In his sight, the old demon’s body moved as slowly as an aged man on the verge of death.
Finally, his body stopped completely, stiffening and standing on the ground, unmoving. The shadow of a large tree spread over the old demon.
Chen Fan’s pupils instantly contracted.
His gaze swept across the surrounding trees.
A chill ran down his spine.
He moved forward rapidly, appearing beside the old demon and calling out to him.
His unfocused pupils had no trace of recognition.
The old demon’s soul seemed to have vanished.
“No problem.”
Chen Fan checked him over. The old demon was still the old demon.
His aura remained unchanged, as if the tree shadow from before had never appeared.
Yet Chen Fan was certain that everything that had just happened was real.
He simply watched the old demon, making no other move.
At last, the old demon’s gaze gained focus.
His pupils converged.
Finally, a trace of fear crept into his eyes: “I… I…”
“What’s wrong?”
Chen Fan already had a suspicion in his heart.
“I… it seems just now… I turned into a tree…”
“…”
Chen Fan didn’t respond. His gaze shifted to the surrounding trees.
The small blades of grass on the ground, the wildflowers growing.
The old demon’s pupils contracted: “No way…”
“Let’s try.”
Chen Fan decided to test it.
His gaze fixed intently on a nearby ancient tree.
He watched for a long time, but the tree showed no change.
“Make sure we don’t lose sight of each other,” Chen Fan cautioned the old demon. He then moved to observe another tree.
After a long while, there was still no change.
However… the old demon had made a discovery.
“Squeak, squeak.”
A wild vine, previously clinging to a tree, suddenly transformed into a rat.
Whoosh.
The rat scurried away.
“I understand now.”
Chen Fan realized: “The longer one stays as a plant, the harder it is to revert. That rat just now probably turned into a vine not long ago…”
“Then, what about us…”
Chen Fan’s body slowly floated upwards, allowing him to survey the cluster of trees below from a higher vantage point.
The old demon instantly understood. While ensuring he remained within Chen Fan’s line of sight, he fixed his gaze intently below.
Soon, under their joint observation, wild grass transformed into birds, mosquitoes, and other creatures. Wild vines became pheasants, ducks, and so on.
Larger ancient trees became tigers, lions…
These were all creatures that had transformed not long ago.
Not all trees were illusions of living beings; some were genuinely ancient trees.
The tree Chen Fan had watched for so long without understanding was a real, ancient tree.
More and more creatures revealed their true forms under their watchful eyes.
Until one tree transformed into a member of the Angelic Holy Court’s crusaders.
“Good heavens.”
The old demon finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This place was too bizarre.
But thankfully, they had finally found someone.
This crusader had likely entered recently, possibly to hunt down escaped slaves. He hadn’t caught any slaves, but instead had turned himself into a tree.
“Bang.”
Without wasting words, the old demon struck him down.
They were enemies, after all. Why keep him alive?
Chen Fan didn’t stop him, nor did he say anything.
Enemies were enemies. Kill them when necessary.
Pity that this fellow had just woken up before being killed.
“Let’s keep searching.”
“Mhm.”
The two continued their search.
As more and more forest creatures awakened and revealed their true forms, the Mia Forest gradually came alive.
More and more people also awoke.
Of course, most of these awakened individuals were from the Angelic Holy Court.
It seemed the Angelic Holy Court had been sending people to the Mia Forest frequently in recent days.
Finally…
An old man in tattered clothes revived.
Beneath his disheveled hair was a face with the distinctive features of an Easterner.
Black hair, black eyes… though his skin was somewhat ruddy, likely due to spending too much time in the Fire Prison.
A powerful aura of flame rose from him.
This person was actually a peak Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
The old man’s gaze slowly focused. The moment it did, he turned and fled.
“Don’t run.”
Chen Fan quickly tried to explain: “I am also from the East. I came to find you…”
Before he could finish speaking, the other party was already far away.
“Catch him.”
Having finally found someone, Chen Fan couldn’t let him escape so easily.
He signaled the old demon to act and apprehend him.
A demonic hand swept through the air, pushing forward. The pitch-black palm, the size of a millstone, grasped the fleeing elder.
Wisps of what seemed like burning demonic flames condensed into threads, binding the elder’s body.
“Let me go.”
The elder struggled with all his might, but to no avail.
However, one thing was comforting: this elder spoke the Eastern language.
Although his speech was stiff, it brought an inexplicable warmth.
“Don’t be afraid.”
As a fellow Easterner, Chen Fan’s usual fierceness was absent. He spoke cautiously: “Hello, I am also from the East. We are all descendants of the dragon.”
The moment Chen Fan mentioned he was from the East, the elder struggled even more violently.
“Let me go, let me go…”
As he shouted, intense hatred flickered in the elder’s eyes.
Chen Fan: “…”
Such a gaze left him momentarily stunned.
He knew the elder wasn’t hating him, but hating the East, or rather, hating everyone from the East.
This included himself and the old demon.
“What exactly happened?” Chen Fan frowned.
Since the elder wouldn’t speak, Chen Fan could only place his hope on the old demon.
He hoped the old demon could provide an explanation.