Chapter 354: Chapter 71 The Route to Central State
After returning to Shushan with An Zhisu, Ling Yunpo began to load the saved file.
[Checkpoint 5: Eastern Emperor Demon Realm, South State, Wu River City.]
[Character Identity: Long Long.]
[Overlaying the Mirror Flower Water Moon Template, in the process of time-space travel.]
After crossing the river with Long Hu, Long Long arrived at the nearest Demon Race stronghold, Wu River City.
This city, similar to the previous South Wind City, was dominated by the Feathered Clan Demons. The difference lay in the species: South Wind City had more blue birds, while Wu River City had more crows, with the former favoring blue attire and the latter preferring black.
Having stayed at an inn within the city for several days, Long Long realized that almost all of the Feathered Clan here held a subtle rejection and hostility towards non-Feathered Demons.
This attitude was most evident among Feathered Clan Cultivators, for example, during the daily inspections at the inn, the Wu River City Cultivators would treat their Feathered Clan guests with courtesy, but show cold faces to guests of the Scales, Fur, and Carapace clans.
As for the Horned Clan… due to the conflict with the Qilin Clan of Central State, hardly any Horned Clan members could be seen in the city.
Of course, aside from racial discrimination, class discrimination was even more pronounced.
Among Cultivators and non-cultivators, whether one had undergone Transformation was a clear boundary, manifesting a stark, huge, and indifferent rift.
The Feathered Clan Cultivators despised those untransformed little demons, and within the lesser demons, there was a clear chain of discrimination: the closer one was to human form, the more arrogant they became.
Source: NovelFull.com, updated on օνǤ0.сο
The little demons at the Blood Ignition Rank, closest to human form, lived in the bustling districts flanking the main thoroughfares of Wu River City, running shops, setting up stalls, engaging in business…basically, any activity that might involve interacting with Cultivators was carried out by these lesser demons.
Aside from a few feathery traits on their bodies, they were almost indistinguishable from humans in their erect posture, manner of speaking, behavior, and thought patterns.
Next came the Bone Expansion Rank lesser demons, who retained many avian characteristics and lived in the slums near the city walls. They had more feathers, smaller eyes, and more beak-like mouths; they spoke an almost incomprehensible bird language and performed monotonous, repetitive, and arduous labor such as bricklaying, road repair, and manure hauling.
The Blood Ignition Rank lesser demons, considering themselves bona fide citizens of Wu River City, rarely entered the living areas of the Bone Expansion Rank demons. Even passing them on the street required a wide berth, and if such a lesser demon entered their shops, they were promptly driven out, not allowed to linger too long.
As for the lowest of them, the Qi Drawing Rank… these could almost be considered Demonic Beasts, lacking even basic intelligence, not even allowed through the city gates.
Although Long Long and Long Hu were not of the Feathered Clan, they had the advantage of mastering the Transformation Secret Technique.
Even if their Cultivation Realm had not reached the Transformation Rank and they lacked a Demon Core, their appearance was completely indistinguishable from humans, with no beastly features whatsoever.
Therefore, as they walked through the city, they were treated as Cultivators by these Feathered Clan members.
Although they were not as enthusiastically received as the Feathered Clan Cultivators, as long as Long Long and Long Hu spoke up, the others dared not refuse to respond.
These past few days at the taverns in Wu River City, eating only red meat and fruit, Long Hu began to feel somewhat listless.
As for the popular “Insect Meal Set” at the tavern, she had no interest whatsoever.
“Long Long, Long Long!” After finishing lunch, she wrapped herself around Long Long, playfully insisting that he hurry up and continue northward into Central State.
A place where I can’t eat chicken, I, the little fox, don’t want to stay for a moment longer!
“Stop it, the north is the war zone. How are we supposed to get through there?” Long Long said with a wry smile while rubbing her face. Long Hu slapped his hand away, annoyed.
He had already gathered in the city that leaving Wu River City and continuing north along the river would lead to the battleground between the Vermilion Bird and the Qilin.
Countless Feathered Clan and Horned Clan Cultivators were battling there. It wasn’t just the river trade routes that were closed, but land transportation as well, and only those smugglers and criminals unafraid of death would consider crossing.
But this did not pose a challenge to the experienced Long Long, who had studied the map. The border between South State and Central State spanned over a thousand miles; there certainly had to be a way to bypass the battle zones and enter Central State.
If not, what about the Horned Clan members who were stranded in South State before the war?
In any Feathered Clan city, they were frequently captured and interrogated to ensure they weren’t spies. Who could tolerate that?
They had to make a run for Central State as soon as possible!
Long Long was certain that, being the northernmost city in South State, there must be members of the Horned Clan in Wu River City who knew how to get to Central State.
It’s just that because of the high-pressure attitude in the city, these Horned Clan members had all gone into hiding!
So, how to find the Horned Clan in the quickest way possible?
After a moment’s thought, Long Long knew that as an outsider, he definitely wouldn’t know how to find the Horned Clan.
But the cultivators of Wu River City certainly could!
They spent their days capturing “suspicious” Horned Clan members, not really to find spies, but to extort money from them.
Once the fee was paid, the “interrogation” would end; otherwise, they’d be looking at indefinite incarceration.
And these just-released Horned Clan members were the ones Long Long could contact the fastest.
After squatting outside the government office with Long Hu for half a day, nearly attracting the questioning of patrolling cultivators, Long Long finally saw a group of people come out.
To be precise, it was a group of Horned Clan people.
The one at the front seemed to be a fat merchant, his head dripping with sweat as he fawned and flattered the Feathered Clan cultivator, who treated him with the disdain one would show to trash, continually shooing him away.
Because the Horned Clan merchant had horns, this suggested he was of the Blood Ignition Rank, which to the cultivators meant he was a “relatively less stupid idiot.”
“We’ll follow them,” Long Long whispered.
“Okay,” Long Hu responded.
The two followed the Horned Clan for a while, and once Long Long confirmed there was no one around, he directly revealed himself and blocked the group in an alley.
The Horned Clan members were suddenly stopped and were almost scared out of their wits, until they saw that the newcomer was in “a fully transformed state.” The leading fat merchant then forced out a smile uglier than crying and said in a trembling voice:
“My lord…”
“I ask, you answer,” Long Long had no interest in caring for his emotions, so he cut straight to the point.
“Yes,” the fat merchant immediately showed a beaming smile upon hearing it wasn’t about money, “I shall spare nothing in telling everything I know.”
“What’s the fastest route from here to Central State?” Long Long asked.
The Horned Clan members looked at each other, and the fat merchant paused for a moment before answering:
“There are many routes to Central State, but the fastest would definitely be through the battle zone…”
“Next,” Long Long interrupted him.
He wasn’t confident enough to pass through the battle zone between the Feathered and Horned Clans yet.
“If safety is a concern, then it’s definitely the Three-legged Mountain Range,” the fat merchant said. “As long as you can get through with the Golden Crow Clan, you can pass through the volcanic area and enter Windrest Valley in the southern part of Central State.”
“This route has many hidden paths, so it’s basically free of checkpoints. But the drawbacks are also obvious: the terrain is harsh and difficult to traverse, and you must deal with the Golden Crow Clan that lives on the volcano,” the fat merchant finished with a bitter smile. “After all, you have to cross through their territory.”