The Holy Path of the Primordial World Shines Brightly

Chapter 108. Cruelty in animal husbandry is only natural!

"Guest, are you aware?" the rat spirit said, "that outside of Kunlun, you probably won't find any restaurants selling dragon meat."

"No one dares to sell, and no one dares to eat... After all, if some dragons deliberately cause trouble and extort money from us, how many people can afford to suffer that?"

"Business is tough these days."

The waiter sighed, saying that he had worked here for many years and had seen countless customers from all over the country, so he was quite knowledgeable.

"That's true." Feng Xi nodded in agreement. "Although the Dragon Clan is no longer the ancient overlord clan, it is still one of the strongest clans in the world today."

"If a dragon is up to no good, extorting and blackmailing, taking advantage of its neighbors, most people really have no choice but to put up with it."

Making money by selling your own flesh is nowhere near as fast as robbery and extortion.

Feng Xi views any group objectively and dialectically—there are certainly members with excellent character and who keep their promises, but there are also those who are morally corrupt and have a negative reputation.

He had no doubt whatsoever... that some dragons, after selling their own flesh and blood, would then report to higher authorities—no, I mean, that someone had cruelly harmed them—and use that as a pretext to extort money.

Then, the shopkeeper who sold dragon meat was in trouble, and the customers who ate it weren't much better off. They not only lost a lot of money, but if things got even worse, they were killed by dragon experts under the guise of justice, and there was nowhere to seek justice.

No... it might not be under the guise of fairness and justice; there might even be "ironclad evidence."

Deleting or modifying programs, altering history, distorting the truth... these are all routine operations for privilege-mongering programs!

Ultimately, in this primordial world, the size of one's fist is still very important.

But what about these situations in Kunlun?

The dragon clan's experts would be much more wary and wouldn't dare to cause trouble.

after all……

One of the local powers—the Taoist sect—has an incredibly powerful and formidable force!

The Kunlun Mountains are home to many masters and harbor a terrifying power.

While the Taoist sect is led by the Three Pure Ones, in terms of membership and peak martial prowess, the Three Pure Ones alone cannot represent the entirety of the sect.

Feng Xi has a slight say in this matter.

The database of the Wu tribe records many of the top Taoist masters of the present era, including Taoist grandmasters whom he had heard of in his previous life.

The Great Void Immortal Chisongzi, the Profound Mystery Immortal Wenzi, the Void-Reaching Immortal Liezi, the Southern Flower Immortal Zhuangzi, the Cave Spirit Immortal Kangcangzi, the Purple Pure Immortal who made great contributions to the Golden Elixir Dao, and the Hongdao True Lord who authored "Collected Explanations of the Yellow Emperor's Yin Fu Jing"...

This power, simply by existing, without needing to deliberately flex its muscles, is already an ultimate and terrifying deterrent.

With them all grouped together, how many forces in this vast universe would dare to underestimate them?

In other words, the two factions of witches and demons, whose ferocity far surpasses that of the two factions that hold power over the primordial world in this era, can remain indifferent... What about the others?

Oh.

They're both younger brothers.

The same applies to dragons.

If it were the ancient Dragon and Phoenix Era, when the Dragon Clan ruled half of the prehistoric world and many innate deities gathered together, then naturally they could suppress the Daoist sect.

Unfortunately, times have changed!

In the current Dragon Clan faction, the Holy Ones have long since vanished, no longer possessing their former power.

The only top-tier powerhouse capable of shouldering the main responsibility is the First Dragon... Although he has many other Great Luo Immortals under his command, such as the Nine Sons and the Ancient Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, he still has to be wary when he encounters the Daoist sect.

After all, the core masters of the Taoist sect each have their own networks of connections and can find outside help!

For example, Zhuangzi, the True Man of Nanhua, may have had a close relationship with Kunpeng, the supreme behemoth of the Northern Sea.

In the Northern Darkness there is a fish, its name is Kun. Kun is so large that no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans. It transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The back of Peng is so vast that no one knows how many thousands of miles it spans…

"Free and Easy Wandering"!

An article, explaining its own reasoning, and incidentally showing Kunpeng... to say there's absolutely no connection between the two? Feng Xi doesn't believe it.

For example, the True Man of the Great Void, Chisongzi, resided in Kunlun Mountain. He was a member of the Taoist sect, a neighbor of the Queen Mother of the West, and even took the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan as his disciple, guiding her in her cultivation.

……

To see the whole picture from a small part is to understand the bigger picture; those with great supernatural powers in Taoism naturally have connections.

If things really get going, they could even pull in Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang by building connections... If Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang are involved, how can the other human kings just sit idly by?

