Yefutidaolu

Chapter 279 Beyond the Divine Dynasty, a landscape where heaven and earth have died!

Soon, the envoys all left.

Because they got the answer they wanted, and although Qilin Shen didn't give a specific plan, he had already made a promise to them, which was enough.

The Qilin is handsome and elegant, the leader of all beasts. The Qilin is to the beasts as the phoenix is ​​to the birds, to the sages as to the people, and to the aquatic creatures as to the dragon.

Humans are the primates of naked insects, true dragons are the primates of scaled insects, and the Qilin are the primates of all hairy insects. They are also a race born with three gates and nine orifices, possessing extremely powerful talents. They are the primates of all things, on par with humans and true dragons.

The Qilin tribe is not a true Qilin, but it can be said that the humans on the grasslands, in order to survive, have long since merged with the strange beasts and become the power of the caterpillars.

After watching all the envoys leave, Qilin Shen also stepped out of the tent and into the grassland.

He still had something to do, a crucial matter concerning the survival of the Qilin tribe, so it couldn't be delayed.

Qilin Shen walked quickly on the grass of the Blade Plain. Even with his physical strength, his feet were a little sore, since he wasn't wearing shoes.

This was intentional, to remind himself that he was still standing on the razor-sharp plain, with sharp, knife-like blades of grass beneath his feet.

As they passed through the tents of ordinary people from the Qilin tribe, many Qilin tribe members hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects, the grass leaves scratching their knees and foreheads.

Qilin Shen immediately said, "Get up, no need to bow."

The members of the Qilin tribe below quickly shook their heads: "Our leader has been leading us to survive, how could we not pay our respects? Then, leader, we'll go and gather grass seeds first!"

With that, they left.

At this moment, some children were playing nearby.

The children wore straw sandals, which were woven from the grass leaves of the Sharp Blade Plain; otherwise, their feet would surely have been pierced.

However, since they were just children playing, it was inevitable that they would fall down. Several children accidentally fell on the grassland, and suddenly several cuts appeared on their bodies.

They immediately burst into tears. Several tattooed women rushed out, bowed to Qilin Shen, and then carried the children back into the tent to apply medicine.

Qilin Shen observed for a while and found that the children would recover soon, so he walked forward with peace of mind.

If it were an ordinary child, such a fall would probably have them shredded by the grass.

However, these children all have Qilin tattoos on their bodies, which means they possess the power of a mythical beast. Therefore, their physical bodies are quite resilient, and even though they are children, such a fall is not a fatal injury.

However... this comes at a price.

Qilin Shen walked to the center of the tribe, where there were only a few thousand tents, meaning that the entire Qilin tribe numbered only tens of thousands of people.

He walked to the center of the tribe, where many men and women were already waiting. He counted them: twenty-five men and twenty-five women, exactly fifty people.

Young men and women gathered here, looking at Qilin Shen with expectant eyes.

Qilin Shen arrived and said, "The number of couples allowed to get married this year is twenty-five, and they're all here, right?"

“Yes, clan leader!” the person next to him said.

“Then I will offer my blessings to you,” said Qilin Shen.

The men and women immediately looked at Qilin Shen with delight, their eyes brimming with joy.

Meanwhile, more young men and women around them looked on with frustration and envy at the situation.

Qilin Shen saw all of this, but he could only sigh.

The reason is also very simple.

He would inscribe a blessing on each chosen young couple, and only those blessed could marry, conceive, and give birth to children.

Only in this way will the child be born with natural Qilin markings and a strong physique.

Otherwise... the child born would be an ordinary human child, and ordinary human children would not be able to survive on the Blade Plains.

The reason those children were playing and frolicking on the Blade Plain, wearing straw sandals, was for the same reason.

Without the help of the Qilin pattern, mortals could not survive here. Every Qilin tribe... no, it should be said that all the Hu people, those tribes that do not belong to the Divine Dynasty but belong to the grassland royal court, are the same.

There can be no ordinary people; every child must be born with a Qilin pattern, otherwise they will die before they even reach one year old.

However, the power of the Qilin pattern is not unlimited; there is only a fixed number each year. If there are too many, it will affect the overall power of the Qilin tribe.

The population of the grasslands is low because of these reasons. It's not that people can't have children, but rather that the population must be manually controlled; otherwise, the people born would not be able to survive in the Blade Plains.

