Chapter 2: Powers Within the Forest

When Li Mingxing's entire party arrived before the treefolk, the treefolk found themselves believing everything Aisha had told them at the beginning.

In their eyes, Li Mingxing's group truly did have fifty druids, the rest were dwarves, and the strangest of all were the three harpies. However, harpies were also present in this forest, so the treefolk couldn't tell that the harpies under Li Mingxing's command were actually from the underground world.

As for Li Mingxing himself, he had taken on the guise of a formidable manticore, and now his appearance differed from his earlier ethereal form—two wings had begun to sprout from his back. Though not enough to let him fly, they were proof enough of his powerful manticore identity.

After arranging for Li Mingxing and his party to temporarily reside in the hollows beneath their settlement, two shrewd-looking treefolk came to see him.

They wasted no words of courtesy. "Mighty manticore, we hear you are merchants. What fine wares do you have for sale?"

Li Mingxing glanced at the two treefolk, tapped the ground lightly, and the Blackstone Champion behind him poured out a sack of gemstones onto the earth.

This was a task Li Mingxing entrusted to Blackstone Champion. Since neither Yin Haitao nor Midalin had accompanied him this time, Li Mingxing could only rely on the strongest among his followers: Blackstone Champion.

Yet the two treefolk cared little for Blackstone Champion's prowess. Their attention was focused solely on the gemstones scattered across the ground. One of them picked up a stone and said, "These are of excellent quality. We need a large quantity of gemstones. However many you have, we’ll take them all."

"And what do you intend to offer in exchange?" Li Mingxing replied calmly. "Let me make it clear: we are not ordinary merchants, but rather traders between worlds. So don't bother with the currency of this plane; next time I may not even be here."

The treefolk had no objections to his words. As guardians of the forest, they knew well the powers and races dwelling here, and they never took Li Mingxing's caravan for a local one.

Thus, after Li Mingxing settled in, they had prepared a variety of goods, believing that with such items, they could surely trade for the most vital strategic resource—gemstones—in this inner world.

Of course, before the trade, they would never reveal that gemstones were actually the most important strategic resource here. In truth, crystals were the most vital material, as training high-level troops consumed crystals.

However, there were only a handful of crystal mines in this inner world, and not a single gem pool. Every city's construction required gemstones as essential materials, and they could only rely on foreign caravans to bring them in. This made gemstones the most critical strategic resource here.

Now that Li Mingxing had presented a large quantity of fine gemstones, the treefolk naturally wanted them all, so they brought forth their best goods.

But soon enough, they realized Li Mingxing had no interest in their alchemical wares—necklaces, rings, and the like. He glanced at them and said nothing more.

Seeing Li Mingxing’s reaction, the two treefolk were at a loss. They were the settlement’s professional merchants, and usually, visiting traders would eagerly exchange goods for these items. Why was it different this time?

One treefolk couldn't help but ask, "Sir, may I ask what it is you truly desire?"

Li Mingxing did not answer directly. Instead, he said quietly, "This sack of gemstones counts as one unit. I brought fifteen units this time. How many units do you wish to trade for?"

"We’d like to keep them all, but you aren’t interested in what we have. What should we do?"

"It’s not that I dislike them," Li Mingxing replied coolly. "We simply have no need for such things. How about this: I’ll leave one unit behind. You can give it to the druids who escorted us as their wages, so they may learn some druidic skills.

"Besides, I require information about this forest—so I know where best to sell my wares. And I’m also interested in your expertise with poisons. Would you be willing to sell me two poison recipes?"

"A map of the powers in the forest—we’ll gift that to you. As for the druids, they learn for free. Your gemstones, however, I’ll keep as payment for the poison formulas. How’s that?" The treefolk generously scooped up all the gemstones.

Li Mingxing did not object as he watched them. The treefolk took it as a sign and quickly ordered their people to deliver what Li Mingxing had requested.

Soon three poison recipes, each with a different effect, were placed before Li Mingxing. The treefolk delivering them was a rather unusual specimen, with blue skin and a strong medicinal scent.

At the sight of Li Mingxing, her eyes shone. "Manticore, they say your kind is highly venomous. What sort of poison do you favor?"

"Paralytic," Li Mingxing replied. "I prefer to immobilize all my enemies and then finish them off."

"That’s a fine idea," she mused, rifling through her belongings. "Effective, lasting… but I don’t seem to have a paralytic formula. If you share yours, I might trade you another recipe."

"No need for another," Li Mingxing said. "Let me simply choose from what you have." As he spoke, he wrote out the neurotoxin recipe he had acquired from the witch’s hut onto the ground.

The treefolk was not shy. She grabbed a nearby piece of bark and copied it down. Once finished, she laid out over ten bark sheets for Li Mingxing to select from.

Li Mingxing ignored everyone else and examined the bark. Soon, he chose three recipes: one was a large-scale toxin, where a single drop could kill three thousand outright.

The second was a destructive blade poison, which, upon cutting skin, would enter the bloodstream and destroy platelets, preventing wounds from healing and causing death by blood loss.

The third was infectious, spread via breathing. If its ingredients weren’t herbal, Li Mingxing would have suspected it was undead poison gas.

After carefully storing away these recipes, Li Mingxing didn’t let the treefolk leave, but stayed to discuss poison-making with her.

As they talked, their rapport deepened. Li Mingxing’s toxic constitution gave him an uncanny mastery over poisons, while the treefolk had studied poisoncraft from childhood. Their exchange proved fruitful for both.

During their conversation, another treefolk approached, carrying a sheet of bark.

"This is something we prepared in haste—a complete map of all the powers here. If anything is unclear, let me know and I’ll explain."

Li Mingxing glanced at the map and saw their current location was in the southeastern part. The map was vast, containing three cities and over thirty settlements.

Above these cities were marked a dragon’s head, a longsword, and a bow. Li Mingxing asked about them.

The explanation surprised him greatly. Each symbol represented the city’s attributes. The city marked with the dragon’s head was backed by a Dragon Cliff inhabited by two green dragons. It also boasted treants, unicorns, pegasus knights, elven archers, and other powerful units, making it the strongest of all.

The longsword symbol marked the only non-elven city, populated by dwarves and various humanoid races. Its chosen emblem was a longsword, because its strongest unit was a human swordmaster—rumored to have reached the level of Sword Saint, and perhaps even capable of slaying dragons.

His presence here was a mystery; everyone knew that as long as the two green dragons of Dragon City remained in their lair, he would not act.

The bow symbol denoted another elven faction in the forest—night elves, who were not on good terms with the high elves of Dragon City, but were friendly with the treefolk. Their city was the only one with druids, so the treefolk first suggested Li Mingxing visit there.

The rest of the map showed many other powers: dwarven clans, elven branches, and even humans and half-elves. Their relations were complex, for the forest’s resources were sparse, and survival often bred conflict.