Chapter 365: A New Country
Yuliya soared through the sky like a b*llet with a mission.
After leaving the Jade Emperor Kingdom, she glanced at her map, picked a direction, and quite literally zipped off.
With her knack for the subtle nuances of space, she had a rough idea of where the entrances to different realms were located.
Zooming past several smaller realms, most dominated by monsters, with the occasional human kingdom popping up like a bad pop-up ad.
When she stumbled upon a human kingdom, Yuliya just took a peep from afar, and if she didn’t smell any divine presence, she’d carry on without disturbing the peace (or chaos, depending on your perspective).
Finally entering a larger realm that seemed to be just a tad smaller than the Jade Emperor Kingdom, Yuliya decided to make a pit stop.
This area still fell under Sister Tong’s coverage, but since she was miles away from the Jade Emperor Kingdom, it was a “no player zone.”
Stepping into the Stable Major Country devoid of players made Yuliya feel all kinds of intrigued.
Without players, all matters had to be handled by the locals. How would that chaos play out?
Such a big and apparently stable nation must be facing calamity threats—all while managing their way through it. Intriguing!
Yuliya took the normal route, passing through the border checkpoint.
The soldier on duty stopped her for questioning: “New here? Don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
The soldier eyed the person in front of him—about 1.5 meters tall, entirely wrapped in a black robe, and sporting a black mask—and lifted his guard a notch.
1.5 meters? Yeah, she totally had some secret height-boosting tricks going on. Wrapped up like that, who would notice? Plus, she had the space fixed, so accidental exposure was off the table.
Yuliya lowered her voice a notch: “Uh, yeah, I’m an adventurer, just passing through from the east, exploring the realms.”
A perfectly normal excuse. Edward used to say the same whenever he ventured out.
Plenty of folks did that in this world.
Upon hearing a girl’s voice that sounded a bit too young, the soldier eased up a bit.
“Entry fee is one silver coin.”
Yuliya reached into her robe and, with an impressive display of glove-dexterity, produced two coins and handed them over.
The soldier’s eyes lit up, and he took the coins like they were rare gems.
“Welcome then! Just a heads up—be careful, young lady, the outside isn’t too peaceful lately.”
“What’s been going on?”
“The Offering Ceremony is coming up, so we’ll have to clear out a bunch of monsters around here. Anyway, you can head in. If you need anything, hit up the Adventures Guild straight ahead. I’ve got my duties, so… Next!”
Yuliya nodded and strolled into the border town.
Inside, it bore some resemblance to the northern fortress of the Jade Emperor Kingdom, just with way less weaponry. Maybe their monster woes weren’t that bad.
Yuliya made a beeline for the Adventures Guild.
The guild wasn’t very crowded—just a few groups chatting over drinks.
She approached the front desk.
Behind the counter was a woman with some wrinkles.
“New face?”
“Yup, first time here. I’d like to gather some information.”
“Oh ho, a rather young little sister, aren’t you?”
Yuliya pursed her lips: “Do I sound that young?”
“Hmm, I’d guess no older than fourteen.”
Guess what? Try over fourteen thousand!
“Alright, I mean, I see a lot of faces around here. You clearly try to maintain a serious voice, but it doesn’t match your vibe.”
Yuliya nodded in agreement.
Got it! From now on, I’ll have the mighty Yuliya do the talking. Who’s calling me young after that?
“Receptionist Sister, I’d like to know about this ‘Offering Ceremony.’”
“Well… it’s not exactly a good thing.” The receptionist hesitated. “Can’t say it’s all bad, but it’s definitely a bit unsettling. Yet, it’s a ritual we have to perform.”
Yuliya frowned, pondering, then tentatively asked, “Is it related to calamity?”
“Oh? You know about calamity? Must be from some major country. But yeah, only those powerful nations have adventurers wandering about. Other folks are too busy trying to survive.”
Calamity—the divine punishment and greatest challenge inflicted on the human race. Yuliya was well aware of it.
But a question popped up in her mind: If those divine beings were so powerful, why bother with this tedious ritual? Couldn’t they just wipe out the humans directly?
It had been ages since the last invasion, and if they truly wanted to annihilate the humans, they could’ve swept through realms long ago!
But instead, it felt like they were trying to maintain some kind of balance or something.
“So, what exactly is this Offering Ceremony?”
“bl**d sacrifice.”
“bl**d? What kind of bl**d?”
The receptionist let out a wry laugh: “Monster bl**d, and human bl**d.”
“What the heck! You have to ask about everything? It’s just a bother!” Suddenly, a guy exploded with rage. “Every time someone shows up, it’s the same questions! Fura, can’t you just ignore her?”
“Shut up! Go drink your booze! Whether I engage or not, what’s it to you!”
“Pfft! Talk about bad luck!”
The man scoffed, storming out of the Adventures Guild.
A few others exchanged glances and followed suit.
Yuliya fell into silence for a moment and then mumbled with her head slightly down, “Sorry, seems like I asked too many questions.”
“Nah, it happens all the time.” Fura chuckled. “This is the border, after all. We get newcomers all the time; outsiders, too. With the Offering Ceremony coming up, it’s a topic we can’t avoid.”
No wonder there weren’t many folks in the guild; I guess the locals didn’t want to stick around and hear about morbid stuff.
Thinking for a moment, Yuliya mustered the courage to ask one last question.
“Where does the human bl**d come from?”
“A small part is from d*ath row inmates, but that’s not nearly enough. We actively raid monster territories, and while we’re at it, we end up… generating quite a bit of human bl**d too. If that’s not enough, we obviously have to engage in pointless wars again.”
“…”
Yuliya fell silent for a while and nodded at Fura. “Thank you.”
With that, she turned and left.
“You!” Fura suddenly called out, “You should get out of here quickly. When the Offering Ceremony starts, they’ll gather many people to hunt monsters, and who knows how many will make it back alive.”
“Right, got it. Thanks.”
Yuliya walked out without looking back.
Once outside the Adventures Guild, Yuliya casually browsed shops, using the opportunity to gather intel.
Turns out, this realm actually had three major nations that got along famously—saying they were like one big happy family wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
But the only exception was during the Offering Ceremony, which happened every four years and might escalate into a war.
And we’re talking about a real-life, bl**d-and-guts affair. It was either your bl**d or theirs, folks!
That was their way of dealing with calamity.
When faced with calamity, you either fight with everything you’ve got or just try to drag things out.
Strangely enough, their methods resembled those of the Ashen Realm she had visited before but seemed a lot more organized.
Fighting back might only lead to shattering like delicate pottery, while the art of survival might yield better results in the long run.
