The Oolin race was, once again, a noble race. Although it seemed like there were so many noble races, in truth there were many more vassal races. It was just that most vassal races existed as appendages to the noble races, and the human race was among the very few vassal races who had earned the right of their own territory.

River and Pearl could not quite understand the distinction between vassal and noble, except that the noble races seemed to be more powerful in the same cultivation realm. Lex, of course, knew that the noble races were those that had at least one Dao Lord. The difference in strength was because of the difference in rank in the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, as well as the fact that none of the humans were cultivating the True Path.

Cultivating even one path was exceptionally difficult for humans, let alone three. At least in the Land of a Hundred Rivers, they were not limited by the absence of cultivation manuals.

One might find it odd that the various races had such robust and comprehensive management systems. At least, Lex certainly found it odd that the excellent management of Blue Stone city seemed mismatched with the level of technology and societal development.

The only thing, in his mind, that could explain as much was that the systems in place, not just among the human race but in all races, must be established by a higher power.

In this case it was Mount Decius, but he suspected that it went far beyond just that. The matter might be as simple as a cultivation ground owned by the Humanoid Alliance, or it might be more secretive. Either way, all he could for now was watch and learn, which brought his attention to the Oolin race.

Compared to so many other races, the Oolin had a much smaller presence, but that was only because their population was low and they found it incredibly difficult to reproduce. Even with their smaller population, though, none looked down on them, and all treated them with respect, if only for one reason.

The Oolin was a race that needed nothing to grow stronger save the presence of spiritual energy. What they cultivated were the Line of Power which grew on their very skin, which allowed them to wield a tremendous amount of Spiritual energy, making them capable of delivering devastating attacks in a single blow. Lex did not know much more since his interaction with them was limited.

When their escort arrived, they all took the opportunity to observe the Lines of Power. He looked almost identical to a normal human. But a closer look revealed the Lines of Power, currently faded.

Almost as if he knew what they were looking for, the Oolin channeled his power, making the lines much more prominent. Veins of deep blue energy pulsed beneath his fair skin carving through the earth, spreading in naturally formed, intricate patterns. Those luminous lines supposedly carried entire torrents of spiritual energy within them - vast and potent beyond anything any of the observers could hope to endure.

This Foundation realm Oolin could kill a new Golden Core cultivator in one attack - assuming that the attack landed correctly. It was a humbling realisation, and even the vampires dared show no attitude in front of the Oolin.

"Welcome to the Selpix Plateau," the Oolin said in a surprisingly soothing voice. "It is unfortunate, but I come bearing some bad news. An Armored Wyvern showed up on the southern battlefield against the Orcs, causing the protective fort to fall and countless losses to the garrisoned forces.

"With that loss, the positions on neighboring rivers have become vulnerable, and new battlelines need to be prepared. At the same time, the allied forces have lost track of the Armored Wyvern, so it’s uncertain when and where the Beast may attack again. The situation is tense and Mount Decius has called for all forces to stand at the ready.

"Your delegation will have to wait in the capital until the situation progresses further, and new orders are issued. Depending on what happens, you will either get new orders or may even be deployed."

The delegation was shocked, but they didn’t waste any time. News of the deteriorating battle lines was about the worst news they could get. They rushed to the capital, which was unlike any River had seen yet. Unlike the dense and crowded human cities, and unlike the grand and majestic cities of the Giants, the Oolin capital was more like a suburb.

Buildings were few and far, with great patches of parks, gardens, artificial forests and lakes all around. Some houses even had relatively small farms in the back instead of gardens.

It was a very peaceful sight, and made it abundantly obvious the preferences of the Oolin as a relatively peaceful and calm race... or so River thought. Lex, however, saw something else.

Just as the spiritual energy within the lands of the giants nourished the whole lands, here the spiritual energy became oddly concentrated, not in quantity, but in a certain type of energy.

To be specific, what cultivators generally referred to as Spiritual energy was actually a mix of all kinds of energies.

Lex’s cultivation technique accepted all energies the same, refining them and using them with perfect efficiency, but generally speaking, a cultivator’s affinity, the nature of the cultivation technique and the type of energy they use needed to be similar.

Back in his earliest days at the Midnight Inn, he’d treated the injuries of an old cultivator called Will, who had come to the Midnight Inn in a wheelchair. Hera and Jimmy were also brought to the Midnight Inn through Will.

The reason Will had been disabled was because his body had a water affinity, but he cultivated a fire affinity cultivation technique. When the nature of the energy became apparent within his body, it began to poison him, crippling the man.

The issue was fixed when he dissolved his cultivation and restarted with the appropriate technique!

When he entered the capital, the thing that Lex noticed most was the abundance of a type of Spiritual Energy called Budding Green Spiritual energy. It was a common type of energy, produced by the flourishing abundance of spirit plans and insects.

While this type of energy was common in most places with greenery, so were a whole lot of other common energy types. Yet within the capital, they had taken great care to eliminate all other kinds of energy, and promote this one the most. Of course, it was not possible to eliminate all other types of energies, Budding Green energy made up about 90% of the energy within the capital.

On the way to the capital, Lex noticed that certain areas had been treated in similar fashion, creating regions where various types of energies were dominant.

One example was the Gentle Spring energy, which was only produced by water which carried spirit fish, and flowed consistently at slow speeds. It had been nurtured in an area with thousands of small, clear streams.

Another one that Lex noticed was called Boulder Bun energy, which was formed when countless boulders were partially exposed to the air. The heat from the shining sun would warm them up, and then get transmitted underground from the rest of the boulder that was buried, giving rise to Boulder Bun energy.

All of these areas had been created with the utmost care, so as to not arouse any attention, and seem entirely natural. Each of them, however, were the result of many generations of work, for not even thousands of Foundation realm experts could achieve so much over such a large area in just a few years.

It was quite curious. Lex could, of course, learn the reason why they did all of this if he exerted any effort at all in investigating, but it was better to preserve his energy. He commented on what he observed to River and Pearl, and he’d let them learn whatever they could from the Oolin themselves. It wasn’t like he had to know what the reason behind such a layout was.

Yet Lex had underestimated the reaction River got from the Oolin when he asked the question. Even the elves and vampires hadn’t noticed these subtleties. They would, at most, be able to tell that the energy in certain areas was easier or harder to absorb.

"You are truly the descendant of the Sunborne ascendant," said their escort with a hint of admiration in his voice. "I shall not speak of these matters lightly. Wait a few days for the situation to calm down, and I will introduce you to an elder who will reveal the truth to you, as well as the history between your family and our race!"

River and Pearl were both surprised because they had no idea that the Sunborne family had any connections to the Oolin. They both exchanged glances, an unspoken communication occurring between their eyes. Fortunately, this time, there were no misunderstandings.