Xuankong Mountain, as one of the top Taoist sects.

The Hanging Mountain, which floats in the sky and never falls, is enough to show the style and heritage of Taoism.

On the mountainside, in the martial arts arena, a young man was dancing with a sword. As he danced with the long sword, the sword energy was everywhere.

Judging from his age, he is only about twenty years old, but he is already full of true energy. The sword energy is combined with the clouds and mist in the mountains, making him ethereal like an immortal, untainted by the mundane world.

Next to the martial arts arena, his master watched and nodded repeatedly. He was originally a farmer's son from the mountains. He had never practiced martial arts before he was seventeen or eighteen years old. He had been in Xuankong Mountain for only four years, but he had already entered the Zhenyuan realm. He also had masculine energy and blood, and extremely powerful internal skills. He could be said to be a top seed player.

But when he was dancing with the sword, his movements suddenly stopped and he felt inexplicably panicked.

He panicked and the sword light in his hand suddenly dispersed. The powerful sword energy spread in the martial arts field, crisscrossing and leaving traces on the ground.

"What's wrong, Sun Jian?"

The young man called Sun Jian stood there in a daze, and only spoke with difficulty after a moment.

"The jade pendant, the heart pendant is broken."

"Master, I want to go down the mountain."

…

In Bashan County, Zhang Mingtu was still walking in the Wuyi Mountains.

At first, Zhang Mingtu could see some wooden houses or thatched houses that were used by hunters to rest, but after going deep into the forest, there was basically no human habitation and no signs of human survival.

It looks like a completely primitive jungle.

There are still many such environments in Daxia.

Zhang Mingtu didn't find it strange. In his memory, the city that was truly in the center was as glorious as the modern one.

But that is only a carnival for a small number of people. Those who practice Taoism, Buddhism, or martial arts all have all kinds of incredible abilities.

They possess the power to change the world, but only the supreme being of Daxia has the ability to make these people take action and willingly build a magnificent city.

Moreover, even if there are top warriors and magical Taoism and Buddhism, they are still not omnipotent. Compared with the industrial age, force, Taoism, and supernatural powers cannot be mass-produced, which further limits the ability of supernatural powers to change the world.

The really large areas are extremely luxurious, but in some remote areas, they are dilapidated and look like they were in the real ancient feudal dynasty period.

Even Zhang Mingtu knew why the middle-aged woman and other people living at the foot of the mountain settled here.

Most of them are slaves who have lost their status as good citizens, and some even have no household registration.

Of course, if they are willing to return to their original place of residence, they still have household registration status, but there is a considerable amount of land "under their name" and they need to pay a lot of taxes. For them, returning to their original place to live is almost the same as death.

Those who live at the foot of the mountain and reclaim wasteland may harvest less food, but because there are no taxes and they can hunt in the mountains to supplement their family income, their lives are actually better than those who live in the city.

In some small districts and counties, the government also tried to include these people back in the household registration, hoping that they would continue to pay taxes, but once the tax collectors came to the mountainside, these people would hide in the mountains to avoid taxes.

There were jackals, tigers, leopards, and all kinds of ferocious beasts in the mountains, but they were nothing compared to the taxes imposed by local governments in Daxia.

Zhang Mingtu couldn't remember whether it was Confucius or Mencius who wrote an article titled "A Harsh Government is Fierce than a Tiger."

The general meaning is not much different from the characters in this mountain.

It should be Mencius. Mencius saw a woman crying in front of a grave in the mountains, so he asked the reason and found out that the rich man's son was killed by a fierce tiger in the mountains.

After further questioning, he found out that her husband and even her father had died at the hands of a tiger. Curious, Mencius asked why she did not settle down in the city and live in peace and stability.

The woman replied that the taxes were too heavy and there was still a way to survive in the mountains, but once she went to the city, it would be a place where her life would be buried.

Therefore, Mencius lamented that a harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger.

Zhang Mingtu found it difficult to understand when he was reading, and he even couldn't imagine it.

But only when he truly came to an ancient world did Zhang Mingtu clearly understand the pain and sorrow therein.

The mountain road is rugged and the interior looks like a deep mountain forest.

Zhang Mingtu held the long sword in one hand and patrolled the area under the moonlight, mostly searching on the mountaintops and inside the mountaintops. Soon he found several more demons, who were killed by him with his sword.

Under the moonlight, it is easier to absorb the essence of the moon in areas such as mountain tops and hilltops than in other areas. Demons usually like to practice at such times.

Although there were many monsters, Zhang Mingtu found that none of them were as scary as the tiger. There was only one fox, which Zhang Mingtu could not find despite searching everywhere.

"Killed six, and only one fox escaped."

Zhang Mingtu whispered silently, but he also knew that monsters like foxes were usually very intelligent and could even learn to read like human scholars.

They are also proficient in illusions. Living near the mountains, they can easily trick people into the mountains and kill them without leaving any trace. Just like the mountain monster, once they take shape, the killing they cause is extremely terrifying.

Just like that tiger monster, with the help of its minions, it killed dozens of people without leaving much trace. If it weren't for the young hero from a big martial arts sect who Zhang Mingtu didn't know about, who insisted on fighting to the death in the mountains, the tiger monster wouldn't have left any trace.

"I'm afraid that fox demon lives near the mountain king. Judging from the noise, it has already run away."

Zhang Mingtu sighed, but did not feel any regret.

He walked around the mountain twice more to make sure that nothing was found. Seeing that the sky was about to get brighter, Zhang Mingtu no longer hesitated.

It is impossible for him to have all the good things in his hands all the time, so it is normal for a monster to run away.

He walked down the mountain quickly and when he passed by the woman's house, he found that the woman was staying at home and there was nothing wrong with her. There was a pregnant woman sleeping next to her with a slightly visible belly.

There were traces of tears in the corners of the pregnant woman's eyes.

Even after such a horrific demon attack, they still did not choose to move back to the village or move back to the vicinity of the city.

When Zhang Mingtu saw this, he could only sigh silently.

Then, without hesitation, he quickly walked to the edge of the tributary of Ganjiang River.

He jumped into the water, turned into a swimming fish, and quickly returned to Jianyi.

It comes quickly and goes even faster.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at Jianyi. Feeling the familiar aura, Zhang Mingtu couldn't help but show a look of joy on his face.

When I returned home, my parents were still sleeping soundly, but my mother Wang Yulan would unconsciously rub her waist with her right hand after falling asleep.

Zhang Mingtu sensed this and silently walked to his parents' room. He silently channeled his Qi and blood over the bodies of Zhang Jishi and Wang Yulan, using it to repair the hidden injuries in their bodies.

At the same time, I felt a little guilty.