Shennong Daojun.

Chapter 571 Passing the test
Zhao Xing felt like he had drunk a lot of water, and his whole body was swaying, making him feel like he couldn't walk.

He manipulated the Treants like they were straw men, but there is a difference.

"The Giant Elephant Divine Tree Clan? This is yet another divine-level military unit. God King Yuheng is truly incredibly wealthy."

The sloshing of the lake water inside the tree trunk was ultimately not a good thing, greatly hindering their movement. However, the Giant Elephant Divine Tree clan had a section of its heartwood, which was a natural storage space. Zhao Xing pondered how to collect the lake water back into the heartwood, but he had only collected half of it when he saw the black fortress set off again, seemingly no longer waiting for him, the lone traveler.

Zhao Xing possessed this tree-man and learned a lot of information from the tree-man's true spirit.

Unlike the previously seen Moyi Castle, Black Castle is also a fusion of many mutated plants, called 'Burial God'.

However, instead of flying into the sky, it burrowed underground.

The plant army of God King Yuheng possesses various functions. There are no fewer than ten thousand of these fortresses, which can adapt to almost any environment in the universe and fight anywhere.

"We need to catch up quickly." The camp operates according to certain rules. The Burial God Fortress will not stay on the ground for long. Once the time is up, it will set off regardless of whether the soldiers living inside have returned or not.

With a "whoosh," Zhao Xing shrunk the giant elephant tree's body, barely transforming it into the shape of a tree person, though its trunk was still a size larger.

It then flew quickly toward the Burial Fortress. If it stayed away for too long, it would become a 'wild species' and would be devoured by the other legions.

The Burial Fortress is long and narrow, with many leaves attached to its surface. The veins form a natural magic circle, creating a barrier. However, the barrier is not smooth; some parts are serrated, and some are spiral-shaped.

As Zhao Xing approached, the barrier cracked open and actively pulled him back, causing him to land on a square platform.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle~" Deep beneath the platform, fine vines wrapped around Zhao Xing's ankles.

There were also many tree people nearby, all of whom had taken root. There were about eighty of them, all of whom were at the divine weapon level.

Zhao Xing followed suit and began to release the water from the tree's core into the mother body of the Burial God Fortress.

"Yi Shui, why did it take so long? I almost missed it." Zhao Xing heard the voice and found that it came from a tree stump next to him, and the tree stump had a withered face.

Yishui is the name of the tree-man who possessed his body, named after the place where he was born.

“Peng, I’ve had too much to drink,” Zhao Xing replied.

"How stupid," the tree-man Peng mocked.

Since Peng and Yi Shui were acquainted, Zhao Xing didn't dare to chat much. He then pretended to be tired and remained silent.

The only sound on the platform was the rushing water.

These tree-people are responsible for providing nutrients that the mother tree cannot easily access, such as water.

Over the years, the Burial God has evolved to lose some useless functions within the collective, such as absorbing water. It's not that it can't, but it would have to change its form and expose its vulnerable core to seize it. It's better to let the Treant race, which it depends on, do this.

"Oh!"

Suddenly a loud noise came. Zhao Xing turned his head and saw that the black wall not far away suddenly lit up and formed a vortex, which was the source of the noise.

"Crack!"

A second sound came, and two human bodies suddenly appeared in the vortex. However, the divine form could not be maintained for long and turned back into the real body, which was a strangely shaped mushroom, but it was broken into several pieces and was very shriveled.

Zhao Xing was somewhat surprised, but then he saw Peng beside him excitedly saying, "General Tianji won again! He's amazing! He even managed to absorb Moyi General."

Then a figure with a dark torso and a size significantly larger than the other tree people appeared, receiving cheers and worship from the tree people on the four-sided platform.

Zhao Xing suddenly realized that the Moyi tribe was the mushroom tribe he had seen before, the giant elephant tree people living in the Burial God Fortress.

The treant general named Tianji absorbed a Moyi.

"The God-King Yuheng made the plant army compete and fight each other to complete the evolution." Zhao Xing observed the giant elephant tree god general 'Tianji'.

"The giant elephant tree's innate divine skills are mainly focused on defense and control, but this one in front of us has absorbed the source poison characteristics of the mushroom race and has developed new divine skills."

"The plant army is constantly evolving in the inner world, continuously giving birth to highly powerful combat units."

