Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

Chapter 135 Long-Awaited News

"This thing is rare!"

Wang Zhen jumped off the vehicle. From afar, he saw that Sui An's territory was piled high with thick timber. He even rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he was seeing things.

You said you saw a pile of timber in this wasteland?

Or is it the extremely thick kind?

If you can find a hundred trees over three meters tall within a radius of thirty miles, you've won.

There are still trees near Jiangcheng. Those were planted later by planters. They are some distance away from Jiangcheng, so they are not affected by beast tides and the source beasts will not deliberately destroy them.

The truly natural trees are found in the distant, undulating mountains.

For example, the Lianyun Mountains, a hundred kilometers west of Jiangcheng, are a relatively pristine forest. After the arrival of the Origin Realm, they became a paradise for Origin Beasts, a concentration of secret realms, and a dangerous area for professionals.

"This is 99% rare!" Sui An patted the neatly piled tree trunks. There were so many of these trees, with more than 800 relatively intact ones, each about one meter in diameter and four meters in height.

As a result, there wasn't enough room for them within the territory, so they had to place some outside the territory.

"This thing isn't in the source beast atlas or material atlas you gave me, but I guess it's a tree called the Energy-Devouring Giant Tree, which can transform into a tree-man after it matures."

"Tree people?" Wang Zhen's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in surprise, "I've only ever heard of such things, I've never actually seen one!"

"By the way, how do you know about the Energy-Devouring Giant Tree?"

"A loot dropped, containing tree seeds. The description of its growth method is very similar to this."

"You're so lucky, would you mind letting me take a look?"

"Okay, I'll go get it!"

Sui An turned around and went back into the house to take out the spoils of war. Wang Zhen took them and examined them carefully, and was immediately amazed.

"This is a good thing, a natural miner, it just grows a bit slowly. I'll go back and find you some blueprints for a nursery-type building, maybe it will come in handy."

"Okay, take a few back later and help me see if this stuff is worth anything. Yesterday I had Fang Nian try to extract it, and he got this tree core. I don't know what it is or how rare it is."

Sui An took out the tree stump from yesterday and handed it over. Wang Zhen returned the spoils, took the tree stump, looked at it for a moment, and shook his head.

"This thing is probably quite rare. I'll go back and ask a master appraiser if they're all level three."

"There are seven level four ones. They look like warriors. One of them pierced through my barrier with a single shot."

Sui An pointed to a corner of the courtyard, where several strangely shaped tree figures were piled up.

"I don't know how long this stuff will last. If it can last a long time, I'll keep it and refine it myself. Anyway, I'm not short of source stones now. I'll keep some rare materials for myself. You never know when I might need them."

After four consecutive rifts, he accumulated over 26,000 Originium stones on his body again.

Fang Nian's two cellars still contain more than 50 tons of source beast meat, and outside there are more than 900 materials for level 3 tree people. There are more than 6,000 sets of basic source materials, and the equipment materials obtained from the He family are still there.

Wang Zhen even had 6,000 source stones tied up in meat money, ready to buy blueprints or purple materials for intermediate-level city walls at any time.

In the short term, apart from the need to sell the source beast meat due to its large quantity, inability to be stored in the cellar, and its tendency to rot, Sui An no longer needs to sell these relatively rare resources to obtain source stones.

"Okay! I'll go back and ask around for you."

Wang Zhen agreed, stuffed the tree stump into his pocket, and suddenly pulled Sui An aside, whispering something to him.

"I've found a seller for the empty crystal energy stone you requested, but the seller seems to know you and me and insists on meeting you to discuss it."

"You really want to meet with me to discuss this?" Sui An was stunned. The only people he knew were Wang Zhen and a few others. Who else could know both Wang Zhen and him at the same time?

Wang Zhen pointed to the car outside the courtyard: "He's in the car right now. Do you want to see him?"

Sui An leaned closer. He hadn't really paid attention to the other people in the car, but after glancing at them a few times, his expression suddenly changed.

"So they're from the Gale Hunting Group!"

"The Gale Hunting Group?" Wang Zhen asked, puzzled. He quickly added, "That's not right. I've met all of Aunt Zhao's teammates. He shouldn't be among them."

Sui An remained silent for a moment, but still explained the situation.

"He was my father's teammate back then. After my father's accident, I heard that he also left the hunting group. It's normal that you don't know him, but it's a bit strange that he knows you."

