Chapter 359: Is the Gap Between Fruits Really This Huge?

The biennial Seed Grain Competition once again turned the Starfall Academy into a sea of joy, as contestants and curious onlookers poured in from all directions onto this beloved land.

This year, because of the famine, the entire plane had been suppressed for a long time—there were no grand celebrations, and even the Harvest Festival had been discontinued, since the followers of the Harvest Goddess were the ones suffering from starvation.

I heard the Harvest Goddess's followers were sold to another plane by Anthony. His Eminence Anthony's methods toward heretics are truly cru… merciful, worthy of the Pope, the spokesperson of the gods in the mortal world.

From now on, without the Harvest Festival, the biennial Seed Grain Competition was likely to be the largest-scale event.

Perhaps it was the heart that had been suppressed for a whole year wanting to 'let loose,' or perhaps there were no other events to draw people away, but this year's Seed Grain Competition had an especially large turnout.

Starting more than ten days ago, people had been streaming in nonstop through every means imaginable—some by boat, some on flying mounts, some on foot, some on horseback—pouring in from all directions.

Even Fallen Longhu saw quite a few passersby, who then noticed in surprise—when did a city appear here?

Although Meishencheng had gained considerable fame among the landed nobility over the past two years, its influence on ordinary people was almost zero. With bellies unfilled, no one would spare a thought for a city deep in a desert thousands of kilometers away that could grant people beauty.

So when some arrived by boat, they discovered the river had been blocked.

"Who are you people? On what grounds have you blocked the Donghe?" On a luxurious shallow-draft boat, a mage activated a spell-amplification array and demanded loudly:

"Let me tell you, the Donghe belongs to everyone—no one has the right to block it. Remove the river boom at once, or I'll burn down your shoddy little city. Beauty Goddess? In this day and age, can any Tom, Dick, or Harry proclaim themselves a god?"

At the dock, Seeing Ange's group was preparing to depart. In Seeing Ange's view, he could simply ride his 'horse' and fly over, or ask Xi Lu Di to lead the way, or just teleport there directly.

It wasn't far anyway, so even waiting until the day of the competition to leave wouldn't be late.

But he had underestimated the enthusiasm of the onlookers to join in.

First, Lisa crept over, helping him dig furrows and ridges, pull weeds, and sow seeds, working until she was drenched in 'sweat,' her clothes soaked through and clinging to her skin—anyone who didn't know better would think she was trying to seduce Seeing Ange.

In the end, it was Lord Nai Ge Li Si who couldn't stand it any longer and told her to spit it out if she had something to say, or… let it out.

"My lord, take me to the Seed Grain Competition to play," Lisa said with shining eyes.

"Starfall Academy is so close—can't you go on your own?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said in surprise; it wasn't exactly a big deal.

"Going alone doesn't feel like participating. It's the Seed Grain Competition! The first stage is food tasting—I want to eat from start to finish!" Lisa said excitedly.

"Wait, wait, why are you acting like a little kid waiting for a parent to take you out to play? Besides, you're a lich—can you even eat?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"Yes, yes, I can," Lisa hurriedly said, sticking out her dripping little tongue as she spoke and twirling it nimbly around her lips:

"That noble Shepherd of Trees can bestow a blessing that restores the tongue's sense of taste from life—I can taste things, as long as I don't swallow. I haven't eaten anything in over a thousand years. Please take me."

"Shepherd of Trees? Li… how did it end up hanging out with you? You haven't offended it, have you?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si nearly blurted out the Shepherd of Trees' identity.

Lisa shook her head and said, "It seems to quite like Little Bu. Recently it's been playing with Little Bu a lot, blessing the straw owl and then pulling out its straw, making the owl yelp in pain."

"…It's actually doing something that boring?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si didn't know what to say—how could that fellow's personality be just as awful as hers?

"So I thought, if it can make the owl yelp in pain, could it help a lich regain touch, taste, and pain? So I took a bottle of worm-ash liquid to it, and it happily blessed my tongue for me," Lisa said.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was surprised: "How did you even make that connection?"

"Hehe." Lisa chuckled sheepishly twice: "Lord God of Knowledge, I also thought of other things—like older clients whose bodily functions decline and aren't very sensitive. Could a blessing make the body more sensitive, thereby achieving a certain harmony in life? That would be a huge business."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si listened, utterly baffled, and only after Lisa gave a twisting, embarrassed explanation did he suddenly understand, slapping his lower back and saying: "Treating impotence, right? What 'certain harmony in life'—what a load of nonsense."

After getting it sorted out, Lord Nai Ge Li Si's mischievous streak resurfaced: "How about we give it a try?"

Lisa clapped her hands: "Great, let's try then. Lord Nai Ge, you're familiar with it, so you go. We can offer a package for three hundred thousand magic crystals—it's settled."

