Food System in Cultivation World

Northern Border, the night is vast and boundless.

Chen Xu stands on the Cloud Boat, hearing the sound of his own heartbeat.

He fixes his gaze on the land below, seeing shadows of mountains resembling dormant evil dragons.

Though it's dark, his eye power is unlike others.

Aided by sparse starlight, he sees the desolate expanse of the earth.

Most of the ground is barren, the mountain shadows dry and crisscrossed with ravines, stretching on for miles, with only occasional signs of greenery, mostly in places seldom visited by people.

The vast land is steeped in silence and urgency.

To say nine out of ten rooms are empty is not at all an exaggeration.

Suddenly, Chen Xu notices strange movements coming from a mountain ravine.

First, plumes of scorched smoke rise skyward, and moments later, angry shouts and roars of combat follow.

Weapons clash in a deadly struggle.

Teeth gnash and blood is sucked, resentful spirits soaring to the sky.

Desperate voices nearly tear the firmament, yet cannot break through the surrounding heat and drought.

"Zhou the Fourth, you have indeed betrayed me! A sneak attack at midnight, you truly are something... Have you forgotten who saved your life when you were about to die?"

"Ah!" the responding voice carries the painful desperation of a trapped beast, "It was you who saved me! But don't think I don't know, my little girl and my baby, it was you who killed them, it was you who killed them!

Why did you kill them? You think I don't know?

Where did the meat in these mountains come from? You think I don't know?

I saw it all, I saw it all ah ah ah ah..."

The roar seems to tear open the night sky.

Yet another voice curses back: "You bastard, acting all righteous now? I never took your kids, it was your dad, it was your dad who sent them over to trade with me!

When your dad did this, were you blind or deaf? Don't tell me you didn't know.

You bastard, you ate the meat so joyfully, and now you want to snatch my food, acting like a great hero, a tragic martyr.

Bah! Even if I die today, I'll slaughter you, you bastard!"

Bang!

Bang bang bang!

Sounds of fighting, male and female voices, youthful and elderly voices, hoarse voices...

All mixed together.

Yet there's almost no sound of children.

They lit a fierce fire in the ravine, stirring up internal strife.

Some cry to extinguish the fire, while others, even in death, cannot escape the sea of hatred and betrayal.

"Why did you kill me?" This is the disbelief of a couple turning against each other.

The woman said: "You told me to accompany Elder Guo, then secretly despised me. You caused the child inside me to perish, I want to avenge my child."

The man, fallen on the ground, struggles and cries: "Can't raise them, this damned Heaven, who can be raised alive? Even if there was a child in your womb, it couldn't survive either.

Might as well let it go early, if not, you carry it in your belly, can you survive?"

The woman seized the initiative, wielding a chopper incessantly, roaring angrily:

"Whether I can survive is my business! The child wasn't in your belly, what right do you have to make decisions for me?

Don't think I don't know, you've long planned with Elder Guo that when I run out of strength, you'd kill me!

All should die, all should die, ah ah ah..."

The man, dying, laughs sibilantly: "Heh heh, heh... Zhang Jiu-niang, oh Zhang Jiu-niang, what do you hate? You kill me, can you then be proud?

No, it's not, think again, that bowl of meat soup you once drank, where did it come from?

Don't deceive yourself, heh heh, heh heh..."

"Ah!" Zhang Jiu-niang screams in despair.

Suddenly a knife strikes, finally severing the man's neck.

Bang!

Rumble——

The sound of dead trees falling, rocks scattering.

Some of the fighting, wailing people died, some lived.

Some made it through the thick smoke, some still engaged in a desperate struggle.

Some, just for half a piece of slightly moist bark, fought with bloodshot eyes, others wisely protected themselves, secretly hiding bundles, hurriedly fleeing the scene.

The Cloud Boat hovered above the pitch-black sky, the scene before them almost overwhelming with malice.

The impact brought by these scenes is truly extraordinary.

Wen Daoyuan stands by, hands bound, but gravely reminds Chen Xu:

"Mr. Chen, don't be distracted!

The urgent matter, if you can still calculate the water route, then continue. If not, we will return immediately."

Chen Xu's brain is actually constantly running at high speed.

The extreme calculations from south to north on the Cloud Boat have almost squeezed his brain dry.

Such an enormous amount of calculations, even if replaced by other experts proficient in hydrology, given ten or eight years, pressing dozens or hundreds of people, may not necessarily be clear.

If not for Chen Xu's cultivation reaching a minor success, already at the Golden Core Stage, and his Tri-Attribute balance and prominence, he might have long been unable to hold on.

Thus, even though the scene before him is intense, Chen Xu can only take it in stride.

It's not that he's numbed, but he really can't spare extra heart power to ponder on other things.

His gaze lingers more on the ravines of the mountain shadows.

Those roads, those valleys, those dry fields, those undulating mountain shadows...

He points downward and says: "This place is suitable for a waterway to pass through, the north-south canal should loop around here."

As he speaks, he habitually wants to adjust the cloud disk in front of him.

But the cloud disk he summoned earlier had already dissipated like smoke due to the Northern Border's drought.

Feng Yuanbai had mentioned earlier that the Northern Border's drought was no trivial matter.

With Great Scholars and True Masters entering the land, attempting to set up rituals, summon wind and rain, but failing everywhere.

Clouds come and go, rains come and vanish.

The brewing of the Drought Demon makes it extremely difficult for any aquatic magic to function here.

Noble scions or the Prison Control Department entered the Northern Border to exorcise demons, but one group after another got trapped here.

Originally, Chen Xu heard Feng Yuanbai's account, feeling it was thrilling, but honestly, without witnessing it himself, it lacked a lot of reality.

But now, coming here personally, comparing with the prosperity of the Seven Prefectures of the South—

No, it should not be compared with the Seven Prefectures of the South.

In truth, it should be compared with the peace and prosperity of the Jade Capital Celestial City.

Not holding office, one does not worry about its governance, while those holding office, the officials in the hall, or the high Emperor, seeing this Northern Border's wretched state, could they sleep at night?

Chen Xu doesn't know the exact situation of Jade Capital Celestial City, he just moves faster in casting spells than in thinking.

His Divine Thought is nearly entirely filled with various high-speed flowing data, his hand instinctively sweeps, wanting to summon a cloud of mist again.

Unexpectedly, with this summoning, a torrent of heat waves suddenly rushes in.

Bang——

The heat waves transform into blazing flames, accompanied by a cloud of scorching smoke, plus layers of chaotic screams, suddenly rushing towards Chen Xu.

"Young master, you have come..."

"Young master, go to hell..."

Within the flames, dark figures twist, jibing with laughter, transforming into pairs of arms, reaching for Chen Xu.