Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 726 The New Emperor's Inspection Tour
"Yes. Those large scaled demons have all disappeared without a trace. Originally, swallowing them should have been able to regenerate the meridian tree." Pei Ye also looked into the distance, "I wonder if those scaled demons will change."

“If Zhao Lingjun doesn’t die, things won’t return to normal anytime soon.” Li Xizhou smiled and turned back.

"Then we still need to clean them up." Pei Ye nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Why kidnap them and take them into the harem?"

Li Xizhou squinted, the boy looking at her innocently.

“Sometimes you’re genuinely stupid, sometimes you’re pretending to be stupid—that’s your specialty, Young Master Pei.” She rolled her eyes slightly and then turned and plummeted downwards.

"What are you going for?"

“Let’s go, new ruler. Touring the world and wiping out the remnants is the first thing to do after ascending the throne.” Li Xizhou mimicked his tone. “Having received the ruler’s favor, the mermaid Xixi will do her best to be loyal to the ruler.”

Pei Ye smiled and followed her downhill.

In fact, there's no need for the woman to explain everything. By carefully examining the newly acquired [White Water], Pei Ye can clearly perceive many of his new abilities.

Firstly, he can now freely enter and exit the mirage. He can enter any place where there is a mirage, and entering is not as easy as walking on flat ground, but rather entering a more intimate and familiar place, where he can roam freely alone.

Secondly, it holds the power to open and close the Mirage Realm. The rules of the Mirage Realm itself still apply, and the boundary markers will still open the gates of the Spirit Realm to those who have exhausted their paths and dreams. It is still possible to enter through other means such as the Mermaid Pearl Powder. The only difference is that the Water Lord's permission will take precedence over and supersede these rules.

Thirdly, everything in the Spirit Realm, whether plants, trees, or scale demons, has a special affinity with him. To some extent, he can command any scale demon, but not as brutally and absolutely as in the Mirage City, because scale demons have their own nature first and foremost.

Fourth, all the water shapes were as easy to control as if they were his own arms, just like wielding a dragon fire. At that time, the boy who was staggering at the bottom of Yangjia Ferry had completely disappeared.

……

As a true water lord possessing both the true blood of the Mirage Dragon and the essence of [White Water], Pei Ye directly inherited the entire spiritual realm that had spanned thousands of years and truly held the power to control it.

Besides these basic abilities that were directly bestowed upon him, he should be able to achieve unexpected effects through countless more ingenious and complex operations, and if the Illusionary Water and the Mysterious Fire could be combined, who knows how many mysteries could be produced.

But just like when he first obtained the Chi Fire, Bai Shui also needs to learn and become familiar with everything, and the higher his position, the more he can unleash its full potential.

The good news is that, unlike the Chi Fire which needs to search for flames in all directions to grow, the White Water already carries the legacy of its previous owner, who has been growing for four thousand years. It is already in its complete form, but it needs its new owner to slowly explore and control it.

“These two tall trees are the horns of the Mirage Dragon,” Li Xizhou said. “Its burial place is in the center of the Mirage Realm. We can’t possibly explore the entire Mirage Realm. We can only tour the Dragon Lake area, and those large-scaled demons won’t go too far.”

Pei Ye asked, "Do you know where they went?"

“I don’t know, but we can ask.” Li Xizhou turned around and smiled at him. The smile was quite happy and childlike, somewhat like the one she had when they were in the Leyouyuan Forest. She said, “Let me take you to meet these friends in the water. They are all very interesting.”

"So there are still good-scaled demons? I thought they had all been killed."

“The area around Longhu was swarmed, but not all of them were killed. Everyone hid in the corners of the surrounding area. In those more distant places, in the lonely pools, mountain streams, underground rivers, and so on that flowed into from the mirage, there are still a large number of scale demons. Just like the changes in human dynasties often don't have much impact on the people living deep in the mountains,” Li Xizhou said. “Also, these little scale demons who have lost their minds will not completely disappear. As time goes by, they will either return to normal, be killed by other scale demons, or die somewhere. In short, they will eventually return to their roots, and that trace of mirage blood and white water will transform into new scale demons again.”

