"Big Brother, we look like country bums who’re coming to the city for the first time!" Feiling said.
"Indeed, but it's important that we get a good bearing on our surroundings. Let's think of it as a field trip!" he said.
"Are you addicted to being a tour guide?"
"I want to be your tour guide across the universe!" Tianming held her by the waist, letting her bring him down.
"I don't care! Your first trip is already mine!"
It was the first time he had heard about such a thing as a 'first trip'.
Eventually, they landed on a desolate patch of land. As she had said, he seemed a little overwhelmed like a country bum when he felt the dense stellunar source and the glowing rocks and plants. "This world is too beautiful. If we have time to spare, we definitely have to travel more. Let's search out the entire universe and try to find where it ends."
"Definitely!" she said, nodding confidently.
"Let's enter the city then!"
Soon, they saw a small town ahead of them, Yuexing Town. It was a town of moderate size. When Tianming entered, he immediately noticed two problems: the first was that the citizens of the town were on average sky to empyrean saints, much stronger than humans of the Flameyellow Continent, but not to a ridiculous degree. Samsarans could already be considered among the elite in these towns. As for cities, there might even be some ascendants there.
Second, the Divine Moon Realm's residents didn't only consist of the divine moonrace. On the streets, he spotted many lifebound beasts. It appeared that throughout the long history of the place, many clans had probably moved there. As a result, Tianming's arrival there wasn't an exception.
There were people of all shapes and sizes, and this small town was probably a microcosm of society at large. Tianming needed to understand this new world. Only then would he be able to find Qingyu. He casually dragged a rootbeast race child from the streets into an alleyway.
The kid was around ten and rather chubby, though his voice sounded really delicate. Nervously looking at him and Feiling and hugging his arms, he said, "What are you doing? Are you going to violate me? I… I'll let you go first, Big Sis!"
Tianming smacked him on the head. "I'm just going to ask some questions. I'll be happy if you tell me what I want to know. I'll even give you these treasures."
Having seen his lifebound beast, Tianming offered him a tribulation manna, which immediately caused the kid's eyes to widen.
"Big Bro, ask away! I'll even tell you what color undergarments my mom is wearing!"
"Why would you know that?"
"Yeah, why would I indeed? Ah, no, I don't! It was just a figure of speech. I don’t really know."
"I thought the folks of the Divine Moon Realm were all stuck-up pricks like Huiyue Yin. It's more normal than I thought," Tianming said, though that seemed to have offended the kid."Big Bro, if you aren't one of us folks, are you a wandering ghost?"
"Enough nonsense. First question: do you know Li Qingyu?" His plan today was to ask around and get a good idea of the factions, hierarchies, and power structures of the Divine Moon Realm so he would have a lead to find Qingyu.
Though, the answer to his question was one he would never have expected. "Big Bro, do you think I'm a fool? Even a stray dog of Yuexing Town would recognize Li Qingyu!"
Tianming almost cursed reflexively.
"Big Bro, make it quick, I think I need to pee," the kid said, pulling his legs closer together.
"Hold it in!" He pulled the kid's face closer and asked, "Tell me what kind of status she has, where she lives, and what her achievements are!"
"Come on, you're messing with me, aren't ya?"
"Just answer the question!" Tianming gave his head another smack, causing the kid to fall on his bum and almost lose control of his bladder.
Startled, he immediately rambled on. "Lin Qingyu showed up out of nowhere and is said to have a nonabane body of the divine moonrace! She has nine moons on her arm, far more impressive than any of the ancestors of the divine moonrace. The moment she showed up, the entire Divine Moon Realm was completely overturned. Even elders of the divine moonrace that were in secluded cultivation had to come out and take a look! She awakened nine totems, which are all said to be top level even among celestial orderians! Almost immediately, news spread to Orderia and they took away the Ninemoon Goddess, probably to nurture her. She truly is a monstrous talent of the Divine Moon Realm…. Every time I think about it, I feel my bladder tighten!"
"Nine?" Didn't Qingyu only have five bane-rings? It began sounding more and more ridiculous. However, he suddenly recalled that Qingyu had told him about the dream she had with nine bright moons. Additionally, Huiye Shi had also mentioned some accursed woman who was a nonabane. Coupled with the testimony of the kid, realization suddenly dawned on him.
