Chapter 700: Acting Skills
Chapter 700: Acting Skills
Chapter 700: Acting Skills
"Thank you for the kind hospitality, Chief, but we didn't come here to taste the delicacies of your Gray Lizard Tribe," Han Li said after briefly sampling the food laid out before him.
"Of course. If you have any instructions, feel free to state them, esteemed immortal," the chief hurriedly said.
"Do you have any maps of this place and information regarding the Six Moon Grassland?" Han Li asked in a direct and straightforward fashion.
"We do. Please wait for a moment, esteemed immortals, I'll get someone to organize what we have and bring it to you right away," the chief replied as he rose to his feet.
"There's no need to organize anything, just bring all of the scriptures that you have on the geography and customs and traditions of this place, and we'll look through them ourselves," Han Li said with a wave of his hand.
The chief faltered slightly upon hearing this, but then immediately gave an affirmative response before leaving the tent.
In contrast with Han Li's calm and collected demeanor, even though Shi Chuankong had been sampling fruits and tea this entire time, there was a hint of concern in his eyes, clearly indicating that he was rather worried about his own disguise.
Before long, the chief returned with two other Gray Lizard beings, both of which were carrying thick stacks of books that totaled in excess of a hundred at a rough visual estimate.
Han Li was quite pleased to see this. With all this material, they wouldn't be completely in the dark here in the Gray Realm.
He had already come into contact with the language of the Gray Realm from items in Dragon 4's storage pouch. The language used here was a type of ancient language of the True Immortal Realm, so he wasn't worried about not being able to understand it."These are all of the scriptures that we have on the local geography and customs and traditions. Our Gray Lizard Tribe is but a small tribe in the Black Teeth Region, so I'm afraid we don't have much information to offer," the chief said in an uneasy manner.
"It's fine, we'll make do with what you have. We're only passing through the area and are interested in learning about the Six Moon Grassland," Han Li replied.
The chief heaved a faint sigh of relief upon hearing this, then gestured for the two Gray Lizard beings to set down the scriptures.
"Take all the time you need, esteemed immortals. I've stationed some people outside your tent, so if you have any instructions, feel free to call upon them anytime," the chief said, then promptly departed with the other two Gray Lizard beings.
Following his departure, Han Li immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of gray light, which formed a gray light barrier around the entire tent.
The concern in Shi Chuankong's eyes eased slightly upon seeing this, and the two of them began to read through the provided scriptures.
They had been presented with a lot of material, but with their cultivation bases and memorization abilities, they were quickly able to read through everything and get a good grasp on where they currently were.
This was indeed the Gray Realm, but just like the True Immortal Realm, the Gray Realm was a vast place, and it wasn't made clear in any of the scriptures exactly where in the Gray Realm they were right now.
The Gray Lizard Tribe was only a small tribe that had always been settled in the Six Moon Grassland. Hence, most of the scriptures only contained information regarding the grassland, and for the vast majority of normal Gray Lizard beings, the Six Moon Grassland was their entire world.
The Six Moon Grassland was a massive place that was abundant with underground baleful veins. Not only was it rich in all types of vegetation, it also produced many types of ore and materials, and there were many other tribes residing here as well.
The Six Moon Grassland was situated in the northwestern part of the Black Teeth Region.
There wasn't much information in the scriptures regarding the Black Teeth Region. All that was stated was that it was an extraordinarily vast place, and that the Six Moon Grassland was only a tiny place in the region.
That was all of the information that Han Li's duo had managed to gather in terms of geography. As for customs and traditions, the Gray Realm was a little similar to the primordial land in that all of the living beings here resided in tribes, which ruled over different territories. The Six Moon Grassland was ruled over by a monarch by the name of San Miao, but there wasn't any detailed information on this person in any of the scriptures.
Above the monarchs was the regional ruler, and there was even less information in the scriptures about the Black Teeth Regional Monarch.
At this moment, Han Li was looking at a scripture that he was holding with a contemplative expression.
There was no concrete information on the Black Teeth Domain Ruler, but judging from the praise that was being heaped onto them in the scripture, Han Li could deduce that they had to be at least at the Great Encompassment Stage.
"The Gray Realm must be quite powerful if it's able to oppose the True Immortal Realm. With that in mind, it's a blessing that we're in a secluded place like the Six Moon Grassland. If we were in a more busy place, our covers could easily be blown," Shi Chuankong said in a slightly concerned manner.
"In that case, let's stay with this Gray Lizard Tribe for now. We won't have to worry about being exposed, and we can take this opportunity to learn more about the Gray Realm," Han Li said.
"I suppose that's our best course of action," Shi Chuankong replied with a nod.
After a brief discussion, Han Li withdrew the surrounding restrictions, then called out for one of the Gray Lizard beings outside the tent.
