Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1237 - 1230: East Continent National Investigation

Chapter 1237: Chapter 1230: East Continent National Investigation

In Lingyuan City, not only were the members of the Demon Clan knowledgeable about West Outer Heaven, but some were also extremely familiar with the entire Continent and could even speak the Dongsheng language fluently. Through them, the Advance Team gathered very valuable intelligence.

From west to east on the East Continent, the first is the Demon Clan alliance of Abisien in West Outer Heaven. This is a loose confederation of tribal affiliations, where typically there is little interference amongst the members—only during wartime do they come together to face foreign invasions.

East of West Outer Heaven lies the boundless high plateau of Thousand Peaks Cloud Top, which doesn’t have an actual state, but hosts two powerful clans: the sheep-like Bluebird Clan and the Minotaur Zhuhuai Clan.

The terrain in the highland mountains is steep and the transport inconvenient, with only the Bluebird Clan able to navigate freely. The region is cold and oxygen-deficient, unbearable for most, but the Zhuhuai Clan can withstand it, and even engage in intense confrontations on the high plateau.

The Bluebird Clan and Zhuhuai Clan are nominally members of Abisien, but in reality, they harbor little affection for West Outer Heaven. Most of the time, they are passive in conflict and occasionally outright ignore it.

Nevertheless, Abisien has not expelled these two clans because they need someone to guard Thousand Peaks Cloud Top and prevent the Dongsheng Empire from crossing it to directly strike the northern part of West Outer Heaven, cutting off their backup.

West of Thousand Peaks Cloud Top live the nomadic clans of the Demon Clan, among them the Yingzhao Clan, who herd and hunt on the grasslands. Though nominally members of Abisien, they too show little interest in the conflicts of West Outer Heaven.

To the immediate north and northwest of Thousand Peaks Cloud Top lie endless grasslands, where the climate is mainly that of a Continental temperate zone with an average altitude of about a thousand meters, preventing moisture from penetrating. Here reside the Human Race’s nomadic tribes, whom the Dongsheng Empire derogatively refers to as Di Rong, essentially meaning barbarians.

The Di Rong lead a genuine nomadic life on the grasslands, and like the Demon Clan, comprise many clans of varying sizes. These clans have formed a loose alliance known as Yipa.

This alliance is somewhat similar to Abisien; however, unlike Abisien, which was formed to resist foreign invasions, Yipa was established for more convenience in invading others.

To the southeast of Yipa lies the main perpetrator of the invasion into West Outer Heaven, the Dongsheng Empire. Located on the southeast coast of the Continent, it is the most powerful country on the entire East Continent.

This is also why the people of the Dongsheng Empire always carry an attitude of being surrounded by barbarians, including pejorative terms for neighboring countries.

The region where the Dongsheng Empire is located is called the Kyushu region, unlike West Outer Heaven; this Kyushu is an ancient administrative division that has continued for over a thousand years, inherited by the Dongsheng Empire. Hence, its people proudly call themselves the Kyushu people, and their language is known as the Kyushu language.

As for other countries, they are not as kindly. For instance, they call the nomadic tribes to the north Di Rong, the ethnic groups to the northeast Eastern Barbarians, and the people to the southwest Shanyue people, with almost no names that sound particularly normal.

When it comes to the Demon Clan, they are even more excessive; even in official edicts of Emperor Wu, the Demon Clan members are referred to as ’remnants of the base and ugly,’ encapsulating the typical mentality of a central superior nation looking down on surrounding barbarians.

To the northeast of the Dongsheng Empire lies another country comparable in military might but on unfriendly terms with them. This country is referred to by Dongsheng as the Beichang Empire. The ’Northern’ in Beichang is not only a geographical term but also differentiates from the preceding dynasty.

After being replaced by Dongsheng, the surviving Princess fled to the Eastern Barbarians and married their king, leading them to consider themselves the rightful successors to the Empire, adopting the name Chang. They vowed to reclaim their ancestral lands and restore their dynasty to its former glory.

Naturally, the Dongsheng Empire does not recognize such a claim to the throne, and therefore, they use Beichang to refer to the Chang Empire to distinguish it from the former dynasty.

