After circling a huge circle around the mountain, Jiang He finally saw the willow tree.
It was too huge!
That was the first thought that came to Jiang He's mind when he saw it.
The trunk was so thick that it would take more than a dozen people to wrap their arms around it. The huge canopy covered an area of several hundred meters. The willow branches hung down, and under the night sky, they actually glowed with a faint, crystalline green light.
Beneath the tree was a layer of white bones.
Jiang He's eyesight had improved after eating carrots every day.
He looked out from the distance and found a Feral passing beneath the willow tree.
It was a wild rabbit that was over a meter long, and it must have evolved recently. It actually stopped when it passed the tree and started munching on the weeds beneath it.
One of the willow branches abruptly dropped.
In that split second, the faint green radiance over the willow branch shone brightly, giving the impression that it was … a glowing stick.
Crack!
The wild rabbit was instantly torn into pieces.
Its flesh and blood soon seeped into the soil, leaving only a pile of white bones.
Jiang He's eyes tightened and he could not help exclaiming, "So powerful! That willow branch's attack is almost rank-seven. If it hits me …"
After some thought, Jiang He said, "It would hurt a lot."
"…"
The black panther rolled its eyes.
Hurt a lot?
That willow tree was too much. There was no telling how many willow branches it had, and wouldn't it blow you up if they all hit you at once?
Its intelligence was not low, and a thought flashed through its mind.
It would be free after the willow tree blew up this human, would it not?
At that thought, it quickly communicated to Jiang He through acoustics, "Bro, plant lifeforms are definitely powerful, but their weakness is obvious as well: they can't move. You're faster than me, and as long as you could avoid the willow branches' attacks, you wouldn't be able to defeat it."
Jiang He slapped him and sneered, "Are you an idiot or what? I have to enter its range of attack if I want to attack it. How could I avoid so many willow branches? "
The black panther saw stars from the slap and did not dare to breathe.
Jiang He chuckled. "Still, it's nothing. If I use everything I have, those willow branches would be no different from tickling me."
He looked at the black panther and asked, "Where are the two humans you mentioned?"
The black panther pointed to the back of the mountain and said, "There's a temporary imperial residence there. Most humans who enter the mountain choose to spend the night there."
"Let's go and take a look."
Jiang He climbed over the mountaintop and followed the black panther's directions, traversing the winding mountain path and soon reaching a palace. He had researched Mount Helan online before coming here and knew the history of this palace, and could not help blinking as he thought, 'Does that mean this is Rolling Bell Mouth?'
"According to what Wang Meng said, the mutated black wood-ear is here … But there's no hurry. After I chop down that willow tree, it won't be too late to find the black wood-ear."
… …
In one of the rooms in the palace.
A bonfire was burning on the ground of the house.
Meanwhile, Guilty Star, Bound Star, and the Third Elder of the Sky Demon Cult were sitting cross-legged around the bonfire, eating roasted meat.
"Third Elder, I've informed the nearby disciples, and a batch of them would arrive before dawn." "I've checked," Bound Star said. "There are eighteen other people in the palace aside from us. Sixteen are martial artists and two are Awakened, with the strongest being rank-five and the weakest being a D-class Awakened with superstrength. He's probably only awakened recently."
He made a killing gesture with his knifehand and somberly said, "These people must be unaffiliated martial artists, but it would be bad for us if word got out and the elites of the Martial Arts Department (MAD) and the military were called to us."
"No rush."
Third Elder smiled. "I've just checked. There's no cell signal here, and it would be difficult to contact the outside unless you use a satellite phone. Moreover, these unaffiliated martial artists would have done so long ago if they really wanted to spread word."
Then, his tone suddenly changed as he asked, "You came to the Western Xia together with the Sixth Elder. So, what happened to the Sixth Elder?"
Third Elder's gaze darkened and his voice turned cold. "I've read the information regarding his death, but that information … is too nonsensical."
"Oh?"
Guilty Star's gaze twitched then and he asked, "Third Elder, did the information say that Sixth Elder was killed by a rank-five martial artist called Jiang He?"
"Indeed."
Third Elder nodded. "The information said that Sixth Elder was killed by a martial artist called Jiang He, but he was rank-six and not rank-five. Moreover, the information also described how Jiang He killed Sixth Elder."
Third Elder of the Sky Demon Cult paused then.
