Chapter 69: Demonic Breath

“What happened to Little San?” Zhou Qian shouted.

“He might have discovered something, but… any further and we’ll enter the Inner Marsh! Chief, hurry and stop him!” Fang Yizhe said urgently.

“No rush, we’ll follow him.” Xi Xiaoru looked up at the sky. “One hour. If we see nothing in one hour and he is still wandering around, we’ll bring him back. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just knock him unconscious.”

Xi Xiaoru proposed a compromise to walk for only one hour. Since Yunshui Marsh was so large, it should not be a problem. Fang Yizhe nodded helplessly.

The group followed behind and saw Su Tang from a distance charging straight toward a cliff wall. That wall was over a hundred meters high, vertical from top to bottom, and as smooth as a mirror, with nothing special about it.

“What is Little San doing?” Zhou Qian became more confused. Looking at Su Tang’s posture, it seemed as if he were about to crash into the cliff.

Before she finished speaking, Su Tang’s figure flickered in the grass and disappeared without a trace.

Xi Xiaoru and the others were greatly surprised. They rushed to the base of the cliff and pushed aside the waist-high wild grass, suddenly discovering a crack at the root of the cliff. The crack was not wide, barely enough for a person to crawl through while bending over.

“How did Little San know there was a crack here?!” Xi Xiaoru widened her eyes.

“Let’s go, let’s go in and see.” Fang Yizhe could no longer control his inner curiosity. Could it be… that Su Tang really heard some sound?

After crawling for fifty or sixty meters, it suddenly brightened ahead. Emerging from the gap, they found themselves standing on a protruding rock. The rock was about eight or nine meters above the ground. Around them was a closed valley surrounded by peaks, with a flat grassland in the middle. Su Tang stood by the edge of the rock, looking down. His shoulders trembled slightly and his chest heaved violently, appearing exceptionally excited.

Xi Xiaoru rushed to the edge of the rock and looked down. She suddenly saw an extremely conspicuous tree. Counting from the roots, that tree was about ten meters high. Despite being such a huge tree, it only grew a dozen leaves. However, the leaves were enormous. From a distance, they looked like small houses hanging on the trunk. The thick branches seemed unable to bear the weight of the leaves and were pressed into curves.

Xi Xiaoru was speechless. Unable to control the shock in her heart, she screamed, “The Tree of Destiny?!”

The Tree of Destiny existed only in ancient legends. It was said to be the source of all life and the entire world. The Nature Sect, one of the Three Great Heaven Gates, still regarded the Tree of Destiny as the sect’s supreme totem. Unfortunately, a totem was just a totem; they had not seen the Tree of Destiny for a long time.

Although Xi Xiaoru had a simple mind, she immediately understood what this meant. If her eyes were not deceiving her, if that really was the Tree of Destiny, the whole world would be shaken!

Around the Tree of Destiny, there was a group of people. They were exactly the Martial Artists who had paid a thousand gold coins as a bridge toll. They approached the Tree of Destiny from various angles, but the Tree of Destiny seemed annoyed by them. Clusters of roots drilled out from the soil, dancing wildly in an attempt to stop the Martial Artists’ footsteps.

Although the roots of the Tree of Destiny were tough, they were living things after all. Where there is life, there is injury. Those Martial Artists were all quite skilled. They constantly swung their swords and blades, charging forward. More and more roots were shattered or chopped off, yet the Martial Artists suffered no damage. In a little more time, the Tree of Destiny would be powerless to stop them.

More terrifyingly, there was an old man sitting in mid-air. His right hand stretched forward. Without any visible movement, five sword lights, as agile as flood dragons, shuttled back and forth in the air. With every strike, hundreds of roots were shaken to pieces.

Even though Su Tang had lost his sanity, his subconscious knew what kind of opponent he was facing. A Grandmaster!

Xi Xiaoru’s scream attracted the attention of those Martial Artists. A young man looked back at Xi Xiaoru and shouted, “Kill them!”

A middle-aged Martial Artist approached and whispered a few words. The young man then said, “I don’t care who she is, kill them all!”

To discover the Tree of Destiny was a heaven-sent blessing, but it also hid a heaven-sent disaster. Once the news leaked, let alone them, even the great clans would be turned into powder under the wrath of the Nature Sect.

Two Martial Artists immediately left the battle and turned to charge toward the rock where Su Tang and the others stood.

“Mama… save me…” At this moment, the wailing in Su Tang’s brain became exceptionally clear. He became frantic and immediately opened the Night Cry Bow, aiming at one of the Martial Artists.

The sharp whistling sound of the arrow seemed exceptionally long because Su Tang fired four arrows in a row. The Martial Artist’s expression was relaxed at first, but upon hearing the whistling sound, his face changed abruptly, and he swung the crescent moon blade in his hand.

Boom boom boom boom… The energy blasts fired by Su Tang were all dispersed by that crescent moon blade, but the Martial Artist holding the blade was not relaxed. He retreated several steps and looked at Su Tang with a surprised gaze.

“Go! Go now!” Xi Xiaoru shouted. The moment she saw the Tree of Destiny, she knew that today’s events would not end peacefully. If the Xi Family had discovered the Tree of Destiny, they would similarly eliminate everyone who knew the secret. Even if she were the eldest daughter, she would still be kept in the dark, because a daughter would eventually be married off.

“What about Little San?” Zhou Qian shouted. She had already accepted Xi Xiaoru’s decision. It was not out of fear of death; there was a Grandmaster opposite them. Xi Xiaoru had to draw her blade, and could only draw her blade. Staying behind would only make them burdens.

Su Tang was still firing arrows at the Martial Artist. At this moment, Xi Xiaoru showed her extremely violent side. She grabbed the hair at the back of Su Tang’s head, pressed down, and slammed her knee hard into his chest and abdomen.

Due to the intense pain, Su Tang could not breathe. He opened his mouth wide, and his eyes bulged, but his mind finally regained a sliver of clarity.

Xi Xiaoru threw Su Tang into Zhou Qian’s arms with a backhand motion, then took off the Sword of Taisho and slapped it onto Su Tang’s chest. “Take him and go, fast!”

The Sword of Taisho was extremely heavy. Combined with the force of Xi Xiaoru’s casual slap, Su Tang’s eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted.

In the next moment, Xi Xiaoru’s fingertips finally touched the hilt of the giant blade. As the dark black blade was gradually pulled out, her pupils began to dilate. Finally, her eyes became extremely deep and black, as bottomless as an abyss and eerily dark.

The two charging Martial Artists stopped in their tracks simultaneously. They discovered that a terrifying aura was spreading from the girl above.

Even the old man sitting in mid-air turned his head, no longer able to focus on the Tree of Destiny. After staring at Xi Xiaoru for a moment, he said in shock, “Such strong Demonic Breath…”

A sliver of a smile slowly appeared on the corner of Xi Xiaoru’s mouth. It was an unfriendly smile, as if she were despising something, or perhaps feeling proud of something. Then, her figure leaped into the air and pounced down.