"Is it only like this in the Northern Domain?"
"No, it’s like this everywhere." Xiaorou shook her head and explained, "It might get light tomorrow, or maybe in a month. The longest night the Northern Domain ever had lasted for an entire year."
Lu Mingyuan said in shock, "So day and night have no pattern? It all depends on Lord Heavenly God’s mood?"
"Yes."
Xiaorou nodded earnestly.
This was the first ti Lu Mingyuan had ever heard of such a thing. He voiced his question, "If it stays dark forever, how do you go outside? Do you just stay ho and starve to death?"
"We have Willow Candles."
Xiaorou pointed to the glowing Willow Candle Lantern in her hand as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Lu Mingyuan looked at the strange-looking candle. It was clearly a willow branch, but she called it a Willow Candle. He pressed on, "What if the candle runs out?"
Hearing this, Xiaorou’s little face turned pale.
"Then... we’ll die."
Lu Mingyuan froze for a mont at her words. He said gravely, "Let see that willow branch in your hand."
"Here."
Taking the lit willow-branch lamp, Lu Mingyuan discovered that inside the lantern, there was a small jar holding oil and a wick.
The lantern itself wasn’t anything special, but the oil and wick were unusual.
The oil shimred brightly, emitting a strange luster. It didn’t seem like an ordinary item.
The wick was made from twisted willow fibers from the tip of the branch. The light it gave off wasn’t strong, only illuminating a small corner of the night for about three ters in front of him. He scanned his surroundings.
Darkness shrouded the entire city, mysterious and eerie. It felt as if so colossal beast was lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce the mont the candlelight was extinguished.
"Where did you get this candle?"
Lu Mingyuan turned and asked Xiaorou.
"We bought it at the Divine Temple..."
Xiaorou answered honestly.
She felt that the Young Master had been acting strange ever since he woke up.
"What Divine Temple?"
"The Liu Zun Temple."
Lu Mingyuan seed to have guessed sothing. He asked tentatively, "This Liu Venerable... he wouldn’t happen to be a Divine Venerable of the Great Nether Court, would he?"
"That’s right, Lord Liu Venerable from the Central Domain. The Divine Venerable has always protected everyone. These willow branches all co from the willow trees planted in the Divine Temple. They’re imbued with the Divine Venerable’s aura, and the oil is also prepared by the Divine Temple."
"This Willow Candle is very expensive. The Clan Leader spent a fortune to get it. One branch provides light for three days. You have to use it sparingly, Young Master. Ordinary families would never light it unless they had to. They usually just keep it at ho and only use it for ergencies. Used like that, a single Willow Candle can last for a month."
Xiaorou thought the Young Master must have fried his brain from his fever, so she took the initiative to explain more.
"I see."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan mostly understood.
This was the reality of life for the people of the Demon Country.
Because day and night were not fixed.
They needed to light a lamp to go out and do things at night.
It seed that if they didn’t, they would encounter so terrible danger.
The source of these lamps was the Divine Temples under the Great Nether Divine Venerables. By selling these Divine Lamps, they earned a great deal of incense offerings in the Mortal World. These figures had a status equivalent to the Three Religions’ Saints in the Central Plains. In the Holy Netherworld, to the common people, they were like Divine Beings.
’Lord Divine Venerable, Lord Heavenly God.’
’Those are not the sa title.’
’This ans that above these Divine Venerables, there are Evil Gods. They are the true Divine Spirits.’
’If that’s the case, why are there no Divine Beings in the Central Plains World?’
After thinking for a mont, Lu Mingyuan went back inside and extinguished the lantern.
His gaze was calm as he asked, "Xiaorou, have you ever heard of the Great Yan Dynasty?"
"Great Yan..."
The young girl, Xiaorou, narrowed her eyes in thought, placing a finger on her chin. She said:
"I rember... I think it’s over in the Human Domain. Only the Human Domain has fixed days and nights. But I’ve never been there. I heard about it from the High Priest."
"The Human Domain?"
Lu Mingyuan hadn’t expected the Central Plains to be called that in the Demon Country.
Xiaorou explained, "The High Priest said that the only way to get stable daylight is to enter the Human Domain. The Court has been trying to conquer the Human Domain for a long ti."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan began to ponder.
’Could this be the reason why the Great Nether Court has been attacking the Central Plains World all these years?’
’From the looks of it, this Celestial God the people of the Demon Country speak of is no good thing.’
’They’re manipulating the day and night to exploit these superstitious people. The people are clearly the ones being deceived.’
For now, Lu Mingyuan had no intention of telling Xiaorou any of this.
His current strength was insufficient, and he couldn’t possibly shatter the beliefs these people had held since childhood in such a short ti.
Suddenly, Xiaorou pointed at the window, her voice full of pleasant surprise:
"Young Master, look! The sky is brightening!"
Lu Mingyuan followed her finger, his gaze shifting to the sky.
At so point, the sky had strangely begun to light up.
There was no sun, but the sky gradually revealed a fish-belly white, slowly turning into dayti.
The arrival of day allowed Lu Mingyuan to see his surroundings clearly.
He was in a house made of stacked stones. Around it were many similar houses and various large tents. The remnants of burnt-out bonfires dotted the open ground. A small stream flowed in the distance, and farther away, he could see mountains and trees. It looked much like a village.
Lu Mingyuan thought to himself, ’Right now, finding Miss Yun and Lu Yunqing will be harder than ascending to the heavens. I have to find a way to get stronger first.’
And so, he decided to replicate his experience from his first life.
He would start by practicing martial arts and gradually grow stronger.
Lu Mingyuan instructed, "Xiaorou, I’ll need to eat a lot more to practice martial arts. Go and prepare so food for ."
Unexpectedly, Xiaorou gave him a strange look and asked in confusion:
"Martial arts? What’s that?"
Lu Mingyuan was stunned.
’Don’t tell the people here don’t practice martial arts?’
’Could it be that the Demon Country’s cultivation system is different too?’
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