King of Creation
Chapter 1422: Chapter 1407: Asking for the Moon
"Ransom and war reparations?" The Blue-scaled Dragon King glanced into the void, still unable to determine Ye Zhen’s location.
"As for ransom, I understand! If your nobility of Great Zhou is captured, they can be exchanged for freedom and life using ransom, which is also a tradition on the Primordial Continent!
However, when it comes to war reparations, I don’t understand. Whether it is Great Zhou or the Aquatic Race of North Sea or the Primordial Continent, I have never heard of war reparations!" The Blue-scaled Dragon King said.
In fact, with the knowledge of the Blue-scaled Dragon King, even if he had never heard the word ’war reparations’ before, he would still understand its meaning the moment he heard it, and understand what Ye Zhen was up to; he was just feigning ignorance.
There have been countless wars on the Primordial Continent, but until now, Great Zhou implemented a policy of iron and blood, annihilating what could be annihilated, taking so-called war reparations by themselves.
For those that couldn’t be annihilated, the other side had enough confidence to refuse war reparations, even if defeated, like the Demon Clan, the Four Seas Water Clan, and the Demon Race.
As for the Barbarian Clan, they are like stubborn oxen, thinking, "You from Great Zhou killed so many of our kin, and you still want war reparations? Keep dreaming."
I’d rather turn to others than ever succumb!
As a result, the Barbarian Clan directly turned to the Demon Clan for support.
Ye Zhen now holds the lifeline of the Blue-scaled Dragon King, yet he couldn’t care less about these.
"Since it never existed before, today I will initiate the tradition of war reparations on the Primordial Continent; it might just make history!" Ye Zhen’s cold laughter echoed.
"Make history?"
"Those who make history are often dead men, Viscount Ye. Overindulgence doesn’t make you fat in one bite; more often, it chokes you to death!" The Blue-scaled Dragon King warned.
"There’s no need for you to worry about that, Your Excellency Dragon King."
As Ye Zhen’s laughter echoed, his figure suddenly appeared from a place in the clouds, slowly descending a thousand meters in front of the Blue-scaled Dragon King.
This caused the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s pupils to shrink, feeling an urge to capture Ye Zhen alive. As long as he captured Ye Zhen and rendered him unconscious indefinitely, he would have ample time to rescue his beloved son completely.
However, the previous smashed Illusory Body made the Blue-scaled Dragon King highly cautious. If he failed again, then his son Ao Zheng might...
After descending, Ye Zhen suddenly smirked, "Your Excellency Dragon King, do you guess if this time I appear as my True Body or an Illusory Body?"
The old face of the Blue-scaled Dragon King was suddenly filled with astonishment.
Not only the Ye Zhen in front of him, but simultaneously in other directions in the void, six identical Ye Zhens appeared.
These six identical Ye Zhens sat cross-legged in the void, and with the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s cultivation and eye power, he couldn’t determine which of these seven Ye Zhens was the True Body and which was an Illusory Body!
This was the true reason for the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s shock!
What kind of cultivation does the Blue-scaled Dragon King have, almost reaching the threshold of Dao Realm.
In the eyes of nearly all martial artists, Dao Realm is like the existence of gods!
Yet Ye Zhen was just a little shrimp at the peak of the Ninth Stage of Dao Entrance Realm, but the Blue-scaled Dragon King couldn’t see through Ye Zhen.
Among the seven Ye Zhens in front, only one is the True Body, and the other six are fake. However, exhausting all his eye power and Divine Soul Power, the Blue-scaled Dragon King couldn’t see any difference.
Joking aside, this was because Ye Zhen used the Origin Mirage Qi from the Ancient Mysterious Mirage to condense the Illusory Body. As the Four-footed Snake Achou said, the Illusory Body condensed by Origin Mirage Qi can’t be seen through, even by those in the Realm King Realm, Dao Realm, or even above Dao Realm.
Unless some existences naturally possess innate divine abilities that can see through illusions, there would be a possibility of seeing through.
As for the Blue-scaled Dragon King, this little reptile should forget it.
This cast a shadow over the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s heart, secretly deciding that after today, any actions against Ye Zhen must be cautious and more cautious.
They must determine Ye Zhen’s True Body before acting!
Otherwise, rash actions could cause his beloved son Ao Zheng to suffer another major injury or even death!
Unfortunately, the Blue-scaled Dragon King guessed wrong.