"Qingyu's a nonabane?" He met Feiling's gaze. At the very least, Qingyu didn't seem to be in immediate danger. She had shocked the Divine Moon Realm with her talent and was brought to Orderia, the place Tianming ultimately wanted to go to. "That means our trip here was a waste."
"It's best we ask a few more people for details," Feiling said.
"Alright."
Right as Tianming was about to hand the manna over, his hand stopped.
"Big Bro, don't play with my feelings like that!" The chubby kid didn't dare to reach out and take the manna for himself.
"I have one more question," he said with a solemn look. Huiye Shi had also mentioned another monster. "Do you know Ye Lingfeng?"
Stunned, the kid said, "Of course!"
Tianming didn't think it would be so easy getting the answers he wanted. "What about him?"
"He's the Nightfiend that came with the Ninemoon Goddess!"
"Nightfiend? He has a sobriquet now? What happened to him? Did he go to Orderia too?"
"What are you thinking? Putting that monster in Orderia would scare all the celestial orderians to death!"
"What do you mean?"
"Big Bro, don't you know? The Nightfiend can consume totems! Totems are the basis of power for the celestial orderians and the divine moonrace, but they're completely useless before the Nightfiend! He can just gulp them down! Terrifying, right? Even though he isn’t really strong right now, the mere fact that he can consume totems is enough to scare the entire divine moonrace."
"He can eat totems no matter how strong they are?"
Totems were basically terra. The Archaionfiend consumed caelum, while Ye Lingfeng consumed terra? Was that one of the abilities he got from the Primordial Demonlord? Tianming had guessed that the soulfiend could only consume vita, which was the foundation of the soul that reentered the cycle of reincarnation. Now, it appeared that all three parts of the soul could be consumed by some entity, assuming his guesses about the soulfiend were correct.
The kid fearfully answered, "That, I'm not sure of. I only heard that he consumed quite a few totems before. When he was still a samsaran, he actually managed to consume the totems of ascendants, and he only grew stronger doing so. What is he if not a monster? It's also said that he's a specter and has the fiendgod bloodline. He's probably destined to be a huge villain."
Still, the kid's words weren’t exactly trustworthy, so Tianming had to verify it with a few others first. "Then do you know where the Nightfiend is now?"
"He's done for! He's the nemesis of the celestial orderians. No monster like him has been heard of in the millions of years of history, so the elites were all scared. Initially, the celestial orderians sent orders to have him killed, but after the Ninemoon Goddess threatened them with suicide, they decided to banish the monster to the xenomemory space. Though, I've heard that it’s just a ruse to trick the goddess. The elites probably had him killed on the way to the xenomemory space, not that it makes much difference. Anyone banished there would never be able to return and are effectively dead anyway."
"I see…." Tianming's gaze darkened.
"If Feng is really that powerful against totems, it's not surprising that the divine moonrace would have him killed," Feiling said with a worried look.
"That's right. If it weren’t for Qingyu's importance, they might not have kept him alive at all." Having recently learned of the power of the Primordial God-Emperor, he wasn't surprised to find that the successor of the Primordial Demonlord had similarly powerful tricks up his sleeves, too. Though the news that he could consume totems had come completely out of left field. It wasn't something normal people could even come up with on a whim, either, so the kid was probably telling the truth.
"Let's ask someone else next about the xenomemory space and see if there's a chance we can save Feng."
"Got it." Tianming tossed the manna to the kid, who wore an expression of utter gratitude as he ran off.
"Are you worried about them?" Feiling asked, holding his arm.
"Qingyu should be fine for now. I'm more worried about Feng." He was the one who had taken Ye Lingfeng out of the formation he had been sealed in, so he understood him. That youth was simple and sincere. Tianming would never leave him to suffer alone, now that he was in trouble. "Let's hope he's still alive."
The thought of such a pure youth facing a crisis ignited the flames of anger in him. He didn't have any fond thoughts of the divine moonrace, while Ye Lingfeng was like a brother to him.
……
Outside the Divine Moon Realm, a man dressed in a large white robe pulled a girl along, smiling as he escaped the gravity of the moon.
"Little You, your mom's birthday is coming soon. I’ll be bringing her some gifts, but don't ruin the surprise, alright?"
"Got it, Daddy! It's been so long. I miss Mommy!"
"We'll see her again soon." He stroked his daughter’s head with a look full of love.
