Broadening Horizons

"King Pixiu, turn east this way!"

"Rakshasa King, look this way! Return as soon as you spot the Buddha's disciple!"

As they continued eastward, the demon kings were gradually scattered.

"My lord, you..."

"My fellow Buddhist disciples and I explored this longest eastward route. We heard that this road leads to the Southern Jambudvipa Continent), passing through desolate mountains and treacherous waters for tens of thousands of miles. We believe that the Tathagata may very well have been practicing asceticism somewhere along this route!"

"If only I knew where Divine Ability was, I could fly fifty miles with a flap of my left wing and a hundred miles with a flap of my right wing," the Roc Demon King lamented.

Even the fastest flying ability still requires finding people.

The Peng Demon King's speed does not mean he can search quickly; he can only search slowly by flying.

After a series of entrustments, the last of the demon kings, the Peng Demon King, was assigned to another position.

Then Zhang Xuezhou and Buddha Son Shigong rode their steeds eastward, traversing mountains and rivers.

"Alas, this road used to have the Void Cave, Poisonous Enemy Mountain, Poisonous Miasma Forest, and Flowing Sand River. It is extremely difficult to traverse without knowing how to fly and leap across it," said the Roc Demon King.

"It seems they really intend to kill Buddha!"

After the Roc Demon King finished speaking, a silver fox emerged from its upright wings; this was clearly an avatar of the Myriad Fox King.

Among all the demons, the Fox King was the most intelligent. He had always felt that something was wrong, but the actions of Zhang Xuezhou and the Buddha Son Shigong left him speechless.

"I heard that the Western Sect disciples seem to be holding some kind of ceremony, as if they are going to choose a sole successor to their sect," said the King of Ten Thousand Foxes. "The reason why the Buddha Son Shigong is targeting the Buddha-disciple Tathagata is not entirely for our protection; he probably wants to eliminate the Buddha-disciple Tathagata and then become the successor to his sect."

"Isn't that great?" said the Roc Demon King. "He can give us tokens if he kills the Buddha's son, and he can give us even more tokens if he becomes the successor of the sect. No matter what he does, he can give us tokens!"

"That's true!"

"We have so many demon kings in Xiniu Hezhou, they can kill as many as they want, as long as they don't target us," said the Peng Demon King. "As long as no one objects, it's not difficult for him to give us a token of protection!"

That's absolutely right!

The Roc Demon King's statement may represent the attitude of all the demon kings, even if the Ten Thousand Fox King thinks it's not wrong.

There are so many demon kings in the world, there's no need to focus on killing these seven or eight.

If you want to exorcise demons, just kill other demons instead.

As long as they can evade the sect's selection for exorcising demons, everything will be fine.

"I don't know what that Buddha is thinking. We didn't kill his father and mother, so why does he have to interfere and ruin our plans?" the Roc Demon King complained.

"I've heard he's of honest and kind character..."

"Being honest and kind-hearted means you can't see things clearly; you'll do everything according to the rules of the Western Sect. The Buddha's disciples will definitely try to stop us!"

"Too!"

I'm going to go find that bastard!

The Roc Demon King took flight, while the Myriad Fox King landed. He glanced in the direction of Zhang Xuezhou and the others, then looked in the direction the Roc Demon King had gone, before finally transforming into a ray of silver light and disappearing.

The demon kings each went their own way, while Zhang Xuezhou and the Buddha Son Shigong rode their horses straight towards the Kunlun Sacred Land.

The two rode for dozens of miles without daring to speak or chat, until their two fine horses were too tired to continue, at which point they dismounted.

"Your Xiniu Hezhou seems a bit desolate. I haven't found any big cities to eat or stay in during my trip," Zhang Xuezhou said first.

"We passed through the capital city of Sungai today, where we could eat and rest, but we couldn't go because of these demon kings accompanying us," the Buddha Son Shigong replied. "Are you hungry now?"

"Royal Shek, the capital?"

When Zhang Xuezhou recalled the cities he had seen during his two journeys over mountains and valleys, he couldn't help but find it hard to believe, feeling that the scale of cities in Xiniu Hezhou was vastly different from that of the Great Han Dynasty.

