Yefutidaolu

Chapter 316 A Brilliant Plan

Yang Ling is very smart.

He realized the existence of 'classes', but he divided classes by 'the world in which they live', by the quality of their lives and their social status.

He believed that wealthy families and high-ranking officials were the upper class.

The Hu people, the suffering masses, are the lowest class.

Yes, that's probably correct, if we're talking about the secular world.

However, it overlooked a fundamental principle: the existence of cultivation systems and cultivation realms.

Look at the territory of that divine dynasty, why is it so fertile and blessed with favorable weather? It's not due to the boundless grace of the heavens, but to the Altar of Heaven! It is an unparalleled formation that gathers the power of the divine dynasty's top experts, twisting the earth's veins, regulating spiritual energy, and suppressing the fortune of a region!

Those were the high-level cultivators of the Divine Dynasty, those powerful beings who, with their supreme strength, forcibly altered the laws of heaven and earth to create a 'paradise' for mortals! The price? It was pushing forbidden lands like Blade Plains and the East Sea outside the Divine Dynasty!

Why can powerful clans maintain their high status and wealth for generations? It's not because they are virtuous, but because they possess the most advanced cultivation techniques, the most abundant spiritual resources, and the most powerful inherited treasures!
Why is the Qilin mark essential for survival? Because it is the lowest level of 'cultivation' bestowed by the bloodline of savage beasts to combat desperate situations! It is their only means of survival in this land of distorted laws, 'abandoned' by the powerful of the divine dynasty! Without this mark, they are mere mortals, unable to even step on grass, and have no right to live! Their 'fierceness' and their 'plundering' are also shaped by the cultivation system.

An order constructed from a strict hierarchy of cultivation levels!

Faced with this system of order, the "compatriot" sentiment that Yang Ling spoke of, based on "shared suffering," appeared so fragile and illusory.

Power, and power itself, is the only true language in this world.

Yang Ling's "theory of hierarchy between heaven and earth" is actually quite insightful—he can see the oppressive structure on the material level. But the problem is that in this worldview, the distribution of material resources is entirely determined by cultivation power.

In Yang Ling's eyes, the upper class consisted of aristocratic families who sat regally amidst the magnificent capital of the Divine Dynasty, surrounded by ornate buildings. They were the powerful and wealthy nobles who wore brocade robes and jade belts, indulged in the finest food, and regarded gold and silver as dirt. They were the powerful and wealthy merchants who controlled vast tracts of fertile land, employed thousands of tenants, and could decide life and death with a single word.

Their "world" is a fertile land with favorable weather, a luxurious life with bells and gongs, and a pinnacle of power that overlooks all living beings.

The lower classes were the farmers of the Divine Dynasty, toiling in the fields from dawn till dusk, yet still struggling to find enough to eat. They were the barbarian warriors of the frontier, running on the edge of blades in straw sandals, cutting their hands for a single, blood-stained seed. They were the soldiers and commoners guarding the Liangzhou border, constantly fearing the fall of the barbarian cavalry's blades.

Their "world" is one of poverty and hardship, of blades and blood and tears, of a desperate abyss in which they struggle to survive but see no end.

Yes, that's probably correct.

Yang Ling was so certain of this. His classification was based on the most intuitive living conditions: the environment in which one lives, the resources one enjoys, the suffering one endures, and the power one wields.

The superior people occupy the "good world," while the inferior people are trapped in the "bad world."

This division is clear and straightforward, with a strong moral impact, and it also provides a seemingly solid foothold for his ideal blueprint of "breaking down barriers and helping each other to coexist"—since they are both lower-class "suffering people" and both suffer from upper-class "exploitation", why can't they unite?

He saw the fertile land of the Divine Dynasty and the sharp blades of the frontier, the grand halls of noble families and the thatched huts of farmers, but he regarded these as natural and inherent environmental differences, the "background" of class division.

He saw the suffering of farmers being exploited and the suffering of non-Han people struggling to survive, and believed that shared experiences of suffering could transcend racial and regional barriers, forming the basis for "compatriot" feelings and resistance alliances.

He was confident that with his wisdom, insightful abilities, and the "assistance" of the Qilin tribe, he could shake up the structure of the Divine Dynasty, break the monopoly of aristocratic families, and allow the "lower class" to obtain a better "world".

But Gao Jian knew that this was bound to fail.

The power structure is an objective reality, and in Gao Jian's eyes, Yang Ling's "win-win-win" plan is nothing but a mirage, a castle built on quicksand. The root cause of its collapse lies not in whether there is trust or not, nor in whether one suffers, but in the fact that it ignored from the very beginning the unshakable class order constructed by the supreme power of cultivation.

On what grounds should he allow cultivators to protect the interests of mortals?
Why should the people of the Qilin tribe empathize with the suffering people? Is that even possible?