She paused for a moment: "Of course, what you ate is truly gone."

She glanced at the boy, as if to say, "You are the only scourge in the Mirage Realm."

"Then, can we not kill the Great Scaled Demon?" Pei Ye thought for a moment. Now that he was the Water Lord, he had a different perspective on these Scaled Demons. If the two Water Lords were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under his command, then these Scaled Demons were Ma Chao and Pang De. He would feel a little guilty if he really wanted to devour them.

"They won't listen to you even if you don't kill them."

"Oh, then let's just kill him."

"Perhaps things will return to normal in the future, but while they are alive, they will continue to slaughter your people. Unlike ordinary scaled demons, no one but you can deal with these great scaled demons. This is a rebellion, Your Majesty, a merciful ruler does not command an army."

"What Li Qing said is very true."

The several days of stay were not wasted. Li Xizhou was clearly very familiar with this world. She led the boy on a tour from the north, and only then did Pei Ye truly and peacefully experience the beautiful and magnificent scenery of the Mirage Realm. The winding paths led to secluded spots, and the grasslands were bright and open. What they saw was a dazzling array of scales and shimmering patterns; a vast expanse of vibrant colors.

Pei Ye wandered around, occasionally getting caught up in something, and on a whim, he would chase after it to see what was happening. Li Xizhou followed behind with a smile.

Pei Ye touched the beautiful stones, soft seaweed swaying against his face. He turned around and whispered, "Do you think we could sell these stones for money?"

Li Xizhou sighed softly: "On the first day of his reign, the first thing a monarch learns is to betray his country."

"What are you saying? Isn't it normal to exchange what we have? This is a good thing that benefits the people."

Li Xizhou glanced around casually: "Is that so? Which of the king's subjects needs to spend money?"

An eel was watching them from the side, fish and shrimp darted back and forth on the rocks, and a large turtle was stretching its neck and crawling further away.

“I’ll spend it,” Pei Ye said matter-of-factly.

“Extravagance and debauchery,” Li Xizhou said calmly, turning to walk away. “Of course, the strange stones from the Spirit Realm can be sold, and they have never appeared in the mortal world before. However, if they are released in large quantities, they will inevitably attract attention and blur the boundary between the Spirit Realm and the mortal world… The Spirit Realm is an illusion and a hidden place, and it is not suitable for it to have too much contact with the mortal world.”

"That makes sense... So if I'm out of money, could I occasionally pick up a few to sell?"

"Whatever you say." Li Xizhou was clearly still not happy. "Silver is everywhere, but there is only one Spirit Realm. Your Majesty should think about which is more important."

Pei Ye tossed a few carefully selected pretty pebbles in his hand, pretending not to hear them like a tyrant.

"Silver is everywhere," is a phrase that only a princess would utter.

They encountered the giant serpent in the far north.

Just as Li Xizhou said, it still followed its instincts to kill other scaled demons. Its huge and slender body stirred up the waters, causing the fleeing fish to scatter in all directions. When Pei Ye and the other saw it, it was biting a large turtle in its mouth, and its steel-like teeth had just cracked the shell.

Pei Ye slowly raised his hand towards it, palm to palm. This was his first attempt at manipulating water. Following his experience of controlling true qi, he placed his palm on the water snake and then gently lowered his five fingers forward.

It was much easier than expected. Seven or eight solid water ropes suddenly shot out, their force causing the two men's hair to fly. The water snake turned its head sharply and was already caught in the loops.

Rather than manipulating water, the new Suijun prefers to do things himself. He drew his sword and swooped down, his lithe figure already hovering behind the enemy's neck.

The longsword flashed horizontally, creating a straight line of light, before gracefully returning to its sheath. The water snake froze for a moment, then its head fell smoothly to the ground, followed by a gush of blood.

