Chapter 1,379 – Miracle Lodge

“A miracle lodge, huh?” Zac said, nodding to have a drink served. “What can you tell me about it?”

“That depends on what you can provide in return,” the barkeep said. “We’re not taking shifts at the Dusty Apple out of generosity, you know.”

Zac rolled his eyes and took out a Late D-grade stalk giving off strong temporal fluctuations. Its spirituality wasn’t deep enough to be considered a Natural Treasure, but Time-attuned materials were always valuable and in demand—especially with Temporal Cultivators like the barkeep.

“I found this thing on the way, I believe it has some fate with you.”

“I think you’re right,” Nathan agreed with a wide grin, his hands turning into a blur to snatch it. His time-enhanced swipe was intercepted by an intractable metal chain before he could claim his payment.

“Exactly how fated it is depends on whether what you know is valuable enough,” Zac added.

“Fair enough,” Nathan said, collecting his thoughts. “You should know the Peregrine Ocean is a nexus of Destiny that brushes against countless realms and timelines. Sometimes, Exotic Treasures will appear that can’t be found anywhere else. At the same time, the ocean is too unpredictable. True Disciples can barely explore its shallows, and even the elders won’t enter its depths lightly.

“Exotic Treasures are normally far out of reach for us mortals stuck on the island, but the Heavens always keep a path open. The six miracles are all unique creations that have found their way into the archipelago. Since it’s a matter of fate, True Disciples and even stronger seniors aren’t allowed to compete for them whenever they appear.”

“But we can?”

“Sure. Why else would everyone be so excited? Even us D-grade cultivators have a chance to reinvent our wheel of fate, seeing as there are less than a dozen Void Heralds on the Isles,” Nathan said. “Although that number might have increased lately.”

The Peregrine Isles was a region meant to temper Outer Disciples, though the Mercurial Court didn’t directly restrict Inner Disciples from entering. One’s fate simply ended with the archipelago upon stepping into Monarchy, so the disciple token no longer pointed to its location. Most of the dozen or so Monarchs in the area had broken through somewhere nearby and simply stayed behind since then. From what Zac had heard, the Explorer’s Guild’s Guild Leader was among them.

While it seemed wasteful for Monarchs to linger in a low-grade environment instead of competing for better resources, being a local tyrant had its advantages. They could use their strength to gather a large amount of top-tier D-grade resources and use them to enhance their foundations before moving on. And whenever a top-tier resource emerged, like now, they were the most likely to seize it.

There was also a chance that a C-grade Cultivator had affinity with something on the Peregrine Isles, just like the sixth pull of fate that Zac could still feel from his token. Such cases were likely why Nathan hinted that the number of Monarchs lurking about had increased recently.

In either case, the C-grade Cultivators were at most Early Monarchs. It was still highly unlikely for Zac to defeat any one of them. Even the weakest Monarch raised in the Mercurial Court would be considered an elite in the outside world, completely different from a C-grade cultivator who’d formed an Inner World by the skin of their teeth.

That wouldn’t stop Zac from throwing his hat in the ring. A hunt wasn’t only about having the biggest fist. When it came to Luck, Zac refused to believe any of the locals could compete.

“Naturally, most of us aren’t aiming for the lodge itself,” Nathan added. “We’re happy to drink the soup while the hotshots compete for the meat.”

“If someone seizes this Hunting Lodge, there’ll only be five miracles left?” Zac asked.

“At least in the short run. Another Exotic Treasure will eventually find its way here. That’s how it goes. There were only three miracles for a while after two Exotic Treasures were seized in quick succession. It was Elder Istazh who snatched them both when she was an Inner Disciple,” Nathan said with an expression any man would recognize.

Zac had already heard about the Eighth Elder, whose reputation greatly eclipsed Old Sixth’s. Her experiments were reportedly significantly more chaotic and dangerous, yet there would still be thousands of volunteers lining up to participate if she sent out a recruitment call. The Eighth Elder was not only the youngest member of the Elder Council, she was also Mercurial Court’s greatest beauty.