The cultivators of the Divine Dynasty, regardless of their cultivation level, all represent this class. From the Earth Immortals who sit in the Heavenly Altar and whose words carry the weight of law, to the heads of the two powerful families who have spread their branches and occupy their respective regions, and then to the disciples who are attached to their families and carry out their orders.

Whether they live in ornately decorated buildings or border fortresses, whether they are extravagant or ascetic, as long as they possess the power of cultivation, even if it is just the introduction of qi into their bodies, they naturally belong to the "cultivator" class. Their power is the fundamental guarantee of their privileges, status, and even their way of life.

The exploitation of ordinary people by aristocratic families? That is the way those in high positions rule over those in low positions, and it does not diminish their class nature as "cultivators".

Meanwhile, the warriors of the various tribes beyond the Great Wall, taking the Qilin tribe as an example, possess Qilin markings on their bodies. These are not mere decorations, but rather genuine, extraordinary power bestowed upon them by this savage beast!
This power allows them to walk and run on the Blade Plains, to break apart grass blades that can slice through steel with their bare hands to obtain grass seeds, and to possess physiques and vitality far exceeding those of ordinary people! Although this power originates from their bloodline, is relatively crude, difficult to improve, and comes at a great cost, such as limited reproduction, its essence is still beyond the mortal realm!

Therefore, Qilin Shen, and all adult warriors with Qilin markings, no matter how difficult their lives are, no matter how close or similar their "standard of living" is to that of farmers in the Divine Dynasty, they all belong to the "cultivator" class—even if they are the lowest, most marginal, and most struggling part.

At this time, the raids carried out by the various tribes of the grasslands on the borders of the Divine Dynasty were a struggle for resources among the cultivator class, namely, between the tribes outside the Great Wall and the aristocratic families of the border towns of the Divine Dynasty; it was a tearing apart between "wolves".

There has never been a place for the 'sheep' in this.

And what is a sheep?
They are the common people within the Divine Dynasty who have not been able to cultivate, such as farmers, craftsmen, and peddlers.

They were the cornerstone of the divine dynasty's society, and also the objects of the "cultivator" class's rule and exploitation. They diligently cultivated the land, paid taxes, and provided labor and incense offerings. They might be able to make ends meet, and in good years they could eat meat.

Perhaps they can read and write, and in enlightened places there may even be ways to cultivate and advance in one's spiritual path.

However, their lives, property, and even their living environment are all protected by the Temple of Heaven, and the Temple of Heaven itself depends entirely on the will and power of the practitioners.

The reason mortals are called mortals is that they lack any power beyond the mundane, are unable to resist the will of cultivators, and are truly the "consumables" and the "foundation." It is the aristocratic families that exploit them, and it is primarily them who suffer the devastation and invasion of the borderlands by the barbarians. This is essentially due to the oppression of powerless mortals by powerful cultivators, not the oppression of the poor by the wealthy.

In Gao Jian's view, Yang Ling mistakenly classified the most marginalized and struggling group among the cultivators—the various tribes of the grasslands—into the same class as the true mortals, the suffering people of the divine dynasty, and attempted to unite them.

No matter how hard life is for the warriors of the Qilin tribe, they have the power to change their fate and have the initiative to do so, even if it is through plunder; no matter how good life is for the common people of the Divine Dynasty, they lack power and will always be the ones being dominated.

Cultivational attainment is the hard currency of this world, a passport. The chasm it draws is billions of times more profound than differences in region, wealth, or cultural customs.

A Hu warrior with a Qilin pattern is naturally closer to a cultivator of the Divine Dynasty in terms of class identity and survival logic than to a farmer of the Divine Dynasty who shares his "misfortune," even though he is a mortal enemy of the cultivator of the Divine Dynasty, but not of the old farmer.

Although the root of the suffering of the farmers of the Divine Dynasty and the barbarians beyond the Great Wall both point to the rules set by high-level cultivators, their "solutions" and "resistance against capital" are vastly different.

Farmers need the mercy of monks or the appearance of a savior; barbarian warriors, on the other hand, can use their own strength to seize! Forcibly treating these two fundamentally different groups as "compatriots" and uniting them is like making sheep ally with wolves to fight against lions; the sheep's fate is predictable.

Qilin Shen saw things clearly. He understood that he and the cultivators of the Divine Dynasty families were essentially the same kind of beings, all possessors of extraordinary power, and the struggle between them was a survival game within their own circle.

He would rather die, fighting for a chance for his tribe in a tragic way, than entrust his fate to Yang Ling's fantastical and flawed plan that attempted to blur the power divide and have the "wolves" ally with the "sheep" against another pack of "wolves."

