The ancestor of the Li tribe followed the sound, searching until the end, but did not find any injured tribesmen. Instead, they found a strange humanoid figure fused with a tree, its appearance indistinguishable.
What a scene it was.
Brownish-red bark and human flesh intertwined, the tree’s surface uneven, faintly revealing a humanoid outline.
Tattered strips of cloth hung from the trunk, blood trickling down incessantly, and whimpering sounds emanated from within the wood.
From a distance, it resembled a treant clad in ragged clothes.
The ancestors of the Li tribe were terrified by the bizarre sight. They exchanged glances, hesitant to take a step forward.
The tree seemed to possess consciousness. Upon sensing the Li tribesmen, it immediately trembled violently, the flow of blood quickened, and the whimpering grew louder.
All these signs led the Li tribe’s ancestors to guess that a person was likely trapped within the tree.
Although they had never witnessed such a phenomenon, they decided to first find a way to rescue the person from the tree.
However, the tree had perfectly merged with the person. Any harm to the tree resulted in pained whimpers from within and a gush of blood, making it impossible to separate them.
The ancestors of the Li tribe had no choice but to return to the tribe and inform the shaman.
Yet, even the shaman was helpless in this situation.
They could only watch as the person was gradually consumed by the tree, until the whimpering completely ceased, and rough bark replaced delicate human skin.
This was the most terrifying and bizarre event the Li tribe’s ancestors had ever experienced. For the next two hundred years, this place was declared a forbidden zone, with no one allowed to approach it.
Until one day, a Li tribesman with an extremely poor sense of direction accidentally arrived at this location and discovered the tree bearing fruit.
Out of curiosity, he ate a fruit and then uncovered a secret that prevented the Li tribe from treating the place as a forbidden zone any longer.
“What is the effect of this fruit?” Xu Yi asked.
“It can enhance the body’s vitality, strengthen the physique, increase strength, and even render one immune to all poisons.”
The shaman revealed the secret of the Beast King Fruit.
As the Li tribe never interacted with the outside world, others were unaware that no tribesmen had ever died from illness.
Only those who died during hunts at the hands of beasts, or those who reached the end of their natural lifespan, perished.
The miraculous effects of the Beast King Fruit made the Li tribesmen realize this secret could not be revealed. Therefore, they were exceptionally cautious, and it was only today that Xu Yi and the others discovered it.
After speaking, the shaman had been closely observing the expressions of Xu Yi and the other two.
She was astonished to find no trace of greed on their faces, but rather a complex expression.
She couldn’t describe the look, and her heart eased slightly. This meant the three would not compete with them for the Beast King Fruit.
There would be no necessary conflict between them.
Xu Yi’s hands and feet turned cold, and her lips and tongue felt bitter.
She had already found the fruit pulp in Guan Li’s hand extremely jarring, but now it seemed to make her want to vomit.
This was not a mere fruit; it was a fruit containing the flesh and blood of Senior Four Symbols.
In her dream, when she was the Princess of An Guo, she had heard a legend.
A monk had attained supreme Buddhist dharma, his body pure and imbued with spiritual essence. Eating even a piece of his flesh would grant immortality, attracting countless demons.
Xu Yi knew that this was a fabricated story by the teahouse storytellers, yet here was a living example.
Although Senior Four Symbols could not wield spiritual energy, his flesh and blood, tempered by spiritual power, naturally contained boundless vitality, far surpassing that of the tribesmen.
And this tree, through some unknown means, had devoured Senior Four Symbols and condensed the vitality in his body into its fruits.
The Li tribesmen who consumed the fruit were, in fact, eating Senior Four Symbols’ flesh and blood raw.
Senior Four Symbols was that innocent monk.
Xu Yi and Ji Buwang were the first to grasp the logic and looked at the ancient tree with eyes full of killing intent and disgust.
This tree had brutally killed a cultivator.
They felt kinship with him, hence their extreme anger.
“This is impossible, how can this be possible?”
Guan Li looked at the fruit pulp in his hand, unable to accept it.
“Ah!”
He suddenly cried out, smashing the fruit pulp on the ground, and then frantically began to tear at nearby grass to wipe his hands.
However, the more flustered he became, the more stubbornly the fruit pulp stuck to his hands, even smearing his entire palm.
Both his hands looked as if they had been dipped in blood, dripping red.
“Shaman, you say this tree, it…”
Dadu, hearing the origin of the Beast King Tree for the first time, was also dumbfounded and at a loss.
The people of their tribe had all eaten Beast King Fruit and even regarded the Beast King Tree as the tribe’s sacred tree.
But after hearing this story, he suddenly felt unable to accept it.
Dadu’s brows were tightly furrowed, his features contorted.
Behind him, the Li tribesmen, who had finally understood the entire story, also began to feel uneasy, some even feeling nauseous.
They could kill without changing their expression.
But if they were asked to dismember and eat a corpse after killing, they could not do it.
Therefore, their emotions were also extremely complicated at this moment.
The shaman sighed inwardly.
She had long anticipated this outcome.
It was precisely because of this that when she learned of this matter, she had not informed the tribesmen of the Beast King Tree’s origin, fearing they would develop a resistant mindset.
Meanwhile, Guan Li, seeing that he couldn’t wipe off the fruit pulp, felt the string that had been taut in his mind snap.
He and his ancestors had always believed that Senior Four Symbols had long departed, so they shared the same wish: to leave this ancient, desolate continent and travel to a new world.
If Xu Yi and Ji Buwang had not appeared, Guan Li would have kept this wish buried deep in his heart, occasionally fantasizing about its realization, but more often focusing his attention on business in the royal city.
But Xu Yi and Ji Buwang appeared before him in such a high-profile manner, making him realize that his wish was achievable.
For this, he did not hesitate to fall out with his brothers, delegate his power, and grovel, all for the sake of leaving this place.
Yet, at the peak of his expectations, he was suddenly told that it was all a lie, that Senior Four Symbols had not left but had died in the Green Sea, and that he would never be able to leave this place.
Cultivation still seemed as unattainable as ever.
He felt as if he had stepped into empty space, plummeting from a great height, and the fall struck his heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys, causing him pain in every fiber.
He had nowhere to vent his anger. He stood there for a moment, then suddenly fixed his gaze on the Beast King Tree.
It was it!
It was it that had severed his path to departure!
It was it that had strangled all his hopes!
I will destroy it!
“Ah!”
Guan Li roared in rage, stomped his feet, and shot forward, heading straight for the Beast King Tree.
His eyeballs were bloodshot, his expression deranged.
The shaman’s pupils constricted upon seeing this, and she quickly shouted.
“Stop him!”