A tall Gray Lizard being strode into the tent, then immediately fell to his knees as he asked in a trembling voice that was filled with awe and veneration, "What can I do for you, esteemed immortals?"
There was a very clear hierarchy system in the Gray Realm.
The Gray Lizard Tribe was a low-ranking tribe, and the more prestigious a tribe was, the closer they were to human in form. This was why the Gray Lizard beings had been so respectful to Han Li and Shi Chuankong from the very beginning.
"I have something to discuss with your chief. Get him to come and see me," Han Li ordered as he put on a haughty facade.
"Yes, esteemed immortal," the Gray Lizard being hurriedly replied before departing, and the chief of the tribe arrived shortly thereafter.
"What are your instructions, esteemed immortals?" the chief asked as he maintained a respectful bow.
"There's no need to be so formal, Chief. Come to think of it, I haven't even asked for your name yet," Han Li said, and despite the humble content of his words, his demeanor was a lot colder than before.
Earlier, he had been a little too approachable, which was unbefitting of his status, so he had to make subtle changes.
The chief's heart jolted slightly at the sight of Han Li's calm demeanor, and he bowed even lower as he replied, "My name is Xi Yan, esteemed immortal."
"I see. I called you here as I wanted to ask if your Gray Lizard Tribe is traveling to the Tamda Festival," Han Li declared.
Once every a hundred years, all of the tribes across the Six Moon Grassland would gather at Wave Edge Lake on the border of the grassland for the Tamda Festival.
In the language of the Gray Realm, Tamda meant "bountiful harvest".
The festival was held by Monarch San Miao, and some sparring matches took place during every edition of the festival.
Of course, these sparring matches weren't held for no purpose. Almost all of the tribes on the Six Moon Grassland lived off agriculture or mining, and in order to avoid conflicts, the outcomes of these sparring matches were used to decide the territories of the tribes for the coming century.
Hence, this was an extremely important occasion, and all of the tribes took these sparring matches very seriously.
During the festival, an exchange convention would also take place, where all of the tribe traded everything that they had saved up over the past century for things that they needed.
The Six Moon Grassland was quite vast, and all of the tribes were very spread out. Hence, trade was very difficult to facilitate between tribes under normal circumstances. As a result, it became a tradition to gather at the festival to trade off their wares.
For these two reasons, the Tamda Festival was the most important event in the Six Moon Grassland, and there were very detailed records of the occasion in the scriptures.
"Yes," Chief Xi Yan replied with a nod.
"My senior martial brother and I aren't from the Black Teeth Region, but we've heard of the Tamda Festival. We're planning to accompany your Gray Lizard Tribe to Wave Edge Lake to see the festival for ourselves," Han Li said.
Chief Xi Yan fell silent upon hearing this.
"Is there something wrong?" Han Li asked as a cold look appeared in his eyes.
"Not at all. In fact, this is a great honor for our Gray Lizard Tribe. The only problem is that our tribe will be traveling very slowly by your standards, and I'm worried that you'll grow bored during the trip," Chief Xi Yan hurriedly explained.
He was very glad that Han Li's duo was willing to accompany his Gray Lizard Tribe. They were clearly both very powerful, but Xi Yan could tell that they weren't cruel or bloodthirsty individuals.
On top of that, with their accompaniment, not only would the Gray Lizard Tribe no longer have to fear gray beast attacks for the rest of their journey, perhaps they could even borrow their power during the Tamda Festival.
"At this current rate, how long will it take for you to arrive at Wave Edge Lake?" Han Li asked.
"It's going to take four to five years, and there are some places that we'll have to go around as there are powerful gray beasts lurking there," Xi Yan replied.
"There's no need for that. Just go straight through those areas, and we'll take care of any gray beasts that show up," Han Li ordered.
Xi Yan was ecstatic to hear this, and he replied, "In that case, we should be able to get there about a year earlier."
"Alright, that's all, you can go now," Han Li said with a dismissive wave of his hand, and Chief Xi Yan immediately turned to depart.
"By the way, does your tribe have any other types of books and scriptures? Bring them all to us so we have a way to kill time over the trip," Han Li suddenly said.
Xi Yan faltered slightly upon hearing this, then gave an affirmative response before hurriedly exiting the tent.
As soon as Xi Yan departed, the haughty look on Han Li's face instantly vanished.
Shi Chuankong was rather amused by the changes in Han Li's demeanor, and he jibed, "I must say, I'm very impressed with your acting skills, Fellow Daoist Li."
"Once you've experienced enough in life and endured enough hardships, these skills will naturally come to you," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.
"Looks like you have a lot of stories to tell, Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Chuankong remarked, then put on a serious expression as he continued, "This Tamda Festival will be a good opportunity for us to see more of the Gray Realm."