Both the Qilin tribe and the Jin family viewed ordinary mortals as resources to be utilized or as the lower class to be cultivated. The Qilin tribe needed to plunder mortal villages to replenish their resources, while the Jin family needed to exploit mortals to obtain wealth and labor.

The conflict between them is a battle of plunder and counter-plunder among cultivators, a struggle for interests among different forces and under different living conditions within the cultivator class.

The Qilin tribe felt that the Divine Dynasty cultivators occupied a good location, while the Divine Dynasty cultivators felt that the Hu people were fierce and barbaric, but this could not change the fundamental fact that they both belonged to the "power controller" class.

“Yang Ling,” Gao Jian’s voice was not loud, still so calm, but the content within it began to polish Yang Ling’s seemingly firm belief, “Your heart is warm, you have seen injustice, you have seen suffering, that’s good. You want to connect with the suffering and break down barriers, and this initial intention is also understandable.”

"However, they, those Qilin tribes, Qilin Shen, and all the warriors with Qilin patterns on their bodies, no matter how hard their lives are, no matter how much blood-stained grass seeds they eat and how tattered grass clothes they wear, they are essentially the same kind of beings as Jin Dafu, the arrogant and domineering man in the Jin family who treats ordinary people like dogs and horses! They belong to the same social class."

"Why would Qilin Shen rather die than fall into your trap? Because he knows himself better than you do! He is the alpha wolf of the 'wolf pack'! He understands the survival needs of the wolf pack. He knows that if he enters the sheepfold, he will either be wiped out by the even stronger wolf pack, namely the high-level cultivators of the Divine Dynasty who are about to arrive, or he will tear the sheep apart under the drive of hunger and instinct. In the end, he will definitely turn against you."

"So now that things have developed to this point, you've been used by him. The border is now secured, so don't expect the Qilin Tribe to help you. From now on, the battle will extend to the Qilin Tribe, Youming Land, and the Liangzhou aristocratic families."

"If you want to save people from suffering, you must first see clearly who are true 'fellow sufferers,' and who, though seemingly 'shared' suffering, are destined to kill each other?" Forcibly binding the suffering people of the Divine Dynasty with the barbarian tribes beyond the Great Wall, euphemistically calling them 'compatriots,' will only lead to a greater tragedy. Qilin Shen's path is his awakening as a 'wolf.' And we... should leave this pack of wolves and this death trap."

"If you really want to realize your ambitions, you probably need to figure out how to find a way to survive that truly belongs to the ordinary flock of sheep under this iron curtain of class divisions based on absolute power."

After saying these words, Gao Jian fell silent.

Yang Ling did not respond.

At that moment, a strong wind suddenly blew across the Blade Plain, stirring up the fine, gleaming grass clippings on the ground, making them swirl in the air like countless tiny blades. A few sharp blades of grass brushed against the hem of Yang Ling's clothes, making a soft "sizzle" sound and leaving shallow scratches, but he was completely unaware of it.

In the deathly silence after the wind, the strange beast beneath him continued to advance rapidly, and it was precisely this advance that brought forth the 'wind'.

Normally, there is no wind or any 'weather' on the Blade Plain. This land is always so quiet, a deathly quiet.

After a long while, Yang Ling finally spoke, saying to Gao Jian, "Then... in your opinion, Lord Gao, what path should we take next?"

“Of course, I fought against the Jin family and the people from Youming. I will come with them.” Gao Jian continued, speaking as if it were a matter of course. “In the shadows, I will write down everything I can see, including their personnel, techniques, weaknesses, and so on, and pass it on to you.”

"Then, let the Qilin tribe lead the main battle. We must strive to wipe out their high-end combat force in one fell swoop. At the same time, we must ensure that the Qilin tribe has no ability to continue invading the Divine Dynasty after this battle."

“This—” Yang Ling’s expression changed.

He didn't expect that Gao Jian's plan would be even more ruthless than his own.

He lured the wolf into the house, and then the two wolves fought, requiring him to eliminate both of them.

"So... the way to save those 'lower-level people' is to eliminate the high-level cultivators. Lord Gao, are you saying all this to destroy the cultivation system?" Yang Ling's throat was a little dry.

“How could that be?” Gao Jian shook his head: “The cultivation system is very good. Without it, mortals cannot survive. It’s just that the current cultivators are not very good at it.”

“I think the relationship between mortals and cultivators should be like that between an adult and a child, between a newborn and a fetus in the womb, a relationship of mutual inheritance.”

“It is only right for cultivators to protect their own offspring, because without mortals, there would be no cultivators. Almost all cultivators were once mortals, but they feel that they have been ‘reborn’ and have broken free from their past.”

“This won’t do, and I think… if cultivators aren’t suitable, then let’s change.”

Yang Ling's eyes widened in surprise.

What a loud tone.

(End of this chapter)