Chapter 595: A Woodp.e.c.k.e.r and the Great Green Insect
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Draconic Arcane Realm.
There were two ways to enter and leave the realm. One of those ways was naturally only possible for the owner of the Draconic Arcane Realm, Vigilante A, to access at will.
The other was by going through the Gate of Vitality that the System had crafted.
This Gate of Vitality used to be located in Spirit Valley, and had aided them in defeating the people of Azure Mountain.
Afterwards, it had appeared during the conference of The Alliance of Justice and Order as an entrance to the heaven-sent arcane realm.
Later, the gate was placed in a land that was rich in vitality so that it would be able to absorb vitality.
Finally, once the Draconic Arcane Realm had completed construction, the Death Maze on the first floor needed an entrance. The System proceeded to change the appearance of the gate in a bid to lure in fiends, which worked as a good amount of evil devils and heathens entered the gate—it truly became a “Gate of Death”.
However, no matter where it was and as long as it was not stored away in the System s.p.a.ce, one person, no, one insect, would always be able to determine its exact location, which allowed it to enter and leave the Draconic Arcane Realm freely.
It was also the only insect that could do so.
Currently, this insect was already done with the two customers it had. Once again, it made easy progress from experience by easily finding the Gate of Vitality that was hidden away in a cave somewhere before worming itself into the Draconic Arcane Realm.
“How peculiar. Grandfather Shen, you’ve been growing for the past two years and you’ve been listening to me sing daily, and yet you keep growing leaves without taking root. That’s so weird, so very weird, a ginseng that doesn’t take root…”
Under a ginseng with a st.u.r.dy stem and an abundance of leaves was a green insect that dug away at the soil around the plant. It seemed like it was looking for something, and it occasionally mumbled dejectedly under its breath.
“Miss Daqing really is a master of food. She even knows that ginseng is the root of the plant, a fact that most people have no idea about.” A few Whitestone persons stood off to the side and whispered amongst themselves.
“However, it’s not wrong at all. Things are going very strangely. According to my estimations, this ginseng is innately different and there are already signs of it becoming a Sprite. Under these circ.u.mstances, its roots should be growing strong, yet that isn’t the case at all. Although its root system is flouris.h.i.+ng—I mean, it’s practically covering the entire herb garden, they’re all rootlets and the princ.i.p.al root isn’t obvious at all.” The Whitestone person, s.h.i.+ Da, uttered doubtfully.
As he spoke, he brushed the fur of a black tiger with a big brush.
Tom blissfully enjoyed the ma.s.sage, his claws flipping through a green book that he concentrated on.
As it listened to the conversation between the Whitestone people, it sneered at them in disdain inwardly. A few days after its arrival at this Draconic Arcane Realm, it had already figured out the reason why this particular ginseng’s roots were growing so thin.
‘However, these stupid stone people, as well as that stupid insect, have yet to realize the reason despite taking so much time…
‘Maybe they were just too lazy to think about it. After all, there are few geniuses like myself that would be willing to think actively, and most creatures are idiots that merely echo the opinions of others anyway…
‘That’s probably why Vigilante A likes to collect animals as his Followers—he would be able to use intellect against them.
‘This particular insect always sings about eating the ginseng every day. Does it take the ginseng for a fool? Was a Ginseng Sprite that knew to lick the boots of Vigilante A really a fool?
‘That’s not right. Huh, did Vigilante A smuggle in some treasure again? Why is he so full of vitality?’
While Tom the black tiger filled its mind with nonsensical thoughts, it suddenly felt a wave of abnormality. It immediately packed away its green book into the small bag around its neck.
It shook its tail and stretched outwards before looking into the direction of the wave of abnormality.
However, all it saw was a twenty-meter high maple tree with an abundance of red leaves that had seemingly appeared out of thin air onto an open s.p.a.ce in the south.
The northern side of the Draconic Arcane Realm’s third floor featured an area of luxurious villas that were warm in the winter and cool in the summer without the need for air conditioning. Besides that, fresh vitality crops were supplied throughout the four seasons as well. Only the closest to Vigilante A stayed there…
In this regard, Blak Cat Tom knew that Vigilante A was not some great hero that was just and unselfish. On the contrary, he was somewhat similar to those upper crusts of the Upper Realm that were not impartial and liked showing favoritism.
To put it nicely, one could call it valuing ties of comrades.h.i.+p.
The eastern side was the small hill that it lived on; atop the hill was a modest hut that it had claimed as its abode.
The difference in treatment was obvious, which caused the cat to hold a grudge towards Vigilante A. It would rather sleep on an open s.p.a.ce, since that would be so much more relaxing…
The middle of the third floor was the herb garden which was planted with rare herbs—some were hard to find on Earth, while others were plants even the feline had never seen before.
The southern side grew rows upon rows of trees; most were ordinary vitality fruit trees, so there were not many rare seedlings.
The maple tree was placed on the open s.p.a.ce right in the middle of all the fruit trees.
As soon as it appeared, it caused all the other trees to shake.
Countless leaves trembled before they fell from their trees and spread out into midair, as if welcoming the arrival of the maple tree.
This red maple was obviously being hailed as the king of all the trees.
“Huh, this tree seems like it wants to work in concert with that old ginseng…” mumbled Black Cat Tom under its breath as it sprinted over to the tree.
‘Vigilante A’s dog eyes really are lethal. Everything that’s good is always spotted by him.’
Black Cat Tom felt a surge of jealousy within itself. With its knowledge, it could tell at a glance that this maple tree was no ordinary tree.
It covered the remaining distance rapidly and rushed towards the tree, before realizing that there was a bird on it.
‘What kind of bird is that?”
‘Crimson mantle, long beak… A woodp.e.c.k.e.r?’
