Martial arts ascend to the gods

Chapter 396 Ancient Heart
In the passage on the right, Zhou Leng and the others walked for a long time. Cang Fei Zhi Yan said, "No problem, my magic at the entrance wasn't touched. They should really be far away."

“Let’s walk a little further, rest in the next cave hall, and then head back to find Silver Lake Wind and the others.”

"it is good."

The group continued forward.

The further you go, the stronger the sense of life becomes.

The Flourishing Roots couldn't help but whisper, "There seems to be a treasure ahead. The life force here is incredibly strong."

Zhou remained silent, having already noticed.

As they walked further, the bark armor made of the mother tree on their bodies twitched slightly.

Ahead lies a power resembling ancient tree fossils, even more potent, like countless ancient tree fossils gathered together.

Everyone looked at each other.

I won't go; I'm not willing to give up.

Going there could be extremely dangerous.

"Zhou Leng, it's your decision." Everyone looked at Zhou Leng.

"Go and see."

"go!"

With smiles on their faces, the group quickened their pace and rushed into the cave hall ahead.

This was a hall far more spacious than any of the caves before, resembling a simple underground palace.

It covers an area the size of dozens of football fields.

The highest point is over 100 meters high.

The underground palace was covered with withered tree roots on all sides, densely packed and fuzzy.

More than twenty passages lead to this place.

At the deepest part of the palace, a huge mural, thirty meters high, is embedded in the wall.

The mural depicts an extremely majestic giant tree, lying horizontally like a mountain.

Three large pieces of yellow amber hang from the tree canopy of Shushan.

The amber is crystal clear and about the size of a human head.

Inside each piece of amber is sealed a pale yellow wooden ball.

Rings appeared on the wooden ball, looking quite ordinary.

Zhou Leng had seen the wooden ball and the Heart of Life before, but they were all white. These three were different colors.

“The ancient heart of life,” the lush roots murmured.

The heart of life, nurtured underground for millennia, becomes the ancient heart of life, making it all the more precious.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

If everyone present absorbs the power of the Ancient Heart of Life, they will all become Grandmasters, and may even advance to Demigod.

"Take it down quickly!" The giant bear druid rushed forward.

"Stop," Zhou Leng said.

The bear druid looked impatient, but when he turned around and saw that no one had moved, he immediately understood and stopped in place.

"Check it out," Zhou Leng said.

Azure Flame nodded and began casting a spell to examine the murals around and in front of him.

"It's safe, no problem."

Everyone looked at Zhou Leng with anticipation.

Zhou Lengdao said, "Don't you think this is too easy?"

"It's too easy, but wasn't it also easy for us to collect ancient tree fossils along the way?"

"Hurry up and take it. If we're too late, other people will show up and we won't have a chance."

"I also think we should take it."

Everyone turned to look at Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng stared at the three ancient hearts of life. He felt there was nothing wrong with them, but they didn't hold up logically.

"The question is, after we take it, can we leave here safely?" Zhou Leng looked at Mao Shengzhixin.

The Flourishing Heart said, "The aura of the Ancient Heart of Life is extremely strong, as you have all sensed. Even with our level of expertise, we cannot completely seal off its storage space. In other words, whoever obtains it will become a walking, humanoid Ancient Heart of Life. Do you still remember the matter of the Blood of Tyranny?"

"heard about it."

"After obtaining the Ancient Heart of Life, the Blood of Tyranny was constantly hunted down because the aura of the Ancient Heart of Life exposed him. Zhou Leng must have heard about this, which is why he hesitated."

Zhou Leng slowly said, "If there were only opponents of the same level here, such as lower, middle, or even upper-level opponents, I wouldn't hesitate. But this is not the case. There are many Great Innate Realm experts here, and even Grandmasters. Even the ancients knew one thing: it is extremely risky for a child to carry gold through a bustling market."

"Then, I ask you all, having just encountered the Great Primordial Aiden, the Grandmaster Demon, the Grandmaster Titan, and even a master who was chasing the Grandmaster Demon, can you bear such risks?"

"I can't do it. My abilities are not enough to bear such a high risk."

Zhou's tone was firm.

Everyone was silent.

Cang Fei Zhi Yan sighed and said, "I can't do it either. I'll give up my life and my ancient heart."

After struggling for a long time, Maoshengzhigen shook his head and said, "I also give up. Fortunately, Zhou Leng has a strong will to fight, otherwise we would be in trouble."

"I'll listen to Zhou Leng." Yin Huyue's eyes struggled, and she sighed deeply.

"So, we came all this way for nothing?" The bear druid was extremely unwilling.

Zhou Leng took out a hoe, pointed at the wall, and said, "Let's dig. The door to the Ancient Heart of Life is closed, but it has opened a window for us."

After saying that, he picked up a hoe and dug open a section of the wall.

Two ancient tree fossils, each the size of a fist, fell down.

"This time, whoever digs it up keeps it," Zhou Leng said, then walked and dug.

The others immediately understood and took action.

Sure enough, you can find ancient tree fossils with just a little digging.

Everyone immediately shifted their focus and began digging extensively.

In no time, everyone was overjoyed, for the number of ancient tree fossils here far exceeded that of any other place.

If you dig against the wall, you'll definitely find it.

They come in all shapes and sizes, and in great numbers.

Everyone transformed into diligent miners, working hard to dig.

Especially the giant bear druid, a giant bear over five meters tall, quickly dug a large hole, wiggling its round, plump buttocks as it dug out the soil.

