204: Ancient City in the Forest

A fat man in a dull yellow Daoist robe, skilled in earth-burrowing and concealment, and a tall, thin figure shrouded in a grey cloak, almost stumbled out into view.

Their faces were ashen, and cold sweat streamed down their foreheads; there was no trace of the arrogance of a Prodigy left, only the terror of facing a primeval beast.

"Se... Senior, spare me! We harbored no covetous thoughts! We'll leave now! We'll leave now!" the fat man stammered, his voice trembling incoherently.

The grey-robed man also bowed deeply: "Senior's Divine Might! We were blind and will leave immediately, daring not to disturb Senior's peace!"

"Too late," Xiao Zhuo's voice was utterly devoid of emotion. "Since you've come, stay."

He made a grasping motion with his hand, reaching out towards the two of them from afar.

"No—!"

"Senior, spare..."

The desperate pleas for mercy abruptly ceased. A terrifying, irresistible suction force descended instantly!

The two felt their vital essence, magical power, and even their Soul Origin uncontrollably leave their bodies, surging madly towards Xiao Zhuo's palm!

They struggled in vain, but their bodies shriveled and withered in an instant, like ancient deadwood that had been air-dried for ten thousand years, eventually turning into two puffs of ash, dissipating into the murky air.

The Devouring Divine Body devours all things! Against these malicious ants, Xiao Zhuo no longer even had the interest to lift a fist.

By this point, all the hidden Prodigies, except for Xiao Hanyi who had been immobilized from the start, had been eliminated!

In the dense forest, only the massive corpse of the Taotie, a few patches of glaring bloodstains, and the devouring origin core, suspended in mid-air and emitting a profound, eerie glow, remained.

Xiao Zhuo then slowly turned around, his cold gaze falling upon Xiao Hanyi's Nascent Soul, which was still confined in mid-air and had long since been scared out of his wits.

"Se... Senior! Spare me! Please spare me!" Xiao Hanyi's Nascent Soul's small face was contorted, tears and snot streaming down; there was no trace of the Saint of Cold Moon Palace left. "Junior... Junior was confused for a moment! Blinded by greed! Junior will forever remember Senior's life-saving grace! Cold Moon Palace will surely offer a generous reward! My Revered Master..."

"Generous reward?" Xiao Zhuo's lips curled into an extremely sarcastic arc. "Your generous reward is to incite others to attack me?"

"No! It's not! Junior just wanted to..." Xiao Hanyi frantically tried to explain, but a flicker of resentment and desperation-fueled madness quickly flashed in his eyes.

The last trace of Nascent Soul Origin he had secretly accumulated suddenly ignited, and an extremely subtle, malicious blue ice needle, aimed directly at the Divine Soul, shot silently towards Xiao Zhuo's glabella!

This was his ultimate life-saving secret art, containing the Cold Moon Palace's secret 'Profound Yin Soul Slaying Thorn,' specialized in breaking Divine Souls!

"Seeking death." Xiao Zhuo's eyes turned cold, but he didn't even move.

The malicious blue ice needle, still three inches from his glabella, seemed to hit an invisible wall of devouring, instantly being disintegrated and swallowed, failing to even stir a ripple.

"Repaying kindness with enmity, you deserve to die." Xiao Zhuo no longer felt any pity, and with a distant grasp, he made the same motion towards the despairing, wailing Nascent Soul.

"Ah—!" The inhuman shriek lasted only half a moment before Xiao Hanyi's Nascent Soul, along with his burning Origin, was completely engulfed and disintegrated by an even more powerful and tyrannical devouring force, transforming into a negligible trace of energy to nourish Xiao Zhuo's Devouring Divine Body.

Thus, a generation's Saint of the Dao Yi Realm's Cold Moon Palace was utterly annihilated, leaving not a single trace.

The dust settled.

With a wave of his hand, the floating Taotie Origin Core transformed into a streak of light and was easily collected by Xiao Zhuo.

It felt warm to the touch, yet carried a profound chill that seemed capable of devouring the Divine Soul. The pure devouring Law contained within it made his body tremble slightly, emitting a low hum of desire.

He temporarily sealed it into his Storage Pouch, to be refined at an opportune moment.

Looking around, the dense forest was a mess after the continuous battles, with giant trees broken, the ground crisscrossed with ravines, and residual energy fluctuations not yet fully subsided.

Just as Xiao Zhuo was about to leave, his powerful Divine Sense keenly detected something unusual.

It wasn't the aura of a living being, but rather... an extremely subtle distortion and anomaly in the spatial structure.

This sense of distortion seemed to have become more apparent after his intense clashes with the Taotie and the various Prodigies, and it became even clearer after he collected the devouring origin core.

Xiao Zhuo's gaze narrowed as he followed the source of that spatial anomaly.

About several miles ahead, the ancient forest, which was originally so dense it was almost impenetrable, in a specific area, the giant trees actually separated and receded in a way that defied logic, as if pushed aside by an invisible giant hand.

Through this suddenly appearing forest passage, like a giant gateway, the outline of an enormous structure slowly revealed itself amidst the swirling miasma and dim light!

It was not a naturally formed mountain, but rather... a city!

An unimaginably ancient stone city!

Giant city walls, covered in dark green moss and strange vines, stood silently. The walls were built from massive, dark-colored stones that were neither metal nor jade, and many places had already collapsed and fallen into disrepair, revealing the deep darkness within.

On the city walls, the outlines of broken watchtowers and parapets were faintly visible, resembling the jagged spine of a slumbering giant in the dim light.

An indescribable aura of desolation, stillness, and even a faint sense of majesty emanated from the ancient city, clashing with the vibrant Evergreen Immortal Power of the Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm, yet strangely merging with this ancient dense forest.

What moved Xiao Zhuo even more was his keen perception that the spatial Laws around the ancient city seemed even more stagnant, and the suppressive force on his Divine Sense was several times stronger than in other parts of the deep forest!

It was as if an invisible, ancient barrier enveloped the area.

"Ancient city in the forest..." Xiao Zhuo murmured to himself, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

He reined in his aura, activating the Universe God Step to its maximum, his figure completely merging into the spatial interlayers, transforming into a silent shadow, and stealthily approaching the entrance of the ancient city revealed by the parting trees.

The closer he got, the heavier the ancient, vast aura became, and the more difficult Divine Sense probing became, as if his Divine Thought had sunk into an abyss of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

The outline of the ancient city grew clearer before his eyes: broken, massive, and silent, like a primeval beast that had slept for endless ages.

Xiao Zhuo stopped in the shadow of an ancient tree, about a hundred feet from the collapsed giant city gate, his gaze piercing through the spatial interlayers, sharply scanning the area around the city gate enveloped in miasma and shadows.

With a wave of his hand, a jade tablet emitting an ancient aura was taken out by him.

As his Divine Sense probed it, a strange expression appeared on his face.

This was given to him by the Tree God after they reached an agreement.

It contained a wisp of the Tree God's will, which would guide him to find the item he needed.

Originally, Xiao Zhuo planned to find the enlightenment tea tree first before searching for that item for the Tree God, but after just discovering this ancient city in the forest, this jade tablet began to emit abnormal fluctuations in his Storage Pouch.

Xiao Zhuo then took it out and communicated with the Tree God's will within it. The latter directly transmitted to him a structural map of this ancient city in the forest, along with a path and some dangers to be aware of.

Clearly, the item the Tree God wanted was inside.

Xiao Zhuo hesitated for a moment, then his figure flashed, and he still headed towards the ancient city.

Since he had found this place, he might as well retrieve the item first.

As for the enlightenment tea tree, though Xiao Zhuo had concerns, he also had his own plans.