Chapter 1126: An Extremely Unequal Treaty — You Want Me to Become a Traitor to My Country!

When he heard those words,

the sovereign of Qi State immediately turned red-eyed.

Damn it, Qi State only had so many high-tier God Ascension cultivators left. Last time, a bunch died in Baoji Kingdom’s royal capital, killed by Lu Ding. Nanshan Kingdom lost a batch too; by the looks of it, those were probably killed as well, because they had gone to besiege Lu Ding. And with so many Taoist masters around Lu Ding, it was likely Lu Ding who killed them.

Now another batch was about to die.

And once again it would be Lu Ding who did it!!!

Even if he didn’t do it with his own hands,

what difference did ordering it make?

Three consecutive catastrophic casualties—never mind whether those Taoists would remain in Great Han afterward or whether they would help Great Han—Great Han itself could no longer handle Qi State alone.

In the old days, Great Han could pick a fight with any single country and, with little cost, claim victory. It just couldn’t stand against multiple nations joining forces.

If those God Ascension cultivators died,

then Great Han fighting Qi State would be like a father beating his son—cruel and costless.

And once Qi State fell below the average, then the other countries who weren’t considered Great Han...

Baoji Kingdom was a warning example!!!

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

“Slow!!”

“Elder Shui, this immortal master and Investigator Lu, I behaved childishly earlier. My ministers who acted as foolishly as I did have offended Great Han. I beg Great Han’s forgiveness. We will compensate in full. My Qi State will accept anything, just spare these stupid ministers of mine.”

Now the Qi King was no longer arrogant. He didn’t accuse Lu Ding of insulting him.

Gritting his teeth, he prepared to bleed heavily.

No matter what the cost, he had to save those God Ascension cultivators.

Otherwise they would have to be cultivated all over again from scratch. Who knew how long it would take to make up for those losses? By then, whether Great Qi still existed would be anyone’s guess.

Lu Ding gave a look.

Secretary Qiu stepped forward and took out documents that had long been prepared, handing them to the sovereign of Qi State.

The Qi sovereign opened them.

The first clause glaringly read:

[Qi State voluntarily surrenders to Great Han, is incorporated into Great Han territory, becomes a vassal subordinate state of Great Han, pays annual tribute, sends yearly congratulatory missions, and assumes responsibility for long-standing damages caused to Great Han.]

[Compensation as follows]

[1: Compensate Great Han five hundred trillion. This may be substituted with Great Han-designated mineral resources, rare natural treasures, and other items.]

[2: Cede five provinces and seventeen cities adjacent to Great Han to be Great Han territory.]

[3: Great Han citizens in Qi State shall enjoy visa-free status and immunities. Qi State has no right to impose criminal restriction measures on Great Han’s criminal citizens. Qi State shall provide protection to any Great Han citizen present in Qi State.]

[4: Qi State shall reduce import tariffs for Great Han; Great Han will levy export tariffs on Qi State, increasing them by ten percentage points.]

[5: Designate specified regions—Cangxia City, Shuicheng City, Shanfu Prefecture, and others—as special administration zones to be managed by Great Han. Legal and judicial systems within these zones will be determined by Great Han; Qi State shall not interfere.]

[6: ........]

[23: ......]

[67: .......]

Page after page, as he read, the Qi sovereign’s hands began to tremble.

Who would dare sign such an unequal treaty!!!

This was fucking treason, without even getting any money for it — what was the difference!

Great Han’s ravenous ambition was plain: step by step swallow up Qi State.

The sovereign of Qi State slowly raised his head, eyes bloodshot as he stared at Lu Ding: “You... you... you’re so ruthless!!!!”

“You want me to become a traitor to my country!!!!!!”

Lu Ding stood, took a step forward toward the flashing lights and cameras, and said, “You are free not to sign.”

“I am not forcing you.”

“In fact, I just said you can leave right now. You’re the one who clung here, shameless and brazen.”

“Now I’m still telling you to leave. Will you go or not!?”

As he spoke,

Lu Ding drew his Blood Frost.

Facing the Qi State God Ascension cultivators who were pinned down in layers and kneeling, he swung the blade, aiming for a neck.

Without the slightest hesitation,

one slash.

Hand up, blade down, a head flew.

The reporters, the present sovereigns and sect leaders—each of them felt as if their hearts had been gripped by an invisible palm.

A suffocating sensation slowly crawled up their chests.

They all wondered what exactly was written on the documents the Qi sovereign had received.

Lu Ding didn’t speak.

He only kept raising his blade, cutting, raising, cutting—one execution after another.

Among the terrified God Ascension cultivators, there were always a few with strong spines. Once they realized their fate could not be changed, they chose to die with honor.

“Your Majesty!!! Great Qi will never bow!! We will die a meaningful death!!!!”

“Your Majesty!!!! Resist. We would rather stand and die than live on our knees. Never surrender to Great Han!!!!!”

“Down with barbaric Han!!!”

“Lu Ding, I’m not afraid of you. Come, kill me, come on!!!!”

“Cut off my head, put a bowl-sized scar—Lu Ding, your Great Han can be arrogant for a time; I don’t believe you can be arrogant forever. Great Qi will have successors, and later generations will overturn this world!!!!”

At this moment the Qi King could no longer hold back his tears.

Lu Ding’s expression darkened. His motions sped up, and one by one he dispatched them.

Until he reached the Qi King himself.

The long blade stained with blood.

Lu Ding’s voice rang out: “If you didn’t know, you might think you’ve been grievously wronged, spouting isolated words of defiance here to provoke public outrage!”

“Think at all!!!”

“Who punished Great Han!!!”

“Who restricted Great Han first!!!”

Lu Ding grew angrier as he spoke.

“Our Great Han’s century of struggle—from having not an inch of land to stand on, to now a capital, two cities, three continents, thirty-six provinces, seventy-two jurisdictions, one hundred eight autonomous regions!!!”

“All this was forced out of us by you!!!”

Lu Ding’s voice rose, the long blade pointing at the assembled sovereigns and sect leaders: “How could Great Han have a homeland, even a roof over our heads, let alone rule thousands of miles of territory!!!”

“When we first expanded west, you said the west was no good. When we moved east, you said the east was no good. When north, you said north was no good. When south, you said south was no good. Damn it—south was empty!!”

“If Great Han couldn’t reclaim and develop land ourselves, if we couldn’t farm and sustain ourselves, if we couldn’t even live peaceful lives—then what were we supposed to do!?”

“At that time the whole of Great Han was trapped within this small land of Hanjing, no different than being jailed, watched and provoked day and night, insulted, killed. They wanted to force us back into the Third Circle.”

“Why the uprisings? Why the bloodshed and war!?”

“Because we wanted a home of our own. This world is vast, capable of holding hundreds, even thousands and tens of thousands of state powers—why can it not hold Great Han!?”

Countless flashbulbs and video cameras focused on Lu Ding, amplifying every change in his expression as he stood in the pool of blood.

“If today there are still those who do not want us to stay; if today there are still those who foolishly intend to continue to control and restrict Great Han, then we will fight!!!”