Zhang Yao's speech concluded:
The numerous Golden Core Cultivators remained silent, none of them taking the initiative to step forward and express a willingness to stay behind.
There was no helping it; the benefits represented by the Taiyin Tide assembly were simply too astonishing.
Especially this time, with the renowned Elder Qingxu leading, it was likely the greatest opportunity of their lives. Who would be willing to give it up?
Even though Zhang Yao promised to share a portion of the harvest and provide additional compensation, how could that compare to personally going there?
"...Alright."
Zhang Yao sighed and said:
"Since no one is willing to stay behind, let's decide by drawing lots."
With those words, he waved his sleeve, and pure magical power coalesced into a five-colored lot tube. Inside, a mass of five-colored mist continuously expanded and contracted, and the whole tube shimmered with a hazy luster, impenetrable by divine thought or magical power.
This lot tube, and the mist within, were not material objects but virtual entities formed by magical power. Unless someone's magical power and divine thought surpassed Zhang Yao's, no one could peek ahead or attempt to cheat.
The only one who could cheat was Zhang Yao himself, but there was no point in that since he could directly appoint someone; drawing lots was just for fairness.
"Draw lots."
Zhang Yao suggested.
"Yes."
The crowd responded, and Du Guyan was the first to act, using a sliver of divine thought to probe into the mass of five-colored mist, then quickly withdrew.
The five-colored mist flickered, condensing into a light lot about a foot long, which fell into Du Guyan's hand.
He played with the light lot in his hand calmly, watching as the other Golden Core Cultivators one after another drew lots of various lengths from the five-colored lot tube.
Since they belonged to three different countries, apart from Chen Xianhe, the remaining Golden Core Cultivators drew lots in three groups, and results were soon determined.
Among them:
The Three Mountains Ancestor of Da Li, the visiting Golden Core Cultivator of Dayu, and an experienced Golden Core Cultivator of Dachang were assigned to stay behind.
Once the lot-drawing results were out, apart from the three unlucky ones who didn't look too pleased, the rest secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling quite good.
"The results are set. The rest of you should get ready."
Zhang Yao stood up with a wave of his sleeve and indicated for everyone to disperse:
"Tomorrow morning, we set out for Jing Kingdom."
......
"Boom!" "Boom!"...
More than a dozen escape lights streaked across the sky, their powerful auras spreading in all directions, startling numerous bandit groups into scattering.
"...Is it my imagination?"
Zhang Yao, flying at the forefront, withdrew his gaze from overlooking the desolate land, feeling a bit puzzled.
Having crossed the Desolate Zone many times before, he was long familiar with the journey; not long ago, he had traversed the long Desolate Zone when returning from Mani Kingdom.
Yet, this time while crossing the Desolate Zone toward Jing Kingdom, he felt some anomaly.
This feeling was very vague and faint, and came out of nowhere, making it impossible for Zhang Yao to find any clues when he attempted to trace its source.
"What's going on?"
Zhang Yao was certain that it wasn't merely his imagination.
With his current cultivation, unless affected by someone of much higher realm, he wouldn't be experiencing illusions.
He contemplated for a while, and when he found no leads, he asked the Celestial Brilliance Ancestor, Du Guyan, and Three Evils Daoist beside him, only to find everyone a bit bewildered.
"An odd feeling... seems like none."
"Indeed none, has Ancestor detected something?"
While everyone was discussing, Zhang Yao sharply noticed a hint of hesitation in True Yang Ancestor's expression.
Zhang Yao's heart stirred, and he immediately sent a private message to True Yang Ancestor, asking:
"Fellow Daoist Zhenyang, have you noticed anything too?"
True Yang Ancestor didn't dare to be negligent, responding with divine thought:
"Reporting to Daoist Brother, I do have a very faint sensation, but it's very slight, almost like a feedback illusion of divine thought."
"When I tried to follow that perception to trace the source, I found nothing, quite strange."
"Is that so..."
Zhang Yao withdrew his divine thought, lost in thought.
Since even True Yang Ancestor had a similar feeling, it further proved it wasn't just his misconception.
But for now, this matter seemed to have neither head nor tail, without the slightest clue, could only be set aside for future attention.
The group continued flying, traversing the Desolate Zone.
In the Central Plains Countries' territory, the Desolate Zone stretches for thousands of miles, typically requiring at least Foundation Establishment Cultivators to attempt crossing, and because of the many bandits and Tribulation Cultivators, it's not without danger.
This accounts for the relative isolation between Central Plains Countries and the Eight Border Lands, as well as within the countries themselves because few cultivators can cross the Desolate Zone.
However, Jing Kingdom is an exception.
Due to special circumstances in Jing Kingdom, a large number of Demon Cultivators almost openly operate, making it a haven for Demon Cultivators.
Back then, two Demon Cultivators at merely Qi Refining Stage managed to spend years crossing numerous Desolate Zones to go south to Li Kingdom, relying on the power of Demon Cultivators' bloodline.
"Hoo..."
After crossing the Desolate Zone, even Golden Core Realm cultivators felt compelled to take deep breaths, enjoying the ample supply of Spiritual Qi.
In such a place as the Desolate Zone, the higher one's cultivation, the more uncomfortable it becomes. Even though Golden Core Cultivators can operate within it for extended periods, it's still somewhat unbearable.
