Chapter 685: Crop Cultivation Problem

Moments after the appearance of the opening phenomenon, the Battle Masters quickly gathered at the southern gate of Darkmoon Tribe. 

"Hurry up! We're going to be late! There's no way I'm going to allow myself to miss out on the secret realm opening!" a Battle Master urged his fellow tribesmen.

"Ha, we are already late. The opening is happening in the demon's territory, which is quite some distance from here," another Battle Master spoke.

"Right," a High-rank Battle Master nodded and said, "It will take us time to reach the demon's territory, not to mention we are likely to be obstructed by countless demons before we can reach the opening's location."

"Dammit, the secret realm opening is a one-in-a-century opportunity. How on earth did the demons manage to take control of it?" a Mid-rank Battle Master questioned frustratingly. 

Nevertheless, the count of Battle Masters quickly surpassed 700 before the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman informed, Seems like this is everyone here." 

"Yes, Venerable Shaman," Chief Valencia nodded with a serious expression before saying, "Although this is far less of a number than we were hoping, the rest will have to join us later."

"I have already made the arrangements. My tribesmen will direct the other Battle Masters to the Crimsonfog Tribe once they arrive. We should set out immediately."

Once the words were spoken, it quickly reached an agreement with Chief Silvermoon and the other chiefs that came to participate. 

"Un. Chief Valencia is right. Let us depart now. The longer we take, the slimmer the chance we have of entering the secret realm," a tribal chief of Central Region stated.

Shortly after Chief Valencia left some words for the Darkmoon Tribe, she soon departed with the large crowd of Battle Masters. 

On the road, Chief Valencia shortly said to the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman, "We will make a quick stop at the Crimsonfog Tribe before we take the Death Passage through Darkness Mountain and enter the demon's territory directly."

"Are the other chiefs in the alliance aware of what's happening on our end?" the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman asked.

"They should have seen the opening phenomenon from their locations. Nevertheless, I have already informed their tribes about our situation via long-range voice transmission," Chief Valencia answered.

Meanwhile, Leon left the six maids back in Barrenrock Courtyard and brought Aria, Duna, and Darlene with him. 

Although Darlene's cultivation was a little lacking, the secret realm might be the opportunity she needed to breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm. 

"Are these all your women, big brother?" Young Zion asked curiously with a hint of envy before he said, "Big brother is so lucky. They are so beautiful, even among beautiful women."

"The cream at the top, I would say. If they had not been taken by big brother, Zion might have been interested in taking them in as my partners."

"If you have funny ideas on them, you might regret it," Leon stated coolly. 

The young boy immediately broke into wry smiles before he said, "I was just admiring their beauty, big brother. I wouldn't dare touch your women."

How could he do that to his benefactor?

Ignoring whether he dared to do it or not, there was no benefit in offending the Divine Doctor over women. 

There was no lack of beautiful women in the world.

Even so, the young master of the Battle God Palace was not simply attracted to their fleshly beauty but their unique temperament. 

Each lady was different from the other.

The young master of the Battle God Palace could tell from their dispositions with a glance that they were also extraordinary.

'Extraordinary people will gather with other extraordinary people, right? Or does extraordinary make other people extraordinary like them?' Young Zion mused while throwing a subtle glance at Leon.

While Leon and his women traveled with the Battle God Palace's group, no one dared to approach him for a topic of discussion and only threw subtle glances over from time to time.

Even if Leon was no longer the Shaman King's Successor they thought he was, he was still the Divine Doctor.

In fact, being the Divine Doctor made Leon more valuable and respected than simply being the Shaman King's Successor.

...

...

...

Grassland Region, World Tree

At that moment, a framework for the new capital was already taking form on the large open field as steel beams and wooden pillars marked the positioning and size of buildings under construction.

The sheer number of workers at the site was staggering. 

And this number was only going to rise after Elizabeth arrived with the two elven princesses and the large population of people that followed shortly behind them.

"Your Majesty, we have been expecting your arrival!" a soldier quickly greeted. 

After Elizabeth acknowledged the soldier with a nod, she quickly passed the reins to the elven princesses and elders to settle the people into the camping location beside the new capital construction site. 

