259: Peach Blossom Spring?

“Woof?”

Instead of getting a treat from Yang Dian, the Mirror Wolf watched Yang Dian turn into an afterimage and disappear into the distance, kicking up a gust of wind. It tilted its head, gazing at his retreating back.

It seemed to be wondering why he suddenly went back on his word.

He had clearly promised that if it was good and obedient, it would get a rare treasure, hadn't he?

Yue Shan glanced at the Mirror Wolf's actions and nodded thoughtfully.

‘Luring beast kings with heaven and earth treasures, then slowly trying to tame them—it seems genuinely feasible?’

Recalling the scenes of Yang Dian repeatedly slapping the Mirror Wolf and knocking out three of its fangs, he affirmed in his heart, ‘But there must also be absolute suppression over the beast king.’

‘Otherwise, forget about taming it; the beast king would devour the heaven and earth treasure the moment it’s taken out.’

His thoughts raced, but Yue Shan’s movements were not slow. He turned and followed Yang Dian.

The Mirror Wolf watched the two figures leave, then stomped its paws on the river surface a few times, hardened its resolve, and still followed behind Yue Shan.

It didn't sense any malice from Yang Dian.

Yue Shan had initially harbored ill will towards it, but now it had significantly lessened.

Coupled with the rare treasure’s extremely strong allure, this was enough for it to ignore some risks, or rather, willingly take some risks to pursue it.

On the other side.

Yue Shan landed with Yang Dian, then frowned at a three-meter-tall sapling in front of him:

“How can there be a banyan tree in Shennongjia?”

“Banyan trees usually grow in tropical and subtropical regions, don't they? Like your Min River area.”

Yang Dian shook his head:

“I don’t know either.”

“But after the Qi Revival, anything is possible, isn't it?”

“For example, I never heard of forest wolves in Shennongjia before.”

As he spoke, Yang Dian looked back at the Mirror Wolf, which had just run up behind them, looking like it wanted to approach but didn't dare.

Shaking his head, he tore off a lotus petal and accurately tossed it into its mouth. Yang Dian then refocused his attention on the banyan tree in front of him.

After a moment of contemplation, he conjured a bloody large hand, uprooted the banyan tree, and shook it.

Yue Shan, who hadn't sensed anything unusual, frowned:

“Did you sense something unusual about this banyan tree just now?”

“Could it be some insects, like spiders, ants, or centipedes?”

Yang Dian shook his head:

“I'm sure it's this banyan tree, not some spiders, ants, or snakes.”

After answering Yue Shan, Yang Dian frowned in thought, then extended a finger and sliced across the banyan tree's trunk.

The fallen canopy was pushed aside.

Then, Yang Dian, who clearly saw the condition of the banyan tree's trunk, also constricted his pupils.

“Uncle Yue, this tree has a problem.”

Yue Shan looked at the banyan tree, which had no annual rings, and also frowned:

“A normal banyan tree grows 30 centimeters a year. It would take 10 years to reach 3 meters.”

“The environment in Shennongjia is not suitable for banyan tree growth, so it would take even longer for it to grow this tall.”

“After the Qi Revival, trees' growth speed has accelerated, but only very limitedly. Its growth speed has already far exceeded that of normal trees.”

At this point, Yue Shan's frown deepened:

“But you uprooted it and cut it in half, and it didn't react at all.”

“This doesn't seem like a mutated plant that developed aggressiveness either…”

Yang Dian lowered his head, pondering the feeling he had just after landing, and said cautiously:

“When I landed from the sky, I felt eyes watching me from all directions.”

“At first, I thought it was the Mirror Wolf, but after I sensed the Mirror Wolf’s aura, I realized it wasn't it; it was something else.”

“Then I felt a very strong sense of being watched, and when I turned around, I found that treeman stake.”

“After I smashed it, that feeling of being watched started to become faint and intermittent.”

“Finally, when I was training the Mirror Wolf, I sensed that gaze again, and following the direction of the gaze, I found this banyan tree.”

With that, Yang Dian patted the banyan tree stump and asked about a piece of information he hadn't noticed before:

“Uncle Yue, when you came down earlier, did you notice this banyan tree?”

Yue Shan shook his head:

“I really didn’t notice it.”

“It's not far from us, only a few hundred meters, but I completely missed it.”

Yang Dian nodded.

Yue Shan had the same thought as him.

‘So, should we look for it?’

With a thought, Divine Thought sensed.

After one sweep, Yang Dian didn't find any other banyan trees, but he did discover a few somewhat peculiar locations.

The forest was clearly lush with vegetation, yet those few spots were 'blank'.

The blankness wasn't because deep craters were blasted out by missiles.

After all, craters blasted by missiles were still something.

Those few spots had nothing at all; they were not within the range of Divine Thought sensing.

He turned his body and circled around the few places he had sensed.

And then, as expected.

These 'blank' areas all had banyan trees.

Some banyan trees were tall, reaching four or five meters in height.

Some banyan trees were short, only about half a meter, as if they had just been planted not long ago.

Yue Shan, who was following behind Yang Dian, looked at the banyan trees, which were not scattered all over the mountains but also not few, and frowned deeply.

“How can there be so many banyan trees here?”

As Yue Shan murmured, the Mirror Wolf also ran on its four legs to Yang Dian's side.

It sat for a while, then circled around.

Seeing that Yang Dian ignored it, it swaggered to Yang Dian’s side, circled again, then sat down, staring intently at the blue lotus flower in Yang Dian’s hand.

“If you eat my blue lotus, you won’t have freedom anymore.”

He muttered, and just as he was about to tear off a petal to feed the wolf, Yang Dian suddenly thought of something.

Isn't there a local here?

So he patted the banyan tree and said to the Mirror Wolf:

“Take us to find this.”

“The biggest one!”

He gestured with his hands.

A moment later, the Mirror Wolf finally understood Yang Dian’s meaning. It ran a few steps in one direction, then turned its head to look at Yang Dian.

Yang Dian gave Yue Shan a look, then got on the Mirror Wolf.

Yue Shan frowned slightly.

He still didn't quite trust the Mirror Wolf.

But then he thought of Yang Dian's strength and shook his head.

With this strength, putting aside those exaggeratedly absurd technological weapons, what couldn't he defeat?

With this thought, he also followed Yang Dian.

They followed the Mirror Wolf over mountains and through valleys.

It wasn't until they followed the Mirror Wolf into a narrow passage that Yang Dian’s pupils suddenly contracted.

It's happening again.

That feeling, as if entering a spatial node.

‘So, this place is also a dimensional folding zone, or did a dimensional rift fall down here?’

Exchanging glances with Yue Shan, who had also sensed something, the two moved forward again.

The passage felt very similar to the cave the Wuling people entered to reach Peach Blossom Spring.

It was initially narrow, barely allowing a person through.

After walking several dozen more steps, they saw light, and then it suddenly opened up.

A world like a fairy tale appeared before Yang Dian’s eyes.