Chapter 2770 - 2771: Behind the Scenes

Hearing Zhou Weijun say he hasn’t been here either, Feng Yuan became somewhat curious. Not having been here himself, or even heard of it, was quite normal, given that Feng Yuan’s rise only happened in the past year or two, and Qianqiu Tourism might not have acted so quickly, but Zhou Weijun was different.

He was indeed an established Legendary Beast Master from Maomu City. Although not absolute, most of the established Legendary Beast Masters are essentially pillars of their local areas, unless in cities like Shangjing, they basically have a say in official matters and can even influence the planning and implementation of certain measures.

Even they haven’t received an invitation, so Feng Yuan could only suspect the ones invited earlier were those from prestigious families, perhaps even those on the fringes of such families wouldn’t qualify.

As for intentionally ignoring the officials here? Feng Yuan could only think it’s overthinking. Just looking at the previous two islands, you can see how much investment they’ve put in. Would a force that holds such vast resources do something so foolish? Or rather, what’s beneficial about doing so?

Therefore, the only possibility might be that those they invited earlier have a status even higher than Zhou Weijun and the others, hence this situation occurred.

While chatting idly, the ship had already sailed to Strange Island. Compared to the previous two islands, this one was not as stunning, or in other words, even though the plants were bizarrely shaped, after witnessing the unique appearances of plants on the previous islands, this island hardly amazed anyone.

"It looks rather ordinary; those trees, though peculiar, seem somewhat chaotic, at least the overall feel isn’t cohesive enough."

Standing at the bow of the ship, Feng Yuan said with some confusion as he surveyed the island’s plants. How come just upon arriving at Strange Island, it seemed below expectations?

Tossing a glance at Feng Yuan, Agunas swished his tail and said

"Since it’s named Strange Island, it’s naturally centered around peculiarity. Excluding those special mutations that discomfort people, the scope is still quite broad."

The themes of the earlier two islands were more unified. Even though Fairy Tale Island’s theme was broad, Strange Island was different. Since it holds the character ’Strange,’ naturally not all plants should be the same or similar, otherwise, there would be a cheapened sense of oddity.

Moreover, within this scope, many things meet the standard. If greedily, one wants to showcase everything, then it’s no surprise such a situation occurs now.

"Hmm, what you said is true, but... it still feels off somehow."

Glancing at Agunas, Feng Yuan remarked oddly without delving deeper, as a mere tourist, he couldn’t concern himself with whatever issues might exist.

As the ship docked, Feng Yuan leaped off the deck directly, the staff on the deck paused in mid-action trying to stop him, not expecting someone would be so eager.

Veronia floated nearby with some puzzlement as she noticed Feng Yuan playing with a fox, no, a particularly unique One-leaf Fox.

As a common Combat Spirit Beast, One-leaf Foxes were ubiquitous, but Veronia had truly never seen one like the one before, with a pair of small wings.

"Is this a mutated Spirit Beast? It seems to have gained Wind Attribute too."

Don’t underestimate the One-leaf Fox, despite only sprouting a pair of small wings, its attributes have changed directly from Wood Attribute to dual Wood and Wind Attributes, albeit this mutation seems...

"Not very useful. Although it gained Wind Attribute, it lost the ability to evolve, a steep price, and the Wind Attribute gained by One-leaf Fox isn’t strong enough, its ultimate moves likely very few."

During the time spent playing with the fox, Feng Yuan quickly checked the One-leaf Fox’s condition, how to put it, it looked promising, yet this One-leaf Fox essentially could be considered to have lost its combat ability.

Of course, it’s not that this One-leaf Fox can’t fight, it’s just that, for a common Spirit Beast like One-leaf Fox, its basic potential isn’t high. Only through repeated evolutions can it gradually gain powerful strength.

This is unlike those Spirit Beasts with high starting points, granted, Spirit Beasts that develop gradually have an advantage in battle experience over those with higher initial potential, attributes each with their own gains and losses.

But this One-leaf Fox losing regular evolution ability is quite fatal. Although it can transcend evolution to evolve and elevate itself without changing form, the difficulty is indeed considerable.