Of the seven Ye Zhens in front of him, not one was Ye Zhen’s True Body; Ye Zhen’s True Body was hidden within the rock a kilometer underground, and all seven actively revealed Ye Zhens were Illusory Bodies!
The reason Ye Zhen actively showed the Illusory Body was to give the Blue-scaled Dragon King a warning.
One can imagine, regardless of today’s negotiation results, from now on, the Blue-scaled Dragon King might plot endlessly on how to capture Ye Zhen alive.
But this way, before taking action, the Blue-scaled Dragon King must be extremely cautious; if he carelessly captures only an Illusory Body of Ye Zhen, leading to the exposure of the plan, Ye Zhen’s retaliation will not be easy to handle.
With a flicker, the six Illusory Bodies sitting cross-legged in the void disappeared simultaneously, leaving only the Illusory Body sitting casually in front of the Blue-scaled Dragon King, casually taking out a Jade Scroll and tossing it to the Blue-scaled Dragon King.
"Your Excellency Dragon King, here is the various damage caused to our North Sea County by your Crown Prince Ao Zheng leading troops to invade North Sea County. Only after negotiating these losses, can we possibly continue to discuss the ransom issue for your son Ao Zheng!"
Saying this, Ye Zhen spread his hands, "Of course, you may refuse to talk about ransom now that your beloved son Ao Zheng has been rescued.
However, I am a person with a bad temper, and once displeased, I like to do something outrageous! By then, if anything happens to your beloved son Ao Zheng, don’t come to blame me!"
The large eyes of the Blue-scaled Dragon King narrowed into a small slit, within which an incredibly fierce light flickered.
A threat!
This was a blatant threat from Ye Zhen!
Ever since obtaining the title of Dragon King, this was the first time he had been threatened to his face!
But there was no choice, he had to endure and accept this threat!
Ye Zhen’s meaning was simple: if they don’t discuss war reparations, he won’t talk about ransom. Without discussing ransom, although the Blue-scaled Dragon King could take Dragon Prince Ao Zheng back,
if Ye Zhen were to use the Divine Soul Restriction Technique every couple of days, causing his son Ao Zheng to convulse and go mad once or twice, his entire harem would undoubtedly descend into chaos.
By then, if his son didn’t go mad, he would go mad first.
So, with just a single sentence, Ye Zhen forced the Blue-scaled Dragon King to reluctantly talk about the first-ever war reparations on the Primordial Continent and resignedly look at the jade scroll Ye Zhen presented!
"What, the Aquatic Race of North Sea killed one million and ninety thousand citizens of the North Sea? That’s impossible! Our North Sea Aquatic Race primarily captures humans for slavery, how could we kill so many of the North Sea’s people?
Moreover, your North Sea only has about ten million people total, so how could we have killed one-tenth of them?" Merely the first piece of data in the jade scroll made the Blue-scaled Dragon King shout in dissatisfaction.
Ye Zhen’s eyes widened, "This is the list of losses reported by officials under my North Sea County’s jurisdiction. The missing aren’t even counted in. If you think the figure is incorrect, this Viscount will message them to recount?"
Ye Zhen’s seemingly kind answer left the Blue-scaled Dragon King feeling very stifled.
Right now, he was on the chopping block, how dare he let Ye Zhen recount?
The Blue-scaled Dragon King wasn’t new to all this. He could guarantee that if he dared to ask Ye Zhen to recount, there wouldn’t be any problem for the figure to increase by another twenty to thirty percent, if not double.
Of course, just as the Blue-scaled Dragon King said, how could the entire North Sea County, with its total population, be killed by one-tenth directly by the North Sea Aquatic Race?
In fact, this figure came about by Ye Zhen including the rescued people from his army, for instance, the over seventy thousand prisoners freed from Cow Heart Mountain.
Out of the one million and ninety thousand figure, one million and thirty thousand were all prisoners, with thirty-eight thousand confirmed dead, and another twenty-two thousand missing.
According to his subordinates, the wisdom of the working people is infinite, and most of these missing people hid away when the flood hit, and after it ended, most would reappear.
"Ten High Grade Spiritual Stones as compensation per person is impossible! Your Great Zhou’s people, even if sold as slaves, with the most robust adult males, would be worth at most half a High Grade Spiritual Stone!" the Blue-scaled Dragon King questioned.
"Your Excellency Dragon King also said, half a High Grade Spiritual Stone is the price for slaves. But my Great Zhou citizens are descendants of the Primordial bloodline, noble beyond measure, far more exalted than those so-called slaves by a hundredfold!
