Chapter 315

The results of the lottery were quickly determined.

Centered on the main road leading out of the city, the Su Sheep, Tan Dog, and Zhu Horse tribes were assigned to the west. The Xu Fox and Zhong Donkey tribes were assigned to the east.

Learning that their two tribes were grouped together, the Priests of the Xu Fox and Zhong Donkey tribes didn't look pleased.

But the slips were drawn by their own hands. The locations drawn on them were clear. Them being grouped together had become a fact. Even if they were given more courage, they wouldn't dare go back on their word before the City Lord and Great Priest.

The slips in their hands, made of some unknown material, were actually thinner than beast skin. The several people reverently refolded the slips, preparing to return them to Hu Xiao standing guard nearby.

But Hu Xiao didn't reach out to take them: "These are the contracts for the land you are allotted. They will record your villages' origins, population, and land. In the future, you will need to bring these contracts to the city annually for verification."

That's right. Hu Xiao's so-called slips weren't simple numbered slips but household registers recording text and maps. In the future, as the content of these registers continuously increases), they could slowly be bound into volumes, becoming chronicles recording important information about the village.

Of course, none of the five tribes currently could read, nor did they understand the importance of historical records. But hearing Hu Xiao say this paper would be needed every year, they all held it extremely carefully in their palms.

After this, Hu Xiao explained the city's policies on trade, land taxes, etc., to the five tribes.

The Tan Dog Tribe Leader secretly wiped his sweat. The city's rules were truly too numerous, and most were rules he had never heard of before. Even though he tried hard to remember, he was still completely confused.

Especially the planting and animal husbandry) Hu Xiao emphasized. These two seemed to be their main tasks in the future. But what was planting? What was animal husbandry? He had never heard of them! How were they supposed to do this?

Hu Xiao concluded: "It's okay if you don't understand now. The city will send people to teach you later. In short, remember this: as long as you work hard according to the city's requirements, your future life will be better than you can imagine."

These words made everyone's breathing quicken. They could hardly believe what they were hearing.

Qi Bai gave them a faint smile: "Blackrock City is generous and benevolent. As long as you offer your loyalty and diligence, Blackrock City will protect you. One day, you will become people of Blackrock."

This smile of Qi Bai's was learned from Yang Luo—noble with a trace of warmth, warmth that still retained a hint of divinity. Set off by his white hair and snow-white) Great Priest robes, Qi Bai's already fine features became even more mysterious and persuasive.

Hearing Qi Bai's melodious and pleasant voice, the several Priests and Tribe Leaders grew somewhat excited. Especially the Tribe Leaders of the Su Sheep and Zhu Horse tribes, who had never had a Priest before; they were now moved to tears.

They had a Priest! They had a Great Priest! From now on, they were no longer the barbaric tribes) despised by other tribes!

However, excitement aside, the five tribes knew becoming people of Blackrock would not be easy. The City Lord standing beside the Great Priest, cloaked in a black greatcoat, constantly reminded them that Blackrock possessed not only a gentle Great Priest but also a dignified and imposing) army.

At this moment, Ma Ling reported: "City Lord, Great Priest, we have identified all the young children from the five tribes."

In front of the five tribes' groups/processions), children of varying heights stood in a long row. The Blackrock warriors behind them formed a barrier, separating them from the emotionally unstable other beast men.

Seeing Qi Bai and Lang Ze, the beast men behind the Blackrock warriors grew more agitated.

Several beast men pushed hard against the arms of the warriors before them: "Let me out! Take me instead! Don't harm my child! Don't make my child a slave! She's still too young!"

One beast man, eyes red, seemed ready to transform into his beast form and fight at any moment: "I'll fight you with my life!"

Lang Ze frowned, but Qi Bai gave him a reassuring look.

Qi Bai walked up to the agitated beast man. Perhaps Qi Bai's expression was too calm, or perhaps his bold approach shocked them. In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.

