The Herb King



Aethelwolf's group of four had already traveled for more than six hours. During these hours, they found many precious herbs which they immediately collected. Just their gains in the past few hours alone were already worth it, but they decided to continue searching in hopes that they would find something more valuable.

"Sir Aethelwolf, look at this small tree right here. This a Golden Tea Tree and its leaves are very valuable! After some processing, its leaves could be made into precious golden tea powder. A gram of its golden tea powder is equivalent to the price of a Level 5 herb!" General Trevor muttered as he grabbed the Golden Tea Tree with his hands. He planned to uproot the entire tree and have someone turn its leaves into golden tea powder for him. 

Aethelwolf smiled when he heard this, but he wasn't interested in a mere tea powder. The golden tea powder produced from the Golden Tea Tree might be able to help someone calm their minds, but Aethelwolf didn't need this since he already had the skill [Demon Heart]. 

"There are still more trees right there. You guys can take some as well." General Trevor muttered excitedly to them. 

Gilbert Holt and Empress Shiphra were a bit interested in the Golden Tea Trees so they didn't hesitate to grab some trees after hearing the old general's words. Only Aethelwolf remained on his spot with a calm look on his face.

"Sir Aethelwolf, you don't these Golden Tea Trees?" Empress Shiphra asked when she saw him standing still. Even someone like her took two trees as a souvenir. After all, Golden Tea Trees were rare commodities and they aren't available in the market. 

Aethelwolf shook his head lightly. "You guys can take them. I already have a huge collection of teas at home and golden tea powder is one of them." He was telling the truth. After taking control of the black-hearted merchant, Brian Linaza, he managed to purchase some rare items. 

After hearing his words, Empress Shiphra and the other two no longer hesitated. They eagerly grabbed the remaining Golden Tea Trees and put them inside their storage ring. 

It took them more than thirty minutes to collect the remaining trees. They then placed some markings before continuing their exploration.

Soon, three days passed by and Aethelwolf's group finally encountered an Ice Demon. It was just a lone straggler and it didn't pose any threat to them. This Ice Demon was relatively weak and it only has the power of a Level 4 Esper. 

The Ice Demon is a creature that walks on two muscular legs. Its entire body was covered in thick white fur that protected it from the intense cold temperatures of the Frigid Snow Dimension. It has a pair of long human-like arms which they often used to climb on top of trees or steep mountains. These creatures could also conjure ice spells to attack their enemies. However, the most terrifying thing about them was their fast recovery rate. They could regenerate an amputated limb in a few days or a few months depending on the severity of the injury. They could even survive if the lower part of their bodies were cut off! As long as their heart and brain were intact, they could regenerate any part of their body that was broken! 

This was the information that Aethelwolf saw the moment he laid eyes on the Ice Demon. He never thought that it actually had such a perverted regenerative ability. From the information he got after using his Appraisal skill, he also found out that these Ice Demons were the creatures bred inside this Glacial Breeding Ground. It turns out that these terrifying creatures were only livestock to a much more powerful specie called Dragonoids. As for where the Dragonoids live, no information was provided. 

Aethelwolf's face turned grave after learning about this. He thought that only the Underworlders were a threat to the Regalis Continent. Who knew that a much more powerful specie actually exists other than them? 

Aethelwolf pondered deeply after learning this. Where could such beings live? There were no records of them in the Regalis Continent. Are they also beings who lived beneath the surface of the planet? 

'Or is there another continent other than our Regalis Continent?' Aethelwolf was terrified by his own thoughts. Regalis Continent was already so vast that even a Level 5 Esper would need a long time to travel the entire continent. Furthermore, the Regalis Continent was surrounded by oceans with unknown depths. There were also high level magical beasts that lived in the ocean so no one dared to venture deeper into the sea. 

No records of other continents were written in all the books he read so he thought that there was only one continent on the planet. However, it seemed like it was far from the truth. From the looks of it, the planet Nuar was a lot bigger than he thought! 

"Sir Aethelwolf, you looked pale. Are you alright?" Empress Shiphra asked in a concerned tone. 

Aethelwolf shook his head. "I'm fine."

Suddenly, his gaze turned serious as he looked into the horizon. "Miss Shiphra, do you think there is another continent beyond the vast oceans?" 

The Empress was shocked by his words. "Another continent? I don't know. Why do you ask, Sir Aethelwolf?" 

"I think there are other continents beyond the oceans..." Aethelwolf muttered in a calm voice, but his words sent waves into Shiphra's heart. The two old men who just went back were also stunned by his words. 

Seeing their shocked expression, Aethelwolf shook his head. "We will talk about this later. We should go back to the ice palace and bring the corpse of this Ice Demon." He grabbed the corpse of the Ice Demon and put it inside his storage space. 

"Let's return to the ice palace..." 

The journey back to the ice palace was uneventful and Aethelwolf's group managed to quickly find their way because of the markings they left in their path. 

When they arrived, Eliazar and Victor received them excitedly. "Ancestor Xymera is awake! Sir Aethelwolf, you guys should visit her chamber. She has been looking for you the moment she woke up." 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf and the other three were pleasantly surprised. 

"Really? Let's go see her!" Aethelwolf followed the two Holy Generals to Ancestor Xymera's chamber.

Upon entering the chamber, they noticed that Estes was also there and his head was lowered as he spoke to the woman lying on the bed. 

Estes turned his gaze at them and when he saw Aethelwolf, his eyes lit up. "Sir Aethelwolf!"

The woman on the bed also shifted her gaze to Aethelwolf. Her eyes flashed with gratitude as he looked into his eyes. "A-Aethelwolf, you managed to break my seal earlier than I expected. Thank you..." She muttered weakly.

Aethelwolf nodded at Estes before looking at Xymera. "I'm relieved to see that you are recovering well." He muttered with a smile. 

Xymera smiled lightly at his words. 

Aethelwolf hesitated to speak, but then Xymera saw through his hesitation. "Do you want to tell me something?" She asked in a low voice.

Aethelwolf nodded and spoke. "While exploring the Frigid Snow Dimension, we encountered an Ice Demon." He took out the corpse of the Level 4 Ice Demon and placed it on the floor. "There was no record of this beast in our books and I have a bold thought that these beings came from another continent." 

Estes' eyebrows shot upwards when he heard this. He couldn't help but ask. "Sir Aethelwolf, what do you mean?" 

Aethelwolf shook his head and muttered. "I'm not sure about this." He didn't know how to tell them without disclosing some of his secrets. Although he trusted these people, he didn't want to expose his secrets to them. 

"There are other continents beyond the oceans. Furthermore, their civilization is more advanced than our own. I don't have much information about them, but I do know that there are six more continents other besides our Regalis Continent. The most shocking thing is that our continent is the smallest among all the seven continents!" Xymera muttered in a solemn tone.

"What?! How could this be?!" Estes and the others were dumbfounded by this revelation. All their life they thought that there was only one continent on the planet. This information turned their worldview upside down. 

Only Aethelwolf managed to remain calm after hearing her words. He already knew about this after reading the descriptions of the Ice Demons. 

"You guys shouldn't be worried about the other continents. We are far from each other and there are countless prehistoric beasts within the oceans. Even Transcendent beings like myself wouldn't dare to venture into the deep seas. We should place our focus on the Underworlders since they are our enemies..." Xymera noticed that the others still haven't calmed down after learning the truth. All of them with the exception of Aethelwolf revealed a look of worry.