The white clouds in the sky were blinding enough to make others close their eyes. The soldiers in the camp by Jiang Pass were shocked, feeling a massive momentum pressing from above.
Next, the deafening cry of a dragon emanated across the area.
The white light then receded. It came quickly but also left quickly.
The soldiers felt their legs go weak while being drenched in cold sweat. It took them fifteen minutes or so before calming down.
Feiyun’s eyes were bright outside of a tent. He knew that it was a battle between two top masters so he wasn’t that surprised.
He went back inside and took out a scroll - a document about Ancient Jiang Prefecture. Bai Ruxue stood to the side with her white hair draped down to the waist, looking quite beautiful and enchanting like someone from a painting.
Feiyun’s cultivation far exceeded her so she didn’t dare to have any ideas.
He wanted to find the entrance to Senluo Temple so naturally, he needed to learn about Ancient Jiang. He had Guo Dahai bring him a map of this place.
It has been an hour or so since he started.
Ruxue watched him concentrating with her pretty eyes, thinking that he actually looked like a disciple from a scholar clan. This caused a ripple in her heart: ‘If this scoundrel picks the right path, he’ll definitely become a famous hero, so many girls will fall head over heels for him… what the hell am I thinking? I’m a heretical disciple, why do I want Feng Feiyun to be a good person? Plus, even if he were a gentleman versed in both literature and fighting, it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with me…’
“Ancient Jiang is right outside of Endless Land, very narrow from east to west, spanning for around 180,000 miles or so. To the south is the actual wilderness of Endless Land, a place where men do not dare to enter.” Feiyun rolled up the scroll after memorizing the content.
He was aware that Endless Land spanned for 800,000 miles. Ancient Jiang was only located near its border.
Of course, Feiyun had no intention of entering the actual territory of Endless Land either. He only wanted to find Senluo Temple and the heretical girls in order to take back Nangong Hongyan’s blood from the bracelets.
“Are we going to Ancient Jiang now?” Bai Ruxue softly asked.
Feiyun shook his head: “The place is too vast. Given our abilities, we might not be able to find Senluo Temple even if we search for the rest of our lives.”
Suddenly, hasty footsteps came from the outside. Guo Dalai loudly shouted: “Your Excellency, there is a jade talisman message from the capital.”
Feng Feiyun smiled: “Commander Guo, come in. This is your camp, no need to act like a messenger.”
Guo Dahai and Strategist Mo came in one after another. They bowed towards Feiyun and Dahai laughed: “We can’t do that, Your Excellency. This is your tent now, even Lord Tiger would need to ask for permission before entering.”
He took out a jade talisman and placed it on Feiyun’s table.
Feiyun grabbed it and light exuded in his palm. A message from Long Luofu entered his head.
Since his eyes were closed, the other two patiently waited until he opened his eyes again. Dahai asked: “Your Excellency, who sent the message?”
Feiyun crushed the jade piece into dust before smiling: “The Jin Empress.”
The other two put on a serious expression and didn’t dare to pry.
Feiyun said: “The tribes here are rebelling with no regard for the court. The empress wishes for me to aid the court in stabilizing this region and unifying the various tribes.”
“We will do everything we can to assist you.” The two got on one knee.
“Rise. Tell me about the situation in Ancient Jiang. If possible, I can actually help the top player right now.”
The two of them got up, feeling a bit shocked. That’s the Divine King for you, not giving that much respect to the empress. He would leave if the situation was bad?
Only the Divine King would dare to act like this towards the empress.
Guo Dahai took out a map containing all of Ancient Jiang. It was filled with lines and special markings in important areas. Endless Land was also here.
“Ancient Jiang Prefecture has ten counties, fewer than the other prefectures but each is very large. Moreover, due to the mountains and rivers, the boundaries between each county is actually quite unclear. It’s better to divide the map based on the tribes.”
“95% of the inhabitants here are Jiangs. They are divided into three big tribes - Heaven Worship Division, Dark Realm Division, and Heaven Witchcraft Divisio. There are many smaller ones. Some of them live in the wild with villages going as far as the Endless Land.
“Heaven Witchcraft is the closest one to the pass. The strongest is Heaven Worship, and the most mysterious is Dark Realm.” Strategist Mo elaborated.
Feiyun asked: “The government has a presence here with county lords, why do they not directly suppress the conflict between the three tribes?”
The strategist shook his head and smiled: “Suppression is not feasible nor possible. The Jiang is distrustful towards all outsiders. Using military force will only invite strong backlash. Plus, the Jiang is extremely strong. They live in this dangerous land and know how to survive. If the army comes here, more than half of the troops will be dead before they accomplish anything.”
Feiyun nodded after gaining the reason why the government was helpless here.
The strategist went on: “The truth is that no one wants to be an official here. The county lords are very obedient towards the big tribes, let alone the rest of the officials. The government has zero actual sovereignty over this prefecture.”
Guo Dahai slightly opened his mouth but refrained himself.
Feiyun saw this and said: “Divine Commander Guo, go ahead.”
Dahai scratched his head and said: “There is actually someone who can quell the internal conflicts.”
“Who?”
“The Heavenly Witchcraft Goddess.” Dahai said: “The big tribes here worship the Heavenly Witchcraft God, thinking that this deity is the only true god in the world, while the goddess is his daughter. Legend has it that the goddess will reincarnate into the mortal world every ten thousand years. Their coming each time would signal a new era for the Jiang.”
“The goddess is responsible for spreading the teaching of the Witchcraft Scripture. Grand Wisdom Master Jing Feng is dead, so the current goddess who has just shown up recently became the spiritual leader of Heaven Worship Division.”
Feiyun’s eyes flashed brightly before smirking: “Since the empress wants me to help, I shall take a trip to Ancient Jiang. Strategist Mo, pick fifty elites to accompany me.”
“Your Excellency, the Jiang are savage barbarians…” The strategist was worried.
“Fifty is plenty.” Feiyun said.
The two didn’t dare to disobey and left.
Feiyun didn’t leave right away and chose to spend the night in camp.
Nine layers of formations were erected outside his tent. No one was allowed entry. Feiyun sat there with his eyes closed. Beast souls rushed out and circled around him - a total of 10,000.
Feiyun has just reached the fifth level so he needed a great amount of spirit energy to consolidate his cultivation.
He ate eight third-ranked spirit gathering pills. The energy inside the pill was purer and thicker than the energy inside a dragon vein. It flowed through his body like liquid and reached the central palace inside the dantian to turn into his own energy.
Each pill expedited his cultivation time by half a year.
If Feiyun wanted to reach the sixth-level known as the half-step realm, he would need sixty years of meditation. These eight pills lessened this time by four years.
Due to his tough physical constitution, he was able to digest the pills in just one night. Any other cultivator at the fifth level would need half a month or so to digest just one pill. Moreover, they might not be able to extract all the essences.
These pills were considered great treasures for anyone beneath the sixth level. They would risk their lives for it.
However, Feiyun got them without doing anything. Bi Ningshuai took everything from the Grand Tutor’s faction including all the pills below the fourth rank. In the end, he got scared and gave these items to Feiyun.
Cultivation required ample resources. With enough materials, one could cultivate a hundred times faster than someone without.
How would one gain these resources?
One way was relying on their clan or sect after showing enough talents.
If they didn’t have this backing, then they had to rely on themselves and compete for the resources, doing whatever is necessary.
The majority of conflicts and killing in the cultivation world were over resources.