Before Xu Ji led Xu Yue away, he turned back towards “Xuan Qi.” "Don't disappoint me."
After everyone had left the area, including the three children, Lu Yin looked around and prepared to leave as well. However, he suddenly stopped and turned, choosing a different direction to take.
He had just received a message from Mu Sanye, who had informed Lu Yin that there were powerful trees in a specific direction.
In order to obtain Xuan Qi, Mu Sanye had basically cheated. Even so, how much of even being able to enter the Arboreal Sanctuary was actually based on pure merit? This was how the megaverse worked.
"He's already left, so why are you still staring?" Mu Sanye said as he sneered at Xu Xiangyin.
Xu Xiangyin felt puzzled. "Xuan Qi was clearly about to head west, so why did he suddenly change direction?"
He looked at Mu Sanye. "Are you behind that?"
Mu Sanye replied, "Don’t be ridiculous."
You Teng laughed. "Just wait patiently, both of you. It shouldn't be long for we see the results."
Xu Xiangyin nodded. "Mu San, stop making things difficult and just wait for the results."
Mu Sanye sighed. "I didn't expect that after so many years, we would be fighting with each other over a child. In a way, we relied on each other to survive that battlefield back then."
Xu Xiangyin's expression grew complicated. "Only those who have fought on a battlefield can truly understand the desire to recruit a genius like Xuan Qi."
Mu Sanye did not argue, and instead glanced at Xu Xiangyin before waiting in silence.
Inside the Arboreal Sanctuary, Lu Yin was utterly unfamiliar with how to navigate the place. Even if he had heard from Mu Sanye that there were powerful trees in a particular direction, he did not dare release his domain. After all, he was in the Arboreal Sanctuary, and the place was said to have been created by the Guardian of the Arboreal Realm. Who knows if that peak expert who had delivered them to the Arboreal Sanctuary was still monitoring Lu Yin? It would be better for him to be cautious.
In the distance, a woman's eyes lit up when a tree the size of a person’s hand emerged from the void. The tree had no features that resembled a face, and yet it gave off a feeling of pure innocence as it bounced up and down in a joyful manner.
"What a cute little tree!" the woman said. She then stretched out her hand. "Come here."
The little tree hopped toward the woman and jumped onto her palm as she watched it with delight.
The next moment, the woman screamed in agony as her arms were both crushed. The void collapsed, and black ripples spread out.
Lu Yin was astonished; was that gravity?
The woman retreated, and did not stop fleeing. All color drained from her face as she stared at the little tree.
Her arms had been destroyed. She was completely unable to resist the gravity. When she saw that the little tree was still hopping toward her, terror overwhelmed her. "Stay away! Stay away! AHH–!!"
The little tree hesitated, and then slowly retracted its branches. It reluctantly turned to move in another direction.
The woman gasped for breath and slowly crumpled to the ground. She had nearly died just then. A single touch had taken her arms. Fortunately, the little tree had not intended to attack her, or else she would have simply died.
Lu Yin shook his head. The woman could only blame herself. Even a tiny tree that emerged from the void would not be simple.
Before long, Lu Yin encountered a ten-meter-tall tree. Its branches hung low, each shaped like a plain, sharp sword. When the breeze blew, the branches sliced through the void.
A person was sitting in front of the tree, lost in thought with a bitter expression on their face. When they caught sight of Lu Yin, they immediately put their guard up. "Xuan Qi, I found it first!"
Lu Yin said nothing and simply left.
While that tree appeared to be extraordinary, it was not to his liking. Even so, an innate gift obtained from that tree would clearly be related to swords, which was not bad.
The Arboreal Sanctuary was an incredibly vast isolated space. After searching for several hours, only a few trees were able to catch Lu Yin’s attention, but none of them caught his interest.
Hmm? Someone’s over there.
On a towering mountain peak that shot high into the sky, Lu Yin saw a man had captured a child and was interrogating him.
"Boy, don't test my patience! I'll count to ten, and if you don't speak by the time I finish, you can forget about ever speaking again!" the man said menacingly.
The child was one of the three children from the Arboreal Realm. Despite his obvious fear, he refused to obey the man. "I won't speak!"
The man sneered, "One."
"Two."
"Three."
Lu Yin’s brow furrowed. It was clear that the man wanted to force information about the Arboreal Sanctuary from the child. A child who had managed to pick a tri-chromatic fruit at such a young age had to have an extraordinary background. His family would have told him what kind of trees to seek after arriving in the Arboreal Sanctuary. Since the man had not been able to find anything suitable on his own, he had decided to resort to such a method.
Each of the three children had their own goals, and everyone knew it. But However, most people would not lower themselves to harm a child.
"Four."
"Five."
The boy’s lips trembled as his eyes filled with fear. However, he clenched his fists tightly. "I won't speak! I won't!"
The man grabbed the boy’s neck and picked him up. "Then I guess you're tired of living."
Lu Yin was about to make a move, but suddenly, the sky went dark. He looked up and saw an enormous tree, as tall as a giant, raise its branches high. It reminded him of a giant stomping a foot down, and the mountain peak shattered. The young boy fell to the broken ground, a severed arm still clutching his neck. Blood trickled down the arm and onto the boy’s body.
He swallowed. The arm no longer had an owner.
The man had been crushed by the giant tree and been reduced to a mere puddle of blood. Only his arm remained intact as evidence.
The boy fled. He had also narrowly avoided being crushed to death.
Lu Yin watched as the giant tree left. Mu Sanye had warned everyone not to show any malic within the Arboreal Sanctuary. That tree had sensed the man's malicious intent, and he had met his fate. It had also been well deserved.
While it was possible that Lu Yin could obtain an innate gift from the colossal tree, Lu Yin had no interest in an innate gift that would cause his body to grow bigger.
As days passed, Lu Yin encountered a tree that had a river twined around it that radiated a dazzling light. Jiang Xiaodao was also chasing that tree. It was clear that it suited him almost perfectly.
Lu Yin also found a tree that shone like a bright moon in the sky. Several people tried to approach it, only to discover that it was difficult to even get close. He saw a tree with strange fruits growing on it. Some people managed to get their hands on the fruits, yet they hesitated to eat them.