Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Arrival Of Dryads
After leaving Sam's room, Lorraine and Helena departed from the Ancestral Manor, flying in the direction of Iceheart City.
"What's the rush, Lor? Who are we going to meet?" Helena asked, observing Lorraine's sense of urgency as if whoever she was bringing Helena to meet was of great importance and shouldn't be kept waiting.
Right on cue, three more figures joined them: Adriana, Ava, and Victoria.
"It's the Spirits, Dryads to be precise. They made contact with the guards stationed at the border of Iceheart City. They want to have an audience with us," Adriana answered with a serious expression.
Helena's face turned serious, understanding why everyone seemed so stern.
Spirits were generally not considered stronger than dragons, but they were special. Their close connection with nature and Heavenly Dao made them viewed with caution and wariness.
Like the Azure Dragon Continent, home to dragons, vampires, and Qilins, the Black Tortoise Continent was where Spirits and other similar races resided.
Among the five continents, the Azure Dragon Continent, White Tiger Continent, and the Vermilion Bird Continent were the only ones that truly interacted with each other, developing relationships regardless of whether they were amicable or adversarial.
The Black Tortoise Continent, however, while not completely closed off like the Yin-Yang Continent, hardly interacted with the others.
Regardless of the situation or scene that developed, they dealt with it on their own.
They never interfered in the affairs of other continents, nor did they seek assistance or favors.
They preferred isolation.
And the other continents hesitated to involve themselves with the Black Tortoise Continent because it was essentially inhabited by spirits and similar races.
They dared not offend or disturb the spirits, fearing the wrath of the Heavenly Dao.
After all, it was no secret that the Heavenly Dao favored the spirits more than other supernatural beings.
You could even say that spirits like Dryads were like the personal subordinates of the Heavenly Dao.
Offending them was the same as offending their master.
Incurring the Heavenly Dao's wrath meant their infinite end – they will lose their providence, bad luck will overflow, their cultivation potential will be exhausted, and lose the ability to produce future heirs, and finally a life filled with despair will dawn upon them.
Another reason was that it was illogical to engage with a continent full of people who didn't want to be bothered.
Lastly, there was the Yin-Yang Continent, the fifth and central continent, completely closed off.
No one knew what was inside.
A formation enveloped the entire continent, preventing entry or the use of spiritual senses to discern what lay within. m|v|l|e m|p|y|r original content
Many had attempted to force their way in, but the formation resisted like vibranium—not even vibrations could penetrate it.
Even the guardian beasts of the other continents couldn't surpass those restrictions.
It was due to these reasons that Adriana and the others took the appearance of these Dryads more seriously.
They had traveled from one continent to another, and this meeting should have great importance for the spirits; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone through the hassle to come all the way to the Hailstorm Clan's territory.
What made this even more concerning was that they chose to visit the Hailstorm Clan of all places.
'What would the spirits want with us? It's been decades since I even saw a spirit. I don't remember anything happening or that could have happened to cause this reaction from the spirits.'
No matter how hard Adriana wracked her brain, she couldn't think of a single possibility that fell within the scope of the spirits' usual behavior that prompted them to seek an audience with her like this.
Back in the pavilion built at the borders of Iceheart City, Duncan Hailstorm stood a little distance away, observing the two new figures.
Duncan Hailstorm, also Sam's father-in-law, was in charge of protecting the borders.
So, when the Dryads appeared, he was the one to greet them first, then he sent a message of their arrival to Adriana, the matriarch.
He had attempted to engage in conversation with them, but they insisted on talking only to the leader of the clan and remained indifferent to him.
'They won't talk, they won't sit, nor would they accept simple gestures like drinking tea as our guests. No wonder they couldn't make friends with that attitude.'
The two figures also noticed this line of thought, but they couldn't care less about his opinions.
One of the figures shook his head as if annoyed by something. "Do we have to assume this form to meet with them?"