To the southwest of the Dongsheng Empire and southeast of Thousand Peaks Cloud Top lies a small country whose name transliterated is Fengyu. No one knows the direct translation of Fengyu because this name is used within the context of the Shanyue language, so Zhuyan Yu could only phonetically translate it rather than adopt a meaning-centric translation as with the Dongsheng Empire.

The main body of Fengyu comprises Shanyue people who, while also belonging to the Human Race, differ from the Kyushu people in that they can hardly form magic crystals, resulting in less aversion to the Demon Clan. In fact, their territory has many mixed-race individuals from the Demon Clan.

Fengyu was a monarchial state, and because it was small with few people, it had no choice but to depend on the Dongsheng Empire, becoming a vassal state of Dongsheng. Since Fengyu connected the Dongsheng Empire to West Outer Heaven, Dongsheng generally passed through Fengyu on its western conquests to attack West Outer Heaven.

Between West Outer Heaven and Fengyu on the sea, there was a large island called Aximiya, inhabited by a race different from the Human Race and the Demon Clan, known as the Ghost Race. This is an interpretation, of course; some also call them the Ethereal Race, but the general implication is that of ghosts and spirits.

The people of the Ghost Race were short and had dark skin. They lived on the island and seldom came to the Continent, so most of the time, hardly anyone paid special attention to them.

During peacetime, the Demon Clan from West Outer Heaven would trade with them, exchanging Magic Crystals for various marine products and local specialties. Despite being isolated on their island, the Ghost Race was not to be trifled with.

According to historical records, the Human Race Empire once launched an invasion of Aximiya, but this invasion ended in failure, with less than ten thousand escaping from an original force of one hundred thousand. Since then, Aximiya had become a forbidden zone for the Human Race—even the haughty Dongsheng Empire dared not lightly infringe upon it.

About three days after Luo’er and his group arrived at Lingyuan City, the Luwu Clan’s army was the first to reach, which greatly encouraged Linglan. Consequently, she invited the leaders of the various clans to a meeting in the hall and also asked Luo’er and Zhuyan Yu to attend.

"Let me give you a brief introduction," Linglan began in the hall, introducing the other clan leaders to Zhuyan Yu and Luo’er, "This is Zisu, the Leader of the Maoyou Clan."

"Ah, so you’re the guests who have traveled from far away. Mmm, you smell quite nice." The cat demon known as Zisu didn’t mind manners as she circled Luo’er, her movements as soft and agile as a cat’s. Luo’er couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her as she circled him several times.

"Zisu, please be more polite to the guests," Linglan said courteously.

"What’s your name?" Zisu asked, moving in front of Luo’er and holding his hand in a flirtatious manner.

"Luo’er." Luo’er replied, unfazed.

"Luo’er, what a pleasant name," Zisu said with a smile, tilting her head as she sized him up.

After all, Zisu was a cat demon, and Luo’er could see many feline characteristics in her; the first thing that caught his eye was definitely her ears.

Unlike the ears of the Fox-Ear Tribe, the ears of the Maoyou Clan were slightly smaller and not as extravagant, but their smaller size made them seem delicate. And compared to fox ears, her cat ears could perform many interesting gestures.

If Linglan inherently exuded a sultry charm, then Zisu was probably the embodiment of flirtatiousness, that particularly clingy demeanor. Although Luo’er claimed to be unmoved, his heart still thumped vigorously.

Zisu had very delicate and small facial features, but her eyes were particularly large and the color of her pupils stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were typical cat eyes, and when she looked at Luo’er, her pupils dilated greatly, obviously paying him special attention.

Her small lips were also interesting, a typical cat-shaped mouth that made her seem very playful. Whenever she looked at Luo’er, he felt as if she was deliberately acting coy.

"Zisu, please show some respect to the guests!" Linglan coughed awkwardly and then emphasized her point again with a firmer tone.

"Alright, alright," Zisu shot her a glance and then took a couple of steps back, smiling and formally introducing herself, "My name is Zisu, the Leader of the Maoyou Clan."

"Hello, I am Luo’er, and this is my teacher Zhuyan Yu." Luo’er nodded in greeting, his eyes, however, kept glancing behind her, curious if there would be a tail.