"Ancestor."
Du Guyan took the initiative to ask:
"There's still a little over two months until the opening of the Taiyin Tide Festival."
"Should we head straight to the Liangyue River to secure a spot, or...?"
"No rush."
Zhang Yao waved his hand, revealing a look of interest:
"I've heard of Jing Kingdom's name for a long time but never had the opportunity to visit."
"Now that we're here for the festival, let's explore around first."
Zhang Yao was indeed very interested in Jing Kingdom.
When he was in the Foundation Establishment Stage, he had dealings with the Demon Cultivators from Jing Kingdom. Those individuals had significant backgrounds, being from Tang Mountain, one of the top three forces in Jing Kingdom.
Later, during secret blood experiments, he even considered visiting Jing Kingdom, given its abundance of Demon Cultivators, which would have been very convenient, but he dismissed the idea as unrealistic.
"The characteristic of Jing Kingdom is the abundance of Demon Cultivators."
True Yang Ancestor stepped forward and suggested:
"If Daoist Brother wants to tour around and experience the local customs of Jing Kingdom, why not first find a marketplace to stay?"
"That works."
Zhang Yao nodded slightly, looked at True Yang Ancestor, and said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoist Zhenyang, you've visited Jing Kingdom more than once, so I'll leave the arrangements to you."
Upon hearing this, True Yang Ancestor immediately showed a respectful expression:
"Yes."
Half an hour later.
The group concealed their cultivation aura and low-keyed arrived at a relatively bustling marketplace in the southern part of Jing Kingdom.
In an upscale restaurant offering demon beast meat and spirit wine, the group gathered in a luxurious private room, casually chatting while enjoying delicious food and drinks.
Zhang Yao held a wine pot, leaned against the window, and marveled at the many cultivators coming and going on the marketplace's main street.
There were indeed many Demon Cultivators here; among every ten cultivators, at least three or four were Demon Cultivators.
These Demon Cultivators seemed to have no intention of hiding their demonization traits, openly displaying them, and the Human Race Cultivators seemed accustomed to it.
Following his gaze:
On the main street, some Demon Cultivators had cat ears and fox tails, some had scales on their cheeks, others had vertical pupils and forked tongues, some had hard shells on their backs... Various demonization traits dazzled the eyes.
"In the Central Plains Countries, the customs and habits of each country are vastly different."
Zhang Yao sighed inwardly.
Just as the muddy qi in Mani Kingdom was the root of the former Demon Cultivator paradise, Jing Kingdom, filled with Demon Cultivators, became a haven for them for a reason.
It's said that during the Ancient Great Destruction, many Ancient Great Demons died within Jing Kingdom's territory.
In the Ancient Era, those who could be called Great Demons had realms and power not inferior to Divinity Transformation True Monarchs. It's imaginable how rich and powerful the bloodline power of these Great Demons was!
One might describe it like this:
A drop of blood from an Ancient Great Demon could, if it fell into a river, fully spread its condensed power, turning the entire river into blood water!
And Ancient Great Demons were often mountain-sized; their blood was more than billions of drops.
If only one had fallen, perhaps it would have created some dangerous areas, but over a long time, the great natural forces would gradually purify them.
However, with many Ancient Great Demons falling together and their blood and flesh soaking into the earth, combined with the special environment of the Great Destruction era, the very earth veins of Jing Kingdom got polluted.
The earth possesses the virtue of carrying all things; the earth's veins are part of the natural world, influencing every living creature above.
This created a strange phenomenon:
Newborns in Jing Kingdom, regardless of their parents' identity, cultivation level, or how well-protected they are, might naturally carry a trace of Demon Race blood upon birth.
Not only humans but even ordinary birds, beasts, flowers, and fishes in Jing Kingdom have their chances of absorbing Spiritual Qi and becoming demon beasts increased a hundredfold, far exceeding anywhere outside Jing Kingdom.
This phenomenon was referred to as "Demon Blood Reversal" in the Cultivation Realm during the Middle Ages, a term retained to this day.
"Mani Kingdom has muddy qi, while Jing Kingdom has the Demon Blood Reversal phenomenon."
Zhang Yao shook the wine pot in his hand, appearing deep in thought:
"This so-called Demon Blood Reversal shares certain traits with the blood experiments I conducted in the past..."
The phenomenon of Demon Blood Reversal has been studied by many throughout history but the more it's researched, the more resigned one feels.
Simply put:
The bloodline of the Demon Race is hierarchical, strictly graded, with the Dragon Race being the most famous example—
The types of True Dragon bloodlines are few, while the next-level pure blood Flood Dragon bloodlines have dozens of types; further down, mixed blood Flood Dragons and even lower Dragon Species and Dragon Beasts have hundreds or thousands, countless types.
This principle applies in Jing Kingdom as well.
The initial Ancient Great Demons that died had incredibly noble bloodlines, and over generations, these bloodlines have diversified into at least thousands of types.
These bloodlines, whether in Human Race or Demon Beasts, can continuously be interbred to create new ones, leading to "endless descendants."
Today's Jing Kingdom contains countless different Demon Race bloodlines, a number perhaps unknown to anyone.
"Fellow Daoist Du Gu."
Zhang Yao suddenly spoke, instructing:
"Go to the marketplace and gather some cultivation techniques from the Demon Cultivators for me."