Chapter 589 – The Divine Artifact is Lost
What Zhao Hai said was the truth. The Buddha Empire was very protective with regards to the Dwarves' ironware. If Zhao Hai starts to massively buy from the Dwarves, then it would certainly be known to the Buddha Empire.
Although Zhao Hai has the Space, enabling him to not need to go through the Buddha Empire in order to reach the Dwarves, one shouldn't forget that the Buddha Empire would certainly have their own merchants that would do trade in the Beastman Prairie. And these merchants would be very familiar with Dwarf ironware. If these people discover that the Beastman had a lot of Dwarf goods, then they would certainly find out where the Beastmen got it. If at that time Zhao Hai didn't help the Buddha Empire with their magic beasts, then the Buddha Empire would immediately take action.
If the Buddha Empire pressures the Dwarves to refrain from selling Zhao Hai their goods, then Zhao Hai would be placed in a tough spot. Even if the Dwarves supported Zhao Hai, in the end, the Dwarves were still located inside the Buddha Empire's territory. If the Buddha Empire were to wage war with the Dwarves, then things wouldn't be so good.
In addition to being the Foreign Prince of the Herculean Bulls, Zhao Hai was also now the Foreign Elder of the Dwarves. In this case, he would not only need to consider the Beastmen, he also would have to think about the Dwarves. Neglecting people close to him was not Zhao Hai's style. Therefore, he would need to facilitate this magic beast trade between the Beastmen and the Buddha Empire. If this goes through, then the trade between the Dwarves and the Beastmen would go smoothly as well.
When Wales heard Zhao Hai, he couldn't help but knit his brows. At this time, Yale said, "Patriarch, I agree with Little Hai's plan to sell our magic beasts to the Buddha Empire. After all, the Buddha Empire is too far from us, it is near impossible for us to get into a war with them. In the war with the Aksu Empire, the Rosen Empire might have been able to help, but that was only through their navy. For the Buddha Empire, it is impossible for them to directly affect our state in the Prairie. If they were to attack by sea, it would take them an extremely long time to do so, so there's no need to worry. Also, we have a severe lack of iron. If we use our magic beasts to get those, then our Herculean Bull tribe's strength would be greatly promoted. Lowering the chances of us being bullied in the future."
Wales held Zhao Hai and Yale in great regard, so he was completely convinced after hearing the two. After he listened to Yale, Wales nodded and said, "Alright, I'll agree. But Little Hai, you need to supply us with Dwarf ironware."
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "Sure. I've got some of them with me right now, but not a lot. Moreover, I need to spare some of them for His Majesty the Beast King. So I cannot give a lot of them to you. But rest assured, when I return to the Dwarves, I would get you some more ironware."
Wales knew that Zhao Hai cared for the Herculean Bulls, so he didn't doubt it. He just nodded and said, "Alright, then I'll leave this matter to you. Rest assured, I'll certainly help you with regards to this magic beast matter, whether it be bulls or horses."
Zhao Hai nodded and then said, "Alright, then I thank brother for the trouble. Brother, I have another matter to talk to you about. This is very important, you shouldn't tell this to anyone. Master Yale, the same applies to you too."
The two saw that Zhao Hai's expression had gone serious, informing them that this matter very important, so they immediately nodded. Zhao Hai made Wales vacate the area surrounding the tent, leaving only the three of them in the area. After that, Zhao Hai told them about the Divine Realm as well as the Radiant Church."
Upon hearing this, Wales and Yale couldn't help but frown. They didn't think that the situation would turn out like this. If the Divine Realm was indeed involved, then a huge trouble was coming their way.
After Zhao Hai talked, Wales bitterly smiled and said, "Little Hai, you came this time to see the Beast God's Spear and fix its Artifact Spirit?"
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "Right. This matter is very important. Therefore, I'll be hurrying to Beast God City after meeting you here."
Wales and Yale looked at each other as they forced a smile. Then Wales turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Little Hai, I'm afraid that you would be disappointed on this trip. Our Beastman Race's Beast God Spear has been lost."
Zhao Hai stared, then with surprise he said, "Lost? How could that be possible? That's the Beastman Race's Divine Artifact? How could it be lost? When did that happen?"
Wales and Yale smiled bitterly and answered, "This matter occured more than 5000 years ago. In our records, the Beast King of that time wanted to conquer the Northern Icefields. He brought a team of ten thousand people as well as the Beast God Spear in this expedition. After that, they weren't heard of again."
"5000 years?!" Zhao Hai called off in alarm. He didn’t expect that the Beastman Race's Divine Artifact would be lost for more than 5000 years. Moreover, it was lost in the Northern Icefields.
