This planet had no name. The only thing Xia Fei knew was that it was where the Flame Imps resided, but he actually had no idea just what the Flame Imps were. He could at best recreate a fairly fuzzy image of them based on Seth’s words.
Seth did not have Xia Fei’s superspeed, so the two walked at a measured pace on the scorching and parched land, one in front, the other behind. Xia Fei wondered just how he could lure Quinn out from where he was hiding as he walked.
The old demon lord cleared his throat. “Back in the day, those times when I came to the Exiled Grounds in search of Quinn, that traitor had nearly peed himself in fright. Even after I got backstabbed, the clan would always send people over regularly. Quinn must have arranged for himself a very hidden location to avoid being found. You may have to go through quite a lot of trouble if you plan on digging him out.”
Xia Fei nodded. He was not going to have much problems searching this planet given his speed, but if Quinn had made prior preparations and refused to show himself no matter what, then things would be rather difficult. It had been so long, and Quinn had most likely taken root on the planet at this point, sure to have acquired not just a single hiding spot. Xia Fei could not just go around digging three feet underground, either, as it was definitely not a good idea alerting the enemy by acting rashly.
The corner of his lips curled as Xia Fei asked Oro, “Did you just say that Quinn has an old wound?”
…
No one really knew how the Flame Imps managed to arrive in the Law Realm, and across the colorful past of this realm, there was a period of restructure, where the leading figures in the Law Realm seemed to have gone mad, desperately wanting to increase the population of the realm, so sapient lifeforms got accepted one after another.
The Flame Imps were included back then, and though only the experts from their species managed to enter the circle, there was bound to be disparity between species. The fact was that the Flame Imp experts were weak and pathetic by comparison, completely unfit to be called Law Adepts.
This was why there was a period of cleansing after the mass admittance, and the goal was to clear out the unqualified sapient lifeforms from the Law Realm.
Just like how a cat that had tasted fresh fish would never get rid of its taste, these unqualified sapient lifeforms refused to return to the low-level cosmic society after knowing just how great law power was, so they did all they could to remain in the Law Realm.
Plenty of species, which had been removed from the Law Realm, took the risk to remain in the Exiled Grounds, and more and more joined them. There were also the experts who had made mistakes and ended up here in the Exiled Grounds, which was how it gradually grew into what it was today. It was a region where it was impossible to be cleaned up, becoming a third force in the Law Realm.
They would rather live in a piece of desolate space than leave, which showed just how great the temptation warriors had for law power.
The Flame Imps had been sent packing from the circle during the great cleansing, and the many species, who were unable to adapt to such terrible environments, all got tormented pretty badly. Instead, the small Flame Imps very quickly acclimatized and developed, becoming a force that could not be ignored in the Exiled Grounds.
Three date palm trees were aligned together, and underneath these trees was fifty square meters of camel grass, half green and half yellow, looking fairly listless under the scorching sun. In the middle of the grassland was a waterhole, and underneath the yellow mud pool was where cool spring water flowed outward, creating a rare brush of greenery in this desert.
As much as the Flame Imps had no fear of heat, allowing them to walk barefoot on the sands even during the blazing mid-day sun, they still needed water just like any other sapient lifeform.
This planet was outrageously hot, and the few pieces of greenery around had all become the few and far between oases-cum-habitats of the Flame Imps. One would see tens of thousands of them all staying in the grassland, with simple tents set up everywhere for them to take refuge within, not for fear of the sun and heat but for preserving their body fluids.
Several diminutive Flame Imps wore broad strawhats, holding weapons as they stood guard around the encampment.
The Flame Imps had red skin and stood no taller than 1.5 meters. Their body and faces were filled with wrinkles, and no matter their age or sex, no strand of hair grew on their heads. They were all bald, with a large mouth nearly spanning from one ear to the other. Their noses were large like bulbs of garlic, looking very ugly by human standards.
“These Flame Imps have small limbs, most likely unable to do any work that requires heavy lifting; why did you choose to capture them as slaves back then?” Xia Fei asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Master, there’s some work that the Flame Imps can do, such as mining mineral deposits found near magma. The temperature is great, and most slaves are found dead after working barely a handful of days, while Flame Imps are able to withstand the high temperatures.”
“Plus, though they look small, they actually have a lot of strength. Most Flame Imps are able to move items that weighed three to five hundred kilograms like it’s child’s play, making them very useful slaves. Unfortunately, they are also very crafty and ferocious. Facing raids head on. The species also inherited the Law of Fury, making them very hard to deal with,” Seth hurriedly explained. He was afraid of Xia Fei suspecting him. Now that he had returned to the mouth of the lion’s den by appearing here in Flame Imps’ land, if Quinn managed to spot him, he would still have to depend on Xia Fei to save him.
Taking a few steps forward, Xia Fei and Seth ended up being spotted by the sentries on duty. Several of these Imps quickly blew a piercing metal flute, as a large swarm of warriors came forward, surrounded Xia Fei and Seth, grinning menacingly at them.
Seth froze as he bound the black cloak around himself even tighter so that he could avoid being recognized by his foes. It was just that being so tightly wrapped caused his body temperature to rise, but Seth’s cultivation was thankfully high enough and had plenty of water reserves, so he was not afraid of succumbing to heatstroke. Meanwhile, Xia Fei remained unperturbed.
A Flame Imp wearing a helmet came walking out from the encampment. Metal would practically be melting under this scorching temperature, yet this person was not even sweating while wearing the helmet. Xia Fei could not help but be secretly amazed by this.
The soldiers all parted to let this Imp approach Xia Fei, calling this person Sentry Captain Seth.