After saying that, Lisa ran off, tossing back a line as she went: "My lord, I'll go pack my things—remember to wait for me."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si stared blankly for quite a while before cursing out loud: "Kuaba Da!"

Tricking others is mischief; being tricked by others turns the mischief into someone else's.

In no time, Luther came running over, Little Bu came running, Liu came running, Purple Bones and the Great Witch came running, Esdolia came running too…

The group's numbers swelled all the way to twenty or thirty, and everyone was in the mood for travel and didn't want to be stuffed into a spatial pocket, so they had to set out early and take a boat.

They had just reached the dock when someone shouted at them.

Esdolia opened her eyes and glanced over, saying coolly: "A fire-system archmage."

Although her eyes had been healed, she had been blind for several hundred years and had grown accustomed to that way of life, so she usually didn't care much for opening her eyes.

But once she did open her eyes, her enemies were in trouble—it meant being locked in the gaze of a Truth Mage.

The little angel pointed forward with a hand: "Rawr." About to charge, but was held back by Seeing Ange.

Purple Bones stepped forward two paces, pulled out a leather-scroll megaphone, and bellowed roughly: "The river is closed. You can disembark here and transfer to a camel to wherever you want to go."

The banks of Fallen Longhu were all rice paddies; although the harvest had already been gathered, the scale of the fields remained, and they didn't want too many people to see it.

The archmage across the way wasn't having it—he had come by boat precisely because he wanted to enter Fallen Longhu from here, switch to the West River out to sea, then head north along the coast, arriving at his destination in comfort.

Transfer to a camel? That would mean trudging across the desert for days—what if he couldn't make it in time?

"Oh? A mountain giant? Or a green giant? Don't think that just because you're big you can block the river whenever you please. Who authorized you to do this? Open it up right now, or I'll burn down your shoddy city."

After shouting, the archmage paused: "Right, I haven't introduced myself. Listen up—Inferno Purgatory Mage Tower, Fire System, Archmage, Flame Dragon Destroyer, Kashim Eda!"

Seeing Ange's group exchanged glances.

"What's the meaning of this? Do mages nowadays greet each other this over-the-top? Flame Dragon Destroyer? Inferno Purgatory Mage Tower?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si exclaimed.

Lisa leaned over and said: "A lava-type mage tower in the south. Flame Dragon Destroyer is probably a nickname."

Luther's eyes gleamed: "So cool! Just a bit short, though—should I give myself a longer nickname too?"

"Isn't your nickname already the Beetroot Sword Saint?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said in surprise.

A one-hit kill—Luther squatted off to the side in grief, drawing circles on the ground.

While they were whispering among themselves, Esdolia floated up, and the whole world seemed to dim. Every element froze in motion, obedient as specks of dust.

"Truth Mage, Elemental Forbidden Ground. As for my name, forget it—you're not worthy of knowing it," Esdolia said coolly.

The Flame Dragon Destroyer, who had been puffed up with arrogance moments ago, went weak in the knees and dropped to his knees on the deck with a thud.

Esdolia looked at Kashim's luxurious shallow-draft boat, then at the shabby little boat at the dock, and suddenly asked: "My lord, shall we switch boats?"

My… my lord? Someone even greater than a Truth Mage, an Elemental Forbidden Ground—who could it be? Kashim followed Esdolia's gaze…

None of this group knew the meaning of politeness. The moment Esdolia suggested it, they swarmed onto the luxurious boat in a rush, squeezing Kashim into a corner.

"Raise the river boom, set off! And you, whoever-you-are, cover your eyes." Good grief—the Flame Dragon Destroyer had been demoted to 'whoever-you-are.'

Luther turned his grief and indignation into a perverse little game, personally standing guard over Kasim, watching him while using battle Qi to shape a tiny file, and filing his fingernails.

"Ba… Battle Qi shap… shaping a sword, a high-ranking Sword Saint? Wh… who on earth are you people?" Kasim asked, trembling.

"You want to know?" Luther shot him a glance, drew a deep breath, and said: "Listen well, I am the Dragon-Patterned Steel-Core Mithril Filigree Magic-Rune Earth-Coated… Two-Handed Sword Shatterer · Arbiter's Sword · Beet Sword Saint, Luther."

By the time Luther finished saying it all in one breath, Kasim's mouth was already open wide enough to stuff an orange into.

"S… so long, so cool. No, I have to come up with something even longer and cooler too." A man's damned competitive instinct kicked in; Kasim had completely forgotten the reality of being a prisoner, and sat cross-legged on the ground frowning hard as he racked his brains for a new nickname.

