chsdbacks Chapter 24 Differences · 9
Chapter 24 Differences · 9
Wild beasts and bandits are not all that you will encounter on this journey.
Along the way, the boy met traveling merchants, encountered swindlers, and even robbed thugs while buying things in some small towns.
There's nothing wrong with traveling merchants; at most, they just want to make more money. If they understand the situation, they simply won't engage in transactions. But swindlers and thugs mostly seek opportunities to cripple or kill people.
What he was most often tainted by along the way was not the fatigue of the journey, but the smell of blood that splashed onto him.
This process made the young man even more impressed by the empire's governance capabilities.
When he was in a small town, without revealing his soul power or identity as a soul master, he appeared after buying some things and was forced into a deep alley by several thugs wielding knives. After some effort, he emerged alone.
After that, usually a few days would pass and no one would care about the matter. At most, someone would take the bodies out and bury them, and at the same time, strip off the clothes and other things from them and sell them. After that, the whole town would continue to operate as usual.
The merchants continued to operate, but new thugs would appear, collecting protection money or robbing and extorting travelers who were not Soul Masters.
The residents of the town had long been accustomed to this; if a child from an ordinary family were to spend money at home to "awaken" at the age of six...
This is like a gamble. After this awakening, the trajectory of one's life will be greatly changed. Children who awaken innate soul power will go to a certain academy to become soul masters.
Regardless of their future cultivation level, the minimum options for these people are to become junior officers in the army, apply for positions as guards in noble households, or join a sect.
With exceptional talent and high cultivation, one can attain a status and wealth that are unimaginable to ordinary people.
Even those with the least talent can choose to go to the mountains and become the leader of a small group of bandits by relying on the power of a Soul Master.
At least these children who have awakened innate soul power can choose to live a different life than before, and as long as they cultivate to a certain level, their families are also destined to be able to break free from their original way of life.
Therefore, awakening one's martial spirit at the age of six is the most important moment for these families living in towns.
Those children who did not awaken their innate soul power usually took over the family shop business or were sent to learn a trade.
Many children also join gangs in the town to become thugs. After all, there aren't that many real jobs in a town, which is why there are always new faces among the thugs in town.
As for the sources of income for these young people who become thugs, they can only collect protection money from surrounding businesses and extort outsiders, and then help their gangs by participating in robberies and consolidating control of a certain area.
These situations are very common in the slums or residential areas of each town. In the areas where nobles and soul masters live, no thugs or gangs dare to approach. In fact, the existence of these gangs and thugs is tacitly approved by them, so the security there is the best.
Those areas were also the most prosperous parts of the town, with all kinds of high-end shops and entertainment venues, and they were brightly lit at night.
The scene before him gave the boy a sense of familiarity, except that the previous one took place in the wasteland and ruins, while this was happening in a small town within the territory of an empire.
After leaving Shrek City, he truly understood why Shrek City was able to hold the title of number one among the cities originally belonging to the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
After leaving there and arriving within the empire's borders, they faced the challenge of how difficult it was for the three great empires to pay the monthly salary and subsidies to Soul Masters.
First of all, not every town has a place to receive this subsidy. Even if you find one, the process of receiving it is very complicated. Often, without connections, they will give you some excuse to make it difficult for you to receive it.
Of course, the other party also has to consider the situation, such as background, academy and sect, etc. A series of issues will allow some soul masters to pass smoothly.
Many Soul Masters from ordinary backgrounds who want to simply receive subsidies have to make some choices, since there is no such thing as a free lunch.
After all, this salary subsidy is not simply a subsidy for Soul Masters, but a way to attract Soul Masters to join the Empire.
Of course, the vast majority of Soul Masters come from relatively good backgrounds, and the number of Soul Masters who truly need this subsidy is only a very small percentage.
This situation wasn't a big deal for Huo Yuhao; he could simply avoid the hassle of collecting it.
The boy didn't stay in any inns along the way because he felt it was unnecessary. He would find a quiet place to sit for a while to rest and meditate, and then get up and continue on his way, while his soul power circulated continuously throughout his body.
However, while he could easily find a spot on the ground to sit down for a while as a rest, he certainly couldn't skip the process of eating.
After clearing out the bandits along the way, he had plenty of gold soul coins; a hundred or so gold soul coins would be enough for the young man to use for a long time.
However, these bandits didn't have anything more useful. Even some of the bandits with first or second ring cultivation levels didn't have soul tools or any rare metal spoils.
So at this moment, he only had the storage soul tool he made himself, but the space was so small that it was full after putting some miscellaneous items in it. As for making a new storage soul tool, he needed materials, and at the same time, he had no such idea.
Regarding food, aside from buying supplies in some towns or hunting in the wild, the boy would, just like in the wasteland, go to a village or farmland, offer to help the farmers with some work, and then share some food with them.
Back in the wasteland, Huo Yuhao understood that if you went to a farmer in the wilderness or on a farm and asked for a paid job, they would most likely not give you one.
After all, farmers in the wasteland, especially those with only a small plot of land, are often unwilling to spend a penny to hire a worker.
Even the farmers in New California and near Mojave were hired by landowners to cultivate the land.
Farmers prefer to do everything themselves, not entirely out of diligence, but because poverty forces them to be frugal.
However, if you offer to help them with chores in exchange for a meal, the chances of success will increase significantly, as this is within their means.
After all, most farmers are honest and simple, and to some extent, when faced with such a request, they will assume that you have encountered some kind of difficulty, which leads you to choose this way to obtain food and survive, and that is acceptable in their eyes.
When the boy crossed from the west coast to the east coast, he obtained his food supplies in this way, and most farmers did not feel hostile towards him.
So, during this journey, the boy continued to fill his stomach in this way, and at the same time, he wanted to see how the vast majority of people living in rural areas on the Douluo Continent lived.
This method works in the wasteland and also in the Douluo Continent. In this process, Huo Yuhao personally experienced the lives of these people who farmed in the fields.
He has done all kinds of farm work, from sowing and transplanting rice seedlings to weeding, fertilizing, harvesting, and transporting. He has also repaired waterwheels and used some herbs he collected along the way to treat sick farmers.
He had met a frail old woman who, after simply offering to help with chores in exchange for food, unhesitatingly broke off half of the mixed grain steamed buns she carried with her and gave them to him.
I've also encountered guys who, after finishing their work, would deny everything, citing reasons such as missing some crops during harvest, insufficient fertilization, or some other excuse.
The boy simply grabbed some dirt from the field, made it into a ball, and threw it at the other person's face, watching as the other person's sun-darkened face was covered in mud.
Even so, he did not use his soul power, nor did he reveal his identity as a soul master.
In their eyes, the boy was just an outsider who had to work to earn food because of certain circumstances.