Reigning Supreme in countless worlds With Beast taming

"Thank you, Lord Yida."

A few guards, supporting each other, came before Old Eda and bowed to express their thanks.

Old Eda waved his hand, chanting a spell that once again conjured a large ball of green light.

As the green light spun, countless emerald specks fell upon the guards, transforming into vitality that healed some of their non-severe wounds.

However, the more serious injuries were difficult to recover from.

In particular, two warriors – one had lost an arm, the other had a leg severed – and Old Eda's natural magic could only stem their bleeding, as the missing limbs were beyond regrowth.

Old Eda said softly, "I can only summon a level eight 'Healing Light' to help you recover from simple injuries, but your wounds are too severe for me to heal completely."

"Lord Yida, you have already done your best."

One of the guards said, "This is our own incompetence; we cannot blame you."

Old Eda sighed softly, shook his head, and said no more.

He was just a priest within Druidism, his strength comparable to that of a Magic Guide Master; he could at most only cast level nine magic, and not even of the healing kind.

As for the healing magic capable of regrowing limbs, apart from Prophets, only the High Priests of Druidism had such abilities.

Unfortunately, that level was too far from his reach and beyond his ability to request.

Even if he could make such a request, the High Priests would not be willing to expend so much magic power just to regenerate limbs for two mere guards.

Locke, who had been protected by everyone on the carriage, also jumped down and began to check on everyone's injuries, his face full of concern.

"Your Highness."

Old Eda spoke up, "We need to leave this place quickly. We've suffered heavy casualties, and with so few people left, plus my significant magic power depletion, we may not be lucky enough to survive another attack by Cook or others."

"You're right, Uncle Yida."

Locke nodded, guilt apparent on his face, "It's all because of me that everyone got involved. If it hadn't been for me, so many wouldn't have died or been injured."

"Your Highness mustn't say such things."

The Guard Leader spoke up, "Protecting Your Highness is our duty, the mission His Majesty entrusted to us years ago. Dying in your service is our honor."

"Ah."

Locke sighed lightly, then helplessly shook his head, "I don't even know if I'll be able to survive. If I'm killed, I can't help but feel some guilt towards the soldiers who died for me."

"Your Highness will be fine."

Old Eda said, "Once we reach Cold Star City and you join Druidism, your brother certainly wouldn't dare to send someone to kill you again. Otherwise, that would be a blatant offense against us Druids.

Of course, once you truly join Druidism, it also means that you've completely renounced your royal status and won't have any chance to reclaim the throne. From then on, you would live only as a common man."

"Druidism can't help me take back the throne?"

Locke felt reluctant, "I am not obsessed with power and prestige, but it feels unfair to those who died because of me. I want to avenge them."

Old Eda shook his head, "Your Highness, you must know that we Druids never interfere in the power struggles of the royal families. For countless years, we've maintained an understanding with all nations, and getting involved would definitely stir dissatisfaction amongst the royal families and lead to endless disputes and killings.

Allowing Your Highness to join Druidism is the only option I could find for you to survive. Besides, once you join the Church, you must devote yourself wholeheartedly to the worship of the Forest Goddess."

Locke sighed in resignation, gesturing listlessly with his hand, and said nothing more; the group quickly mounted their horses, driving the carriages as they sped away from the battlefield.

As for the dead guards and warriors, they could no longer afford to attend to them, leaving it to Cook and those chasing after them to bury the bodies.

Though even buried in this wild, Demon Beast-ridden land, the bodies might still be dug up by some scent-detecting Demon Beasts.

Qin Feng had wanted to strip a suit of leather armor and clothing from the dead warriors for himself, but upon closer inspection, he found that most were damaged, with fatal gaps in critical places, and all stained with blood, which promptly discouraged him.

Never mind, he thought, I'll get some clothes from this world when I come across a city.

With that plan in mind, he walked step by step, following the rapidly moving group ahead.

Though on foot, he possessed the Divine Skill 'Shrinking Ground to Inch,' which allowed him to cover seventy or eighty yards in a single step; so even though his movements seemed leisurely, he was never left behind by the speeding carriages, always maintaining a distance of three hundred yards from the front.

There was a Druid Mage in the group ahead, and if Qin Feng followed too closely, he might be detected, which he wanted to avoid. So he had to keep a safe distance.

Rushing on without a moment's rest, if not for Old Eda's natural magic restoring the horses' strength, they might very well have died of exhaustion en route.

But in the end, before their horses could collapse from fatigue, they reached what they called Cold Star City.

It was the largest city in the vast neighboring territory.

In fact, it was situated in the heartland of Druidism, also known as one of the most dangerous places on the continent, the outer areas of the Demon Beast Forest.

The Druids had built several cities of their own here, though their true heartland lay within the Demon Beast Forest, but the vast majority of Cult Members and believers were not strong enough to survive in the perilous Demon Beast Forest, so they could only construct a territory outside the forest as a sanctuary for believers and Cult Members to live.