"Based on Yi Shui's memories, there are at least over a million divine-level soldiers. Even if each one is just like Yi Shui, their combined use of legion divine skills would be terrifying. Not to mention the powerful individuals like General Tianji."

After traveling underground for three months, Zhao Xing also sorted out the memories of the tree spirit he had possessed.

"General Tianji carries a military order."

"The key to entering the final checkpoint from the east of the God of War Domain lies in obtaining a General's Token. Only with a General's Token can one ascend the God King Tower."

"But how am I supposed to kill General Tianji?"

Zhao Xing deduced from the panel that General Tianji was equivalent to the peak of the human race's divine generals, but upon actually sensing the divine origin contained within him, he found it to be even stronger than that of the peak of the human race's divine generals.

Plant life is inherently difficult to grow and takes even longer, making them dominant among their peers. Moreover, these plant soldiers are highly intelligent.

“Without the alchemical text and divine artifacts, I can only exert the combat power of a mid-stage Divine General. Could firecrackers kill General Tianji?” Zhao Xing assessed the feasibility.

But ultimately, no good opportunity could be found.

First of all, firecrackers might not be able to kill General Tianji, because the Giant Elephant Tree God is good at defense, and the Burial God Fortress itself has extremely high defense. It is possible that instead of killing General Tianji, the firecrackers might kill the tree god itself.

Secondly, even after receiving the order, he still had to cross this forest, so it was better to stay here and wait for the right opportunity.

……

Sixty-seven years have passed, and Zhao Xing has completely integrated into the Treant race, skillfully playing his role.

"The Burial Fortress has been constantly at war, hunting down other military camps and fortresses. This General Tianji has gained two more divine skills in sixty-seven years. It's incredible."

"I absolutely cannot blow it up."

As time went on, Zhao Xing also saw General Tianji make two moves, which were battles that occurred when he encountered other military camps.

In both attacks, the giant elephant tree defeated the other plant units and achieved victory.

With each victory, it gains another god-level talent.

"If General Tianji advances further, won't he become a mother tree?" Zhao Xing thought of the Ten Thousand Paths Mother Tree Pass.

"Or will it become a fusion monster like a castle?"

With more and more innate divine skills, General Tianji's Qi and origin were not as perfect as when Zhao Xing first met him.

"The three thousand Dao Seeds in the Primordial Realm also fused with many supernatural powers, but such fusion will cause problems after reaching a certain limit."

"General Tianji cannot remain at the God-General level indefinitely. He will either break through or transform into something like a castle."

Zhao Xing seemed to understand something.

He seemed to be able to sense some of the thoughts of the God-King Yuheng.

……

Thirty-five years later, Zhao Xing saw an opportunity.

That year, Buried Fortress plundered many resources and launched a major offensive against all the Treants.

Pengdu advanced, evolving from the mid-stage of Divine Weapon to the late-stage of Divine Weapon.

As for Zhao Xing, the treant he possessed also advanced, and the power of his innate skills became stronger.

The memories Zhao Xing gained from possessing a body were incomplete. He didn't know if this feedback had happened before, because there was no such thing in his memory.

"Peng, why does the mother tree bestow such great blessings upon us?"

"Yi Shui, because the war for hegemony is about to begin," Peng said excitedly.

"All military camps and fortresses, once they have grown to a certain size, must rush to the Tower of the Gods and engage in a battle for supremacy."

"Only the overlord can receive the summons and blessings of the chief god."

"The battle for supremacy... what about the losers?" Zhao Xing asked.

“Failure?” Peng pointed to the ground with a branch. “Failure becomes nourishment for the overlord, serving the main god in another way.”

"..."

Yuheng God-King truly cleansed the consciousness of these plant legions completely.

"This battle for supremacy might be an opportunity," Zhao Xing thought to himself. "If I can survive the chaos, I might be able to obtain a general's token."

The test in this level is to obtain the General's Order, but the General's Order is in the hands of plant-type soldiers like General Tianji.

Moreover, the general was under the protection of the mother tree, and there were many soldiers around him.

Whether it's a direct confrontation or a mental overpowering attack, it's very difficult to achieve.

"This chaotic battle is the only opportunity," Zhao Xing thought to himself.

