The portable grandfathers that appear are all problematic.

They didn't know what lay ahead or where they were going, but they firmly believed in their hearts that it was the direction of the future.

For some reason, Lan Lin'er suddenly felt an urge to cry. She looked at Xue Dinglu, whose white robe was now stained with faint blood, and then looked up at the sky.

This is an experience she will never forget.

Chapter 276 Triangular Trade

The young man has now arrived in the northern ice plains.

This is the harshest environment in the world for monsters to live in. Low temperatures, barren land, and frozen rivers and seas are the eternal colors of this place.

But this is the place with the most Beast Kings, with two in total: one is the Titan Troll, the overlord of the far north ice plains, and the other is the king of the Icefield Tiger.

However, he just hoped that the beast kings here were all male. He already felt that if things continued like this, he would not only fail to subdue all the monster hordes, but he himself would also be about to break apart.

This time, we arrived at the gathering place of the Ice Tigers without any trouble. Even after learning that this group of Ice Tigers had a distant relative who lived with humans, we found it quite novel.

So even Warcraft requires cooperation with humans? It's not entirely a fight to the death.

That makes sense. In a sense, the humans in this world are just the largest group of magical beasts. They were once magical beasts living in the great forest, but they were the first to develop civilization.

And isn't it the same as other magical beasts of different races serving under the Beast Kings, when a distant relative of the Ice Tiger went to join the humans?

Soon after, the leader of the Icefield Tigers met with the young general. It was a robust, giant tiger, male. This time, the young general breathed a sigh of relief and could relax a little.

If every time he recaptures a monster horde, people offer themselves in return, he might really die.

This time it went even more smoothly because the Ice Tiger itself had had a lot of contact with humans, and the young general also had two other "transformed beast kings" by his side as evidence and to persuade him.

After all, they have a distant relative who cooperates with nearby humans, and they can exchange goods and services with each other.

This seems to have become a basic way for humans to trade with monsters.

After the Icefield Tiger successfully transformed, a robust and giant white tiger with a broad back and a thick waist appeared!

Standing over three meters tall, covered in fur and muscles, it was clearly incredibly powerful just by looking at it.

"Thank you for your assistance, Lord Sorrowful Wind." The Icefield Tiger King performed an odd bow.

The young man didn't care. The ways of bowing and expressing respect are completely different among different races, and he had no interest in teaching others how to properly bow.

"I know you need our strength, so I promise that as long as I am here, the Icefield Tiger Clan will always be your ally and forge an eternal friendship with you." The tiger king said frankly, and the young general liked this way of expressing himself.

Fortunately, this was a male beast king, and it had no other intentions.

The young man is about to blow the whistle; his job has gone quite smoothly this time.

"Alright, I'll go first..." The young general was about to leave to meet another Titan troll tribe.

"Please stay, sir!"

The Icefield Tiger King's voice suddenly sent a chill down his spine. He mechanically turned his head and saw the beastman-like tiger with a smug expression, saying, "Your Excellency's great kindness is beyond our ability to repay..."

Young man: "..."

You'd better not! Goodbye!

"How about this, sir, since you can accept us in human form, why not take one of my daughters as a concubine?" the Icefield Tiger King said slyly.

Young man: "..."

He was almost startled; he even wondered if there was something wrong with the world. Luckily, the Tiger King meant it that way, otherwise he really would have...

Everything was for the sake of killing that disgusting Mind Flayer!

Then, a tiger with a clear and foolish appearance slowly walked out and licked him.

A pure white tiger, purely beastly.

Young man: "..."

No, man...

You're so cunning, taking advantage of others while eating and taking things, thinking that once you transform yourself, you'll trick your daughter into doing the same, right?

However, after a while, the young general quietly left the cave, and beside him, in addition to the half-dragon and the spirit bird, there was also a white tiger girl who was over two meters tall and had a broad back and a burly waist...

……

On the other side, at the western desert border.

Xue's Law looked in the opposite direction from the sun and silently wrote it down in his book.

Innovation Era: Day Four, Sandstorm

Although the entire desert is nominally the territory of the Theocracy, the Theocracy has no real control over the desert area. Therefore, most of the desert is not actually under the complete control of the Theocracy. Only the section near the river is the defensive line where the Theocracy people can live and garrison.

Further west are deserts and mountains, where even in winter, daytime temperatures can reach over 60 degrees Celsius, while nighttime temperatures can plummet to below minus 50 degrees Celsius, making it unsuitable for human habitation.

