Chapter 388 - 138: Advent of the Barbarian God, A Good Opportunity to Fish in Troubled Waters, Trust Him?

"The Barbarian-Slaying Bows, crafted by the Celestial Craftsmanship Creation Institute, use specially made arrows. Each is internally engraved with a peculiar Array that can easily tear through the powerful flesh and bones of the Barbarian Race, destroying their life force from within. Even the protection of their racial blessings and the Power of Totems is useless."

"The Celestial Craftsmanship Creation Institute has certainly developed many fine things over the years to deal with the Barbarian Race."

Many of the dukes, nobles, and high ministers nodded in silent agreement.

The Elders of the various Immortal Sects, however, had grim expressions. On the surface, the Southern Hunting exercise was to purge the Barbarian Race, but in reality, it was a display of Great Xia’s power to intimidate the Immortal Sects. Everyone knew this. Otherwise, why would Emperor Xia attach such importance to it?

In a world where true power is personal, the display of such strange and wondrous weaponry held a powerful deterrent effect.

The arrow just fired came from what looked like a Barbarian-Slaying Bow, but they knew of a similar weapon called the Immortal Slaying Bow. It was also crafted by the Celestial Craftsmanship Creation Institute and could pierce the Heaven and Earth Void Qi that protected a Cultivator.

The Secret Power it contained could even cripple a Spirit Sea, rendering a Cultivator powerless and leaving them at the mercy of others.

If a Dao Artifact or Magical Artifact possessed such divine might, it wouldn’t be enough to make Cultivators so wary. The problem was that this terrifying power could be wielded by a mere mortal...

As things stood, the various Immortal Sects had almost no chance of victory in a war against a nation like Great Xia.

Their only hope would be a return to a bygone era when the Immortal Sects flourished, their power eclipsing that of the throne. However, generation after generation of Emperors had weakened the Immortal Sects while bolstering imperial authority. Each new dynasty built upon the foundations of the last, growing ever more powerful. Now, even the Immortal Sects were extremely wary.

Emperor Xia, seated in the place of honor, took in the expressions of the Elders from the various Immortal Sects, a faint smile gracing her lips.

For this Southern Hunting exercise, she had changed the rules. Instead of having the younger generation participate alone, she had dispatched high-ranking generals to assist them. It was better to channel a force than to block it, as the saying goes.

Since the Blood Immortal Sect intended to sow chaos and had already planted its agents, she simply established a rule in advance: should any rebellion occur, the generals were authorized to execute any Blood Immortal Sect remnants in their vicinity.

While this reduced the opportunities for the younger generation to showcase their talents, it did, in a way, guarantee the safety of the excursion.

As the members of the Barbarian Race fled deeper into the dense forest, the young nobles, no longer able to restrain themselves, led their house retainers in hot pursuit.

However, they didn’t showcase their Supreme Skills. Instead, they remained mounted on their fine steeds, wielding various weapons forged by the Celestial Craftsmanship Creation Institute. Spotting a member of the Barbarian Race in the distance, they would fire an arrow that tore through the Void, pinning the body to the mountain rock.

Other young nobles found this too time-consuming. They would fly out, find a target, and engage in fierce, close-quarters combat. The barbarians were savage by nature, and when their ferocity was provoked, a great battle would erupt.

Still others of the younger generation conspired with the generals commanding the nearby soldiers. Treating the fleeing members of the Barbarian Race ahead like fish in a barrel, they dispatched troops to encircle them from all sides. They would then watch, enjoying the looks of despair on their faces as they were trapped, and slowly torture them to death.

In short... all the members of the Barbarian Race released for this Southern Hunting exercise were destined to die.

The Qianyuan Cave Realm was a Little World under the Royal Family’s control; even if they fled to its deepest corners, they could not escape death. Therefore, many of the fleeing barbarian nobles immediately began contacting other escapees, planning to teach Great Xia a painful lesson.

Even in death, they would not let Great Xia have it easy. They would show them the consequences of opposing the Barbarian Race and the Barbarian God.

Great Xia’s true purpose was simply to flex its muscles; these members of the Barbarian Race were just convenient prey for the hunt.

Of course, among the death-row prisoners were not only members of the Barbarian Race, but also some heinous Loose Cultivators, members of Evil Cults... and people from the Alien Races.

On the high platform, the Elders of the various Immortal Sects, and the younger generation behind them, watched the scenes unfolding below. Their gazes flickered, each lost in their own thoughts.

"The one who just made a move is one of the top ten Celestial Pride prospects at Soaring Dragon Academy. Though only in his early twenties, he’s already at the Fifth Realm, the Soul Palace Realm. He’s not the least bit inferior to the True Disciples of the major Immortal Sects."

"His opponent, a member of the Barbarian Race, had five totem marks, indicating strength comparable to a Fifth Realm cultivator. Yet he couldn’t even last a single exchange before being utterly crushed..."

"Soaring Dragon Academy is truly worthy of the vast resources the Great Xia Royal Family invested in it. Its Celestial Pride prospects have impeccable backgrounds, all chosen from among the common folk. They are fiercely loyal, and once they mature, they are destined to become pillars of the nation, with the potential to break through to the Eighth Realm."

"With tens of billions of citizens within Great Xia’s borders, how could the young prospects chosen each generation be anything but extraordinary? The individuals who enter Soaring Dragon Academy are the cream of the crop from every province, selected through criteria far more rigorous than those of the current Immortal Sects."

Many of the Immortal Sect Elders sighed to themselves, feeling ever more keenly how deep Great Xia’s foundations ran. ’With such resources,’ they thought, ’the more time passes, the more terrifying they will become.’

In recent years, it was the various Immortal Sects that had been suppressed, so much so that they had to lower their standards for selecting Disciples. Some exceptionally beautiful women from the Immortal Sects had even resorted to selling their bodies at the Desire Immortal Pavilion to earn Spirit Stones.

The major spirit stone veins in the Celestial Central Province are firmly in Great Xia’s grasp, and now, they are even taking all the talented people for themselves...

Even the once-supreme Immortal Sects were now struggling to find successors.