129: Ancient Emperor
Fortunately, even though the little one was engrossed in picking fruits, he still remembered Luo Chen's instructions and maintained a high level of vigilance.
The Spatial Shuttle Skill, prepared in advance, was released before the branch could lash out, and the little one instantly returned to Luo Chen's side.
The branch Luo Chen was standing on was not far from the Azure Spirit Ancient Tree that the little one had 'harmed'.
Moreover, for a Wild Rank Beast Master's beast, this distance should have been covered in an instant. For some unknown reason, the Azure Spirit Ancient Tree's branch stopped not far away. Although it was less than a hundred meters, it dared not approach any further.
Luo Chen patted the main trunk of the ancient tree beneath him, "Thanks."
Turning to look at the branch still waving in the distance, Luo Chen called out to the two little ones:
"Let's go."
The direction they were heading was clearly north of the Azure Spirit Ancient Tree.
The branch under Luo Chen's feet was more than ten meters wide, so running and jumping on it was no problem at all.
Besides, Luo Chen was already King Rank and could expend his internal energy to fly.
However, Luo Chen himself had a slight fear of heights, and his sense of direction wasn't very good, so he wasn't accustomed to traveling by flying.
Currently, Overturning Sea Cloud Whale, the little one, was still small, only two meters wide. Once it grew larger, it could serve as a mount when Azure Smoke Flowing Cloud Crane was not around.
This branch was extremely long, and Luo Chen didn't find its end for a while.
As Luo Chen led the two little ones on the branch of the towering ancient tree, at the crown of the ancient tree, far above the sky.
There was an ancient throne formed by verdant vines, upon which sat an old man with a weathered face.
He slowly opened his eyes. His eyeballs had no distinction between pupil and sclera; instead, they were a vibrant green, as if all the vitality of creation burst forth within them.
However, even though he was far above the sky, Luo Chen and his two beasts were reflected in his two eyes.
"People from outside the realm have appeared. Is a new era about to begin?"
Suddenly, a slightly younger voice came from beneath the throne, "My Lord, should your subordinate go and capture him?"
There were also three figures standing beneath the throne, appearing to be one male and two females.
The man who spoke had green hair and green eyes, with translucent wings behind him.
"No need. I'm afraid he would rather die than let you capture him."
A wisp of verdant light suddenly appeared in the hand of the old man on the throne. Within the rich light, an object resembling a Seed of Life was vaguely visible.
The old man continued, "Send a lower-strength Wild Rank beast to drive him down from the towering ancient tree and let him inadvertently obtain this Seed of Life.
Remember to find one with good acting Skills."
After he finished speaking, the Seed of Life in the old man's hand floated in front of the green-haired man. The green-haired man looked at the old man with a shocked expression.
He immediately knelt on one knee in the great hall made of vines.
"My Lord, why give this Seed of Life to an outsider? I humbly request my Lord to reconsider."
The other two female-like figures also knelt down, "We humbly request our Lord not to let the Seed of Life flow out."
"Alas."
"Our race of Life Ancient Trees has lived in this Ancient Wood Spirit Realm for two eras. Perhaps the races outside have long forgotten our race's prestige.
However, this spirit realm cannot sustain more Life Ancient Trees, so no matter how long we live, it's merely a lingering existence.
Now that people from outside the realm have appeared, it means the coordinates of the spirit realm have been exposed. In this era, I'm afraid we cannot avoid it.
Given this, we can only plan ahead."
"But, but this outsider is merely a small King Rank. He probably cannot bear the important task of caring for the Seed of Life."
The old man on the throne looked at the respectful and sincere young man,
"Kadamu, you are only fifty thousand years old, aren't you?"
"My Lord, Kadamu is fifty-three thousand two hundred and forty-one years old."
"That's right, you are still a child. You haven't experienced the last era and don't know about the Beast Masters of the human race.
The rise of every era will begin with the reawakening of the Beast Master's ancestral star and end with the demise of its ancestral star."
The young-faced man looked puzzled.
"It took you fifty thousand years to barely reach the Celestial Star Realm. If a talented Beast Master were to come, they might be able to reach your current realm within a few hundred or a thousand years."
The young man's pupils contracted, and he exclaimed in a flustered tone, "That's impossible."
"Kadamu, nothing is impossible. The appearance of a Beast Master in the Ancient Wood Spirit Realm might also be an opportunity for the Life Ancient Trees to proliferate greatly once again. The prosperity of a race requires a gamble.
It's just a Seed of Life. If it falls into the wrong hands, it will merely perish. When we break out in this era, we will always be able to retrieve it.
If we cannot break out, this is at least a ray of hope.
Child, go."
The young man named Kadamu carefully held the Seed of Life in his hand and bowed his head to the old man, "Yes."
...
Luo Chen walked on the branch of the ancient tree, feeling that something was amiss; it was too quiet around him.
If this ancient tree didn't allow living creatures to approach, would he, walking so brazenly on the tree, suddenly suffer some inexplicable attack?
Thinking of this possibility, Luo Chen controlled his body to float unsteadily.
Then he let the little one fly below him to block his view, preparing to no longer follow the direction of the trunk but to head in another direction.
However, at this moment, a fight suddenly broke out above Luo Chen's head.
Before Luo Chen could react, a green object hit him on the shoulder.
Wincing in pain, Luo Chen looked at the 'culprit' that had landed on the little one.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a green glowing Seed of Life. Luo Chen controlled his body to slowly descend and picked up the Seed of Life from the bewildered little one.
"Such rich energy."
Luo Chen looked up again in the direction the Seed of Life had fallen, and two fighting figures entered his vision.
Suddenly, the two parties in the struggle seemed to notice that the object they were fighting over had fallen. Both beasts, with different appearances, simultaneously looked in Luo Chen's direction.
Then they 'decisively' abandoned their opponents and rushed towards Luo Chen.
Luo Chen naturally wouldn't choose to return something that had fallen into his hands.
He and Little Hairball simultaneously pressed on the little one's body,
"Little one, quickly use Spatial Shuttle."
The little one also sensed the urgency of the situation and unleashed the Skill with all its might, executing it much faster than during usual practice.
Space rippled and overlapped, and their figures vanished from their original spot, reappearing a kilometer away.
This distance allowed the two warring parties to quickly close in.
The two beasts were one humanoid and one bird-like.
The humanoid beast reached Luo Chen in an instant.
Luo Chen's eyesight could even catch the panic flashing in its eyes.
Panic? Luo Chen was also a little strange. Facing him, why would this beast, clearly of Wild Rank, feel panic?
Without thinking further, Luo Chen quickly took out the Seed of Life that the little one had collected, then smiled at the green-haired, translucent-winged man who had stopped not far in front of him:
"Are you looking for this? Here, I'll give it back to you."
Saying this, Luo Chen tossed the Seed of Life away from himself.
The green-haired man's figure suddenly froze, and the next moment, his body honestly went to chase after the Seed of Life.
Then, the emerald green dragon head with broad wings, resembling a Western dragon, that was closely following him, also chased after it.