Chapter Seventy-Four: Who Are You

“Is it mere coincidence? Or a trap?” Xu Zhe gazed at the cave, somewhat surprised.

Outside the entrance, the shattered array barrier allowed a surge of dense wood spiritual energy to spill from the breach, only to gradually fade. It seemed but a fleeting wisp, soon blending with the ambient concentration of spiritual energy around it.

He immediately opened his divine sense, probing into the cave’s depths. As expected, within the cave lay a far more intricate trapping and killing array, and on the inner side of the entrance’s rock, a new array pattern was concealed.

Qi Ming’s plan was clear: lure him into the cave, ensnare him within the killing array, then seal the entrance once more. Even if Xu Zhe noticed something amiss, he would waste time breaking the seal at the entrance, inevitably falling into the array’s trap, while Qi Ming could unleash his killing arts from outside. It was a deadlock with no escape.

But to Xu Zhe, such a trap was child’s play. With his current bodily cultivation at half-step Overlord Physique, even entering the cave and enduring Qi Ming’s attacks for days would not trouble him in the least. After all, Qi Ming’s cultivation was merely late-stage Golden Core, having seized another’s body to be reborn—his power was inferior even to that of the original Zhu Yan bloodline body.

“Qi Ming, you truly… well, let the dead rest.” Xu Zhe glanced again at Qi Ming’s corpse.

He strode directly into the cave.

In a sealed space, the amount of spiritual energy remains constant. When the entrance is opened, the spiritual energy released should not change much, and over time it might even become slightly thinner. Yet, the spiritual energy now emerging was denser, indicating that while the entrance had been sealed for days, the wood spiritual energy inside continued to accumulate, growing ever more concentrated.

Thus, Xu Zhe reasonably surmised that the treasure imbued with immense wood spiritual energy was hidden within this cave—deeply concealed, nearly undetectable. This was why he had previously searched and quickly abandoned further pursuit, finding no trace whatsoever.

But Qi Ming, by accident, had found this place, sealed the cave, and upon reopening the entrance, Xu Zhe could sense the anomaly in the spiritual energy.

Passing through the shattered array, Xu Zhe swiftly erased the killing array inside, wiping away the array’s core patterns. The array was destroyed before it could even activate.

He extended his divine sense again, sweeping through the cave, his brows furrowing slightly—still unable to pinpoint the exact location. The object was hidden too deeply and seemed to possess a natural mechanism for concealing itself.

Like a chameleon changing color, or a sensitive plant folding its leaves at a touch, this thing filled with wood elemental spiritual energy could restrain its own aura, and even when the energy leaked, its source remained untraceable.

“A bit troublesome! If my divine sense were stronger, it would have nowhere to hide.” Xu Zhe shook his head.

Since he could not locate it precisely, brute force would have to do.

He stepped forward. Within him, the earth elemental root radiated brilliant light, and the earth core in his dantian surged with boundless earth spiritual energy.

The earth energy spread across the ground beneath his feet.

“Rise!” Xu Zhe raised his hand slightly.

A thunderous roar echoed.

The entire cave, along with the ground beneath Xu Zhe, shook violently and suddenly lifted into the air. Nearly ten meters of earth were torn from the ground, rising with the cave, sand and stones raining down.

Xu Zhe remained standing in the cave, his arm sweeping gently.

With a muffled bang, the cave and the earth beneath it shattered instantly, dissolving into a vast cloud of ash that drifted down from the sky.

“Found it!” Xu Zhe smiled abruptly, his hand reaching forward in a powerful grasp.

Large, soft.

He withdrew his hand, having seized from the ashes a stone as large as a watermelon.

The stone appeared utterly ordinary, unremarkable. Yet strangely, it was soft, feeling as though he held a sponge infused with milk, though it weighed thousands of pounds.

“The tree jade marrow of the Immortal Stone-Bark Tree?”

Xu Zhe recognized it at once.

According to the texts, the Stone-Bark Immortal Tree sheds its bark every ten thousand years, and after a hundred cycles, its entire body becomes incredibly soft. Eventually, it triggers a heavenly tribulation, and after the baptism of thunder, it transforms into human form, becoming the Immortal Tree Demon King.

Such demon kings appeared only in the ancient era, reaching their peak upon emergence, possessing power comparable to an Immortal Emperor.

Of course, if the tribulation failed, the tree would perish, leaving only a tree heart, returning its accumulated essence of a million years to the heavens and earth.

“As recorded, the heart of the Immortal Tree is jade-like, soft as cotton, shaped like a baby’s tiny fist. Yet this piece of tree jade marrow is so massive, nearly a hundred times larger than the usual size…”

Xu Zhe muttered to himself, his expression focused. “Immortal Tree King—only the Tree King could possess such a vast tree heart jade marrow. Its value likely exceeds even the primordial wood spirit vein.”

Ancient books described the Immortal Tree King as a conjecture by later generations, inferred from remnants and murals of ancient relics.

Whether such a being truly existed was impossible to verify.

But this enormous tree jade marrow now stood as irrefutable proof.

“No wonder the Azure Sky Domain once flourished. Even a small secret realm contains such a treasure—this journey was worth it.”

Xu Zhe smiled, flipping his hand to release a stream of spiritual energy, enveloping the tree jade marrow and sending it into his storage ring.

The secret realm was about to close; he had no time to refine it here and would have to find a quiet place for seclusion once he left.

A faint vibration sounded from the ground.

Xu Zhe turned his gaze, startled—the sound was coming from Qi Ming’s corpse.

He swiftly moved to the body, lifting the collar to reveal a black jade talisman, still trembling softly.

Someone was contacting Qi Ming, and the name displayed was “Sir.”

“A black Myriad Phenomena Jade Plate—so that’s it.”

Xu Zhe picked up the talisman, examining it closely. He found the black surface was an added layer of jade, densely inscribed with array patterns.

By the patterns, it was easy to discern this was a means of preventing spying and eavesdropping.

He glanced at the caller ID.

Xu Zhe smiled, pressing the connect button.

“Hello,” he said politely.

Silence. From the jade talisman, only a faint breath could be heard.

Soon, even the breathing faded into utter stillness.

If not for the talisman’s glow, Xu Zhe would have thought the call had been cut.

“Xu Zhe… hmm, very good.”

At last, the other spoke.

The voice was strange, seemingly processed, hoarse and ambiguous, neither male nor female, yet carrying a subtle familiarity.

Especially when “Xu Zhe” was spoken, he felt a sudden sense of déjà vu, and with the cold, mocking laugh that followed, the familiarity only deepened.

“Who are you?” Xu Zhe frowned, asked in a low voice.

The black jade talisman in his hand went dark—the connection was cut.

Immediately, the talisman snapped with a “crack,” shattering into dozens of pieces, ruined beyond repair.

Xu Zhe’s eyes were filled with confusion—this was unexpected.

“Sir”—the two characters made Xu Zhe suspect the caller was the Northern Continent overlord Qi Ming had mentioned, Bai Family Patriarch Bai Yefeng.

Yet the tone, the mocking, disdainful laughter, left Xu Zhe certain he had heard it somewhere before.

But when he tried to recall, nothing came—he could not identify the speaker at all.

“Did Qi Ming deceive me? Or does his master have more than one identity?”

Xu Zhe fell into deep thought.

…

[First update]