Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Other than the two races, there were also a few Qi Practitioners of various origins. They seemed to have teamed up together as they all knew the dangers they would have to face with.

  Chi Xue sensed Zhong Yue, and she looked over, she furtively winked her eyes and conducted her voice to him through the psyche, “Save me!”

  Save you? Zhong Yue’s heart skipped a beat.

  Then, a True Spirit magnate of the Phoenix race sensed him as well. He turned to Zhong Yue and said warmly, “Little Friend Zhong, the Heaven Garden is extremely dangerous, there exists a risk of dying if we are to fight on our own. However, together in a team, we will be able to reduce such risk and survive through the dangers. What do you think?”

  Well with the confidence you said that with, how can I say no?, Zhong Yue thought in his heart in disdain while maintaining a warm smile. He walked forward and clasped his hands together, “How shall I address this brother?”

  The Phoenix True Spirit magnate then laughed and said, “Feng Zhishan. Little Friend Zhong has left a deep mark of your own on the Cloud Stage, even the empress is very fond of you. Little Friend Zhong hails from the Ancestral Star?”

  Zhong Yue nodded and asked, “Brother Zhishan knows of the Ancestral Star?”

  “How can I not?”

  Feng Zhishan laughed, “The place where the monarchs rise and fall, the legendary Ancestral Star. We Kun Lun have a path that connects directly to the Ancestral Star, one that Princess Chi Xue used not long ago. You two should’ve met before, right?”

  Zhong Yue then looked at Chi Xue, who was still chatting amiably with the others, and suddenly, a voice was conducted to him saying, “Pretend you don’t know me.”

  Zhong Yue smiled and answered, “Is that Princess Chi Xue? Then I don’t think we’ve met before.”

  Rays flashed across Feng Zhishan’s eyes as he laughed, “And here I thought that you two are old friends.”

  Suddenly, an older Western Mother young lady gave a nasty grin, “I also thought that Junior Martial Brother Zhong is the helper that Chi Xue’s found from the Ancestral Star. But it turns out that you two don’t know each other. But I think it’s not too late now, no?”

  Zhong Yue then moved forward and greeted Chi Xue while thinking in his heart, Chi Xue’s situation doesn’t look that good. These phoenix Qi Practitioners and Western Mother experts seem to have some enmities against her … has she already planned for this ever since she met me in Ancestral Star?

  This girl, her mind is quite calculating, yet she retains a pure and naive facade… Hmm, quite a crafty girl.

  That older Western Mother girl was called Chi Qing. She smiled as she said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, you must be really strong to be able to reach here on your own.”

  Zhong Yue then immediately sensed a few hostile eyes falling on him, and he smiled, “I think I’m still fine. I can definitely fight against the weaker ones, but when it comes to the strong guys, I think I’d most probably just run. Thankfully, all this while, I’ve only come across the weaker ones.”

  Feng Zhishan and Chi Qing momentarily exchanged a look before quickly turning away from each other’s eyes.

  Zhong Yue’s heart sank; he knew that the two of them must have started to suspect him as Chi Xue’s helper. Chi Xue was extremely cautious as well — she didn’t even meet with Zhong Yue in Kun Lun nor had she exchange a single word with him since his arrival here.

  But she had gone to Ancestral Star, and Zhong Yue also came from the Ancestral Star. Such a coincidence was more than enough for them to raise their suspicions of him.

  …

  There was a mountain before them, shrouded in divine rays and looking like a huge flower blooming on the ground. It was truly a breathtaking scene. While at the foot of the mountain, there was an ancient tree towering on the ground, it had more branches than one could count and appeared to be even grander than the godly mountain. Clearly, it was also a divine herb, one that was even stronger and better than the wild divine herbs like Husan Weng.

  While beside the divine herb, the divine herbs scattered across on the ground, there were a few dozens of them growing around the divine tree. This gave Zhong Yue a weird feeling that these divine herbs were just servants of the huge divine tree.

  “So many divine herbs?” The Phoenix ladies exclaimed in shock while the other Qi Practitioners were also stunned.

  “This divine tree has lived for longer than you can imagine, at least a hundred years.”

