Chapter 447 Intimidating a Tree
Yellowstone was a town not far away from the mountains and the people who once lived here had long deserted this ghost town.
Chu Xun had all of Jiu You’s wounded Beast Lords ferried here to recuperate.
The eagle was out hunting one day when it came back with some news.
Apparently, it had heard rumors saying ancient ruins had appeared at Mount Lu.
Although Chu Xun had hardly any interest in it.
“They say that the alien races are forming a coalition for this excursion to Mount Lu, Immortal Chu,” said the eagle, who had taken to changing his addressing of Chu Xun ever since he learned of his identity.
That the alien races had banded up for this purpose greatly surprised Chu Xun. Then he thought of browsing the Martial Tao forum for some news, but with the mountains nearby, he could not get a signal on his cell phone.
“What is so special with this particular ancient ruin that could stir the alien races to such extent? Something is fishy here.”
“They are saying that a strange flower blooms in these ancient remains. One that has three colors. They say it is a vital ingredient in the synthesis of spirits and souls and it’s extremely precious,” said the eagle.
“A flower is three colors?!”
Chu Xun sprang to his feet, his eyes flaring with brimming emotions and excitement. “The Soul-curing Flower! That’s what Little Wu needs! Her soul is now recovering and this is all she needs to regain consciousness!”
If that could really be the Soul-curing Flower, then he must get it. Must. At all costs.
Chu Xun patiently waited for Jiu You and her Beast Lords to recover.
This vigil lasted for a half-month.
During then, the eagle never stopped bringing back what news it could forage.
Among which included one that told Chu Xun that even humans now have champions of the Immortal stages.
“Did this human champion appear only now, because of the ancient ruins at Mount Lu?” said an astonished Chu Xun.
The eagle nodded. “And it would appear that he’s not the only Immortal-stage human champion now rushing to Mount Lu.”
“Not the only. Wait, so there’s more than one human champion of such formidable strength?!” Chu Xun mulled quietly in contemplation. It would appear that the ancient ruins of Mount Lu were more than meets the eye than simple piles of age-worn rubbles.
Selfishness is part of human nature. In this past year where the alien races had been slaughtering and plundering human cities to no end, these human champions sat on their own hands and did nothing to defend the helpless. Yet if they would appear now, that would mean that whatever it was now resting in the ancient ruins at Mount Lu must be very, very valuable.
“The ancient ruins of Mount Lu...” Chu Xun wondered to himself. “Let’s hope that there are really Soul-curing Flowers there and I won’t be disappointed once more.”
“Are you going to Mount Lu?” asked Jiu You. She knew enough about Hua Qingwu.
Chu Xun nodded slightly.
“Then I’m coming with you,” said Jiu You. Knowing Hua Qingwu’s predicament, she knew that Chu Xun’s trip to Mount Lu was and only was for one purpose: the Soul-curing Flower.
“No,” Chu Xun refused flatly.
Every race and contest for treasures entailed blood and death. Additionally, the advent of Immortal-stage champions only added more uncertainties to the equation.
Jiu You pouted her lips irately. She knew from the start that Chu Xun would say no. But she had already made plans. She would follow him secretly without him knowing.
Seeing Jiu You making no protests puzzled Chu Xun. He stared at her and a notion dawned upon him. “You’re not to go there yourself,” he warned her sternly.
Jiu You’s face fell at her plans being seen through so quickly, although this could do little to stop her.
“Wow, Chu Xun, you are so smart!” Jiu You put up a very sweet smile, tugging Chu Xun’s arm like a spoiled little child, “Come on, just take me there. I promise I’ll listen to every word you say.”
The lion and the rest of Jiu You’s Beast Lords gawked with speechlessness. “Is this the same fearless and invincible Queen Jiu You they recognized?!”
“No,” Chu Xun refused her again bluntly. He could not be soft on her or she would have her way with him.
Jiu You’s pout turned sourer. “I’m going back to Qianlong Mountain,” she grumbled, “I wanna tell Grandpa and Grandma that you were bullying me and you are going to endanger your own life again by going to Mount Lu.”
That really was a stumbling block for Chu Xun. If his parents knew that he was going up to Mount Lu without so much as a visit to Qianlong Mountain after his more-than-one-year-long disappearance, Heaven knows how crossed his parents would be.
