#817 - Xiluo Imperial Capital

This starfield wasn't very large, possessing only a few planets with life, all revolving around the central star in the same orbit.

The largest of these ancient life-bearing planets was the Xiluo Ancient Star, its size in this starfield dwarfing the other life-bearing planets by several times.

Jun Wuxie and Zhuque overlooked the Xiluo Ancient Star from space. The planet had towering mountains, vast oceans, and lush vegetation. The areas inhabited by humans were relatively small, with significantly fewer cities, towns, and villages compared to the Emperor's Beginning Star.

It seemed that Xiluo's population was far less than that of the Emperor's Beginning Star.

Jun Wuxie was somewhat surprised. Although this planet wasn't as large as the Emperor's Beginning Star, it shouldn't have so few cities. After circling the planet, he estimated that the number of towns was only a fraction of that on the Emperor's Beginning Star.

They landed near a town on the planet.

The people here were somewhat different from those on the Emperor's Beginning Star. Their skin was relatively rough, and their hair was mostly not black, but red, gold, or brown. The color of their pupils was generally blue.

"Looking at them, they seem somewhat similar to the people of the West Forest Kingdom."

Jun Wuxie was taken aback. He even suspected whether the ancestors of the West Forest Kingdom had migrated from the Xiluo Starfield to the Emperor's Beginning Star in the past.

He dispersed his divine sense, invading the sea of consciousness of these people, learning their language, and copying its linguistic memories and characteristics into his mind. Then, he asked for the address of the Xiluo Colosseum in the Xiluo language.

"Oh, handsome young man, you must be a human from beyond the starfield, right?" Many people surrounded Jun Wuxie, curiously sizing him up. A burly uncle with a full beard was very enthusiastic. "Young man, you're asking about the Xiluo Colosseum. Are you here because of its reputation? It seems you've been attracted by the brilliant gladiatorial culture of our Xiluo Ancient Star. This is our pride. Welcome to visit. Young man, every city has a Xiluo Colosseum. If you want to watch gladiatorial combat, go to Roda City, which is the closest to here. It will satisfy all your curiosity."

"Every city has a colosseum?"

Jun Wuxie was stunned. This Xiluo Ancient Star was truly enthusiastic about gladiatorial combat.

"That's right. Every city has a large colosseum, and countless people watch the wonderful and unparalleled gladiatorial combats every day. It's just a pity that the tickets are too expensive. People like us can't watch whenever we want."

The uncle said that he had once gone to the colosseum to watch a fight, spending several years' savings to buy the lowest-priced ticket.

"Young man, you don't know how wonderful gladiatorial combat is! That scene is truly blood-boiling! What we Xiluo people admire most is strength. It's the aesthetic art of violence. When blood and flesh fly together, it can stimulate every cell in your body, making you involuntarily scream and shout."

Hearing this, Jun Wuxie smiled and said, "So, uncle, you greatly admire those gladiators?"

"I wouldn't call it admiration, but I just like the moment they display their strength."

The middle-aged man replied with a smile.

"Then do people here go to become gladiators? Has uncle's family ever thought about becoming gladiators and possessing the strength of gladiators?"

The middle-aged man and the others looked at him with strange expressions and said, "Gladiators need to be trained and selected. You can't become a gladiator without talent. Otherwise, if your strength is insufficient, no one will be willing to spend money to watch. Moreover, the mortality rate of gladiators is very high. Our family members won't have the chance to become gladiators, and we don't want our family members to do this."

"That's right." Jun Wuxie nodded and said, "Those gladiators are also someone else's family members. When their parents see the bloody scene of their children in the colosseum, I wonder what their feelings will be. Will they be excited and scream?"

"This…" The middle-aged man and the people around him showed embarrassment and said, "They're not our relatives. We don't know how they feel at that time…"

"It seems, young man, you are a kind-hearted person," the middle-aged man said.

Jun Wuxie remained noncommittal. Kind-hearted?

He never thought he was kind. His hands were stained with blood. To his enemies, he was more ruthless and cruel than a devil.