……

With less than two hundred years until the War of the Overlords, General Tianji's raids are becoming more and more frequent, and he is constantly hunting down other plant-type soldiers.

Zhao Xing rarely went into battle because the tree he possessed was not a combat-type tree being. Yi Shui's talent was mainly used to serve the mother tree.

However, he was not idle; he kept pondering the Ksitigarbha Dharma and the life path diagram of firecrackers.

Occasionally, they would try to contact Lao Qing through cause and effect to see which level he was in, but there was no response at all.

He deduced that this was the inner world of God King Yuheng, who was also a hidden being, so normal causal spells would not be effective.

Zhao Xing could only pray that Lao Qing would have good fortune.

He couldn't find anyone, and he didn't know how to rescue them.

……

One hundred and seventy-three years later, the Burial Fortress was erected.

As the mud and sand slid down from the barrier, Zhao Xing saw a magnificent tower standing on the green grassland ahead.

"It has moved to the core edge of the God of War Domain."

Before I could get a good look, the bright sunlight dimmed again.

Zhao Xing looked and saw that an aerial fortress had moved above the Burial God Fortress, blocking the sun.

The fortress was a cylindrical structure lying horizontally in the sky, just like a piece of rotten wood flying into the air.

The tree trunk was enormous, and many plants had sprouted on it. Upon closer inspection, Zhao Xing realized it was actually a bamboo forest.

Moreover, it looks like it's hanging upside down, with the bamboo tips pointing towards the ground.

"Om~"

The shadows began to distort, and a large amount of light shone down.

Zhao Xing was on high alert because he sensed danger.

"Shhhhhh!"

A large number of red beams of light descended, and Zhao Xing was horrified when he saw it clearly.

"Damn, firecrackers?"

Inside the dark red pillar of light were bamboo stalks. He immediately deduced that they were firecrackers, because he had been burned once before and was very familiar with them.

"We've been ambushed!"

"It's Wan Zhujun!"

"Protect the mother tree!" "General..."

There are no rules in the battle for supremacy; once you enter this area, it's all about fighting.

It was too late to burrow underground again. General Tianji immediately controlled the mother tree to curl up into a ball, and vines wrapped around the outside of the Burial God Fortress, just like a pile of ropes.

At the same time, Zhao Xing found himself entangled in vines again, and a powerful force descended, draining the tree-man's life force.

He discovered that Peng was also stuck on the platform, while General Tianji was at the highest point of the mother tree, raising his hands to the sky, revealing his true form.

The canopy of the giant elephant tree rapidly blossomed, and mysterious Dao patterns resonated between the branches and leaves, forming yet another layer of defense.

The moment it was opened, the explosion began.

"Oh!"

Even though the explosion didn't hit him, Zhao Xing still felt a sharp pain and lost control of the tree-man's body, turning back into his original form.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

A series of explosions rang out above the Burial God Fortress. Zhao Xing noticed that his treant body was losing leaves, the bark was peeling off, and the branches were snapping and breaking.

As for Peng, it fared even worse; it was broken in half at a 90-degree angle, and even the heartwood had cracked.

General Tianji connected all the giant elephant treants, causing the damage to be spread evenly. Zhao Xing felt the treants' life force rapidly draining away. The advancement he had been given as a reward was all returned in an instant, and he dropped in realm again.

"Pfft!"

In the dazzling explosion, a hole was torn in both the barrier and the tree canopy.

"boom!"

A black pillar suddenly pierced through the platform where Zhao Xing was located, instantly killing half of the more than 800 Tree People.

The vines binding Zhao Xing's feet were blown apart, and he was freed from control. He immediately pulled Peng away to retreat, but in the end, it was too late, and he only managed to pull a branch out.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the cylinder was actually made of bamboo, albeit in a black color.

"Bang, hiss~"

The expected explosion did not occur; instead, a muffled sound was heard, followed by a ring of black smoke spreading out.

Zhao Xing felt the treant's skin wither instantly, and all the leaves fell off.

"Poison! It's poison!"

Zhao Xing, who was inside the tree-man's body, soon discovered that poisonous gas was surrounding him like a cloud of mist.

With no other option, he had to abandon the tree-man's body, abandoning all secrecy, and escape from the platform.

After escaping the tree-man's body, Zhao Xing immediately used the Cangwu World Law to project the world.

