As Cultivator Guo spoke, apparently so Zhang Yu could see more clearly, he swept his sleeve and moved aside the thick layer of clouds, revealing the scene below.
Zhang Yu soon saw the various sights within the city walls. Yet unlike the world domain he had imagined, what met his eyes were rows upon rows of low huts, arranged neatly and methodically across the ground.
Inside every hut sat a living person upon a bed. Their gazes were dull, their thoughts without the slightest ripple. They appeared wholly devoid of vitality.
Yet though their minds were blank, every one of them was robust of build and brimming with blood and qi. Even those who looked advanced in years were no exception.
He watched for a while. A faint divine light flickered in his eyes, and scene after scene of the past flashed before him. In but a moment, he grasped the exact circumstances here.
These human stock remained inside their dwellings from morning to night, taking part in neither labor nor study. At set times, a specially prepared fatty liquid flowed into the huts for them to drink, sustaining their basic survival. Even their bodily waste was discharged into the trenches within.
These people occasionally stood up and crawled around in circles where they were, then returned to their beds to stare blankly. At fixed times, they also bred. Beyond that, they had no superfluous thoughts and no normal emotions.
Whenever newborn children appeared, those with aptitude were selected and taken away. Those without aptitude remained here to continue serving as human stock, maintaining this blank state of mind until they died of old age. It could be said that after coming into this world, they possessed nothing but empty shells of flesh.
After looking over it all, he raised