We definitely have to do it together!

Faced with such an opponent, the current dragon race would be blown to bits in no time, unable to withstand it at all.

"The Daoist sect led by the three Celestial Venerables of Kunlun Mountain has a lot of power... With such a powerful force, even if they don't actively provoke trouble, they're definitely not afraid of others coming to cause trouble." Feng Xi ate another skewer of dragon meat, savoring the wonderful taste that exploded in her mouth. "So, there's still basic fairness and order here—especially for restaurants like yours that dare to buy and sell dragon meat, you probably have powerful backers, right?"

"Hehe..." the rat-spirit waiter chuckled, "You're too kind, sir."

"Fair trade, with money and goods exchanged, the dragons won't cause us any trouble or have any reservations."

"However, that doesn't stop them from setting exorbitant purchase prices, ten or eight times more expensive than the same grade of flesh and blood... Every time the shopkeeper goes to buy goods, he curses a few words behind his back." The rat spirit whispered, "I'm thinking that if it weren't for the powerful figures in the dragon race, the industry of raising true dragons might have already been developed on a large scale, just like some races with very delicious flesh and blood."

"Then sell them, and the money just keeps flowing in, right?" The rat spirit's eyes held both envy and regret.

"Is that so?" Feng Xi said "Oh" to indicate that she understood, chewing the dragon meat in her mouth, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes.

The world is hilarious, all come for profit.

Everyone in the world is benefiting.

The rat spirit's personal speculation is not unfounded.

With the dragon meat business so booming, how could it not ignite people's passions?

In other words, it would be too much of a loss to deal with a bunch of dragons of the Great Luo realm, which is why there is no industry that breeds true dragons specifically for butchering them.

Those who couldn't defeat the dragons had no choice but to behave themselves under the watchful eyes of the many administrators.

The forces capable of suppressing the dragon race would mostly disdain to act for such a small amount of profit... If beings of that level were to have a real appetite, a single decree would be issued and the dragon race would obediently hand over their flesh without daring to utter a sound.

—Dragon liver and phoenix marrow!

Legend has it that these were common items at the banquets of the supreme heavenly court that ruled over the primordial world, which gives us a glimpse into their significance.

Dragons and phoenixes alike must bow their heads.

"Tsk!" Feng Xi chewed another bite of dragon meat, sighing inwardly, "The dragon race... how pitiful."

"Dragon liver, dragon chariot, dragon-slaying platform... selling flesh, selling labor, selling one's life... how can one word describe such misery?"

"And this is still one of the top powerful races in the primordial world, yet they are like this... then what about the other races?"

After swallowing the dragon meat that had been chewed up and almost turned into a mellow juice, Feng Xi took a sip of tea to cleanse his mouth of the unique taste. Then, he forked a piece of beef that the waiter had praised and put it in his mouth.

Instantly, a fresh and tender taste, quite different from dragon meat, lingered on Feng Xi's tongue, offering a unique flavor.

"Not bad, this dish is quite good too." Feng Xi nodded slowly. "Although it's not quite as good as dragon meat, it's not much inferior."

"Especially compared to dragon meat, this price is so much cheaper...almost dozens of times cheaper." Feng Xi said leisurely while enjoying the delicious food. "According to what you said before, although the purchase price of dragon meat is high, it shouldn't be that the final price difference is so large?"

"Dragon meat is a delicacy reserved for VIPs. It's made with the finest ingredients, prepared by the most skilled chefs, and undergoes 129,600 meticulous steps, each requiring perfection to achieve the final product..." The clever rat spirit hurriedly explained, her words scathing and extravagant. "Eating dragon meat is more than just tasting delicious food; it's about savoring the passage of time, witnessing the rise and fall of dynasties—what has become of the former overlord?"

"This is about experiencing a spirit, about solitude..."

"Ha!" Feng Xi sneered, shaking his head repeatedly. "Alright, don't try to fool me with these empty words... I've traveled all over the country and have some experience... You don't need to hide the fact that you're just making brands and collecting 'intelligence tax'."

"I'm not short of money, and eating dragon meat is to fulfill a dream, so I won't haggle with you over such a small amount." He said calmly, "I'm just curious about the story behind it all, and I'm interested in knowing more about it."

"My lord, you truly possess great magnanimity, a heart as vast as the ocean, and virtues as noble as the sun..." The rat spirit kept bowing and scraping, showering Feng Xi with praise, until a bored expression appeared on his face before finally getting to the point, "Hey, didn't I already mention it before... the aquaculture industry!"

