major power in that location, so Beast Waves are relatively rare, and even if they do occur, usually they are not large-scale. To Long Sang Country, our true enemies will always be the Ferocious Race, not the Beast Race. The places that truly have to oppose the Beast Race are Cloud Rising Country and Great Wind Country. If you have a chance to go there, those Beast Waves are tenacious. A small wave every three years, a large wave every ten years. No signs of human inhabitation can be found within five hundred kilometers of their borders. But they have no ‘cannon fodder’ as a warning, and they have no way of dispersing the Beast Race there. Thus, they constantly are banishing people there; any and all criminals are sent there. If there aren’t enough criminals, they have to exile commoners to fill up the no man’s lands. I went to visit once, and their situation is what you call a tragedy...... I promise if you go, you won’t be able to eat for three days. Whenever I am reminded of it late at night, all I remember is tragedy!”

When Su Chen heard this, he sucked in a breath of cold air.

Although he had experienced battles during his time in Northface City, they were mostly internal struggles, conflicts that had arisen out of self-interest. He had never seen a cruel reality like the one Wang Doushan had mentioned. Although he had occasionally heard them, they were all mostly rumors. It wasn’t until Wang Doushan said it aloud that Su Chen realized his own knowledge and experience was far too superficial.

So humankind still had many territories that were ruthless and callous to this point?

In comparison, the battles that he had been engaged in before were all like the games of small children.

“But even so, does that mean that there are only two kingdoms currently fighting against the Beast Race?” Su Chen asked.

“Mhm. The times are different from before,” Wang Doushan said as he nodded his head. “Before, it was the Origin Race that dominated exclusively, while the Intelligent Races were very weak. But now, since the New Star Era, the Origin Energy on the Primordial Continent had weakened, and the Desolate Beasts had fallen into hibernation, only leaving behind the area that the Demon Emperor controlled. The Origin Race lacked the strength to dominate under the heavens, and the Intelligent Races arose, splitting into discrete clans. From that point on, any alliances had fallen apart...... In fact, there was never much of an alliance anyways. The Ferocious Race had been the henchmen and shepherds of the Beast Race, so even now many Intelligent Races did not consider them as an Intelligent Race, incorporating them under the Origin Races instead. The Feathered Race were like flies flying around food. In order to receive the pampering of the Beast Race, they helped a villain do evil and exploited the Beast Race’s might for their own benefit. The Spirit Race was reclusive and lacked ancestors or clans. They were gloomy and vicious, like a lonely soul demon, and they never fought against anyone. The only remaining race, the Sea Race, was the only race that could be befriended, but because of that idiot, the Prosperous Emperor, they had in the end become enemies as well.”

Evidently, Wang Doushan’s words were not made up in that moment. Rather, he had been taught about this a long time ago, so he was able to speak fluently.

“So in the end we all walked the paths of adversaries?” Su Chen asked. “Long Sang Country is primarily at odds with the Ferocious Race, but what about the others?”

“Liao Ye Country is at odds with the Feathered Race, Owl Country is at odds with the Spirit Race, and Water Sheen Country is at odds with the Sea Race. Each tries to seize the other’s territories and defend their own,” Wang Doushan replied.”

“There’s still Empty Mountain?” Su Chen asked.

“Empty Mountain Country?” Wang Doushan tilted his head back and laughed loudly, “They are not at odds with the Beast Race nor the other four Intelligent Races.”

“Then who are they at odds with?”

Wang Doushan, however, stopped talking.

He gazed at the sky above his head for a long time before saying, “Kingdom politics is not something that people like us are qualified to discuss. If we have the spare time to discuss these things, we should probably look to see if there are any other clues that the perpetrator left behind.”

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