Traveling the Continent with Qian Renxue and Shui Yueer, Xiao Ze was not so bored.
Xiao Ze brought Qian Renxue and Shui Yueer to a village near the Extreme North Land.
Because it was close to the north, it was exceptionally cold, with temperatures dropping to minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius at their lowest, making cultivation here very difficult.
However, as the three entered the village, they could see a large expanse of golden farmland not far away, which was beautiful.
"I remember this place shouldn't have been able to grow crops at this time of year," Shui Yueer said, as she often went to the Extreme North Land and was very familiar with it.
Qian Renxue's fingertips brushed over the plump wheat ears. "Xiao Ze, you truly have immeasurable merit."
Xiao Ze smiled and replied, "I'm not as great as you think; I just want merit and faith."
Qian Renxue shook her head, "That's not it. A gentleman judges by action, not by intention. While your goal might not have been solely for their benefit, your actions have significantly improved their lives. In their hearts, you are the best.
The hearts of these common people are very simple."
"I didn't expect you to have such a view. You didn't become Crown Prince for nothing," Xiao Ze was slightly surprised.
"Nonsense, how many years have I been the Crown Prince? I handle many things; Xue Ye is just a sickly person."
"Three of you, what brings you here?" After a while, an old man slowly walked over.
Xiao Ze looked at him and asked, "Elder, it seems this place of yours couldn't grow anything before, could it?"
Upon hearing this, the elder's eyes reddened slightly. "More than that, not only could we not grow much, but Spirit Beasts from the Extreme North Land would sometimes rush out. Over the past century, our village has suffered countless casualties."
"Then why don't you leave?" Shui Yueer asked.
"Girl, looking at you, you must be from wealthy families. We are just ordinary people. Even if we could leave, where would we go?
We have no money; it's impossible to buy a house in a big city, so we can't settle down. Rather than such a nomadic life, it's better to eke out an existence here, at least we have a place to live."
Shui Yueer fell silent upon hearing this.
After all, she came from a prominent family; Tianshui Academy belonged to her family, so she didn't really understand.
"Are things better now?" Qian Renxue asked.
The elder nodded heavily. "Things are much better! The current Holy Son has provided us with cold-resistant, high-yield seeds for free. With these, even if we don't sell them, at least we won't starve.
Coupled with the spirit soul tower in the Extreme North Land, no Spirit Beasts from the Extreme North Land will come out to harm us anymore.
Although we might not have earned much more money, at least we can survive, and many people who left our village have even returned."
Xiao Ze felt a little heavy-hearted upon hearing this.
The simple common people just wanted to survive.
"Elder, live well. You will see the Spirit Empire become even better.
The Spirit Empire's reforms are underway. In the future, perhaps this place of yours will become a big city."
The elder laughed heartily, "Thank you for your auspicious words. I will definitely live longer."
The three left the village, their expressions very complex.
"I finally understand why Brother Xiao Ze has so much merit and faith. It would be problematic if he didn't.
Brother Xiao Ze's crops and spirit soul tower have saved the lives of tens of thousands of common people."
Qian Renxue sighed, "Yes, in an era of such power and authority, those at the top don't treat them as human beings. Inside the cities, there are dazzling lights and festivities, while outside the cities, corpses litter the fields."
"They are actually very simple," Xiao Ze paused, then continued, "Human needs actually increase step by step.
Physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs."
"The most basic are physiological needs. Only by giving them the most fundamental right to survive will they have hope."
"Brother Xiao Ze even knows such things; he's so amazing!" Shui Yueer looked at Xiao Ze with adoration.
Xiao Ze smiled wryly, "How could I have such thoughts? I heard them from others."
"Then Brother Xiao Ze is amazing too."
Xiao Ze ruffled the hair of his little fangirl.
Qian Renxue stretched, "Let's go, we'll continue. This village is just the tip of the iceberg.
Only by traversing the Continent can we leave the Spirit Empire with excellent reforms and policies that can last for at least a hundred years."
"Yes, our Spirit Empire has just been established, so reforms are simpler now.
We can't control the common people hundreds of years from now, but for now, we need to do our best to make their lives better."
In a blink of an eye, four months passed.
During these four months, Xiao Ze and the other two had already traversed most of the former Heaven Dou Empire.
Along the way, the three had met all sorts of people.
They encountered people who were simple, sly, incredibly lazy, and so on.
They even dealt with many low-level officials of the Spirit Empire.
The Spirit Empire had only been founded for less than five years, and there were already such low-level officials harming the common people.
When the emperor is far away, the mountains are high, that's how it is.
This is a very difficult thing to change.
"I'm tired. Shall we return to Spirit City?" Qian Renxue said.
"Alright, this time we can tell your mother most of the reform matters, so that Bibi Dong can carry out reforms when we go south."
"Okay."
...Meanwhile, on the other side.
On the blue sea, a solitary peak stood.
This was a volcano, with steam columns constantly erupting from its mountainside, and dark red magma churning in the crater at its summit.
"What a magical place, a volcano on the sea surface. I've never seen such a place." Huo Wu knew that the stranger the place, the more likely it was to hold a Divinity's legacy.
So Huo Wu inquired all the way to a small island at the far right of the former Star Luo Empire.
She didn't expect there to be a volcano less than a kilometer from the island. It seemed this volcano had been erupting continuously, never stopping.
No wonder such a large island was uninhabited.
It was simply uninhabitable. Even if the volcano's eruptions didn't reach here, the smoke, dust, and temperature alone made it impossible for ordinary people to live there.
Huo Wu pursed her red lips, extremely excited, and clenched her fists, "Divinity's legacy, here I come!"
Huo Wu leaped up and flew towards the volcano.
The closer she got to the volcano, the faster Huo Wu felt the temperature rise.
Upon reaching about a hundred meters, Huo Wu frowned and enveloped herself in spirit power.
"Something's wrong here; the temperature is too high."
Huo Wu had seen volcanic eruptions before, and they never had such high temperatures.
This temperature was at least double that of a typical volcanic eruption.
In just that short time, Huo Wu's entire body was intensely hot, and even her sweat instantly evaporated.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +15 Extra Chapters on - P@tr3on "RinBlaze"]
[Every 15 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]