Mu Feng had never felt so humiliated.
With his cultivation at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, he had also mastered the First-rank Middle-grade Technique, Spiritual Eye Technique, and the First-rank Lower Grade Magic, Fireball Technique. While his status in the Beast Valley wasn’t at the very top, he was certainly in the upper echelons.
But he never expected this.
His usually quiet and honest neighbor was actually cultivating the Spirit Worm Manipulation Skill—a skill only a madman would dare to practice.
If it were any other type of Magic, he might have dared to risk his life in a fight. But against a Spirit Insect Manipulator, he didn’t stand a chance.
After getting over his initial panic, Mu Feng calmed himself. He glanced at the distance between himself and Li Changsheng as Spiritual Power rapidly circulated through his body.
’Just a little closer...’
A fawning smile appeared on Mu Feng’s face. He said obsequiously, "I knew Senior Brother Li was no ordinary person! To successfully cultivate a First-rank Upper-grade technique! After you join the Cyan Yang Sect in the future, you’ll surely soar to prominence."
"At that time, reaching the mere Vein Condensation Realm will be a piece of cake for you. Even becoming a Great Cultivator of the Dao Foundation Realm wouldn’t be impossible!"
As expected, his words caught Li Changsheng’s attention.
Li Changsheng asked in confusion, "Vein Condensation Realm? Dao Foundation Realm?"
Mu Feng chuckled deferentially. "Senior Brother Li, you haven’t been cultivating for long, so you might not know. The next major realms after the Qi Cultivation Realm are the Vein Condensation Realm and the Dao Foundation Realm. I’ve heard there are realms beyond the Dao Foundation Realm, but that’s something a mere Junior Cultivator like me wouldn’t know about."
Seeing Li Changsheng fall silent in thought, Mu Feng’s mind raced.
An anxious expression suddenly appeared on his face. "Senior Brother Li, did you hear that wolf howl just now? That was a Vein Condensation Realm Wolf Demon! Let’s talk inside. We’re done for if that Wolf Demon notices us out here." After speaking, he turned to look behind him, as if afraid the Wolf Demon would suddenly appear.
’Go inside?’
Li Changsheng watched his back, a strange, unreadable smile playing on his lips.
’The Wolf Demon Mu Feng mentioned is most likely real. But would it be safer inside the wooden house than in the yard? That’s not a given.’
’Sometimes, people are far more dangerous than demons...’
Just then, Mu Feng turned back and said urgently, "Senior Brother Li, let’s hurry inside! The Wolf Demon is quiet for now, but who knows when it might..."
"Ah!" Before he could finish his sentence, an excruciating pain shot through his arm and thigh.
THUD...
Mu Feng fell to the ground, stunned. He then felt a scorching heat emerge from the source of the pain, spreading wildly through his body.
’It’s poison!’
Panic flashed across Mu Feng’s face as he hastily circulated his Spiritual Power to suppress the poison spreading through his limbs.
"You..."
After temporarily getting the poison under control, Mu Feng looked at the calm-faced youth in the distance, his eyes filling with venomous hatred.
Li Changsheng said lightly, "Don’t blame me, Senior Brother Mu. You made me feel you were too dangerous."
"Now, you can tell me everything..."
"What is the Beast Valley? What are we? And why do the disciples in the Beast Valley kill each other?"
Mu Feng said nothing, staring daggers at him while circulating his Spiritual Power to expel the poison.
But how could Li Changsheng give him that chance?
With a mere thought, a dozen more Red-winged Blood Bamboo flew out and landed on his red, swollen, and purplish wounds, injecting another wave of blood poison and giving him no chance at all.
Feeling the poison intensify, Mu Feng’s eyes nearly split with rage. He cursed, "You animal! You Beast Slave..."
Not only was Li Changsheng not angry, he even smiled. "Are you trying to feed these little things I’m raising?"
"You..."
Hearing this, Mu Feng’s expression changed dramatically. Though he still glared with fury, he didn’t dare to curse out loud again.
"That’s better..." Li Changsheng’s smile vanished as he said coolly, "Tell me what’s going on."
"If you don’t, I’ll have them eat you, bite by bite..."
Looking at the youth’s earnest expression, fear surged in Mu Feng’s heart. He finally understood why everyone said cultivators who practiced Insect Control were all madmen.
After a moment of silence, he began to speak.
「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」
Having learned the full story, Li Changsheng’s expression turned incredibly grim.