"Do you want to see him?"

Wang Zhen hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Sui An had always been dissatisfied with the Gale Hunting Group, probably because his parents had died and he hated the entire group. Such things were not uncommon.

"Why wouldn't I see you?!"

Sui An put on a smile, but it looked somewhat fake.

"Why make things difficult for yourself? If you miss out on this purple material today, who knows when you'll find it again?"

"Okay, I'll go with you!"

Wang Zhen was a little worried. That person was also a level four professional. Whether he was the middleman or Sui An's friend, he naturally had to ensure his safety.

Sui An nodded and walked straight out. The man in the car seemed to notice someone coming out and quickly turned around. When he saw that it was Sui An, he jumped off the car.

"Xiao An, long time no see!"

"Uncle Ye, I didn't expect you to still remember me!"

Sui Anming had a smile on his face and a gentle voice, but it made Wang Zhen feel a chill in his heart, making him suddenly suspect that the two of them might have some other conflict.

Wang Zhen wasn't the only one who felt a chill; Ye Tengyang was also taken aback and even managed a bitter smile.

Do you still hold a grudge against me?

"No, you misunderstood. We don't need to say anything more. Are you selling your materials or not? If so, please name a price."

"It seems you're still angry. You were too young to know about what happened back then. It won't do you any good, and you don't even know if you can awaken. Why are you in such a hurry to know?"

Ye Tengyang sighed, his voice tinged with helplessness: "Besides, that secret place was a secret of the hunting party at the time, so I really can't tell you its location."

"good!"

Ye Tengyang's explanation seemed somewhat far-fetched. Sui An turned around, his voice gradually turning cold.

"If you were protecting the hunting party's property, why did you leave the party afterwards?"

"Now that you've left, why are you deliberately avoiding me when I try to find you again?"

"Is this how you treat the child of the person who once saved your life?"

"Eight years have passed, and I don't care anymore. So, are you going to sell the materials or not? If not, please leave!"

Ye Tengyang was about to explain something, but Sui An turned his head away, preparing to return to his territory.

"Xiao An!" Seeing this, Ye Tengyang raised his voice and called out to Sui An, then reached out and took out a crystal-clear stone.

"Here's the Void Crystal Source Stone you requested!"

Sui An turned around and looked at the almost transparent material in Ye Tengyang's hand, his pupils shrinking slightly.

"How much money do you want?"

"No need, you can have it. Consider it my way of repaying Brother Sui for saving my life."

Ye Tengyang didn't throw the materials away, but handed them to Wang Zhen, who was standing to the side. After Wang Zhen took them and examined them to make sure there were no problems, he handed them to Sui An.

Although Sui An was somewhat surprised, he didn't look at it much and simply took it in his hand: "Alright, consider this material as repayment of your kindness. Then we don't need to meet again in the future."

"I have something else to tell you! It concerns your parents!"

Ye Tengyang suddenly spoke again, and this time his words were extremely surprising.

Sure enough, Sui An stopped and turned to look at Ye Tengyang again. At this moment, he knew perfectly well that Ye Tengyang's sale of materials was just an excuse; what he really wanted to do was something else entirely.

"What exactly are you going to do?!"

Ye Tengyang turned his head and glanced behind him. Wang Zhen immediately understood. He waved his hand, and the car behind him drove to another direction of the territory.

Even Wang Zhen himself stood a little further away, but did not leave completely.

Ye Tengyang stepped forward and spoke again: "Xiao An, let me ask you, did you find anything strange about your parents' bodies back then?"

Sui An stared coldly at Ye Tengyang: "Say what you have to say!"

Ye Tengyang paced back and forth a few steps, seemingly trying to figure out how to organize his thoughts. After confirming what he was going to say, he slowly began to speak.

"Back then, Qian Hui, your parents, and I followed Deputy Commander Ning Pan along a route through the secret area. However, due to the nature of the secret area, the four of us were separated and teleported into four different ruin spaces. When we finally reunited after leaving the space, we saw that your parents had apparently stepped into a poison gas trap and were already dead."

Ye Tengyang first explained the situation from back then again. After finishing, he paused, clenched his fists, and patted them together, as if thinking about what to say next. He paused for a while before continuing.

"But I'm not the first person to meet your parents; Ning Pan is the first."

