58: Asking price

But the moment he touched the boundary of the Formation's secret runes, a red light flashed, instantly bouncing him away...

The others who had followed his lead couldn't help but stop in their tracks.

A female student, also from Chenyang City, spoke up: "Chu Yuan, what are you doing?"

Chu Yuan couldn't be bothered with small talk. His voice, infused with spiritual energy, rolled out and spread across the entire stone platform!

"If you want to enter the Formation and receive protection, you can! But everyone must hand over 30% of their life origin. Those willing, take a step forward; those who don't accept, do whatever you want!"

"life origin?" The girl was stunned. Although the name was easy to understand at first glance, but...

"How do we hand over this life origin you speak of? Do you want 30% of our blood?"

Chu Yuan shook his head: "No, I naturally have a way to extract it."

"Then... what effect will losing 30% of our life origin have on us?" someone asked. There was still the College Entrance Examination after the Secret Realm ended!

If their Foundation was damaged, affecting their performance in the College Entrance Examination... it might cause them to waste several years in vain.

"It will make you weak for a period of time, and your Foundation will be slightly damaged; however, if you have precious supplements, it can still be replenished."

"Chu Yuan! Aren't you just taking advantage of the situation!?" someone exclaimed.

Precious supplements? Easy to say, but how many people can afford them?

Damaging their Foundation would only jeopardize their future...

"Chu Yuan, I heard you are also a Martial Artist from a commoner background; we are all the same, why must you make things difficult for us?" the girl from before pleaded earnestly.

Chu Yuan was somewhat baffled: "How have I made things difficult for you?"

"By demanding our life origin, aren't you ruining our future?"

"Then your future is truly fragile..." Chu Yuan shook his head: "Those who are unwilling can leave; I have never forced you."

"Chu Yuan! You can't do this. This stone platform originally belonged to everyone; by what right do you occupy it? Xiang Ning, I know you are a reasonable person. Are you just going to watch Chu Yuan act recklessly!?"

"..." Xiang Ning walked into the Formation with an expressionless face: "Didn't Tian Tian invite many of you to collect Materials before? I heard that many people rejected her?"

"That's different! If she had said earlier that it was to set up a Formation to resist the Blood Beasts..."

Tian Tian, who was inside the Formation, couldn't help but speak up: "I already said it was to resist the Blood Beasts!"

"You didn't say the Blood Beasts were this strong! If we had known the Blood Beasts were this strong..."

"If you had known, if you had known... You just want everything to be known beforehand." Xiang Ning shook his head and ignored him further.

In fact, he understood that even if Tian Tian had told them the truth from the beginning, many people would not have believed her;

They were only willing to believe things that aligned with their own judgment, and only willing to invest in things that were already certain—that is... they were only willing to pay something when they could clearly see a generous return.

Even if it was just a little bit of hard work...

Chu Yuan looked at Xiang Ning with some surprise: "I thought you would speak up for them."

Xiang Ning was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "Chu Yuan, in this world, most people are selfish and stupid; but that doesn't mean they deserve to die..."

"If the upper echelons of Great Qin had the same mindset as you, the Human Race would have been finished long ago, leaving only a few strong individuals. Perhaps, you wouldn't even have been born..."

"I understand your principle of 'fair trade,' and acting like this is indeed refreshing; but I must remind you, have you ever thought about whether the higher-ups are all selfless saints?"

Chu Yuan nodded: "One who is not in that position does not seek to govern. The level you speak of is still very far away for me right now; furthermore... they cannot represent the 'majority of people.'"

"To the 'majority of people' you speak of, they are the high and mighty Martial Artists of the future."

Xiang Ning was stunned, then said: "Anyway, as long as you know what you are doing... but you should handle it as soon as possible, otherwise who knows what kind of nonsense some idiots might say."

Chu Yuan looked down the mountain: "Someone will help them make a decision."

"The Blood Beasts are coming again!"

"30% of my life origin! I agree!"

"Everyone, don't be afraid! We are right here on this stone platform! I don't believe Chu Yuan would really dare not to act!"

"..."

"The human cubs in the Secret Realm have all been driven to the vicinity of the passage; it's time to move to the next step, right?"

Qiu gently flicked his tail, inadvertently striking the mountain rocks; in an instant, the small hill disintegrated.

He was the king of the Blood Beast Clan. 'Qiu' was the name he gave himself... meaning to remind himself to take revenge on the Human Race!

For this, he had sacrificed 99% of his kin!

But as long as he could take revenge on the Human Race and escape their control... these sacrifices were worth it.

A Martial Artist sat cross-legged in the Void Realm, with Li Hong standing quietly behind him.

The former struck a fiery red crystal into the Void Realm, sensed it carefully for a while, and then said with satisfaction: "What's the rush? The timing isn't right yet. Acting rashly... will only lead to being easily killed by the strong ones of Great Qin."

"Then we just wait like this!?" Qiu's voice was somewhat irritable.

"You can let those little ones of yours play first. How Great Qin used to hunt you... you can hunt them the same way. Isn't that fun?"

Qiu was somewhat tempted; it did sound very interesting.

The roles of hunter and prey reversed; the ones who were hunted in the past now turning the tables to slaughter the hunters...

At this moment, a Blood Beast suddenly darted over from afar and roared at Qiu for a while.

"What!?"

"What happened?"

"My kin reported that at the passage, the Human Race has set up the kind of... Formation you mentioned! It is very powerful and has already killed many of my kin!" Qiu was somewhat irritable.

Li Hong suddenly spoke up: "My Lord, the person who set up the Formation should be Chu Yuan. When I went back before, I learned that he organized many people to help him collect Materials for the Formation!"

The Martial Artist glanced at him and said with great interest: "It's him... Can he set up a Formation capable of easily killing those in the Fourth Realm just by using Materials collected on the spot in the Secret Realm? This kid... ask your kin what kind of Formation it is."

Qiu and that Blood Beast exchanged low roars.

"I only know that the area near the passage is shrouded in blood-red color, and any of my kin who attack seem to have the flesh and blood drained from their bodies!"

The Martial Artist stroked his chin: "Sounds like... a bit like the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array? It seems this kid was never a good person to begin with..."