The Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Northern Sea had rebelled, and the Seventy-Two Cave Demon Kings of the Southern River had risen in revolt. Clearly, Chiyou was behind both.
The kingdoms of the Northern Sea had all originally acknowledged Great Ming's sovereignty and paid tribute, each sending over a thousand envoys to the Capital every year with offerings.
Their climate was far too harsh. More than half of every year was bitterly cold. Along the coast, winds howled and waves surged; cold currents swept the sea, and cold fronts swept the land. The growing season was short, and they still depended mainly on fishing and hunting.
Though called the Thirty-Six Kingdoms, they were actually thirty-six confederations made up of several thousand tribes.
Shi Feiyang had previously eradicated all the evil cult organizations in the Central Plains. Since Chiyou could not launch his scheme there directly, choosing the barbarian tribes of the eight wildernesses as his opening move was perfectly reasonable.
Still, Shi Feiyang believed the decisive move in this game lay in the Central Land, not its periphery. Though the corners were gold, the sides silver, and the center mere grass, as long as the Central Plains remained stable, the corners and sides would have no opening.
He summoned the representatives of the Green City Sect and Snow Mountain Sect in the Capital to learn the situation first. Soon, Jiang Shu and Ling Hun heard the news and came to the Primordial Yang Palace of their own accord to see him.
It turned out that the Green City Sect's disciples had spent this time in the Southern Border, killing the newly emerging Monster beasts and poisonous practitioners of witchcraft and gu.
Jiang Shu said, "Many more masters of witchcraft and gu have appeared in the great mountains of the Southern Border