Chapter 28: Tai Chi Island

"This island looks good." From the air, Muria looked down at a sea island within the Titan Archipelago, where most islands were wild jungles inhabited by various powerful beasts and monsters.

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

These were races recognized by the Titans, possessing things beneficial to the Titans, thus granted the right to reside there. As for most other species, they were essentially useless to the Titans and naturally not welcomed to settle in the Titan Archipelago.

Thus, Muria could freely choose from the majority of the islands in the archipelago, as long as he found them pleasing to the eye.

The island Muria chose below was not like the one with Lady Artelis's crystal castle, located on the outermost edge of the Titan Archipelago. This island's location was quite far from the outer edges of the archipelago.

As for how far it was from the center of the Titan Archipelago, Muria did not know. He only knew the archipelago's range was vast, but without a map, he really had no idea.

The island Muria chose had two characteristics. The first was its large size. With Muria's flying speed, it took nearly an hour to circle the island. Exactly how large it was would require a giant knowledgeable in measurement to verify. Muria didn't have the ability to know the specific area just by glancing from high above.

The second characteristic of this island was its very regular and special overall shape. At first glance from high above, Muria thought it was a nearly circular island, but upon closer inspection, he noticed the island's edges had eight very obvious protruding extensions, making the island's shape resemble an equilateral octagon.

In summary, the island's edge was somewhere between an octagon and a circle. Of course, this was not the most wonderful part of the island. What really made Muria decide to live here was the surroundings of the island.

Around this uniquely shaped island were eight long, orderly islands corresponding to each side of the octagonal island.

Although these eight islands were not identical in shape, their positions, along with the central circular island, immediately brought to Muria's mind a very ancient and mysterious pattern: the Tai Chi and Bagua.

"I've decided, from today onwards, I'll reside on this island," Muria pointed towards the island below, addressing the dozens of giant leaders gathered around him, "And this island, from now on, shall be called: Tai Chi Island."

"As you command, Prince Muria," the giant leaders responded respectfully. Most islands in the Titan Archipelago were unnamed, so naturally, Muria could name them however he pleased. The name Tai Chi might have seemed odd to the giant leaders at first, but after repeating it a few times, they found it to contain some meaning.

Muria, along with the six young dragons and a sky full of cloud and fog giants, descended towards the newly named Tai Chi Island.

"Screech!" "Roar!" "Hiss!"... As Muria and the giants approached Tai Chi Island, a chorus of terrified howls and roars from the beasts resounded, scared by the multitude of golden-tier giants.

"Boom, boom, boom..." The ground trembled as herds of beasts fled. The Titan Archipelago's resources were so abundant that it supported a vast number of beasts and monsters, creating a ring of beast tide around Muria and the others.

"Wait before we go down!" Seeing the beast tide, Muria raised his hand to stop the descending cloud giants.

... The fresh scent of plants filled Muria's nostrils, and the presence of vibrant life on the island, as well as the soft ground full of decaying leaves and humus under his feet, made Muria aware of the intense competition for survival here.

"Tell all the giants that, unless their safety is at risk, they should drive away the island's creatures rather than harm them," Muria looked around at the cloud giant leaders, "After all, we're the ones encroaching on their territory."

"..." The giant leaders exchanged glances, finding Muria's command somewhat unbelievable. But after a few moments of hesitation, they still did not voice any objections.

At that moment, the giant leaders remembered that the being they wished to follow had not only the blood of Titans but also that of the foremost golden dragon. Golden dragons were known across the world for their great strength, justice, and kindness.

"As you wish, my lord," the twelve cloud giant leaders obediently went to convey Muria's order. Since the beasts and monsters where the giants landed had almost all fled, the order was not excessive. Besides plants, there was nothing left.

On the shores of Tai Chi Island, storm giants who came riding the waves, mountain giants on sea creature mounts provided by the sea races, and tide giants who came by swimming ashore made landfall. Their arrival once again triggered a beast tide on Tai Chi Island...

As night fell and the stars filled the sky, on a small hill over a hundred meters high at the center of Tai Chi Island, Muria stood with the six young dragons and Mia, silently watching the giants below clearing ancient trees to create a large clearing.

"Mia, today I scared many of the island's original inhabitants away from their nests. Do you think I went too far?" Muria, recalling the day's events, smiled and asked his maid behind him.

