"He called himself Boul," Rattac expressed anger, "An arrogant fucker that treated all Ravaged Tribesmen as beneath him, as if we were inferior existences. He stole valuable information and treasures from all over the place. He even raided the Ravaged Federation Headquarters."
In his anger, Rattac went into detail regarding everything he heard about Boul Brimgan. In short, upon arriving on this planet, Boul Brimgan went on a hunt for information, following which he stole cultivation techniques, experimented on minerals, hunted people, etc.
Every single existence living on this planet was a Ravaged Tribesman. Hence, they were all stuck at the Body Stage, irrespective of the Grade of their strength. Against a 10-Life Stage Boul Brimgan, they were helpless.
Forget failing to harm him, they couldn't even get near him, since his Spirit Weapon could target someone from kilometres away. As a result, the Ravaged Federation were unable to catch him despite their best efforts.
"Worst of all, he even managed to sneak into the Comb!" Rattac said as he jumped through the entrance of the city, watching Inala follow suit. His attention fell upon the tub of water positioned right next to the entrance, in which swam two Phells.
As Inala entered, the Phells displayed no reaction, implying that Inala was indeed a Ravaged Tribesman. Upon seeing their reaction, Rattac calmed down and continued to speak with Inala.
Whether someone was a Clansman, Free Human, a Ravaged Tribesman, or a Pranic Beast in human form, only a Life Stage cultivator could detect the truth. Someone at the Body Stage didn't have the necessary senses to look into the truth of their identity.
Therefore, as everyone in the Ravaged Federation was at the Body Stage, the sole method they could use for the identification process was the Phell. The Phells targeted every single existence apart from a Ravaged Tribesman with aggression.
So, it remained their fool-proof method to identify intruders.
"Comb? What's that?" Inala asked, despite knowing fully well what it was, for that was his objective.
"It's a special place," Rattac grinned in pride, "It's what allows the Ravaged Federation to remain strong."
"Look here," Rattac said and flexed his arm, causing the ends to form a pair of claws covered by scales. The nails contained toxins while the bones forming the arm grew in strength without a change in bone density.
Rattac waved his arm once, resulting in a powerful wind, "This is all thanks to the Comb."
'It's better than I thought!' Inala exclaimed mentally as he observed the arm, able to sense the physical characteristics of at least four Pranic Beasts seamlessly stitched together into a working whole. "Is something like this possible?"
"It's just the tip of the iceberg," Rattac felt a surging pride upon seeing Inala's batshit shocked expression, 'That old man in the city always boasted about how worthwhile it is to explain everything about this place to a newcomer. Inala's expressions make it worth the effort.'
"Ravaged Tribesmen can grow in strength and mutate endlessly through the Comb," Rattac spoke as the duo walked through the street. The cobbled pathway meandered like a narrow, with its widest sections reaching twenty metres while the narrowest parts barely spanned five metres.
This was the main road of the city. The rest of the roads were narrower, as there was no concept of vehicles in the place. Unlike the Brimgan Empire, which was technologically advanced as its strength revolved around Spirit Weapons, the cities of the Ravaged Federation seemed like they were straight out of the Stone Age.
Walking was the sole mode of transport. Houses were made out of coral, for that was a commonly found material throughout the ocean, in especially large numbers that coral dust formed the beaches.
This coral dust was compressed and solidified to form the roads, tables, chairs, utensils, etc. Anyone fancying a design would litter their home with colourful stones, pebbles, and variety.
Clothing was extremely minimal here, created by forming leather out of the Phell's skin. As everyone was a Ravaged Tribesman, able to display the physical characteristics of Pranic Beasts on their human bodies, wearing baggy clothes was a nuisance.
Clothes would get ripped apart during a transformation. And hence, the fashion sense here was the same as how humans dressed around on beaches.
Inala's baggy clothes stuck out like a sore thumb, revealing that he came from the outside. Ravaged Tribesmen arrived at the planet from the outside pretty frequently, since they were brought in from all over Sumatra Continent.
So, the people weren't exactly surprised. Rather, they were welcoming of his arrival, for various reasons.
"You're wondering why we're happy to see Ravaged Tribesmen from outside, right?" Rattac laughed upon seeing Inala's puzzled expression upon being greeted by the people in the vicinity.
The majority of the houses only had a single storey, sporting a flat terrace connecting a bunch of houses together. This open space was used for treating, storing, and working on the Phells they had caught during the day.
A group working on one such joined terrace noticed Inala's baggy clothes and arrived at the edge of the terrace to get a better view of him, "What a handsome man!"
