Chapter 446: Meeting An Old Friend in a Distant Land
The Holytide species got its start when Grand Duke Holytide rebelled against humankind. But they retained many aspects of humanity, including the human way of thinking, and their custom of living according to hierarchies. [1]
Whether it was Sea-Sealing County or other counties, they were simply administrative satellites, and thus, their hierarchical systems weren’t as clear cut. But in the imperial capital, things were different.
As for the Holytide species, they were relatively united, and maintained the same hierarchies wherever they ruled. And such things were ingrained into the very fabric of Holytide being.
Holytide society operated in a caste system with six levels. The top two levels were the nobility, the middle two levels were the warriors, and the bottom two levels were the slaves.
Duke Heaven Zenith was in the fourth level, meaning he was in the warrior caste. It was the same with his son.
One’s place in the caste system was very important to Holytides. Only people with absolutely heaven-defying cultivation bases could ever change their place. After all, people in the noble caste had better bloodlines and more opportunities, resources, and the like. Most of the top experts among Holytides came from that caste.
To have the power to change the castes of others involved having power over the very heart of the Holytide species. And the only ones with that power... were from the Nightshade Cathedral.
Every Holytide royal dynasty had a Nightshade Cathedral in it. The Nightshade divine likenesses were bestowed by those cathedrals. And the ability to change caste level was a blessing from the Nightshades. Someone who had been blessed in that way would have an aura that was much closer to that of the Nightshades.
Over countless years, it was thanks to the secret influence of the Nightshades that the Holytides as a species had become obsessed with the idea of rising through the caste system.
It was for that reason that Duke Heaven Zenith was currently reeling from shock. Up to this point, he had still had secret reservations about these two Nightshades. But when he saw his own son receiving that blessing, he couldn’t have been more astonished.
That aura was true and authentic. And as the duke knew, not every Nightshade was capable of bestowing such a blessing. Only top experts among the Nightshades could do so. Either that or... cultivators from the Nightshade Cathedral.
Nightshades had a god of their own, that much the Holytides knew for certain. And though other species also knew the truth, most were unwilling to admit to it. But that was the reality of the situation. The Nightshades’ god slept in the red moon, and had been worshiped by them for generations upon generations. Because of the protection of that god, a group of godly custodians had come to exist among the Nightshades. They were the Nightshade Cathedral. They were the true imperial lords of the Nightshade species, and occupied the highest tier of power. [2]
As thoughts about those things flashed through Duke Heaven Zenith’s mind, he took a deep breath and bowed even more deeply. After leaving, he immediately passed down orders to find some shadeheaven demonmoon pills. And he sent words to the other city-states to compile detailed information about the Ten Entrails of the True Immortal dao fruits.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go very smoothly. There were four or five city-states who weren’t convinced of his story. After all, it was a very difficult story to believe. For countless years, this location had been forced to deal with many fake Nightshades, and never once had a real Nightshade ever visited.
In fact, it was for that reason that Duke Heaven Zenith didn’t immediately report the matter to the royal dynasty above him. He wanted to get input from the other city-states beforehand.
After all... though he was ninety-nine percent certain that these Nightshades were real, there was still that one percent bit of doubt. If it turned out that there really was something fishy with these Nightshades, and he never reported it, then he would deal with the situation however he saw fit. But once he reported it, he would be implicated in anything that happened.
And thus, seven days passed slowly but surely.
Although there were still two more days left until the dao fruits were ripe, the reality was that there were already fruits being harvested on the edges of the Ten Entrails of the True Immortal Jungle. Various foreign species were already using a variety of methods to sneak in and take some of the dao fruits. Some succeeded. Some failed. On a daily basis, the thirty-six city-states sent people out on patrol to look for infiltrators. Those who were caught suffered different fates. Some were killed, and their corpses hung from the tree canopy as a warning. Others were rebuked and sent away. Yet others were locked up. Because of how incredibly valuable the dao fruits were, there was no shortage of cultivators trying to sneak in.
When the Captain realized that some of the dao fruits were already ripe, he couldn’t suppress his anticipation. After talking things over with Xu Qing, he decided to take action.
Xu Qing agreed with the plan.
Although they seemed to be in a safe position in the ducal palace, the reality was that they were in extreme danger. Although Xu Qing was certain his disguise had not been penetrated, he knew that if someone strong enough came along, they would be able to see the truth. After all, nothing is absolute. Besides, his magical symbol of concealment was already starting to fade. Time was going to be a very important factor on this job.
On the morning of the eighth day, Xu Qing and the Captain left the palace complex and had the young earl Mu Ye lead them to the periphery of the Ten Entrails of the True Immortal Jungle, accompanied by a contingent of guards.
Standing outside the jungle, Mu Ye’s eyes glittered piously as he said, “Your Majesty, this is the Ten Entrails of the True Immortal Jungle. The fruits in the depths are not ripe, so we can’t go there. The jungle is filled with terrifying pressure that makes it difficult to traverse. The only time that pressure is reduced is when the fruits become ripe.”
Mu Ye had taken to visiting Xu Qing’s palace on a daily basis, and was always ready to explain anything necessary. As of right now, Xu Qing didn’t have a more devoted follower in Heaven Zenith than Mu Ye.
One reason was the blessing Xu Qing had given him. Another was that the mutagen in him came from Xu Qing. As such, it was appropriate for him to use the address Your Majesty.
Sensing the familiar mutagen in him, Xu Qing nodded, then looked out at the dark, endless jungle. Then he looked up and noted the massive tree with the ten branches that wriggled up like entrails.
Even now he found it hard to imagine that the tree was actually the embodiment of the entrails of a Woe-Immortal who achieved immortal ascension.