Soon, the blessing ceremony was completed, and the young couples who had received the blessing left happily, embracing each other, to return to their tents.

Meanwhile, many of the tribespeople watching from the outside could only feel envious.

Here, being able to leave your own child behind is a privilege.

It's not that no one takes the risk of giving birth to an ordinary child, but the ending is always the same: the child will be pierced by a sharp blade as soon as it is out of protection.

No baby can survive without the beast markings.

Qilin Shen completed the ceremony and then left again, as he had other things to do.

They were still walking on the Sharp Blade Plain.

The pain in my feet, the struggle to survive, the decline in population...

Qilin Shen muttered to himself, "Naked insects reside in the center, hairy insects in the northwest, and scaled insects in the four seas..."

Humans lived very comfortably in the Central Plains, thanks to the Temple of Heaven.

The scaled creatures lived in the sea, but the true dragons propelled the four seas, and after the ocean currents shifted, life began to improve.

Meanwhile, in the northwest of the land, the caterpillars, those wild beasts, and their wild relatives... this group of humans, known as the 'Hu people,' still live on the Blade Plain.

Because in this desolate world, where everything withers, the sharp blades and the strange beast patterns are what they rely on for survival.

Without the mythical beast patterns, the child would lose the help of the four seasons and would not be able to grow up. Instead, he would become a giant baby like a 'millennial cicada' and would be unable to develop.

Qilin Shen pondered the reason and went outside.

But they saw many members of the Qilin tribe picking up grass seeds on the ground.

They were all adult warriors of the Qilin tribe with accomplished cultivation, and only adults with such accomplished cultivation were qualified to pick up grass seeds.

But then they saw them bending down, reaching out to pick up grass seeds on the grassland of the Sharp Blade Plain. These grass seeds were the staple food of the Qilin tribe... no, it should be said that they were the staple food of all the Hu people.

Unable to grow food, they could only hunt strange beasts and scavenge grass seeds on the Blade Plains to survive, so they couldn't support a large population. Moreover, scaffolding grass seeds was an extremely dangerous and arduous task, as the grass leaves on the Blade Plains were very tough and sharp, and scaffolding grass seeds was like picking rice in a mountain of knives.

As for using magic to roll up the seeds, that's impossible. The grass in the Sharp Blade Plain protects its seeds, and you have to forcibly break them open by hand to get them. Even adults with advanced cultivation often get injured in this process. After all that hard work harvesting them, they have to go through many processing steps before they can be eaten; otherwise, you simply can't digest these sharp seeds.

After so many processing steps, it is actually not very palatable. The grass seeds have an extremely rough texture, and eating them often makes your mouth ache. Many times, after steaming, you have to swallow a mouthful of grass seeds and a mouthful of blood. Moreover, you can't swallow them directly; you have to chew them thoroughly and carefully before you can swallow them.

If swallowed whole, the grass seeds can still cut through the intestines, and one would die inside.

Such are the living conditions on the wild grasslands.

"Chief!" The tribespeople who were picking up grass seeds all bowed to Qilin Shen.

Qilin Shen nodded: "I'll help you."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and began picking up grass seeds. He was highly skilled and capable, so he picked up grass seeds much faster than thousands of people. Therefore, with his help, the grass seeds in this area could be picked up quickly.

Unfortunately……

Even if it goes fast, it won't be fast for long.

Because the amount of grass seeds in a region is limited, once they are all picked, the tribes have to move to other places. That's why the tribes on the grasslands are constantly wandering and migrating.

It's not because they're bored and want to travel to a place like Sharp Blade Plains, but because if they don't travel, they'll go hungry.

Fortunately... grass seeds are a kind of spiritual material. Although they are hard to chew and digest, they contain a lot of energy that can sustain the daily needs of cultivators.

With Qilin Shen's help, all the grass seeds in this area were collected in just one afternoon, and the work that originally took ten days was compressed into one afternoon.

Before long, the grass seeds in this area were ready.

"How long do we have enough food reserves to sustain our campaign?" Qilin Shen clapped his hands and asked another old man beside him.

