Meirin frowned. “Will this be alright? Aside from black magicians, almost all of the other magicians don’t wear magic hats. If the Young Master doesn’t wear a magic hat, then he’ll be identifiable. Even if we’re speaking about the Rosen Empire and don’t need to fear the aristocrats of the Aksu Empire, the Young Master had still drunk the Water of Nothingness. This fact is known by all. If they know of Young Master’s ident.i.ty, then we will face greater troubles. After all, the Water of Nothingness is known to have no cure. If we make it known that we can cure the toxin of the Water of Nothingness, then it’ll cause trouble. Even if the Young Master denies it, they might find out about the Ghost Cane. If this secret gets out, then it’ll cause trouble as people try to grab it[1].”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly. “Alright then, I won’t pretend to be a normal magician. I’ll just stick to being a Divergent Warlock. Anyway, one doesn’t need to cultivate to use a Divergent Technique.”
Green frowned. “Actually, what the Young Master said about him being a Divergent Warlock isn’t incorrect, it’s just that his Divergent Technique is truly too formidable. As such, we shouldn’t let others know of it. If the Young Master reveals his ident.i.ty, then we will gain more problems. No matter what, the ident.i.ty of the Young Master shouldn’t be shown there. We cannot let them know of the Young Master’s ident.i.ty.”
Quinn John nodded. “This is right. If we let them know of Zhao Hai’s ident.i.ty, then it’ll be very troublesome for us. How about this? Why don’t we let him wear a mask? There are many Divergent Warlocks on the continent with unique appearances, so if Zhao Hai wore a mask then n.o.body should be able to recognize him.”
Zhao Hai frowned. “But if that’s the case, I won’t be able to wear this magic robe. This magic robe was given to me by Laura, so I like it very much.”
When she heard Zhao Hai’s words, Laura’s face turned red[2]. As the others laughed, Laura turned more embarra.s.sed. Although her heart felt sweet, Laura still stretched out a hand to pinch Zhao Hai’s back.
Laura’s attempt to hide it naturally wasn’t hidden to Green and the others, and this made them laugh louder. Only Meg’s facial expression was gloomy as she’d paid attention to Laura and saw it all clearly[3].
Meirin smiled and said, “Young Master won’t need to worry about your magic robe. We can just change your attire. Whatever a Divergent Warlock uses, so long as the style of the robe is altered then n.o.body will be able to see through it.”
Zhao Hai nodded. “The mask is something that’s needed, but I don’t want it to be the type that blocks the entirety of my face. That’ll be too stuffy.”
Everyone laughed. It seemed that everything had been set. It can be said that the matters within the Purcell Duchy has been left behind.
Once the laughter stopped, Laura[4] continued, “Since we’re going to the Beastfolk Prairie, we will need to find a place to live. I had some businesses in the Beastfolk Prairie, but trade there isn’t great. Only a handful of ethnic tribes do business with me, and none of them war tribes. As such, the income isn’t great. I had kept a steward in the Beastfolk Prairie named Artest[5]. He’s a very loyal person and someone we can rely upon completely. He is, however, there to work. One must know that things are very different within the Beastfolk Prairie. Generally, if we make agreements with the buyers of our commodities, we then transport the cargo. If we just place it wherever, then we may get robbed.”
Zhao Hai didn’t do any research about business, nor did he have any contact with the beastfolk. As such, he didn’t understand much and had no real say in these matters.
Quinn John nodded. “Right now, what we must do is establish a relations.h.i.+p with one of the war tribes first. So long as we create a business around a war tribe, n.o.body would dare to touch us later on in the Beastfolk Prairie. When we act within the Beastfolk Prairie, we can rely on a tribe’s War Flag. No one would dare to move against an ethnic group within the prairies.”
Zhao Hai wasn’t able to understand any of this, but Green knew that the war tribes were the kings of the Beastfolk Prairie. In fact, it could be said that the Beastfolk Prairie was a collection of several large and small bandit groups. The larger tribes would be the bigger bandit groups, while the smaller tribes were smaller bandit groups. The bigger bandits robbed the smaller bandits. This was the rule of survival within the Beastfolk Prairie.
