Demi-human Girls Completion Manual
Chapter 440 - 16. Trading

Chapter 440: 16. Trading

"Frost Snow... Wutong Tree?"

After hearing Valentina’s words, Alagina chewed over the somewhat familiar terms, finally finding the corresponding names in the myths worshipped by the North Realm that revolved around the Frost Phoenix.

But all North Realm people only believed that the legendary Wutong Tree did not truly exist because humans had ventured deep into the Snow Mountain countless times, yet had never found any trace of the mythical Phoenix Wutong Tree.

"Ah, yes, they did exist... at least they once did."

Valentina, sitting in a wheelchair, with hands crossed and no response, merely glanced at the red-clothed man beside her. The Schwali man named Balzac coughed lightly, then started to reply to Alagina’s question, saying,

"Cough cough... It is like this, according to the research we have, the existent records rarely describe how the glorious Phoenixes met their decline. Even today, you North Realm people still regard them as immortal gods... But the fact is, they once were a mysterious existence that really lived and ultimately disappeared, and the relics in the hands of you and my boss are proof of their real existence. They once were the weapons of two sons of the Phoenix."

Alagina, seemingly enlightened, looked towards Valentina in the wheelchair, who gently pushed open the small wooden box in her hands, revealing the black, half-moon shaped weapon inside.

Unlike Alagina’s Ice Prince, this weapon, even stored within the wooden box, showed no other anomalies, but if one observed closely, one would find a soft glow similar to moonlight occasionally flowing across the blade. The chill that seeped from that glow was in no way inferior to that of the Ice Prince, it was just all contained within the weapon and thus difficult to detect.

When the relic of the Moon Princess revealed its true nature, the tattoo on Alagina’s back became increasingly searing, and an overwhelming coldness unconsciously radiated, as if it were threatening the weapon in Valentina’s arms.

In contrast, the weapon in Valentina’s hands seemed very mild, showing no reaction whatsoever, just lying quietly inside the little wooden box, as if it could not see the Ice Prince in the distance at all.

"I have been studying these legends for years. According to unverified rumors from the North Realm, the three sons of Phoenix didn’t seem to have very good relationships, and there were frequent conflicts between them, which also dragged the six demi-human clan followers into these violent disputes, so at one time there was quite a tense atmosphere in the North Realm."

"The disappearance of the Phoenixes might be related to such strife, but this cannot explain what role the Phoenix King, perched upon the Wutong Tree, played in the story of the demise of Phoenix Species. It cannot explain why all the Phoenixes seemed to evaporate overnight without leaving a single trace behind, and also cannot explain where that legendary Wutong Tree has gone..."

This red-clothed man from Schwali turned out to be a scholar like Fisher, specializing in the history of the North Realm—no wonder Fisher felt Balzac posed little threat when he stood next to the Lion-man Philis earlier...

Or to put it another way, most normal scholars are like this, Fisher is a special case among them, whether in the field of research or in combat ability.

As Balzac spoke about his area of research, he became more and more excited, his speech speed noticeably quickening,

"Until a few years ago, while doing research in Sema Snow Mountain, I accidentally discovered a tomb of the Grey Bird Species under the ice. The tomb owner’s ancestors had been one of the countless Grey Birds who followed the Phoenix Elder Son, the Ice Prince. Long after the Phoenixes and the Wutong Tree disappeared, he and many Grey Bird brethren returned to the vicinity of the Snow Mountain, where they acquired a clue about the Wutong Tree and dispatched their people in search of it, seeing it as a hope for their return..."

"Hey, the tomb records that before all the Phoenixes disappeared, there was one son of the Phoenix who secretly sent out a scroll from the Wutong Tree entrusted to loyal subordinates out of the Northern Continent. That scroll, now placed inside the golden box, is the Ice Scroll—no one knows what is recorded inside, but it is most likely that it contains direct clues closely related to the Wutong Tree."

"But sadly, although the Grey Bird Clan dispatched countless members across the seas to retrieve this item, they ended up undoubtedly failing, and even paid a heavy price for it, so much so that their people are now either dead or lost or have become vassals... The Grey Bird buried in that tomb was one of the few survivors of their tribe, and he ultimately decided to give up on the search for this clue and took it into the grave."

As he said this, Balzac glanced meaningfully at Ossie standing beside Alagina, recognizing her as one of the Grey Bird People when she spread out her wings earlier.

But after hearing Balzac’s words, Ossie just blinked, seemingly completely clueless about what he was talking about. She knew very little about things outside of her duties as a guard, let alone these stories buried in the North Realm snow and wind.

Not receiving the response he expected, Balzac mentally categorized Grey Bird Ossie as illiterate, like Lion-man Philis. He least liked dealing with such people, especially when the other party was a demi-human, as if they were barbarians and difficult to communicate with.