"Yes, Twig, it makes us less intimidating and also gives us a chance to have a proper conversation with them," the other figure's womanly voice replied.
Her face remained indifferent, as if what they were doing was simply their duty.
"Are we really in the right place, Elma?" Twig asked, concerned.
"Of course, Twig. Since our queen herself recognized that he is here, he should be here. Are you telling me you are doubting our queen's deduction?" Elma glared at Twig with a scrutinizing look.
"O-Of course not, I swear on my life. I never doubted our queen for a second. Queen's words are the truth. If she says 'he' is here, then 'he' is here," Twig hastily spoke as if afraid that Elma would misunderstand him.
For Dryads like Twig and Elma, doubting their queen was equal to doubting life and death itself.
"I was just concerned because I couldn't find that familiar feeling I get from our queen in this place."
"That's because you are a male Dryad; your senses are far weaker compared to me, a female Dryad. I can clearly sense 'his' presence somewhere in this area," Elma replied.
Just then, five streaks of light appeared, revealing five women. Four of them had white hair, and one of them had crimson hair.
All five of them were extraordinarily beautiful, even by supernatural beings' standards. Any man, young or old, would drool in the presence of these women.
Twig's eyes widened a little, "T-These... these dragon women, I can sense 'his' scent on them?"
"Looks like even you can sense it. Yes, they seem to have his scent mixed with theirs. It should be because of physical contact. Judging by their aura, these women have contacted him very recently," Elma said.
All this time, the two Dryads had been speaking through their minds using their racial ability from the start, so no one knew what was going on inside their heads.
Helena, Lorraine, Ava, and Victoria noticed their gaze, but they couldn't discern what was going on inside their heads.
They couldn't make judgments—were they alone? Did they harbor any animosity? Did they come here with bad intentions or good intentions? They couldn't even determine their realm of cultivation.
The Dryads were masters at controlling their body language and aura, primarily because this was not their true form; their true form resembled that of giant trees.
Adriana, however, was different. Her golden eyes glowed with power, and under her Eyes of Truth, nothing could be hidden.
'Battle Monarch realm cultivation. They have neither negative nor positive thoughts, no animosity with us, and...' Adriana's gaze squinted before widening.
She could sense hundreds of concealed auras a little far away from the pavilion.
'These two are not alone. They brought a little army with them. Though it won't be a struggle to dispose of them, I simply cannot do that,' Adriana shook her head in an attempt to calm her nerves.
If she tried to harm anyone from the Spirit Race without a good, proper, reasonable, factual reason, she would incur the wrath of the Heavenly Dao not just on herself but on her entire clan.
She had to deal with them cautiously and try her best not to let her arrogance show in her attitude.
She was one of the big shots in the entire continent, and while she was arrogant, she knew when and where to display it.
And right now was not that time.
Decking out her train of thoughts, Adriana smiled professionally, "As the matriarch of the Hailstorm Clan, I welcome the Dryads, even though it is pretty late at night," Adriana said, gesturing respectfully for them to sit on the couch, taking the opposite side.
She mentioned the lateness to make it clear that, despite being spirits, they couldn't come and go as they pleased.
The Dryads remained expressionless for a few seconds, but before it got awkward, they offered a slight nod and took their seats on the couch, intensely keeping their guard up without trying to be discreet about it.
Duncan found a single-person couch to sit on, while Helena, Lorraine, Ava, and Victoria positioned themselves on either side of Adriana.
"You may refer to me as Elma, and this here is my companion, Twig. We are honored to be under your esteemed presence, and forgive us for interrupting your peaceful night," Elma spoke in a tone that didn't reveal whether she was genuinely respectful or merely acting.
Unknown to the Dryads or the women, something lurked inside Lorraine's shadow, masking itself in darkness with dark eyes observing the scene with eerie silence and gaze.
Back in his room, Sam's eyes turned pure dark as he witnessed what was happening between the Dryads and his family members. "Dryads, huh? What could they want from us at this hour?"
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