Moving Ahead

The many officials of the Ministry of War learned that the demon army was marching north. Some rejoiced; others fell silent.

The two highest officials in the capital were troubled and conflicted. The Yan Kingdom's intelligence network knew quite a bit about the snake demon's territory. First of all, River City was exceedingly prosperous, its goods of exceptional quality, and its army powerful beyond reason. In truth, whether it possessed a strong army or knew a few ingenious tricks, the Yan court did not care.

Beasts had merely strayed from the proper path. No matter how many things they created, it was all a grave rebellion against order.

The Central Plains upper echelon had only one greatest grievance against the snake demon's territory, and it was an irreconcilable conflict: no matter whether one was human or demon, everyone in the snake demon's territory could read and study!

This was no different from cutting off the roots of countless vested interests!

Moreover, those mechanical crossbows that required only a little strength to use had also met with resistance. Most terrifying of all were the hand crossbows—any child capable of lifting one could kill an adult.

This meant that the order they knew and depended upon for survival was beginning to collapse.

The Central Plains nobility had obtained some of the processing methods used by factories in the snake demon's territory through every possible means. After trying them, they discovered that they could only manufacture small quantities, and the quality was poor. Blueprints alone were not the key; the key was the basic materials they had overlooked.

If they wished to manufacture them on a large scale and equip the army, craftsmen would need to read, write, and understand arithmetic. At present, no one in the Central Plains dared do such a