As it turned out, Xiaoyu Continent did not consist of Xiguo alone. Lian Kingdom and Meng Kingdom, both on friendly terms with Xiguo, lay around it. The territories of these three nations interlocked like dogs' teeth, with countless shared borders, and there was considerable exchange between them. West of Xiguo lay Huan Kingdom, whose territory formed a half-ring and bordered Xiguo, Meng Kingdom, and Lian Kingdom alike. Among them, Xiguo, Lian Kingdom, and Meng Kingdom placed emphasis on cultivating the "Dao"; magic tools, magic treasures, and the like were merely aids, used only in battle. Huan Kingdom, however, emphasized the cultivation of "artifacts"—using external objects alongside cultivation, such as flying swords, magic tools, or spirit beasts.
Since those who followed different paths could not make common plans, although Huan Kingdom and the other three nations all cultivated the Dao, they had little contact and often even came into conflict!
The reason Huan Kingdom placed artifacts first was that its west and south bordered Million Meng Mountain! Million Meng Mountain differed from the Four Cultivation Nations. Within the Four Cultivation Nations, aside from ordinary mortals, there were only cultivators. Yet Million Meng Mountain held no cultivation cultivators. Apart from savage mountain folk, there were soul cultivators, also called those who cultivated souls! As the name implied, these soul cultivators cultivated the soul, utterly unlike conventional cultivation. Million Meng Mountain was incomparably vast, filled with countless Dangerous Mountains and Evil Waters. Its living conditions were exceptionally harsh, and its native mountain folk remained half-civilized, making the development of soul cultivation difficult. Thus, soul cultivators frequently harassed Huan Kingdom, seeking to expand eastward into the Cultivation Nations. For this very reason, Huan Kingdom's cultivators had to train in methods of combat; every cultivator in Huan Kingdom was also a warrior, standing against the