Yale sighed and then said, "5000 years ago, the position of Beast King wasn't held by the Lion or the Tiger race. But it was held by the the strongest fighting race at that time, the Diamond Ape Tribe. It was the Patriarch of the Diamond Apes that brought the Beast God's Spear to the Northern Icefield. When the Divine Artifact was reported to be lost, the entire race was exiled to the Icefields. They can only return to the Prairie after retrieving the Beast God's Spear. At present, nobody knew about the fate of the Diamond Apes. And since the Diamond Apes are gone, the position of Beast King was then handed over to the Lion and Tiger Races."
Zhao Hai didn't expect the Beastmen to have such a phase in their history. He couldn't help but knit his eyebrows and say, "It looks like I need to head to the Northern Icefield."
When Wales heard Zhao Hai, his expression couldn’t help but change, he loudly reacted, "What?! Little Hai, did you just say that you want to go to the Northern Icefield? That's not good, it's too dangerous, you cannot go there."
Zhao Hai knew that Wales was sincere, therefore he smiled faintly and said, "Brother Wales, Elder Yale. I'll lead you to a place, no matter what happens make sure to control your reaction."
Wales and Yale looked at each other before they nodded towards Zhao Hai. And then with an intention, Zhao Hai brought Wales and Yale to the Space.
The Space was Zhao Hai's biggest secret, only people that he trusted came to know about its existence. Since he had contact with Wales and Yale for quite a long time, Zhao Hai had come to trust the two of them, and in addition to the recent developments, Zhao Hai decided to bring Wales over to the Space.
After arriving inside, Zhao Hai then told Wales and Yale about the details of his Space. Then he led them to the Farming Ground, the Bread Trees and then to the Magic Beasts that the Space has raised.
In the end, the three went to the Space's Villa where they saw Laura and the others. The women had already prepared a table for them to eat. After the group had sat down, Zhao Hai lifted his wine glass to Wales and Yale, "Brother Wales, Elder Yale, I have been hiding things from you. Please accept my apology."
Wales was not someone that was easily offended, moreover, he also knew that this secret was vital to Zhao Hai's survival, so he wasn't angry at all. Instead, he just laughed it off and said, "It's fine. Brother actually has such a good place. Fantastic, your Big Brother would have to depend on you for our food in the future. So how could I be angry with you about this? Come, let's drink!"
Zhao Hai laughed, and then drank his cup along with Yale. Zhao Hai turned to Wales and said, "Big Brother, you've seen the Space's magic beasts. Even the most common of them has exceptional strength. I'm thinking of handing some of the high level ones to you and see if your tribe can find a compatible soul beast among them. After that, we can change your mounts, making the tribe much stronger. What does Brother think about this?"
Upon hearing Zhao Hai's proposal, Wales stared for a moment before he laughed and said, "Good, good. That'll be great. I'll go and see which ones are compatible with us. Right, I think we should exit as soon as possible. Otherwise, we would be making the others wait. They have already prepared a banquet just for you."
When he heard Wales, Zhao Hai immediately turned to the monitor. There he saw people outside Wales' golden tent, preparing a lot of delicious food. It doesn't need to be said that they were preparing a feast and was only waiting for Zhao Hai and the others to go out.
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "Alright, then let's head out to eat. We can't let the others wait for too long. Let's take these liquor out as well, let everyone share the good stuff."
Wales laughed, "Alright, but sister-in-laws wouldn't be able to come out. Otherwise, the others would get suspicious. However, sister-in-laws doesn’t' need to worry, I'll have Little Hai take some roasted argali later for you to eat."
Wales was already familiar with Laura and the others. And in addition to the Beastman's straightforward attitude, they get to crack jokes with each other quite regularly. Laura and the others were also quite used to this.
Laura smiled and said, "Alright, we'll wait for it here." Then the group smiled as the three left the Space and headed outside the tent.
Since Zhao Hai had told Wales about the abilities of the Space, Wales was now quite confident in Zhao Hai's trip to the Northern Icefields. He even hoped that Zhao Hai would come back with the Beast God's Spear.
If Zhao Hai retrieved the Beast God's Spear, there would be two advantages that would happen to them. First was the fact that the Beastmen would once more be under the protection of a Divine Artifact. And the other was Zhao Hai getting a much higher position among the Beastman Race. This would hugely benefit Zhao Hai's future actions in the Prairie.
As the three walked outside, the other Herculean Bulls immediately went and greeted them. All of those present greeted Zhao Hai with a smile. They liked Zhao Hai very much, not only because he was their Prince that helped them go through tough times, but also because he made the Herculean Bulls live the best life compared to the other races in the Prairie.
Chapter 590 – Meeting the Beast King
After staying the whole day with the Herculean Bulls, Zhao Hai brought Wales and Yale back to the Space. He had them pick a bull magic beast that would suit the Herculean Bulls, the one that was the most compatible to be their soul beast.
