Did the original Zhuang Country also need to offer tribute?

As a subsidiary state of the Dao, did it pay tribute to the Jing Country?

Powerful nations would capture demon clans, then distribute them among smaller nations.

These smaller nations would establish beast dens, cultivate ferocious beasts, and use the demon clans as raw materials to catalyze demonic beasts. Then, they would extract Dao Meridians to refine Opening Meridian Pills, and offer a portion of the proceeds as tribute to the larger nation.

Thus, a cycle of the Opening Meridian Pill system was formed.

In reality, the larger nations subtly controlled the smaller ones through this system.

A very direct inference could be made: ferocious beasts had an essential need for growth, which was to experience battle with the human race.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the various smaller nations, to varying degrees, allowed their people to be sacrificed. If the ferocious beasts simply needed slaughter, then more wild beasts could be driven to them for killing.

Perhaps this was an unavoidable flaw in the method of catalyzing demonic beasts, or perhaps there were other reasons, but this problem likely could not be solved. Otherwise, with the vastness of the world and so many geniuses, it would not have been allowed to persist until now.

Therefore, the process of cultivating ferocious beasts inevitably involved the blood of the people under their rule.

But could smaller nations, lacking the ability to hunt demon clans, refuse? Could they even refuse?

Larger nations did not directly kill people, but smaller nations were constantly bleeding.

The two Xu Country cultivators who had delivered the prison cart entered the great formation again, pushing the cart out, preparing to send it somewhere for medical treatment and recuperation.

The prison cart passed by that Internal Palace Realm cultivator.

The demon clan’s one-horned elder, already on the verge of death, suddenly opened his eyes, staring over with hatred.

Even seeing this gaze through another’s perspective, Jiang Wang could still feel the deep-seated hatred.

“I have never done evil in my life, why must I suffer this torment? Why?”

He was practically weeping blood as he asked.

The Xu Country Internal Palace Realm cultivator was silent for a moment, and for the first time, instead of mockery and sarcasm, he responded directly.

“Our country also has many people who have never done evil in their lives, yet they die in the mouths of ferocious beasts. You ask why? Where in the world are there so many whys?”

Unfortunately, the demon clan’s one-horned elder still could not understand, and was taken away by the prison cart with a heart full of hatred.

“Let’s go, there’s nothing more to see.”

Yin Guan flew directly away.

Jiang Wang silently glanced at the Internal Palace Realm cultivator, ultimately making no move, and turned to follow Yin Guan.

This trip seemed to have found the answer, resolving a long-standing question, but his heart did not feel lighter.

This continued until he left the pine forest.

As one question was answered, more questions arose.

What was the relationship between the human and demon races? Where were the demon clans? What was their strength?

Living in the present world, he had always taken the Opening Meridian Pill for granted. The production of Opening Meridian Pills was indeed quite high, and after prolonged exposure to cultivation, he gradually no longer found them so precious. At least with his current strength, earning an Opening Meridian Pill was very easy.

But now that he thought about it, the Opening Meridian Pill allowed those without cultivation talent to begin cultivation – what a great creation!

Why had the name of the powerhouse who researched the Opening Meridian Pill been lost in the river of time?

“I’m leaving.”

Upon exiting the pine forest, Yin Guan casually said this and flew away, not caring whether Jiang Wang had anything else to say.

Most of the time, he was indeed someone who only cared about his own goals.

But…

Jiang Wang suddenly wondered, given Yin Guan’s style of doing things, why would he specifically run to the pine forest with him to investigate the secrets of the ferocious beast nest?

The You Country was also a small country, and would experience these things. Jiang Wang had thought that someone like Yin Guan probably wouldn’t care about the reasons behind it.

Could it be that even someone with a heart as firm as iron, like himself, had moments of hesitation and bewilderment?

Not long after Yin Guan and Jiang Wang left, within the underground cave, the two guards looked at the catalyzed demonic beasts, their hearts filled with the joy of harvest.