Honestly, it’s already considerate of me not to ask for a hundredfold, fifty High Grade Spiritual Stones per person," said Ye.
Upon hearing these words, the Blue-scaled Dragon King almost spat out blood on the spot. Considerate, you?
Pah!
According to his estimation, the aquatic race wouldn’t have killed more than fifty thousand humans, yet Ye Zhen inflated this figure by over twenty times, which was simply shameless!
"One High Grade Spiritual Stone, that’s already astronomical. Your Great Zhou’s citizens, if gathered all family assets, wouldn’t even amount to one High Grade Spiritual Stone!" the Blue-scaled Dragon King said.
"One isn’t possible, nine, at least nine High Grade Spiritual Stones!"
"Nine is absolutely impossible...."
After nearly an hour of spitting back and forth, the price finally deadlocked at five High Grade Spiritual Stones per life.
This relieved the Blue-scaled Dragon King somewhat, as he managed to cut the sky-high price offered by Ye Zhen in half, doing some damage control. After all, Ye Zhen held the trump card, if he didn’t loosen his grip and stuck to one price, he’d have no choice but to agree in the end.
However, this price still pained him greatly. Even though he controlled nearly one-twentieth of the North Sea’s territory, and the North Sea was vast, his share equaled to that of hundreds of major provinces of the Great Zhou!
One million and ninety thousand people, at five High Grade Spiritual Stones per person, amounted to five hundred and forty thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones.
And these were High Grade Spiritual Stones!
Equivalent to more than five hundred million Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
Indeed, the most straightforward figure was that it was one-tenth of his Blue-scaled Dragon Palace’s annual total income, half of its net income!
The Blue-scaled Dragon King’s heartache was only natural.
After all, although his Blue-scaled Dragon Palace’s domain was equivalent to hundreds of major provinces of the Great Zhou, its income wasn’t even one-tenth of those combined.
"Forty-seven thousand soldiers dead, two hundred and seventy-five thousand injured......this.....aren’t there only just over three hundred thousand soldiers in all of North Sea? You placed the entire army on the list, didn’t you?" the Blue-scaled Dragon King looked at Ye Zhen, dumbfounded.
"Your Excellency Dragon King, you’re right, to counterattack your Prince Ao Zheng’s commanded invasion, all of our soldiers in North Sea County participated. To be honest, I haven’t even counted the militia we mobilized!" Ye Zhen said.
"But.....but your warfare relied entirely on military armaments, how could so many have died?" the Blue-scaled Dragon King looked incredulous!
In the report from Water Scorpion General Yin Quan, the casualties of the Soldiers of North Sea County are many, but the total number of those killed in battle definitely does not exceed twenty thousand!
In fact, the intelligence of Water Scorpion General Yin Quan was still inaccurate. The soldiers of North Sea County had over fifteen thousand three hundred casualties, with about a hundred and fifty thousand injured.
However, such a good opportunity for extortion, how could Ye Zhen let it slip by?
To be honest, reporting only forty-seven thousand dead soldiers was because Ye Zhen felt it would be too embarrassing to report more than that.
"Your Excellency, Dragon King, to be honest, even now, those fleeing North Sea Water Clan members are still engaging in sporadic skirmishes with my troops. The current death toll is still not a complete statistic. Shall I have the general recount it?" Ye Zhen asked with a look of goodwill.
The same old routine!
The Blue-scaled Dragon King was so angry he almost vomited blood.
If recounted, the number would only increase!
But at this moment, he could only swallow the bitter pill!
Since he had already put out five million high-grade spirit stones before, taking out a bit more wasn’t a big deal!
The next moment, looking at the compensation payment Ye Zhen proposed, even with the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s seasoned nature, he screamed, "For one dead soldier, you want a condolence payment of a thousand high-grade spirit stones? For the injured, you want a hundred high-grade spirit stones each?
Your human clan soldiers, even if they cultivate to the Vein Forging Realm, it’s not even worth ten high-grade spirit stones, right? This amount is absolutely impossible!"
Contrary to the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s expectations, this time Ye Zhen did not bargain but instead extended his hand and said, "Your Excellency, Dragon King, before discussing the next item, you need to clear the war compensation for the deceased civilians we’ve just agreed upon, and then we can continue our discussion!"
"That’s impossible!" The Blue-scaled Dragon King immediately refused resolutely, "After all the discussions, I will then consider the payment accordingly!"
The Blue-scaled Dragon King wasn’t foolish; if he paid too early, the negotiations later would probably become increasingly difficult!