Because of this, if the beastfolk had a harder time making a living, they would rob from others. To continue living was one of the reasons why the beastfolk and Terrans fought against one another.
These war tribes were the powerful fighting ethnic groups within the beastfolk race. They were the biggest tribes—the big bandit groups.
If you only did business with some regular ethnic tribes or ordinary war tribes, then you’d be unsafe. Only when you did business with the formidable war tribes would you be safe from danger. This was how business was done within the Beastfolk Prairie.
Each war tribe had their own flag, and this war flag represented the dignity of the war tribe. Anyone who dared to offend those with that war flag would be hunted down endlessly by that war tribe and killed.
War tribes held a high degree of respect towards the merchants they worked with. To ensure the safety of those merchants, they would give them their war flag and allow them to raise it upon their caravans. This way, they could guarantee the safety of those merchants. Otherwise, the caravans would meet with smaller bandit tribes within the Beastfolk Prairie, which was unsafe.
Zhao Hai nodded. “What commodities are best sold within the Beastfolk Prairie?”
Quinn John smiled lightly. “Food[6] is ranked first. Second is salt and weapons take third place. These are the things that are scarcest within the Beastfolk Prairie.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly. “Salt and iron, these items are ones we can’t get. Food, however, isn’t a problem. In any case, once we arrive in the Beastfolk Prairie, they won’t be able to gain control of our food supply. This is the same for those beastfolk if they tried to rob and steal from us. We can grow a variety of grain products within the s.p.a.ce and then supply it to the beastfolk.”
Quinn John nodded. “This is exactly what we want. Since the price of food in the Beastfolk Prairie is high, if we lower our prices then we will most certainly become the most popular merchants there. Moreover, vegetables is also one of the most scarce produce for those beastfolk. Since we have the s.p.a.ce, we won’t have any problem with transporting vegetables. If we can transport vegetables, then I believe they will certainly sell well.”
Zhao Hai nodded. “While I say we cannot supply their other needs, if it’s just vegetables and grains, then we can openly and widely supply them. We can also trade large quant.i.ties of magic beasts with them, which is a good thing.”
Laura smiled. “With the things you have here, I don’t need to be worried. I do think, however, that we should first set up a transfer point within the Beastfolk Prairie. We will also need to set one up inside the Rosen Empire. We cannot always take magic beasts from the Beastfolk Prairie and just keep them stored. We’ll need to get rid of them, and we can do that by selling them to the Rosen Empire. As such, we can turn grains and magic beasts into money.”
Zhao Hai nodded. “This is also good. Right, Laura, where are your people located within the Beastfolk Prairie at the moment?”
Laura quickly replied, “Right now, they’re at Three Paths Curve[7] near Yaja River[8]. It’s the largest of two rivers in the Beastfolk Prairie, and Three Paths Curve is the reason why the riverway bends and the basis for its fame. The appearance of the water is gentle, and it isn’t too far from the border near Black Mountain Fortress within the Purcell Duchy. It’ll take us five days to reach there.”
Although Zhao Hai hadn’t been to the Beastfolk Prairie and didn’t know the situation there, he did have a certain understanding with regards to Yaja River. He knew that it stemmed from the Extreme North Ice Origin[9], which was one of the continent’s five great restricted areas. It shared this honor with the Carrion Swamp. This river crosses through the entire Beastfolk Prairie and into the Purcell Duchy. Once it reached the Purcell Duchy, it took up the name of Jade Belt River[10].
That was right, Yaja River was the upper part of Jade Belt River. As such, the Purcell Duchy had a detailed record about Yaja River. The Yaja River was also the Beastfolk Prairie’s most famous river and was referred to as the beastfolk’s mother river.
No matter if it was herding or for living, the beastfolk and water were inseparable. The Yaja River wasn’t only the largest flowing body of water, but it was also a gentle one. The beastfolk wouldn’t just be able to fetch water from it, but also fish from it. For the beastfolk, the Yaja River was their mother. Generations of beastfolk were raised by it.