Perhaps it wasn't that he wanted to forget, but that he had to forget — a high-ranking Sword Saint personally squatting to watch him, an Elemental Dead Zone on the ship, and a big shot that even the Elemental Dead Zone addressed as "my lord." Apart from forgetting, what else could he do?

Because he was sitting on the deck and couldn't see what was happening outside, they didn't even bother blindfolding his eyes; the ship rocked and swayed as it entered Dragon Fall Lake, turned into the West River, went straight to the sea, and then turned northward.

Don't look at the fact that flying only takes three or four hours; by ship it takes two or three days. By the time they reached the Star Republic, it was already the day before the competition began.

At the dock, the large carriage of Obenri of the Dead Star, who had long been contacted, was parked in front of Berth Number Three, and as if it had cast a street-clearing spell, not a single person was to be seen within ten meters.

The Star Republic is a country built upon the Star Magic Academy; everyone here has inextricable ties to the Star Magic Academy.

Obenri, this Dean of Discipline, is the Dean of Discipline for all citizens. Wherever she appears, the fear of the Dean of Discipline engraved in their very bones awakens — it really works better than any street-clearing spell.

Seeing her insignia, people instinctively lowered their voices by several notches: "Is some big shot coming? The old lich personally came to pick someone up? How rare."

But recently, Obenri also has her worries — some bold fools in the academy actually sent her love letters…

There's no helping it; once Obenri is reanimated, she's a pink, tender little loli, and it's hard to associate her with that thousand-year-old lich. So after returning to the academy, she has no choice but to use a cloak to cover her entire face.

As long as you don't see her face, she is still that fear-inspiring Dean of Discipline.

A luxurious shallow-draft boat slowly docked at the berth. The moment the people on board disembarked, the boat went crackle-pop and fell apart, shattering into a pile of wooden planks and sinking.

Obenri looked at the pale-faced Luther, Kasim, the Purple Bones Lich, and Lightning, and asked in surprise: "What happened? Were you chased on the way?"

Lisa replied awkwardly: "Afraid there wasn't enough time, we raced the boat a bit along the way."

"Raced it until the boat fell apart? How fast did you race it?" Obenri asked, shocked.

"Raced it until it was almost flying." Lisa said with a bitter smile: "I suddenly realized that even the dead get seasick — I'm feeling a bit queasy right now."

"The dead certainly get seasick; it's sensory disorientation. Normally the ground you sense is stable, but on a boat it changes, so of course you can't adapt. But it's much better than the living — at least you won't vomit." After saying that, Obenri turned her gaze toward Seeing Ange.

Seeing Ange said, somewhat at a loss: "Can't fly."

Nai Ge Li Si said irritably: "I told you long ago, this is a boat, not Jelly's ground-effect airship. Look, it fell apart — how are we going to pay for it?"

When it came to how to pay, everyone immediately turned their eyes to Kasim.

Kasim waved his hands frantically: "No need, no need, no need…" Before the word "pay" could come out, he saw Seeing Ange pull out three dragon fruits.

"Fire element, pay with this," Seeing Ange said.

He could already grow dragon fruits now; Kasim was a fire-element mage, so he should be able to use them.

Kasim sucked in a sharp breath, forcibly swallowed the word "pay," and stiffly changed his tune: "No need to be so polite, you're far too kind, far too kind."

And he smoothly tucked the dragon fruits into his arms.

Other things he could do without, but dragon fruits — dragon fruits that could raise fire-element affinity!

Although dragon fruits aren't very expensive, they're hard to buy. This stuff is something you can only come across by chance, not by seeking it out; usually it's grown for one's own use and consumed internally.

His family's magic tower had a dragon fruit tree, usually tended carefully by four people in shifts, producing at most thirteen fruits a year.

Such fruit, he would absolutely never put up for sale. Even if he did sell it, he couldn't do so at market price — at the very least he'd multiply it by ten, and even that only if he was especially short on money and did something that foolish.

These three dragon fruits were worth ten times more than his shallow-draft boat that fell apart the moment it raced; if he could, he'd be very glad to make that trade a few more times.

As long as they're satisfied, dragon fruits aren't worth much to Seeing Ange; after paying them off, they left.

Watching their departing figures, Kasim muttered excitedly: "What a steal." He took the opportunity to lick the skin, and immediately a stream of pure fire element turned into a current of heat that surged in from his tongue.

Kasim shuddered all over, opened his mouth, and hot breath poured out of it in a steady stream, yet he couldn't feel the slightest burning.

"Oh heavens, this affinity and elemental purity — far better than the tree at home. Is this really a dragon fruit? How can the gap between one dragon fruit and another be so huge?" Kasim was somewhat dumbfounded.

His eyes darted, and he suddenly thought of something; he hurried to chase after them, but where could any trace of Seeing Ange's group be found?

This made him sigh regretfully: "Ah, I should've bought a few more."