Standing behind Muria, the personal maid Mia blinked her bright eyes, "Ah! Master Muria, I hadn't even thought about that. You even considered the wild animals on the island; you're so kind. If only the noble lords in my home had a tenth of your mercy, my childhood wouldn't have been so hard."

"Ha ha, Mia, to the island's original inhabitants, I'm not exactly a kind and merciful existence. I've made many animals have to find new nests and fight other monsters for territory," Muria laughed wryly. However, his focus wasn't on the island's wild beasts, as he believed he had done the best he could for them.

"You said you were the daughter of a fallen noble, right? Even so, your life must have been much better than that of the average commoner. How could it have been so hard?"

"Master Muria, although my family still had the name of nobility, our situation wasn't much better than that of ordinary commoners. The main reason was the high and varied taxes collected by our lord. My family was actually doing okay. In the city where I lived, people starved to death every year. In winter, it was common to see frozen corpses on the streets."

"Even so, didn't those lords lower the taxes?"

"In my memory, taxes only ever increased, never decreased."

"Didn't anyone resist such lords?" Muria found it unbelievable. Taxes were so high they could starve people to death. In his previous world's ancient times, any ruler who dared to do so would be overthrown, without a second possibility.

"Yes, but they were all killed by the lord's guards, and then their corpses were hung on the wooden frames at the city gate. Resistance only brought death," Mia said with a hint of sadness.

"..." Mia's words silenced Muria for a while. At this moment, he began to understand the cruelty of this world. The nobles

 of Erathia were not the powerless nobles of his previous life; here, the nobles possessed extraordinary martial power matching their status, making it impossible for commoners to resist them.

"How common is this kind of lord?" Muria asked again.

"In the city where I lived and the surrounding lords, they were all like this. As for farther away, I don't know, but I guess it's probably similar," Mia thought for a moment and replied.

"I see." Muria smiled, revealing his white teeth to Mia, "After I come of age, I'll travel to different continents. If I encounter the kind of noble lords you've mentioned, I'll smash their castles, drag them out, and in the most crowded places..."

The personal maid was initially curious about Muria's words, but as she listened, her expression turned to one of horror, and finally, she heard Muria's last few words: "I'll hang those scumbags in public."

"Master Muria..." The maid was stunned by Muria's words, "I've never heard of anyone treating a lord like that. Moreover, doing so could have unpredictable consequences."

"There wasn't before, but now there is," Muria smiled, "As for the consequences, I believe that after I come of age, I'll be able to handle them."

The maid fell silent, speechless. Even as bold as she was, she couldn't imagine what Muria was talking about. Mia had no doubt that Muria would have the ability to do what he said in the future, so she inexplicably looked forward to the future when Muria would travel the world.

"My lord. I apologize for not providing a suitable place for you to rest." While Muria, Mia, and the six drowsy dragons were engulfed in a calm moment, many cloud giant leaders, along with some powerful storm, tide, and mountain giants, came to Muria's side, knelt, and pleaded for forgiveness.

"It's okay," Muria waved his hand, indicating it wasn't a big deal.

"No, my lord. Making you sleep in the wilderness is the greatest negligence of us followers," cloud giant leader Albert spoke with his head bowed. "However, we have already planned to build a castle worthy of your status for you."

"A castle for me?" Muria was surprised, then relieved, "There's no hurry for that. First, build dwellings for your people, then we can think about my castle."

"My lord, us rough men can sleep in the wilderness for as long as necessary, but we can't let you do the same. It would be an insult to your status as the son of a Titan," a burly, brown-skinned mountain giant smiled and spoke. This mountain giant was taller than his kin, not a leader but simply representing his race for the discussion.

In fact, besides the eighteen cloud giants who had become leaders due to a large gathering, the other three types of giants did not have leaders.

"Exactly, my lord!" The words of the mountain giant representative were echoed by several cloud giant leaders.

"My lord, please leave the construction of the castle to us mountain giants. We guarantee to build you the tallest, most magnificent castle in the shortest time," a mountain giant representative spoke.

"A castle built by you brutes, huh? Hmph, will it still be a castle by the time you're done?" A cloud giant leader scoffed at the mountain giant clad in animal skins, "What else can you do besides digging holes in mountains?"

"How dare you look down on us mountain giants?" The mountain giant representative, angry, picked up his large wooden club, ready to strike the disrespectful cloud giant leader.

This chapter, I personally find a bit boring, but I can't skip it.