34: Chapter 34 The Tree of Immortality

Ye Long stepped forward, blocking Ye Tian, who was about to approach the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's corpse. With a sneer, he threatened, "Ye Tian, be sensible! Hand over the corpse of this Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard, and I might consider letting the previous matter slide and sparing your life!

Otherwise... hmph, in your current state, it would be child's play for me to finish you off!"

He saw that Ye Tian had consumed a great deal and was not lightly injured, feeling that there was an Opportunity to be exploited.

The other three people heard this, their expressions changing slightly, inwardly cursing Ye Long for being shameless and taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. However, intimidated by Ye Long and the forces behind him, they dared not speak out, only silently backing away a few steps to indicate they were not getting involved.

Ye Tian's footsteps paused, and his cold gaze fell on Ye Long's face. The chill in that gaze made Ye Long subconsciously feel a shiver in his heart, and he actually took half a step back.

Ye Tian didn't waste words. He reached into his bosom and took out a Medicinal Pill the size of a dragon's eye, emitting a faint fragrance.

It was the Lesser Returning Pill he had purchased earlier for emergencies.

He immediately swallowed it.

As the Medicinal Pill entered his stomach, the gentle medicinal power quickly nourished his damaged Meridians and internal organs, and the pain in his left arm wound also eased considerably.

But just as he expected, the main efficacy of the Lesser Returning Pill lay in healing and stabilizing Qi; it had very little effect on replenishing the True Qi he had consumed by more than half. It only allowed him to temporarily stabilize his injuries so they wouldn't worsen.

Seeing Ye Tian swallow the Medicinal Pill, Ye Long was startled at first, but then seeing that the other's Aura hadn't significantly recovered and his complexion had only improved slightly, he immediately gathered his courage again and sneered, "Eating a Medicinal Pill? Is temporary relief any use? I'll give you one last chance: hand over the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard corpse and get lost!"

Ye Tian still ignored him, treating him as if he were air, and turned to continue walking towards the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's corpse, preparing to carefully search for valuable parts.

This utter disregard completely enraged Ye Long!

"You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! You're courting death!"

Ye Long roared, his internal Qi exploded, and he slammed a vicious Rending Stone Palm directly at Ye Tian's back!

He had made up his mind: even if he couldn't kill him, he would take the Opportunity to severely injure Ye Tian and snatch the spoils!

However, the moment his palm wind reached his body, Ye Tian's body twisted strangely, dodging the sneak attack!

At the same time, he turned suddenly, cold light erupting from his eyes, and his right fist struck out violently!

The triple force of the Overlapping Wave Fist instantly condensed. Although its power was discounted due to insufficient True Qi, the sharp Fist Intent and the erupting Aura made Ye Long feel a fatal threat!

"What?!"

Ye Long was terrified; he had never expected Ye Tian's reaction to be so fast!

In his haste, he dared not take it head-on and could only retreat in a panic, dodging with all his might!

The fist wind grazed his clothing, and the resulting force scraped his cheeks painfully!

Ye Long stumbled to a stand, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat. He was both shocked and angry, with a trace of lingering fear.

He stared fixedly at Ye Tian. Although the other's Aura was still unstable, those cold eyes and that thunderous counterattack had completely stripped him of the courage to take advantage of the situation.

"Hmph! You're ruthless! Let's go!"

Ye Long's face was livid. He glared fiercely at Ye Tian, spat out a harsh threat, and turned to leave quickly.

He feared that if he stayed any longer, his greed would make him lose control and attack, and the outcome... he didn't have the certainty of winning.

Seeing this, Ye Qing and the other two hurriedly followed. Before leaving, they glanced at Ye Tian with complex expressions and disappeared into the forest in a rush.

Not until the figures of the four had completely disappeared did the surroundings return to silence.

Ye Tian's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and the breath he had been forcefully holding instantly dissipated.

"Pfft!"

He could no longer suppress the roiling blood in his body and spat out a large mouthful of stagnant blood. His face instantly turned deathly pale, and his body swayed, almost unable to stand.

That punch just now had almost drained all the remaining True Qi in his body; it was a pure bluff he had maintained by sheer willpower!

He was gambling, gambling that Ye Long valued his own life and was suspicious, and wouldn't dare to fight him to the death!

Fortunately, he had won the gamble.

If Ye Long hadn't been scared off just now, but instead continued to attack regardless, the one falling right now would likely have been him.

Ye Tian leaned against a nearby tree, breathing heavily, feeling the empty exhaustion in his body and the stinging pain from his various wounds, yet he had no regrets in his heart.

The crisis was temporarily resolved, but greater challenges lay ahead.

He had to recover as soon as possible!

Daring not to delay, he immediately sat cross-legged, took out another Medicinal Pill, swallowed it to circulate his Qi and regulate his breath, while his eyes vigilantly scanned the dark forest all around.

After about an hour, with the help of the Lesser Returning Pill's medicinal power and the pure Spiritual Qi in the Secret Realm, his injuries finally stabilized. His internal organs no longer ached violently, and the wound on his left arm began to scab over.

But the consumed True Qi recovered slowly, his Dantian remained empty, and his strength had only recovered by three or four tenths at most.

Daring not to stay in one place for too long, he simply processed the Iron-Armored Crocodile Lizard's corpse, carefully collecting the most valuable core scales, a pair of sharp claws, and a fist-sized inner core emitting an earthy yellow halo, then immediately left the edge of the swamp.

He chose a direction opposite to where Ye Long and the others had left, sneaking deeper into the Secret Realm.

