Chapter 62: Making Use of Local Materials

In the wilderness, the Ghost-Faced Spider stopped before an enormous ancient tree.

The ancient tree stood twenty zhang tall. Its blue-black bark was mottled and weathered, making it look extremely old.

Its trunk was like a giant umbrella held aloft, covering a vast area. One huge blood-red fruit after another hung from its branches, giving off a faint, delicate fragrance.

The Ghost-Faced Spider seemed to have smelled some tempting scent. It stared at the blood-red fruit on the tree with a look that was fearful and cautious, yet also full of desire and anticipation.

Lu Yuan controlled the Red-Footed Golden Crow with his divine sense and had it descend. But when the Red-Footed Golden Crow was about to land on the treetop, nothing could make it go any lower.

It stood fixed in midair, wisps of bright yellow flame burning over its golden feathers. Its gaze as it looked down at the ancient tree on the ground was filled with contempt and disgust.

When the Red-Footed Golden Crow drew near, the enormous ancient tree seemed to sense some terrifying existence. Its body trembled faintly.

The fruit on the tree began to release a scarlet mist. That fragrant scent grew stronger and stronger, until after reaching a certain limit, it made one want to retch.

Beneath the tree, the Ghost-Faced Spider curled up its eight long legs. Whether it was afraid or secretly gathering strength, it still stared fixedly at the fruit on the tree.

The Little Paper Man drifted down lightly and landed on the ancient tree’s trunk.

The ancient tree sensed the cold, terrifying aura brought by the Little Paper Man and could no longer endure it.

Human faces and beast masks emerged across its trunk, silently howling in agony as they unleashed wave after wave of mental shock at the Little Paper Man, the Red-Footed Golden Crow, and the others.

The flames on the Red-Footed Golden Crow burned even more fiercely, but it remained unmoved. The contempt in its eyes deepened by several degrees.

That was it?

The Little Paper Man swayed lightly under the mental shock, drifting from one section of trunk to another. As it sensed the divine sense that was about to disappear, its movements grew faster and faster.

Under the ancient tree’s mental shock, it actually became even more energetic.

The Ghost-Faced Spider, as well as the Python-Sparrow Eel and Silver-Thread Mantis that arrived afterward, all suffered quite a bit of damage under that impact.

This shock also stirred up the Ghost-Faced Spider’s fighting spirit. Its eight long legs kicked hard, slicing down one blood-red fruit.

The fruit splashed out droplets of blood-red liquid and split open directly in midair.

Chunks of black-red, rotting flesh sprayed everywhere. Wherever the rotting flesh landed, waves of black fire ignited, and an extremely pungent stench rapidly spread through the air.

At the same time, an almost transparent soul flew out of the fruit and charged toward the Ghost-Faced Spider.

The Ghost-Faced Spider dodged the rotting flesh shooting everywhere. Staring at the transparent human face flying toward it, its abdomen contracted with force.

The strange patterns on its back lit up, releasing a powerful attraction. Amid the transparent human face’s violent struggles, it dragged it into its back.

Seeing the Ghost-Faced Spider devour the human face, the Silver-Thread Mantis leaped straight in front of a blood-red fruit and, relying on its agile movements, avoided the rotting flesh attacking from every direction.

It tilted its triangular head at the Ghost-Faced Spider, signaling for it to hurry and absorb the human-face soul. Then, without the slightest hesitation, it moved toward another blood-red fruit.

Only then did Lu Yuan understand. This enormous ancient tree used the strange fruit it bore as bait to attract passing demonic beasts and cultivators, then absorbed their souls, flesh, and blood before nurturing new blood-red fruit and continuing to lure in the next cultivator or demonic beast.

“Using the flesh, blood, and souls of cultivators to tempt new cultivators. The cycle repeats.

“The wilderness is full of schemes. It’s not like this cave abode, which is sincere and generous, giving cultivators real, solid benefits.”

“If it wipes everyone out like this, what if it accidentally kills cultivators who wanted to enter my cave abode?

“It’s fine if it takes a cultivator’s life, but if it makes me miss out on rewards, that won’t do.”

And so, at his signal, the Little Paper Man’s body expanded continuously, covering a large portion of the enormous ancient tree’s trunk.

