Yefutidaolu

Chapter 277 Pattern
The layouts of Liangzhou City and Cangzhou City are quite different.

Cangzhou City is divided into an inner city and an outer city. This is because Cangzhou has a well-developed waterway system, which can support such a large area. Various small rivers and tributaries are like blood vessels, spreading out to the huge outer city, which also supports so many people.

But Liangzhou is different.

There is little moisture in this place; instead, there is mostly the energy of metal and stone.

Therefore, there aren't enough waterways here to support such a large 'city,' so naturally there's no distinction between the inner and outer city.

Liangzhou City is just one city, and then there are only the outskirts.

The outskirts here aren't exactly cities; if you had to describe them, they're more like a 'migrant settlement'.

This kind of settlement has no houses, and naturally there are no towns. To be precise, the people in this place will be completely replaced every three or four months, and the familiar faces will disappear completely.

Where did it go?

It’s hard to say.

This is all due to the different local natural conditions. This difference is reflected in the external situation, and even... in Liangzhou, the difficulty of summoning wind and rain is different.

In Cangzhou City, a local shaman or deity might be able to summon a heavy rain, because Cangzhou is rich in moisture.

In Liangzhou, the earth and metal elements are particularly abundant, but the water element is scarce. To summon the same heavy rain, it would probably require a shaman from the third realm.

Liangzhou is a region that produces many martial artists and practitioners of various metal and stone qi, but it is particularly rare to find shamans and Taoists, which further exacerbates the local drought.

Yang Ling walked into this suburb, where there was a sandstorm outside. If you breathed heavily, you would choke on the sand in the air.

Living in this place for a long time, whenever you blow your nose, you'll see dark red patches inside; the dark ones are mud and sand, and the red ones are blood clots.

In such places, it is inevitable that they will swallow and inhale large amounts of dust, causing them to suffer from stomach problems, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. At the same time, because their mouths are full of sand and dust, they are also extremely thirsty.

But there was nothing they could do about being thirsty; Liangzhou was short of water.

As a result, asthma symptoms would naturally start much earlier, especially in a place like Liangzhou where it is hot all the time, making it particularly easy to contract various febrile diseases.

Breathing in such a place for a long time will inevitably cause breathing problems because sand and soil debris will invade various parts of the lungs.

But there was nothing I could do but endure it.

However, there is good news: the people of the Divine Dynasty are... remarkably patient.

Because they have methods of spiritual practice.

Through cultivation, even in such harsh environments, ordinary people can persevere, as their vitality can be greatly enhanced after cultivation.

It was precisely because of this that Liangzhou was able to develop.

It was March, and Yang Ling was walking along the gravel path by the river, looking around as he went.

Of course, there are rivers in Liangzhou, otherwise everyone would have died of thirst, right? There are just a few.

The largest natural river is within Liangzhou City; outside the city are only some small streams.

But it is precisely because of this stream that so many people have gathered around it.

You can see many women walking back and forth between two rows of old poplar trees. You can glimpse their tattered clothes. Next to them is a row of dilapidated wooden houses, all of which are temporary sheds, but many women are still sitting in front of the doors spinning and weaving.

Filthy, malnourished children played on the ground, all naked with protruding bellies. A flock of hens wandered around, greedily foraging for food in the garbage and filth.

There was a lot of noise all around, and some men were pulling dilapidated wooden carts across the road, loaded with goods or their belongings.

Some idle people are hurling insults at each other here.

There were also some soldiers in dirty uniforms, their shoes worn down to the heels, as if they had just come from a long journey.

And there were seemingly well-off idle men flirting with women; some women were willing to engage with them, while others were not.

The girls who didn't want to talk to him walked in pairs, carrying water jugs they had collected from the stream, just to protect themselves.

Two lazy officers were chatting, their uniforms unbuttoned and hanging loosely over their stomachs.

That's about it for this place.

Yang Ling arrived at this place and saw several hundred people gathered there. They were all young and strong, men and women. Although they looked like ordinary people, they all seemed to have some skills.

These should be 'gangs'.