"Uncle, everyone, take a look at which colosseum this is?"

Jun Wuxie took out the Starry Sky Rune Communicator and opened several video clips inside.

"This is the most sacred colosseum on our Xiluo Ancient Star. It's in Walamba, the capital of our Xiluo Empire, an endless distance from here. We have never been to such a distant place. We only know that it's to the west from here. Young man, where are you going?"

"Yes, I'm going to Walamba."

"That's the most prosperous city on our planet," the middle-aged man and the others put their hands on their chests, their faces full of longing, even with a bit of pilgrimage-like expression, their eyes devout, bowing to the west, and then said to Jun Wuxie, "People who can enter the Walamba Colosseum are either rich or noble. It is said that the lowest ticket costs tens of thousands of spirit coins."

"Uncle, everyone, live well." Jun Wuxie took out a bag of spirit coins and gave it to them, saying, "These spirit coins are the reward for me taking up your time. A true civilization should not continue this kind of thing that has no practical meaning. The continuous death and bloodshed, what it brings, is not a necessary process to promote the development of civilization. It's not reasonable."

Leaving the spirit coins, Jun Wuxie's figure disappeared.

The group of people hadn't recovered from his words when they discovered that the guest from the starry sky had disappeared.

"Was that young man denying our civilization?"

Some people's faces flushed with anger, while others showed thoughtful expressions.

…

"Aunt You, I roughly know why Xiluo's population is so small."

Jun Wuxie and Zhuque headed west, moving extremely fast. They passed through many towns, and with a sweep of their divine sense, they took in everything that was happening in those towns.

Every town had a gladiatorial training ground. Some people at the bottom, who happened to have some talent, voluntarily signed up for gladiator training in order to earn spirit coins.

He also discovered that there were acts of forcibly grabbing people with good talent to become gladiators. This kind of thing happened quite often, in every town.

The nobles and imperial administrators here divided the levels of people very strictly. The lives of commoners were very unsatisfactory. They had almost no resources to obtain, which led to serious stagnation in the development of the entire society, and the population naturally couldn't increase.

A low population base inevitably led to a decrease in the number of people with amazing talents, which also affected the prosperity of the cultivation civilization of the entire Xiluo Ancient Star.

Jun Wuxie checked the Starry Sky Rune Communicator.

On the entire Xiluo Ancient Star, besides the Xiluo Empire's royal family and the Xiluo Church, there were no other Supreme Ruler-level forces. Moreover, below them, even the most prosperous noble families were far from being comparable, at most only barely reaching the Quasi-Ruler level.

Moreover, this ancient star didn't even have cultivation sects. Besides the church and the royal family, there were only noble families, which meant that unless you were a noble disciple, if you wanted to cultivate, you could only be a rogue cultivator.

All the cultivation forces in Xiluo belonged to the rule of the church. Even the imperial royal family was under the control of the church.

"This Xiluo Church isn't simple. Most of the top powerhouses on the entire planet are gathered in the church. According to the information found on the Starry Sky Rune Network platform, each generation of the Pope of the church is the strongest person in the Xiluo Starfield. When the old Pope retires, the next Pope becomes the strongest person. I just don't know how much weight their title of the strongest person carries…"

Hearing this, Zhuque looked at him with deep golden eyes and said, "How does Young Master plan to rescue Ji Beilan?"

Jun Wuxie thought for a while and said, "The Walamba Colosseum must be heavily guarded, but for me, sneaking in quietly is not difficult. With my attainment of the peak of the ninth realm of Rune Masters, even if there are profound magic arrays and restrictions in the place where Ji Beilan is imprisoned, it will definitely not be able to stump me."

"So, Young Master wants to sneak in quietly to rescue Ji Beilan, and then leave here and go to the Fallen Starfield?"

"Aunt You, you clearly know that I can't just leave like this." The corners of Jun Wuxie's mouth turned up slightly. "I want to replace Ji Beilan. This way, I can ensure his safety, and then let all the powerhouses from various forces who have come to the Xiluo Ancient Star show themselves. They must think that they have set up an inescapable net, waiting for me to appear. If I leave quietly, they will have worked in vain. Wouldn't they be very disappointed?"