Human faces and beast masks surged up across the trunk even more frequently, but they had little effect on the Little Paper Man. The parts touched by the Little Paper Man gradually turned papery.

When a breeze blew, they became fragile beyond measure and turned into countless scraps of paper.

All the blood-red fruit on the enormous ancient tree burst open in an instant, forming a region of flesh and blood centered on the tree. It stank of blood and rot. Not only did it assault the physical sense of smell, it could even affect Lu Yuan’s divine sense.

At the same time, the ancient tree’s trunk forced its way out of the soil, dragging out blood-red roots of various sizes.

It strode on its thick, long blood-red roots, crossing more than ten zhang with each step as it fled swiftly into the distance.

More than a hundred corpses of cultivators and demonic beasts were revealed in the tree pit. Some had long since become piles of white bones, while some still carried dark red bloodstains.

The Red-Footed Golden Crow watched the enormous ancient tree flee into the distance. With a spread of its wings, it opened its sharp beak and spat lightly. A wisp of golden flame drifted toward the enormous ancient tree.

The golden flame grew as soon as it met the wind. A single wisp of flame rapidly expanded into a giant fireball, then quickly transformed into layered waves of fire that swept toward the enormous ancient tree with surging force.

A speck of golden flame lit up on the ancient tree’s trunk. Then it spread rapidly, traveling all the way from the base of the tree to the crown.

No matter how the ancient tree swatted at it, it could not extinguish the golden flame. Instead, the more it struck, the more fiercely the fire burned. Amid sizzling sounds, it was burned into a thick section of charred wood.

The few remaining blood-red fruit fell everywhere. The Ghost-Faced Spider skewered them into a string with its long legs, not letting a single fruit go.

The Little Paper Man floated above the small mountain of countless corpses, absorbing the faint, cold resentment seeping from the remains.

The two big-headed strange fish on the Python-Sparrow Eel’s wings hurried down as well. They did not care how rotten the flesh and blood was. Opening their sharp, enormous mouths, they devoured the flesh and blood to their hearts’ content.

The Python-Sparrow Eel and Silver-Thread Mantis were pickier eaters. They only tasted the peel of the blood-red fruit the ancient tree had used to lure cultivators.

Although the flesh inside was nothing but rotten flesh and blood, the peel tasted fresh, fragrant, and delicious.

Only the Red-Footed Golden Crow ate nothing. It stepped on the charred wood with its crimson single foot, sensed a feeling completely different from the Phoenix-Resting Wutong Wood underfoot, and immediately left again.

“It wasn’t easy to get out for once. I didn’t expect to have a wilderness cookout so soon.”

“Fortunately, I didn’t have to prepare the ingredients myself. We can just make use of local materials.”

Lu Yuan controlled the Red-Footed Golden Crow and flew above the tree pit, looking at the many corpses lying inside.

“Since we’re already here, it wouldn’t be right to leave your corpses exposed in the wilderness. This cave abode will be merciful and find you a good place to go!”

He looked at the two big-headed strange fish hopping back and forth along the edge of the tree pit, and through their babbling, sensed their intense longing.

After pondering briefly, Lu Yuan made a decision.

“I have a cave abode. The spirit energy inside is abundant. It might even be able to nurture your resentment. There’s a pool inside the cave abode. Strongly recommended!”

And so, he had the Little Paper Man scoop up all the corpses. Some of the rough, enormous ones were hung from the Python-Sparrow Eel’s wings.

The two big-headed strange fish looked at the various corpses surrounding them in every direction, so happy they almost fainted.

As for the remaining smaller, more delicate ones, Lu Yuan had the Little Paper Man carry them on its back.

Before leaving, Lu Yuan did not forget to pick up some of the rotting flesh and blood left on the ground.

After carefully searching all around the giant tree and confirming that nothing remained, the Red-Footed Golden Crow spread its wings and flew high.

All the other little ones had eaten their fill, but Lu Yuan had not forgotten the elder statesman inside the cave abode, the Blood-Devouring Vine.

Although this rotting flesh and blood was obviously past its expiration date, it was still better than nothing. Quantity could make up for quality. He believed the Blood-Devouring Vine would be able to have a great feast.

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