Chapter 27(1/3): Seris Village

Chapter 27(1/3): Seris Village

The journey to the Sacred Flame Palace passed by largely uneventfully as Yao Shen and the contingent of elders made their way through the grassy, open fields of the Azlak Plains. Any spiritual beast in their vicinity would instinctively flee upon sensing the torrential concentration of Qi headed in its direction, the wide swathes of lightly forested land offering little in the way of concealment.

The geographical layout of the Azlak Plains made it more accessible to weaker cultivators who lacked the ability to perceive their surroundings via divine sense, for one could easily spot an approaching spiritual beast far in advance. That, however, did not mean that the region was free of danger— for the more powerful Spiritual Beasts remained sequestered within the depths of the Nayun Forest, rulers of their own bountiful kingdoms that lacked in neither Natural Treasures nor valuable spiritual herbs; also the primary reason why Elvenhold held the Azlak Plains in such high regard.

The Beast Emperors’, a title given to Spiritual Beasts that had cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul level and achieved sapience, retaliatiation was as cunning as it was brutal— every few decades, the Beast Emperors would cull the weakest amongst their pack, by commanding them to charge headlong into the human lands. Lead by Beast Emperors that were on the verge of exhausting their lifespans, the Beast Tide would ravage everything in its path— many mortal villages, extinguished in the blink of an eye. Whilst the resources of the Nayun Forest were plentiful, the three hegemons of the Azlak Plains could not allow such a valuable source of wealth to go untapped— resulting in the conflict of interest between the Spiritual Beasts and the Cultivators of the Azlak Plains.

The Gorge of Death, The Labyrinth of the Ancient Chen Clan, the purported inheritance grounds of the legacy families— the Azlak Plains had no dearth of opportunity or danger, though ultimately the region was vast while the population of cultivators remained tiny in comparison. Though each hegemon had held dreams of expansion, many secrets remained unearthed and sizable sections of the map had grown obsolete with time— for this was a land that had once supported numerous sects and clans, now reduced to a shell of its former glory.

Most cultivators however, could traverse the Azlak Plains as long as they maintained the due diligence required of a cultivator. For while Spiritual Beasts were a long standing threat, only the young and the foolish amongst their pack would dare venture alone into the open grasslands of the Azlak Plains, only to be confronted by the bitter truth that the law of the jungle did not apply in face of a group of cultivators that desired its beast core.

“Grand Patriarch, why have we stopped?” Meili Zhu chose to be the one to break the silence, as the impressive congregation of elders behind him waited for his command.

“What is the name of this village?” Yao Shen asked, his question addressed to the cultivators of the Sacred Flame Palace.

“Seris Village, Grand Patriarch,” An elder helpfully supplied, his voice betraying his curiosity.

Yao Shen’s expression turned thoughtful as he gazed down upon the village from afar, and while the Elders present could not see anything of value in the ordinary mortal village, they knew Yao Shen was a practitioner of the Esoteric Human Dao, and its secrets were something that they were all interested in.

“Wait here. There is something that I must do."