Chapter 331 03-25 - 328: The Southern Tip of the Continent, Alien Race Kingdom
Chapter 331: Chapter 328: The Southern Tip of the Continent, Alien Race Kingdom
I must say, the series of actions taken by the White Dragon confused everyone.
Especially those in the churches within the cities, because the White Dragon had first attacked their churches.
Although the creature did not embark on a killing spree, a few unlucky priests and knights inevitably died under its Dragon Breath, which was intended to intimidate the masses.
In two cities, Church personnel who were in the midst of hunting down thieves from the Thief Guild were taken by surprise by the White Dragon’s sudden onslaught, immediately throwing their plans into disarray.
Not only did their task to surround and capture the thieves fail, allowing the robbers to escape to safety, but the priests and knights were also strong-armed by the White Dragon, with bloodshot eyes, into handing over their gold coins and various magic equipment.
Another church had been preparing to burn the captured thieves at the stake when the Giant Dragon appeared out of nowhere, not only destroying their church but also allowing those hard-caught master thieves to slip away completely.
…
It was only when the archbishops from several nearby major cities and the powerhouses of the Radiant Empire heard the news that they hurried over to prevent the White Dragon from continuing its robbery.
Even so, by the time they arrived, several cities had already been looted clean.
Of course, the Giant Dragon mainly targeted the churches, with the City Lord Mansion being an afterthought.
There was no helping it; who could blame them? The White Dragon, now penniless and without a single gold coin, wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to exploit the city lords brimming with wealth.
As for the ordinary citizens, the White Dragon did not harass them. Though many citizens were frightened, they did not suffer any losses.
So when the citizens finally learned that only the churches and the City Lord Mansion had been robbed, they actually clapped their hands in delight.
Naturally, they did not dare to ridicule the churches; their joy was directed mainly at the nobles of the City Lord Mansion, who had been robbed.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝονǤ0.ᴄօ
After the Church Court and the Radiant Empire’s strongmen arrived, the White Dragon, despite its strength, knew it couldn’t withstand so many powerhouses. Moreover, the looting had significantly replenished its treasure hoard, and it no longer felt as angry as before. Naturally, it wouldn’t fight the powerhouses to the death.
So before the powerhouses could close in, it spread its wings and flew off into the distance.
It didn’t return to the cave in the Demon Beast Forest either, because if Qin Feng had found it once, he might find it again.
It didn’t want the treasures it had finally gathered to be stolen once more by that greedy and despicable man.
Thus, the White Dragon planned to find another location to create a new nest to house its treasure.
Behind, a Red Robed Archbishop and a Holy Knight dressed in radiant armor stopped in their tracks, choosing not to pursue further.
Not far from them, a Great Magic Guide Master and two Sword Saints also looked on with displeased expressions toward the direction of the White Dragon’s escape.
They were all too aware of their limitations, knowing they couldn’t catch up to the Giant Dragon’s flying speed, and had no choice but to let the White Dragon flee.
Although their power was on par with that of the Giant Dragon, there were still levels of strength within the same rank.
Ordinary Great Magic Guide Masters and Holy Knights could only match a lower-tier level 9 Demon Beast, and as the White Dragon was among the top-tier level 9 Demon Beasts, it was indeed not an opponent that ordinary Saint-level Experts could contend with.
Moreover, since the Dragon had wings and was the sovereign of the skies, they could neither defeat it nor catch up with it, naturally letting the White Dragon fly far away.
“Why would that Giant Dragon rob our churches?” asked the Red Robed Archbishop, landing near the church in the city below and looking at the plundered church with a furrowed brow.
Even if some dragons in the Giant Dragon Clan were inherently greedy and looted human cities to accumulate wealth, they would only target the City Lord Mansions or wealthy merchants. Why would they target the churches?
And it seemed that they had specifically robbed the churches of each city first before moving on to the City Lord Mansions.
Could it be that someone from the Church Court had offended the Giant Dragon?
It seemed that this was the only explanation that made sense for the Giant Dragon targeting the Church Court so directly.
“Let it be, report this matter and let His Holiness the Pope decide,” said the Archbishop, shaking his head. Since he couldn’t find the Giant Dragon, of course, he had to report this matter to the Holy Mountain.
“At this critical juncture, His Majesty may not be willing to offend the Giant Dragon Clan,” noted the Holy Knight next to him. “In my view, His Majesty will either suppress this matter and take no notice, or at most, he will send a message to Dragon Island, asking the Giant Dragons there to give the Church Court an explanation.”
“Even if it weren’t at this critical juncture, His Holiness the Pope would still not turn against the Dragon Clan,” the Archbishop said indifferently. “Although the number of dragons on the continent is not high, there are still thousands of Giant Dragons on Dragon Island. Do you really want His Majesty to start a war with the Giant Dragon Clan over the loss of a few churches’ gold coins?
It is already good enough that the Dragon Clan is staying quietly on Dragon Island. The occasional appearance of a few greedy Giant Dragons doesn’t count for much, and there’s no need to provoke the Dragon Clan over such a trivial issue.
With the Church Court’s own strength, we can’t afford to fight.
If we truly anger the Dragon Clan, and they send just a few hundred adult Giant Dragons, it wouldn’t be something we could cope with.”
Elsewhere, the Radiant Empire’s Great Magic Guide Master and two Sword Saints similarly landed.
However, before they had a chance to speak a few words with the Archbishop, they were surrounded by a crowd of people rushing over from the City Lord Mansion.
Of course, these people wouldn’t dare to use force against the Sword Saints; they had come to complain.
