Tribal Mediation: Dao Rhyme Turns Swords into Plowshares

After returning from the Hongmeng Secret Realm trial, Shen Hao spent more than half a month settling himself in Secluded Forest Valley. Each day, aside from sorting through the insights he had gained during the trial, he used Dao Rhyme to nourish spirit herbs in the nursery garden or kept company with the Spirit Horn Deer herd. His state of mind grew ever more tranquil and pure. Yet this peace was shattered by an urgent report—the Stone Race and the Wood Race of the Northern Territory had clashed over a spirit-vein water source. Casualties on both sides were mounting, and the situation had already spiraled out of control.

The Wood Race elder had come in person to deliver the news. The old man looked haggard, with dust and blood still staining his robes. At the sight of Shen Hao, tears streamed down his face. "Common Lord, the Stone Race is utterly unreasonable! They insist on seizing the Spirit Spring our people depend on to survive. Dozens of our juniors have already been injured. If this continues, I fear the Wood Race will perish!"

Before his words had faded, an envoy from the Stone Race arrived on horseback as well. He was a burly young man, his face filled with anger and indignation. "Common Lord, that Spirit Spring lies at the border between our two races. The Wood Race has monopolized it for years. Our people have difficulty even finding drinking water. We only sought justice this time; we had no intention of provoking a conflict!"

The two sides clung to their own claims and argued without end. Shen Hao understood at once. Spirit veins in the Northern Territory were scarce to begin with, and that Spirit Spring was surely vital to both races' survival. The long-standing imbalance in resource distribution