"He has an irresistible charm to him."
"I think I've fallen for him already. I want to have his babies."
Inala remained unaffected by their discussions, able to clearly hear them all, even when the conversations were hushed.
From the Mammoth Clan's standards, Inala was slightly above average in terms of appearance. In the Brimgan Empire, he was only average. His female form was considered a matchless beauty in the Brimgan Empire due to her luscious hair, but in other Free Human Kingdoms, she'll only be above average.
But the aspect that made both his genders attractive to others was the Primary Nature of Royalty. Before, Royalty gave him a regal aura, causing the opposite gender to be subconsciously attracted to the notion of power and authority he exuded.
And now, that effect was even more pronounced thanks to Mystic Royalty. It was why Rattac was enthusiastic to guide Inala, for he felt that the latter was probably the head of his Ravaged Tribe at the very least.
'He's indeed from a powerful Ravaged Tribe.' Rattac thought upon observing how Inala remained unfazed by the attention directed at him by a crowd of people, "You don't seem bothered."
"I've received attention all my life, so I'm not flustered by it." Inala smiled wryly and asked, "So, the reason outsiders like me are being given such a warm reception is…?"
"It's this," Rattac transformed his right arm for an instant before reverting to normal, "We can gain the characteristics of other Ravaged Tribes through the Comb. Over the generations, these characteristics fuse better and better to improve our power. So, the greater the number of Ravaged Tribes we have, the stronger the Ravaged Federation's growth potential."
"That's…amazing!" Inala exclaimed, though he knew the answer already.
Major Treasure—Pet!
Influenced Region—Sanctuary!
Sanctuary was shaped like a honeycomb, functioning just like one from Earth. Called the Comb by the Ravaged Federation, the honeycomb gathers the presence unleashed by the Major Treasure of Pet, one capable of influencing Pranic Beasts.
Phells were literally a Pranic Beast race created to act like bees. Somewhere deep in the planet, there exists a spawn point in the Comb for the Phells. Once birthed, the Phells will scour through the ocean and absorb its minerals to grow.
Once they reached maturity, they would enter the hexagon chambers littering the surface of the Comb. There, they would absorb the influence leaking out of the Comb until their breaking point, following which they would explode.
Their flesh and blood are absorbed into the hexagon chamber for a while, resulting in the appearance of a lid that encloses it in the end. When this happens, the chamber secretes Nectar, which is basically the concentrated essence of the influence generated by the Major Treasure of Cure, but in a form consumable by living beings.
The Phells act as the medium of conversion. A Major Treasure influences its surroundings. The Phells grow by consuming the minerals in the water, which carries the Major Treasure of Pet's influence. And once they die by explosion, the Comb refines their body products to produce Nectar.
This Nectar formed the Ravaged Federation's foundation. After all, if a Ravaged Tribesman consumes a cultivator from another Ravaged Tribe and then downs this Nectar, they'd gain characteristics of the consumed cultivator's Ravaged Tribe.
This would be a seamless integration, perfectly built into their genetics. As a result, a Ravaged Tribesman on this planet was able to grow stronger endlessly by consuming other Ravaged Tribesmen.
This was their tradition, of consuming each other to grow. Hence, Inala was welcomed with open arms. In him was the genes of a new Ravaged Tribe. Those who were able to consume these genes would obtain a new route for mutation.
Once the mutation reaches a certain point, even the Primary Nature would change to accommodate their changing body. As a result, the Natures of cultivators in the Ravaged Federation were complex, pretty much the most complex in all of Sumatra.
And the cause of it is the Nectar, which is also Inala's primary goal for coming here. Whether it be in creating his Tertiary Nature or changing Wittral's race, both relied heavily upon Nectar.
As the concentrated influence of the Major Treasure of Pet, it was guaranteed to take effect without any defects. All Inala needed to worry about was what to consume for Nectar to influence him towards his desired result.
"It's a wondrous place indeed." Rattac said and pointed at the sole three-storey building in the centre of the city, "Follow me to meet the City Lord. He'll make arrangements for your stay at Myorc City. Who knows, if you get into his good books, maybe your opportunity to enter the Comb might arrive sooner than expected."
"Please lead the way," Inala said and accompanied Rattac to enter the three-storey building, immediately greeted by eleven statues, all imposing in their stature, "What are they?"
"Oh, them?" Rattac gazed at the statues with respect and prostrated before them, "They're our Gods!"
"Our legends state that they are Transcendents watching over the Ravaged Federation."
