Tabet was leading Akata through the cave towards his family. He spoke in a deep echoey voice. “Plant cultivators were originally plants that were able to cultivate the energy of heaven and earth. They were in turn, just like humans and beasts, except they were just plants.”

Akata was shocked by what he heard. Of course he heard a bit about the Plant Realm from Peizhi Xiuying but she didn’t get too deep into it. He listened in closer.

“Plants practiced immortal cultivation through the use of the Plant Realm. Us beasts have the Beast Realm and you mortals have the Mortal Realm. Just like we can advance in cultivation, so can plants.”

“So does that mean they practice cultivation by themselves? You know… without the help of others?” Akata was curious.

“Ahaha of course they can practice by themselves! They have always practiced by themselves to begin with. Only until somewhat recently have others found out how to use any plant and cultivate with it. But even still those aren’t true plant cultivators.

A true plant cultivator is one that cultivates in the Plant Realm. I felt the aura of plants on you, but I didn’t see any plants on you at all. But the strange thing was that I felt the aura of a mortal and plant mixed in with you. That was truly interesting.

From the stories I heard, true plant cultivators were able to walk alongside mortals and beasts. The power they wielded was the power of nature. They were tough people to face, no matter if there were hundreds of them or just one. With each Rank they passed through their power would become even more unbelievable.

From the Seed Rank they find other plants and set their foundation. Once they reach the Flora Rank they grow and attune themselves with nature. In the Verdure Rank the nature around them is at their control. And then… there’s the Taiga Rank. The power of a plant cultivator explosively grows out. I don’t know why that is but any other cultivator on that same level of Rank would have a hard time facing them.”

Akata nodded his head. Now he had a better understanding of how plant cultivators were like in the past. But he still had more questions to ask. “What happened to the plant cultivators?”

“Well some say they moved into hiding, others say that they died out. My guesses go with the first although I don’t know why that is. Perhaps they came across a threat that endangered them. Anyways, it didn’t spell good for my family. Without a plant cultivator there was no way for my family to heal and recover.” Tabet shook his head.

“But alas one has appeared before me. I don’t know how you managed to cover it up before, but now that I feel the aura of a plant cultivator on you I will lead you to heal my family. Which brings me to your last question.

My family, when we were cast out of our home, was weak and injured. In time however we would have eventually recovered some of our strength. But then, we were attacked by a plant cultivator. It had been many many years since a true plant cultivator had been seen. But one just had to show up in front of my family. And to cause harm as well!” A flash of murderous intent appeared in Tabet’s eyes as he spoke.

“He used some kind of nature magic that horribly poisoned my already weak family. Luckily he wasn’t that strong of a plant cultivator so the effect didn’t instantly kill us. But it did slowly deteriorate our lives and strength. I wasn’t in the main area the attack was cast at so I suffered less damage than the others but the effect still lingers within the plants. We are constantly being weakened by this dreadful technique.

It affects every other living being in the area that isn’t a plant. That is why there are no other beasts here. In fact some of the younger generation and weaker members of my family has perished already.” Tabet looked at Akata and could see the worry in his face.

“You shouldn’t be affected since you are a plant cultivator yourself. Seeing as how you have the aura of a plant and all. As to how to treat my family though. I’m not too sure. Hopefully you will be able to find something out.” He said while sighing with a sense of loss.

Akata nodded his head. “Mn. I will try my best.” In truth he didn’t care whether Tabet’s family died or not. But after finding out he could get knowledge on runes then of course he wanted to try and get his hands on it. He followed Tabet deeper into the cave, his hellfire flickering in the cave.

Soon Akata saw a light appear ahead of him. He looked over to see Tabet speed his pace up a bit, almost unconsciously. ‘So we’re here then. Time to see if I can really treat these people then. Maybe can learn a bit about being a plant cultivator and see if any perks come from it.’

Once Akata felt the addition to his dantion region, he could sense nature much more clearly. His nature energy and sense made minor changes but he could feel them. He could sense a different kind of life in plants that he never felt before. Almost like the plants were new born people waiting to experience growth and venture out into the world.

