Longzang

Chapter 35 Humans are fish on the chopping block
Faced with Wei Yuan's question, Feng Chutang nodded and said, "That's right. Even today, humans are still the top-tier sacrificial offerings for the Wuyu tribe's heaven-worshiping ceremonies. Every year, at least a million people are captured for these sacrifices. In ancient times, even more human sacrifices were used. The Wuyu tribe would often capture entire tribes and then sacrifice the whole tribe, young and old, together to the heavens, a ritual called 'Great Perfection.' To stop the Wuyu tribe from capturing people for sacrifice, the Liao people and the Wuyu tribe fought countless battles, large and small. The all-out war between the two tribes later on was also partly due to the question of which side humans belonged to."

The group of young men and women, including Wei Yuan, were even more puzzled. Someone asked, "Then why would the human race lead the Wuyu tribe's army across the border to outflank the Liao tribe's rear?"

Feng Chutang said, "The specific reasons for this matter are not recorded in historical materials, and I cannot speculate. I will tell you about the later outcome. If you are interested, you can check the relevant historical books yourself."

Feng Chutang paused for a moment, then slowly said, "After the Wuyu tribe's army crossed the border, the Liao tribe's eastern front suffered a crushing defeat. The King of Hanbei and the King of Yunshan were killed in battle, along with 500,000 cavalrymen who died and countless others who were wounded. The Wuyu army advanced 30,000 li before being stopped by the Liao tribe's rear army two months later. This battle turned the Wuyu tribe from being slightly at a disadvantage to having a slight advantage. The great war finally ended three years later, with the Liao tribe's borders retreating 15,000 li. Just six months before the end of the great war, a True Monarch of the human race broke through the Heavenly Gate and achieved Unity. He was the first Immortal Monarch in our race's history."

The Wu-Liao War and the first Immortal Lord of the Human Race were both events known to the scions of noble families, but they were unaware that there was a connection between the two. When Feng Chutang presented these two historical events together, even Wei Yuan, who was unaware of these events, vaguely sensed something amiss.

The young men and women looked at each other, and all fell silent. Historically speaking, the human race at that time seemed destined to be criticized for aiding the enemy and being ungrateful. However, the appearance of the first immortal ruler marked the beginning of human civilization.

Wei Yuan had a hunch that the resources for the first human to advance to Immortal Lord might have come from the Wuyu Clan.

That concludes the lesson; it's time for get out of class to end.

Feng Chutang said, "If anyone is interested in this history, they can look it up on their own when they get back. However, these historical facts are scattered in different historical books, and each book can only show a small part of them. You need to read a certain number of books to see them more clearly. Alright, that's all for today's lesson. In the next lesson, we will talk about the Wuyu tribe. Their entanglement with our tribe has lasted for more than 200,000 years."

After the class, Wei Yuan felt as if a corner of the world had quietly unfolded before him.

At the end of the lecture, a thick stack of jade paper appeared on each student's desk, at least a dozen pages long. These jade papers contained various historical records of ancient times, each sheet representing a book. These historical books were specially selected by Feng Chutang for the students to read on their own at home.

Just as Wei Yuan was leaving with the book, the Taoist on duty stopped him and pressed his identity jade token onto the jade book. A line of small characters appeared on the book: Wei Yuan, disciple of Tianqing Palace, owes sixty taels of book fees.

Wei Yuan was startled. These few books were going to cost him half a year's worth of monthly silver? Although he was in debt for the time being, he still had to pay back the silver he owed! Wei Yuan wanted to return all the books, but the other students in the class just swiped their cards and left without hesitation, without even glancing at the jade book.

After most of the students had left, Wei Yuan asked in a low voice, "Excuse me, Daoist Master, can these books be returned?"

The Taoist priest remained expressionless and said, "The waist token has already been swiped and will not be refunded! Besides, this is a lesson assigned by our master, why not study it? If you just want to coast through life, why come to Taichu Palace?"

Reprimanded by the Taoist, Wei Yuan could only sheepishly leave with his book. He had observed that Zhang Sheng was exceptionally generous in other aspects, but hesitated when it came to matters of immortal silver. Therefore, Wei Yuan guessed that his master might be short of money and was trying to save him as much as possible.

Wei Yuan knew the history books distributed in class were valuable, but he figured that once you read a book, you'd remember it, so there was no need to buy them. However, the Taoist priest was quick; before Wei Yuan could react, he had already swiped his identity token.

Back in the courtyard, Wei Yuan picked up the small bottle containing the Qi-Drinking Pills, poured them out, and counted them.

The bottle of Qi-Drinking Pills they received was only enough for a month; any more would have to be purchased separately. The important thing about the Qi-Drinking Pills was their ability to enhance mental focus; the fact that they didn't require food was secondary. Wei Yuan picked up the sect entry manual and read it again, trying to find some ways to earn money. The manual said that the Dust Affairs Hall, which managed miscellaneous tasks, would assign tasks to lower-ranking disciples, and there would be rewards for completing these tasks. This was the main source of income for impoverished students studying at the Taichu Palace.

However, the tasks assigned by the Dust Palace all require disciples to have a certain level of cultivation, at the very least they must complete the flesh and blood forging of the Body Forging Realm. Wei Yuan does not have this ability yet, so he has to put it aside.

In the afternoon, Wei Yuan read some history books, and after nightfall, he continued to cultivate the "Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon" painting. The cultivation that night was very smooth, and the ground beneath the jade toad expanded another circle, reaching twelve feet.

At dawn, Wei Yuan finished his practice and slept for an hour before feeling refreshed and continuing his classes at Qisi Hall.

The second day's lesson was a general overview of the immortal path, covering the history of the cultivation world, which differed in focus from the general history of humanity. The instructor was a middle-aged Taoist priest, whose Taoist name was Dixia, and who possessed an extraordinary and otherworldly demeanor.

After the class began, the Taoist priest gestured, and a long scroll appeared before the students. The beginning of the scroll depicted scenes of raw meat and bloody battles. The middle section, the longest, showed celestial mountains and realms, with several immortals wandering the heavens. The latter part of the scroll mostly showed scenes of immortals gathering and battling countless alien beasts.

The Taoist pointed a finger, and two scenes in the scroll lit up: one of a person attaining immortality in a simple mountain cave, and the other of a human king gathering a million soldiers to establish a dynasty. Behind the human king, on the banner, was the character "Li".

The entire history of human cultivation is divided into ancient and medieval periods by the appearance of the first immortal lord, and into medieval and modern periods by the first unified dynasty, Li. The dividing point between ancient and modern times is the establishment of the Great Tang and the emergence of the unified examination of sects.

This first lesson naturally begins in ancient times. At that time, humans were mainly in tribes, scattered throughout various regions. Later, someone discovered a wondrous book, the *Mending Heaven Scripture*, and thus the practice of cultivation began. Generation after generation of cultivators practiced and refined their methods, gradually increasing their cultivation levels and strengthening their cultivation techniques. Because of the emergence of cultivators, the status of humans in the eyes of other races improved. If humans were previously seen as cattle and sheep, then with the advent of cultivators, they became sheepdogs.

After listening to just one lesson, Wei Yuan felt that whether or not there were cultivators, the overall fate of the human race seemed to make no fundamental difference. After all, once the cattle and sheep are exhausted, the dogs and horses have to take their place.

(End of this chapter)