"...Don't snatch it." Pei Ye watched as many fish and shrimp rushed out to devour the precious blood, but he didn't drive them away. He put down his sword, sat cross-legged on the rock, and raised his hand.

Like a gluttonous beast, everything—flesh, blood, bones, and muscles—melted into a sweet, refreshing spring that seeped into the skin. The fish and shrimp were feasting when suddenly, with a start, all that remained around them was the clear, cool water.

The meal was longer and more pleasurable than anyone could have imagined. If he had been shoveling food into his mouth bit by bit in the swarm of scaled demons, this was now a prolonged, whale-like gulp. After the blood mist came his body, the flow of blood continued uninterrupted for a full quarter of an hour. Binglu swallowed every last drop, sharing the indescribable comfort with Pei Ye.

Pei Ye was still somewhat tired and injured, but he only gave his body a small amount of water. He was indeed impatient. This divine object seemed to be about to reveal its extraordinary nature, surpassing that of ordinary dantian seeds, for the first time, and Pei Ye was eager to fill it.

He took a deep breath, stood up from the rock, and turned around. He saw the woman squatting there alone, only her back to him, fiddling with something in her hand.

Pei Ye walked over and saw that it was the turtle whose shell had just been bitten open.

It was clearly not dead, nor was it seriously injured. At this moment, it was stretching its neck to chase after the woman's fingers, its wounds wrapped with two thin, soft pieces of mermaid silk. Li Xizhou gently teased it, his face beaming like that of a ten-year-old child.

Pei Ye squatted down next to her, raised her finger and poked it twice, almost knocking it over.

"What are you doing?" Li Xizhou asked with a smile as he grabbed his arm.

"Why are you laughing at it like that? You're acting like an idiot."

Li Xizhou ignored him, stroked the medium-sized turtle again, and then pushed it away.

"From now on, in the Mirage Realm, you must cherish all these creatures, big and small, understand?" Li Xizhou watched it go. "It's so clean here, everyone is innocent and natural, there are no evil spirits or demons."

She spoke softly, and Pei Ye seemed to understand but not quite, but Li Xizhou didn't say much. She stood up and said, "These large-scaled demons occupy a place, just like lions and tigers have their own territories. Since there are water snakes here, the other two must be in other directions. Let's head west."

Although it was supposed to be a pursuit to quell a rebellion, the journey was actually leisurely and easy. Li Xizhou told him about all sorts of plants, flowers, stones, aquatic creatures, and fish, explaining their personalities and uses. Some of them had appeared in the human world before, and the woman could always cite historical anecdotes about them. It was a meeting of innate memory and acquired knowledge.

They often encountered fish that the woman had never seen before, and the two of them would gather together to experiment with them. A beautiful little blue fish unfortunately caught their eye and was kept in a bubble, poked around by them. After spraying out jets of water like arrows and spreading its rainbow-like tail, it failed to drive away the two big creatures. So it simply rolled its eyes, its belly lit up, and pretended to be dead and floated to the surface.

Pei Ye laughed and picked it up by its tail, scratching its belly. It suddenly jumped up, and Li Xizhou laughed to stop his "persecution" and let it go.

Within the mirage, creatures evolve in countless ways. Many mortal fish and shrimp swim in, absorb spiritual energy, and interbreed with each other, making it impossible to distinguish how many kinds there are. Even the Water Lord needs many years to become familiar with them before he can understand them completely.

Upon reaching the west, the scenery changed dramatically. The flat, soft grasslands disappeared, replaced by dense rock formations like a forest, with towering peaks and winding caves, inhabited by countless strange creatures.

But the woman seemed to know the place well. She said that a few days ago she had gathered the army of scaled demons here to launch a counterattack on Mirage City, but they were scattered afterward, so she sent everyone to scatter and hide.