Looks, wealth, power, and reportedly unattached. Elder Istazh was the whole package and, unsurprisingly, the dream companion of many. They dreamt of ascending the ranks, becoming the Ninth Elder and Istazh’s Dao Companion. By the looks of it, Nathan belonged to this group of delusional lovebirds.

“Did you know? Elder Istazh was the Guild Master of her generation. She hasn’t visited for the past hundred thousand years, but if one of us manages to snatch the lodge, she might make an appearance,” Nathan exhaled with a dreamy expression.

“Keep it together, man,” Zac sighed. “The lodge can’t be too easy to seize if it keeps appearing.”

“So long as there’s a chance,” Nathan said, completely unbothered.

“When is it and how long will we have access?”

“According to the Guild Master’s calculations, the island will emerge in two days. If the guild’s lucky, we’ll only need a day to reach it. The island will be accessible for three days before disappearing. If you stay any longer, you’ll get sent out to a random part of the isles. If you plan on participating, you should make sure to leave within the allotted time. Don’t get greedy and continue hunting until the last second.”

Upon seeing Zac’s confusion, Nathan elaborated with a wry smile. “The Lodge Spirit—if that’s who’s controlling the event—is a real piece of work. It tends to send explorers to extremely troublesome locations, especially men. In its twelve recorded appearances, there have been nearly as many who died from the teleportation as from the hunt itself.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zac nodded. “What are we hunting?”

“Anything, really,” Nathan said. “It’s a bit odd. The island is full of fantastical beasts, different ones between each hunt. When you kill them, they can turn into anything. Powerful Spirit Tools, Celestial Pills, extraordinary Cultivation Manuals, you name it. They can also turn into a piece of worthless wood or a cloud of deadly poison. You need either Luck or discernment to make a killing.”

“The treasures just form out of nothing? They’re illusions?” Zac asked to confirm.

“Yes, and exceedingly detailed ones. They need very little time and energy to be stabilized by our [Mercurial Sacks]. Even higher-grade items can be brought out with some patience,” the barkeep explained. “We do believe that the lodge itself is real. Although we don’t know if the lodge itself is the prize or whatever’s placed inside it. No one’s managed to find it—at least not anyone willing to share the inside scoop.”

“If no one’s found it, how do you know there’s a hunting lodge in the first place?”

“You’ll find out when you reach the island,” Nathan said with a mysterious expression, but his expression fell when Zac began pulling the Temporal Treasure away. “Wait! A vision! Everyone who steps ashore gets the same vision. Each round is slightly different, but the Earth Diety Sevona and her Hunting Lodge have been featured each time.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Zac asked a few more clarifying questions before handing over the Temporal Treasure. The first signs of the lodge’s appearance began over a month ago. Information had been tightly controlled by the Adventurers Guild and a few large organizations while they gathered their own forces in secret. Word had already begun to spread now that it no longer mattered. It would be nigh impossible to reach the lodge in time if you set out from one of the four harbors at this point.

You’d have to be lucky and get sent over by a spatial anomaly or know of a hidden pathway. As such, there was no longer any seal on the information. Zac was welcome to send word to others if he wanted, and he planned on doing just that. Astora should be aware by this point, but it didn’t hurt to send a report to score points. Reaching the island in time was her problem.

Nathan also handed over a collection of experiences left by guild alumni during the previous hunts. There was clearly a large degree of randomness to the trial, but there could be some valuable clues left within. It was a decently valuable information packet sold by the Guild’s information exchange, something Nathan repeatedly reminded him of with a suffering expression.

“Nice doing business with you. Let’s help each other out if we meet up on the island,” Nathan happily said while stashing his payment.

Zac guessed he’d overpaid for the information, but he wasn’t too bothered. With time being so short, he needed to focus on uncovering the doppelgangers or whatever plot they were hatching.