However, Ye Zhen was even more resolute than the Blue-scaled Dragon King imagined!
"In that case, there’s no need for us to continue talking!" With that, Ye Zhen stood up and turned to leave!
"Hey...."
The Blue-scaled Dragon King was dumbfounded, watching Ye Zhen’s back as he turned to leave, his eyes filled with ferocity, contemplating action but not daring!
Yet, he could not let Ye Zhen leave just like that.
In a flash, he blocked Ye Zhen’s path, looking down from above, "Viscount Ye, if you have any conditions, we can sit down and discuss them properly!"
Even when confronted by an entity comparable to the Dao Realm, Ye Zhen remained fearless and said, "Your Excellency, Dragon King, under your command are millions of troops and countless experts. I, Ye Zhen, am but a small cultivator in the Dao Entrance Realm. If I can’t receive the compensation today in person, how can I ask Your Excellency, Dragon King, for it later?"
"No, the Dragon King always keeps his word! Besides, if I handed over all the compensation to you at once, and then you deny it after taking it all, threatening me again, what then?" the Blue-scaled Dragon King said urgently, which was his greatest concern!
"Rest assured, Your Excellency, Dragon King, the nobles of Great Zhou value credibility, and I, Ye Zhen, am very credible too. Such a thing will never happen!"
In short, Ye Zhen’s logic was that you must trust me; I am entirely credible, but I dare not trust you because you are too powerful, and I am afraid!
With this, breaking the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s lip was useless!
"Let me consider for a moment or two!" said the Blue-scaled Dragon King.
This time, Ye Zhen agreed without hesitation and sat back down.
The Blue-scaled Dragon King returned to his spot, took from his bosom a Mother-child Magic Conch shimmering with Spirit Light, the reason for summoning with the Mother Conch.
Soon, the Blue-scaled Dragon King picked up the Mother-child Magic Conch to communicate.
The person he was communicating with was none other than Gui Luan, the Chancellor of the Blue-scaled Dragon Palace, whom the Blue-scaled Dragon King had dispatched urgently. He was identifying which forbidden technique was used on those water demons Ye Zhen sent over who had performed the same Divine Soul Restriction Technique as Dragon Prince Ao Zheng, and he was finally getting some clues to report back!
"Your Majesty, Dragon King, I consulted over a hundred elders from the Dragon Lord Mansion, and none could recognize what kind of soul-binding secret technique this was. Finally, we consulted an ancestor from our Gui family who has survived since the Ancient Times and is slumbering in the Dragon Court.
From him, we got a clue."
"That ancestor said it’s a very ancient Divine Soul Restriction Technique from the Ancient Times. Divine Soul Restriction Techniques from the Ancient Times all have one characteristic — there are few traces within the innate divine soul of the controlled creature.
But to know the exact kind of Divine Soul Restriction Technique, one must see both the caster and the recipient before a method to unlock it can be devised!
However, the ancestor said, Divine Soul Restriction Techniques from the Ancient Times are mostly quite domineering, and unbinding them is quite difficult! For now, the best approach is to capture the caster alive and render them unconscious first to slowly find a solution!"
The report from Chancellor Gui Luan made the Blue-scaled Dragon King’s complexion turn even paler.
It turned out to be the most troublesome Ancient Divine Soul Restriction Technique; this really felt like a stroke of bad luck!
Under such circumstances, it was even harder to handle this matter!
Unfortunately, Ao Zheng was his only descendant in his enormous domain, his sole bloodline heritage in this life.
As for having another, he’d inquired in many ways, and it was possible, but the requirements were almost impossibly stringent.
In this situation, what else could he do besides compromise?
After all, lost wealth can be regained, but once life is lost, everything is gone.
Half a quarter-hour later, under Ye Zhen’s insistence, the Blue-scaled Dragon King reluctantly handed over the first payment of five million four hundred fifty thousand high-grade Spirit Stones!
For beings whose cultivation has reached the Realm King Realm, especially those like the Blue-scaled Dragon King at the peak of the Ninth Stage of Realm King Realm, just half a step away from the Departure Dao Realm, the little world they have developed within themselves is already very large. It is unlike beings at the First or Second Stage of Realm King Realm, where even if they develop a small world within them, its stability aside, it might only be a few miles to a few hundred miles in size, not even comparable to a typical storage ring.
Therefore, for beings like the Blue-scaled Dragon King, most of the time, all his assets are stored in the small world he has developed within himself, carrying it with him wherever he goes!