Here they indeed encountered the enormous leopard-shaped scaled demon. Unlike a water snake that rampages around, it lay in a sinister ambush, suddenly pouncing out when the two were blocked from view by a boulder.

No matter how much it reigned supreme in this body of water, it was like a child with an open mind in front of Pei Ye. Pei Ye easily pinned it to the rock and pierced its throat with a single sword stroke.

Binglu ate a hearty meal again, and some new buds began to sprout, which Pei Ye could clearly feel.

Li Xizhou led Pei Ye inside and said with a smile, "Let me introduce another friend to you. It can travel between the two realms and can be considered a guest of the Spirit Realm."

Pei Ye asked curiously, "What do you mean? Can't the Red Pearl Hidden Carp and the Water Lord travel between the two worlds?"

"No, no, those are all beings from the Spirit Realm, they can open the door from the inside. This one is a mortal being, but resides in the Spirit Realm, it can open the door from the outside." Li Xizhou said, smiling and tilting his head, "By the way, you still haven't answered last time, did you use the horn I gave you?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Ye suddenly remembered: "I was just about to ask you that. You gave it away, why didn't you write a few words on it?"

What words are you writing?

“Write something like ‘to burn with fire’.”

"..." Li Xizhou pondered for a moment, "You didn't know you had to use fire?"

"How do I know to use fire?"

“This is a famous story from the Book of Jin. Wen Qiao saw a spirit in his dream. When he woke up, he burned a rhinoceros horn to reflect the image in the water and saw the spirit’s form. The spirit said, ‘We have parted ways in the realms of the living and the dead. Why are you reflecting my image?’” Li Xizhou said, “I have also parted ways in the realms of the living and the dead. Isn’t this precisely why I need you to reflect my image?”

She thought for a moment, then narrowed her eyes slightly: "I understand. When you were at the Imperial Academy, I asked you to read the Book of Jin, but you didn't read it at all."

"...I don't have time." Pei Ye turned her head. "That's not important either. What about the friend you mentioned?"

Li Xizhou rolled his eyes slightly, but didn't pursue the matter further, and continued downwards: "It's right here."

Pei Ye saw it; it was a huge, snow-white rhinoceros.

It lay docilely in the cave, its thick armor bearing many new and old bloodstains, either from its previous battle with the scaled demons or from its recent injury to the water tiger.

Pei Ye indeed sensed a spirituality in it that was superior to that of other scaled demons. Li Xizhou swam over and stroked its head, and the rhinoceros affectionately rubbed against her palm.

“The Mirage Realm is now stable, so you don’t have to worry when you come in from now on.” Li Xizhou smiled and took the boy’s sleeve as he came over. “This is our Mirage Realm’s new Water Lord. When you travel around, you should tell other spirits and demons that it was the new lord who saved the Mirage Realm, and everyone should respect him.”

The white rhinoceros's eyes were warm and intelligent. It took two steps forward and gently and submissively rubbed against Pei Ye's calf.

Pei Ye also rubbed its head with curiosity and joy.

Then I noticed the abrupt broken corner.

"So you helped me get in here." Pei Ye patted it gently. "Don't worry, you can recuperate in the Mirage Realm from now on."

“A rhinoceros horn takes a hundred years to grow to the length of a finger, it’s very precious.” Li Xizhou smiled. “But it’s alright, we can take it back. Here you go.”

Pei Ye was even more moved: "I see—what?"

"The remaining rhinoceros horn, I gave it all to you to ensure your entry. But since you didn't take the wrong path, burning it shouldn't burn much. You should return the rest to it." Li Xizhou looked at him with a smile, and the white rhinoceros under his knees affectionately rubbed against his leg again, looking at the new ruler with awe and hope.

"Oh--"

Pei Ye made a sound of sudden realization, then quietly faced Li Xizhou in silence, remaining motionless.

Li Xizhou reached out his hand to him again, looking puzzled.

"I ate it." Pei Ye said expressionlessly.

(End of this chapter)