Chapter 60
A lone figure slowly emerges from within the tunnel, and many eyes suddenly caught that tall frame which suddenly appears from within the shadows. Shin Jiao frowns upon seeing all the people he had saved still standing just outside the tunnel he made as if they are waiting for him to come out.
"Why are these people waiting for me here? Can't they just go and escape by themselves?" Shin Jiao thought, but then he realized that this is still inside the Daemon forest.
The people around him are mortal, and if they cross this forest, then it's a sure way for them to die.
Shin Jiao began to observed them and noticed that the number of women in the group is around 18 and three of them are elderly the rest are either young or mothers. The children are numbering up to 6, and there are 5 old men.
Seeing the different faces with a happy expression in front of him, Shin Jiao's heart was moved. Then an idea suddenly pops out of his mind. It's like an awakening call for him, and the idea was so vivid that Shin Jiao can already clearly picture it in his mind.
"In this land, mortals are being regarded as lowly beings, didn't they realized that without these mortals, cultivators are bound to be extinct. If I'm not wrong the birth rate of cultivators is too low that 70% of cultivators come from a normal mortal family. I think the rulers of these lands have some few screws loose on their heads." Shin Jiao sneered as he realized something.
He knows that he's not the only person who grasped this, but because it's already the norms in this land this opinion is hard to realize.
"Power is the ruling law in this land. Since mortals don't have that power, then they are in the bottom rung of the ladder. I think it's time to change things, let's starts with this little group of mine. Hehe…" Shin Jiao thought then a creepy smile crept on his face.
While he is in deep thought he didn't notice that a very thin young woman is looking at him with her big glowing eyes. She covers her head with a hood and the dirty ragged cloth which is barely covering her body is stained with some blood. She is scrutinizing Shin Jiao's appearance and every now and then a smile would appear on her dried thin lips.
After a while, Shin Jiao already finished a plan in his mind on how to help these people and start his very own idea. So he looks at them and as if contented with what he sees, he smiled.
"Listen, everyone! If any of you has a family in the town of Dis or someone to return to, please raise your hands…" Shin Jiao suddenly asked.
Although a little confused the people in front of him just looked at each other with no one raising their hands. This means that these people have nowhere to go to. If they arrived in town they will only be working as lowly mortal servants to some cultivator families.
"Alright since none of you have anywhere to go, I will offer you work. Now, this is unlike your previous jobs as a servant. Each person who works for me will be paid with a monthly wage of 2 silver stones, with 2 days rest per week, and free meal as of now. Now, these are my conditions. So... who is willing?" Shin Jiao offered, though he is sure that 2 silver stones are enough because according to Susu Ling, a silver stone is already sufficient for a mortal family to live comfortably for a month.
Everyone was dumbfounded, as no one was able to say anything for a long time. Then all of a sudden an old man fell on the ground and started to kowtow.
"Senior, this lowly one is willing to be your servant!" the old man said.
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
The rest of them suddenly fell on the ground and bowed.
"If you continue on kowtowing towards me, I will not accept you." Shin Jiao suddenly said with an annoyed voice as he felt a little awkward when these people started to praise him.
Upon hearing this everyone stopped and immediately stood up. In their faces, confusion and nervousness are clearly visible. As this is the first time they have experienced someone as powerful as Shin Jiao to treat them very well.
"All right enough of that. We will travel back to town, but we will not enter it. I have a plan, and because you decided to follow me, I promise that I won't treat you badly." Shin Jiao said as he walks towards a large tree.
While everyone is still confused, Shin Jiao chopped the tree using a black sword which suddenly appears out of nowhere, and then he started to manipulate the natural energies in his hands. Shin Jiao started to craft 2 carriages without wheels; this made the people looking at the wooden carriage confused.
"Mama, why are those carriages have no wheels? How can they run?" A small girl asked her mother in confusion as she tugs on her mother's ragged clothes.
"Shhh… Don't say that little Chin-chin, everything has a purpose. Senior has his own ways, you'll see." Her mother answered with an intelligent look in her eyes.
Upon hearing this Shin Jiao had a favorable impression of the mother in his mind. In this situation, most mothers would immediately scold their kids. Shin Jiao can't help but remember his own grandfather who raised him as a child. His grandfather is a very wise old man, who always has those wise words for him when he is in trouble. Because of this Shin Jiao scanned the mother with his spiritual sense and was dumbfounded.
"How can she be a mother? Although she dressed like one, yet her skin and body structure is that of a 20-year-old woman. And the little girl named Chin-chin is already a 7-year-old child. Don't tell me she got pregnant when she's still 12?" Shin Jiao asked himself as his curiosity was peaked.
It didn't take too long, after just an hour, Shin Jiao finished crafting the carriages, and then he links them together. Under these carriages are five disk-shaped hover pads, which Shin Jiao also crafted and installed under the carriages. This way their traveling time would be shortened.
"Alright, now everyone! Get inside the carriages! The sooner we leave the better." Shin Jiao gestured to the group.
They traverse the forest for 3 days at a fast speed, where Shin Jiao would occasionally kill some beast which would pose a threat to their group. Then, not long later on the third day they safely arrived in the borders of the town of Dis.
"So, this is the town of Dis, it looks closer to a fortress than a town." Shin Jiao said while standing on top of the tallest tree while looking at the far distance tall walls of the town.
"We will build our base in this place." Shin Jiao said after he jumped back down and standing at front of a mountainside, this location where they stopped is around 30 kilometers away from the nearest town.
The people inside the carriages are looking at the forest area and the mountainside. But they feel fear as the sounds of beast howling can be heard everywhere.
