Chapter 502: Dangling Carrots

The first thing Ren Baqian did after returning to Dayao was put up a reward notice.

“Su Qing, male, identity unclear, was in high spirits after drinking wine in the suburbs. He had sex with a cow and fled in panic after he was discovered. This guy is wretched, immoral, and guilty of the most heinous crimes. Anyone with information that leads to his arrest will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver.”

The attached picture of Su Qing didn’t really look like him, but it was good enough to use.

Ren Baqian gave the notice to Zuo Leng, who was the nephew of Zuo Cheng from the Lingshan Sect.

Although he didn’t give them that many tasks to do these days, Ren Baqian felt that this guy was rather smart and did his work properly.

“Get someone to make a few copies and paste them on the city gates of each city,” Ren Baqian said.

“Yes!” Zuo Cheng gave it a sweeping look and left without any questions.

He knew of Su Qing’s identity, but he didn’t know of the collusion between Ren Baqian and Su Ching. It was normal for Ren Baqian to issue arrest warrants for the capture of envoys from Great Xia.

Still, this accusation… was really chilling. If he was accused of such crimes, he would rather die.

Half a day later, the important places inside Jiangbei City were the first to put up the arrest warrants.

This was followed by Wu City. Next, this fanciful arrest warrant was quickly posted to the surrounding cities.

The notice attracted many onlookers once it was posted in many cities.

After all, these cities were in the hands of the aboriginals, and although there were people who appeased them, they were still anxious. No one knew what would happen in the future.

Therefore, once the notice was posted, it was immediately surrounded by people who wanted to know what was written on it.

“What’s written on it?”

“I don’t know! There’s a face on it. It looks like a wanted order!”

No matter where in this world, the majority were illiterate.

“Cough, cough!” A middle-aged man wearing a mended robe, but who was cleaner than most, walked in coughing, and the crowd opened a path for him.

There was no imperial examination in Tianjing Basin. Since they had no chance of promotion, the scholars weren’t respected. Many people even frowned at them for studying at home.

However, during such a situation, it was time for them to show their talent.

Many people behind him asked, “Mister Jing, what’s written there?”

Mister Jing was feeling very satisfied. Every time such an event occurred, it would be his most glorious moment.

After seeing the contents, his mouth twitched as he burst into a rage and exclaimed, “Unbelievably, there’s such a person! A heinous criminal! This type of people deserves to die!”

“What are they talking about?” Everybody was getting curious.

“Well… well… deserve to die…” Mister Jing scolded again before he read the contents of the notice out loud. The surroundings quickly became noisy.

“How can that be? Was there really such an incident?”

“I have heard of it before. It happened in Jiaozi Village to a young man… he was discovered by others…”

“What happened later on?” someone asked curiously.

“He disappeared later… I’m not sure where he is now.”

With this start, the people became more enthusiastic. Everyone forgot about the aboriginals and what would happen in the future. Instead, they discussed this matter animatedly.

…

Two days after Ren Baqian handed over the notice to Zuo Leng, he convened a meeting among the different sects.

“Everybody, what’s the outcome of your decision?” Ren Baqian sat at the head of the table and leisurely looked at everyone while sipping on ice-cold cola.

Someone immediately stood up and said, “Sir Ren, I’m willing to join!”

“I’m willing too.”

“I’m willing to render service to Dayao.”

Ren Baqian let his eyes linger on the person who said he would render his service to Dayao. This person was sort of smart, but only superficially.

However, it wasn’t possible for everyone in the world to be smart.

If everyone was like an old monster, he wouldn’t be able to make a living anymore.

Ren Baqian counted about 40 Earth Wheel experts that were willing to join. Without counting the people from the hidden village, more than half of the remaining 63 Earth Wheel experts had joined in with every sect contributing some members.

However, Ren Baqian noted a problem, which was that most of the sects had one member that didn’t join.

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After some reflection, Ren Baqian was able to understand. They didn’t want their sect to be a vassal of the court, so they left one person behind to ensure that someone was around to shoulder the sect.

The Lingshan Sect also acted this way.

As for the Golden Ring Residence, the remaining four Spirit Wheel experts aside from Painting Fairy had unexpectedly spoken out. Even Zhang Changkong was with them, and it looked like the Golden Ring Residence had made up their mind.

As for the Earth Wheel experts from the other sects who had lost their elders, they naturally wouldn’t let this opportunity slip.

Ren Baqian rested his gaze on Qingyun Sword and Zuo Cheng, but they closed their eyes and kept quiet.

“That will be all. Those who have joined can stay. The rest can leave,” Ren Baqian said calmly.

A moment later, half of the courtyard was empty and only the 60 plus people were left.

Ren Baqian put his cola on the table and said with a booming voice, “Congratulations, you have made a wise choice!”

