69 Village hopes. (1/2)
The caravan that Li Yang was hitching a ride with was stocked with various crops or live animals. The area around Fire Cloud city had apparently just suffered through a rather lengthy period of drought and famine, leaving several of the smaller villages around the city in dire need of not only food and water but also replacements for the lost farm animals. A drought and famine was no problem for cultivators, but for normal people, it was a horrific catastrophe.
Of course, the crops and animals that were being sent over by the Royal Dragon Pavilion were not sent out for free. The city lord of Fire Cloud city was the one who had ordered the shipment of wares, even paying for them out of his own pocket.
The caravan was heading straight towards Fire Cloud city to deliver the wares, leaving the task of handing them out to the city lord and his men. But even though they headed straight towards Fire Cloud city, the caravan still stopped at some of the smaller villages that were located along the way, picking up other people that had the same goal as Li Yang, taking part in the contest.
On the fifth day of the journey, the caravan reached the third village they were going to stop at, picking up a further 10 people that were looking to hitch a ride. Including the two villages they had stopped at earlier, they had now picked up an additional 45 people, most of them being youths between the ages 15 to 30.
They were all just villagers, so their cultivations were rather limited, with the strongest and oldest ones only having reached the late stage of the Xiantian Rune realm. But as Li Yang sat on one of the wagons, guarding the sacks of potatoes, he couldn't help but notice that the youths in the village were all training incredibly hard, some even going as far as training until their hands and feet bled.
The village they were at right now was quite small, only housing a few thousand people, so Li Yang was able to see that someone had built a small arena at the center of the village. The arena was currently occupied, various weaker youths having a contest between each other. The contest even had an audience and judges, the youths ranked based on their performance.
Li Yang found it a bit curious that all the youths in the villages he had seen so far were training so hard, so he turned towards a male youth that had joined the caravan during the first stop, a boy called Cao Taizhi, asking if he knew why they were all training so hard. Cao Taizhi hadn't spoken with Li Yang past a short introduction, but he still quickly answered, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
”Isn't it obvious? If we manage to stand out during the contest, we can join a sect or clan. Even if we fail to join one of the great ones, as long as we join any sect or clan, we can bring pride and prosperity to not only our family but even our village.”
Tao Caizhi was approaching his late twenties, had short and needle-like brown hair, large green eyes, and a somewhat square face. From what Li Yang had seen of him during the time he had spent with the caravan, he was a typical village boy, cheerful and bright, but also quite naive about how the world actually worked.
Even though he had never talked with Li Yang before, he saw nothing wrong with talking freely with him. After all, thanks to the clothing Li Yang was wearing, it was easy to see that he also originated from a small village. Tao Caizhi turned his head, looking at the battle taking place on the arena, his voice dripping with respect and admiration.
”And if just one of us manages to reach the height of Senior Teng Lingmu, then all the villages in the area where we were born will be protected for years to come. That is why there are so many of us, and why we are so eager. We carry not only our own hopes but the hopes of everyone in our villages.”
To Tao Caizhi and the other people from the villages, their villages and family was everything to them. For them, they did not mind any hardships they had to go through, any pain was worth bearing. To be able to ensure the safety and prosperity of their family and village was the greatest calling for them. Li Yang tilted his head slightly, a bit curious about the person who Tao Caizhi had mentioned.
”Teng Lingmu, who is that?”
Since even a village boy like Tao Caizhi knows about him, it either meant that he was incredibly famous, or that he originated from the same village. Tao Caizhi completely froze after hearing Li Yang's question, gazing at him with his mouth agape. He quickly closed his mouth and shook his head, grabbing onto Li Yang's shoulders and pulling him closer, nearly deafening him as he shouted.
”You don't know about Senior Teng Lingmu?! He has become a legend in the villages on the continent, a great source of motivation for people like you and me! How can you not know about him?!”
Tao Caizhi's eyes nearly turned bloodshot and crazy, so it was clear that Teng Lingmu was quite a bit more popular than he had first assumed. Li Yang brushed away Tao Caizhi's hands and put a bit more distance between the two. While the caravan resumed its journey, Li Yang shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly answered.
”I never really paid attention when the others talked about the various legends. Would you mind telling me?”
Even though Li Yang did not mind cultivating, and could do so for years on end at times, it did not mean that he loved doing so every chance he got. Now that he had a chance to get a break and even gather some information, he did not mind doing so. Despite falling backward and hitting his head on the side of the wagon after the caravan abruptly started its journey, Tao Caizhi still excitedly talked about Teng Lingmu.
”Senior Teng Lingmu was someone just like you and me, a youth from a small village. He took part in one of these contests that took place about 100 years ago, and his prowess got him noticed by one of the smaller sects. That alone was enough to bring great pride to his village, which had its name changed to Dragon's Gate village. But he didn't stop there, he continued to improve, eventually getting noticed by the Endless Horizon sect and accepted as a disciple! We haven't heard anything more from him since then, but his village and all the surrounding villages are still being protected by the Endless Horizon sect! Our villages hope that we can produce a similar result in the contest, so we all work hard to not disappoint them.”
Tao Caizhi's eyes gleamed with so much excitement that it seemed like they were going to pop out, his breathing speeding up as he talked. But Li Yang was easily able to understand why he was so excited. For someone from a small village, it was incredibly hard to reach a point where the largest sects would notice them, so there was no telling how hard this Teng Lingmu had to work to reach his position. Even Li Yang was not above respecting people like this Teng Lingmu and his hard work. After taking a few deep breaths and calming himself, it was Tao Caizhi's turn to ask Li Yang a question.
”What about you, what village are you from, and how many people did you send?”
Li Yang was clad in the violet wolf robes he had gotten custom made. While they were more luxurious than the clothing of most villagers, it was still clearly inspired by the clothing style of a village. Tao Caizhi guessed that Li Yang came from a village that was close to the Cloud Wilderness, but rather than just guessing and assuming, it was better to ask. Li Yang simply gave a light shrug of his shoulders, not seeing a reason to come up with a lie.
”I come from the village of Wildbourne, but we haven't sent anyone to take part in the competition. I am taking part in the contest, but it's not because of the village, it's because it would make it easier for me to achieve my goals.”
Joining the competition would allow him to get noticed by one of the larger clans and sects, joining them so that he could acquire more resources. It would also secure him a spot in the upcoming Huo clan competition, which was another reason he decided to join the competition. Tao Caizhi tilted his head, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he seemed to not understand Li Yang.
”You're not fighting for your village? What other goals could you possibly have? Is it revenge?”
Tao Caizhi was a village boy through and through, to him, the only things in the world that mattered were his family and his village. That ideology was so deep-rooted that he failed to understand that people could have other goals, other than getting revenge for their village getting destroyed. Li Yang was not bothered by the way Tao Caizhi looked at him, shrugging his shoulders, his eyes narrowing slightly.