Chapter 174 - Blood Plane Warriors
“Rising Sun Tribe…” One of the captives muttered as he was led into the tribe, past the towering wooden walls which cast a shadow over the outside meadow.
A sense of despair overcame the captive’s heart, he knew that it was extremely unlikely that he would ever see the outside of these walls again. Even if he did manage to leave this place, it would probably be as a sacrifice for the Aztecs’ war preparations…
The Burning Lotus Tribesman’s knees trembled, he struggled to continue walking, until his Aztec capturer shouted at him and yanked on the vines binding his wrists, forcing him to continue walking behind the steed.
The ‘Aztec Tribe’ referred to the lineage of people, there was no single land that could represent the entire Aztec people. Each branch tribe had its own name and customs, but they conformed to the larger culture of the Aztec Tribe as a whole.
Whilst the ‘tribe’ walls were made from ‘wood’, this was not some ordinary mortal village. No, the Rising Sun Tribe was the tyrant of this region, there were close to thirty million members living within the tribe’s walls! Every single citizen of the tribe was an Aztec Tribesman, anyone else living in this place was either a slave or a sacrifice.
As for the tribe’s wooden walls, these were naturally extraordinary. The wood used to build these walls was thousand year blood oak, a rare materials which was usually only found in certain treasures.
Blood oak was one of the preferred materials of the Aztec Tribe. The blood oak tree only grew when offered a continual stream of sacrifices, it exuded a bloody aura and properly embodied the nature of the Aztecs. As such, the hundred feet tall walls that protected the tribe from outside forces was made entirely from this wood.
The many totem poles positioned atop the walls were also carved from blood oak. Each totem depicted a historically famous warrior of the tribe, whilst the totems themselves were adorned with countless skulls from beasts and humans alike.
Yaan was brought into this tribe along with the captured tribesmen. He focussed the majority of his attention on healing his injuries, but he made sure to pay attention to the outside world, slowly gathering information regarding where he had actually ended up.
He was shocked when he saw the Aztec Tribesmen, then even more shocked when he realised that not only the Aztecs, but every single human in this place seemed to practice body tempering!
Yaan’s first thought was that somehow, he had returned to the inheritance site! However, he quickly ruled out this possibility.
For one, it made very little sense. How could he have returned to the inheritance? Why would he have returned to that place?
But the alternative, the reality that he had no choice but to accept, seemed no less outrageous.
‘This is the Blood Plane!’ Yaan realised quickly.
He did not hear the ‘Blood Plane’ mentioned in any of the conversations he listened in on, but Yaan still had many reasons for believing that this was the case.
Firstly, The Aztec Tribe was originally from the Blood Plane. For there to be so many Aztecs in one place was already strong evidence that this place was located on the Blood Plane!
Secondly was the environment. This environment which lacked spiritual energy in the atmosphere, but compensated with massive amounts of energy flowing through the earth, leading to the development of countless exotic natural resources, heavily resembled the 4th trial realm.
However, the 4th trial realm was itself modelled on the Blood Plane!
On the Blood Plane, the concentration of atmospheric spiritual energy was simply too low for Qi refining to be a viable path for most people to follow. Instead, due to the immense energy which pervaded the dense and endless earth beneath, resources such as elixirs grew in abundance, allowing body tempering to take off as the main path of cultivation!
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There was another factor that allowed body tempering to become the number one path on the Blood Plane, whilst other paths were suppressed into obscurity; the constitutions of the people.
On the Qi Plane, humans were not suited to body tempering, but on the Blood Plane, humans were entirely suited to body tempering!
Yaan had learned about this back in the 4th trial realm. There were many rare and incredible constitutions in this world, but the truth of the matter was that all humans possessed a constitution.
On the Qi Plane, the most common constitution was the Innate Qi constitution, a constitution that permitted the ordinary refinement of Yuan Qi. On the Blood Plane, the most common constitution was the mortal rank progressive physique constitution; this was the very same progressive body constitution which permitted the pursuit of the true body tempering path!
That said, any world where cultivation relied almost entirely on resources would be a choatic world filled with competition and war. This could be seen in the 4th trial realm, where people were willing to stake their lives in death matches in order to further their cultivation by each and every step.
After listening to the conversations around him, Yaan quickly understood that the situation here was exactly as he had expected; violence and battle were commonplace in this world, to the extent that distinctions such as ‘righteous’ and ‘demonic’ seemed less widespread.