“Another Seth? There are quite a few people in the Law Realm called Seth, huh?” Xia Fei shrugged as he said this. Ever since he arrived in the Law Realm, he had met at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, who went by the name Seth. Everyone, from Law Emperors to hawkers on the street, seemed to like that name.
Seth did not dare answer, afraid that these Imps would identify him. That was when the old demon lord chuckled. “The grandmaster who discovered the Law of Time was called Seth, and it’s been recognized as the strongest law power by the God Race. From then onward, people commemorate him by giving their offspring his name, in hopes that they’ll have similar successes to Seth. Forget the God Race, there are quite a lot in the Demon Race who go by the name Seth.”
The Flame Imp warrior, who wore a helmet, had reached Xia Fei by this time, asking impatiently, “What’s going on here? Who are you?!”
“Captain Seth, we caught some spies!” one of the warriors answered as he stood at attention.
Xia Fei let out a mirthless laugh. He lowered his gaze to take in this Captain Seth, even as he said in a deep voice, “To think that the Flame Imps would treat an apothecary like this, even calling us as spies! If I knew, I wouldn’t bother making a trip out here. Let’s leave!”
With that said, Xia Fei really turned to leave as he completely disregarded the over a hundred soldiers surrounding him. These soldiers all panicked, not a single one dared to stand in his way. That was because the word ‘apothecary’ was far too sacred to them!
Exiled Grounds was completely unlike the Law Realm, where there was an abundance of advanced medical equipment and where anyone sick could just visit a hospital for treatment. Only those with illnesses that hospitals had no way of treating would seek apothecaries, all due to the prices that they charged. Furthermore, these people were often cantankerous and short-tempered, not at all friendly.
In the Exiled Grounds, there was no such place as a hospital, and only a small number of metropolises and extremely wealthy tribes could spend an astronomical sum in building such healthcare facilities. As for apothecaries, they were even rarer! This was why Xia Fei had said he was one, causing these Flame Imps to deflate instantly, scratching their heads as they turned toward their captain.
“You’re an apothecary?” the helmeted Flame Imp asked, quickly squeezing a smile on his face thereafter.
“Hmph!” Xia Fei merely snorted, acting extremely haughty. In the Exiled Grounds, apothecaries were important figures, so of course he needed to act the part of a big shot.
…
In the Exiled Grounds, anything that involved apothecaries would hardly be deemed minor. When Xia Fei said that he was one, he was immediately escorted to a wide tent and was made to sit before a table with a platter of fresh fruit laid out and some cold refreshments.
Xia Fei was not in the least bit courteous, taking big gulps of the iced plum juice he was offered. Seth did not dare to swig his drink like Xia Fei, covering half his face with the cowl he had as he took sips. He was deathly afraid of being recognized by someone when, really, his worry was unnecessary; after Xia Fei used certain drugs to reconstruct that face of his, no one would be able to recognize him anymore.
The guards looked on as Xia Fei feasted, salivating at the sight. The planet was barren. What Xia Fei was consuming were all bought from the outside world and carefully stored away, only being brought out for special guests. Xia Fei had only uttered the word apothecary and these Fire Imps did not even verify the truth behind his words, instantly treating him as a most distinguished guest. Thus, it could be seen just how respected an apothecary was in the Exiled Grounds.
Lionheart Emperor Oro was not in a good mood like Xia Fei, feeling somewhat disgruntled as he complained, “Will this method of yours work? The wound I inflicted on Quinn was the result of my personal use of the Law of Darkness. Most apothecaries can’t treat it, so this scheme of yours to tout your services to the Flame Imp may not trick Quinn, and that’ll be disastrous, wasting much of what time you have.”
Xia Fei smiled. “Elder Oro, this method of mine is the only thing that can work. At present, the only clues we have about Quinn are his relationship with the Flame Imps and his wound. Besides these two, we don’t have any means of finding out whether he’s really still on this planet or not, including his exact location.
“As long as we win over these Flame Imps, letting them spread the word about the arrival of a miraculous apothecary everywhere, I do believe that Quinn will end up serving himself on a platter to us. Considering that the Flame Imps have been indebted to him after what he did, they’ll surely think about him whenever they come across anything good. Who knows how many months or even years it will take if we manually search for him? There are no guarantees that we can find him that way, either. I’m sure that you were quite the force to be reckoned with when you led your men to search for Quinn in the Exiled Grounds all those years, but you didn’t manage to locate him, did you? How else would I expect to get a different result doing so alone?”
Oro nodded. “Fine, what you said makes quite a bit of sense. That rascal Quinn is very sharp, and when he saved those Flame Imps at the last second back then, it might not be due to him being informed too late but rather that he could very well have been secretly observing for a long time, only lending a hand after he realized that there wouldn’t be any trouble to him.”
Xia Fei laughed. “Just relax. Quinn has the Immemorial Mystical Armament Phoenix Tail Stone, the Law of Life, the exquisite war armor Enigmatic Autumn Sun, the Bloodswallow Gem, which can help me promote to become a Law Emperor, and some of those treasures that you are unwilling to tell me the names of. There’s no way I’m about to let such fat prey go, since everything will belong to me once I kill him.”
The old demon lord panicked. “I never said you could take them all!”
Xia Fei laughed, ignoring Oro as the latter grumbled.
Just as Xia Fei was yearning to get his hands on all those precious treasures, he suddenly heard a frustrated voice coming from outside the tent, “Men! The person inside is a quack! Apprehend him!”
Xia Fei’s expression turned cold as he threw an unfriendly gaze outside the tent.
