Hearing Gae's explanation, Ziqian's eyes immediately lit up.
But if that's the case, then why doesn't Gaia have a cure yet? He asked in confusion. The Winged Tiger Tribe is one of the five largest tribes, but they still believe there's no cure for the aftereffects of going berserk.
"They haven't discovered it yet," Gae answered.
"Gaia is still far behind compared to the other beast worlds. This world is still new, and even God Cernunnos is considered young among all the minor gods."
He paused before continuing.
"Many things in Gaia are still undeveloped and remain unexplored. The beastmen here also rely mostly on instinct, and they don't truly understand the deeper nature of their powers. In other beast worlds, knowledge like this has already been studied and recorded for thousands of years."
While they were talking, Ziqian had already adjusted the shop filter, limiting the results to all items that existed within Gaia. Nia and Phi then immediately focused on checking the descriptions of each item one by one.
Ziqian stared blankly at Gae for a moment, trying to process everything the blue fluffball had just said.
What do you mean? He asked in confusion. The more he listened, the more confused he became.
To the beastmen of Gaia, God Cernunnos was already an existence high above everything else, someone revered and worshipped by the entire world.
But based on Gae's words, Cernunnos was merely one among countless gods. Not only was he still considered young, but he was also a minor god, meaning there were existences superior to him.
What Ziqian couldn't understand was why Gaia was considered a new world. After all, hundreds of years had already passed.
Gae organized his thoughts for a moment before answering.
"You see, Ah-Zi, when gods are born, territories are assigned to them to manage."
Territories?
"Planets," Gae answered. "New planets are born every day, and each god is responsible for managing multiple of them. But even then, there still aren't enough gods to oversee every planet in each universe, so some worlds remain unattended until a new god is born and assigned to them."
"Gaia is one of those worlds. For a long time, it didn't have a god managing it. Everything only started changing after god Cernunnos was born and took Gaia under his care."
Gae hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"Actually, the people of Gaia have longer lifespans, and time here also flows much slower. With that, this world should have developed faster." Gae paused briefly before continuing. "But… an accident happened to the Beast God during the early stages of developing Gaia."
What accident?
Gae immediately shook his round, furry blue body. "I can't disclose the details right now, Ah-Zi. All I can say is that because of that accident, Gaia became trapped."
Trapped? Ziqian repeated in confusion. He did not understand what Gae meant.
Gae only nodded and did not explain further. "Anyway, a god's territories grow and develop together with them. The stronger the god becomes, the faster their territories develop as well."
Instead of getting answers, Ziqian only became more confused, and even more questions started popping into his head.
However, he noticed that Gae did not seem willing to continue talking about God Cernunnos.
Ziqian inwardly sighed.
There would be plenty of time in the future to question the guardians, so Ziqian decided to ask something else instead.
If that's the case, then why don't the gods just create more gods?I mean… have more babies that would eventually become gods?
Gae laughed lightly. "Gods aren't conceived the same way humans are, Ah-Zi. Pure gods are extremely rare. Sometimes, hundreds of thousands of years can pass before even a single one is born."
"And there are two kinds of pure gods: high gods and minor gods. There are also what are called demigods—these were the offspring of a god and a mortal. But let me tell you about it in detail next time."
Ziqian did not know why Gae suddenly started telling him about the realm of the gods, but the more he listened, the more curious he became.
He wanted to know more, but before he could ask another question, he suddenly heard Phi exclaim.
What is it? Did you find something? Ziqian hurriedly asked.
"Yes!" Phi answered excitedly. "Look at this, Ah-Zi!"
The yellow fluffball then touchlessly manipulated the blue interface and opened one of the items in the shop list.
As long as Ziqian gave the four guardians permission, they were able to control the blue interface. They had accidentally discovered this feature during their journey to rescue the hunting group.
