Peace Was Built upon the Edge of a Sword (Seeking Continued Reads)

Yang Chan followed the Qingyuan Sect group down the mountain, and they all left riding Qingqu Horses.

Qingqu Horses were native to Qingzhou. They were suited for crossing mountains and forests, had excellent endurance, and could be ridden for long periods, making them fine horses for travel.

Although Yang Chan had never ridden a horse before, learning to do so was not difficult for him.

Those who had comprehended Jing Power possessed physical fitness and reflexes far beyond ordinary people. As long as they grasped the essentials of riding, they could learn it quickly.

Though he was uncomfortable at first and suffered a few minor physical issues, he soon grew accustomed to it.

Yang Chan was also an External Refinement expert, and he had achieved success in cultivating both the Tai Chi Health Cultivation Technique and the Turtle Breath Body Nourishing Technique. His recovery ability far surpassed that of ordinary people. The symptoms of discomfort did not last long before he fully recovered, making the whole process remarkably quick.

Compared to Yang Chan, most Formal Disciples such as Shu Yu were in rather poor condition. This was due both to their having only just learned to ride and to the long journey.

Yang Chan did not pay much attention to those physical conditions. What truly left him feeling rather emotional was what he saw and heard along the way.

Fortunately, he had not gone down the mountain before this. Otherwise, his corpse might have been among those by the roadside.

Although Qingzhou had received a heavy rain, the preceding prolonged drought had still left many commoners unable to survive.

Above them were the Qingzhou authorities' crushing taxes; below them was the oppression of local powers. With the great drought, a natural disaster, added to it all, many people could no longer go on living.

Even if they wished to flee their homes and wander elsewhere, they still had to face rampant bandits and savage beasts in the mountains and forests. Danger lurked at every turn.

For ordinary commoners, simply staying alive was truly exceedingly difficult.

In stark contrast were the local tyrants, gangs, government officials, and the like. Their mouths dripped with grease, yet they still squeezed the people without restraint. They simply did not regard ordinary commoners as human beings at all.

Though Yang Chan felt a flicker of pity at the sight, he did not play the saint. He knew that in times like these, only the hard-hearted could live long.

He did not possess the power to change this world, so he could only blend into it and avoid becoming someone to be exploited.

The Qingyuan Sect was highly renowned within Qingzhou. Whenever they passed through county towns, those well-fed officials and local tyrants greeted them with smiles. This showed just how much authority the Qingyuan Sect wielded in Qingzhou.

To some extent, it could be called a local emperor. This was no exception, but the norm.

Of the Great Zhou Dynasty's thirty-two provinces, most places were like this. That was also why the dynasty was in chaos.

The imperial court had lost control over the regions, especially those far from the imperial capital.

These places were controlled by sects, local tyrants, gangs, and other such forces. The local authorities also took the initiative to cooperate with these powers and exploit the common people.

Such situations were all too common. Officials with a conscience found it difficult to persist. If they were too serious about doing things properly, they might even be killed by mountain bandits in a staged accident, their bones never to be found.

To avenge themselves, these local powers would even force the commoners to donate money, gather men, and launch bandit suppression campaigns. Tricks like these emerged one after another.

In the end, the only officials left were those who had joined these powers in the same filthy stream.

The closer these local forces were to the Qingyuan Sect, the more certain it was that they were affiliated with the Qingyuan Sect. They received the sect's protection while offering tribute every year.

Tribute was offered level by level, and in the end, most of the benefits naturally fell into the hands of the Qingyuan Sect, Qingzhou's hegemonic force.

If an affiliated force did not wish to offer tribute, all kinds of trouble would inevitably follow. If it defected to an enemy sect, disciples would be dispatched directly to wipe it out.

This was the most direct law of the strong devouring the weak. The more chaotic the times, the more so it became.

In troubled times, people spoke of strength and weakness. In peaceful times, they spoke of law.

Peace was built upon the edge of a sword.

Qingzhou was exactly like this. The Qingyuan Sect was the strongest in Qingzhou. Even the authorities had to show the Qingyuan Sect respect, let alone local powers.

At first, the sect had not told Yang Chan and the others their destination. This was to keep it secret and prevent anyone from setting traps based on where they were headed.

The Qingyuan Sect had already lost an elder at the Internal Refinement Grandmaster level because of this. Naturally, it could not afford even greater losses.

Among Yang Chan's group were one Internal Refinement elder, two Intermediate Alchemists, and six Junior Alchemists.

There were twenty Elite Disciples and an unspecified number of Junior Disciples.

Yang Chan was among that unspecified number.

If he revealed his External Refinement cultivation or his identity as a Pharmacist, that unspecified number could gain one precise figure. This was a symbol of status.

On the way to their destination, they encountered some petty bandits who did not know their place. Before they could even finish declaring the robbery, they were dead, and their bandit stronghold vanished with them.

In the end, Yang Chan received an ingot of silver as well—an unexpected gain.

Most bandit strongholds foolish enough to provoke them had only been established recently or knew too little. Otherwise, they would never have dared rob the Qingyuan Sect.

This was like lighting a lantern in a latrine—looking for shit.

Yang Chan had not made a move, but he still watched intently as the bandits died one after another among the Qingyuan Sect disciples, utterly unable to resist. Though he was unaccustomed to it, he forced himself to watch until the end.

In troubled times, killing was unavoidable.

If he did not kill others, others would kill him.

Most of those bandits were killed by the Formal Disciples who were going down the mountain for the first time. Alchemist Assistants like Yang Chan had no such requirement.

Alchemist Assistants mainly provided support from the rear and, under normal circumstances, did not directly take part in battle. The other Formal Disciples, however, were different. They all had to fight.

Now that they had seen blood, they would not hesitate because of killing when the time came to fight disciples from enemy sects.

This group of bandits who did not know their place could only be considered unlucky. Otherwise, the elder leading the team would have sought out some evil force to give these Formal Disciples a chance to temper their courage.

Yang Chan had heard this from the Elite Disciples. It was a customary practice.

Though Yang Chan had not personally acted, his mindset had grown even colder. He had to adapt to this era as quickly as possible.

Though danger could also be encountered within the Qingyuan Sect, compared with the outside world, there were far fewer sources of danger.

Outside, perhaps merely seeing that you were well dressed or walked upright was reason enough to kill you. It took only a single thought for every evil impulse to be unleashed, followed by action.

Yang Chan discovered that the Alchemist Assistants who had descended the mountain with the Pharmacists had gone from initial excitement to becoming much quieter now. Only at this point could they truly understand that the dangers of this trip were not as simple as the good news sent back had made them seem.

Every piece of good news sent back represented countless people shedding blood. These bandits who had been exterminated did not even qualify to be mentioned in the good news sent back.

During breaks along the way, Yang Chan also practiced with the flying claw he carried and cultivated the Demon Subduing Sword Technique. He was not an exception; most disciples did the same.

Once they recognized the danger, they naturally attached greater importance to the Demon Subduing Sword Technique and other life-preserving methods. They needed to spend time practicing and familiarizing themselves with them, so they could prove useful at a critical moment.