"The city will not harm anyone," Qi Bai's soft) voice reached everyone's ears. "I will find the children chosen by the Beast God from among the young. These children will enter the city to learn the knowledge bestowed upon Blackrock by the Beast God."

Hearing Qi Bai's words clearly, the crowd erupted in an uproar.

Learn... knowledge?

Blackrock City actually wanted to teach them knowledge!

In any tribe, this was something only a Priest's disciples could learn. Their children could actually learn it too!

Seeing their tribespeople causing trouble, the several Priests and Tribe Leaders were so scared their legs went weak. Their tribespeople didn't yet know the Great Priest's promise to them. With them making such a fuss, the several people) truly feared the Blackrock City Lord would take action and wipe out their tribes.

Beast man warriors shouldn't fear death, but dying like this would be far too not worth it).

The not-very-tall Su Sheep Tribe Leader desperately shuffled his legs over and slapped the several beast men who were still maintaining pushing motions.

"Who told you to make trouble! Blackrock has already decided to let us become vassals! They will even teach us how to rebuild our tribes! Do you know what this represents? This is such a great honor! And you actually aren't satisfied!"

These beaten youths didn't understand what "vassals" meant, but a few older beast men in the group did.

That meant they could enter the city, receive the city's protection... that was something only large tribes were qualified to become...

"Re... really?" an old beast man with a wrinkled face asked tremulously.

"What really or not really!" the Su Sheep Tribe Leader said loudly. "Do I look like I'm joking with you now! Hurry up and make the tribespeople quiet down! Offending the Great Priest and City Lord is a consequence we absolutely cannot bear!"

The several old beast men quickly agreed: "Yes! Yes!"

First giving them food to eat, now wanting their children to learn knowledge... Blackrock City's generosity made everyone feel like they were dreaming. They never dared imagine such an existence on the continent, let alone that they would encounter such a city.

Qi Bai was, of course, not a "saint" who only did good deeds.

After the disturbance subsided, Qi Bai walked back to the line of children. The children had also let their guard down now, more so curious about the Blackrock Great Priest.

Qi Bai walked past them one by one. Every few steps, he would stop, place his hand on a child's dirty head, and softly chant, "Beast God's blessing."

After he left, Hu Xiao and Ma Ling following behind him would lead the child forward a few steps.

Qi Bai's selection seemed random, but it actually followed a very specific pattern.

Children younger than ten, with beastmen watching them with eager eyes, were Qi Bai's primary choices.

Actually, these two conditions didn't fundamentally conflict.

For such young children to survive the difficult migration journey was almost impossible without the protection of close relatives.

Qi Bai chose this way for two reasons. First, younger children had stronger abilities to learn and accept new things. These children, after completing their studies at the academy and returning to their villages, could better pass on Blackrock's spirit.

Second, these children entering the city to study would also serve as a bond between the city and the villages.

To put it bluntly, if the five tribes had ulterior motives, these children in the city would be hostages. No matter what the five tribes did, they would have to first weigh whether they could preserve the safety of their own children.

Qi Bai selected a total of ninety-eight children from the five tribes.

This meant that out of a group of nearly two thousand people, there were only over ninety children under the age of ten. And this was after the entire tribe's full-force protection). It was enough to see how severe the casualties were during the beast men's migration.

To prevent the five tribes' beast men from overthinking, Qi Bai said to the several Tribe Leaders and Priests: "Entering the city is only the beginning of cultivation. Among them, only the most outstanding few will receive the complete legacy of the Priest Hall. The others will be sent back to their tribes when the time comes."

Everyone quickly nodded, inevitably feeling a sense of urgency. Their children must strive to be outstanding and absolutely cannot be outperformed by children from other tribes.

The Xu Fox Tribe Leader swallowed hard and said with difficulty: "Great Priest, this is my child, Hu Bin. He is usually very clever and has already learned much knowledge from the tribe's Priest. Great Priest, could you let him enter the city to study too?"