In the end, they reached a result that didn't make them smile. Surprisingly, the beasts most suited for the Herculean Bulls were actually the stoneskin bull as well as the earth cow. It seems like the choice of the Herculean Bulls' ancestors wasn't wrong.
Unfortunately for them, the stoneskin bulls and earth cows that the Herculean Bulls were using were very low-levelled. The stoneskin bulls are 6th rank while earth cows are 5th rank.
However, those bulls were upgraded inside Zhao Hai's Space. The stoneskin bulls were now 8th rank beasts while the earth cows were 7th rank. These were much higher levelled than the ones that the Herculean Bulls were using right now.
One shouldn't look down on merely two levels. Magic beasts were different from humans and the like. For humans, as long as they had innate talent in cultivation, it wouldn't be impossible for them to be 8th or 9th rank experts. However, magic beasts have an innate ceiling in their ranks. For a stoneskin bull, 6th rank was the maximum rank that it can achieve, it was almost impossible for it to rise by two ranks. Only if they come across a fortuitous encounter would they rank up from 6th rank.
Therefore, these two extra ranks were extremely important for magic beasts. And with the Beastman's cultivation heavily relying on their soul beasts, having these high rank stoneskin and earth bulls were very important to the Herculean Bulls.
If the previous strength of the Herculean Bulls were only described as exceptional, with these stoneskin and earth bulls, their strength can now rank within the top ten in the entire Beastman Prairie.
Being in the top ten was an extraordinary thing. One must know that there were a lot of races in the Prairie. But Warring races only numbered less than a hundred. In the future, only a few would dare to annoy Cow Race.
Zhao Hai left 1000 stoneskin bulls and 1000 earth bulls to Wales while getting 2000 ordinary stoneskin and 2000 ordinary earth bulls in exchange. These bulls would be the first batch that would be sent to the Buddha Empire. At the same time, Zhao Hai also gave Wales some Dwarf ironware before he headed out to Beast God City.
Then Zhao Hai went to Beast God City through the Space. When he came out, he was already on top of a Blood Hawk as it descended down on the city. Ah Tai was already waiting for him there.
When Ah Tai saw Zhao Hai, he immediately went forward and gave a bow, "Young Master, you came. Please board the carriage."
Zhao Hai looked at Ah Tai and smiled faintly, "Ah Tai, you've been working hard, how is the business going?"
Ah Tai smiled and said, "It's fine, the business is doing very well. After our cooperation with the Beastmen, they would approach us first whenever they need to buy anything. We're now the most popular merchant in the Prairie."
Zhao Hai smiled, "That's good. You've been working hard. Doing business with the Beastmen isn't easy. But remember, as long as it's not too much, having some losses is fine."
Ah Tai smiled and said, "Young Master, rest assured, I know what to do. No need to be worried."
Zhao Hai nodded, and then he rode the carriage to Beast God City. When he saw Magic Lily store inside, he couldn't help but feel something different.
Although the store was doing great before, it wasn't that good. Now, when he arrived, Zhao Hai saw that there were a lot of Beastmen inside the shop's tent, looking at the goods that were sold.
Moreover, Zhao Hai also discovered that the Beastmen were very enthusiastic while talking to Ah Da and Ah Er. In the past, it was impossible for this to happen.
Then Sister-in-law invited Zhao Hai over to another tent and asked him to sit down. After being served some milk tea, Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Ah Tai, Sister-in-law, you don't need to get busy in receiving me. I'll only be resting here for a while before going to meet the Beast King. I have something to talk about with His Majesty."
Ah Tai nodded, he couldn't help but praise Zhao Hai in his heart. There were a lot of merchants who did business in the Prairie, and none of them had the luxury to see the Beast King. But Zhao Hai was different, he can actually see the Beast King.
Zhao Hai drank some milk tea for a while before he left. With Ah Tai driving the carriage, Zhao Hai headed towards the Beast King Palace. Since the guards already knew Zhao Hai, they immediately lead him to the tent for registration.
Since the people inside the tent already knew him, when Zhao Hai came in, they immediately stood up and gave a small bow to Zhao Hai. After that, one of them said, "What brings Mister Zhao Hai here?"
Zhao Hai stared, then he immediately replied, "This Zhao Hai requests to see His Majesty the Beast King. I have a matter to discuss with him, I'll have to ask for your help to send word."
The Beastman then smiled and said, "Mister, please wait here. We'll immediately send someone to inform his Majesty. His Majesty has been asking for Mister for a long time."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "I've made his Majesty wait. Please do send word as soon as possible." Then the Beastman gave a command as a Tiger beastman rushed to the palace.