This is extremely secure, impossible to steal, unless he is killed, otherwise, not a single bit of his wealth can be obtained.
Basically, ninety percent of the wealth of the entire Blue-scaled Dragon Palace is concentrated on the Blue-scaled Dragon King himself.
With this initial softening, the following matters became much easier to handle.
Compensation for the deceased and injured soldiers took the two of them more than half a day of haggling. Finally, after Ye Zhen’s significant concessions, they settled on war compensations of one hundred high-grade Spirit Stones per deceased soldier and ten high-grade Spirit Stones per injured soldier.
In the end, the Blue-scaled Dragon King once again paid Ye Zhen seven million four hundred fifty thousand high-grade Spirit Stones on the spot.
The trap Ye Zhen had dug for the Blue-scaled Dragon King began to slowly unfold!
The third item was the property damage caused to the North Sea County by the Water Clan’s invasion, such as the destruction of buildings, the economic losses caused by the siege, losses of various crops, and so on.
This item took half a day of arguing, and Ye Zhen managed to acquire another four million high-grade Spirit Stones in compensation!
The fourth item was the cost of rebuilding North Sea County, which amounted to a staggering eight million high-grade Spirit Stones.
Moreover, starting from the fourth item, Ye Zhen’s attitude became more assertive.
Even though the Blue-scaled Dragon King argued until his lips were dry and furious, in the end, he could only reduce the eight million high-grade Spirit Stones by thirty percent, unable to cut it by half as with the previous three items.
Finally, with much pain, the Blue-scaled Dragon King handed over another five million six hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones to Ye Zhen.
At this point, the Blue-scaled Dragon King had already paid Ye Zhen twenty-two million five hundred thousand high-grade Spirit Stones, which is basically equivalent to the pure income of North Sea County for a hundred years for Ye Zhen. A hundred years!
However, the war compensations were not over.
The last item on Ye Zhen’s list of war compensations was the compensation for the consumed military armaments!
In other words, for the Wind-Fire Crossbow bolts, Flame Spirit Burst Demon Crossbow bolts, Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbow bolts, damaged armaments in the war, consumed provisions, various Spirit Talismans, Array Plates, and all war consumptions that Ye Zhen used to slaughter tens of thousands of the Water Clan!
To put it plainly, it’s like saying I slashed you with a knife, but because your bones were hard, my knife got chipped. Now, you compensate me for the knife!
A total of thirteen million high-grade Spirit Stones!
Upon seeing this item, the Blue-scaled Dragon King glared bloodshot eyes, staring at Ye Zhen, wishing to tear Ye Zhen to pieces right then and there!
How utterly shameless!
In all his life, the Blue-scaled Dragon King had never encountered such a shameless person!
You chipped my knife and still want me to pay you for it, that’s shameless in itself!
But the problem is, Ye Zhen’s North Sea County soldiers number only three hundred thousand or so. A battle mobilizing only three hundred thousand troops, all the military expenditures, let alone thirteen million high-grade Spirit Stones, not even one million three hundred would be possible!
However, Ye Zhen’s list was clear and precise, firing fifty thousand Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbow bolts, damaging two hundred Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbows, and so on!
Heavens have mercy, the Sky-Breaking Dragon-Slaying Crossbows on Ye Zhen’s side were all fired from the rear of the line. Their Water Demons never even got close to them!
A huge asking price!
This is definitely a huge asking price!
"Viscount Ye, this king approached this matter with utmost sincerity, yet you have repeatedly disregarded my sincerity, demanding sky-high prices. Do you think this king is a fool?" The Blue-scaled Dragon King, unable to hold back any longer, roared at Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen lightly wiped the spit off his face, shrugged as if nothing happened, "If you think this Viscount is asking for too much and you can’t accept it, then let’s not talk!
After all, I’m tired too, so let’s break up!"
After finishing, Ye Zhen leisurely stood up, dusted off his backside as if nothing happened, and turned to leave.
The Blue-scaled Dragon King was dumbfounded, stunned!
Curse your ancestors for eighteen generations, Ye Zhen! You’ve already taken over twenty million high-grade Spirit Stones in war compensation from me, and now you pat your backside and say you’re leaving, not negotiating anymore.
How can you be so shameless?
His chest heaved violently like waves and suddenly, his lips tightened, a trace of crimson blood seeping out.
In extreme anger, the Blue-scaled Dragon King was actually injured internally by Ye Zhen’s shamelessness!

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