"Chief, with the grain contributed by each unit, it's enough to sustain a month of high-intensity combat. Moreover, if we break into it, the Divine Dynasty's grain can also be used by us. Once inside, with our individual combat capabilities, we can definitely plunder a large portion, and even... if it's like last time, we can stay inside for more than ten years." As the old man spoke, his eyes shone with a vibrant spirit.

I can't help but feel energetic.

The fertile lands controlled by the Divine Dynasty held such a great allure for these barbarian peoples in the wilderness.

Even Liangzhou, a garbage dump in the eyes of the Divine Dynasty people, a desolate and godforsaken place, or even the Blood Sea, a place where mortals would die if they entered, was a fertile land for the Hu people.

They dream of getting in.

Once they enter the area covered by the Temple of Heaven, and the Divine Dynasty does not control them, they can live a very long time, with plenty to eat and wear, and without worrying about being injured by the sharp blades.

Qilin Shen nodded. Although he remained calm, he couldn't help but glance into the distance.

Right there.

Under that blue sky—

They had the peaceful life they dreamed of, a beautiful life that those people of the Divine Dynasty wasted, took for granted, and were even too lazy to cherish...

----------

Gao Jian opened his eyes.

He was still inside the Liangzhou government office, in that main hall.

Actually, he wasn't asleep. The Hundred Flowers Wine didn't make him drunk. Although it was a wine specifically for those who had passed through the Divine Gate, Gao Jian's Divine Gate was already open and his divine will was complete, so he wouldn't be intoxicated by such a thing.

However, he still pretended to be drunk, all to gain people's trust.

It seems... his acting skills are quite good; nobody noticed.

Gao Jian stretched and stood up.

The surrounding area had already been cleaned up, and warm water had been placed there.

Gao Jian washed his face, touched the rusty knife, and confirmed that he was in perfect condition.

Very well, now it's time to get to work.

Gao Jian swaggered away from the place, and the servants and maids on the road all bowed respectfully and called him "Sir".

Gao Jian nodded in acknowledgment, then ignored them and walked out of the government office.

He was preparing to go to the actual border, the area that had been lost before but was reclaimed more than a decade ago.

It's about 20,000 to 30,000 miles away from Liangzhou City, but that's not a lot. It's just that there's no straight road... so we can't use a high-speed flying boat, and we have to use other mounts.

At this point, Gao Jian began to miss the dragon dance again.

Fortunately, Zou Long didn't come. If he had, the problem would have been much bigger, and he would have died.

Let's rent a mechanical beast or something first, then—

Just as Gao Jian was pondering these things on the road, Yang Ling, the clerk of the prefectural government, a minor official, appeared before him again.

"Lord Gao, are you looking for transportation?" Yang Ling asked.

"Huh? You know?" Gao Jian asked in surprise.

Is it like a pillow being delivered when you're sleepy? Or is it that the pillow was prepared in advance, just waiting for you to fall asleep?

The differences between the two are quite significant.

"Hey, I could have guessed. You've come with a heavy responsibility, how could you just sit in Liangzhou City and let them do as they please? You'll definitely go to Yongning yourself." Yang Ling smiled. "Since you've thought of that, it's only natural that I'd prepare a mount for you in advance, for the sake of my future prospects, isn't it?"

Then, he summoned a strange beast behind him: "Look, the strange beast I brought you is a cub born of a tiger and a leopard, named Leopard Tiger. This kind of beast has also been imbued with the aura of a Qilin, and has been transformed to the second realm. Traveling ten thousand miles a day is no problem for it."

"Mr. Gao, what do you mean?" Yang Ling asked.

Gao Jianze smiled and said, "With your personality, you have a bright future in officialdom. How come you're still just a manager?"

"I don't treat everyone this way. I've just heard some of Mr. Gao's deeds. Normally, I'm a bit impulsive and have offended quite a few people, but in matters like this, I still have some sense of propriety," Yang Ling said, cupping his hands in greeting.

Then, with a serious expression, he said, "Mr. Gao, the people of Liangzhou live a very hard life..."

"Within the Divine Dynasty, is there anyone who doesn't suffer?" Gao Jian shook his head.

“But the people of Liangzhou suffer especially. Since Mr. Gao wants to visit the Yongning region, why don’t you let me lead the way? What do you say?” Yang Ling pointed to the strange beast in front of him that was imbued with the aura of a Qilin.

Gao Jian thought for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, then you can lead the way."

(End of this chapter)