Only after that was done did Elizabeth return her attention to the soldier and calmly asked, "What's the current situation?"

"Everything is in order as per the arrangements, Your Majesty. Our workers are working diligently and tirelessly, day and night, to raise our new capital. As you can see, it has already begun to take shape despite the limited resources we have on hand. "

"Nevertheless, the next shipment of resources are expected to arrive later this afternoon, coupled with the railway nearing completion and new batches of workers, our construction speed will most likely rise by a few folds." The soldier reported faithfully. 

But as the soldier reached this point in his report, his expression took a solemn turn as he mentioned, "However, there are two problems that require your attention, Your Majesty."

"Oh? What are the problems?" Elizabeth asked with a slight frown. 

Seeing the look on the soldier's face, she immediately assumed the two problems mentioned were not minor issues that can be quickly resolved.

"It's better for Elder Evergreen to explain this matter, Your Majesty. Shall I bring you to him now?" 

"Naturally," Elizabeth nodded and said, "Take me to see Elder Evergreen immediately."

"Understood, Your Majesty!" 

Shortly after, the soldier led Elizabeth to a location on the edge of the World Tree, where its shadow and the sunlight meets before Elder Evergreen was spotted. 

"Senior Evergreen," Elizabeth greeted with a casual fist-palm salute before she mentioned, "I was told there are two concerning issues here?"

"You're too polite, Your Majesty. This old man is now a subject under your ruling. So there's no need to be formal with this old man," Elder Evergreen chuckled slightly before his expression took a solemn turn.

"That's right, Your Majesty. Take a look over here," Elder Evergreen shortly directed Elizabeth's gaze to two plots of land, one exposed to the sunlight and the other protected by the World Tree's shade.

"As you can see, the vegetation we planted is growing nicely in the shade with the help of our wood energy. But the same vegetation planted in the sunlight dies instead—even with our supply of wood energy."

"It is clear that the sunlight from the sun has something to do with harming the plants and preventing them from growing, but despite knowing this, this old man is a bit stumped for ideas on how to resolve this issue," Elder Evergreen stated puzzledly.

The primary source of Elder Evergreen's confusion comes from the fact that fully grown plants and crops were surviving well under the sunlight. 

Only the new crops they try to cultivate quickly wither and die after germinating and sprouting out of the soil.

"Although we can use all the shady land under the World Tree to plant our crops, it will force all the people living in this region to be exposed to the sunlight for prolonged periods, which may cause various health issues to appear." 

"I see…" Elizabeth uttered without much thought. 

Unfortunately, she was no expert in this field related to the wood element. As such, she could not offer any insight on this topic. 

Even so, while she was not an expert herself, she had brought many said experts in this field to the Grassland Region.

"Perhaps, the elves might be able to resolve your dilemma, senior. After all, the elves are known for their mastery of cultivating crops, and we just happened to have an entire elven tribe arriving. I will call a few others over to share their insights with you."

"That would be of great help, Your Majesty," Elder Evergreen bowed slightly with pleasant surprise before he said, "If we cannot resolve this issue, it will be difficult to feed everyone in the future." 

"Right!" Elizabeth nodded solemnly. 

After a moment, she suddenly paused and brought up, "What about the second issue?" 

"The second issue is actually related to Miss Lynne, Your Majesty. Have you noticed that it is much cooler around the World Tree than anywhere else in the Grassland Region?" 

"I have," Elizabeth answered with knitted brows before she asked confusedly, "But isn't it normal for this to be the case due to the shade?"

"That would indeed be the case in normal circumstances. However, the air should still be warm to room temperature instead of being cold," Elder Evergreen stated before saying, "Let this old man show you the reason why this is the case." 

"Alright." 

Shortly after Elizabeth agreed, Elder Evergreen led her to the foot of the World Tree, where the icy staircase leading down into the subterranean space below could be seen. 

The coldness exuded from the entrance alone was already tenfolds greater than what Elizabeth had felt at the edge.

When Elizabeth saw the entire space below the World Tree frozen in ice, she was taken aback before drawing in a sharp breath.

"This was all caused by Lynne? Where is she now?" Elizabeth asked.