Shin Jiao didn't mind their reaction as he immediately gets to work. He knows that he will be doing a lot of hard labor while laying down the foundation of his own base. Shin Jiao started digging down a 30x20 feet hole, and while he digs he converts the stones making the wall solid and tough. Then he began to make a 1,000 square feet base underground, dividing it by rooms with different purposes. The function of the rooms ranges from simple housing to laboratories, clinics, training rooms, and crafting room. Shin Jiao didn't notice that it already took him the whole day just to finish the basic layout of the whole underground base.
When he flew up he immediately noticed that everything is already dark. He didn't notice this as down below he already put up the light bulbs he had created and a functioning small power core.
The people inside the carriage right now are all shivering in fear. Although Shin Jiao told them that there is a concealment array in the carriages, but without him, they don't feel secure. When Shin Jiao appears everyone heaves a sigh of relief.
"All right everyone, we will now be entering the base. From now on this will be your home." Shin Jiao said as he escorted the two carriages inside the base.
When the people saw the structure underground and the lighting, they were all amazed. They didn't expect that in just one day their master is able to build this huge mansion. Although it's just the basic structure, still everyone is already happy as they know in this place they will be safe and free.
From then on Shin Jiao spend almost two months doing a lot of things. The first thing he did was to finish the structure of his base and constructed 2 working lifts which would take people from top to the bottom and vice versa. They also started to create farmland above the base, where Shin Jiao surrounded it by concealment and defensive arrays and runes.
Shin Jiao divided everyone according to their skills, but most of the old people prefer to take care of and teach the children. Shin Jiao divided the rest of the women to different tasks and duties. But 5 of them with great aptitude he chooses to train to be fighters.
In his plan, he would create a small scale factory, where they would start to make different things. And thanks to his good old laptop which is loaded with DIY videos he downloaded while on earth. He is able to get a good idea on how to craft many different things like air vents, complex hot and cold water system and filtering, air conditioner, detergent, soap, shampoo, perfume, toothpaste, and a lot more.
After some time, Shin Jiao is able to witness the fruit of his labor as he can see everyone busy doing their jobs. Everyone is really happy as they feel their lives became better.
Whenever they see Shin Jiao, instead of fear their eyes are beaming with respect and adoration. Even young women would blush whenever they made eye contact with him. Shin Jiao is already a very handsome young man plus his knowledge and skills which makes him every woman's dream guy.
Out of all these young women, Shin Jiao noticed one of them. She is a very beautiful young lady but a little bit annoying for him as she would always follow him behind. She even volunteered to be a fighter at that time and would always act like his bodyguard/secretary... not that he needed one.
Her name is Qian Li. Shin Jiao is actually doubtful of her identity as at first, she would always act like a pampered young woman. But then, later on, as time went by she was able to adjust herself to the situation and the group, and now she became somewhat their leader or the second in command in the base. Whenever Shin Jiao would go out and hunt some beast, she would automatically take care of everything. Shin Jiao at onetime just silently observe the situation and realized how effective she works with everyone, and so from then on, he started to approve her actions and decisions.
As time flew by, the base is now self-sufficient and is able to protect itself.
Shin Jiao decided to call the 5 fighters he had trained for a while now and gathered them in the large crafting room.
"I gathered you all here today to test out a new creation of mine." Shin Jiao said.
Then from the side, they noticed that on the table lay a strange metal structure, some black boots, and some goggles which they would always see on Shin Jiao's head.
"Master, what are these?" Qian Li asked with her curios eyes examining the metallic thing on the table.
"This is my gift for you… I know that as a mortal, cultivators are stronger than you. But as a mortal, you should not be confined with the idea that you are lower than them. Your lifespan may be shorter, but you should live your life freely and without regrets, right? Your training will be of great help to you and the community we have created. I am giving you my trust that you will do all you can to protect the people we have in this base." Shin Jiao said trying to inspire the five women in front of him.
"Someday this family of ours will grow, and the five of you are the ones I have trust the most to execute my plans and help the growth and protection of our community." Shin Jiao added then he turns around and approaches the table.
"Now let me explain these things, first is the exoskeleton. Now, this is made from a very flexible and sturdy material which you can wear on your body. Its strength and durability are comparable to a cultivator in the core-forming realm." Shin Jiao said as he lifted the exoskeleton and showed it to them.
Everyone was dumbstruck after hearing his explanation. What is core-forming realm cultivator for them? According to common knowledge, the core-forming realm is the strength needed or the qualification for being a soldier of the empire. So, how could a mere mortal imagine themselves wielding that kind of strength? Especially weak women like themselves who are always being looked down upon and abused.
When Qian Li heard this, her hand immediately shook, no one knows what's going on in her mind as tears suddenly escaped her eyes and slid down her red rosy cheeks.
Not only her but the rest of the girls in that room was also in tears. Deep within their hearts, they are saying that they really found a great master who is willing to not only teach them how to fight and become strong but also to wield the strength rivaling that of a strong cultivator.
Because of this, all the five girls suddenly jumped and throw themselves at Shin Jiao and cried with happy tears. Shin Jiao felt helpless at this scene, as no matter how hard he had trained them, their experience is still lacking and the fact is that deep inside they are still young women.
"Alright... Alright, all of you that's enough, we will now begin the test of these things so I can make some adjustments." Shin Jiao said as he removes himself in the midst of them.
Seeing the excited look on their faces Shin Jiao became happy within his heart because right now he can already see his vision for this world starting to slowly come to fruition. He can't wait to see the advancement of technology along with cultivation in this world, which would make this land an ideal place to live in, for both mortals and cultivators.