Chapter 474: 91. Reward
“Since you have already agreed, then please stay in the Ideal Nation for now. After lunch, I want to start immediately; we need to make the most of our time so that I can control the Loom before the Elf King undergoes his transformation from the World Tree. I’ll rely on you during this time, Asuka.”
The negotiations wrapped up quickly. It seemed that Margaret was particularly lenient towards Fisher and the others due to their shared status as Trans. After outlining a rough plan, she said this.
Fisher and the others hardly touched the tea break. After pondering for a moment, Fisher nodded and then stood up to speak,
“Alright, then during this time we will…”
“I’m sorry, but we haven’t prepared any guest accommodations yet. After all, our arrangements have been too tight these past six months, Duke Chuan. Could I trouble you with this matter?”
Seeing Fisher inquire about the next arrangements, Margaret belatedly remembered this detail and showed a bit of remorse as she turned to Duke Chuan. He quickly agreed, standing up and walking towards the base of the tower.
“Please follow me.”
Tang Zeming Asuka held the macarons that Margaret had just handed her, glancing back to see her companions all getting ready to leave. However, it seemed she wanted to help Margaret control the Loom, and for a moment she didn’t know whether to go or stay, appearing a bit anxious in place.
Margaret seemed to notice her little actions and smiled, pointing at the macarons in her hands, and asked,
“I’m sorry, as the dessert creator, I always like to see others finish what I’ve made, so I kept feeding you. I hope it suits your taste. If you don’t want to eat it, just put it down; it’s no problem.”
“How could that be? I just feel it’s impolite to eat while someone else is talking.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Zeming Asuka immediately picked up a macaron and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing in a flustered manner.
Margaret watched her red-faced eagerness, which seemed to prove she hadn’t had that thought, as crumbs from the macaron fell from her lips, causing her to chuckle and take out a cloth from the nearby table to wipe her lips,
“Alright, I understand now, Asuka.”
“Thank you, Ms. Margaret.”
Tang Zeming Asuka continued to munch on the sweet macarons, feeling slightly shy as she stared at the gentle woman in front of her, seemingly nervous and awkward in Margaret’s presence.
Fortunately, Margaret noticed her embarrassment and, after wiping the food crumbs from her lips, withdrew her hand.
“Then, Asuka, why don’t you go find a place to rest with your companions? After lunch, come back, and we can get started formally, alright? Of course, your companions can come too, if you want.”
“Okay, I will be there on time!”
Margaret smiled and nodded, watching her rise to follow the departing Fisher. Fisher also glanced over, and only when Tang Zeming Asuka sheepishly ran back to him did he slowly retract his gaze, following Duke Chuan down the steps they had come from.
As Fisher and the others’ footsteps gradually faded, a gentle breeze swept through the air above the tower, causing the waves in the central water pool of the hollow platform to ripple, as if something shiny existed deep within the abyss, creating a sparkling effect on the surface of the water in the room.
Margaret remained still, staring at the hardly touched tea break in front of Fisher and the others, and after a long silence, she reached out and took a macaron, slowly taking a small bite and chewing.
“Duke Chuan, is there anything I can help with?”
“Ah, no, you all can go back.”
After exiting the tower, Duke Chuan began searching for usable space in the Ideal Nation, so Fisher followed his lead and started to walk around. Along the way, Fisher quickly noticed that the homes of the surrounding residents were planted with plants emitting a purple glow. Before he could ponder their use, Gou Wen spoke up first,
“Elf’s Secret Planting Technique. I didn’t expect Duke Chuan would actually apply his power here.”
“Secret Planting Technique?”
Fisher turned to look at him, as did the others, and Gou Wen nodded, saying,
“Ah, a kind of elf secret technique. Simply put, it uses the power of elves as mythical beings to nurture and transform products. Each elf’s secret planting technique produces different effects. Some elves’ power can cause strange mutations in crops, while others can increase yield. However, using the secret planting technique requires a lot of effort. Generally, elves use this technique for a specific purpose, just like how the Elf King uses blood to cultivate fruit for prolonging life.”
Duke Chuan hadn’t expected Gou Wen to know so much about the Tree Continent, even the elves’ secret techniques, but he didn’t think much of it and continued to search for usable space while explaining,
“The geographical location here is extremely unfavorable for production. I don’t know if it’s because it’s close to [Death], but if we didn’t use this method, the crops that sustain the residents wouldn’t survive. With the secret planting technique, our food can sufficiently supply the tens of thousands of people living here.”