Along the way, he was even more cautious, trying his best to avoid areas with strong Auras, choosing to advance through places where Spiritual Qi was relatively rich, vegetation was dense, but the terrain was not too complex.

After traveling for another half day, he climbed over a low hill, and the scene before him suddenly opened up.

In front of him was a relatively flat valley, and in the center of the valley grew an extremely peculiar ancient tree.

This tree was not particularly tall, about the thickness of three or four people embracing, but the bark had a texture as warm and moist as jade, shimmering with a faint cyan halo.

Most eye-catching were its branches and leaves; they were not the usual green, but a nearly transparent emerald green. The leaves were as thin as cicada wings, emitting a rich Aura of life!

Centered on this ancient tree, plants within a hundred zhang were full of vitality, and even the air carried a refreshing fragrance.

"This is the tree of longevity?!" Ye Tian's pupils constricted, his heart shocked.

He had seen relevant descriptions in the Ye family's collection of miscellaneous notes: The tree of longevity grows for a thousand years; its leaves are like jade, its sap like nectar, containing immense life essence. It has the miraculous effect of bringing the dead back to life and regrowing flesh and bone, and can even nourish the Divine Soul and consolidate one's foundation!

It is the main ingredient for refining high-grade healing holy medicines and longevity pills, and is worth a fortune!

The tree before him, both in form and Aura, was extremely similar to the tree of longevity recorded in the books!

And looking at its scale and spiritual charm, it likely had a thousand-year lifespan!

"I didn't expect there to be such a divine object in the Secret Realm!" Ye Tian's heartbeat accelerated.

If he could obtain some of the tree of longevity's sap or leaves, not only could his injuries be instantly cured, he might even be able to use it to break through his Bottleneck and greatly increase his cultivation!

But he did not rashly step forward.

Such an Earthly Spiritual Root must have guardians around it, or it might inherently contain unknown dangers.

He lowered his body, hiding behind a giant rock, and observed carefully.

Sure enough, on the ground around the tree of longevity, some white beast bones were scattered, of varying sizes. Clearly, more than one Vicious Beast had coveted this tree, but had ultimately died here.

He focused his senses but did not find any obvious Vicious Beast Aura, yet that Killing Intent made him vigilant.

This tree was definitely not simple.

He tried picking up a pebble and throwing it towards the tree of longevity.

The pebble landed on the ground about ten zhang away from the trunk.

Hiss!

With a soft sound, the moment the pebble hit the ground, it actually turned into a wisp of blue smoke and disappeared!

It didn't even leave a trace!

Ye Tian gasped!

Sure enough, there was a Restriction!

And it was so overbearing!

If he hadn't been cautious and had rashly approached, his fate would likely have been no better than that pebble!

"It seems that obtaining the Opportunity of the tree of longevity is by no means an easy task." Ye Tian frowned tightly.

Forcibly break the Restriction?

In his current state, that would be nothing short of a pipe dream.

Wait for the Restriction to disappear?

Who knows how long that would take, and Ye Long and the others could appear at any time.

Just as he was at his wit's end, the chaos bead in his bosom suddenly transmitted a throb!

At the same time, in his mind, a section of obscure text about the "Vegetation Essence Guidance Method" from the remnant of the "Mystic Tortoise True Explanation" he had obtained from Master Xuan Gui surfaced in his mind!

This technique was not an attack or defense method, but an extremely niche auxiliary method used to sense and guide the essence of vegetation. It emphasized resonating one's own Aura with the vegetation, nourishing things without a sound.

"Resonance... guidance..." Ye Tian's eyes lit up suddenly!

This tree of longevity contained immense life essence, and the Restriction around it might just be to protect its own essence from dissipating, repelling any external objects with "predatory" intent.

But what if he wasn't going to "plunder", but was trying to "communicate" and "resonate" instead?

This idea was extremely bold, even somewhat fantastical.

But the anomaly of the chaos bead and the prompt from the "Mystic Tortoise True Explanation" made him unable to ignore it.

He took a deep breath and decided to take the risk!

Ye Tian sat cross-legged again, but not to regulate his breath; instead, following the guidance of the technique in the "Mystic Tortoise True Explanation", he fully restrained his own Aura, including his Killing Intent, greed, and even the fluctuations of his Cultivation Technique.

He emptied his mind, striving to let himself emit a peaceful, natural Aura.

At the same time, he secretly guided the chaos bead to emit a trace of extremely pure Spiritual Qi fluctuation, slowly diffusing it towards the tree of longevity.

This process was extremely draining on his mind.

He had to maintain absolute calmness and could not have a single stray thought.

Time passed bit by bit.

At first, the murderous Aura around the tree of longevity did not change at all.

But as that special Aura Ye Tian emitted slowly approached, the Restriction seemed to produce a trace of fluctuation.

A reaction!

Ye Tian's heart stirred, and he became even more focused.

After a long while, that murderous Aura seemed no longer so repulsed by his Aura.

Even the emerald green branches and leaves of the tree of longevity began to move without wind, swaying gently.

Ye Tian felt a pure and gentle Aura begin to flow from the tree of longevity towards him.

His damaged Meridians and internal organs, under the nourishment of this life essence, began to heal and recover at a visible speed!

Even his consumed True Qi began to accelerate its condensation!

He was overjoyed, but dared not slack off in the slightest, maintaining that mysterious state.

However, just as he was immersed in this wonderful state of Cultivation, in the shadows of the dense forest far away, a pair of cold eyes were staring fixedly at him, and at the tree of longevity behind him that was emitting an alluring glow.

The dark shadow had found another Opportunity.

And this time, Ye Tian seemed completely unprepared.