[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-lies-hidden":3,"chapter-the-dragon-lies-hidden-the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-35":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon Lies Hidden",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289333,4477,"Chapter 35: Humans as Fish and Meat","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-35",35,"\u003Cp>Facing Wei Yuan’s question, Feng Chutang nodded and said, “That’s right. To this day, the human race remains a premium offering for the Wu Yu clan’s sky sacrifices, with at least a million humans captured annually for ritual slaughter. In ancient times, the number was even greater—the Wu Yu clan would often seize entire tribes and sacrifice every man, woman, and child together, calling it the Great Perfection. To stop the Wu Yu clan from capturing humans for sacrifice, the Liao people fought countless battles against them. The later total war between the two races was, in fact, partly over this issue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Including Wei Yuan, the group of boys and girls were even more confused, and someone asked, “Then why did humans lead the Wu Yu army across the border to encircle the Liao from behind?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Chutang said, “The exact reasons are not recorded in historical texts, and I dare not speculate. Let me tell you what happened afterward—if you’re interested, you can look up the relevant histories yourselves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Chutang paused, then spoke slowly: “After the Wu Yu army crossed the border, the Liao’s eastern forces suffered a devastating defeat. The King of Hanbei and the King of Yunshan died in battle; fifty thousand cavalry perished, with countless more wounded. The Wu army advanced thirty thousand li, only halted two months later by reinforcements summoned from the Liao’s rear. This battle shifted the balance from Wu Yu’s disadvantage to slight advantage. The great war ended three years later, with the Liao kingdom’s borders pushed back fifteen thousand li. Half a year before the war’s end, a human True Person shattered the Heavenly Barrier and achieved Oneness—our race’s first Immortal Lord.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The descendants of noble families were aware of both the Great Wu-Liao War and the rise of the first Immortal Lord, but they had never realized the two were connected; by presenting these two historical events side by side, Feng Chutang made even Wei Yuan, who knew nothing about either, sense something faintly ominous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boys and girls glanced at each other, silent. Historically speaking, the human race seemed to deserve accusations of aiding the enemy and betraying gratitude. Yet the appearance of the first Immortal Lord marked the very beginning of the human nation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Yuan had a suspicion: the material that enabled the human race’s first Immortal Lord to ascend may have come from the Wu Yu clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lesson ended here, and it was time to dismiss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Chutang said, “If anyone is interested in this period of history, review it on your own. But these facts are scattered across different histories—each book reveals only fragments; you must read many to see the full picture. That’s all for today. Next session, we’ll discuss the Wu Yu clan. Their entanglements with our race span over two hundred thousand years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the lesson, Wei Yuan felt a corner of the world quietly unfolding before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the end of class, thick stacks of jade paper appeared on each student’s desk—no fewer than ten pages each. Each sheet was a book, recording ancient histories, carefully selected by Feng Chutang for the students to read privately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as Wei Yuan gathered his books to leave, the guarding Daoist called him back and pressed his identity jade token against the jade register. A line of small characters appeared: “Disciple Wei Yuan of Tianqing Hall, owes sixty taels in book fees.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Yuan was startled—did these few books cost half his monthly stipend? Though temporarily credited, immortal silver still had to be repaid! He considered returning the books, but the other students had already swiped their tokens and walked out without hesitation, not even glancing at the register.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When most classmates had left, Wei Yuan asked softly, “Master Daoist, can these books be returned?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist’s face was expressionless. “Once your token is swiped, no returns! Besides, these are assigned readings by your instructors—why refuse them? If you only want to idle away your time, why come to Tai Chu Palace at all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reprimanded by the Daoist, Wei Yuan could only awkwardly clutch the books and leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After observing carefully, he noticed that Zhang Sheng was generous in every other matter, yet always hesitated when immortal silver was involved. Wei Yuan suspected his master might be financially strained, always trying to save him a few taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the historical texts were valuable, but once read, their contents were firmly memorized—why buy them? Yet the Daoist had acted too quickly; before Wei Yuan could react, his token had already been swiped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back at his courtyard, Wei Yuan picked up the small vial holding Yin Qi Pills and poured out the contents to count them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The issued vial of Yin Qi Pills lasted only a month—more required self-purchase. The pills’ true value lay in enhancing spiritual clarity; their ability to replace food was secondary. Wei Yuan reread the Entry Manual, seeking ways to earn income. It stated that the Dust Affairs Hall assigned tasks to low-rank disciples; completing them brought payment, the main source of income for impoverished students at Tai Chu Palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all Dust Affairs Hall tasks required a minimum cultivation level—worst case, one must have completed the Blood and Flesh Refinement of the Foundation Establishment realm. Wei Yuan lacked this ability, so he set it aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon, Wei Yuan read some histories; after nightfall, he continued practicing the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram. That night’s cultivation was steady—the ground beneath the Jade Toad expanded another ring, reaching one zhang two chi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At dawn, Wei Yuan ended his practice, slept for an hour, then rose fully refreshed and headed to Qisi Hall for class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second day’s lesson was General Immortal Path Knowledge, covering the history of the immortal world, distinct from human general history. The instructor was a middle-aged Daoist, Master Di Xia, whose aura was ethereal and majestic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After class began, the Daoist waved his hand, and before each student appeared a long scroll. The front depicted primitive scenes of savagery and bloodshed; the middle, longest section, showed immortal mountains and Daoist realms, with several Immortals wandering beyond the heavens; the rear portrayed countless Immortals gathered, battling myriad demonic beasts and alien races.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist pointed a finger, and two scenes on the scroll lit up: one, a man attaining immortality in a crude cave; the other, a Human King gathering a million troops to found a dynasty. Behind the king’s banner was the character “Li.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire history of human cultivation was divided by the first Immortal Lord’s emergence—ancient and medieval eras—then by the founding of the first unified dynasty, Li, separating medieval from recent eras; the final divide was the establishment of the Great Tang and the advent of the Sect Examination System.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This opening lesson naturally covered the ancient era. Back then, humans lived in scattered tribes. Then, someone discovered a strange scripture, the “Supplement Heaven Scripture,” and cultivation began. Generation after generation of cultivators refined their methods, gradually increasing their cultivation base and strengthening their techniques. With cultivators, humanity’s status among alien races rose. If humans had once been seen as cattle and sheep, they were now regarded as shepherd dogs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet after one lesson, Wei Yuan felt that whether or not cultivators existed, humanity’s overall fate seemed unchanged—after all, when cattle and sheep were consumed, the dogs and horses had to take their place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1238,"2026-06-20T03:38:27.933Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e7ace1cd687048b1a546c8c2275a72ec8167c5626f03fdebbc4121d28b894fb0","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-36","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-34",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-lies-hidden-cover.jpg"]