There are three mountains and five lakes in the Heyan Xiaoqian World. Although the mountains in the north are called mountains, they are actually a series of low hills, with green shrubs forming shadows, and many strange and strange animals gathering among them.
There are no streams in the mountains, only a few underground springs can be seen occasionally, mixed with sulfur gas, with steaming water mist rising from them.
These springs are polluted by miasma and sulfur and are not drinkable. The source of water for the strange beasts relies entirely on the Houyuan River that runs through the mountains of the North, and its several tributaries that divide horizontally and vertically like leaf veins.
And if you follow Houyuan River directly to find its origin, you will pass through the vast Biyin Swamp.
Some people say that there is a big monster hidden in Biyin Swamp, which has been entrenched in the swamp for more than a thousand years. Its strength is so powerful that even the Shinto monks who are now very powerful do not dare to provoke it easily. With it here, the monsters and monsters have not been driven away to death. .
After passing the swamp, you will arrive at Pingdingshan, the most prosperous place among the three mountains and five lakes.
This mountain is particularly tall, strong and steep. Even if the monks retreat thousands of miles away, they can still see the majesty of the mountain. It runs straight into the sky, and the mountainside is captured by wandering clouds. All the great rivers in the small world of Heyan originate here. What is surprising is that the peak of Pingding Mountain, which should be equally tall and precipitous, is empty, as if someone has cut it off in the middle, and there is no part above the mountainside.
Even so, the towering height of this mountain still dominates other mountains, which shows its majesty.
Wearing linen clothes and wearing a pair of bare feet, the tiger-spotted old man looked at the mountain in the distance. His usual open and heroic spirit was gone, and he felt a thick layer of gloom pouring down from the sky, making him uneasy.
"Father, the Shinto messenger has left."
Those who came also stepped on the ground with bare feet, and the new grass crunched softly under the broad soles of their feet, and the juices splashed together with the morning rain and dew.
He has a similar appearance to the old man, except that the tiger spots around his body are larger, and the two ears covered with hair have not turned into human ears.
"How much have you harvested this year?" The old man called father only had kindness in his eyes when he turned around, but this kindness was quickly overshadowed by worry and sadness.
"Elixirs and materials are 80% each, and the beast slave has taken two hundred of them."
This must be an astonishing amount, otherwise the old man wouldn't have swung his robes, and his eyes could almost overflow with pain.
He walked back with his beloved son, walking steadily and straightly, and said clearly: "Last year, when we came to collect, we collected 60% of the elixir and 40% of the spiritual material. The beast slaves were collected every ten years, and what they asked for last time was Only half, that is, eighty-two. Since the levy share was adjusted three hundred years ago, it has not changed in the past few years. This year there has been a sudden increase of so many, it is almost emptying our clan... and my clan is in the Northland. The sixty-four tribes in the mountain are still relatively small, and those big tribes with richer backgrounds may have received more. Such a huge amount of elixirs and spiritual materials were sent to the beast slaves, which shows that there is something troublesome on the human side."
The young man followed the old man and nodded. After hearing the second half of the sentence, he suddenly took a step forward and whispered in his ear: "I heard it was because of the Scarlet God Palace."
"Red God Palace?" The old man suddenly stopped his feet and scolded his son again, "Don't say these words again."
Seeing that the information he had worked so hard to get was not approved by his father, but was scolded by him, the young man couldn't help but feel angry. When he told his friends about this, he became even more indignant and spoke passionately.
"Your Majesty is also cautious in dealing with things. After all, the Red God Palace is the leading force in the human Shinto sect. It monopolizes 50% of the treasures paid tribute by the sixty-four clans every year. Who knows that it is so arrogant? Won't you leave eyes and ears in the mountains of the north?" The human monk sitting opposite the young man had a handsome appearance, with slightly sunken cheeks and a bit of weight loss, but he looked more like an immortal and had an air of being aloof from the world.
It is precisely because this branch of the world is so different from the Shinto monks outside the mountains in the north that the young man told the monks when they first met that he came from Mize Lake and was on the same side as the Shinto monks. I'm seventy-eight percent convinced.
Now that they have been together for more than two months, the amazing strength displayed by the other party makes him even more convinced and amazed.
"That's right. My father always thinks more than I do, and he always says that I'm not stable enough." The young man took two sips from the wine bottle, rested one elbow on the table, and said with a bit of luck in his tone, "Today It’s thanks to the method you gave me, Brother Zhou, that I can train all those beast slaves to behave. Otherwise, how would the clan be able to get together two hundred of them if they were just looking for life and death like before?”
Zhou Kang lowered his head and smiled, a cold light flashing in his eyes: "I came across this method by chance, and kept it in my hands because of its unique functions. It is a great blessing to be able to help Brother Gu Ming. As for those beast slaves, who I don’t know that after the Shinto monks take them away, they will twitch, peel off the skin, bleed and dissect the bones, and even use the fur for refining, so for them, it is better to kill themselves early than to live."
These words made Gu Ming shiver uncontrollably. He touched his cheek with his big fur-covered hand and said happily: "Fortunately, my father is wise. Under his governance, our Velvet Tiger Clan is still one of the sixty-four clans." One, unlike those small tribes that are not worthy of the name, which are easily invaded by other tribes, and the whole tribe is reduced to beast slaves."
"The methods under your rule are indeed brilliant, but Brother Gu Ming, you also know that the mountains in the north are weak. Even if the sixty-four tribes work together, they cannot compete with the Shinto monks."
"That's true." Gu Ming was led over by Zhou Kang and listened to the other party slowly explaining the pros and cons.
"I once told Brother Gu Ming that the reason for the sharp increase in the number of Shinto monks levied this year is actually in the Red God Palace. Not only the sixty-four tribes in the mountains of the north, but when I traveled in other lands a few days ago, there were many human races In small countries and towns, the annual income has also doubled, resulting in the people's wealth being dispersed and their flesh and blood being separated." Zhou Kang sighed as he spoke, and saw that the tiger-spotted man had no compassion on his face and could only look at him with curiosity. , and my heart felt a little colder.
"Due to their spiritual practice, Shinto monks need to constantly recruit souls from outside. I have read through the historical records of many small countries and found that the years when they were recruiting souls coincided with the breakthrough of important figures in the Shinto sect. But it’s not like this year when even the elixirs and spiritual materials have doubled.” Zhou Kang lowered his voice a little and said, “In order to avoid exhausting the lake and cutting off their own immortal path, Shinto monks collect a fixed amount of treasures every year. If we conquer too many mountains in the north and small human countries, it means there are shortcomings in other places."
"That place is exactly my hometown, little brother, the Shinto forbidden land you talk about, the Great Lake Mize!"
Gu Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he sat up immediately, blinking with doubt.
But Zhou Kang sighed with emotion, shook his head and said sadly: "The spiritual veins in the Great Lake of Mize are broken, and the old practice is difficult. Every year, countless treasures must be given in order to preserve oneself. When absorbing spiritual energy to practice, he is even more frugal. Be careful, for fear that the spiritual veins will dry up and the road will be cut off. But if this is the case, the underground spiritual veins will continue to dry up.
"Without spiritual veins, it is naturally impossible to cultivate spiritual medicines and mine spiritual materials. The Shinto monks cannot collect them from the Great Lake of Mize, so they can only make up for it from other places."
