When Lu Yang appeared, a man dressed in the uniform of the Demon Extermination Department was already waiting outside the teleportation platform.
"Are you Lord Lu Yang of the Shanhetal in Qing Province?" the man asked. "I am Lu Kang, a Demon Quelling Envoy of the Demon Extermination Department in Tiangong City. By order of Lord Demon Exterminator, I have come to welcome you."
"That's me." Lu Yang nodded and said calmly, "Show me the way. And tell me about the situation in Northern Savage Province."
"Right this way, my lord." As Lu Kang led the way, he said, "You should know that Northern Savage Province is unlike Central Province and Qing Province. Though it nominally still belongs to the Great Jun Dynasty, it began slipping out of the Imperial Court's control thousands of years ago. It's far less convenient for us to get things done here than in Qing Province or Central Province."
"Go on," Lu Yang said. He had heard about all this from Lu Kang long ago.
The Savage Venerable had been a dazzling star who rose to prominence across the Nine Provinces Continent after Great Jun Heavenly Emperor Ji Tianjun had suppressed the Demon Abyss with his own body.
Born a mere servant, he had studied martial arts and risen step by step through exceptional talent and relentless effort, becoming a half-step Ninth-Realm Venerable. He had been only a step away from the Ninth Realm, where he could have contended with Ji Tianjun himself.
His rise had sent Northern Savage Province soaring, and it had gradually broken free of Central Province's Great Jun Dynasty.
Over the thousands of years since, Northern Savage Province had remained a vassal of the Great Jun Dynasty in name only. In truth, it had long since achieved self-rule. The dynasty's influence