Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 251: Chapter 169: I Know... You Are a Qi Refiner

He wasn’t lying about that.

Hearing this, Feng Jiuchen thought to himself, ’As expected.’ His gaze drifted past Wan Ze toward the eerie Red Moon outside the pavilion as he said slowly, ”This place is called Huangliang.”

”Huangliang? As in ’a pipe dream’?” Wan Ze suddenly looked at him, a guess forming in his mind.

Feng Jiuchen nodded, confirming his suspicion. ”Exactly like the ’pipe dream’ idiom. That’s why this world is called Huangliang. Normally, only Qi Refiners can arrive in this world. This place... it’s different from reality. Since you’ve been here before, you must have noticed how strange it is.”

His tone grew solemn. ”The fact that you haven’t run into any Cultivators, or any of those vicious Deceitful Beasts, proves you’re a fortunate man. Many Qi Refiners who are new to this world have bad luck and don’t make it through their first night.”

Wan Ze listened quietly, not interrupting.

Feng Jiuchen paused for a moment, seeming to organize his thoughts. ”I imagine the most obvious difference between this world and reality is the flow of time... You must have noticed that, right?”

Wan Ze nodded.

It was true.

He would spend a few hours in Huangliang, but upon returning to reality, often only ten-some minutes would have passed.

This sense of temporal displacement was one of the key pieces of evidence that first convinced him this world was not a dream.

”Usually, only those with an affinity for it are guided to Huangliang,” Feng Jiuchen continued. ”Of course, some ordinary people are pulled into this world by accident. But they almost always treat it as a dream... Without a Cultivation Method, they’re unable to discern that this world is real.”

Wan Ze nodded thoughtfully.

That certainly explained a lot.

Like why some people would suddenly wake up when their dreams became most dangerous.

It wasn’t good luck, but their subconscious protecting them. When their fear crossed a certain threshold, their bodies would force them awake, pulling their consciousness back from Huangliang to reality.

That feeling of being startled awake from a fall from a great height was, in essence, a frantic escape.

After this explanation, Wan Ze asked another key question. ”So what’s the power structure of this world like?”

Feng Jiuchen’s gaze hardened, as if he’d recalled something unpleasant. ”The Five Elders Association... is the most powerful organization in our region. They hold the highest authority. To put it bluntly, if you offend them, you will die. No question.”

”The Five Elders Association?” Wan Ze repeated the name.

”That’s right. But don’t worry, we’re not usually important enough to ever meet them.” Feng Jiuchen’s voice held a trace of self-mockery. ”It’s like how ordinary people in the real world don’t typically get to meet a head of state. But you do need to watch out for their enforcement teams. That’s a different story.”

He paused, then began to detail the world’s power structure.

”To be honest, I’ve been in Cultivation in Huangliang for ten years, and I still don’t know how big this region we’re in truly is.” Feng Jiuchen shook his head with a bitter smile. ”I only happened to overhear an elder in my Sect mention that the area we are in is collectively known as Litian City.”

”So we’re inside a city?” Wan Ze was stunned and looked around. Endless forests and overlapping mountain ranges stretched out before him, with several peaks in the distance soaring into the clouds. How could this possibly be a city?

Feng Jiuchen shook his head. ”I don’t know if it’s really a city or not. But I think... being perpetually shrouded by the Red Moon is strange enough on its own. After all, what kind of city would be like this?”

Wan Ze nodded.

It was true.

He usually arrived in this world during the night in reality, but he had entered Huangliang during the daytime once... That experience was even more perilous than the night. He vaguely remembered feeling an intense sense of pressure the moment he arrived, as if something was watching him from the shadows.

”You can think of the Five Elders Association’s structure like this.” Feng Jiuchen gestured with his finger on the stone table. ”The Five Elders Association is equivalent to a City Lord. They each manage different domains, make decisions collectively, and act as a check on one another.”

He drew a large circle on the tabletop. ”The Five Elders Association oversees several official organizations. At the Core is the Law Enforcement Department, responsible for maintaining order in Litian City and arresting Qi Refiners who break the rules. The people from the Law Enforcement Department are not to be trifled with. Every one of them is a combat veteran who has blood on their hands.”

”Next is the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which handles internal disputes within Litian City, mostly mediating conflicts between Sects.”

”There’s also the Foreign Affairs Hall, which handles external matters... Their authority isn’t high, but their strength lies in their numbers and wide reach. Offending the enforcement teams, while not a guaranteed death sentence like offending the Five Elders Association, will still land you in a world of trouble.”

Feng Jiuchen spoke with great clarity, having clearly studied these matters thoroughly.

He then changed the subject. ”Beyond these official organizations, you have the various martial Sects. The Five Elders Association handles major policies and maintaining order, but the competition for Cultivation resources, the discovery of legacies, and the nurturing of talent are all matters for the Sects themselves. As long as they don’t cross the Five Elders Association’s bottom line, they generally don’t interfere.”

”And Tongchen Pavilion is one of them?” Wan Ze asked.

”Correct.” Feng Jiuchen nodded. ”Tongchen Pavilion is considered an upper-middle-tier Sect in Litian City, with a legacy stretching back about two hundred years. I serve as a Foreign Affairs Steward in the pavilion, mainly responsible for external communications and some... less-than-public matters.”

He didn’t elaborate on what those ”less-than-public matters” were, and Wan Ze didn’t press him for details.

”What about the Cultivation Realms?” Wan Ze asked the question that concerned him most.

This was arguably the most basic information, yet surprisingly, Wan Ze had already entered this world knowing nothing about it. This was also why Feng Jiuchen felt a bit emotional as he said, ”What I’m about to tell you might shatter your perception of things...”