There was a weird look on his face then, and as both Bound Star and Sky Star looked on expectantly, he slowly said, "According to the report, Jiang He first pierced Sixth Elder's heart with a single stab, then pierced his lungs with another, before cutting off his shoulder blade with a flurry of slashes."
Bound Star and Guilty Star waited for half a day, but when Third Elder said nothing else, they could not help asking, "And then?"
"There's nothing else."
The atmosphere in the room turned silent.
After a long while, Bound Star gritted his teeth and said, "Are you trying to fool a three-year-old? Sixth Elder had already grasped blade will, and even the best rank-nine elites would have a hard time killing him. How could a mere rank-five … I mean, rank-six kill Sixth Elder instead? "
Guilty Star said somberly, "It seems that it is as I expected … Jiang He is just bait!"
"Eh?"
Suddenly, the trio's expressions changed and they all looked up into the distance.
They could sense a powerful aura slowly approaching them.
"A rank-seven Feral. It's very powerful and must be rank-seven advanced!" Third Elder's senses were sharp and he instantly made that judgment. Still, a look of surprise soon flashed across his face as he exclaimed in surprise, "A rank-six pinnacle martial artist was with that rank-seven Feral … but the Feral isn't attacking him?"
Bound Star laughed out loud. "It's probably a pet he's rearing, and by chance, it evolved into a powerful Feral. Still, a rank-seven Feral and a rank-six martial artist aren't worth mentioning."
Third Elder frowned and said, "The other unaffiliated martial artists are weak and don't mind them, but this one has to be taken seriously since he's carrying a rank-seven Feral. Bound Star, get out and deal with him."
He spoke so casually.
So what if a mere rank-six pinnacle martial artist could mysteriously carry a rank-seven Feral with him?
As a veteran rank-nine, he did not even have to lift a finger to kill a rank-six, and a rank-seven Feral with a single move was enough!
Bound Star turned and left the room.
Killing intent was rising from his body.
Bound Star was a bloodthirsty man and had wanted to kill the unaffiliated martial artists several times, but Third Elder would not allow it. Now that Third Elder had spoken, he was naturally more than happy to kill.
His body flickered in an indistinct earthen-yellow luster, and his entire being appeared to have become one with the earth.
Being an earth-type Awakened, he had a mysterious affinity with the earth in the first place. He could even use the earth to hear even the slightest movement from thousands of meters away.
Then, he heard the rank-six pinnacle martial artist who was approaching the palace laugh. "What are you afraid of, big kitty?"
"You said it's just two rank-eights. Don't mind them."
"What's more, I'm going there to reason with them, not fight with them. I'm sure they'll give up the fight for the willow tree under my persuasion …"
"We humans are different from you bunch of simple-minded Ferals …"
Jiang He was striding toward them on the mountain path.
He was less than a hundred meters away from the palace.
Suddenly, his expression changed and he promptly leaped backward. There was a rumble, and the ground where he had been standing abruptly blew up.
A figure walked out of the darkness, his body overflowing with killing intent as he sneered, "You're just a rank-six pinnacle. Your ability is nothing much, but you talk big. I'd like to see how you would persuade us to give up … eh?"
Bound Star's eyes tightened even before he finished, and he could not help exclaiming, "You're Jiang He?"
Having read Jiang He's information, he naturally knew what Jiang He looked like.
Jiang He's gaze darkened and he coldly said, "You know me? But it's useless even if you do! "
Jiang He was really angry now.
I'm here to reason with you, and yet you want to kill me?
Whoosh!
He turned into a blur and appeared in front of Bound Star in a flash.
Boom!
Raging True Qi erupted instantly, and the silhouette of two great suns rose behind him. A dragon's roar and an elephant's trumpeting echoed as Jiang He pushed out with his palm, and the silhouette of a golden dragon imprinted itself onto Bound Star's chest.
Jiang He was simply too fast, and he had seized the moment when Bound Star was distracted to attack, reaching him in a flash!
Bound Star only had time to charge his earth-type powers to form a barrier in front of his chest. Even so, that barrier that could stop a rank-eight martial artist's strike crumbled with a loud crack under Jiang He's palm!
Bound Star felt as if his chest had been struck by a high-speed train, and he was sent flying backward, landing heavily dozens of meters away and coughing blood.
(PS: Second update here. Asking for subscriptions, asking for monthly votes, asking for recommendation votes. Thanks to Douyu's Itchy Worm for his 100 Qidian coins tip.)
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