Perhaps this is why this One-leaf Fox appeared on Strange Island? At least compared to the wild, living here worry-free is indeed a good thing.

Agunas flicked his tail, leaned closer and muttered to the One-leaf Fox, Veronia glanced at Agunas and said

"Little Crocodile is really being insincere, isn’t it."

With a laugh, Feng Yuan didn’t question what Agunas was saying; he’d already guessed the scenario.

Surely it was probing whether this mutation in the One-leaf Fox was man-made, yet to avoid triggering any unpleasant memories, a roundabout approach inquiring indirectly.

However, the One-leaf Fox surprised Agunas; it didn’t shy away from discussing its uniqueness among peers, though not proud, neither did it feel inferior about it.

After chatting briefly with the One-leaf Fox, Agunas made a judgment, even Veronia couldn’t help but sigh in relief for having wrongly suspected.

Agunas believed this One-leaf Fox wasn’t intentionally created by the other party, not to mention they have their own judgment capabilities; with Agunas overseeing the archives, deceiving it would be quite the challenge.

Agunas naturally couldn’t be completely convinced by a mere word, yet after checking the archives, it was certain Qianqiu Tourism had no such issues, regarding anything else?

Human internal disputes didn’t interest it in the slightest.

"Seems there’s no issue after all. I was saying, that One-leaf Fox appeared so lively, surely wasn’t one of those problematic mutated Spirit Beasts. Speaking of which, gathering so many mutated Spirit Beasts, Qianqiu Tourism is truly wealthy."

Surveying the area bustling with mutated Spirit Beasts, Feng Yuan sighed, Agunas flicked its tail and said

"Being a force once affiliated with Divine Beast Hall, achieving this step isn’t surprising."

"I see, so that’s it."

Though Agunas hadn’t explained too clearly, Feng Yuan understood the situation, distinct from the Alliance, Divine Beast Hall was an organization established by family forces during the Dynasty Era, albeit adapting itself continuously later on, these matters are hardly simple to resolve.

Agunas didn’t speak plainly, but Feng Yuan guessed at the implication; as an entity affiliated with Divine Beast Hall, even if formerly, one could infer the background, hinting at connections with those great families.

Given the financial and authoritative might of such family forces, a mere Strange Island is truly trivial, not even enough to make them bat an eye.

However, because of this, Feng Yuan understood why Zhou Weijun and others weren’t invited; to those with wider vision, they might not even be esteemed worthy.

There’s no help; the accumulation of wealth by those family forces is impressive. If not for the existence of Divine Pact Makers, their arrogance could be unchecked, but alas, Divine Pact Makers keep them in check, forcing those families to maintain a semblance of equality, lest Divine Pact Makers find a pretext to bring Divine Beasts upon them.

Understanding the terrifying power of Divine Beasts, when it involves matters possibly pertaining to Divine Beasts, those great families are more cautious than the average person, hence Feng Yuan was certain there weren’t any issues with Qianqiu Tourism.

Otherwise, even if someone in Maomu City wanted to cause trouble, Qianqiu Tourism would certainly resist vehemently; they comprehend too well the consequences of infuriating the Divine Beasts.

"These mutated Spirit Beasts are quite appealing, though their combat capability is essentially negligible, living on Strange Island might actually be a good thing for them."

Gazing at the mutated Spirit Beasts, Feng Yuan said with a smile; these mutated beasts and the winged-One-leaf Fox were similar, having striking differences, yet appearing more endearing.

Only, this mutation although enhancing their appearance, compromised their ability to grow stronger significantly, at least compared to ordinary Spirit Beasts, the cost of attaining formidable combat power is exorbitant.

Living here, with the family backing Qianqiu Tourism bearing the expenses, it’s much better than the wild; as for the lack of strength?

To Spirit Beasts, that’s truly inconsequential, unless they have their Beast Tamer partner, otherwise, to those Spirit Beasts, eating well and having a comfortable place to sleep suffices.

As for potential dangers? There’s no guaranteed solution, but conventionally those mad scientists wouldn’t target Spirit Beasts lacking strength, as it holds little value.