"Before I entered, I saw Ning Pan with his back to me opening the treasure bags on your parents' bodies, so I hesitated and did not leave my hiding place immediately, but waited for Qian Hui to appear before we went out together."

"I suspect that your parents' deaths were not solely due to the trap, but rather Ning Pan!"

Sui An's brows furrowed unconsciously. Although what Ye Tengyang said seemed to make sense, he wasn't easily swayed by Ye Tengyang's words.

Speaking of which, Ning Pan was probably the gentlest one in my memory. Although he was tall, he was like a scholar, speaking in a calm tone and without the condescending attitude of someone in a high position.

Compared to the somewhat aloof leader of the Gale Hunting Group, Sui An had a much better impression of him.

"Besides this, what other reason do you have? You can't expect me to go looking for revenge just because you say so, can you?"

Ye Tengyang seemed to have anticipated Sui An's question. He asked in a low voice, "Back then, in the treasure bag left by your parents, was there only one source energy crystal?"

"Is this what you saw?"

"Yes, I didn't know what he took from your parents' treasure bag at the time, but I saw him go back in time and put a crystal inside."

Sui An frowned even deeper and pressed on, "Is there any other evidence? If so, tell us all at once!"

"have!"

Ye Tengyang nodded and spoke again.

"That secret place is a site of ruins. Ning Pan gained the most from it among everyone, even obtaining a blue-level level 4 source energy skill!"

"But after we reunited, we didn't encounter any new teleportation spaces, so we couldn't find the location of the loot. Therefore, his gains could only have come from the four spaces where we separated."

"Qian Hui and I had roughly the same gains, and it was that gain that allowed us to quickly break through to level 4. There's no reason why your parents' treasure bags would be empty!"

"And in front of the entire group, he used his authority as vice-captain to hold a vote and decide that the treasure bags on your parents' bodies would not be counted in the group's harvest this time, as compensation for them. So apart from Hai, me, and him, no one knew that your parents' treasure bags were empty, and everyone thought that there was a lot of harvest!"

"If your parents' treasure trove was empty before he checked it, then he wouldn't have needed to stop Bie Ming from inspecting it!"

"Either he killed you out of greed, or your parents died unexpectedly, but he stole your parents' belongings."

Suddenly, Sui An wavered.

He admitted that Ye Tengyang's words made sense. If Ning Pan had put the crystal in there, then regardless of whether he had taken his parents' spoils or not, he should have known that the treasure bag was empty. So why did he stop Bie Ming from looking into his parents' treasure bag?

It's just a source crystal, worth only ten or so source stones, not a very good gain.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that Ning Pan put the crystal in.

Sui An suddenly raised his head and asked softly.

"Who ultimately obtained that blue Source Energy Technique?"

"Naturally, it's Ning Pan. As the deputy leader, he has priority in exchanging, and this Origin Skill itself is his gain, so naturally he has the highest right to exchange."

Ye Tengyang thought for a moment, then added, "That origin skill is a passive physical skill, and it's extremely valuable. Even the guild leader is envious."

Sui An nodded. Ye Tengyang's words seemed to have some credibility, but this matter couldn't be rushed. He still needed to go and verify it with Ming.

But why did Ye Tengyang leave the hunting party in the first place?

And why tell me this again after more than eight years?

"Why were you unwilling to talk about these things back then, but are you willing to talk about them now?"

Ye Tengyang smiled, seemingly relieved, and even his body unconsciously relaxed a little.

He looked at Sui An and said softly, "You were too young before, and we didn't know if you could awaken. What meaning would it have for you to know these things? I wasn't even an intermediate level back then. I was afraid of exposing something and being suspected by Ning Pan, so I didn't dare to stay in Jiangcheng."

"But I've heard about your territory, and you should be able to protect yourself now, so I think you should know about these things."

"Brother Sui Ling will be very happy to see how successful you are now!"

"That's all I know. You can go and verify with Ming, but don't easily alarm Ning Pan. This Ming is now far stronger than an ordinary level 5 professional. He's extremely powerful."

"Normally, when Ming obtains Hai Yuan skills, he doesn't hand them over to the hunting party. He learns them on the spot, and it's difficult for Ming to verify them. But Ning Pan handed them over to Hai."

"Therefore, I suspect that he may have obtained a more powerful source energy skill in the ruins, which he needed to hide, perhaps a purple source energy skill of the same type!"