Gou Wen looked at the sea of purple crops in the Ideal Nation, seemingly stunned. His amazement was not for the wonder of the secret planting technique, but that Duke Chuan was truly willing to use all of his strength to help these beings of lower rank and power.
Even though Gou Wen was known on the Ocean Continent for treating living beings for free, he still felt a bit ashamed in front of Duke Chuan.
The reason is simple; the secret planting technique consumes life force. If it doesn’t consume others’, it consumes one’s own.
The Elf King’s life force is insufficient, and it clearly comes from the slaves he’s acquired from various lords. But what about Duke Chuan? It seems there are no rituals or offerings here, so the life force consumed must come directly from him.
Gou Wen kept the shock in his heart and didn’t speak further. Fisher continued to stare at Duke Chuan’s back and the purple plants, unsure of what he was confirming.
Meanwhile, Tang Zeming Asuka, who was behind Fisher, seemed to be in a good mood, her footsteps noticeably lighter, and the surrounding flowering plants and the diverse, even bizarre, subhuman races looked more pleasing to her.
Eventually, Duke Chuan built several houses from trees that grew up from the ground away from other residents’ homes, kindly assigning each person their own individual room. The means of establishing a complex house in just a few minutes would have brought tears to the engineering teams of Nali’s later generations, who would kneel and pray to the “God of Civil Engineering.”
Generally speaking, the rank of mythical beings is usually measured by their destructive power, often overlooking the miracles brought by such strength. If a mythical being wishes, they can entirely defy the laws of nature to quickly establish a nation capable of sustaining the lives of thousands in just six months. They can increase food production and create exquisite architecture in an instant while surrounding this nation with walls that repel enemies.
In fact, Fisher has always felt that when Ramastia originally gave him such powerful strength, it was to hope that his descendants would demonstrate the grace of life using their mighty abilities, leading all things toward a flourishing future.
But the outcome is evident.
A long time later, all Fisher saw were the ashes of demigods and their descendants, scarred lands and oceans, and that water snake deity, who clings to Jasmine and murmurs like an empty-nester.
“Everyone, please rest here for now. Lunch and utensils will be sent over shortly.”
With the power of Duke Chuan, a beautiful wooden building quickly sprang up before the eyes of Fisher and the others. After casually finishing this, he was about to turn to leave, but Fisher suddenly called out to him and asked,
“Duke Chuan, may I ask if your Prime, Xiong, came with you? Also, Lu An and Luk Ming, if possible, I would like to meet them.”
The departing Duke Chuan paused for a moment, hesitating for several seconds before turning around to respond,
“Xiong has already passed away; Margaret’s death rules can only last for a while, so shortly after you left, Xiong died. Lu An and some others refused to leave the land where their ancestors lived, so they remained on the Tree Continent. I requested Lord Shiran to look after them. Also, I am no longer a [Duke], so just call me Chuan from now on.”
“That’s truly unfortunate.”
Duke Chuan did not linger long, and Fisher and the others soon entered the newly constructed wooden house. The house not only had rooms for them to rest in but also an exceedingly spacious living room, serving as a basic common space.
The process was, of course, to choose rooms first and then check things out. Fisher picked the room farthest from the living room, Hela chose the one next to him, and Tang Zeming Asuka’s room was right beside hers.
Fisher had just entered the room, still examining it, when Hela, who had been following him with her hands behind her back, entered quickly.
Her casual demeanor might have led one to think it was her room and not Fisher’s.
Fisher raised an eyebrow and asked her,
“Why are you in my room instead of going to yours?”
Hela turned to look at him and smiled,
“But don’t you want to rest together with me tonight? That way, I wouldn’t have to sneak over on the seventh day. Why not sneakily make a small door between our rooms so we can discreetly exchange things, how about it?”
This sneaky suggestion seemed to spark something thrilling in Hela, and Fisher felt his heart race at her words, but he maintained a calm facade, appearing unaffected, and merely said,
“Let’s talk about it later.”
“Hey, are you sure? Once this opportunity passes, it won’t come again.”
These rooms generated by Duke Chuan’s power were not just empty rooms; they were furnished with beds and tables made from trees. Hela lazily flew up and leaned on Fisher’s bed, tempting him.
