Elder Brother began discussing the various types of missions, and Wang Hong inquired further, "What specific types of missions are there, and what do we need to do?"
"The specific missions are assigned by the Sect, and there are many types, such as managing the Sect's industries, capturing some rogue cultivators, or guarding important locations for the Sect.
Among these missions, the most common is being assigned to hunt Demonic Beasts in the Boundary Mountain Range."
Wang Hong was familiar with the Boundary Mountain Range; it was a massive mountain range running from north to south.
To the east lay the East Zhou Cultivation Realm, the territory of humans, where Demonic Beasts were scarce and had become prey for humans in their pursuit of various cultivation materials.
On the west side of the Boundary Mountain Range was the West Zhou Demon Realm, entirely belonging to the demonic race, in stark contrast to the East Zhou Cultivation Realm.
There, numerous demonic beings thrived, forming various forces of different sizes.
A small number of humans also survived on that side, existing in an environment similar to that of Demonic Beasts here, treated as resources to be exploited by the demonic beings.
In the East Zhou Cultivation Realm, cultivators would raise some Demonic Beasts as Spirit Pets.
It was rumored that on the West Zhou side, some demonic beings would also take humans as Spirit Pets and command them at will.
"Do we really need to hunt so many Demonic Beasts? Don't the major demonic beings in the East Zhou demon realm object? Won't it provoke a war between humans and demons?"
Wang Hong had read in some books that humans and demons had peacefully coexisted on either side of the Boundary Mountain Range for millions of years.
Wouldn't massive hunting of each other's populations lead to a war?
"You worry too much, Junior Brother. It is said that on the demonic side, they also frequently drive some Demonic Beasts over the Boundary Mountain Range to hunt humans on our side.
Moreover, some species of Demonic Beasts reproduce quickly, with a litter of ten or more, and they have long lifespans.
Over there, the number of Demonic Beasts grows rapidly, and as their numbers increase, so does their demand for various spiritual objects.
Over time, internal conflicts arise as they compete for spiritual objects, leading to mutual killings and a balance being restored.
In the past, on the West Zhou Demon Realm side, a significant number would die in this way every few decades to centuries.
Until tens of thousands of years ago, a visionary demonic being emerged, contacting major tribes for a joint discussion.
Ultimately, a decision affecting the future of both human and demonic races was made.
They decided that instead of killing each other, it was better to let these newly born forces harm the human race. Those who could plunder resources from humans would benefit, and those who couldn't could consume human strength, a win-win situation.
So, every few periods, the West Zhou Demon Realm would select some newly born Demonic Beasts from various tribes, send them to the Boundary Mountain Range to hunt East Zhou cultivators, plunder resources, and all the spoils would belong to them.
This decision received enthusiastic responses from major demonic tribes because they had long coveted some things from the human race."
We, the human race, hunt Demonic Beasts and use their body materials to make Alchemy tools. The Yao race, on the other hand, takes pride in killing humans and snatching various Magical Weapons, Spiritual Weapons, and Pills from them, especially the latter. This is because there are very few Demonic Beasts in the Yao race that understand Alchemy. They obtain natural treasures by swallowing them alive. Even cooking raw food is something only the upper class of the Yao race understands.
Moreover, the Yao race in East Zhou has accumulated enough Demonic Beasts for about a hundred years, and they will launch a large-scale attack on us, called the Beast Tide. When the time comes, Demonic Beasts will flood like a tide, and wherever they go, they will leave no survivors.
It has been almost a hundred years since the last Beast Tide, so we must seize the opportunity to kill more Demonic Beasts now. The more we kill now, the fewer there will be in the future.
Wang Hong had never heard so many secrets of the Yao race before.
The only thing we humans can do is to send some Foundation Building cultivators to fight against them in the Boundary Mountain Range. Is there no other way to deal with them? For example, we could fight back and push them to the West Zhou Demon Realm, and make them suffer?
Wang Hong had led soldiers for many years and naturally knew that this kind of passive defense was the most disadvantageous.
Others come when they want to come, fight when they want to fight, and leave when they want to leave. If others attack the east, you have to defend the east. If others attack the west, you have to defend the west.
The initiative is always in the hands of others, so long-term defense is bound to fail.
Of course, some human seniors have proposed to fight back to the West Zhou Demon Realm, but they are powerless and simply cannot spare enough manpower. Elder Brother said with some emotion.
Is the West Zhou Demon Realm so strong? Our East Zhou human race has six major sects, as well as some small and medium-sized sects and families. Cant we defeat the Demonic Beasts that cant even cook a meal in West Zhou?
Wang Hong felt that since both sides could compete for so long, their strength should be about the same.
Our East Zhou Cultivation Realms strength is naturally not worse than West Zhous, but we are surrounded on all sides and need to organize manpower to defend ourselves. When divided, it appears that we are short of manpower.
Wang Hong also just learned that the East Zhou human race has more than one enemy, not just West Zhou.
Are the other factions also in need of constant defense like West Zhou?
More or less. To the east is the East Sea Aquatic Clan, and there has been no formal cessation of small battles with them. Humans covet the abundant resources in the sea, and aquatic creatures in the sea also covet humans, treating them as food.
Anyway, humans often fish for seafood in the water as food, so both sides eat each other.
"In addition, there is the South Dark Continent to the south. The South Dark Continent is full of evil cultivators, demon cultivators, and ghost cultivators. Although they can also be considered human, they have never regarded themselves or others as human.
The people of the South Dark Continent are all vicious and cruel, with strange Cultivation Techniques. They often refine living people into pills or Magical Weapons. When they get vicious, they even kill their own parents and relatives.
If we dont send people to defend, they will treat the East Zhou human race as their resource pool."
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]