“Just take me with you, Chu Xun. I promise I’ll be a good girl,” said Jiu You, employing both tears and terror with equal facility.
Chu Xun glared at Jiu You, but Jiu You flashed the sweetest smile she could put at him.
“All right,” Chu Xun relented grudgingly, “I’ll take you with me. But I’ll first have to even the score of you slithering out here on your own.”
Jiu You’s expression twisted into one of horror and she scampered away.
But Chu Xun easily seized her and pinned her on his lap and gave her a good smacking.
Jiu You glared at Chu Xun angrily and complained, “How could you hit me! I will never love you again!”
Chu Xun nearly stumbled at that remark and he caught her again and gave her another round of smacking, forbidding her from watching all that nonsensical online dramas ever again.
The golden-maned lion padded over carefully and asked, “Can we come with you, Immortal Chu?”
“Do you not fear death?” Chu Xun said, “This is not a field trip, you know. It’s more dangerous than what you can imagine. One misstep and you’re not going to come back alive.”
“We no longer have homes to go back to, Immortal Chu,” said the lion, “As instead of cowering and dawdling our days like sniveling rats, I would rather fight and die a glorious death in battle. At least that would give me more worth.”
Chu Xun stared at them in silence, astonished that these Beast Lords, despite being animals, held more honor and pride than any craven humans could ever boast of.
Chu Xun nodded and capitulated.
“Urm... Everyone... I’m afraid I’ll have to decline if you are all going to Mount Lu. I’m too powerless to be of any use to anyone if not being a nuisance, so perhaps I’ll just wait here... for your triumphant return,” stuttered the eagle, fidgeting as it slunk backward.
The tiger went up to the eagle and sniffed at it. The pair of Tibetan Mastiffs joined him too and began smelling all around the silver-beaked eagle.
With its feathers ruffled up with foreboding dread, the eagle managed a weak smile and asked, “Urm, Tiger and Mastiffs, what is this?!”
The tiger stuck out a tongue and ran a tongue up the feathers of the eagle and said, “You might think that you’re not useful enough, but I don’t. In fact, there’s a purpose that I’m confident you’d do really well.”
“And what might that be?” asked the eagle.
“Food. We can feast on you and enjoy a good meal,” said the tiger.
That terrified the eagle that its blood ran cold.
“Let’s just eat this silly bird. I don’t like it anyway,” added Jiu You sourly, whose mood was down in the gutters after the smacking Chu Xun gave her and she was only too happy to vent any anger on the bird.
“All right. Let me have a go first. I love bird necks,” said the tiger.
“Save us the drumsticks,” remarked one of the Tibetan Mastiffs.
“Then I’ll have the wings,” interjected the golden-maned lion.
The notion that the Beast Lords were about to dismember it into pieces for one hearty meal frightened the eagle enough to have its feathers all blown up.
“Please, sirs... Good sirs... Ah, I remember now! I can help! I can ferry you all to Mount Lu so that you can save some strength!” yelped the eagle frantically in horror.
“That seems to make sense,” commented the tiger.
The rest of the other Beast Lords bobbed their heads.
“All right then. We’ll spare you for now. But keep in mind that if and when we find you useless, we would just eat you up for a good meal,” the lion patted its large paws on the eagle.
“You can bet that I’ll be useful all right! I can even help to forage food for all of you!” squealed the eagle hastily.
The Beast Lords all shared a look and grinned at each other.
Chu Xun could not help smiling himself. The eagle not only lacked integrity but valor too. Hardly fitting deficiencies to be found in a beast that should have been a lord of the sky.
“Go look around these areas. Find out if you can find any Tree of Transfiguration,” Chu Xun said to the silver-beaked eagle.
The Beast Lords all lit up with enthusiasm.
“I know one, Immortal Chu. It’s 150 kilometers to the south of here, but it’s been occupied by several high-tiered Lycan Beast Lords,” said the white elephant.
“Let’s go there then.”
That filled the lion and the rest of the Beast Lords with exhilaration. They were going to have a chance of assuming human form!
That was the first task for the eagle: to ferry everyone on its back and fly southward.
Chu Xun spied the tree a half-hour later. It stood at the very summit of a mountain with a rich and verdant bough.
Trees of Transfiguration resembled banyan trees a great deal, except for the dozen or so fruits that sparkled bright and gold off its many branches like golden chestnuts.