Before long, the Tiger Beastman came back and made Zhao Hai follow him. But before leaving the tent, Zhao Hai gave each person inside a bottle of milk wine.
The Tiger Beastmen quickly led Zhao Hai to the Beast King's study. Upon arriving, they were immediately allowed entry by the guard. The Beast King was already in the resting area waiting for Zhao Hai. When he met the Beast King, Zhao Hai immediately gave a salute. The Beast King looked at Zhao Hai and said, "I've been waiting for mister for these past couple of days, you've finally arrived. Does Mister bring any good news?"
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "I have good news for Your Majesty. I've gotten in contact with the Dwarves and got an agreement with the milk wine. They also agreed to sell me some ironware."
The Beast King heartily laughed and then said, "Good, that's fantastic. Mister really helped our Beastman Race. Mister, please have a seat, tell me everything in detail."
Zhao Hai sat down, and then he looked at the Beast King and said, "Your Majesty, when I went to the Dwarves, I got more than some business. I also gained a new status." Then Zhao Hai turned his hand and retrieved a token.
Upon seeing this token, the Beast King's eyes couldn't help but light up. He received the command token and carefully looked at it. After some time, the Beast King nodded and said, "This is the Dwarf Race's Foreign Elder Command Token. I didn’t' expect mister to become a Foreign Elder to the Dwarves. That's good news."
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Your Majesty overpraises. This time, I helped the Dwarves with a small matter. Since they are grateful for it, they asked me to be their Foreign Elder. Right, the Dwarf Patriarch has also prepared a letter for Your Majesty." Then he retrieved Billy's letter and gave it to the Beast King.
The Beast King received the letter and took a look at the seal before nodding. He unraveled the parchment letter and carefully read its contents. While he was reading, the Beast King's pupils couldn't help but contract. Then he focused more on reading the letter.
The Beast King took some time in reading the letter, and while he was doing so, Zhao Hai paid attention to the his expression. Although the Beast King's expression didn't change, the slight changes in his eyes was noticed by Zhao Hai.
After reading, the Beast King placed the letter down and then turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Is Patriarch Billy telling the truth? Can you have me take a look at your whip?"
Zhao Hai nodded, then he untangled the whip on his waist and called Mu'er out. Mu'er gave a bow to the Beast King who then received the whip.
The Beast King asked Mu'er about several matters before nodding. Then he gave the whip back to Zhao Hai before he turned his head to the guard and said, "Make sure that nobody comes in here. If someone comes, tell them that I have no time." The guard gave a bow and then turned around to leave the room.
When the guard left the room, the Beast King turned to Zhao Hai and said, "Mister, is this letter real? Do Gods really exist?"
Zhao Hai answered, "Your Majesty, I wouldn't lie about this matter. This was told to me personally by the Dwarves' Divine Artifact Spirit. If your Majesty wants to prove it, you can make me take an audience with the Beast God's Spear. I can assure you that I can make its Artifact Spirit materialize. After that, Your Majesty can ask him all the questions in your mind." Although Zhao Hai already knew that the Beast God Spear was lost, he didn't want to make it known to the Beast King. This was because this matter was held in extreme secrecy. If he lets the Beast King know that he knew about the Beast God's Spear, then he couldn't prove that he hadn't told this matter to other people. Then the Beast King might not believe him.
The Beast King smiled bitterly and said, "My Beastman Race's Divine Artifact has been lost for more than 5000 years. Even if Mister has the ability, it would be impossible for me to see the Artifact Spirit."
Then Zhao Hai said in great surprise, "Lost? How could it be lost?"
Then the Beast King forced a smile and said, "5000 years ago, the Beast King of the Diamond Ape tribe led ten thousand people to the Northern Icefields along with the Beast God Spear. He wanted to conquer the area but was consumed by it instead. In the end, the entire Diamond Ape tribe was exiled to the Icefield, giving them the punishment of looking for the Beast God's spear."
After some time, Zhao Hai said, "So it was like this. Your Majesty, this one has a small request. I want to enter the Northern Icefield and retrieve the Beast God's Spear."
When the Beast King heard Zhao Hai, he couldn’t help but stare at him. Then his expression changed as he said, "That's no good. Absolutely no good. Mister, the Northern Icefield is too dangerous. You cannot go there. If what Patriarch Billy said was true, then Mister would be the saviour of the continent. And as the hero, you cannot perish in the Icefield."
Naturally, the Beast King didn't doubt Billy's words. This was also related to the characteristics of the Dwarves, they never like to lie and hated people who do. Their honesty is very famous in the continent.
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, there's no other way. I think your Majesty already believes Patriarch Billy's statement. So if those three artifacts aren't fixed, then it would be difficult for us to deal with the Gods. And if the Dwarves' prophecy is true, then I should be able to safely go out of the Icefield."