The Shadow Realm was forever shrouded in a hazy light. It was a mirror image of the main continent, and as a result, the dimensional walls between the two realms were very thin. In the past, merchants and mages who moved through the main continent would use other realms like the Shadow Realm as a transit point.
But nowadays, the different realms had drifted further apart, and only powerful individuals could cross between realms Moreover, there was nothing to see in other realms. Without the presence of the Gods, the Shadow Realm had turned silent and cold.
The main continent was the most important realm in the world of San Soliel. It could even be called the center of the world. Whether it was the Inner Elemental Plane or the planes in the outer layer, all of them were centered on the main continent. The reason why the Gods placed importance on it and the reason why they attached so much importance to it was because of the large amounts of faith that it could produce. As for the believers from other realms, the amount that they could gain was quite small. It was about the same amount as what Louie got from Earth after the faith passed through many filters.
Therefore, the Gods could actually abandon all their believers from other planes, but they couldn’t ignore those on the main continent.
When Louie and the elf queen arrived in the Shadow Realm, the sky was still the same dull round sun.
As demigods, the two of them didn’t need to take any shortcuts when going through the Shadow Realm.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Every location in the Shadow Realm corresponded with an actual place on the main continent. As Louie and the queen had teleported from Dragon City, they appeared at its Shadow Realm coordinates. Quickly, however, the queen recognized some people in the distance. They were none other than soldiers dispatched from Dragon City to supervise the fetchlings. At the moment they were doing just that.
“A few months ago, the soldiers found a natural portal to the Shadow Realm near Dragon City.”
“The fetchlings are slaves captured by my forces, and I have ordered the soldiers to capture as many of them as possible to serve as a source of labor. As for the creatures watching the leaves, they were Noella’s subordinates. I had them shadow creatures cooperate with the soldiers of Dragon City. As long as they do not stray too far from this area, they will never encounter danger.”
Louie noticed the queen’s curiosity and so gave a succinct explanation.
“Why does Dragon City need the fetchlings as slaves for? Although the fetchlings retain their human habits from when they were human, they have already adapted to life in the Shadow Realm. It’s impossible for you to bring them to the main continent.”
“I have studied the Shadow Realm before. The land here is very fertile. The lighting might be poor, but it’s barely enough. With an unoccupied land this big, it would be a waste if the food was not grown here.”
Louie pointed at the endless plain in the valley in front of him.
“Growing food in the Shadow Realm? Your idea was proposed a long time ago, but no one succeeded. The main reason was that there are no water sources in the Shadow Realm. The water here is extremely brackish and can’t be used for crops. Only some native plants from the realm could be grown with this water.”
“The fertile land you see in front of you is also rare in the Shadow Realm. Most of the land here is barren.”
The elf queen was afraid that Louie was taking the wrong path and kindly advised.
“I know Your Majesty has good intentions, but I also want you to believe in me. I have a solution to these problems. With land so vast and no enemies, it would be a waste not to turn it into a field. And as long as the land in the Shadow Realm could be utilized, then we would not need to worry about food anymore.”
Louie laughed with confidence. For a while, the queen felt puzzled at where this confidence came from.
The Shadow Realm was either barren or devoid of freshwater. As a result, there were only a few native plants that grew. Therefore, creatures living in the deep water and fiery pits were more frightening.
The natives of San Soliel were also unable to solve these problems. Although the Gods could change the fertility of the land and change the water, they had no reason to expend their divine powers in such an endeavor.
However, seeing Louie’s confidence and certainty, the queen did not speak further. That was because the dragon in front of her had already brought forth many miracles.
Louie had discovered the unique features of the Shadow Realm earlier on and searched for a solution on Earth. On his last trip, he brought seeds of ‘saline-alkali tolerant rice’. Even if the water source of the Shadow Realm was close to seawater, there was no problem at all. The problem of the land being infertile was easier to solve, and he only needed fertilizer. The people of San Soliel didn’t know how to fertilize their crops, and c=so they could stand to gain much in terms of improving their yields
Although this kind of rice had a relatively low yield, the amount of land that could be utilized in the Shadow Realm was plenty. As long as they didn’t move towards the territory of certain monsters, then the place was a lot safer than the main continent. With Noella’s rule for thousands of years, she had gathered many subordinates. These had all become Louie’s spoils which were more than enough to protect the crops.
Even if the yield was low, as long as the land was sufficient, there wouldn’t be any problems. The problem of manpower was also solved by capturing fetchlings as slaves. The taste of the food was no concern for the people of San Soliel as long as they could eat their fill.
As soon as the food problems were solved, many other problems would also be solved and a different social structure would form.
But Louie did not try to explain all these to the elf queen and would simply let her witness the terrifying changes later on.
Naturally, the two demigods did not walk like mortals. They both used teleportation to jump unknown distances. Soon they reached their destination.
“We are here Lord Louie.”
The queen raised her jade-like arms and pointed at the front.
She had an unusually serious tone, and Louie could make out a hint of tension in her voice.
Louie took a deep breath to adjust his mental state, and then looked at the direction the queen’s finger was pointing to.
From the coordinates given by Noella, they had indeed reached the location of the Goddess of Night’s divine kingdom.