Therefore, the westernmost city here is not in the desert, but is a city located on a river in the far west.

Further west lies a vast desert hundreds of kilometers away, inhabited by a large number of sandworms and small desert magical beasts, as well as some extremely drought-resistant plant-based magical beasts that can also take root there.

Even before the carriage entered this area, the entire legion was on high alert. Unlike the North, where they had completely disintegrated into tribes, this region seemed to retain the proper structure of a theocracy.

You can even see the knights of the gods and nobles in them.

They were not on guard against Xue's law, but rather against the nearly one hundred people behind them.

They thought they had encountered refugees or bandits, which was possible. In border areas, the defenses might look decent, but they had actually lost their combat systems long ago.

Those who know the situation assume these troops are stationed here to protect the western part of the Holy Kingdom, while those who don't might think they've been exiled here.

Yellow sand, gale-force winds, sandstorms, and even the rivers flowing down from the high mountains cause floods every few years, severely impacting the people living and stationed here.

Yes, you heard right. Every few years, a flood will break out in the desert, like a cycle. After the flood, there will be a drought for several years. After a few years of drought, a sudden flood will catch everyone off guard.

Even the army of the divine nobles, their knights, all had rough skin and were covered in cloth.

Even here, they have to take off their shoes and shake out the sand every few hours, and many of them have missing teeth, a unique problem caused by frequently biting into sand.

They looked at Xue Dinglu and the people behind him with wariness, but after they saw that they were all dressed in clothing with a strong Northern style, they were all surprised.

Those from the North had no intention of entering the city; they camped outside. The cart that the cat was pulling carried their supplies and tents. Under the guidance of an experienced old cat, they found a sheltered, low-lying area in the hills to set up camp.

Then, someone brought cats, meat, and fish to negotiate and trade with the people here.

Unlike the people in the North who rely on hunting and fishing to survive, the people on the western border practically have eyes that light up when they see meat and fish.

They might only get to eat meat once every few months.

Because it was a regular garrison, their food consisted mostly of grains, and in this desert, the most common food they saw was sandworms.

As for the river, it is a river that was washed down by melting glaciers from the high mountains. It has almost no nutrients, so there are no large fish or shrimp. You can catch fish all day and it won't be enough for one meal.

As for the desert, the most abundant creature is the sandworm, which is how they mainly supplement their protein intake. As for the taste of that stuff...

Some people say cow dung tastes better than sandworms, but I wonder what they've been through.

At the same time, Xue Dinglu stated his purpose for coming.

"I am a traveling healing mage who wants to improve my healing magic. I plan to start providing free medical treatment and clinics in the city, preferably for those with serious injuries or illnesses," Xue Dinglu stated his purpose.

This left the garrison soldiers on this side completely baffled.

Why aren't these mages living comfortable lives in the capital? Instead, they're here rescuing people in this desolate border region that even dogs would shake their heads at?

They couldn't figure it out, so they simply told others about it.

There was also a group of Northerners who came with the mage grandfather. They had a lot of oil, salt, meat, and dried fish, all of which were extremely scarce in the desert. They were only willing to exchange them for food.

But coincidentally, there was no shortage of food here.

So a lot of old grain piled up at the bottom of the warehouse was taken out and exchanged for hard-won meat, oil and salt. The people of the North happily accepted the old grain.

They do not look down on aged grains at all, because in their northern lands, many people do not eat much grain in their entire lives.

A few hundred pounds of meat could be exchanged for several thousand pounds of grain, so both the people of the North and the people of the desert felt they had made a huge profit.

The tribe sent a small group of people and cats back to their tribe with the surplus food, and told them they could send more meat, eggs, milk, and other things, and they would leave marks along the way.

They were even surprised that their ancestors hadn't thought of this trade route to the western border, which would have prevented so many people from starving to death every winter.

However, trade is illegal in the Holy Land. Only the noble families (Kshatriyas) are allowed to trade. The lower classes are not allowed to trade. In fact, the Northern Territory had been trying to trade with several cities within its borders, but they were all refused.

However, this is the western border, and like the northern border, it is the place where the Holy Kingdom's control is weakest.

Even the garrison here didn't take the trade negotiations seriously. Both sides thought the other was an idiot and that they were making a huge profit.

Because of the desert, the original noble families were all arrogant when they traded with each other. The price of meat, oil, and salt was dozens of times that of grain, which they couldn't understand. So they could only silently eat dry rations. The most meat they ate each year was sandworms, which were even worse than cow dung.

