The ancestral worship ceremony concluded, and classes began the following day.
It was still dark when Wei Yuan finished washing up early and went to the small square at the valley entrance to wait. The place for classes was Qisi Hall, thirty miles from the valley. Every morning at a fixed time, a horse-drawn carriage would come to take new disciples to Qisi Hall. If someone missed the time, they would have to make their own way there.
By the time Wei Yuan arrived at the square, he saw several carriages already waiting. Each was drawn by impressive horses, pure white with a shoulder height of one and a half zhang, faint clouds of mist swirling around their hooves. Each carriage bore different insignias, destined for different locations. Wei Yuan quickly found the carriage to Qisi Hall, confirmed his identity with the Cultivator driving the carriage, and boarded.
This carriage stood two zhang high, like a moving small building, and was very spacious inside with rows of seats, enough to fit fifty people. After Wei Yuan boarded, other people gradually came on until the number reached just over twenty, and then no more boarded.
Once everyone had arrived, the Cultivator closed the carriage door and drove off from the square.
As soon as they left the valley, Wei Yuan felt as if someone had heavily stomped on his chest. His body was pressed firmly against the back of his seat, unable to move! The scenery outside the window retreated rapidly, yet the carriage itself was unusually stable, with only a slight vibration.
Wei Yuan barely managed to recover from the pressure when suddenly the carriage jolted, and his body involuntarily flew forward. Fortunately, his reactions were swift—he grabbed the back of the seat in front of him, clinging on for dear life, preventing himself from crashing forwards. But the other children were not so lucky; some did not react in time and ended up banging their heads heavily on the seat in front, their foreheads swelling visibly.
For a moment, cries and screams filled the carriage.
Amidst the screams, the view outside the window changed again, revealing a three-story building.
When the carriage door opened, the Cultivator driving laughed and said, "We were running tight on time, so I sped up a bit. If anyone is late again tomorrow, we'll have to go even faster."
Immediately, a boy with a swollen forehead complained, "Even a carriage driver is this arrogant? Besides, Taichu Palace is stingy, providing such a lousy carriage without even a Wind-controlling Array!"
The Cultivator smiled good-humoredly, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
The boy wanted to say more, but his companions quickly covered his mouth.
After Wei Yuan got off the carriage, he saw the building in front of him, its plaque bearing the name Qisi Hall. The courtyard of Qisi Hall was very serene, with a cluster of vibrant green bamboo planted by the wall, their leaves dripping with greenery and intervals of clean energy rising amidst the bamboo leaves.
Wei Yuan followed the other disciples into Qisi Hall and saw rows of desks, one of which shimmered with his name. So, he went to sit down.
After everyone had taken their seats, a young Cultivator with a beaming smile entered from the side, surprisingly the same one who had driven the carriage. He stood in front of the hall and said, "My name is Feng Chutang, and I will be responsible for teaching 'Human Clan's General History' for the coming year."
The boy who had just been making a ruckus was taken aback and dared not look up any longer.
Taichu Palace took this focused teaching period very seriously, and each teacher they dispatched was no ordinary person. It was said that among the young teachers, there were several geniuses who were expected to become True Monarchs. Even noble families would try to curry favor with these teachers rather than unnecessarily create enmity. Every descendant of a Gate Valve had been lectured by their elders before classes began, strictly instructed to make a good impression on the teachers.
Fortunately, Feng Chutang did not pay attention to the minor incident in the carriage and said, "The history of our Human Clan can be traced back to three hundred thousand years ago..."
The earliest history of the Human Clan recorded in historical documents can be traced back to three hundred thousand years ago; beyond that point, history is unrecorded. At that time, the Human Clan was just a small tribe among the Ten Thousand Clans, scattered across what is today Lu State and Hedong State in the Eastern region, occupying merely a few counties surrounded by Alien Clans.
In those days, the Human Clan was frail, and many Alien Clans would not only invade the borders to burn, kill, and plunder, but some even consumed humans as food and used them as sacrifices. Hence, the first chapter of the Human Clan's General History is named 'Alien Species Chapter,' covering the first two hundred thousand years of the Human Clan's existence.
Feng Chutang's voice was soft and moist, as he unraveled the ancient secrets of the Human Clan's past. With his narration, several lifelike images appeared in front of the hall, depicting a man, a woman, and two children. They bore some resemblance to the Human Clan but were more robust and taller. The man was roughly a head taller than Feng Chutang, while the woman was about the same height as him. The boy was labeled ten years old yet nearly as tall as an adult male of the Human Clan, while the girl, labeled six years old, equated to a Human Clan child of about eleven or twelve.
The most distinctive feature of these individuals was their pair of grey pupils, long and pointed ears, and four fingers on each hand.
"These are the Hanhai Liao Clan, also known as Liao people we often mention, referred to in many books as Northern Liao. In fact, this term is not accurate, as the Liao people do not only live in the North; they are also distributed in the Northeast and East. The Liao Clan is numerous, with countless large and small tribes, like stars in the sky, and there are nine states with kings and rules among them. Presently, the borders of the Liao Clan's various tribes stretch for 1.5 million miles along Great Tang, making them the Alien Clan with the deepest entanglement with us."
"In Ancient Times, our entire Human Clan was viewed by the Hanhai Liao Clan as a little Alien tribe. Occasionally they would send troops to raid our lands for food and supplies, only engaging in slaughter if they encountered resistance. If we complied and surrendered supplies, we could generally pass unharmed. Thus, many at that time chose to offer tribute to ensure peace. Occasionally, when some noble Liao people desired hunting for sport, Human Clan tribes had to send out a squad of warriors into designated hunting grounds to act as prey; they could run or resist, and if they survived, they would even receive a reward."
Many students in the audience listened with indignation. Most of them came from noble families and were high-spirited and proud; it was difficult for them to tolerate learning about this dark chapter of their ancestors' history from Ancient Times.
There seemed to be something inexplicable in Feng Chutang's voice as he continued, "The Hanhai Liao Clan did not eat humans nor slaughter wantonly. Our Human Clan women appeared unattractive in their eyes, so abuses were not frequent. In the first several tens of thousands of years, many Human Clan tribes would regularly offer tribute, leading the Hanhai Liao Clan to gradually view the Human Clan as a vassal tribe and provide protection. Without the initial protection of the Hanhai Liao Clan, it is very likely that there would have been no Human Clan afterward."
"Compared to other Alien Clans, the Hanhai Liao Clan was the most lenient and mild towards the Human Clan. Although Humans were considered inferior, they were still able to live. Thus, our ancestors endured humiliation and hardship, prospered and multiplied until the outbreak of the great war between the Wuyu Clan and the Hanhai Liao Clan."
"At that time, our Human Clan's lands were located at the edge of the boundary between the two clans, which was not initially very important. Additionally, there were several True Monarchs within our clan, making our strength not too weak. We had insufficient ambition for expansion, but we had plenty for defense. As a result, the Hanhai Liao Clan entrusted this stretch of defense to the Human Clan and withdrew their troops to advance westward. However, they did not anticipate that the Human Clan would open the borders, allowing the Wuyu Clan to penetrate deeply, cutting off the Liao Clan's armies from behind."
Including Wei Yuan, everyone was taken aback. History was Wei Yuan's strong suit, so he asked, "Teacher, hasn't the Wuyu Clan always used our Human Clan for their heavenly sacrifices?"