A one-third success rate for a single catalysis was already quite good.

“I don’t know why, but I just had a very uneasy feeling,” said the Xu Country’s Internal Palace Realm cultivator.

“With your strength, in this place, is there anything that could threaten you?” one of the guards flattered.

But as soon as he said this, he screamed in terror, “Why can’t I see anything? Why can’t I see? My lord! My lord?”

The other guard next to him also screamed, “I think I’m blind! What do I do?!”

“Calm down!”

The Internal Palace Realm cultivator stopped their panic: “Let me see.”

He leaned in to observe, only to see that the two guards’ eyes were wide open, but they had lost their light.

They were indeed blind, but how they had gone blind, and why, was completely unknown. He couldn’t figure it out at all!

The Internal Palace Realm cultivator panicked at once, and combined with his previous uneasy feeling, it was as if something terrifying was lurking in the dark.

“You stay here and don’t move, I’ll go get someone!”

He turned and flew towards the depths of the cave, where there was a formation that could contact Xu Du and summon powerful reinforcements.

The two guards who had lost their sight were filled with fear and terror.

“My lord, my lord, where are you going? Take me with you, take me with you!”

“Don’t leave us, my lord!”

Having suddenly lost their sight, they were completely unable to adapt, and bumped around like headless flies. How could they possibly catch up with an Internal Palace Realm cultivator?

What they didn’t know was that someone had just “borrowed” their vision.

And this was the price of “borrowing”, and they had to pay it themselves!

Yin Guan’s secret technique was so wicked.

The Xu Du experts arrived the next morning.

It wasn’t that the journey took so long, but rather that Xu Country had limited experts. Each expert was in a very important position, and transferring them required coordinating many relationships. And the Songtao Beast Nest had only two guards suddenly go blind, the beast nest itself was not damaged, therefore, in Xu Du’s judgment, the situation was not so urgent.

“Their vision has been stripped away. The caster is very strong.”

The expert from Xu Du was a middle-aged woman with ordinary features, but a very capable air.

After looking at the Internal Palace Realm cultivator stationed here, she added: “Irreversible.”

The two guards who had been blind all night were immediately despondent.

The Internal Palace Realm cultivator also felt a sense of foreboding, after all, if that expert had made a slight mistake last night, he might have been the one blinded.

“Lord Song, who is the caster? Why did they strip away their vision?”

The middle-aged woman surnamed Song couldn’t imagine that it was only a side effect of Yin Guan “borrowing” vision.

Approaching the problem solely from the angle of stripping away vision, she naturally went in the wrong direction.

“It’s more like a warning,” the middle-aged woman said.

“A warning?” The Internal Palace Realm cultivator was shocked: “Are you saying…”

He remembered his scolding last night, and felt uneasy.

“When I just came in, I noticed a batch of ferocious beasts that showed signs of being suppressed by a powerful figure. There was still fear lingering in their instincts. The other party should also be a Divine Proving Realm expert,” the woman said.

From this “also” word, it was clear that this woman was also a Divine Proving Realm expert. And the only Divine Proving Realm expert surnamed Song in the entire Xu Country was Madam Xidu, Song Lian.

After analyzing, she asked: “Did we deduct any of the quantity of this Opening Meridian Pill?”

The Internal Palace Realm cultivator had a bitter look on his face, and didn’t speak.

How could they not deduct any? Each time demonic beasts were catalyzed, they would underreport the number within a reasonable range, thus leaving more Opening Meridian Pills for their own country.

After all, each Opening Meridian Pill was a transcendent cultivator.

“It can’t be helped if we ran into them,” Song Lian sighed: “This harvest will all be offered as tribute to the Qi Country.”

They had mistaken Yin Guan from last night as an expert sent by the Qi Country to check the harvest of Opening Meridian Pills.

And stripping the vision of two ordinary cultivators was clearly a warning from the Qi Country’s expert.

For such a warning, the Xu Country had to respond.

For no other reason than that they were weak and the other party was strong!