Pathway

Chapter 100: Springflame [4]

THE HUMAN KINGDOM.

The cored-human kingdom was under the sovereign rule of Yin Qiang, an ascendant of extreme powers. Under him were the marquis and marquess of the nascent souls, who were in control of the fortified cities. Each of these mighty fortified cities was a conjecture of many cities. These cities were under the power of the city lords. Then, we had the villages that were being supervised by the village chiefs.

The most intriguing thing about the human kingdom, was not the cities, but, the humans. The human kingdom was an evanesce immortal kingdom, quite alright. Since all the humans on this planet were born with a phantom core, and could sense and gather Chi right from birth. But it wasn't a total immortal kingdom like that of the demigods. Nonetheless, all the humans were born a cultivator and no mortal human actually existed there.

But, all of them were not the same in cultivation, despite the fact that all of them could sense and could gather Chi energy. That was where the differences and divisions came into fore. The human cultivators were divided into three types on this planet. They were the body cultivators, the soul cultivators and the dual cultivators. Although, there were a fewer number of humans who were cultivating both. It was possible for a soul cultivator, to cultivate the body to the undying stage with the necessary items and procedures.

While for the body cultivators, it wasn't possible for them to cultivate the soul.

Why?

Because, they couldn't gather Chi energy into their dantian. They could only gather it into their physical bodies. Therefore, they couldn't transcend planet Aalag. Since, the nascent soul formation was necessary to undergo ascension's divine tribulations. That was why they were training their bodies rigorously in various techniques. Once their bodies reached the undying stage, they would become true immortals. They wouldn't be dying from any other cause, unless they were totally killed. And, they would be given an elusive martial arts technique making them become top martial artists to rival that of any world.  Afterwards, they would be moved to the fortified cities.

Their importance couldn't be emphasized enough, especially when facing the threats of the Scavens and the Argonians.  They were the pillars of the human kingdom for two main reasons. Firstly, they had undying bodies. Secondly, they wouldn't be leaving the planet for ascension in the future. So, they would always be around to defend the human kingdom.

The fusion of the three planet cores, really affected the spiritual energy's presence on this planet. The formed large Neron core, wasn't much connected to the mother core of the universe. Hence, spiritual energy was scanty on this planet. And, due to this and lack of other needed resources on planet Aalag, cultivation was extremely difficult. This was also affecting the welfare of the minor cities and villages at the outskirt of the human kingdom.

Lack of necessary resources meant that these minor cities and villages couldn't properly defend themselves against the scrounging Scavens from the south-eastern part of Aalag.

THE SCAVEN KINGDOM.

The scrounging scavens. Creatures of extreme violence. They were the variant descendants of the mighty black dragon, Heilong. They weren't as powerful as the dragons, but they were still of the dragonkind. Creatures with incredible powers. There were three types of scavens. The regular scavens, the sole scavens and the sacred scavens.

The regular scavens hadn't achieve any form of awareness. They were the ones sent out to scrounge for items and were also the first ones in the line of fire on the battle fields. They were the ultimate workers and they weren't easily tired out. They love going on marauding raids. Mostly on the humans, while occasionally on the Argonians which never ended well for them. As long as their leaders were happy, they were happy too. So, was their thinking.

The sole scavens had achieved awareness and half-transformation. They could reason properly and applied logic. But, they remained in their beastly form until they could achieve total transformation. They were the next in the chain of command.

While the sacred beast had attained soul awareness and total transformation. They could transform into mortal forms including that of the humans. Although, it could only be one form. Once they chose one mortal form, they would stay with that very form. And, the advanced sacred beasts, could veil their beastly aura. Hence, the reason why the humans used the scrying orb to identify humans from the sacred beasts

The Scaven kingdom was divided into various colonies. Big colonies and small colonies. The big colonies were controlled by sacred scavens refered to as, gerents. While the small colonies were under the sole scavens called onliests.

But the whole kingdom, was ruled by the Scaven king, Nargoa. An hegemon-level sacred beast who had achieved total transformation and lived in human form.

Their kingdom was also affected by the limited resources on the planet. The standard and sole scavens needed spiritual energy to attain full transformation. While the sacred scavens would need it to continue advancing in their cultivation. They would also need materials and items to make their kingdom stronger and sustainable. Thus, the reason for most of their raids on humans.

THE ARGONIAN KINGDOM.

The ultimate survivalists. Huge hominid creatures with green-gold scales, narrow waists and broad shoulders. They were like a race made of humans, giants and scaled beasts. They were extremely formidable and deadly, which made them an exceedingly feared race. The reason why the scavens made a lasting pact with them.

The argonian kingdom was ruled by the argonian highest, Giraq. An exceedingly powerful ascendant. The argonian kingdom was made up of four territories. The northern territory, the southern territory, the western territory and eastern territory. Each territory was ruled by an argonian prevalent. The territories were made up of terrains which were under the supervision argonian regnants. 

The argonians were fully, true cultivators too. Therefore, they were also affected by the scant resources.

The fusion of the three planet cores, had seriously affected the spiritual energy's presence on this planet. The formed Neron core, had lost most of its connection threads. Thus, it wasn't much connected to the mother core of the universe.

Hence, spiritual energy was scanty on this planet. And, due to this and lack of other needed resources on planet Wuzhen, cultivation was extremely difficult. This was also affecting the nature of the three kingdoms. The only hope of the three kingdoms, was the Spingflame. Under the supervision of the guardian of Springflame, an agreement was reached among the rulers of the three kingdoms to maintain peace around Springflame at large. There could be minor wars and disputes among the dwellers, but the higher hierarchies would never get involved. If they wanted to pitch their powers against one another for supremacy, they would have to do that among the three of them alone. All other cultivators were allowed in the minor wars.

One of such minor wars was the battles of Springflame. Only the strongest participating cultivators would survive. The same applied to all cultivators participating from other worlds too.

Ju Feng quickly gathered his wandering thoughts as they neared the town center. The city lord was about to address the cavalry when the two of them arrived. They quickly joined them as they listened to his words. After his talk, the cavalry began their processing.

"Hm."

The white-robed scholar looked at Ju Feng in total recognition. He was sitting with two other white-robed cultivators who seemed like scribes with writing scrolls in front of them.

"I remembered you. You came here yesterday, right?"

He asked with one eye brow raised.

"Yes, senior."

Ju Feng answered politely with a bow.

"From one of the destroyed villages?"

"Yes, senior."

"Terrible fate, truly terrible."

The man uttered, shaking his head before turning to Ju Feng. He knew the agony of loosing one's home. Many years ago, it had happened to him too. The scavens were really terrible creatures. Due to their nature, they never cared if their actions were causing destruction or not. They were only after what they could take away from others which would be beneficial to them. And their Lord ruler didn't care about the actions of his scrounging subjects, or if the scroungers were killed. As long as the humans didn't invade his territories, he was fine with the rest. And their own emperor had no intentions of doing that. He was all about peace.

"Ddo you know what this journey's all about?"

"Yes, senior."

Ju Feng nodded gently as he spoke in a sad tone. He portrayed a childling that was still under the anger of losing his home and want to be part of soul relieving journey. 

"Hm. Come to this side, then."

After testing Ju Feng's affinity and confirming he was a soul elemental affiliate, they began his processing. He was registered as an orphan dwelled after making the native oath as a denizen of the city.

Several minutes later, they were on their way to Springflame as part of the cavalry.