"Hiss hiss hiss~" The phantom of the Cangwu Divine Tree appeared, but it could only maintain a range of less than a thousand meters, and it was constantly being squeezed by the black poison gas.

"receive!"

With no other option, Zhao Xing had to risk incorporating the poisonous gas into his own body.

However, once these toxic gases enter one's internal world, they act like some kind of catalyst.

In the area where the poison gas was stored, spacetime began to decay, matter collapsed, and life ceased... It was actually developing into a period of annihilation!
"My God... what kind of monster did God King Yuheng raise?"

Zhao Xing was terrified and immediately summoned the Keyang Divine Tree to save its master.

Time and space were immediately suppressed, and the poison gas stopped spreading.

"Buzz~" The Keyang Divine Tree burst forth with brilliant light, dissolving some of the poisonous gas and making it very faint.

The two thoughts were transmitted to Zhao Xing, who realized that the divine tree meant: It's not tasty, take it away quickly.

Zhao Xing dared not inhale the poisonous gas any longer, and, braving the Cangwu World Law, quickly fled the Black Bamboo area.

Fortunately, only a piece of black bamboo fell after breaking through the barrier. The protection mechanism of the Burial God Fortress was activated, and the platform he was on curled up like a leaf, wrapping the black bamboo layer by layer and preventing the spread of poison gas.

Zhao Xing landed on another mother castle platform and found that the smooth and flat fortress was now dilapidated, corroded with many large pits and cracks.

"Boom~~"

The view suddenly darkened, and the Burial Fortress quickly burrowed into the ground, abandoning the treant and some branches and leaves, seemingly stripping away a portion of the fused substance, before disappearing back into the earth.

After about ten more breaths, the chaos began to subside, and the barrier slowly stabilized.

However, compared to before, the mystical power of the Burial God Castle has been greatly reduced, and its vitality is not as strong as before.

"I thought the Burial Fortress and General Tianji were really powerful, but I never expected it to end like this."

"We were hit hard as soon as we entered the area of ​​the battle for supremacy."

Zhao Xing wanted to use firecrackers to find an opportunity in the melee to kill other plant soldiers and obtain general's orders, but he didn't expect to be bombed without saying a word.

"Hmm? I wonder how badly General Tianji is injured." Zhao Xing suddenly stopped being angry. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to seize General Tianji.

"Whoosh~"

Zhao Xing is now in human form, a tiny little thing, and he quickly darted to a piece of dead wood.

Just then, an injured giant elephant-like tree-man passed by.

"Oh!"

"whisper!"

Zhao Xing covered its mouth and dragged it into the shadows.

A short while later, he quickly came out again.

"Swish swish~"

The broken tree-man leaped continuously, rushing towards the very top of the Burial God Fortress.

Chaos erupted inside the fortress as rooted tree figures began healing their wounds.

Normally, a low-level treeling like Zhao Xing would not be able to enter the top area, but now he has made his way in without any hindrance.

"General Tianji's true form is a giant elephant tree at the peak of the Divine General realm. Normally, I would have no chance against him, as I couldn't even break through its defenses. But now, I might have a chance."

General Tianji is a fusion of too many plant-based soldiers. It is a variant that is autonomously derived and constantly evolving, and it does not change randomly, but always maintains a high level of intelligence.

Facing such an opponent, Zhao Xing would find it difficult to gain the upper hand, but this was the best opportunity he had waited for in over two hundred years.

Once we leave this place, other god-level troops will be just as difficult to deal with!
"Fortune favors the bold. I will be cautious and careful. With firecrackers and the imperial edict in hand, if things go wrong, I will only lose my qualification to pass the test. I should not be in any danger to my life."

An opportunity is presented to you; to let it slip by would be a disservice to your good fortune.

Running swiftly, leaping over the high platforms, Zhao Xing soon saw General Tianji's true form: a towering tree standing in the center of a silvery-white platform.

There was also a shallow layer of water flowing around it, swirling around it.

In Shenji City, the Boundless True God frowned and opened his eyes.

He discovered a hair that was half gold and half red growing on his arm.

"A mixed bag?"

Since the incident involving the God King Zhangyue, the Boundless True God has expanded the scope of the Divine Art of Cause and Effect.

He was able to perceive Zhao Xing's experience firsthand, rather than trying to make amends afterward.