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “That’s not too far from the Purcell Duchy then. Right, which tribe are you in contact with? Is it safe?”
Laura smiled and said, “It’s secure. My business has contact with two tribes. One is the Cattle-people Tribe[11], the other is the Fragrant Pig Tribe[12]. These two are ethnic groups. The Cattle-people Tribe raise cattle while the Fragrant Pig Tribe is also very famous on the continent. These two beastfolk tribes are very mild. Moreover, they are near to the Purcell Duchy. The magic beasts they produce are meat producing magic beasts, and the income from this is quite good.”
Zhao Hai nodded. His understanding of the beastfolk wasn’t much[13]. One must know that there were a thousand different beastfolk races. Take, for example, the Cattle-people Tribe. They were divided into rhinoceroses, yaks, oxen, longhorn cattles, buffaloes, and many other dozens of races. Wanting to memorize all these races was like trying to memorize a whole book. Zhao Hai didn’t have that kind of ability[14].
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “First, we’ll go and see Three Paths Curve and have a look. Then we’ll proceed onward into the Beastfolk Prairie. Since the Beastfolk Prairie is big, we must find a suitable place to set up the transfer point. It has to be near a region inhabited by a large tribe.”
Laura thought about it for a while, then her eyes shone brightly. “I thought of a place. Although the place is far and deep within the Beastfolk Prairie, it is the holy land in the hearts of the beastfolk.”
After Laura said this, the people in the room knew what Laura meant[15]. Although they couldn’t have possibly gone there, they had all heard of it; the only city within the Beastfolk Prairie—Beast G.o.d City[16].
Beast G.o.d City was famous among the beastfolk. Within the Beastfolk Prairies, there was only vast and endless gra.s.slands. There were no mountains, no stones for production. As such, constructing a city was too difficult.
The establishment of Beast G.o.d City, however, was actually a miracle. A beastmen-created miracle.
Notes:
-This chapter was MTL’ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
-Please support the author if you love this novel.
-Please check out the Editor’s footnotes, thanks.
Footnotes:
[1] Congratulations. You already revealed the Ghost Cane was special. For no true reason, people will a.s.sume it’s the reason for your OPness and aim for that. Even if you say it can’t be taken from you, then how about if you die? ↩
[2] Probably from embarra.s.sment, cause that was sappy as heck and creepy. Author, please go on a date… ↩
[3] Does anyone else feel a bit awkward when reading the author’s attempts at romance? I get creeped out just editing it… ↩
[4] RAWS says Meirin spoke here, but Laura is the one with contacts… I am also wondering if all my previous uses of Meirin was actually Laura… ↩
[5] 阿泰 – ā tài. Cause no point in ruining a good GTL name choice. ↩
[6] I should note that 粮 can mean either food or grain and 粮食 generally means food/food so food. Sometimes, only 粮 is used, so we use context to switch between grains and food, which can get confusing. Even worse when he’s a farmer and grains is his fastest growing produce. This issue was most prevalent during the food crisis. ↩
[7] 三道弯 – Sān dào wān. ↩
[8] 雅加河 – Yǎ jiā hé. ↩
[9] 极北冰原 – Jí běi bīngyuán. Tentative name. Can also be Polar North. Can also be Ice Source. ↩
[10] Jade Belt River was the place where the Universal Origin Sword Saint had fought that other unknown Rank Nine and turned the river into a lake. ↩
[11] 牛人族 – Niúrén zú. ↩
[12] 香猪族 – Xiāng zhū zú. ↩
[13] Oh my… we get it already, he knows nothing. Must be the 4th time this came up. We should just rename this chapter to “Clueless about Beastfolk–Zhao Hai.” ↩
[14] No, but as MC he has selective plot memory. If something happens around him, he’ll have read some obscure entry about it in a book somewhere. Or someone else would have. Like when the Devouring Blood Mosquitoes came up. “Unknown, unknown, oh, now we both remember it.” ↩
[15] Probably except for Zhao Hai, who knows nothing about anything there. ↩
[16] 兽神城 – Shòu shénchéng.