After all, when people gather together, the power they generate is different. Often, if ordinary people want to live a good life, they have to form cliques, gangs, associations, and the like.

"Lord Yang, Lord Yang has arrived!"

"Lord Yang returned so quickly this time?"

"Sir, are you here?"

A large crowd quickly gathered around.

Yang Ling, however, was used to this and simply asked, "Are those Star Clan members still causing trouble?"

“Ever since the Star Clan was wiped out by the Lord, they’ve been believing in something and have been trying to commit suicide. The few survivors left are all powerless, and it seems they’ve really come to believe in that nonsense!” someone nearby said.

Yang Ling seemed relieved and said, "Then... it seems the Star Clan has really been wiped out... That's good. By the way, what about you guys lately? Are you still spreading the news?"

"The news has spread, and more and more people are deserting from the army. Look outside, all those soldiers have run away!" Someone approached Yang Ling and said, sounding quite excited.

"That's good." Yang Ling nodded and finally smiled. "Then let's work harder and continue to spread these messages. Then I will have someone send some military intelligence to the outside world so that the Qilin Division outside can seize the opportunity and come in directly."

Yang Ling was talking about losing his head, but the people next to him seemed completely oblivious, and were even eager to try it out.

That's natural, because everyone here owes Yang Ling a life. Yang Ling has saved many people, and among them, some are grateful and others are willing to risk their lives for a future.

Yang Ling, as the person in charge, was just a minor official of the seventh rank, with a cultivation level of only the fifth realm. He also practiced the standard cultivation method promulgated by the Divine Dynasty. He seemed insignificant and was just a minor official of the same rank as the captain of the Demon Suppression Division.

But supporting these people right now isn't too difficult.

After finishing his business with the people here, Yang Ling walked out and gazed at the desert not far away.

The various forces outside the borders of the various divine dynasties in the grasslands and deserts, although all are called the 'Grassland Royal Court', are actually not a unified entity, but rather a loose alliance.

The entire grassland royal court was composed of individual tribes. There was no other way; places without grand sacrificial ceremonies were too desolate and resources were severely lacking. Therefore, a unit area could not support a large population, and they had to constantly migrate and find new ways to survive, constantly seeking even a small means of survival within a vast area.

It's not that they don't want to farm, but that the conditions don't allow it.

In such an environment, the system that emerges can only be a loose tribal alliance, and cannot form a fixed and stable political power.

Political systems are realistic, and every system must be adapted to reality and constantly strive to change. No system can remain unchanged for twenty or thirty years, let alone two or three hundred years. But no matter how it changes, the fundamental spirit behind a system, that is, the main purpose of the system, will not change.

The system that arises in reality, along with its underlying intentions, constitutes the lifeblood and nourishment of the system; neither can be lacking.

Even the royal courts of the grasslands would inevitably be the same.

Outside, they generally formed tribes similar to the Taotie tribe and the Qiongqi tribe, using a certain strange beast as their tribal totem and then acquiring the power of that beast. The so-called 'tribe' is derived from the 'tribe' in their names.

These tribes, when brought together, formed the royal court of the grasslands.

The four barbarian tribes, namely the Taotie tribe, the Qiongqi tribe, the Taowu tribe, and the Hundun tribe, already had ties with the Divine Dynasty and had lived with it for many years, far removed from the relationship with the grassland royal court. Therefore, they chose to submit to the Divine Dynasty.

But apart from that, beyond the borders of the Divine Dynasty, in the desolate wilderness that had lost the protection of the 'Grand Sacrifice at the Temple of Heaven,' lived a group of tribes who could survive in a harsh environment without seasons.

These tribes had long coveted the favorable environment of the Divine Dynasty, hoping to take control of the Central Plains and enjoy the peaceful environment brought by the Temple of Heaven.

Yang Ling looked around.

Yang Ling had already seen in his past life that the environment of the Divine Dynasty was too harsh. This harshness was not due to infighting caused by insufficient resources, but rather a systematic and deliberately created harsh environment.

It didn't have to be so bad; it didn't have to turn out like this.

All of this is due to the greed of the bigwigs at the top.

