Chapter 385: Collecting Tree Resin (1/2)

Chapter 385: Collecting Tree Resin

Thousand Islands’ location was not strategically important to the Static Stream Country nor the Thousand Carp River. This was the estuary that connected the vast ocean with the great river.

Although there were sea demons that inhabited the ocean, neither the sea tribes nor the sea demons were a threat to the country, the Thousand Carp River, or the Distant Cloud Region.

In the past, Li Qiye had recommended for the Static Stream Progenitor to establish the capital at the Thousand Islands, but unfortunately, he abandoned this idea and erected his capital in a more fertile land, thus letting go of a great fortune for many generations.

Standing on the hills that overlooked the ninety-nine islands, one would find that some were big and some were small, and none of them appeared to be special from a quick glance.

However, Li Qiye knew that there was a big secret hidden in this place. The research that he did in the past had not been fruitful until he obtained the Ghost’s Origin Ancestral Key from the Eastern Hundred Cities. It was then that he understood the key’s mysteries, leading him to solve the secret of the Thousand Islands.

This was also why he wanted to go to the Sacred Nether Realm, and why the Thousand Islands was one of his goals.

He explored one island after another before stopping on the one farthest to the south. This particular island didn’t have many good points compared to the others, but if one had to name a particularly unique characteristic, then it would be that this island looked like a palm from a bird’s eye view.

Li Qiye looked down from the highest point of the island and murmured: “So it is indeed this place. One of the things that remained incalculable for eras!”

There was a withered tree at the highest point of this island. To be more exact, this withered tree had already died. Its body was burnt to a crisp black; it seemed to have incited the heavenly wrath and got struck by lightning till death. In the end, only a three-foot stump remained above the ground.

This stump was also hollow, the hole reaching deep into the ground. It was pitch black as one looked down into this tree hole.

This stump that was killed by lightning seemed to be a black hand reaching out from the ground, inviting unsuspecting visitors.

“Thunk, thunk, thunk.” As Li Qiye tapped on the stump, it issued a clear metallic sound as if it was not made of wood, but divine iron.

“So this really is it!” After carefully observing it and comparing it to the Ghost’s Origin Ancestral Key in his hand, Li Qiye couldn’t help but mutter. He finally revealed a smile and said: “Let me see if the legend is real or not. Allow me to solve this eternal mystery!”

Since his arrival, Li Qiye conveniently built a hut and began to live his life as a mortal. During his stay on the island, he started to harvest the resin of the Ghost Locust Trees as if he had become a resin farmer.

However, he did not limit himself to the Ghost Locust Trees on this island, he wanted to harvest resin from all of the islands.

Not only did he require a large amount of resin, he also needed to leave behind a unique mark on all of the trees on the islands.

If it was something as simple as harvesting, then he could have just hired some mortals to do so to save himself the trouble. It was obvious that Li Qiye required more than just the resin alone.

Ever since his stay at the islands, day after day pa.s.sed by as he performed farming duties, cutting the tree bark, then harvesting the resin! He did so over and over again from sunrise all the way until sunset.

Despite being so close to the sea, there were still hundreds of thousands of mortals that lived on the islands with cities that were no less grand than the inland ones.

It could be said that the Thousand Islands was quite a bustling place. The mortals here mainly fished for a living; there were not too many farmers because the resin of the Ghost Locust Tree essentially had no use.

The mortal inhabitants found it quite strange to see Li Qiye going around the islands to harvest the resin from the trees. Nevertheless, the islands belonged to the Static Stream Country, and the highest authority of the islands was the Region Lord, Lu Baiqiu.

Since Lu Baiqiu allowed for Li Qiye to harvest resin on the islands, other people didn’t bother to interfere with him.

Later on, Lu Baiqiu also came to see Li Qiye. It had to be said that Lu Baiqiu was indeed a good lady. As long as human cultivators who came to the islands didn’t cause any trouble, they would receive help from the islands’ authority.