Qi Bai had also noticed this disheveled and wretched) horned beast man child with abrasions. While everyone, even the Xu Fox Tribe Leader, was very emaciated, the bulging flesh on Hu Bin's face was still there. Just based on this, the child's character was evident.

"Is the Xu Fox Tribe Leader denying) me?"

Qi Bai's face wore a smile, but his words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"This one is the Xu Fox Tribe Leader's child, that one is the Zhu Horse Tribe Leader's child—should he also enter the city?" Qi Bai said lightly. "What? Is Blackrock City a place to look after your children for you?"

The Zhu Horse Tribe Leader immediately patted his chest to show loyalty: "Great Priest, rest assured. Our Zhu Horse tribe completely obeys the Great Priest's guidance."

Qi Bai glanced at the Xu Fox Tribe Leader. He retreated repeatedly, not daring to say another word.

The varied expressions of the five tribes' beastmen gave Qi Bai a sense of familiarity. Their hope for their children to enter the city greatly resembled modern parents hoping their children get into a good school.

Qi Bai could understand their feelings, but the opening for privilege absolutely could not be allowed. Since it was currently impossible for all beast men of the five tribes to enter the city to study, fairness had to be maintained.

Strict rules established from the beginning would become unbreakable habits.

The belongings of the five tribes' beast men were all here. Goodbyes didn't require much preparation. All the children could only briefly say a few words to their families before promptly forming a long line and entering the city under Zhu Ju's leadership.

They would be the first boarding students of the Blackrock Academy, only able to return to their villages once every two months.

The remaining people wouldn't linger outside the city walls for long either. They were soon to head to their allotted lands under the guidance of five construction teams from the Works Department.

However, before everyone left, Hu Huo sought out alone Lang Ze and Qi Bai.

"What's wrong?"

With no one else around, Qi Bai spoke to Hu Huo very casually. This was the first time he had seen Hu Huo so agitated.

"I know the city doesn't easily accept outsiders now," Hu Huo spoke quickly, "but these tribes won't treat slaves well. What will happen to those slaves?"

Qi Bai and Lang Ze were stunned.

People with slave marks were almost invisible in the five tribes' groups. The two had nearly forgotten about this matter.

Actually, even if they forgot, it wouldn't matter. The five Works Department teams would remain with the five tribes. They would eventually discover the existence of slaves, and then they could declare Blackrock's rules to them.

But since Hu Huo brought it up, and the five tribes' beast men happened to be here, resolving this issue wasn't difficult.

Lang Ze said: "Go and find all the slaves from the five tribes."

Knowing Lang Ze would intervene, Hu Huo was very happy and immediately turned to handle it.

Qi Bai leaned in: "How do you plan to settle) those slaves?"

Lang Ze said: "Let them stay at the City Lord's Manor first. We'll observe their performance later."

Qi Bai nodded. This method was quite good.

The five tribes were, after all, different from Blackrock City. The tribespeople of the five tribes wouldn't be dispersed. Leaving slaves in the villages built by the five tribes, even if the slaves gained the city's recognition, couldn't guarantee other beast men wouldn't bully them.

Temporarily keeping them at the City Lord's Manor, waiting until these people met the latest naturalization regulations set by Yang Luo and the others before joining the city, was a good choice.

Anyway, under the watchful eyes of the two of them, there was nothing to worry about.

Among the five tribes, only the Xu Fox, Tan Dog, and Zhu Horse tribes had slaves. Altogether, there were only twenty people.

Hu Huo faced everyone, though he was actually looking at Sou Yu: "Blackrock used food to purchase you from other beast men. Remember the quantity of these supplies well. You must repay them to the Tribe Leader and Great Priest in the future."

Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts sank.

They were slaves. Being bought and sold was normal. But the Blackrock City Lord and Great Priest actually wanted them to pay for their own purchase price.

Hu Huo shook his head, offering no further explanation.

Only they could save themselves. Sooner or later, these people would understand the City Lord and Great Priest's intention.