When Blade escaped, Takatsuki had used his Eagle Eye to survey the surroundings. It had to be said that Blade escaped very quickly, disappearing from the range of his Observation Haki in just a short while, and the Eagle Eye found no traces left behind.
It could be said that the other party seemed to be very familiar with this, having escaped many times before.
However, Takatsuki's assumption that Xueyi would not be able to find the other party was clearly wrong.
Xueyi walked ahead, and perhaps hearing Takatsuki's words, she introduced him to the Six Commissions of the Luofu along the way.
The Ten-Lords Commission, responsible for managing the lifespans of the Mara-Struck and detaining criminals.
The Realm-Keeping Commission, which manages miscellaneous affairs and maintains public order.
The Sky-Faring Commission, which manages Starskiff trade. As their name suggests, they are in charge of everything in the sky.
The Artisanship Commission, responsible for manufacturing mechanical constructs.
The Alchemy Commission, for healing and alchemy.
And the Divination Commission, skilled in divination.
Xueyi's current trip was to the Divination Commission to ask them to divine Blade's whereabouts.
Glancing at Seele, who was looking at him, Takatsuki lightly coughed.
"Since there's such a thing as divination, then the level of power needed to capture the target should also be divinable, right?"
Xueyi nodded: "Don't worry, the Divination Commission's abilities are beyond our imagination."
Although Takatsuki was curious to see what divination was like, the Divination Commission did not allow outsiders to visit.
However, it was said that the Divination Commission was not very far from this Artisanship Commission.
Just as the three of them were walking out of the Artisanship Commission, a sudden tremor came from beneath their feet.
"Earthquake?"
Takatsuki quickly pulled Seele closer. Although this slight tremor was nothing to either of them, the danger caused by an earthquake was more than just losing one's footing.
"How is that possible? This is Xianzhou."
Xueyi, swaying slightly, was also somewhat astonished. It was well known that various parts of the Xianzhou were actually floating cities, and there were no factors that could cause an earthquake.
"Takatsuki-nii, look at that!"
Seele suddenly noticed something. Following the direction of her finger, Takatsuki and Xueyi saw many root-like objects emerging from the ground.
And in some distant locations, a giant root was slowly spreading upwards along a pillar.
"What is this?"
Takatsuki looked at Xueyi, but it was clear that Xueyi also had no idea what was happening; the expression on her face seemed genuine.
The tremor quickly stopped, and the roots that had emerged from the ground also ceased their movement, remaining on the surface, and even blooming into flowers.
"What are these things?"
Takatsuki looked at Xueyi, but Xueyi didn't know what they were; she just shook her head.
"I have never seen such a sight either."
"Is that so..."
Takatsuki looked at the blooming flowers and walked towards them.
"Be careful."
Seeing Takatsuki seemingly leading Seele into a suicidal act, Xueyi spoke up to remind him, but her own personality wouldn't allow her to show too much concern.
"Don't worry."
Takatsuki wasn't worried that these plants would harm him. Not to mention his current strength, even with the character card he currently possessed, Minegishi Toshiki had the ability to communicate with plants, allowing him to react in advance.
"Seele, I'm going to talk to this plant. You keep an eye on our surroundings."
Walking up to the flower, Takatsuki said to Seele.
"Talking to a flower?"
If it were anyone else, Seele might not say anything, but she would definitely think it was outlandish. However, when it came to Takatsuki, Seele chose to believe him: "Mm, Takatsuki-nii, you can trust me."
"Mm."
Nodding, Takatsuki looked at the flower in front of him: "Why did you emerge from underground?"
In Seele and Xueyi's eyes, Takatsuki looked like a madman, talking to the plant in front of him, and the plant didn't respond at all. Yet, he seemed to have heard its reply, conversing with it as if it were a normal conversation.
But neither of them heard another voice.
"I'm done asking."
After a while, Takatsuki suddenly spoke.
"Takatsuki-nii, what are they?"
"Mm, they claim to be a collateral root system of the Ambrosial Arbor, here to collect energy for its revival."
No sooner had Takatsuki finished speaking than Xueyi's eyes widened: "You mean, the Ambrosial Arbor!?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"The Ambrosial Arbor was left behind by the Abundance, but it should have been severed by the Reignbow Arbiter's arrow."
The Abundance...
It took Takatsuki a moment to realize she was referring to the Abundance. Takatsuki opened the knowledge base on his phone; the phone Himeko gave him was synchronized with the train's knowledge base. He quickly found information about the Ambrosial Arbor.
"So, something like this happened? The Ambrosial Arbor's revival..."
"Mm, this is a major event. We must inform others quickly."
Although Xueyi was a mechanical construct, Takatsuki and Seele could see the solemn expression on her face.
"Excuse me, both of you, I must quickly inform others about this. I will repay your kindness next time. I must leave now."
Takatsuki said indifferently: "Then go ahead, I don't mind."
Xueyi nodded to Takatsuki and then left in a hurry. Fortunately, before she left, she sent the Xianzhou's navigation map to Takatsuki via her phone.
