1422 Heavenly Mulberry Tree
The beasts and men talked for a long time before they left. It was morning when they walked out and the Crown Prince left for the Deer colony along with Lu Youmei, the Deer Leader.
The other 5 leaders left soon after as well, asking Alex to visit them soon. Alex wasn’t sure if they were truly interested in him coming to their colonies or not, but he sure as hell was going to use the opportunity.
“Let me show you around the colony,” the Lizard said and took Alex with him to go visit the rest of the colony.
The beasts were up early morning and the young ones gawked at Alex as he walked through the colony. He looked around at the poorly made houses, the large trees that gave shade, and the giant pool in the middle of the colony.
The fields outside the colony grew a mix of food and readily sought-after alchemy and talisman ink ingredients. He was taken around to show more of the colony and the many beasts that lived there.
From what Alex could see, the beasts that were the most here were reptiles like lizards, snakes, and crocodiles, but there was also every other variety of beasts.
Most had lived here since their birth, but many came from the other colonies as well. Not only that, there were others that were wild at first and sought refuge in this place.
Other beasts knew to not come here and thus it was a safe space.
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Showing around, the Lizard leader took him to a small shed where the Heavenly silkworms were kept. It was under constant guard who also fed the worms.
“Each colony has them?” Alex asked.
“All,” the Lizard said. “We share around our resources, and thus these little worms are shared around too.”
“I’m curious,” Alex said. “What is so special about them that they don’t exist anywhere else? Or do you just have a monopoly on this and refuse to sell give it around?”
“Hmm, both,” the lizard said. “We do have a monopoly and don’t spread it around, but that is not the only reason why you won’t find these worms elsewhere.”
“They are special silkworms that only eat the Heavenly Mulberry tree leaves,” the man explained. “These are special trees that don’t grow just anywhere and need a special way to grow it.”
“Heavenly Mulberry tree?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” the Lizard said. “Don’t expect me to give away more secrets though. Hahaha!”
The lizard left the shed where the silkworms were kept and started walking. Alex looked at the shed once and walked away, following the lizard while his mind quickly found the information he was looking for.
The Heavenly Mulberry tree was named as such because it was a mulberry tree that the Heavenly Silkworms loved to eat the leaves from.
It was a special mulberry tree that was fed on the manure of beasts that ate various different herbs. Most beasts with high cultivation bases never ate anything, so it was mostly ones with low cultivation that even bothered to eat herbs full of energy.
Since they couldn’t digest it all, they left manure that was surprisingly full of energy. These manures were used to grow the Heavenly Mulberry tree and those leaves would then be consumed by the silkworms, and would then lay the silk threads.
There was surprisingly a lot of information on the mulberry leaves in his mind despite their lack of use as an ingredient for alchemy.
Now understanding its usage, Alex went on with the lizard.
After going through the colony, Alex was given a simple room to stay in while he was there. He entered and immediately set up a few simple formations to hide himself from outside notice.
Pearl came out in a flash of light, looking around at the room. “Is this the Beast Paradise?” he asked the moment he was out.
“Yes,” Alex said. “I have… bad news.”
Pearl looked at him, confused. “What bad news?” he asked.
“I found out last night that your grandfather, Shi Guyong, died half a century ago,” Alex relayed the information.
“… what?” Pearl looked at him with a blank look. “My grandfather is dead?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “I do not know yet how he died or what happened, but I will try to find out soon.”
“What about Grandmother?” Pearl asked.
“I do not know,” Alex said. “I am currently in one of the 7 colonies in the Beast realm, ruled by a Lizard. We will need to go to the Lion’s Colony, where another Golden Lion is currently a leader.”
“If I’m not mistaken, he is a cousin to your mother, so you are somewhat related,” Alex said. “I don’t know if I can have you meet him or not though.”
“Why not?” Pearl asked.
“Because I’m worried that he might be involved in your grandfather’s murder,” Alex said. “I still don’t know how he died, or if someone was involved in his death. I don’t know if your grandmother is alive or not.”
“So, I need to remain vigilant of everyone here, just in case they all are somehow involved,” Alex said.
Pearl got quiet for a while. “Can we force my Uncle or whoever he is to speak?” he asked. “I’m sure he has information.”
“Hmm,” Alex thought. “I don’t know what his cultivation base is though. We’ll be taking risks if we try.”
“Will we get anywhere if we play it safe?” Pearl asked. “I think it is time to take some risks for sure.”
Alex gave it some thought. “If we are going to even think of doing such a thing, we’ll need to be stronger. I’ll need to be stronger,” he said. “I’ll need to get some blood from the beasts.”
“Let’s do it,” Pearl said. “Even if everything goes wrong, we can at least know who was involved in mother’s death.”
Alex nodded. “Alright, I’ll do something about it,” he said and they stopped talking about it. Right now, it was time to get stronger.
Alex cultivated, getting ever so closer to his breakthrough. If he let the Yin in his dantian fester for a while longer, he could certainly reach the next realm in just a month or so.
After he was done with the cultivation with both Pearl and Whisker, he walked out of the room and went to find the Lizard.
The Lizard did nothing but go around the colony, enjoying his time. He stayed by the pond with others and basked in the sunlight.
Alex went up to him and asked, “Senior, would you mind if I were to ask everyone here for something?”
“Hmm? What do want to ask?” the Lizard inquired.
“As I mentioned the day before, I made pills for beasts that gave me their blood. Would it be okay if I were to do the same thing here as well?” he asked.
“Our blood for pill?” the Lizard asked and looked around for a bit before turning back toward Alex. “Unfortunately, we have no need for pills. Thank you for your concern though.”