Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Taiji Island Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Taiji Island “This island looks quite nice.” High above, Muria looked down onto a sea island below. Among the Titan Islands, the majority were wild jungles inhabited by various beasts and monsters.

Only a small percentage of the islands were inhabited by intelligent species.

These races have been recognized by the Titans, possessing things that are beneficial to the Titans and thus they have the right to reside here. As for the vast majority of other races, they are essentially useless to the Titans, and naturally they are not welcomed to settle in the Titan Islands.

Therefore, Muria had many islands in the Titan Islands to choose from, as long as he was happy with what he saw.

Below, the island Muria had chosen was not located on the outer rim of the Titan Islands like the one where the Golden Dragon Lady’s Crystal Castle was located. This island was quite far from the outer edge of the islands.

As to how far it was from the center of the Titan Islands, Muria didn’t know. He only knew that the Titan Islands were vast, but without a map, he really didn’t know how vast they were.

The island that Muria chose had two features. The first was its extremely large size. Even at Muria’s flying speed, circling the island would take close to an hour. How big exactly would need to be verified on the spot by giants knowledgeable in measurement. If you think he could estimate the specific area with a glance from a high altitude, sorry, Muria couldn’t do that.

The second feature of the island was its very regular and special shape. Muria first thought it was a near-circular island when he saw it from the sky. But upon a closer look, he noticed that the edges of the island had eight obvious protrusions, making its shape similar to a regular octagon.

Overall, the shape of this island’s edge is between an octagon and a circle. Of course, this was not the most wonderful aspect of this island. What truly convinced Muria to make up his mind to live here was its surroundings.

Around this uniquely shaped island, there were eight long, rectangular islands positioned orderly, corresponding to each of the sides of the octagonal island.

Although the shapes of these eight islands were not identical, their locations and the circular island they guarded immediately brought to Muria’s mind a very ancient and mysterious image: the Tai Chi and Eight Diagrams.

“I have decided that, from today onwards, I will reside on this island,” Muria pointed to the island below him and told the dozens of giant leaders surrounding him. “And from now on, this island is named: Tai Chi Island.”

“As you wish, Prince Muria,” the giant leaders respectfully replied. The islands in the Titan Islands were basically unnamed, so of course, Muria could name them however he wanted. Although the name “Tai Chi” sounded a bit strange to the giant leaders at first, after a few repetitions, they discovered that the name seemed to carry some profound meaning.

Accompanied by his six young dragons, and a sky full of cloud giants and fog giants, Muria descended onto the newly named Taiji Island.

“Screech!” “Roar!” “Hiss!”… As soon as Muria and the giants approached Tai Chi Island, the terrified roars and screams of the beasts began sounding from all around the island. They were frightened by the numerous Golden-rank giants.

“Boom, boom, boom…” The earth trembled as the beasts fled. The resources on the Titan Islands were too abundant and nourished a huge number of monsters and beasts. Therefore, a ring of beasts appeared around where Muria and the others were…
“Hold on, wait before going down!” Seeing the tide of beasts, Muria signaled the cloud giants to stop descending.

…The refreshing scent of the grass and plants filled Muria’s nostrils. He felt the vigorous life force of the island. Similarly, the soft ground full of dead branches, leaves, and humus beneath his feet let Muria see that the competition here was fierce.

“Go and tell all the giants that when they encounter lifeforms on the island, drive them away unless it’s danger to their own safety. Do not harm them,” Muria scanned around at the cloud giant leaders. “After all, we are invading their territory.”

“…” The giants looked at each other in disbelief at Muria’s command. But some of them moved their lips a few times and ultimately didn’t say anything in opposition.

It was at this moment that the leaders recalled that the existence they wanted to follow had not only Titan blood, but also the lineage of the Golden Dragon, known as the head of the good dragons. And the Golden Dragon was famous throughout the world for its powerful strength, justice, and kindness.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The twelve cloud giant leaders obediently went to convey Muria’s order, not considering it excessive. The monsters and beasts in the vicinity had mostly fled, and one could say there was practically nothing left but plants.

Meanwhile, at the shore of Tai Chi Island, the Storm Giants who came riding on the waves, Mountain Giants riding sea beasts provided by the Sea Clan, and the Tidal Giants who arrived by diving, all landed ashore. Their arrival caused another tide of beasts on Tai Chi Island…

When night fell and the stars filled the sky, at the center of Tai Chi Island, atop a small hill over a hundred meters tall, Muria stood there silently with his six young dragons and Mia, watching the giants below cutting down ancient, robust trees, and clearing large tracts of empty land.

“Mia, today I scared off many of the island’s original inhabitants and made them abandon their nests. Do you think I went too far?” Muria thought about the events of the daytime and asked the maid behind him with a smile.