There was nothing that could be done; Zhao Xingtai was being targeted. He had offended Xi Tian Shen Wang last time, and that red-haired guy was still huddled in a corner of the main hall.

He was also afraid that one day Zhao Xing would cause trouble that he couldn't handle, or fall into some dangerous place that would make it impossible to rescue him, so he strengthened the effect of the Karma Divine Art.

However, this would take up even more of his energy. Coupled with refining weapons and fighting against the Heavenly King Xi, the current Boundless True God has almost 60% of his energy devoted to Zhao Xing.

"A tree? How come it's growing on another tree... Could he have entered the place Zhang Yue mentioned?" The Boundless True God was unaware of the existence of the God King Yu Heng, which was why he wanted to strengthen the Divine Art of Cause and Effect.

He only knew one aspect of Zhang Yue and Yu Heng, not the whole story.

"The Giant Elephant Divine Tree?" The Boundless True God's expression turned somewhat solemn. "This is a divine-level tree that only existed in the Chaos Era. Where has this kid gone?"

"Bang!" The hair suddenly burst into flames and began to curl. Even if the Boundless True God looked closely, he couldn't make it out clearly.

"Damn Qingyuzi!!" The Boundless True God's face was extremely grim. "To close the loop for you, you actually put Zhao Xing in unknown danger!"

The Boundless True God enhanced the Divine Art of Cause and Effect, but even after watching for a while, he was still unable to detect anything, and even this hair burned away.

This shows just how high the status of the place Zhao Xing went to was!

The Boundless True God did not blame Zhao Xing for being sentimental, but he disliked Qing Yuzi even more, believing that it was all Qing Yuzi's fault that Zhao Xing was in danger.

"If he returns safely, that's fine. But if something happens to him and you're still alive, I'll make sure you suffer unbearable pain!"

Now even the Boundless True God is helpless and can only wait for Zhao Xing to contact him.

…………

Yuheng God King, the world within his body.

The edge of the core area outside the God King Tower.

A patch of soil slowly rose up, and as the mud and sand fell, a pair of dark eyes were revealed.

The soil then slowly returned to flat ground, and after a distance, it rose up again. Having confirmed its direction, it continued to move little by little towards the God King Tower.

"Stay calm, you must stay calm." Zhao Xing moved little by little. Even underground, there were many roots, like a large net made of tentacles. If he wasn't careful, he would be discovered.

"I seized the opportunity and took the command token from General Tianji. Now, as long as I can cross the battlefield of the War of Overlords, I will have successfully passed the test."

Zhao Xing recalled the scene at the Burial God Fortress, where his process of disguising himself as a giant elephant tree-man to find General Tianji went exceptionally smoothly.

The opponent was severely injured in the battle for supremacy, almost split in two.

The order was left aside, and Zhao Xing picked it up almost effortlessly.

On the contrary, crossing the battlefield of the overlord is more dangerous. Since leaving the Burial God Fortress to venture into the battlefield, he has tried three times over three hundred years, all of which have failed. This is the fourth time.

"Move slowly. I'm like an earthworm now, burrowing in little by little. I was too impatient before," Zhao Xing thought to himself. "Only by advancing a little bit each day and weaving through the root system can I avoid attracting attention."

He dared not look around, for he was already engulfed in the root system of a plant at the peak of the Divine General realm.

The plant seemed to be resting and didn't notice him, this ant.

"It's almost over, less than a hundred miles away. Once we cross the boundary marker, they won't be able to chase me anymore."

Zhao Xingzhen transformed into a life form like an earthworm, a method he had casually learned from Chu Ji, which he gradually developed underground.

Occasionally, the roots will cause a ripple that sweeps across the ground, sometimes even cutting it in two. But once the ripple passes, it stops pretending to be dead and begins to slowly burrow in.

For the remaining hundred miles, Zhao Xing climbed step by step.

At one point, he found himself detached from the root network, and the surrounding earth vein fluctuations were completely different.

Bang! Zhao Xing burst out of the ground, looking dazed. It had taken him a full 134 years to travel a hundred miles!
Looking back at the chaotic battlefield and then at the peaceful and serene green grassland ahead, Zhao Xing felt as if he had been transported to another world.

"Finally passed the test."

(End of this chapter)