At that time, the guardians were worried Ziqian might accidentally fall while browsing the shop in midair on Xue's back, so Ero jokingly said that it would be much easier if they could control it for him instead.
Ziqian casually agreed, and to their surprise, a notification popped up confirming that the guardians had been granted access.
The guardians did not know if this function was exclusive only to Ziqian because, despite being the overseers of the interface for hundreds of years and accompanying countless wards before Ziqian, they had never discovered this feature.
Nevertheless, this function was truly helpful for Ziqian.
Ziqian focused his attention on the item Phi had opened and quickly read its description.
While Ziqian was reading the item's description, Ero could not help but ask, "Why are you telling him all this, Gae? It's still too early for Ah-Zi to know these things."
"There's no such thing as too early when it comes to knowing some background information," Gae replied calmly before floating toward Ziqian.
Ero did not entirely agree. In his opinion, Ziqian already had far too many things to worry about. Still, he chose not to question Gae further and simply trusted his judgment. He then followed behind to check the item Nia and Phi had found.
[Edea – 105 points]
Stabilized internal energy and helped mend a damaged soul.
Description: A pulp extracted from the Edea fruit, a rare spiritual fruit born from the tree of Goddess Psyche. The tree grows deep within a hidden cave at the center of the ocean and absorbs pure spiritual energy for hundreds of years before it finally bears fruit.
Origin: Gaia Stellar System
Warning: Excessive consumption may cause spiritual overload.
Ziqian's eyes immediately brightened after reading the details of Edea. He had not expected to actually find something that fit his measly points.
The item only cost 105 points, and its effects were exactly what Huo needed right now.
For the first time since learning about the damage to Huo's soul, Ziqian finally felt a sense of relief.
Nia and Gae happily circled around him. While Phi's yellow fur puffed up proudly, he was pleased with himself for being the one who found the item Ziqian needed.
But their moment of happiness did not last long.
"Ah-Zi," Ero hesitatingly said. "Read the first sentence of the description carefully."
Ziqian blinked. He didn't understand why Ero wanted him to read the description again, but he complied, this time slowly and carefully. However, after reading only the first two words, he froze in place.
Description: A pulp extracted from the Edea fruit—
"A… pulp?" he read blankly.
What the pulp!
Ziqian had been in such a hurry to read the whole thing earlier that he completely missed one of the most important parts.
The joy and relief Ziqian had felt earlier quickly faded, and his face was once again filled with worry and frustration.
If even a small pulp cost 105 points, then how expensive would the complete fruit be?
And even if he decided to buy it, his current points were only enough for a single pulp. But would one pulp be enough to completely heal Huo's damaged soul?
Ziqian suddenly did not know what to do.
For the first time, he regretted not putting more effort into completing his quests. If he had earned more points before, he would not be feeling this helpless now.
Ziqian stared silently at the glowing blue screen, lost in thought.
"Why don't we try to find other items?" Ero suggested, breaking the sudden silence.
Phi and Nia readily agreed and started browsing the blue interface again. This time they read the description carefully and thoroughly.
But after several moments, their movements gradually slowed and their fur dimmed.
Because they could not find anything else, it became clear that there were no other soul-related items from Gaia.
Only the Edea fruit has the properties that could mend a soul in this world.
Most of the medicines and herbs available in this world could only heal physical injuries, stabilize energy, or temporarily calm the mind.
The other soul-related items they managed to find all came from higher worlds, and every one of them was far too expensive for Ziqian's current points to afford.
In the end, the pulp of Edea remained the only item Ziqian could possibly purchased.
There was no other option now but to take a gamble.
The description only stated that it could mend a damaged soul, but it never mentioned how severe a soul injury it could restore.
That was what worried Ziqian the most because if he bought it and it turned out to be insufficient, then all his points would be gone.
But he could not just stand by and do nothing.
Ziqian closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before finally choosing to purchase the Edea pulp.
He would gamble everything on this single pulp and hope it would be enough to save Huo.