“Little one, come back!”
Ye Qiu jumped in fright when he saw the medicinal marten suddenly walking toward the mist and hurriedly called out.
However, the medicinal marten did not heed Ye Qiu and resolutely stepped into the mist.
At this moment, Ye Qiu’s heart leapt into his throat.
He feared the little one would turn to powder the instant it touched the mist, just like the copper coin.
But, to Ye Qiu’s surprise, nothing happened to the little one after it entered the mist.
“Hm?”
Ye Qiu raised an eyebrow, astonished.
Just then, the little one turned back, stood upright, and waved its fluffy little paw at Ye Qiu.
“Are you telling me to come in?” Ye Qiu asked.
The little one nodded vigorously.
Ye Qiu did not hesitate and stepped forward.
His physical body was comparable to the Saint realm, so he was bold enough. In an instant, he entered the mist and stood behind the little one.
Likewise, Ye Qiu encountered no danger.
“Old man, are you coming in?” Ye Qiu asked.
Changmei Zhenren shook his head furiously and said, “Little brat, you scout the path first. If there is no danger, then this poor daoist will follow.”
At that moment, the little one tugged at Ye Qiu’s trouser leg with its paw, then leapt three metres away.
It leapt again in another direction.
After landing steadily, the little one looked back at Ye Qiu and pointed both small paws at the spot it had just occupied.
“You mean I should follow exactly where you step?” Ye Qiu asked.
The little one nodded again.
Ye Qiu cautiously took a step, landing precisely where the little one had been.
He paused to sense his surroundings, detected no danger, then took another step to stand beside the little one, still unharmed.
“Could this mist be harmless and only meant to confuse people?”
With that thought, Ye Qiu flicked a strand of sword qi.
In an instant, the sword qi vanished without a sound, as though it had never existed.
Ye Qiu was shocked. That strand of sword qi could have killed a Nascent Soul cultivator, yet it had simply disappeared in the mist.
“This mist is not only dangerous, it is extremely dangerous. So why have we met no harm by following the little one?”
While Ye Qiu was lost in thought, the little one leapt forward again.
This time, it jumped seven or eight times, each landing in a different spot and direction.
Ye Qiu tapped the ground lightly with his toe and followed.
Just as Ye Qiu and the little one were about to vanish from sight, Changmei Zhenren could no longer hold back and shouted, “Little brat, wait for me.”
Whoosh!
The moment the words left his mouth, Changmei Zhenren rushed into the mist.
He had been watching carefully from outside and remembered every spot where Ye Qiu and the little one had landed.
Changmei Zhenren leapt swiftly and soon caught up with Ye Qiu.
“Little brat, why do I feel this mist is actually a great formation?” Changmei Zhenren said.
Ye Qiu quietly activated his heavenly eye and scanned the area. At once, he discovered countless hidden lines of light within the mist. Without the heavenly eye, he would never have seen them.
The lines were like razor-sharp sword qi, interwoven into a heavenly net.
“You are right, old man. There is indeed a great formation here.”
Ye Qiu glanced back at their previous footholds. They were perfectly placed in the gaps between the dense lines of light.
“Strange. How does the little one avoid them? Can it also see those hidden lines?” Ye Qiu wondered silently.
“Squeak, squeak.” The little one called twice. Ye Qiu shifted his gaze back to it.
The little one leapt forward once more.
Ye Qiu and Changmei Zhenren followed closely.
As they advanced, Ye Qiu continued observing and noticed the little one always landed precisely in the safe gaps, never missing a step.
“The little one is remarkably clever.”
After roughly three minutes, they reached the very centre of the summit.
In that instant, both Ye Qiu and Changmei Zhenren stared straight ahead.
Ten zhang away stood a circular altar.
Inside the altar grew a peculiar ancient tree.
It was peculiar because the tree was only half as tall as a person, yet its trunk was as thick as a washbasin, gnarled like a dragon, its ancient bark deeply cracked as though it had weathered millions of years of storms.
Many leaves grew on its branches, each a different colour: some golden and radiant, some crimson like blood and resembling burning flames.
Every leaf had a unique shape.
Some resembled phoenixes with myriad rays of auspicious light, some resembled seated Buddhas, vivid and lifelike, others resembled divine swords with boundless sharpness.
In all, divine light flowed across every leaf, each containing a different aura of the great dao, mysterious and profound.
Even from more than ten zhang away, the tree’s vitality was vast and overwhelming.
Whoosh!
Changmei Zhenren shot forward in one stride, arriving before the altar. He stared at the ancient tree, eyes blazing with excitement.
“One, two, three…”
He began counting the leaves under his breath.
After a moment.
“There are seventy-two leaves in total. From what I observed, each one is unique.”
Changmei Zhenren said, “I have a powerful intuition that these leaves would greatly benefit my cultivation.”
“Little brat, we agreed earlier. You are not allowed to take them from me.”
“So this tree is mine. Hahaha…”
Changmei Zhenren was so thrilled his eyes gleamed green like a starving wolf spotting prey. Saliva nearly dripped from his mouth as he quickly reached out to pluck a leaf.
Buzz!
Light flashed. The instant his finger touched a leaf shaped like a true dragon, it suddenly dispersed with a boom.
“Bloody hell, what is happening?”
Changmei Zhenren froze, then reached out again. The same thing occurred.
The moment his fingers made contact, the leaf scattered, leaving him grasping nothing.
“Little brat, what on earth is going on?”
Changmei Zhenren turned to Ye Qiu, his tone laced with irritation. He had believed the divine medicine was his for the taking, yet this was the result.
Ye Qiu also found it odd. He fixed his gaze on the ancient tree while mentally reviewing the inheritance left by the Ye family ancestor.
The inheritance contained extensive records about divine medicines.
After searching for a while, Ye Qiu’s heart suddenly jolted.
He recognised the tree’s origin.
“So that is it.” Golden light burst from Ye Qiu’s eyes.
“Little brat, have you identified this divine medicine?” Changmei Zhenren asked.
Ye Qiu smiled and nodded, stroking the medicinal marten’s head in praise. “Little one, you have rendered great service this time.”
“What exactly is this divine medicine?” Changmei Zhenren pressed.
Ye Qiu spoke four words:
“Tree of the Great Dao!”