‘This bird seems to contain overflowing vitality. Hehe, I’m sure it would make a good dish… There’s a recipe in that green book that would be perfect for it—”Baked Bird Wings”.’
Black Cat Tom stared at the crimson-mantled bird with malicious intentions.
The crimson-mantled bird felt a s.h.i.+ver go down its spine and it let its gaze travel down the tree, to which it then saw a tiger eyeing it greedily.
It immediately relaxed; although tigers knew how to climb trees, there was a limit to how high they could go. Besides, it could fly, so there was no need to be afraid of it.
However, it lacked knowledge, since it had no idea that Tom also knew how to fly…
“Brother Tiger, would you happen to know where we are?” The crimson-mantled bird could feel this tiger’s terribleness, so it spoke politely.
“Oh, before you entered this place, n.o.body bothered to tell you what this place is?” Tom’s eyes glimmered as it spoke. If that were true, the possibility of this bird becoming a meal would be even higher.
“Uh, someone did tell me about it, but I was in a hurry when I entered here so I didn’t pick it up too clearly. I think that person said this place was his personal arcane realm…”
“He’s right.” Upon hearing the bird’s words, Tom’s spirits were immediately dampened. Its tail swung back and forth listlessly and it turned around to leave.
As it expected, this bird was sent into this place by Vigilante A; this meant that it would not be able to eat barbeque bird anymore, what a pity.
The crimson-mantled bird had no idea that it had just escaped a major disaster. It unknowingly flew downwards and started hovering above the black tiger.
“Brother Tiger, would there be anything dangerous in this arcane realm?” inquired the bird attentively.
As a wild bird, it was extremely important for it to find out about the dangers in a new and strange place. This was a survival instinct.
“If there was any place safer on Earth, it would be the place next door,” grumbled Black Cat Tom.
‘My previous loyal servant, Old Man Huang Rui is locked away next door… I wonder if he’s grown moldy, ah, maybe I should look for a chance to visit him?’
‘No, I almost forgot that only ghosts can enter there. I think I should stay away.’
“Oh, if that’s the case, then that brother really meant no harm. It seems that I’ve been wrong about him. I thought he was some powerhouse that wanted to force me into working for him.”
“How could that be? The owner of this realm is an unparalleled hero who is honest, loyal, and intelligent beyond compare… He only thinks about the benefit of all creatures under the sky and he never forces anyone into doing things,” explained Tom immediately.
“Uh, you’re right. When he came looking for me, it was because he wanted to destroy an insect demon that was wreaking havoc upon the humans.” Once the crimson-mantled bird heard Tom’s words, the dissatisfaction it had felt when it was first forced into this place dissipated instantly.
Be it human or demon, if they lacked great wisdom, their impression of one person could be easily influenced by the words of another.
“Oh, are you talking about that Brain-Devouring Parasite? I’ve seen it before too. It moves quite fast, so catching it isn’t easy. It’s small yet someone as strong as my owner couldn’t catch it in time, and it’s dangerous to boot. If you’re able to catch this insect, you’ll definitely enjoy countless glory and splendor in the future,” persuaded Black Cat Tom eagerly.
Once the crimson-mantled bird heard these words, its spirit was immediately lit ablaze. Living as a wild bird meant living uncomfortably, so if it could let itself live a life of glory and splendor in the future, that would be the best thing to have ever happened to it. As for things like achieving positive results in cultivation, it had no need for those concepts as of yet. After all, it had not been able to enjoy the blessings that humans have enjoyed yet.
…
“This black cat seems like it was persuaded by what you said during the Hundred Fish Feast, since it’s saying so many good things about you behind your back. And here I was so worried that forcing that woodp.e.c.k.e.r into helping us would backfire onto us…” said the System in satisfaction.
“Haha, I highly doubt that. That fellow is not only a leader, it’s also intelligent and sly. I guess it knows that we’re able to monitor everything that goes in the arcane realm, so it’s acting that way on purpose,” said Fang Ning, shaking his head.
“Ugh, why are they all such fakes? Why can’t they be straightforward like the great green insect? It literally sings about wanting to eat the ginseng.”
“I know, which is why the old ginseng isn’t letting its roots grow,” deadpanned Fang Ning.
…
“There’s actually such a daring insect in the world?! It is blatantly planning on consuming the precious king of medicine? I, Little Crimson, also known as the number one insect catcher in the world, will not let that go!”
Just as Fang Ning and the System were chatting away, a dramatic scene unfolded in the arcane realm.
The Crimson-mantled Woodp.e.c.k.e.r was flying around in the arcane realm to familiarize itself with its new environment when it discovered the great green insect that was digging away at the bottom of the old ginseng…
It was knowledgeable, so it knew that ginsengs would often grow in mountain forests. However, there had been fewer wild ginsengs in recent years, and the ones that did grow did not grow old enough for consumption either.
Having said that, this ginseng that was growing in the herb garden seemed like it had been growing for hundreds of years!
This number was insignificant in myths and legends, but in reality, it was a rare sight!
Be that as it may, there was a fat green insect digging away at its roots…
It was extremely daring behavior, yet none of the servants overlooking the herb garden seemed to care.
Therefore, the bird could not stand this behavior anymore! Acting on its instincts to protect and care for plants—it had decided to get rid of this insect.
It had a hunch that eating this fat green insect would be able to grant it powers beyond compare… This was the most important point.
The crimson-mantled bird swooped downwards and landed below the leaves of the old ginseng. Its feet grasped the ground firmly and it leaned forward to begin to peck away at the great green insect that had half its body buried into the ground.
“Oh, you shouldn’t do that…” Witnessing the situation, Tom immediately called out to stop the bird. However, it was too late.