Chu Xun signaled for the eagle to land.
But before the eagle touched down, a few strangers appeared out of nowhere, each of them bearing powerful auras, including three Ninth-grades.
“WHO GOES THERE! THIS IS PART OF LYCAN TERRITORY! BEGONE IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU!” roared one of them.
Chu Xun scoffed. So the influence of the Lycans had stretched to this part too.
The eagle had not yet landed, but Chu Xun vaulted off its back and fired a blast that shook the mountains nearby and caused a landslide.
Bang!
The blast turned a Ninth-grade wolf Beast Lord into grounded meat.
“Who are you! How dare you make enemies of us Lycans!”
The wolf Beast Lords bellowed, teetering between indignation and fear.
Too lazy to bandy words with them, Chu Xun charged and reappeared right beside a Ninth-grade Lycan Beast Lord in the blink of an eye before smashing its head with just one single punch.
Right after that, he thrust a palm forward, firing a blast of purplish Hong Meng Immortal Qi that reduced another two Eighth-grade Lycan Beast Lords into a gory mist of falling blood and viscera.
The sudden string of deaths terrified the last remaining Ninth-grade Lycan Beast Lord out of his wits. He wheeled around to flee but was caught up by Chu Xun in mere seconds before the latter promptly smashed its skull with a single stomp to the head. Then Chu Xun ingloriously tossed its carcass off the ledge and down into a mountain stream far below the chasm.
By the time the eagle fully touched down, all five Lycans were taken care of.
The lion and the rest of Jiu You’s Beast Lords all swallowed hard in silence. “The Devil indeed. He really is as scary as they say.”
Chu Xun rushed all the way up the summit to the Tree of Transfiguration to pick its fruit.
“Wait, Immortal Chu! You can’t!” cried the white elephant suddenly.
But Chu Xun’s finger had only just come into contact with one of the fruits. A terrible bang erupted as the Fruit of Transfiguration exploded like a small grenade with waves of golden ripples spreading everywhere, sweeping him off his feet.
Flabbergasted, Chu Xun fired a blast of energy that dispelled all the golden glitters that lingered around in the aftermath. Landing down, he stared at the tree with shock and surprise.
“Trees of Transfiguration bear a sentience of its own?” Chu Xun hazarded a guess.
The white elephant shook its head. “We’re not sure about that. But it is said that to obtain a Fruit of Transfiguration, one must be reverent and respectful.”
Hum!
The tree emitted a soft golden luster.
The branches and boughs of the Tree shivered and shook.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
A few of the Fruits fell off their branches and pelted towards Chu Xun and the others.
Chu Xun threw out an arm and drew an invisible arc and a bright, purplish sheet of light shot up from the ground, erecting a barrier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clusters of explosions broke out when the Fruits hit the barrier, casting waves and waves of bright golden sparkles while the mountain trembled beneath their feet.
“You seemed to have angered it,” said Jiu You.
Chu Xun grinned. A tree that could lose its temper. Well, since it has a mind, that would mean that he could communicate with it.
Chu Xun projected his Divine Sense and telepathically tried to talk to the Tree, “Don’t be angry. We only want to request for some of your magical fruits.”
Surprisingly, an old and ancient voice responded. It was the Tree communicating, “No.”
That seemed rather interesting to Chu Xun. During his time at the alien domain, only divine trees could form sentience of their own. Trees of Transfiguration were by no means any divine trees, but mere trees which had mutated.
“Are you giving me your fruits or not? Perhaps I should uproot you to encourage you,” said Chu Xun, trying to intimidate it, even though the notion made him doubled down with laughter on the inside.
Hum!
The Tree gave another violent shiver and hurled another salvo of more than a dozen fruits at Chu Xun.
Chu Xun had Jiu You and the others safely tucked behind the magical barrier he conjured, while he stepped forward to detonate all of the fruits with just his bare hands.
Then he thrust a punch in the direction of the Tree, firing a bolt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi at the tree.
Bang!
The bolt blasted open the crust of the tree bark and the Tree gave another palpitating shudder with more leaves falling off its branches and twigs.
Chu Xun was amazed. It would appear that the Tree was really extraordinary. The trunk of the Tree was harder than even the strongest iron. He might have held back, but he did intend to wound the tree and all he managed to accomplish was to peel off a few pieces of its bark.
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