"Takatsuki-nii, what should we do next?"
Seele looked at Takatsuki after Xueyi left. After spending some time together, Seele had come to understand a bit of Takatsuki's personality. Allowing Xueyi to leave alone didn't seem like something he would do.
"Is Takatsuki-nii going to do something?"
Hearing Seele's words, Takatsuki nodded.
"Seele, do you remember what Old Yang said before?"
"Uncle Yang's words?"
Although he had spent a long time in the consciousness space, with the power to create memory fragments, Takatsuki hadn't forgotten anything from before.
He repeated what Yang had said about Seele's abilities at the time.
"Takatsuki-nii means, there's that thing Uncle Yang mentioned here?"
Takatsuki nodded: "That's right, Seele, there is creation power within your Stigmata, and here, there is something even stronger than ordinary creation power... the Elixir of Abundance's miracle, the Ambrosial Arbor."
"But, Takatsuki-nii, doesn't the Abundance turn people into Mara-Struck?"
Seele hadn't forgotten what happened before.
"Some things are better to have nothing than to have something inferior, and vitality is the same. According to the records in the knowledge base, the Elixir of Abundance is only responsible for healing and nothing else, which leads to those who receive its blessings being overwhelmed by ever-increasing vitality. But Seele, if it's you, I believe you can control this power."
Seele nodded, half understanding.
"Let's go, I'll take you to the core of this place."
From the conversation just now, Takatsuki learned the location of the Ambrosial Arbor's core within the Artisanship Commission. The surrounding roots were all providing energy to the core.
Therefore, the plants here didn't have strong consciousness, only instincts, so Takatsuki could extract a lot of information from them.
If possible, Takatsuki hoped that all of the Ambrosial Arbor's power would be like this.
But when he saw the giant flower bud occupying the Creation Furnace, he realized he was wrong.
The Ambrosial Arbor not only had consciousness, but also a very clear goal.
As the Elixir of Abundance's miracle, the Ambrosial Arbor's purpose was very simple: to bestow blessings upon others. It had two simple logics: one was to protect itself, and the other was to bestow blessings upon others.
"Takatsuki-nii, what's wrong?"
Seele asked, looking at Takatsuki's somewhat troubled expression.
Takatsuki looked at Seele and replied: "This guy rejected me."
That's right, this giant flower bud rejected Takatsuki, partly because Takatsuki's Path was completely incompatible with it, and partly because this thing actually disliked him!
Takatsuki wished he could hit it with a Demon Flame.
But during their conversation, he learned that a life was actually gestating within this flower, which was the Ambrosial Arbor's guardian. The other party hadn't come out yet, simply because Takatsuki and the others hadn't shown hostility and were able to converse.
"Takatsuki-nii, let me talk to it? If my power will be related to the Ambrosial Arbor later, then I should be the one to strive for it, right?"
Seele's words made sense. Takatsuki's Path had nothing to do with the Abundance, but Seele was compatible, and Seele's own Stigmata had the power of creation.
The only problem was...
Minegishi Toshiki's ability couldn't allow others to talk to plants.
"Seele, the ability to talk to plants cannot be shared with others. However, this is also a type of Stigmata ability. A person can install up to three Stigmata. Seele, are you sure you want it now?"
"Ah..."
Seele's face flushed slightly. She already knew how to install Stigmata: "Seele is always taking Takatsuki-nii's things... isn't that a bit bad?"
"It's okay, this Stigmata isn't very important to me. If Seele feels embarrassed, you can help me draw a few cards later to see how my luck is."
"Then... alright."
Seele's clothes were new ones she had changed into in Belobog. Exposing her back didn't require taking off her clothes; she just needed to pull them up.
But even this was criticized by Miss Veliona, who suddenly appeared, because their Stigmata could be on other parts of their bodies, while Takatsuki's Stigmata could only be on his back.
Looking at Seele, who walked over to talk to the flower bud, Takatsuki felt a bit helpless.
Just now, he was the one talking to that flower bud, but in Seele's retelling, that guy actually told Takatsuki not to come near.
But fortunately, Takatsuki had a new S-rank item that Seele had just helped him draw, which allowed him to confidently let Seele go over.
Seele's luck wasn't very good either; it took ninety pulls to get the item, but it was exactly what Takatsuki needed.
Taking a charm with a rabbit carved on it from his backpack, Takatsuki pressed it against his body. The charm quickly merged into Takatsuki's body.
"Hmm!?"
At this moment, Takatsuki suddenly noticed that the flower bud in front of him emitted a golden light.
Just as he was about to take Seele away, the flower bud suddenly disintegrated, slowly flowing into Seele's body like water.
Seele also turned around with a pleasant surprise: "Takatsuki-nii, I succeeded."
...
After "stealing" the Ambrosial Arbor's flower bud from the Artisanship Commission, the flower bud's power integrated into Seele's body.
However, Seele couldn't use this power yet; she needed a period of adaptation.