On the Qi Plane, all cultivators defined themselves as either righteous or demonic. These two factions were eternally at odds, never agreeing with one another on a fundamental level. On the Blood Plane, this distinction simply didn’t catch on, because all cultivation here was based upon endless bloody competitions…only the law of the jungle was respected in this place!
Whilst Qi refiners also needed resources in order to maximise their progress, it wasn’t to nearly the same extent as body temperers. In Qi refining, resources were simply supplements to cultivation, but in body tempering, resources were the foundation of their cultivation!
‘This world operates on different principles, both in terms of cultivation and society…’ Yaan concluded.
A world where fighting viciously for one’s own future was considered the norm…this suited Yaan quite well.
Yaan remained silent, not resisting as he was brought along with the other captives. He didn’t care when he was thrown into a cage used to store dozens of captives, nor did he bother himself with the many curious captives who regularly checked to see if he was still alive and breathing.
Whether it was the scared captives around him, or the arrogant Aztecs looking into the cage from the outside, none of these people were even worth Yaan’s consideration. It was more important that he placed his efforts on recovering his injuries. At the same time, he decided to maintain a low profile whilst he assessed the world around him.
Even though the individuals in his immediate vicinity were not worth mentioning, Yaan would not act rashly before he understood the level of power possessed by this tribe as a whole. If he acted carelessly, only to be restrained by yet another immortal, he might end up dying from regret.
And so, Yaan maintained the façade of an injured child with an indiscernible cultivation level. Most of those around him assumed that he was just a mortal kid, but others started to think differently when they realised that he had been unconscious for multiple days, yet he still managed to cling to life.
In the end though, even though Yaan’s condition drew the attention of some Aztec ‘higher ups’, these people were merely Mythril Class body temperers; they had Rank 3 strength, they were no stronger than Qi Temple realm Qi masters.
Yaan was quite eye catching amongst the dozens of captives from the various surrounding tribes. Compared to these other people, his skin was a shade lighter, whilst his body was small and frail looking. His clothing was also very different; the other tribesmen all wore either fur or rags, depending on their status prior to being captured.
“This child looks so weak!”
“Hahaha, what a useless child! If my son was so weak, I would probably sacrifice him!”
“His small body is so scrawny and frail, it is quite disgusting, hahaha!”
“…”
Yaan felt speechless as the Aztec Tribesmen judged him whilst openly laughing at him. It seemed that according to the standards of the Aztec Tribe, his delicate appearance was considered ‘disgusting’.
When the captives also joined in with the disdainful comments, Yaan wasn’t sure what to think. Why were these captives so lively that they could tease him, shouldn’t they be worrying about themselves?
A few days later, his understanding of the Blood Plane and its inhabitants began to grow deeper.
Creak…
The cage door was opened and two Aztec warriors entered. They stood upright and held spears by their sides, looking down at the captives proudly as they announced:
“We need sacrifices! Come, who wishes to die an honourable death? Those who are not sacrificed will become slaves, you will be able to survive, but you will become the disgraces of your tribes!”
Many of the captives immediately shrank away, looking at the giant Aztec warriors fearfully. Others averted their gazes, not openly retreating, but also refusing to engage with them.
Just as Yaan was wondering why they would come here with such a ridiculous proposal, a man stepped forwards. The man had tanned skin like many of the captives, whilst his body was covered in tattoos. These were not astral tattoos, but the tribal decorations of his people. His head was also clean shaven and beast fangs hung from his ear lobes.
“I will become a sacrifice! I was unable to die in battle, but I will not be reduced to a lowly slave!” After speaking, the man scoured his gaze over the other captives, not hiding the pride and disdain he was feeling right now. “To be sacrificed by the enemy can be considered a proper death! This will not be a disgrace to my tribe.”
Following the tribesman’s declaration, others began volunteering one by one.
In the end, around one half of the captives volunteered to be sacrificed upon the Aztec’s alter!
Yaan could hardly believe it, did these people not value their lives? He half-expected that this was all part of some scheme to escape, but after he watched them all head out from the cage, allowing themselves to be shackled and walked towards the nearby alter, he realised that this was not the case.
These people, the people of the Blood Plane, were not just cultivators…at heart, they were warriors!