Not far away, Mu Feng lay on the ground, his pupils ashen and lifeless.
His body was riddled with holes, and blood stained his clothes. He had clearly been tortured before his death.
"Fuck..."
Li Changsheng cursed under his breath, his expression dark and heavy.
’No wonder joining the sect was so easy,’ he thought. ’It turns out we aren’t outer sect disciples at all, but Beast Slaves, raised to tend to the Spirit Beasts for the Beast Soul lineage of the Cyan Yang Sect.’
The two attacks he had suffered were because the two Vein Condensation Realm Guardian Cultivators stationed in the Beast Valley were collecting resources.
According to Mu Feng, because of the high death toll involved in raising Spirit Beasts, the Beast Soul lineage sent over a hundred new Beast Slaves to the Beast Valley every year.
These new arrivals presented an opportunity for the Guardian Cultivators who arrived over a decade ago. Every year, before they had to submit their quota, they would secretly incite the Beast Slaves to kill one another.
The winner would get half of the loser’s resources, while the other half went to the two Guardian Cultivators.
While there were no restrictions on the form of the slaughter, there was one strict rule.
After the killing was over, the number of cultivators in the Beast Valley could not exceed nine hundred. Otherwise, the two Guardian Cultivators would step in and randomly select a few "lucky ones" to send on their way.
The Beast Slaves were like leeks, harvested one crop after another.
’Why don’t they do the killing themselves?’
Li Changsheng had asked Mu Feng this question.
Mu Feng’s answer was that killing people would cause one to be tainted by resentment. Although it wouldn’t affect one’s cultivation and might even make one’s aura sharper, the Guardian Cultivators had to eventually return to the sect. If they were tainted by too much resentment, the rating for their mission would plummet, and so would their rewards.
Besides, if they constantly did the killing themselves, it would inevitably provoke a backlash from the Beast Slaves over time. It was far better to sit back and reap the rewards like a fisherman profiting from a squabble.
’As for getting half the spoils?’
’Heh, those resources would only be yours if you could escape the Beast Valley. Otherwise, they were just being held in your safekeeping.’
’Why would they care about a bunch of people with Ruined Veins and Crippled Veins?’
As for the Marketplace outside the Beast Valley, it was nothing more than a supply station for Beast Slaves, Earth Slaves, Medicine Slaves, and Mining Slaves.
The Cyan Yang Sect wouldn’t allow them any contact with the outside world.
Li Changsheng murmured softly, "This is so fucked..." He suddenly felt the path ahead was bleak, with no glimmer of hope in sight.
Mu Feng had also explained what Ruined Veins and Crippled Veins were.
Ruined Veins and Crippled Veins meant being born with incomplete Spirit Veins, allowing one to cultivate only to the early or middle stages of the Qi Cultivation Realm.
Attributeless Spirit Veins were complete, but because they lacked an elemental attribute, they had a fatal flaw. Although one could cultivate with them, they were extremely susceptible to backlash when practicing or using Magic, so they were also considered a type of Crippled Vein.
According to Mu Feng, Li Changsheng likely had an Attributeless Spirit Vein that was tainted with a faint trace of an attribute. This was what allowed him to successfully master the insect control technique. Otherwise, he would have died from the magical backlash right at the beginning.
’But I have a different understanding. I believe I truly have an Attributeless Spirit Vein. It’s just that the existence of my "panel" allowed me to bypass the initial barrier to entry.’
Although this was good news, he couldn’t bring himself to be happy.
In such an environment and with his current status, he didn’t know how he could ever turn things around.
’To think that I’d transmigrate just to be a Beast Slave for the rest of my life?’ Li Changsheng laughed at himself.
He looked at Mu Feng’s corpse, and after a moment of silence, his resolve hardened. With a mere thought...
BZZZ...
The swarm of insects quickly descended upon Mu Feng’s body.
"Farewell..."
Li Changsheng’s expression was complex.
In truth, after he had successfully learned to control the Red-winged Blood Bamboo, he had checked their rearing requirements.
Rearing Requirement: Flesh and blood rich in Spiritual Qi. The higher the Spiritual Qi content, the better the effect.
Previously, he had planned to wait for his herd of Tusked Pigs to mature and use them to raise his swarm.
But now, with danger lurking everywhere in the Beast Valley, he needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible.
’And how could a Tusked Pig possibly compare to a Cultivator...’