The city of Rajagaha mentioned by the Buddha Son Shigong was the most important capital of a country, but the city was like a village, and its city walls were not as thick as those of Hibiscus City.

"Our capital city is already quite large; finding a place to eat shouldn't be a problem," said the Buddha Son Shigong, looking around. "If you head east, the capitals there are even smaller. Only the Greater Yuezhi Kingdom has a few decent cities, but those cities are often hundreds of miles apart, making it difficult to find food!"

"That's right!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, without making any deliberate rebuttal, and followed behind Buddha Son Shigong to accompany him on the hunt and foraging.

If the major cities of Xiniu Hezhou were this size, Zhang Xuezhou could already imagine the rate at which talent would be produced here.

The size of a city is not absolutely related to the amount of talent it produces, but a city that is too small and backward will inevitably lack education, and thus can only select talent from among the nobility.

The negative consequences of this small-scale talent selection were enormous, even for the Scarlet Alliance State, which suffered backlash and had to expand its talent pool.

Zhang Xuezhou clearly identified the problem and began to understand the many incongruous situations in Xiniu Hezhou.

This is indeed a Savage Wilderness and undeveloped place, with limited civilization.

If Xiniu Hezhou had any unique resources, Zhang Xuezhou thought the number of demons there was quite good, and it was highly likely that some rather special demons could be found there.

Every demon king he encountered along the way was unique, and each one seemed to be missing a screw in their head.

If any clever and powerful person came here, Zhang Xuezhou felt that after some persuasion, they could easily establish a demon dynasty.

However, there is little reward in doing things in this Savage Wilderness land. The cities that are conquered and occupied are small and dilapidated, and have little value in terms of occupation.

"Unofficial histories say that after unifying the world, the King of Qin stopped conquering other territories because he looked down on them. I originally thought it was just empty boasting, but it turns out it's true!"

The Emperor Qin, who lived over a hundred years ago, was a controversial figure. His construction of various city walls during the Qin Dynasty's period of great military strength was particularly controversial.

Some believe that Emperor Qin became timid as he aged, while others say that Emperor Qin was only a bully within his own borders and would be easily defeated by nomadic tribes once he ventured beyond the borders. Still others believe that Emperor Qin built city walls to keep the people within his territory confined and did not grant them freedom to venture outwards.

The criticisms have continued to this day, and some of the ideas are so outrageous that Zhang Xuezhou doesn't even want to mention them.

Having traversed tens of thousands of miles, Zhang Xuezhou felt he had figured out why there was no external presence: it was simply because many areas lacked value for occupation.

"Speaking of which, I've met the Buddha's disciple in the Eastern Land; he should be heading west right now," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If there's an opportunity, you might meet!"

"He went to the Savage Wilderness dynasty in the Eastern Land?"

Is the Eastern Land really that Savage Wilderness?

"The further east you go, the worse it gets. There aren't even many towns there. It must be very Savage Wilderness and backward. Our Xiniu Hezhou is much better!"

The Buddha Son Shigong broke off a stick while hunting, and a hint of smugness lingered on his face.

He reached as far as the Greater Yuezhi, a vast country whose development was very slow. People drove their cattle, sheep and horses around, and even lacked a fixed place to live.

Further east lies the Xiong State, also a nomadic state, which continues to expand its territory through indiscriminate warfare.

The Buddha Son Shigong Xiong State were particularly well-developed.

"Xiniu Hezhou is good, Xiniu Hezhou is great!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded in support from time to time.

This time, he flew in the wrong direction, traversing mountains and valleys. In addition to finding the Buddha Son Shigong as a guide to the Kunlun Sacred Land, Zhang Xuezhou also identified the most prosperous and developing territory at present.

Even though the Great Han Dynasty seemed to have many shortcomings and was plagued by internal strife, it was still a Great Han Dynasty that was ahead of its time in terms of development.

Such a dynasty would inevitably bring the strongest fortune.

For Zhang Xuezhou, the Great Han Dynasty was his only choice, and also his most correct choice.