“You guys are the first batch, which is the easiest way to join and also the one with the most opportunities.

In the future, you will all serve the court and Her Majesty. Therefore, no matter what happens, as long as you obey the laws and regulations of the Rearguard Commandery and Dayao, you will have the backing of the court and Her Majesty. Furthermore, you will also have me to support you.

I don’t know what you want. It may be money, power, women, or treasures…” Ren Baqian looked around and then said forcefully, “But it can be done as long as you do what you are supposed to do!

I don’t want to say anything else. If you need any medicinal herbs, as long as you can find it in the Sixty Thousand Mountains, you will have a chance to get it. In a few more years, you will be able to bid your current self goodbye.

We will implement two types of distribution, one of which is salary based and easy to understand. At the same time, each person is allowed to buy a certain amount of medicinal herbs.”

What Ren Baqian had mentioned was what everyone wanted to hear. Power and women were of limited significance to most Earth Wheel experts, but the allocation to purchase medicinal herbs was what they needed most.

“Sir Ren, what is the amount allocated for buying medicine?”

“You can request for what you need, and the allocation will be based on the function, rarity, and price of the specific medicinal herb. At the same time, I have an important announcement to make. I mentioned two distribution methods just now. The second one is the most important and is based on a point system. Whatever tasks you complete will earn you points. The more dangerous the task, the more points you will get for completing it. These points can be exchanged for things that money can’t buy. For example, Heaven-grade weapons! I believe that everybody wants them, right?” Ren Baqian smiled at the crowd.

Everyone was instantly stirred up.

“For example, secret martial arts manuals! It doesn’t matter whether they are handed down from the Hao Nation, Great Xia, the Yun Nation, or even the various sects.” When Ren Baqian said this, everyone changed their expressions. Some were ecstatic, but some were gloomy.

“Sir, you definitely can’t do this!” someone immediately objected and didn’t care whether Ren Baqian would be offended.

These martial arts manuals were the basis of a sect. How could they be circulated?

Ren Baqian had already anticipated this reaction and prepared countermeasures.

“Don’t worry! Each sect can give me the names of three core manuals. These will be kept in the imperial library and will not to be included in the list of items that can be redeemed for points. The skills that are exchanged for points aren’t transferable. Otherwise, whoever shares or learns from them will be punished.”

Those people relaxed after Ren Baqian said these words.

“In addition to Heaven-grade weapons, secret manuals, and treasures, there are also some rare items that will be on the redemption list. For example, kirin blood! Real dragon blood!” Ren Baqian remembered there was a husky in the palace pool and that the Seventh Prince of Great Xia traded real dragon blood for its essence and blood. Although it was of no use to him, it was very useful to some people.

Moreover, this was just an example.

If someone really needed its blood, he would just release some blood for them. After all, it was big in size and occasionally taking blood from it would benefit its health as well.

“Sir Ren, is this for real?” After hearing this, many people could no longer sit anymore and stood up.

Regardless of whether there were Heaven-grade weapons or secret manuals, they had a chance of obtaining them if they put in more effort. However, for some treasures, there was no other way to obtain them.

Many people were willing to go all out just to obtain the two things mentioned by Ren Baqian.

“Of course!” Ren Baqian started to laugh.

Then, he continued, “There are seven drops of real dragon essence blood in the palace. These drops came from the bone of an ancient dragon corpse and not from the little worm in Great Xia. Aside from these, there are also Cloud Crystals! Other exotic treasures will also be added to the list gradually.”

The remaining seated people could no longer sit down. If real dragon blood and kirin blood were said to be desired by a portion of the people, then there was nobody who didn’t want Cloud Crystals.

This precious mineral had been obtained from the stomach of that flower hawk when he was returning from the iron ore mine. When a tiny amount was added to any weapon during forging, it could infuse the weapon with spiritual power, and everyone was said to be dreaming of obtaining it.

The most important issue was that it played a huge role when a Spirit Wheel expert formed their Heaven-grade weapon.

Even if the Cloud Crystals couldn’t motivate them, as mentioned by Ren Baqian, there were still other exotic treasures that would be added to the list gradually. There would always be one thing that someone was willing to die for.

After Ren Baqian explained this redemption system for the points, nobody could sit still because everyone was excited.

Ren Baqian was very satisfied with the response from the people.

The rewards offered by him were tempting enough for them to die for.

As for the points required to exchange… Well, it was better not to expect too much. Although it wasn’t beyond reach, even a Spirit Wheel expert would have difficulty obtaining enough. If only ordinary tasks were performed, it would be impossible to get the required points in their lifetime.

It would only be possible if a person accomplished many extremely difficult tasks.

If someone could really achieve this, then that person should be worthy of the exotic treasures that were used to lure him or her over.

Now that the carrots were dangling, the next step was for these people to work themselves to the bone!