Gu Yan felt as if he had suddenly entered a vortex...

A few breaths later, he appeared in the center of an altar.

"The spiritual energy here is five or six times stronger than outside," he said after sensing it.

Then he looked at a floating golden crystal, about the size of a palm, which was very dazzling.

"This is the key?"

"This is a bit strange. Could this really be another dimensional world?" he muttered to himself, drawing the object into his hand with a flick of his wrist.

After pondering for a moment, his figure vanished from the spot.

He needs to investigate this place thoroughly, at least to find out exactly how many powerful individuals there are.

However, his speed suddenly slowed down a lot. He used to travel a thousand meters in the blink of an eye, but now it was halved.

"Why am I so slow? What's going on?" he exclaimed, stopping in his tracks.

He glanced at the vortex of spiritual energy gathering in his hand.

With a loud bang, a large crater appeared in the ground.

However, it was much smaller than the ones outside.

"Could it be because this place is nourished by spiritual energy all day long, and the air and ground are not on the same level?" he pondered, stroking his chin.

He was flying and running wildly outside, where the air posed no resistance at all, but here, he did feel something.

The ground is also much more solid now.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He shook his head and continued on his way.

He was also a little curious. He was already so powerful in the first realm. Weren't the gods in mythology just like that?

Once you consider the difference in spiritual energy levels, everything makes sense.

If you put him in the land of the gods, he probably wouldn't even be able to fly.

...

The scenery around me changed rapidly, and soon after, I finally saw the buildings.

Although they were just ordinary mud houses...

"It seems the people here aren't doing well either," he muttered to himself, looking at the houses.

He then concealed himself and headed towards a plaza, where he sensed the presence of hundreds of people.

"Everyone, remember to bring out some mature herbs. Tomorrow will be the day those officials come to collect taxes again," said an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties.

His golden hair was streaked with gray, and his cultivation level was only around the first level of the Spirit Opening Realm. He might be decent outside, but in a place with such sparse spiritual energy, it was completely insufficient.

“Sigh, they’ve been harvesting more and more these past few years, but the time frame is so short, there simply aren’t that many mature herbs,” said a blond man in his thirties, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, my grandfather has been storing medicinal herbs all his life, and now they're almost gone. In a few more years, I'm afraid... sigh." A middle-aged man sighed.

"We still have to pay. If our village doesn't have enough, do you want to see what happens?" a young man said through gritted teeth.

Upon hearing this, everyone trembled.

"When I went out last time, I heard that a village that hadn't paid its taxes was massacred."

Only some women aged 30 to 50 survived.

"It's said that they lived a life worse than death, being captured and taken to the soldiers' quarters, where they had to entertain countless beasts every day," a middle-aged man said through gritted teeth.

One of them was his distant cousin, who was very beautiful when she was young and was sought after by countless guard captains every day.

"What? It's that bad?" a blonde girl said, trembling.

If her village can't pay the full amount, won't she be finished?

She must be humiliated by countless men every day.

Everyone turned to look. The girl had fair skin and a beautiful face. She was slender and had a very delicate figure, especially her tiny waist, which looked so small that it made you want to fill it up.

"Janet, don't worry, I'll deliver the herbs even if it kills me. I'll never let you fall to that level," a young man said indignantly, though he was weak and poor...

“Yes, Janet, don’t worry, even if the guys go bankrupt, they’ll still pay their taxes,” said a man in his thirties.

The crowd immediately looked down on him.

He's notoriously poor, always relying on others for help. He's so old, and has no savings whatsoever, so how could he be bankrupt... This guy's in his twenties, and he still wants to call me "brother"...

...

"Silence!" the old man shouted.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately stopped their commotion.

"I've already investigated. Our village's inventory can last for another two years, so there's no need to panic," the old man said in a deep voice, trying to reassure everyone.

But his brow was furrowed tightly; these past two years had already used up all the village's savings, and what about the future...?

"Phew, thank goodness for the village chief. We need to hurry up and plant and harvest medicinal herbs during this time," a middle-aged man said with a sigh of relief.

...

Gu Yan listened from a distance while watching the pretty blonde girl.

"It seems that the ones collecting taxes are those so-called main gods, but I don't know where they are." He said, licking his dry lips.

He always gets thirsty whenever he sees a delicate young girl...