"The cost of purchasing dragon meat is about ten times that of ordinary meat... but there are many tricks involved!" The rat spirit looked left and right, and after putting away yet another spiritual herb that Feng Xi had praised—no, it was a purchase tip—it quietly explained, "Our dragon meat purchases are done piecemeal... compared to the same piecemeal purchases of other meats, it's definitely ten times more expensive."

"But in reality... our store buys other types of meat in bulk, at cost price!"

"As for why they're buying in such large quantities? It's because someone is breeding them on a large scale—raising those delicious-fleshed species in captivity, harvesting them as they grow, and taking the path of high volume and low profit." As the rat spirit spoke, a fleeting look of sadness appeared on its face.

Feng Xi observed this and pondered for a moment, "There must have been some very tragic and cruel things that happened here, right?"

"After all, profit comes first... so it's not surprising that they'd resort to any means necessary?"

"Since everyone's already playing the 'farming and slaughtering' game, it's not surprising that they're doing some other things too?"

The rat spirit paused for a moment before forcing a smile, "My lord, you are truly wise and insightful... to be able to see through this so clearly."

"I'm just willing to consider human nature from the worst-case scenario," Feng Xi said in a low voice. "Judging from your expression, you must be very familiar with this large-scale captive breeding? Come, tell me about it."

"How dare I disobey your orders, sir?" The rat spirit smiled bitterly. "I just hope that after you hear this, you won't spread it around... I can't bear even the slightest ripple of this."

"No problem... I'm very tight-lipped," Feng Xi promised.

"Sigh..." The rat spirit sighed deeply, forcing himself to cheer up. "Since we've chosen the path of large-scale production in this breeding industry, everything will naturally revolve around that."

"The first priority here is to select the species."

"Short growth period, good meat quality and taste, the more offspring the better."

"Only when all three of these top priority conditions are met will a species be selected for mass breeding... such as the bamboo rat clan I belong to, as well as the spirit rabbit clan, the gray chicken clan... It is said that the Danshen branch of the dog clan, the seven branches of the pig clan, the five branches of the cattle clan, and so on, are all among them."

"That doesn't seem to be a problem." Feng Xi nodded indifferently, giving an objective and calm assessment. "Although being confined and exploited is already quite tragic."

"Yes...it's tragic," the rat spirit murmured, "but that's not the most tragic part."

"After being raised in captivity, some profiteers, in pursuit of greater profits and more output... their actions are truly insane." His voice seemed to choke with emotion. "They use the most potent drugs to accelerate the growth of the captive creatures, driving them to madness, making them gain a pound of flesh a day..."

"As we all know, every medicine has some side effects... It's normal for some medicines to cause physical abnormalities if used in excess."

"For example, some chickens grow four or five pairs of wings; some dogs grow two extra heads... They are all twisted and bizarre, and just looking at them can leave a nightmare in people's hearts."

"These creatures that have gone astray will not be abandoned... even if they are squeezed dry, some profit must be extracted."

"Slaughter them and sell them at a low price...leave the intact ones to continue growing."

"To grow to a mature physique in the shortest possible time... Although this physique is very problematic, and the body may be too fragile to withstand the cultivation level forcibly supported by pills, and one may feel the pain of broken meridians and torn flesh from time to time... but one will not die."

"The big businessmen in this line of work don't skimp on this... They inscribe magic arrays in the breeding farms, which can induce the magic power within the body to passively cast self-healing spells, restoring the damaged body to its original state—even if it shatters again the next moment."

"Those breeders, they jokingly call this process 'cooking meat'... What does that mean?" The rat spirit was a little excited. "Because there are some sayings... that physical cultivation requires destruction before construction, and that only by enduring the bitterest of hardships can one forge an indestructible body."

"Whether it can lead to an indestructible body, I'm not quite sure... I only know that this repeated cycle will make the spiritual energy contained in every inch of flesh and blood more abundant."

"Furthermore, during the body's damage and repair, spiritual energy participates in the reshaping process, combining more perfectly with life force—resulting in fresher and more tender meat!"

"After the meat has been cooked to a certain point, it is slaughtered... The animals are forced to swallow herbs that can best stimulate the spiritual energy within their flesh and blood, until their blood and qi reach their peak—"

"A single, decisive blow to the throat!"

"That purest vitality, perfectly preserved, becomes someone else's meal."

The rat spirit's expression gradually calmed down, until it became as still as a stagnant pool.

Feng Xi chewed on the beef in her mouth, but suddenly it didn't taste good anymore.

"Isn't anyone going to do anything about this?" he asked.

"Who cares? It's like a cat eating a mouse, a perfectly natural thing..."

(End of this chapter)