As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 183 What's Really Worthy of Fear

Xu Yan did not refute.

He was more aware than Xiong Tieshan of the operational crisis facing Liming Heavy Industry.

Xiong Tieshan did not dwell on this issue any further.

"I am a martial artist, a martial artist with strong limbs but a simple mind. I can't understand so many grand principles, nor can I see things too far in the future. I can only observe the trivial matters around me that are insignificant to important people."

Xiong Tieshan continued, "Do you know that the wages of the lower-level workers at Liming Heavy Industry haven't increased much in twenty years? Twenty years ago, they earned seven or eight thousand yuan a month, and now it's about the same amount, or even less."

"And these jobs that rely on physical labor to support a family are already considered to be in relatively good condition."

"Those jobs that seem glamorous, where you sit comfortably in an office with air conditioning, typing on a keyboard and writing documents, either result in a significant pay cut, or you're simply fired by the company, or only those with connections and influence can get the job."

"The same job, but the requirements for sealing cards are getting higher and higher."

"In the past, a job that could be filled with a black iron civilian card now often requires proficiency in using a bronze combat card, and only then is there a tiny chance of successfully applying for the job."

“In the past, children only needed to practice the ‘Wheel of Life Guiding Technique’ and the ‘Mind Palace Meditation Method’ before the age of twelve to lay a solid foundation. Nowadays, children often have to learn to manipulate sealing cards and establish a spiritual link with extremely dangerous remnant souls before they are seven or eight years old, when their bodies and brains are not yet fully developed and their minds are not yet stable.”

Even though countless children have developed spiritual corruption and their minds have been riddled with holes by the remnants of the past, the parents are still determined to fight to the death.

"As a result, every family in Dawn City spends most of their hard-earned meager monthly salary on sealed cards in vain."

"Twenty or thirty years ago, manual laborers could earn seven or eight thousand yuan a month and only needed to spend a few hundred yuan to maintain the sealing card, buy nutrient solution, and participate in relevant vocational training. Moreover, the company could reimburse a large portion of the cost."

"Now, for the same job, practitioners are often required to be proficient in operating seven or eight work cards and also have to purchase additional cards at their own expense to enhance their competitiveness. In order to meet the needs of extremely long hours and heavy workloads, practitioners have to pay for training courses, purchase the latest model card readers and nutritional solutions, spend half to two-thirds of their salary, and even take on high credit card debt, falling into a deep abyss of compound interest, debt to debt, and no way out."

"It's really strange to think about it."

"Clearly, everyone—whether it was the old miners who had worked hard for decades in the dark and damp underground mines, or their toddler grandchildren—had all put in their utmost effort, betting everything, including tomorrow."

"But people's lives don't seem to be much better than before. In fact, with the underground mineral veins becoming increasingly depleted, they have fallen into a predicament that cannot be described in words and for which there is no solution in sight."

"In this process, it was my old friends, those Spirit Masters with rich practical experience and high prestige in Dawn City, who got in touch with the four major card manufacturing companies and transformed into Spirit Card distributors and founders of high-end Spirit Card clubs."

"The Spirit Card Club can help ordinary citizens master more techniques for linking and manipulating remnants of the past, and provides various services such as training, repair, and enhancement, which is certainly not a problem. "The problem is, I just don't believe that my old friends with rich practical experience can't see that the power of most cards on the current Spirit Card market is far beyond the daily needs of ordinary citizens; and that most of the functions that require real money to purchase are simply unnecessary for most people."

"The cards that seal away the remnants of the past should be humanity's weapon against nature and death."

"But at some point, it became a tool for profit-driven individuals to exploit the hard-earned money of ordinary people and enrich themselves."

"I went to see these old friends before the relationship broke down."

"Make suggestions to them—given the objective situation of Dawn City, this border mining town with a not-so-developed economy doesn't need so many expensive, feature-rich but impractical, and particularly fragile high-end cards that require a lot of money to maintain and repair."

"They should not use flowery language to lure ordinary citizens into buying these useless and potentially harmful products."

"All you need here are classic cards that are affordable, durable, safe, and convenient."

"As a result, these 'old friends' all looked at me with disappointment and said that they were just distributors, a bridge between the four major card manufacturers and ordinary citizens. They said that the types of cards and the sales pitches were all decided by the four major card manufacturers."

"As we all know, not only is the Spirit Card Association jointly established by the four major card manufacturing companies, but the Heroic Spirit Alliance also needs the strong support of the four major card manufacturing companies. Therefore, the business strategies of the four major companies represent the will of the Heroic Spirit Alliance. Do you think I, a valiant warrior living in a border city, should use my stubborn brain to fight against the will of the entire alliance?"
"Hehe, what they said makes a lot of sense. Even you just said that times are changing and the alliance will eventually move forward, unstoppable. How can we let ordinary citizens use such cheap and simple low-end cards forever?"

"I am deeply aware of my own shallowness and narrow-mindedness."

"I suddenly realized why, even after thousands of years, there are still stubborn people who persist in the cardless flow and the path of absolute godhood."

"Perhaps, for those die-hard fanatics of the Absolute God Path, what they truly want to destroy is not the remnant souls of the past."

"No matter how terrifying the remnants of the past are, they are ultimately fleeting clouds. Even the most ferocious ancient demonic beasts often do not know how to hide their intentions and desires."

"Human beings, driven by profit and insatiable in their desires, are perhaps more worthy of vigilance and fear than the remnants of the past."

"Therefore, I declined the warm invitations from my 'old friends,' even though they offered me shares. I was unwilling to stay in their glittering clubs, but instead poured my life savings into opening this 'Mad Iron Martial Arts School.'"

“I am self-aware and have no lofty ideals. I only hope that one day, when people can no longer afford the increasingly advanced and expensive sealing cards, they can come to me and learn to save their own destiny with their own hands at the lowest cost.”

(End of this chapter)