As for what to do if the branch nobles find out? We'll deal with that when they do. They're already too weak to even lift a knife because of the lack of protein and oil. Since you branch nobles are selling it for such a high price, we'll just have to get it from other places.

Therefore, they all believed that this trade route would not be a one-off, clandestine operation, but rather one that could be operated long-term. After reconciling their accounts, in addition to cursing the divine nobles, they also referred to their own transactions as "triangular trade."

As for the news that Xue Dinglu had a mage who could cast healing spells for free, although it had spread, no one dared to believe that such a windfall was happening to them.

There are even rumors that this is a conspiracy by necromancers, and that the necromancers must be conducting human experiments.

Chapter 277 Western Love Story

Lan Lin'er also changed into the local clothing, covering her entire body in a long cloth, with only her eyes showing.

It's not because of the culture and customs here, but simply because the air contains a lot of sand and particles. If you want your mouth to be full of sand when you open it, and then when you get home you touch your face and your hands are covered in mud and sand, you can choose not to wear it.

Now, as she sat by the roadside, Lan Lin'er noticed that passersby looked at them with puzzled expressions. She couldn't understand why no one cared about her free medical treatment.

Not long ago, she finally understood Xue's plan.

He would travel to various places, treat the locals, and then leave without staying a single day longer.

She didn't know what Xue Dinglu wanted to do on a deeper level, but she now roughly understood the surface purpose: to see the world with her own eyes.

To truly see the entire religious kingdom with one's own eyes.

The glory and death of the North, and the yellow sands of the West and the people who struggle to survive.

Lan Lin'er once asked, since the desert environment is so harsh, why do they still stay here? Why don't the gods and nobles improve the desert and make it suitable for human habitation?

For a 4th-tier mage, transforming the desert shouldn't be too difficult, right?

However, all they received was silence from the soldiers.

Just as they themselves didn't believe that Xue Dinglu, this healing mage, would come here to treat them.

They opened their mouths, and countless grains of sand and dust entered through their leaky teeth, but they were already used to this environment; coming here felt like being exiled.

Back to Shendu?

They can't go back. They haven't heard from their families for a long time. They might even disappear secretly if they return to Shendu. Many of their colleagues are like that. After returning to Shendu, they disappeared without a trace. Even Captain Shenren couldn't find any trace of them.

They all started new families here, and will remain border dwellers for generations to come. Even so, it's better than going back to that hellish capital.

At least here, you don't have to be afraid of suddenly disappearing when you go out, and you don't have to rely on having children to survive.

Although the lifestyle of most people on the border is simply about having children in exchange for food, at least they have a normal life and routine.

"Where is your amazing captain?" Lan Lin'er continued to ask curiously.

She didn't really believe that there were divine nobles here. Although it was normal for a divine being to be the leader of this border army, in her mind, how could those pampered divine beings be willing to live in such a difficult place?

After the soldiers stationed there learned that she was a divine being, they immediately became extremely respectful and deferential.

"Shh, sir, please keep your voice down." The soldier looked around, then seemed afraid of something. "Captain Godman hates nobles the most. He has humiliated other Godman nobles and branch family nobles more than once."

"Huh?" Lan Lin'er was taken aback. There was such an oddball among the divine nobles. "Why?"

"I think I heard that the God-Man Captain once fell in love with a commoner magician girl, but by the time he completed his baptism and became a full-fledged God-Man, his lover had already been tortured into a bloated, emaciated pig." The soldier glanced around furtively again, then stopped bluffing.

They came to keep an eye on Xue's laws, ostensibly to protect him, but it wouldn't be good if he slacked off too obviously.

Lan Lin'er fell silent after hearing this story.

A noble young master from a divine family falls in love with a commoner magician girl. This should have been her favorite type of story, but after learning about the fate of this divine captain, she was instantly overwhelmed with sorrow.

These sentimental little stories actually made her feel even worse.

"What has that amazing captain been doing on this border?" Lan Lin'er asked.

Upon seeing that she was also a divine being, the soldier hesitated for a moment before revealing: "The divine being captain seems to have been stockpiling grain and training his elite cavalry squad to strengthen the city's defenses. He doesn't even object to trading with those Northerners."

Lan Lin'er couldn't quite understand what the captain of the divine man was trying to do. He seemed to have his own ideas and things he wanted to do.

So she quietly approached Xue Dinglu and told him the information she had gathered using her divine identity, and asked, "Xe Dilus, what does the divine captain want to do?"