But that was all that he could feel from the plants, nothing else changed in his perspective about the plants or the area he was in. Nothing else except for one thing that he felt. He mused to himself, ‘There is this kind of energy being passed down between all the plants that I have passed by. Like they are sharing something between each other. It feels like it is making them stronger, sort of giving them life.’

As Akata came closer to the light in the cave he could feel a stifling pressure form in the air. The pressure almost caused him to shudder. He looked ahead and soon he could see figures around a fire.

The figures were all Scarlet Tigers and were circled around a fire. Some of the Scarlet Tiger’s were as long as six meters and some as small as half a meter. However, no matter the case, all of them looked to be in terrible condition. They didn’t have any of the luster that Tabet gave off. Their fur was ragged and rough, their claws were broken along with their saber teeth. Some of them only had one tail, others didn’t have any, apparently some of their tails had been stripped off of them.

When Akata saw them he didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t connect the beasts he saw to Tabet. They looked like they came from completely different backgrounds. They looked terribly poor and in horrible conditions. That was especially so when Akata came further in and saw some bones in the corner of the cave.

“Great Priest Bambe, I have brought along someone who may be able to help. His name is Akata and may have the capabilities to heal our family. There is no need to worry about him harming us, given his strength even you can easily kill him off, let alone me.” Tabet yelled out, catching the attention of the other members of his tribe.

Of course he didn’t really have to say any of this. The other members of his tribe felt the aura of a plant cultivator approaching him and immediately became wary. However, after sensing the cultivation base of the person and seeing Tabet in front of the person their worries eased up a bit. Coupled with the words of Tabet, glimmers of hope shined within the eyes of the younger generation.

“Young Lord Tabet, where did you find this person? And can he really save us?” An old decrepit voice echoed from a corner in the cave room. The corner had several old Scarlet Tigers laying there. One of the foremost tigers rose its head up and looked toward Tabet.

“I found him out on the island just today. I was originally going to play with him but then I sensed the aura of a plant cultivator on him and therefore thought to bring him here to heal you. From what I have gathered he doesn’t know much about being a plant cultivator, so I don’t know if he can heal us all.” Tabet spoke out sincerely.

“Is it true that you have brought a plant cultivator in our midst?” Another voice, this one deep and brooding, boomed throughout the cave room to fill the ears of everyone present. When the voice spoke out everyone who was able bowed their heads down in greeting, even Tabet did so.

With his head still down he spoke out respectfully. “Lord Father, he is a plant cultivator, but at the same time is not a plant cultivator. He cultivates in the Mortal Realm and in the Plant Realm.” He was extremely respectful when he spoke.

*Cough cough* “Cultivates in the Mortal and PLant Realm? Bring him to me and Great Priest Bambe, come here also.” The deep voice echoed.

Akata looked around but couldn’t tell where this voice was coming from. When he heard Great Priest Bambe’s voice, he couldn’t help but feel an existence like no other appeared before him. It was like that beast could crush him with only a single glance. But the voice that had just spoken out was even stronger than that existence. Akata couldn’t even begin to imagine what level of cultivation that voice belonged to.

‘Just what did I get myself into? There is no way that I can stand up to these people in the slightest. I can tell just by looking that they are extremely weak, but even still they bring a fearsome presence to me.’ Akata had sweat form on his forehead.

Tabet raised his head and smiled broadly. He then nudged Akata forward to a corner. As they moved along, Great Priest Bambe struggled up and moved as well. They all moved toward the corner where Akata could see that there was a passageway. He entered the passageway to see a short tunnel proceeding to another room in the cave. As he came closer to the room, the pressure became increasingly harsh. Akata found it hard to breathe within the tunnel the further he moved along. It got to the point where he even collapsed on the ground gasping for air.

“Oh!” Tabet rushed over and changed into his human form, then picked Akata up off the ground. He rotated his cultivation base and let it cover over Akata. Akata took in a deep breath and color returned to his face. “Sorry about that. I forgot my family has to constantly rotate their cultivation base in order to fight off this magic. So the pressure could become a bit too much for lower Ranks. That is why the younger generation and weaker members of our tribe stays in that room, while the stronger members have to get their own room.”

He put Akata down and let him walk. Akata felt fear deep deep within him now. Just the pressure from the beasts rotating their cultivation base was enough to almost kill him. Just how terrifying of an existence were these beasts?