Ji Mo's face turned pale, a wave of fear washing over him.
When he left, he had only calculated the weather, why hadn't he divined his own fortune to gauge his luck.
He hadn't expected his luck to be so bad, to encounter such a disaster.
Dust and stones flew all around, fireballs rained down from the sky, and the ground collapsed. Ji Mo stood still, his fingers counting as he calculated a path to survival.
The Ginseng King trembled like a sieve, but looking up, it saw the figure before it remained as steady as a mountain. Its heart immediately calmed.
With a master present, what was there to fear?
It directly latched onto Ji Mo's leg, and a strong sense of security washed over it, its fear vanishing.
"A master is indeed a master, unmoved by a mountain collapsing before him, his expression serene."
At this moment, Ji Mo's image in the Ginseng King's mind was even more majestic than Tongtian Peak.
"Ah!"
In the distance, screams erupted continuously. Clearly, some unfortunate creatures had met their doom.
Hearing these screams made Ji Mo's scalp tingle. What confused him was that his divination had indicated good fortune, not disaster.
"As expected, not working hard when young leads to regret in old age. If only I had put more effort into studying this art of divination."
Ji Mo sighed, feeling his skill was too poor and his predictions inaccurate, filled with regret.
With disaster looming, where was the good fortune?
He looked down at the Ginseng King clinging to his leg and flicked its forehead, "You, a ginseng spirit that has gained sentience, what are you afraid of?"
The Ginseng King's head throbbed, and it quickly emitted a halo of light, erecting layers of barriers to ward off the flying dust and stones.
"Not bad, you're still somewhat useful."
Ji Mo nodded, realizing this ginseng spirit wasn't entirely useless. Perhaps keeping it around wouldn't be so bad.
Pleased by the praise, the Ginseng King became even more enthusiastic.
On the mountaintop, explosions continued incessantly. Vaguely, an ancient tree hundreds of feet tall began to disintegrate, falling apart.
"No way, that tea tree is cracking."
Ji Mo gazed at the mountaintop and saw this scene, feeling a pang of heartache.
The tea made from the tender buds of this tea tree was the most delicious. If it died, where would he find such fine tea leaves in the future?
Hearing this, the Ginseng King's heart skipped a beat. Had the Bodhi Tree encountered trouble?
It knew the Bodhi Tree was a congenital spiritual root, almost immortal. How could it have a problem?
Although it had suffered a lightning tribulation a few days ago, the power of that tribulation shouldn't have been enough to destroy the Bodhi Tree.
It also quickly widened its eyes and extended its divine sense, trying to see the situation on the mountaintop clearly.
But all it saw was a blur, it couldn't see anything.
"Alas, the gap between me and the master is truly worlds apart," the Ginseng King lamented.
The Bodhi Tree had indeed suffered a calamity and was decomposing. Its trunk crumbled, and its spirit was also breaking apart. The terrifying power contained within was released, causing the earth to shake and the mountains to tremble.
This process lasted for three full hours before slowly coming to an end.
The entire Tongtian Peak was in ruins, turned into a charnel house, with countless lives lost and injured.
Tongtian Peak was now even more perilous, not only with residual lightning power but also with rampant wildfires and the constant threat of collapsing rocks.
Many surviving creatures immediately began to retreat, not daring to linger on Tongtian Peak for another moment.
However, some, with fervent eyes, continued to advance towards the summit.
After the calamity, it was precisely the time to seize various opportunities.
"Roar!"
A roar echoed from the distance, the ground trembled, and a green shadow, accompanied by an demonic wind, sped towards them.
It was a green wolf. It wasn't very large and was gaunt, but its running caused the ground to shake, and where its paws landed, rocks shattered, forming deep pits.
Ji Mo's eyes lit up. More delicious food was being delivered. He immediately drew his firewood knife.
The Ginseng King was about to remind Ji Mo that this was a Demon Venerable, but it swallowed its words before they were spoken.
How foolish. With a master present, what was a mere Demon Venerable?
As expected, the green wolf, which had sensed the Ginseng King's aura and was targeting it, trembled upon seeing Ji Mo and immediately fled with its tail tucked between its legs.
"Are all the beasts in your Tongtian Mountain Range this timid?"
Ji Mo couldn't help but ask. What good wild game had just escaped.
The Ginseng King didn't know how to answer. Any beast that had witnessed Ji Mo wielding his knife to cleave lightning tribulation would be terrified. Moreover, Ji Mo's reputation for enjoying wild game had spread throughout the Tongtian Mountain Range. Who would dare to court death?
It could be said that Ji Mo had become the uncrowned king of the entire Tongtian Mountain Range.
"Up the mountain."
Ji Mo sheathed his firewood knife and continued towards the summit.
Having come this far, he had to go up and see what had happened.
Such a large tree, gone just like that, there must be a reason.
Ji Mo and the Ginseng King climbed to the peak of Tongtian Peak. The journey was relatively safe, and they encountered no danger.
On the southern side of the summit, clouds and mist swirled, various energies surged, and explosions could be heard intermittently.
That was the location of the Bodhi Tree.
However, Ji Mo couldn't see what was happening inside. The pervasive smoke and raging power concealed everything.
Ji Mo frowned, sensing the danger ahead, and dared not advance rashly.
Around them, shadows flickered continuously. Many creatures had already arrived at the scene, hiding in the shadows and observing, not acting rashly.
The Ginseng King felt the terrifying pressure permeating the surroundings and, terrified, hugged Ji Mo's leg again.
"Ten-thousand-year Ginseng King!"
A cold voice rang out. Someone emerged from the shadows and approached Ji Mo.
It was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose, phoenix eyes, and pupils that gleamed with cold light. His gaze fell upon the Ginseng King.
"Haha, it's truly a case of searching high and low without success, only to find it effortlessly."
He laughed wildly to the sky, then directly extended a large hand, grabbing towards the Ginseng King.
"Take your filthy hands away, or I'll chop them off with one strike."
When a man reached for his lower regions, Ji Mo couldn't stand it and coldly warned him.
Moreover, the Ginseng King belonged to him, and he wouldn't allow others to covet it.
Although Ji Mo found the Ginseng King quite annoying, since he had accepted it, he would naturally protect it.
"Du Jiuyou, I am now Mr. Ji's ginseng. I advise you not to have any more ideas about me, or you will regret it deeply."
The Ginseng King, believing it had latched onto Ji Mo's powerful leg, had no further reservations and pointed at the middle-aged man, scolding him.
It felt incredibly exhilarated at this moment. In its nearly ten thousand years of existence, this was the first time it had so brazenly confronted a Spirit Saint.
Du Jiuyou frowned, sizing up Ji Mo with disdain.
Hmph, a mortal, acting like a big shot.
He was about to make a move, but then he reconsidered, feeling something was amiss.
How could a mortal possibly ascend to the peak of Tongtian Peak? And the incredibly proud ten-thousand-year Ginseng King would never attach itself to a mortal.
There was a problem, a definite problem.
"Du Jiuyou, when did you become so hesitant and cowardly? If you don't dare to take this ten-thousand-year ginseng, then it's mine."
Just then, a figure as elusive as a ghost appeared out of thin air, lunging directly at Ji Mo, intending to forcibly snatch the Ginseng King.