So... if we break through the border, things might be a little easier in Liangzhou.

But what I didn't expect was... that the Divine Dynasty reacted so quickly.

Thinking of this, he gave a bitter smile, then a sneer, and after a few laughs, he looked up at the sky and found it all ridiculous.

It's true, I find it hilarious.

This situation in Liangzhou has persisted for a long time, many years ago. Various illegal acts and acts of brutality have occurred. When Yang Ling first entered officialdom more than 20 years ago, he submitted memorial after memorial and made report after report, but to no avail. He thought that... it was because of the vast distance. After all, Liangzhou is hundreds of thousands of miles away from the capital. The Divine Dynasty is too large and too slow to react quickly, which is understandable.

But this time...

Only four days after the incident, the imperial envoy from the Divine Dynasty arrived, and he was a student of the Imperial Academy.

This reaction speed shows absolutely no sign of 'the sky is high and the road is long'.

It turns out there was no such thing as being too far away; it was just a matter of 'being too lazy to bother'.

Such a divine dynasty, such a court, is better off without!

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Gao Jian ate his fill, his belly round and full.

He himself was a martial artist, and his main focus of cultivation was on the essence gate, so his ability to transform food and water was quite remarkable. Moreover, eating well could help him accumulate essence and improve his blood and qi. It can be said that for martial artists, eating well and eating a lot is a very important thing.

The saying "one meal of rice weighs a bushel and ten pounds of meat" is considered to be at the level of an ordinary martial artist. For someone of Gao Jian's level, eating something as heavy as himself in one meal is not difficult at all.

Moreover, if it's ordinary food, it will be digested instantly after eating, and it won't do any benefit to his body. It's a pure waste of time and may even cause him to go to the toilet very frequently because there are too many impurities.

Therefore, martial artists need to eat precious ingredients with extremely high energy density, such as the meat of various exotic beasts, spiritual rice, and spiritual herbs, to satisfy their needs.

For example, today's meal featured all sorts of rare and exotic animals, spiritual materials and rice, and even some elixirs. The wine was also of the highest quality, called "Baihua," which was brewed using one hundred kinds of spiritual flowers as ingredients. One sip could cure all diseases and prolong life, even for those with high opinions.

So Gao Jian didn't hold back. Since it wasn't his own money, he started eating right away and kept eating until he couldn't eat anymore and felt a bit indigestion, at which point he stopped.

Seeing Gao Jian eating so confidently, the officials and members of the Taotie Department who were accompanying him were also relieved. It seemed that Gao Jian was still willing to "mingle with the world" and was not arrogant because of previous grudges or his own talent.

It seems the news from the capital is somewhat inaccurate. The news from the capital says that Gao Jian is a wild and arrogant person who dares to do anything because of his talent. He openly blocked the gate of the Imperial Academy, killed Helun Sabao, went on a killing spree in the three tombs, offended Youmingdi, and even stepped on a true dragon to go to and from school. He is extremely arrogant and difficult to get along with.

But looking at it today, it's not actually that outrageous; this person is actually quite easy to get along with!

Since that's the case, then just like the students of the Imperial Academy in the past, everyone ate and drank well, the students readily agreed, and they helped each other complete their tasks. Everyone was happy and worked together to get through this matter.

Nothing will happen.

Gao Jian could gladly return to report, and they could also remain in their original positions as officials.

Gao Jian stood up, looking somewhat drunk, and said, "In that case, I'll leave the task of repairing the border to you gentlemen!"

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. It's all our duty. It's just that we were negligent before, which caused a lot of trouble and displeased the higher-ups, who sent an official down here. Alas, it's also our fault! Leave it to us this time, and we will definitely give you a satisfactory result to report back to, Lord Gao!" Jin Dafu, the head of the Jin family, immediately patted his chest and said.

"That's good, then... I'll go to sleep first!" Gao Jian said, chuckled twice, then lay down on the ground in the middle of the bar and fell fast asleep.

Prefect Jin Dafu and Taotie leader Yinmiao exchanged a glance, then ordered their men to leave the hall.

(End of this chapter)