Ultragene Warlord

heir way to the foot of the mountain unopposed.
They dug up part of the rock that made up the base of the mountain.
The elders were very happy that those malicious rock demons had finally been chased away, but their happiness didn't last long.”

“So that was why the mountain ended up tilting…”

Of course, if the rock spirits were to dig away part of the mountain's foundations, it would naturally begin to tilt as it was weathered by age and time.

The elder shrugged.
“The stories became more and more exaggerated with each retelling: the rock monsters pushed the mountain down, the rock monsters would eat unruly children, and so on.
These embellishments naturally engendered more and more hate and fear toward the rock monsters with every successive generation.”

“I see.”

The elder beckoned to his residence.
“Shall we head in for a cup of tea?”

Zhang Lie didn't refuse him; the two of them stepped inside.

The interior of the wooden cabin was as shabby as its exterior.
The elder smiled.
“I learned how to build these lodgings on my own, so I hope you won't laugh at me.
Most of the crag eagles are perfectly fine outdoors, with the sky as their blanket and the earth their bed.
I'm the oddball around here.”

“It's not bad.”

Zhang Lie found a place to sit down while the elder poured him a cup of tea with his feet.
Glancing at that cup of tea, Zhang Lie was struck with a dilemma regarding whether to drink it or not.
He couldn't help but feel as though the faint stink of feet had permeated the tea leaves, and he didn't dare pick up the cup of tea to try it for himself.

“Surely you haven't called me here just to thank me?”

The elder smiled again.
“And surely you didn't come all the way over here in order to fight with us crag eagles.
If you came in order to take even more of our mountain away, you'll make my life very difficult.”

“There's no need.
The rock spirits have a large quantity of rock at their disposal now, enough to last them a few centuries.
Past that point, I'll continue finding them more deposits of rock.”

Unlike the wood spirits, who could nurture the growth of treasures like spiritual herbs, the rock spirits were treasures in their own right.
With a sufficient quantity of rock and gems, along with time for them to grow, they would again be the same rock spirit clan that had once terrorized the second realm.

These rock spirits would become the guardians of his city.

The elder turned and looked Zhang Lie in the eye.
“What do you want?”

Zhang Lie smiled.
“It looks as though you have a request for me, Elder.”

It seemed as though the elder were about to propose a transaction.

“I do.”

“Is it about the golden rocs?”

The elder nodded.
“Indeed.
What's your request?”

“I want the starcloud fruit.
It's with you, isn't it?”

The elder blinked.
“What a surprise.
As far as I know, only three people even know that I possess such a rare herb.
It looks like you have an interesting source of information.”

“I heard about it from a departed spirit,” Zhang Lie replied mysteriously.

“Who was that spirit? I should like to know.
Indeed, we do have one starcloud fruit in our possession.”

“In exchange, shall I get rid of the golden rocs for you?”

“You won't be sufficient—we'll have to work together to get rid of the menace.”

“This sounds like a more serious problem than I had imagined.”

“These golden rocs have only appeared within the last few years.
Each one is about as strong as our current chief.
They hunt for food in the vicinity, and the strongest among them is approaching the level of a sura king.”