This territory had no Royal Family, no nobles, just Druids and believers.

Here, they lived and worked in peace and contentment, for with the protection of the Druids, even though they were located at the periphery of the Demon Beast Forest, not many Demon Beasts would charge out and disturb the believers' lives, making it a paradise in the eyes of the common folk.

As a result, more and more commoners who couldn't survive under the oppression of nobles in other kingdoms risked danger to migrate here, trying to make a living under the protection of the Druids.

However, because the Druids were close to nature, aside from a few cities they established in select locations, the rest of their territory was composed of villages and towns where the main mode of production for the people and believers was farming, hence the many fields that could be seen around.

And all the commoners living here were followers of the Forest Goddess.

Of course, there were a few who were spies and infiltrators sent by other forces.

This was an unavoidable situation.

Whether it's the royal houses of various countries or other Churches, they would send spies here to gather information about the Druids, after all, Druids were one of the few Great Forces on the continent with many followers everywhere.

Especially other Churches, who fought covertly with the Druids for believers and faith, would necessarily send people to monitor the Druids' movements.

This was the general situation that Qin Feng had come to understand after entering Cold Star City.

In the days that followed, he didn't rush into action.

He found it very simple to pretend to be an ordinary person seeking the Druids' protection; just by telling them he was willing to worship the Forest Goddess, the Druids would provide a place to settle for those coming from outside.

But joining the Druids was not so easy.

There was a large church in this city, but its role was more for appearances.

Spies from various forces usually chose cities with large populations to gather intelligence, so while the Druids in the church also recruited some believers to join the Church within the city, they definitely would not grant them high positions, and it was more about maintaining the dignity of the church.

The main places where the Druids truly embraced Cult Members were in the countryside villages, recruiting people with Cultivation Talent who were known through and through.

Someone who appeared out of the blue like Qin Feng, it was hard to join.

Unless he could ensure that he was not a spy from other Churches or national forces, and also possessed potential exciting enough to catch their attention, joining the Druids would mean going to the countryside to farm for decades, waiting for one or two generations to fully integrate into the land, and then choosing from your descendants those with Talent to cultivate.

This was also the reason why the Druids had always been able to maintain a relatively pure team.

After Qin Feng thoroughly understood how the Druids operated, he also couldn't help but feel a headache, realizing that infiltrating their ranks would be quite difficult.

However, he still wanted to try. If that failed, then he would consider sneaking in to steal their secrets.

Infiltrating the Druids' strongholds carried great risks, and even if he could go undetected for a while, Qin Feng dared not do such things indefinitely, for there were many powerful Druids in their strongholds.

Don't be fooled by their living in little wooden houses in the forest, looking like primitive tribes deep in the mountains, but in each gathering place, there would be at least one Great Druid in residence.

The so-called Great Druid was a being capable of transforming into a ninth-level Demon Beast, possessing in the Cultivation World the strength to contend with a Purple Mansion Cultivator.

Qin Feng did not want to attempt infiltration under the watch of such a strong presence, plus the Druids' Cultivation methods made up a complete system of tradition, not something that could be learned in three to five days. If he wanted to learn, the best way was still to blend in.

What should he do? Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

Qin Feng was so troubled by this that he frowned for several days, until he finally came up with an idea and decided to give it a try.

...

On the road, there was a team of about a hundred people staggering along.

These were commoners who could no longer survive on noble lands, a group that had slowly gathered while migrating to Druid territory.

They were from different places, but they shared a common goal and gradually came together, warming each other by huddling together.

Although they were so poor that they were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs, so much so that even thieves were unwilling to rob them, they faced more than just thieves along the way—there were Demon Beasts roaming around.

Fortunately, this area was within the Human Clan's domain of power, and with Druids often passing through, they did not encounter overly powerful Demon Beasts, giving them the courage to keep going and hope to reach Druid territory alive.

In this group, there was a youth of modest height with a face that still bore traces of youthfulness, half-hidden by a messy head of hair, looking to be only about twelve or thirteen years old at first glance.

The youth called himself Randy, a very common name. He claimed to be the child of a small merchant, whose family shop had been ruined by greedy nobles and no longer viable, leaving him as the sole survivor to escape the clutches of the nobles.

Hearing that Druid territory had no nobles to oppress the common people, he decided to go there to seek a livelihood.

Such a tragic ordeal undoubtedly drew people's concern. Coupled with the boy's short stature and frail physique, there was every reason to elicit sympathy.

And when the youth met with everyone and walked together on the road, he also showed great resilience. Even if he went a day or two without food, he would stubbornly not fall behind and did not ask for help from others.

Even when others needed help, he would proactively lend a hand.

For instance, when another woman's child went hungry for several days, he would still share the handful of wild vegetables and fruits that he had gathered with the woman and her child, choosing instead to go hungry.

A child so kind and yet so resilient was undoubtedly very endearing.