Building a sect from scratch.

Soon, Ah Zhi became unable to think straight.

From the moment he was forced to board this large ship, everything he encountered was far beyond his comprehension.

The ship could actually fly in the sky, and the slaves were even given clear water—the sweetest and clearest water he had ever drunk in his life. Most unbelievably, the shamans on the ship were all very kind, unlike the tribal shamans who regarded slaves as something filthy.

Wandering shamans refer to cultivators. Cultivators supported by the various tribes in the wilderness are called shamans or divine shamans, while cultivators from outside the region are called "wandering shamans".

The "shaman" is a supreme being. The "great shaman" in a tribe holds an extremely high position, and all the elders must listen to him.

However, although these were common knowledge known to every member of the wandering tribes, they were not things that slaves could access.

Slaves are not worthy to see witches; even glancing at them is blasphemy and their eyes will be gouged out.

The slaves could only hunch over, lower their heads, and stare at their toes.

The strange ship stopped several times, seemingly visiting several different tribes, and more and more slaves were brought aboard. Before long, the deck was packed with people.

Although everyone was a slave, they couldn't communicate at all. Azhi had long been pushed by the crowd, and he didn't know how far away he was from the slaves of the Feng clan. All he could hear was an incomprehensible language—the language of Liuhuang varied every ten miles, and the languages ​​of different tribes were not mutually intelligible. On the contrary, the language spoken by the wandering shamans, although incomprehensible, was inexplicably clear in its meaning, which must have been the shamans' doing.

Then came the long voyage. It was the first time Ah Zhi had ever been on a ship for so long, and it was a ship that could fly in the sky.

He could see the moon hanging high in the sky, and the stars scattered across the heavens; sometimes, he could even see through a patch of damp clouds.

This amazing experience greatly reduced his fear of the unknown.

After an unknown amount of time, the boat finally stopped and slowly descended until a loud crash was heard as it plunged into the water.

"what is that?"

Looking at the seemingly endless "great river" in the distance, Ah Zhi asked in shock and fear.

The river was so blue it was unsettling, and the waves were even bigger than those of the Ying River during its flood season. A strange, fishy smell wafted from the river, and even the air seemed salty.

No one answered him. Most of the slaves were so astonished by the "great river" that they gaped and couldn't speak. A few slaves seemed to recognize the river; they were making a commotion, talking amongst themselves. However, Azhi noticed a young slave, not very old, pointing at the river and repeatedly uttering a single syllable, which seemed to be the river's name.

They call that river "the sea".

Soon, Ah Zhi had no time to think about the great river called "Sea".

All the slaves were driven off the ship and brought to a desolate wasteland.

Then, countless wandering shamans surrounded everyone and began shouting something, bargaining with the shamans who came down from the boat.

I can understand the words of those wandering shamans!
Ah Zhi was startled.

He heard a wandering shaman point at a dozen or so slaves, including himself, and shout, "I'll take them all! How about ten dollars per person?"

Another wandering shaman, who appeared out of nowhere, shook his head repeatedly: "No, no! Last time it was 10 yuan per head because they were all old, weak, women and children, and the Soul Fiend Sect had some problems with the people they brought over, so the price was low. This time we brought them from the Flowing Wilderness area. Look, these are all young and capable lads! How can we possibly go back to 10 yuan!" "Then name your price!"

"At least 30 yuan per person!"

"You might as well just rob them!" You Wu, who was planning to buy slaves, shouted, his face flushed with anger. "Even if the price goes up, this is too much! And look at these few, they're all sallow and thin, they're obviously worthless!"

The shaman selling slaves declared confidently, "Human heads are in high demand; if you don't want them, plenty of others will!"

"No, no, I'd take them all, but 30 yuan per head is outrageous... How about 20, 20 yuan each?"

"Hmm... add more, 25!"

"You call this adding a little extra?! You Fu Lu Shou guys aren't some shady businessmen, are you? 20 is fine! I really want all of these dozen or so!"

"Alright, alright! Here you go! I don't know why people from the Taiyin Sect are all so fond of haggling..."

Ah Zhi was terrified by the conversation between the two wandering sorcerers. Everything else was fine, but the mention of "human heads" in their words was truly frightening. Could it be that... they were going to kill them and use their heads as a sacrifice?

Ah Zhi secretly guessed, sighing in his heart.

But to everyone's surprise, the wandering shaman who bought them actually asked them if they were hungry!
"what?"

Azhi's mouth was wide open, unable to react for a moment, and the other slaves were not far behind.

Rather than asking the slaves if they were hungry, it's more accurate to say that they were never truly full.

In those desolate areas, resources were scarce, water was extremely rare, let alone food.

The harvests of rice and wheat were pitifully small, while more corn was planted, but compared to the fertile Central Continent and other continents and islands, the yield was really insignificant.

Therefore, not to mention slaves, even free people in tribes often went hungry. It was probably only nobles and shamans who were entitled to a full stomach.

As for asking slaves if they were hungry, he had never heard of such a thing in the more than twenty years he could remember.

Before anyone could react, a fragrant, soft flatbread with a rich meaty aroma was stuffed into A-Zhi's hands. He had only ever seen such a clean and tempting flatbread from afar at his former master's banquets; even the steward probably hadn't tasted it!

"Alright, you're all practically skin and bones, you're probably starving. Have a sesame seed cake to tide you over, but don't eat any more if that's not enough. You can't eat too much if you've been hungry for too long, or you might choke to death! If you choke to death, then all my money will have been wasted!"

The wandering shaman seemed to enjoy talking, muttering to himself as he spoke incessantly to another shaman beside him, all in ways Azhi couldn't understand: "Have the sleeping tents all set up? Let them rest for a day before they start working, otherwise, after such a long journey, if a few of them suffer from acclimatization problems and die, we'll be at a huge loss!"

Another wandering sorcerer said something even stranger: "Have some humanity! Even capitalists would cry if they heard this. You should be hung from a lamppost along with the Emperor and the others! Anyway, the mine is there and won't run away. At least you should give them a few more days to adjust and sign a labor contract, right?"

"Hey! It's just a game, why are you taking it so seriously..."

...(End of chapter)