“Really?” Qian Zou remained skeptical.
Lu Yin explained, “How else do you think you managed to climb up there? You wouldn’t be alive right now if it was dangerous.”
Qian Zou thought about this and felt it made sense. Still, he was unable to muster the necessary courage. “Seventh Bro, you have to protect me! Your little brother’s counting on you!”
Lu Yin made a placating gesture.
Qian Zou gulped and then slowly and deliberately climbed down the big tree. Each movement was made with the utmost caution, as he was terrified of accidentally offending the big tree and getting smacked dead. Even an Envoy had been seriously injured after getting struck by one of these branches, so Qian Zou had no confidence at all.
When Qian Zou’s feet finally touched the ground, he did not dare believe it to be true. He slowly backed away from the big tree, and once he was just over ten meters away, he suddenly sprinted toward Lu Yin and instantly hid behind him. When he saw the big tree remained stationary, Qian Zou nearly collapsed in relief. He had survived!
It was also at that moment that Zang Nan realized that Qian Zou was not an Envoy. The youth was not even a Hunter! Zang Nan felt wronged. He had acted so respectful and deferential to this young man, but had actually been scammed. The old man looked at Qian Zou with a hint of malice in his eyes.
Qian Zou patted his chest, thankful to have survived his narrow escape.
Lu Yin squatted and stroked Sapling’s tender green leaves. “Good kid, you’ve had your fun. Shall we go home now?”
Sapling jumped up and down in excitement, catching Qian Zou off guard.
He was no stranger to Sapling, and he had even played with the little tree while being trapped in the big tree’s canopy. Qian Zou had assumed the small sapling to be part of the Envoy-strength tree’s body, yet apparently the big tree was an entirely separate entity. Qina Zou had been tricked into living in terror for several days. His eyes grew cold as he gazed at Sapling.
“Can you bring the big tree back, too?” Lu Yin asked Sapling.
Sapling curved its branches and spread its leaves. It looked like it was struggling to understand what Lu Yin meant.
However, while Sapling may not have understood, the big tree certainly did. It uprooted itself in a manner reminiscent of a lady hiking up her skirts, and it then frantically started running away.
Several Limiteers in the area rushed over to capture the big tree.
It was then that a strange situation occurred. When Leaf King had tried to capture Sapling, the big tree had sent the Envoy flying away with the flick of a single branch. However when faced with several Limiteers, the big tree was unable to break free. Just a few people were able to tie the tree up and carry it back on their shoulders. Its branches swayed about wildly in a panic, but it was unable to escape.
Qian Zou’s eye twitched. This big tree was clearly just messing around! Those were Limiteers, right? But unless all of them were secretly Envoys, how could they possibly catch that big tree so easily? How did these people have the guts to assault the tree?
Lu Yin was relieved to see his assumption had been right. People who were not a threat to the big tree would be fine regardless of how they touched it. As for people like Leaf King, the big tree would brutally attack them.
After waving goodbye, the cultivators carried the big tree onto a spaceship and made their way back to the Ross Empire’s mobile fortress. They planned to lock the big tree back in the botanical garden.
One of Sapling’s branches rubbed against Lu Yin’s face. It seemed to be worried.
Lu Yin gave Sapling a reassuring smile as he said, “Don’t worry, the big tree is fine. They won’t hurt it.”
Sapling regained its previous cheerfulness and started dancing and hopping around Lu Yin.
Qian Zou showed an embarrassed smile. “Erm, Seventh Bro, I’m going to head out now. Thank you for saving me. If there’s anything you need me to do for you in the future, just give me a call.”
Lu Yin smiled and patted Zian Zou’s shoulder. “There’s no need to wait for that. You can help me right now.”
Qian Zou’s face twitched and his smile turned to one of begging. “Seventh Bro, your little brother’s already exhausted. Can I just rest for a few days first?”
Lu Yin opened his hand to reveal a pill. “Eat this, and you will recover in no time.”
Qian Zou was left speechless. Eventually, he cautiously asked, “What is it that I can help you with, Seventh Bro?”.com
Lu Yin put a bit more strength into the hand that he had set on Qian Zou’s shoulder as he solemnly said, “I don’t have anything I need you to do, but I would like to make a deal with you. I’m actually quite interested in your Inverse Step.”
This caught Qian Zou by surprise. “Inverse Step? Seventh Bro, are you actually interested in that?”
Lu Yin nodded.
Qian Zou found this quite odd. Lu Yin had known Qian Zou for much longer than just a day or two. They had first met during the Astral Tower, and then again later during ZENITH. If Lu Yin was interested in Inverse Step, why had he not said so before? Quite a bit of time had passed since both of those previous encounters.
“Seventh Bro, it’s not that I don’t want to teach you, but I actually don’t have a clue how to do so,” Qian Zou said.
This piqued Lu Yin’s curiosity. “Why’s that?”
Qian Zou explained, “There are some battle techniques that are force application skills, others that utilize star energy, and still others that are movement techniques. Most techniques are easy to teach to someone else, but there are certain battle techniques that are imprinted directly onto a person’s body, and those can’t be taught to others. My Inverse Step is one of those techniques. Your little brother managed to learn it because of a jade I picked up, and I was able to immediately learn it.”