  Husan Weng shook its head and said loudly, “Don’t even think about it. With your strength, you don’t even qualify to be subpar fertilizer for it.”

  The other Qi Practitioners were incensed at Husan Weng’s sharp tongue. They then looked at the huge carrot, and one of the Phoenix Qi Practitioners sneered coldly, “Just a mere carrot, how dare it say such things.”

  Zhong Yue looked at the divine tree with the divine third eye, and his heart skipped a beat. There were a few god’s corpses entangled in the root network beneath the divine tree. The tree’s roots were drilled through the corpses, sucking the corpses’ energy.

  Not a good target to fool with.

  He immediately stopped the thought of keeping the divine tree. The god’s corpses here were all affected by the residual energy of the Six Paths Reincarnation, they were long dead but still moved around as though they were still alive. Their actions turned nefarious and their characteristics turned evil. But this divine tree was able to capture a few of them to use as fertilizer. One could really infer just how strong the divine tree was.

  Even the true gods might not be able to fight against it, let alone Zhong Yue.

  However, the divine herbs around the divine tree were really large in number, it really attracted their eyes a lot.

  Suddenly, Feng Zhishan said, “It’ll be a sin to leave the treasures untouched when the vault is right in front of us. This divine tree is already on the cusp of turning into a saint herb. But we are not alone either, we have many experts and together, we can take it down!”

  Chi Qing’s eyes were filled with thoughts and she frowned her beautiful brow as she said, “But who shall assess the danger?”

  Feng Zhishang turned to Zhong Yue and said smilingly, “May I suggest our Little Friend Zhong do so?”

  “No.” Zhong Yue gave his answer without a single moment of hesitation.

  Rays flashed across Feng Zhishan’s eyes and he said placidly, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, you’ve decided to join us, and as a team, everyone needs to contribute their part, don’t you think so? Don’t worry, I will not send you alone, of course, there will be a few helpers. Princess Chi Xue, Feng Dong, I shall lay the responsibilities on your shoulders.”

  Princess Chi Xue’s face changed slightly while another young Phoenix race practitioner’s face changed drastically as well.

  Suddenly, Zhong Yue laughed and said, “Alright then, we will do it.”

  Chapter 453: Six Paths Fruit Tree |

  Chi Xue’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at Zhong Yue with a pair of puzzled eyes.

  Feng Zhishan laughed and then said, “Good! Princess Chi Xue, since our Little Friend Zhong has already agreed to it, then I hope the princess can follow as well. Otherwise, he might say that we are deliberately sending him to his death. With a princess to accompany him, he will have nothing left to say!”

  Chi Xue gave a bright smile, revealing her pearly white teeth as her flawless eyes curved like crescent moons. She then said, “Since I’m going, I want Ying Nu with me as well.”

  “No,” Chi Qing curled her arms around Ying Nu and laughed, “Ying Nu is too weak, she can’t be compared to you three, even if she follows, she will only be a burden.”

  Anger flared in Chi Xue’s eyes. She was planning to bring Ying Nu along, and together with Zhong Yue, they might be able to find a way to escape. However, who knew that Chi Qing saw through her plans and preemptively stopped her.

  Seeing the way that the situation developed, Zhong Yue’s hear
t sank even further – he had the same plan, and that was why he was so quick to agree.

  But now, with Chi Qing and Feng Zhushan holding Ying Nu hostage, they effectively quashed their plans before they were even able to implement. That was unless the two of them were ruthless enough to ignore Ying Nu’s life for their own.

  Chi Xue continued to maintain her smile as she said, “That’s fine by me too. Senior Martial Brother Zhong, Feng Dong, let’s go!”

  Zhong Yue, Chi Xue, and Feng Dong moved toward the godly mountain. They were nearing the divine tree when suddenly, Zhong Yue asked, “Chi Xue, what’s going on?”

  “What else can it be?”, Chi Xue sighed, “All because of the fight for the throne. If I die here, then my sisters will have one less competitor. Thus, they all long for me to meet my end here. I asked you to come because I hoped that you could help me.”

  Feng Dong heard them, and his face suddenly drastically changed.

  Meanwhile, Zhong Yue was still smiling as he said, “You’ve gone to Ancestral Star, I don’t think you were there for me, were you?”