The maid who stood behind Muria, Mia, blinked her bright eyes, “Ah! Master Muria, I never even thought of that. You being able to consider the beasts of the island… you’re so kind. I wish my lord at home had a tenth of your kindness. Then I would not have suffered so much when I was younger.”

“Ha ha, Mia, for the original inhabitants of this island, I am not a kind and merciful creature. I have forced many animals to find new dwellings, and they have to fight with other monsters for territory.” Muria replied with a wry smile. However, he did not focus on the wild beasts on the island, he believed he already dealt with them in the best way possible.

“You mentioned you were the daughter of a destitute noble family. Even so, your life should have been better than that of most commoners. How would it have been hard?”

“Sir Muria, although my family still holds the noble name, they were no different from ordinary commoners. The prime reason is the excessive and arbitrary tax levied by the local lord. This is still relatively better, in the city where I lived, people die of hunger every year. In winter, you can often see corpses frozen to death on the streets.”

“Even in such conditions, the lords don’t reduce the taxes?”

“As far as I can remember, the taxes have only ever increased, they have never decreased.”

“Has no one ever rebelled against such a lord?” Muria found this hard to believe, the taxes were already high enough to starve people to death. In ancient times, any ruler daring to do this would surely be overthrown.

“There have been, but all have been slaughtered by the soldiers sent by the lord. Then their bodies are hung on the wooden rack at the city gates. Rebellion brings nothing but death.” Mia replied with a trace of sadness.

“…” Mia’s words left Muria silent for a while. At this moment, he began to realize the cruelty of this world. The nobles of Elasia weren’t powerless like the spoiled nobles from his previous world. The nobles here wielded extraordinary power matching their status, and the commoners couldn’t stand against them.

“How common are these kinds of lords?” Muria asked again.

“The lords around the city I lived in were all like this, as for those further, I am not sure, but I guess it should be the same too.” Mia pondered and replied.

“I see.” Muria laughed, showing his white teeth to Mia, “After I come of age, I will travel across various continents. If I encounter such noble lords, I will smash their castle, drag them out, and at the place with the most people …”
The personal maid had been keenly listening to Muria’s words but soon her expression changed to one of horror. Finally, she heard Muria’s last few words, “I will hang these scumbags publicly.”

“Sir Muria…” Mia was stunned by Muria’s words. “I have never heard of anyone who would treat a lord like this, and your words might have unpredictable consequences.”

“There wasn’t before, but now there is.” Muria said with a smile, “as for the consequences, I believe that I can bear them after I come of age.”

The maid stayed silent, she was at a loss for words. Even though she was courageous, she dared not to imagine the words spoken by Muria. Mia didn’t doubt that Muria had the potential to fulfil his promises in the future. Hence, she was looking forward to the day when Muria would travel the world.

“Your Majesty. We apologize for not providing you with a proper place to rest.” As the peaceful atmosphere was settling in among Muria, Mia, and the six sleepy bigwigs, many cloud Giant leaders, several powerful Storm Giants, Tidal Giants, and Mountain Giants arrived by Muria’s side, they knelt down to apologize to him.

“It is not an issue.” Muria waved his hand, indicating his indifference.

“No, Your Majesty, we have failed to perform our duties as followers by allowing you to sleep in the open.” The Cloud Giant leader, Ebute flustered out, “But, we’ve already made plans to build a castle befitting your noble identity.”

“Build a castle for me?” Muria was surprised at first but then immediately relaxed, “There is no rush in doing this. You can start building homes for your kinsmen first, the castle for me can come later.”

“Your Majesty, we, the brutes can withstand sleeping in the wilderness for as long as needed, but we cannot have you do the same. It would be an insult to your status as a Son of Titan.” A burly Mountain Giant with brown-yellow skin, laughing with his mouth open wide replied. This Mountain Giant was taller than his kind, not a leader, he was simply representing his kin for the meeting.

Indeed, except for the eighteen leader-level Cloud Giants born out of the massive gathering, the three other kinds of giants did not have leader-level existences.

“That’s correct, Your Highness!” The words of the Mountain Giant representative elicited agreement from a few Cloud Giant leaders.

“Your Highness, please allow us Mountain Giants to take on the task of building the castle. We promise to construct the loftiest and most majestic castle in the shortest possible time.” One Mountain Giant representative recommended.

“Leave the construction of the castle to you brutes?” A Cloud Giant leader looked at the Mountain Giant dressed in beast skin with a sneer, “What else do you know except drilling holes in the mountains?”

“How dare you look down upon us, Mountain Giants?” The representative of the Mountain Giants was infuriated, he picked up his giant wooden stick, ready to hit the discourteous Cloud Giant leader.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read