Within Demon Race territory, in Heavenly Horse City, at the Heavenly Horse clan's seat.
The current patriarch of the Heavenly Horse clan, Ma Hong, was also Ma Tian's younger brother.
After reading Ma Tian's letter, Ma Hong's brow had remained furrowed.
Seeing this, a Heavenly Horse clan elder beside him asked,
"Has His Excellency sent more news in his letter?"
Ma Hong handed Ma Tian's letter to the elder.
After reading it, the elder frowned as well and said,
"Isn't this a little too harsh? A fifty-percent tax?! What great clan could accept that?!"
Ma Hong said quietly,
"But this is Prince Yu's intention."
The elder's bluster visibly faded, but he still said,
"Well... he still has to be reasonable! Even Prince Yu..."
Halfway through, the elder clearly remembered the Tianwu Case from a year ago, along with Prince Yu's past feats.
Changing tack, he continued,
"Even Prince Yu has to take the wishes of the entire Demon Race into account. How can he simply use his strength to do whatever he likes? That... that would be unreasonable..."
Ma Hong gave the elder a somewhat speechless look.
"The letter is quite clear. Prince Yu doesn't intend to enforce this by force. He says he'll have the Demon Race's great clans willingly hand over their resources."
The elder plainly did not believe it, but he still did not dare run his mouth too freely. He only muttered under his breath,
"Willingly? Anyone willing to do that must have something wrong with their head..."
Ma Hong said nothing, keeping his head lowered in thought.
Seeing this, the elder asked with some alarm and uncertainty,
"Patriarch, surely you aren't considering what His Excellency wrote about whoever pays their taxes voluntarily first receiving greater benefits?"
Ma Hong nodded slightly.
"That's right. Although Prince Yu's