  Chi Xue nodded, and she held a worried look on her beautiful face as she replied, “I was there for Bi Xue. I heard that he is strong, and I thought he would be able to help me to pull through this ordeal. But after seeing you, I changed my mind. Although Bi Xue is really strong, I don’t think he can beat you. There’s also the fact that I like you more than him!”

  Zhong Yue laughed, “Princess, you are thinking too much. I promised that I will help you once, so now, it is time to uphold that promise.”

  “You have a way to get through this thing?” Chi Xue looked at the divine tree and said with furrowed brows.

  The divine tree was on the foot of the mountain, it had countless branches and were shrouded with godly rays. As they walked closer to it, the imposing and saintly air continued to thicken and intensify. Chi Xue had the divine eye as well, one that was even stronger than Zhong Yue’s in certain regards!

  For example, although Zhong Yue’s divine eye was powerful, he couldn’t see through Feng Wuji’s incarnation, whereas Chi Xue could. She had also seen through the fact that Zhong Yue and Long Yue were, in fact, the same person.

  Thus, she was able to see the divine tree siphoning nutrients from the godly corpses below!

  In comparison to that pile of godly corpses buried underneath, the size of the divine tree looked more like a little twig that grew atop a mountain!

  However, its roots were tangling, curling, and grasping on the many godly corpses, sucking nutrients off from the bodies unceasingly!

  This was definitely something else, it wouldn’t be as simple as an ordinary divine herb.

  If they ever dared to offend the divine tree by even the slightest thing possible, they would end up as another few corpses added to its collections!

  Zhong Yue didn’t answer her question immediately, instead, he turned to Feng Dong and looked at Chi Xue again.

  Feng Dong’s face faltered instantly, and he turned back to see only a hill of soil obstructing his line of sight to Feng Zhishan and the others and them to him.

  Right as he turned his head back, Chi Xue took out a silver hairpin from her hair that soon enlarged to the size of a common sword. She swung the silver sword and swiftly decapitated Feng Dong’s head!

  “He is not one of mine. But don’t worry, we’ll just kill him.” The silver sword quickly reverted to its original size before she elegantly inserted it back into her hair again.

  Zhong Yue deeply gazed at her. His first impression on Chi Xue was a pure and naive young girl, one who was mischievous at times but still amicable. But now, the more of her true self he saw, the further the departure from his impression of her she seemed to be.

  The Chi Xue he was now looking at was a young heroine, one that acted with decisiveness and a boundless conviction that was no lesser than Zhong Yue’s.

  “I have a treasure, one that can be used to stop the divine tree from attacking us.”

  Zhong Yue took out the shabby copper lamp and said, “As for defeating or even keeping the divine tree for ourselves, that is beyond our current abilities. However, if you have any treasures like the god’s inner cores or anything similar, we might just be able to do it.”

  The copper lamp was none other than the one Xin Huo used to reside in. Back then, Zhong Yue kept the Divine Wing Saber in it with the help of the beast god inner core. Although he had succeed in doing so, the beast core inner core was also nearly depleted away.

  The Divine Wing Saber was Lord Kun’s saint weapon, it was extremely strong and was regarded as the Kun Peng Celestial Race’s greatest weapon. Yet, even such a strong weapon was sealed away by the copper lamp. One could tell how strong the copper lamp was.

  However, Zhong Yue’s beast god inner core has long been drained of its essence. Without the inner cores of the gods, there wasn’t even a chance they could keep the divine tree away. However, the divine tree wasn’t dumb either, it was capable of higher-level thinking just like any sentient being, and with the mysterious copper lamp on their side, it would simply elect to not engage them.

  “The godly inner cores…”

  Chi Xue frowned, she said, “I have a few in my treasure vaults, but they are not with me now.”

  Zhong Yue held the copper lamp half a step in front of them as they continued walking forward, he said, “Follow me closely, don’t be more than half a step away from me.”

  The two of them walked toward the divine tree and slowly appeared back in the Qi Practitioner’s vision. From far, Feng Zhishan’s eyes suddenly squinted down while Chi Qing shouted loudly, “Little Sister Chi Xue, where is Feng Dong?”