"Besides, the Eighth Ancestor of the Starry Sky Ancient Road Headquarters will definitely send people here. I want to wait a little longer, wait for Ji Ba's people to arrive, and also explore the whereabouts of Yin Lan to see if she is in Walamba."

Jun Wuxie thought that the image of Ji Beilan in the Walamba Colosseum had spread throughout the starry sky. Ji Yinlan knew about it and would definitely come to Walamba, but she shouldn't be in a hurry to take action.

Firstly, the Xiluo Church and the royal family are both in Walamba. There are too many powerhouses here, no less than a dragon's pool and a tiger's den. With her alone, it would be difficult to resist. Not only would she not be able to rescue Ji Beilan, but she would also risk putting herself in danger.

Yinlan is a calm and wise woman who will only act after careful planning.

There is another reason. She will definitely think that he will rush to the Xiluo Starfield after learning of this news, so if she doesn't encounter any difficulties and can move freely, she will definitely wait for him in Walamba and contact him.

"Young Master is worried about your confidante."

"She is not only my confidante, but also my imperial concubine. Since leaving the imperial dynasty, there has been no news. Although she has extraordinary strength and may have hidden cards that I don't know about, it is impossible for me not to worry."

"Young Master doesn't need to worry. Yinlan is not an ordinary person. Her roots are very deep, and she has her own means to turn danger into safety. No matter what, her life can be worry-free. It's not that easy for the people in this lower realm to kill her."

Jun Wuxie was stunned and turned to look at Zhuque.

With her words, he felt relieved.

The words of this Heavenly Emperor are naturally very credible, and there is no need for any doubt!

Since she said that Yinlan's life is worry-free, then even if she encounters danger, she will inevitably be able to turn danger into safety in the end.

"It seems that Young Master wants to use those people to make an example again, to establish your prestige and shock the starry sky."

“There are so many petty characters, it's quite annoying. The battle for the Heavenly Position is approaching, and it won't be long before I obtain the Heavenly Position Dao Fruit. Now is the time for me to seek a large amount of resources to quickly break through my realm. They know what I need and are eagerly coming to offer it as tribute. Naturally, I will accept it.”

“Firstly, to accumulate resources for rapid cultivation from my current realm to the peak of the Great Heavenly Position; secondly, to display my strength to the starry sky, not only to deter those who overestimate themselves but also to allow my opponents to better understand my current strength so that they will send stronger people next time. As my realm improves, the quality of the rapid cultivation resources I need will gradually increase. Only by killing stronger people can I maintain a very fast breakthrough speed.”

“Young Master, it's best not to display the full power of the Myriad Dragons God-Slaying Formation for the time being, otherwise, the only trump card left will be the God-Slaying Sword. Young Master only has two chances to summon the God-Slaying Sword, so it must not be wasted. Save it for when you break into the main hall of the Soul Hunting Palace or the Heavenly Purity Sect in the future.”

“Aunt You is right. The power of the Myriad Dragons God-Slaying Formation cannot be fully revealed. At most, I will only display a portion of its killing power and will not expose my strongest strength to my opponents.” Jun Wuxie said, looking into the distance, and continued: “Hualunba has a long history and has always been the capital of the Xiluo Church and the Empire. That area should be filled with very strong spiritual energy, especially deep within the earth. Such power had nothing to do with me before, but now it's different. I am a Primal Inscription Master!”

……

As they spoke, they gradually saw an ancient and magnificent city.

It was located at the end of the earth, surrounded by open plains, and the plains were bordered by mountains with ancient forests.

The city covered an area of thousands of miles, not much smaller than the capital of the Zhuxian Dynasty.

The afterglow of the setting sun draped a layer of golden-red clothing over the ancient city, making it look magnificent and beautiful. Spiritual mist lingered above the city, and auspicious clouds floated, indicating that the cultivation environment of that city was very good.