The treants use tree roots, making them highly efficient. The Crimson Flame is even more ruthless, summoning a massive number of earth elementals; in terms of the number of ancient tree fossils unearthed, it crushes everyone else.

Zhou Leng's excavation output was far less than Cang Fei Zhi Yan's; he wandered around like a slacker, carrying a hoe.

As long as the hoe falls, it will definitely dig out a large piece of ancient tree fossil, which is the most efficient way.

In just ten minutes, everyone had made a fortune.

Zhou Leng's magic pouch now contains twelve large ancient tree fossils, plus dozens of smaller ones, totaling nearly fifteen fist-sized pieces.

Since entering the Flute Forest, all the ancient tree fossils I've collected combined don't equal the harvest I've made in these ten minutes.

Suddenly, the demon spirit of the Crimson Flame screamed, and everyone stood up and looked around.

A group of familiar figures walked into a passageway.

Aiden led more than twenty people in.

Both sides froze, realizing that both passages led here.

"I hope we can each do our own thing this time and not interfere with each other," Zhou Leng said, looking at Aiden.

Aiden scanned the more than twenty passageways, his heart pounding at the thought that Shanhe Tianyue might burst in at any moment. He said firmly, "Here, you and I are comrades-in-arms in martial arts! Pass down the order: in the dungeon, whoever kills Zhou Leng is essentially attacking our Trupp family!"

"Yes!"

"Lord Aiden is truly a man of integrity," Zhou Leng said with a perfunctory compliment, before continuing to excavate the ancient tree fossils.

Zhou Leng's teammates dug carefully, glancing at Aiden and the others from time to time.

Aiden and the others looked toward the Ancient Heart of Life, and the group stirred.

Some demons almost lost control of their instincts and tried to snatch it.

In their eyes, the light of greed shone brighter than the sun.

However, Aiden, known for his madness, looked at the ancient heart of life with unusual calm.

Aiden glanced at Zhou Leng and the others; none of them exuded the aura of the Ancient Heart of Life.

These people remained unmoved.

"Your Excellency, we cannot let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by."

"This is the Ancient Heart of Life. Once obtained, one may become a demigod."

"Even if it's used for trading, it can get you everything you want."

"In the Demon Prison, an ancient heart of life can be exchanged for a grand duchy, a fiefdom that belongs entirely to oneself."

Everyone was talking about it.

Finally, Aiden said, "I suspect there's something fishy going on. Let's wait and see. Anyone who wants it can go and get it. I promise I won't interfere, but don't expect me to protect you either."

The demon and the cultists continued their discussion.

Shen Jun remained calm. He was only at the Innate Blood Path level and was well aware of the consequences of obtaining the Ancient Heart of Life. Even taking another look at it would mean he would lose.

He glanced at Zhou Leng and the others, then immediately took out a shovel from his magic bag and began digging along the wall.

The first shovelful of soil.

The second shovel, tree roots.

On the third shovel, two small pieces of ancient tree fossils rolled down.

Shen Jun beamed and bent down to pick it up.

Sure enough, it was safer to follow Zhou Leng.

Seeing that Shen Jun had made progress so quickly, the others, who had previously been hesitant to delve into the Heart of Life, began to follow suit and start digging.

Several powerful innate demons kept their eyes fixed on the Heart of Life, disdaining to dig up even a small piece of ancient tree fossil.

That is the heart of life.

Aiden hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth, turned around, and started digging.

"Whoever wants it can have it. I'm crazy, not stupid."

The treasure was right in front of him, but he dared not touch it. Aiden grew angrier the more he thought about it, turning his anger into digging.

"Hmm? You got it so quickly, that's good."

"Digging up three pieces at once?"

"It's delicious."

Aiden was delighted.

This underground palace was extremely large, and the two sides excavated in different places without interfering with each other.

Zhou Leng often climbed onto the wall to dig.

The walls here are covered with dried tree roots and are not sturdy.

At first, they used hoes, but later they discovered that using the "claw method"—using both hands as shovels to dig the soil—was more efficient.

So Zhou Leng, like a giant bear druid, quickly dug into the soil.

With outsiders around, Zhou Leng became even more cautious, using his body to conceal his harvest and secretly storing it in his magic spirit bag.

A few minutes later, one of the great innate demons, "The Chained One," finally couldn't resist and walked towards the Ancient Heart of Life.

Many people stopped digging and looked at the man in the chain.

He is three meters tall, has a human-like appearance, and only one huge eye on his head.

It has four arms growing from its shoulders, and behind it, dense blood-red iron chains spread out like a cloak.

Hanging from each chain were more than a dozen withered heads, some human, some demon, and others of various races.

On the chained cloak, there were more than a hundred heads.

The end of the chain fell to the ground, making a rattling sound as he walked, creating a strange and intimidating effect that inspired fear.

Those who wear chains are powerful beings among demons, and upon reaching adulthood, they will inevitably advance to the Innate level.

This Great Innate being wearing a chain is no less powerful than Aiden, who is also a Great Innate.

He didn't pay much attention to Aiden's orders and went straight there.

Aiden watched the chained man's retreating figure and gave a cold smile.

Upon arriving at the mural of the Mother Tree, the chain-wearer hesitated for a moment, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed thirteen times.

The crowd nodded gently, knelt in worship of the Mother Tree of Life, and did not abandon the demon.

After kowtowing, the chained man used demonic language to express that he had no ulterior motives, and would only take a life's ancient heart before leaving.

Aiden suddenly felt a pang of regret; maybe he really had let that bastard succeed.

Like rock climbers, those wearing chains quickly ascend to a high place, grab a life-giving heart, and swiftly descend.

(End of this chapter)