  Chi Xue turned and her beautiful countenance seemed to be the picture of sadness and sorrow. Wiping away her tears, she said, “Sister, Feng Dong was devoured by the divine roots.”

  Chi Qing’s countenance then turned gloomy, and she then stared at Ying Nu with sharp killing intent. She wasn’t foolish enough to trust Chi Xue’s words. Of course, she was able to guess that Feng Dong was killed by Chi Xue!

  Meanwhile, Feng Zhishan softly shook his head as he transmitted his voice into Chi Qing’s ears, “First Princess, if you kill her now, there will be nothing left to hold them here. By then, it’d be more than difficult to kill them after that.”

  Chi Qing’s eyes flashed with an indiscernible light, and she replied, “Why do we even need to do this? You and I, together we are more than capable of killing her on the spot!”

  “Not now, my lady. Not now.”, Feng Zhushan shook his head and said, “Before we reach the Immortality Peach Tree, we must hold refrain from acting rashly. Or else, if the other Qi Practitioners see us killing her, the team will not be as united anymore. After all, we need still these Qi Practitioners to help us. I hear that there are dangers around the legendary trees that require some… fresh lives in order to get past them.”

  Chi Qing then forcibly suppressed her anger as she fiercely glared at Zhong Yue and Chi Xue. The two of them were already stepping into the soils where the divine herbs were scattered around.

  Even though they longed for Zhong Yue and Chi Xue to die, they couldn’t help but hold their breaths as well when the two of them got closer to the divine tree. However, to their surprise, the divine tree was still unmoving, it didn’t attack Zhong Yue nor Chi Xue.

  Chi Qing and Feng Zhishan exchanged a look, and they saw the same puzzled expression in each other’s eyes. The divine tree had been sucking the nutrients off from the god’s corpse, clearly signaling to other’s that it wasn’t wise to tamper with it. Yet, how was it possible for it to ignore Zhong Yue and Chi Xue, two sources of fresh meat?

  Can it be that this divine tree doesn’t attack the living but only the dead? The two of them were bewildered at the possibility.

  Zhong Yue held the copper lamp and stood underneath the divine tree’s tree crown. He looked up and saw many orange-colored fruits fruiting hanging above from the tree branches. Each of them had small sp
ecters flying around them, with many tiny figures of gods circling around the fruits. All of these gods had six light wheels behind them.

  Even more, they were also chanting some gospels as they flew around!

  These were the divine fruits, each resembling a dead god!

  This was the Six Paths Fruit Tree.

  Zhong Yue and Chi Xue were standing beneath the tree with saliva trickling down their mouths. These Six Paths Fruits were the best of the best among the divine herbs. Furthermore, the chants coming from the Six Paths Fruits were resonating with the six secret realms in their bodies. Clearly, these Six Paths Fruits and the Six Paths Reincarnation and the Qi Practitioners’ six secret realms must have certain mysterious links. These fruits had enormous benefits for the Qi Practitioners that had opened the sixth secret realm like themselves!

  However, although they had an incredible desire for the fruits, they have no choice but to hold themselves back.

  The specters around the fruits had given them a clearer look as to how strong the Six Paths Fruit Tree was! There would be no return from death if one plucked the fruits down!

  “No danger!” Zhong Yue turned and shouted, and he waved at Chi Qing, Feng Zhishan, and the others.

  Chi Xue’s heart skipped a beat as she quickly followed Zhong Yue’s lead, “Sister Chi Qing, come, it is safe here!”

  Chi Qing and Feng Zhishan were overjoyed. Immediately, Qi Practitioners tried to rush forward, with Chi Qing among the clambering practitioners. Suddenly, Feng Zhishan shook his head and stopped the crowd while saying, “They are safe now, but that doesn’t mean that it will also be safe when we pluck the fruits. We should wait a little longer!”

  Zhong Yue and Chi Xue saw them stop, and they exchanged a look and thought, It really is hard to make them fall for traps…

  Chi Xue then whispered softly, “Senior martial brother, can you pluck a divine fruit?”

  Zhong Yue’s eyes lit up, and he then reached out to the divine fruits. Just as his hands are getting closer to the fruits, the tree branches started to sway, they extend out and curled down toward him.