“Your Majesty, over the course of the following days, you should avoid casting your senses out during the night. In the time period after the dao fruits become ripe, there’s a very special aura here. If you make contact with it, it will invade you and harm you.”
Upon hearing that, the Captain curiously asked, “What kind of harm?”
“It will cause powerful hallucinations, exalted one,” Mu Ye replied respectfully. “In the past, someone was able to see the Woe-Immortal reaching immortal ascension. That person subsequently went insane, and ended up disemboweling themselves in imitation of what they saw. They ultimately died.”
The Captain’s eyes glittered with interest. Noticing a fruit hanging from a nearby tree that resembled an eyeball, he plucked it off and put it in his bag of holding.
They were currently on the outskirts of Ten Entrails of the True Immortal, and there were quite a few fruits hanging from the trees. They all resembled eyes, though some were open and others were closed.
“The fruits with the eyes opened are ready to be harvested,” Mu Ye continued.
As the Captain continued to pick the fruits, Xu Qing clasped his hands behind his back and asked, “How many dao fruits usually get harvested?”
“Your Majesty, when the dao fruits ripen every hundred years, there are usually about 300,000 that get harvested.”
Surprised, Xu Qing did some calculations. After all, only one fruit was worth 10,000 military credits. Qing Qiu was with them, and she was similarly astonished at how much wealth was available.
“Mu Ye, have your people harvest some of the fruits for me,” Xu Qing said.
“Yes, sir,” Mu Ye replied, and he immediately yelled at some of his attendants to go start plucking off the fruits that were fully opened. Though he didn’t have a lot of attendants, they were very spirited, and before long, had harvested a few dozen fruits. Just looking at them, Xu Qing felt his heart racing. He was essentially looking at hundreds of thousands of military credits!
Noticing the longing in Qing Qiu’s eyes, Xu Qing suppressed his excitement and coolly said, “You go harvest some too.”
Qing Qiu immediately rushed toward the fruits.
Xu Qing had unsealed her cultivation base a few days ago. However, concerned she might do something drastic, he hadn’t returned her bag of holding. Instead he gave her an empty bag to use temporarily.
The sight of Qing Qiu rushing off caused a smile to appear on Xu Qing’s face, but he quickly wiped it away and looked at the Captain.
The Captain couldn’t stop his eyes from glittering as he quickly worked to harvest one dao fruit after another, all the while muttering something indecipherable.
Xu Qing could tell what he was doing. He was tallying his military credit.
Eldest Brother doesn’t have enough willpower. What’s the point in counting things up now? He shook his head inwardly.
Before going much further into the jungle, Mu Ye brought over twenty-five dao fruits that had been harvested. He offered them to Xu Qing, who took them and put them into his bag of holding.
250,000 military credits!
Then he watched as Mu Ye went back to continue the harvest with the other Holytide cultivators.
“Twenty-six. Twenty-eight. Thirty-one....”
Xu Qing wasn’t paying much attention to the Captain and whether he was working hard enough to keep their cover intact. About an hour later, they had cleared the area of fruit.
They had harvested over a hundred, and were just considering moving to another part of the jungle when they heard a commotion nearby.
Mu Ye instantly went on guard, and was the first to stand protectively in front of Xu Qing. Meanwhile, his subordinate guards went ahead to see what was going on. Shortly after, one of them returned with a report.
“Exalted ones, it’s a patrol from the duchy of Cloudsquire. They caught a few foreign infiltrators, one of whom claims to be a descendant of the Woe-Immortals. The patrol had to surround them before taking them captive.”
“A descendant of the Woe-Immortals?” Xu Qing clearly remembered what he had heard from the Captain and others, that the Ten Entrails Tree was the embodiment of the last Woe-Immortal who achieved immortal ascension.
“Your Majesty, no one in existence has a pure Woe-Immortal bloodline. But there are plenty of descendants in Holytide territory who have bits of that bloodline. Cultivators like that are difficult to kill. And in most cases, they’re imprisoned until after the fruit harvest is over.”
Around this time, they heard footsteps and a lot of yelling.
“How dare you take me captive! I’m a descendant of the Woe-Immortals! This is where my patriarch achieved immortal ascension! I just came here to get some of my patriarch’s dao fruits. What right do you have to stop me? I wasn’t going to take very many. Only about thirty! What gall you have to touch me! If I die, then you’ll see. If my blood is spilled on my patriarch, then he’ll definitely awaken and vent his fury on you!”
As the voice reached them, the Captain’s eyes went wide, and Xu Qing’s pupils glittered.
A moment later, a group of Holytide cultivators arrived who obviously weren’t from Heaven Zenith. They had seven or eight infiltrating cultivators captive.
When the Holytide cultivators saw Xu Qing and the Captain, their expressions flickered wildly. Obviously they had heard stories about these two. They quickly clasped hands and bowed.
Among the group of cultivators they had taken captive was one young man whose aura was different from the others. Especially noteworthy was the totem tattoo on his forehead, which resembled a wriggling snake that almost looked like an intestine. This was the person who had been yelling, and he looked very indignant. However, when he saw Xu Qing and the Captain, his eyes widened. Then he noticed Qing Qiu, and a tremor passed through him. He recovered quickly, whereupon he went back to cursing. However he walked a bit more quickly now.
Qing Qiu looked away from him, her expression indifferent, as though she didn’t know him.
The Captain snorted coldly in his heart, and his eyes narrowed.
Xu Qing meanwhile, was thinking,
How did you end up here, Ning Yan?
1. To reiterate, the ‘grand duke’ title is different from the ‘duke/duchy of Heaven Zenith’. ☜
2. Red moon reference links: chapter 361, 362, 363. There are other references but those are probably the most relevant and important. ☜