Yao Stronghold

Biodata

Geography and Districts

• Stone houses shelter residents; Black Tiger Yao occupies the tallest and largest house in his area 4 11.
• Travel between the Half-Demon Grounds and the market takes Su Changsheng approximately two hours along the stronghold’s outer edge. He avoids crossing the center 12.
• Other strongholds are scattered across the immense Black Mountain Range. Dangerous wilderness makes communication difficult, and even Great Yao require safe routes to travel between settlements 23.

Subsidiary Strongholds

The two subsidiaries lie on opposite sides of the Main Stronghold. Heavy snow prevents travel from either settlement for approximately four months 23 44.

Government and Social Order

Rulers and Administrators

• Three Great Yao — Joint rulers and protectors of the Black Mountain Demon Stockade. Residents carry traces of all three rulers’ auras 23 44.
• White Madam — Thousand-year-old Great Yao governing the Left Stronghold and secretly controlling the Demoness Market 45.
• Zhou Hu — Great Yao with nearly a thousand years of demon power, governing the Right Stronghold and backing the Spirit Plant Shop 45.
• Main Stronghold’s overlord — The third ruler referenced in rumors of conflict with the subsidiary strongholds’ rulers; unnamed in the supplied chapters 45.
• Black Tiger Yao — Initially the strongest of the Half-Demon Grounds’ four administrators. Collects tribute and exploits residents’ innate material-producing talents 3 5 23.
• Wolf Yao — Administrator of the neighboring territory who takes over Black Tiger Yao’s domain during his disappearance, using little wolves and Werewolves to collect dues 23 31.

Rules and Obligations

• Monthly dues: Residents owe regular tribute. Failure to meet material-production quotas can result in immediate execution or expulsion into the wilderness 3 10.
• Talent-material monopoly: Private trading and circulation of innate talent materials are prohibited. Production exceeding the monthly quota can be exchanged directly with the stronghold for supplies 3.
• Construction controls: Building a stone house requires authorization from the local administrator. Unauthorized buildings can be demolished and their builders brutally punished; everything within the stronghold is considered the Great Yao’s property 48.
• Resident protection: Residents are forbidden from eating one another. Their shared Great Yao aura creates a compatible affinity that can compound contamination, while the prohibition also preserves public order 33.
• Territorial protection marks: Black Tiger Yao instructs Su Changsheng to place black snow at his doorway as a sign of protection. This deters ordinary attackers but does not guarantee safety against uncanny threats 5 8 10.

Social Hierarchy

• Pure-blood lesser yao look down on half-demons, whose mixed, thin bloodlines place most of them among the lowest ranks 4.
• Cultivation breakthroughs can provoke territorial aggression, giving weak residents reason to conceal their advancement 8.
• Level-three half-demons gain standing in the outskirts and become eligible to move into the Lesser Yao Grounds 23 37.
• Safer housing carries higher dues: the lesser yao settlement beside the Half-Demon Grounds reportedly charges more than three times as much 12.
• Half-demons pursuing humanization are uncommon; humanized level-three half-demons are rarer still 14.

Economy and Resources

Yao Market

• Merchants trade blood food, materials, runes, cultivation methods, and demon arts. The market also serves as a source of news about the stronghold and surrounding wilderness 23 27.
• Many customers conceal their identities. Su Changsheng visits disguised as a white snake half-demon 12.
• Concealment and Purification Talismans become increasingly valuable as Wraith Beast attacks and contamination spread 13 15 19.
• Purification Rune Methods are difficult to master—reportedly over ten times harder than Concealment Runes—leaving few trained makers when demand rises 20.
• Affordable, high-quality Shedding and Hair-Shedding Talismans help several Half-Demon Grounds residents improve their strength or reach the second level 39.
• Rumors of land-clearing conscription drive individuals, organizations, and the stronghold’s higher-ups to stockpile Concealment Runes; one rune trades for roughly eighteen jin of blood food 41.

Scarce Resources

• Blood food: Rising prices and hunger leave residents unable to pay dues, while contaminated flesh creates additional risks 32 33.
• Metal and weapons: Metal objects are rare. Most low-level yao use improvised weapons or their own bodies; yao weapons are generally reserved for Great Yao or beings approaching that rank 12.
• Metal ores: The few local deposits are controlled by Great Yao, and ores rarely circulate outside their possession 46.
• Knowledge: Some information never reaches half-demons, and useful demon arts offered for sale commonly have weaknesses involving power, difficulty, or contamination 4 44.

Living Conditions and Threats

• Wraith Beasts and wild yao: Attacks occur within the settlement, eventually reaching its center. Newly arrived wild yao may attack residents or steal food rather than follow local rules 8 19.
• Contamination: Long-term consumption of Mutant Demonic Beast and wild yao flesh allows toxins to accumulate. Severe hunger can weaken the body enough for mutation or loss of control 33.
• Concealed predation: Residents sometimes murder and consume other residents. Authorities punish discovered cases, but ineffective administrators often attribute unexplained deaths to Wraith Beasts or Mutants 33.
• Dangerous heating: Fires are rarely used for warmth because they attract heat-loving Wraith Beasts, wild yao, and other creatures 11.
• Snow and avalanches: After five months of intermittent snowfall, snow reaches four to five meters deep. Great Yao repeatedly intervene against avalanches threatening the settlement 40.

History

Early Unrest and Territorial Changes

Su Changsheng’s early life in the stronghold revolves around obtaining food, meeting tribute demands, and concealing his cultivation. Frequent attacks eventually force Black Tiger Yao and other administrators to hunt an eerie intruder, interrupting their dues collection 1 4 9.

Black Tiger Yao subsequently disappears. Wolf Yao takes over his territory and consolidates control through subordinates whose repeated extortion makes some residents miss the former ruler. Rising food prices and unpaid dues intensify violence in the Half-Demon Grounds 23 31 32.

Snow Disaster and Refugee Crisis

Rumors emerge that the upper ranks intend to conscript residents to clear snow from surrounding peaks and open new territory. Su Changsheng questions why expansion is directed toward the mountains rather than the southern wilderness, suspecting worsening conditions outside 40.

The Left Stronghold suffers starvation and sudden, large-scale unrest. Although the rebellion is suppressed, the settlement’s collapse becomes unavoidable. White Madam opens a safe passage for refugees, who begin arriving at the Main Stronghold 44 45.

The influx brings house seizures, resident gangs, killings, and attacks on administrators. Su Changsheng suspects that the refugee crisis and reclamation plans are connected to a struggle among the three Great Yao; their precise intentions remain his interpretation rather than confirmed policy 45 46.

Market Closure and Reopening

Unrest closes the Yao Market for more than half a month. When it reopens, stalls are more orderly and level-two and level-three guards control the entrance. Admission now costs half a jin of flesh food, a talisman of equivalent value, or suitable materials 47 48.

The guards’ presence suppresses disputes and overt displays of power. Numerous newcomers with aquatic traits appear among the traders, apparently refugees from the Left Stronghold 49.

Black Tiger Yao’s Return

Black Tiger Yao returns and battles Wolf Yao across the Half-Demon Grounds. Demonic forces, falling corpses, and a panicked stampede kill residents, including second-level half-demons 49 50.

The higher-ups and neighboring administrators do not intervene. Su Changsheng suspects they welcome the destruction as a way to reduce an overpopulated, food-starved district, but deliberate population culling is not independently confirmed 50.