To avoid trouble with the Xianzhou people, Takatsuki took Seele and used the power of the Rabbit Talisman plus the Chicken Talisman, replacing the flight of the Starskiff, and directly "escaped" to the Starskiff Transit Center, avoiding others' sight.
Compared to Cloudford, which was full of Mara-Struck, this place was exceptionally lively. Takatsuki led Seele out from a corner, and after making sure they weren't noticed, he took out his phone.
"I'll send a message to Old Yang and the others first."
Naturally, it failed to send again.
It was still the same as before; all other functions worked except for sending messages.
"This Stellaron's influence is really absurd; it only affects message sending?"
"Seele, it seems we need to find a place to stay first. We can't contact anyone else for now."
Putting down his phone, Takatsuki saw Seele looking in a certain direction, where some vendors were hawking their wares.
"Momo rolls, lotus root cakes, come and see!"
"Seele, are you hungry?"
Seele's face flushed slightly: "Seele is fine, let's go find Welt and the others first."
Takatsuki didn't care much about that.
"Messages can't be sent right now, and it doesn't seem like a very urgent situation, so slowing down is fine. It's been a long time, and I'm a bit hungry too. We can try some local specialties."
The phone Himeko gave him had 100,000 credit points, which wasn't enough to buy anything expensive, but it was enough to buy some food.
"What's good to eat here?"
Takatsuki took Seele to the stall.
"Are you two outworlders from outside?"
Although Takatsuki had guessed something when he heard the term the stall owner used, he still asked curiously: "Outworlder, what does that mean?"
"Oh, it means people from outside the Xianzhou. Our snacks here are all specialties of the Xianzhou. You must try them when you come to the Xianzhou."
The owner opened the steamer basket, revealing food that looked like Swiss rolls to the two of them.
"Wow, how cute."
Seele exclaimed at the pink cake rolls with strange patterns.
"Little sister has good taste. These are called Momo rolls. Do you see the patterns on them? These are the patterns of Dreammoth fur."
Seele looked closely: "I haven't seen a Dreammoth before. Are these patterned after their fur?"
"No, actually, they're made from Dreammoths."
"???"'
Seeing the two confused people, the proprietress laughed, "Haha, just kidding, this is just an ordinary dessert. If it were a Dream-eater, how could it be so cheap?"
Was the price of 600 Credit Points cheap? In Belobog, the exchange rate between Credit Points and Shield was 1:50, which meant it was equivalent to 12 Shields.
However, it was normal for prices to be a bit higher on such a bustling commercial street.
"This is Singing Lotus Cake, made from singing lotus roots. Here, little sister, have a piece on me."
Seele looked at Takatsuki, and only after he nodded did she take the Singing Lotus Cake wrapped in a paper bag and take a small bite.
"Hahahahaha—"
The sudden laughter startled Seele, and the boss joined in the laughter.
"Just like their name, singing lotus roots make a sound when bitten into. This Singing Lotus Cake, when you bite into it, it makes a sound like laughter."
The boss explained.
"And these Jade Fruit Bird Skewers are made from fruits picked from the tail of a Jade Fruit Bird."
"Jade Fruit Bird?"
"That's right, Jade Fruit Birds are animals that coexist with plants. Their tails bear fruit, but don't worry, picking the fruit from a Jade Fruit Bird's tail won't harm it."
Through the snack vendor's introduction, the two gained a preliminary understanding of Xianzhou's cuisine.
Compared to the food below Belobog, the local specialty dishes here were more palatable.
Of course, the variety of food at this stall was not extensive. The only drink was the Xianzhou specialty, hot Floating Goat Milk. The boss said this goat milk was difficult to preserve, so it was rare to taste it outside, and it had to be drunk hot. When hot, Floating Goat Milk was sweet, but it would turn bitter once it cooled down.
They bought two portions of each snack, spending nearly twenty thousand Credit Points in one go. It seemed that these two hundred thousand Credit Points wouldn't last long.
"Boss, is there anywhere on Xianzhou where I can earn money? And does Xianzhou not have physical currency?"
It seemed saving money was out of the question. Since he had finally come to a new place, Takatsuki didn't want to suffer. Why suffer when he could enjoy himself?
"Physical currency? You mean the Patrol Dagger, but very few people use it anymore. It's more convenient to use Credit Points now, and the company's currency is universal across the cosmos."
The boss thought for a moment and said, "It's quite easy to earn money on Xianzhou. There are many places at the docks that are always hiring. If you temporarily need money, you can also go to the Jewelpagoda, where you can pawn items."
This was it!
As soon as Takatsuki heard "pawn," he knew this was what he was looking for.
He wasn't lacking in valuable items, but these couldn't be traded as currency, and selling them would require channels.
He had originally thought about the black market, but if there was a legitimate pawn shop, that was naturally the best option.
"Okay, thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I wish you both a pleasant time on Xianzhou."
Although the food at the snack stall could fill their stomachs, it was a bit too greasy. Even the hot Floating Goat Milk, their only drink, was too sweet and didn't quench their thirst.
Fortunately, there were many vending machines on this bustling street.