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Chapter 398: Chapter 394 Wind and Rain City
"The Holy Dynasty is divided into the Imperial City, the Inner Ring Twelve Cities, and the Outer Ring Thirty-Six Cities, each named after the Twelve Domains to symbolize the inclusion of all peoples of the Twelve Domains. The names of the thirty-six cities in the Outer Ring each differ, such as Wind and Rain City, where we are now, as well as neighboring Liuhuo City, Purple Thunder City, White Jade City, and others."
Along the way, Zhao Yang continually introduced things to Gu Jinlai: "Unlike those Inner Ring cities established fifty or sixty years ago, Wind and Rain City only has a history of twenty years. Due to the constant influx of refugees from other regions, Wind and Rain City, which belongs to the Outer Ring, is ever-expanding. To date, the city’s population has already surpassed one hundred million."
"One hundred million?"
Gu Jinlai looked at Zhao Yang, "Wind and Rain City has one hundred million people?"
"Wind and Rain City is also divided into the Ancient City District, New City District, and the Outer City District. The Ancient City District is bordered by the original city walls of Wind and Rain City, with a population of about four million. The New City District is the newly expanded area of Wind and Rain City, with about twenty-six million, and the remaining nearly eighty million people reside in the Outer City District,"
Zhao Yang explained.
"A city of thirty million people!?"
Though not the initial one hundred million, in this society leaning towards ancient structures, a single city housing thirty million people.
It was truly unimaginable.
"Although we continually expand the city, imagining settling nearly eighty million people into a safe city without someone in the Outer City District planting crops is futile... the materials required by the Inner City simply cannot be supplied,"
Zhao Yang said, his expression somewhat somber, "So in reality, the Outer City District is no longer within the urban boundaries of Wind and Rain City—it doesn’t even have city walls, at most, there are patrolling guards ensuring public safety. Yet sporadically, incidents of Devils attacking humans still occur."
"The Outer City District is quite large, isn’t it?"
"Centered on the Inner City, an area with a radius of a hundred miles falls within the boundaries of the Outer City District..."
Zhao Yang paused and then added, "Perhaps two hundred miles..."
Gu Jinlai looked towards the distance.
According to Zhao Yang, they were still over two hundred miles from Wind and Rain City, yet he could already see signs of human habitation.
Seeing this, Zhao Yang quickly explained, "Wind and Rain City’s Demon Slayers constantly patrol outward, often covering a range of nearly a thousand miles. Their goal is to exterminate Devils, and although dealing with Demon Generals and Demon Marshals is relatively manageable—once they act, their Essence Blood stirs and they can be sensed by the Demon Seeking Disk, summoning the Demon Slayers—the ordinary Devils are unpredictable and often cause human devouring incidents, thankfully due to the Devils’ limited strength, these incidents are generally not on a large scale."
Gu Jinlai nodded his head.
Such matters indeed seemed unavoidable.
Wind and Rain City was too large.
According to Zhao Yang, with Wind and Rain City as the center, an area spanning a thousand miles was considered the city’s territory.
This amounted to 250,000 square kilometers of land.
Guaranteeing that this vast land remained free from Devil incursion was indeed difficult.
The caravan moved forward.
As they neared Wind and Rain City, the signs of human habitation gradually increased.
By the time they were less than a hundred miles from Wind and Rain City, scattered buildings already sized up to a small town were spreading along both sides of the road.
However...
Gu Jinlai took a glance.
The faces of the townspeople were generally sallow and malnourished, and their clothes were old and tattered.
The only remarkable aspect was their Essence Qi Spirit.
They didn’t possess the numb indifference typical of impoverish cities; although run down, their eyes sparkled.
It seemed some hope supported them, allowing them to endure these hardships and face life with an optimistic and upward attitude.
Zhao Yang seemed to notice Gu Jinlai’s puzzled gaze and smiled, saying, "The Holy Dynasty’s emperor possesses an unparalleled strategic vision unmatched by anyone. His sayings and phrases constantly circulate among the people. The two most important points being, first, the safety of people’s lives is above all else, no one has the right to casually deprive another of life! Second, children represent the future of our country, the hope of the Human Clan. Every city must establish public welfare schools that teach children Martial Arts for free."
As he spoke, his tone carried admiration for the emperor, "Not only ensuring the safety of everyone’s lives and implementing free education, but the emperor is also pushing for free medical services; unfortunately... the state requires a vast expenditure, and the number of people it admits each year is too many to afford, yet even so, anyone seriously ill must be treated before payment. The Holy Dynasty Bank will assist with almost interest-free loans to cover medical expenses first."
"Ensuring life safety, free education, implementing medical care... and the bank..."
Listening to Zhao Yang, if what he said was true, the system of the Holy Dynasty...
Indeed had taken a significant step forward compared to other regions like Daqian.
"It’s precisely because of the emperor’s concern for the people that even though everyone is currently going through tough times, skimping and saving, everyone is full of hope for the future, without any doubt that the Human Clan will eventually expel the Devils and restore the great lands of our Human World,"
Zhao Yang said.
Gu Jinlai nodded his head.
As he observed along the way, he noticed many people bore signs of Martial Arts training.
Of course.