The corpulent City Lord, gasping for breath, grabbed one of the Sword Saints and began to wail about his emptied City Lord Mansion treasury, robbed in its entirety. He hoped to persuade the Sword Saint to champion his cause,
At the very least, he wanted to have his taxes excused for a few years.
Otherwise, with such a substantial loss, he had no idea how many years it might take to recoup the losses.
The reason he chose to complain to this Sword Saint was that the Sword Saint was not only a royal family member but also the uncle of the current emperor of the Radiant Empire. Naturally, the loss-stricken City Lord sought consolation from him.
But the Sword Saint, annoyed beyond measure, inwardly cursed at how such a corpulent man had managed to escape from the ravages of a giant dragon?
The Mao River, rapid and vast, stretched from east to west, dividing the north from the south.
Situated between the central and southern parts of the continent, the Mao River acted like a boundary line, cleaving the land in two.
Qin Feng, using the Shrinking Ground to Inch Divine Power, moved fluidly along the riverbank for half a day. After spotting no anomalies, he decided to cross to the other side to take a look.
Beyond lay the extreme south of the continent, a region where humans dared not venture easily.
For the territory opposite did not belong to the Human Clan.
It was the realm of Dwarves, Goblins, Elves, Winged People, and other Subhuman Clans.
They had also been subjected more or less to the exclusion and oppression by the Human Clan.
Although numerous fearless merchants trafficked between the two territories, selling various human goods and purchasing exquisite weapons made by Dwarves, intricate gadgets from Goblins, and magic equipment crafted by Elves to sell back to human nations at great profit, they also assumed great risk.
Not only because these Alien Race members harbored varying degrees of enmity toward humans, but also because many human merchant caravans were accustomed to looting by force, sometimes openly transforming into Demons, wantonly slaughtering the Alien Race, and plundering treasures from Alien Race tribes, or posing as merchants by day, while capturing and selling Alien Race beings as slaves as part of a Slave Catching Group by night, thus tarnishing the reputation of humans in this area.
Several months had passed since Qin Feng emerged from the den of the White Dragon, leaving the Demon Beast Forest behind.
These days, Qin Feng had been exploring space fluctuations and ley lines, searching for world nodes, but unfortunately had not found a suitable spot to lay down a Positioning Array.
Having roughly circled through the nations of the Light Camp, Qin Feng now wanted to search in a new area.
Stepping into the water, he walked directly across the river’s surface toward the opposite bank.
When he reached the midway point of the river, suddenly a figure shot up from beneath the water, its huge mouth gaping as it bit viciously toward Qin Feng.
It was a ferocious-looking monster fish.
This monster fish, over three meters long, had a head that accounted for a third of its body, resembling a big-headed fish. However, its mouth bristled with sharp, tightly-packed fangs. If it managed to clamp down on someone, that person would likely be bitten in half and doomed to a grisly fate.
But to Qin Feng, this big-headed fish was just a dumb brute. It had seen him walking on water, indicating he wasn’t someone easy to provoke, yet it still leaped out, seeking its own demise, for which it could blame no one but itself.
Qin Feng neither dodged nor parried, continuing his steady stride forward.
However, the Swallowing Sky Toad he held in his palm gaped wide, suddenly lunging forward and gulping down the ferocious-looking big-headed fish whole, without so much as a belch.
The creature had been thriving lately, as its master daily held it in hand, not relegating it back to the Demon Refining Pot, allowing it to consume plenty.
Particularly as the master traversed these wild lands, they often encountered Demon Beasts attempting stealthy attacks. With the exception of certain formidable Demon Beasts best left alone, the rest ended up in the toad’s belly.
Ample food and the consumption of Demon Beasts, many of which possessed substantial power and abundant magic energy, had also benefitted the toad considerably, its internal space expanding with it.
Qin Feng, unflappable, stepped onto the riverbanks and surveyed the distant landscape from an elevated perch.
He saw neither a soul nor any Dwarf or Elf.
Apparently, this was not their domain.
But Qin Feng wasn’t overly concerned; he was here to find world nodes, not to assess the beauty of Elf maidens.
At the same time Qin Feng was entering the southern region of the continent, Xiu Xin was in pursuit of an Undead Mage’s trail.
The Undead Mage was quite elusive, with no shortage of tricks—either flying astride a Bone Dragon, dashing on an Undead Horse, or diffusing his presence across multiple Undead to throw off pursuers. With these tactics, Xiu Xin had been on his tail for several days without managing to catch him.
Fortunately, the Undead Mage failed to mask the telltale Death Qi from his body, allowing Xiu Xin to trail the lingering Death Qi closely, preventing the mage from shaking off his pursuit.
Xiu Xin had a keen nose; not only could he easily sniff out the Death Qi on the mage, but he could also discern the direction of his flight. Although occasionally the mage managed to distract his sense of smell, it wasn’t much use.
Because Xiu Xin had plenty of other methods to track him down.
Whether through the use of a Yin Talisman or a Compass, and if all else failed, his Lifebound Spiritual Ghost was tremendously sensitive to Yin Qi and Death Qi, more than capable of helping him locate the trail of the Undead Mage.
Actually, Xiu Xin had already condensed a Divine Power Seed and could ascend to the Golden Core Realm.
Once he advanced, he would be able to chase down the Undead Mage with even greater power and flight speed.
But Xiu Xin chose not to advance immediately. Instead, he planned to reference the Undead Mage’s Cultivation Technique first, to see if there was a chance to further solidify his own foundation. That’s why he had delayed his Cultivation progress in pursuit of the Undead Mage.