Although they were still on Duke Chuan and Margaret’s territory, Fisher had grown too lazy to inquire whether she would be discovered.
Watching her, Fisher sighed and sat beside her. Instead of engaging in the previous topic, he shifted the conversation and asked her,
“Hela, you’re a mythical being. Don’t you think Duke Chuan’s power is very similar to the power that ambushed me outside Phoenix Dwelling? At that time, you mentioned that a mythical being attacked me; is it possible that it was Duke Chuan?”
“Well, that’s hard to say because the method used by that mythical being was illusion, and there were no specific mythical fluctuations. You don’t have branches like the Duke of Peach on you, right? So I can’t be sure if it was Duke Chuan. I can only say it’s possible.”
Hela’s answer didn’t solve Fisher’s question but rather deepened his confusion.
First, during this time he had essentially made no obvious enemies except for offending the Duke of Peach, but even then, he hadn’t met him yet when a mythical being attacked him, leaving him utterly baffled. Moreover, he always felt Duke Chuan’s power resembled the force that had attacked him.
So the question arose: if it was indeed Duke Chuan, what reason could compel him to strike at him?
Or perhaps, it was not his intent.
Fisher narrowed his eyes, leaning against the bed, turning to look at the stone tower, the spot where they had just met with Margaret.
Though he couldn’t yet prove that the one who attacked him was Duke Chuan, it never hurt to be cautious.
Meanwhile, Hela seemed to have completely dozed off, lazily curled up against Fisher’s back. Before him, golden light began to flicker, quickly followed by the familiar glow of the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.
He remembered that he had already bound to the Elf Race earlier, and he had done that to complete the sequence [Gift of Fate]. Now it was time to claim his reward.
[Congratulations, you have collected a brand-new sub-human race label sequence: Gift of Fate]
[Contributor’s Note: The path of fate exists in ‘Universe’ and ‘Cosmos’. While each alone can be considered a powerful force, it’s undoubtedly true that the essence of ‘Fate’ lies in their union. Only one race in this world possesses such a complete gift.]
[You have unlocked sequence reward: Gift of Fate (Blue)]
[Constitution +1, Chaos Resistance, Source Grimoire Fragment (I)]
[Chaos Resistance: You have gained a faint ability to resist the encroachment of mysterious powers from beyond the world, providing a bit of defense when facing certain chaotic products or being in areas influenced by chaos.]
[Contributor’s Note: Hmmm, I guarantee this is an extremely useful ability. However, from my past experience, the more resistance you have against chaos, the more likely you are to attract the attention of chaos and thus be targeted by it. But perhaps, you’ve already caught the eye of chaos, huh? (laughing)]
As always, the contributor’s tone in the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans was impertinent, but Fisher had completely gotten used to it.
As for the [Source Grimoire], he had an earlier fragment already, but that was the second volume, and now he had obtained the first volume.
The second volume contained the secrets behind the birth of sorceresses rather than the magic itself. He wondered what content the first volume would hold. Logically, the second volume, while called magic, was more about gaining the attention and blessings of the stars in the Spirit Realm, which couldn’t be considered magic at all. Fisher hoped that the first volume would record some long-lost magic that he could use later.
He was not surprised by the diminishing returns in constitution; it seemed the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans had grown too lazy to even put on a show. The closer one’s rank approached the mythical rank, the fewer bonuses it provided in this regard. It correlated with his previous assumptions that possessing a corresponding Supplement Handbook would reduce the respective bonuses.
But the most crucial point was that he was nearing the end of the Fourteenth Rank, indicating that he had met the prerequisites to enter the Mythical Rank.
Whether it was the powers displayed by Duke Chuan, Hela, or the Duke of Peach, or the responses to the current potential threats, Fisher believed entering the Mythical Rank was necessary. Moreover, thanks to Hela’s reminder, he already had the corresponding method.
Was he about to become the first human in history to enter the Mythical Rank?
He had had a slight fever since yesterday and wasn’t sure if it was from reinfection or just a simple cold. In any case, he hadn’t been feeling well these past few days, so the number of updates might be a bit fewer, please forgive me.
I sincerely ask for your votes, tips, and support; it means a lot to me!
Thank you very much for your support!
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(End of this chapter)