They were merely signs of Martial Arts training.
In reality, those who had successfully refined their bodies constituted less than ten percent, and among a hundred people, it was rare to even find one being a Demon God Warrior.
This might be related to not having yet entered the city, but it was easy to foresee that even with universal Martial Arts training, achieving success was still not an easy task.
...
Gu Jinlai had heard Zhao Yang describe this city as a "giant city" more than once before he even arrived at Wind and Rain City.
But when he actually stood beneath the city walls, he realized that even the term "giant city" seemed rather modest. The walls alone were like a mountain range spanning the horizon, blocking the view of countless people behind them.
Even with Gu Jinlai’s exceptional vision, he had to raise his head to make out the guards, watchtowers, and gun turrets above the walls.
And the extent of the walls was unknowable, stretching countless miles; Gu Jinlai, limited by the height of his viewpoint, could not see their ends.
"This is Wind and Rain City," Zhao Yang said, somewhat proudly.
"Countless people spent over a decade building this fortified city, the walls of Wind and Rain City stand 50 meters high and stretch two hundred miles. The city itself houses a permanent military force of 800,000, all of whom have undergone Body Refining. Among them, the most elite 100,000 are without exception official martial artists. Moreover, the number of registered martial artists in the city reaches 300,000, a power unimagined by any force."
"Three hundred thousand Demon God Warriors!"
Upon hearing this number, Gu Jinlai was also somewhat shocked.
Demon God Warriors were comparable to Devils in their existence.
Three hundred thousand martial artists were equivalent to three hundred thousand Devils.
This was merely the force Wind and Rain City held; if this were translated to the entire Holy Land...
How powerful would that be!?
However, after a moment, he felt something was off.
"If the Demon God Warrior System were perfected and martial arts were spread among the people... shouldn’t it be more than three hundred thousand?" Gu Jinlai said.
Zhao Yang blinked, then his expression became slightly complicated, "Senior Gu has piercing insight."
He looked around, "You might have noticed, many people outside the city are in tattered clothes, some even appear gaunt and malnourished... Ultimately, it’s a matter of resources." 𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Resources?"
"Too many people have come to the Holy Land. The territories held by the forty-nine giant cities simply cannot support four billion people. Martial arts training requires various meats to supplement it. In a situation of scarce resources, only one in two or three hundred people can successfully become Demon God Warriors."
Zhao Yang said, "Although His Majesty spreads kindness liberally, allowing everyone free access to learn martial arts, in reality it often requires two or three families banding together to support one person to concentrate on advancing in Martial Arts. As for the other children... they stay at the Martial Arts Academy for three years to see if they have the talent. If not, they ultimately have to go back to work, contributing bricks and tiles to the construction of Wind and Rain City."
"After becoming a Demon God Warrior, they can slay Devils and support their families, nurturing new Demon God Warriors for the clan, right?" Gu Jinlai said.
Zhao Yang paused, then continued, "Isn’t Senior Gu referring to the flawed Demon God Warrior System from decades ago? That system, refining Demon Blood Essence, was too domineering and would accumulate a demonic nature, often leading to loss of control within three to five years."
"Our Holy Land’s Demon God System generally refines Fierce Beast Essence Blood and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."
"Refining Fierce Beast Essence Blood and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures..."
Gu Jinlai thought of the Chaos True Demon Body.
The Holy Land’s Demon God Warriors lean towards the Demon God Sect system?
"As long as a martial artist’s Heart Realm and will are pure and strong enough, deeply perceptive, introspective of oneself, and digesting every bit of Fierce Beast Essence Blood and Treasure, generally no hazards remain within the body, thus we can live our lives to their natural end," Zhao Yang explained, pausing for a moment.
"Senior Gu, as a martial artist from outside, you will need to register locally. Wind and Rain City welcomes your arrival but... as you understand the current situation, Wind and Rain City also needs your strength. After registration, Senior Gu will be included in the Heavenly Martial Camp. Although you will need to go out and fight Devils, the treatment you receive will be the same as that of Demon Slayers and other residents of Wind and Rain City," Zhao Yang said.
Gu Jinlai nodded.
Given that the area for thousands of miles around the giant city was subject to Devil attacks, it was clear that Wind and Rain City was not absolutely safe and naturally required a large number of people.
The scarcity of resources, along with the constant sacrifices of martial artists...
This led to only 300,000 martial artists in Wind and Rain City.
Soon, the group arrived beneath the city gates.
There were a total of nine large gates at the gatehouse.
Except for the main gate, all were open.
People were paying the city entrance fee at the gates.
Merchant caravans were paying the tax.
Gu Jinlai took a moment to observe the entrance fees and taxes...
They were high.
Zhao Yang explained, "The city is only so big and can’t accommodate too many people coming and going, so we have to set a higher entrance fee."
"And the taxes are quite high too, right?"
"The city supports 800,000 soldiers and more than a hundred thousand Demon Slayers continually going out to slay Devils, which maintains the peace of Wind and Rain City. The higher taxes are understandable during difficult times; everyone needs to endure a bit. Once we get through this period, it will get better," Zhao Yang seemed quite open about it.
Gu Jinlai said nothing more.
The group quickly entered Wind and Rain City.
