I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

Those plant puppets.

Tens of thousands of twisted bodies froze at the same moment.

One by one, the carefree grasses peeked out from their eye sockets, ear canals, mouths... and every crack in their skin.

The next moment, countless Ashoka flowers bloomed simultaneously.

The petals curl inwards layer by layer, revealing a deep purple, toothed flower core.

A cloyingly sweet fragrance burst forth from the flower's core.

At first, it was just wisps of pale purple smoke drifting above the remains of the plant puppet.

The smoke grew thicker and denser.

It changed from light purple to dark purple, and from dark purple to purplish-black.

Finally, the fragrant mist rose up like a tsunami, sweeping towards the human camp.

The moment the purplish-black turbid wave crashed into the spiritual field, the golden dome of light trembled violently.

Ripples spread across the surface of the dazzling sky, and the air throughout the camp trembled.

The elite travelers, who had already retreated to their camp, stood still, their spiritual lights flashing in different shades one after another.

Even Li gritted his teeth and poured his profound abyssal power into the spiritual field.

Suddenly, the beams of light atop the twelve stone pillars all thickened.

The light dome formed by the intertwining of spiritual light and abyssal power was like a glass barrier, firmly blocking the overwhelming evil energy outside.

A full quarter of an hour.

The campsite stood majestically amidst the turbid waves, like a mountain range.

The evil energy finally ran out of steam and began to slowly dissipate.

Like the receding tide, it retreats along the land into the depths of the oasis.

As the last wisp of purple mist disappeared into the shadows of the palm grove, someone in the camp finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Qi leaned against the totem pole, gazing at the green land tainted by evil energy.

The dying oasis finally revealed its true form.

The trunk of the palm tree is grayish-white, like a dried-out skeleton.

The bushes were long dead, leaving only bare branches sticking out of the ground like fingers reaching out from a grave.

The river that once meandered through the land now has a dried-up, cracked riverbed, from which a dark purple viscous liquid seeps out and emits a putrid stench.

All things wither and die.

The entire oasis resembled a shell with its internal organs emptied, long since rotting and decaying.

Yu stood in the middle of the group, his fingers gripping the twin swords trembling slightly.

At that moment, he was truly terrified.

He gazed at the desolate land, but the image of the royal city appeared in his mind—

Those fertile lands, those bustling markets, those vibrant and kind people…

If back then, because of him, the Xia Kingdom had fallen into this state...

"Even death could not atone for it."

Yu closed his eyes, unable to think any further.

Just then, the ground suddenly shook violently.

All eyes turned to the depths of the oasis.

At the end of the palm grove, in the center of that dead land, the ground is collapsing.

Soil and gravel slid down the edge of the crack and plunged into the bottomless darkness below.

A massive fissure in the earth is forming.

A cold, sticky malice surged forth from the crack in the ground.

It was a blatant mockery of the human expeditionary force.

It's right here.

Do you dare to come?

Qi's gaze swept over the several senior executives around him.

Xuan took the iron knife from behind his back and placed his hands on the hilt, one on top of the other.

He suddenly started moving his wrists, and his knuckles cracked.

The wind caused the vine staff to pause on the ground, and spiritual light seeped from the tip of the staff into the earth's veins, extending and probing towards the direction of the crack in the ground.

A spiritual flame ignited in Qi's eyes, and a blade-like aura sliced ​​through the foul-smelling air...

Just then, Yu stepped out from the group.

"Commander-in-Chief, I'll lead the team to scout out the situation first."

Yu's face no longer held the arrogance and stubbornness of yesteryear, only the resilience forged in the crucible of adversity.

Qi remained silent for three breaths, then nodded.

"Lead scouts, only to explore the area, not to engage in prolonged battles."

"Withdraw immediately if anything changes."

Yu thumped his chest in salute, pointed to two familiar comrades, and reached forward.

The moment it burrowed into the fissure in the ground, a sweet, cloying scent immediately wafted in from all around.

The three scouts had animal hides tied around their mouths and noses, soaked in medicinal liquid, in an attempt to keep the evil energy out.

Yu's feet landed on the protrusions on the side of the crack, and the spiritual light barely illuminated the path beneath his feet.

I don't know how long I climbed down, but when I finally stepped onto solid ground again...

The world before my eyes began to distort.

The rock wall disappeared, the darkness disappeared, the crack in the ground disappeared.

Yu stood in a familiar place—the altar of the Royal Tree God.

The sky was overcast, with low-hanging, leaden clouds shrouding the entire altar in darkness.

He saw Qi standing in the center of the altar, facing the branches of the tree god, with his arms raised high.

"By the Tree God!"

"The people of Xia Kingdom bear witness!"

"Today, I will pass the throne of Grand Commander to..."

Cheers erupted.

Thousands of tribesmen shouted in unison, "Tree God above!" and "Great Leader is wise!" The sound waves made Yu's eardrums buzz.

Yu watched as Qi retreated to the edge of the altar, a warm, sunny smile appearing on his perpetually serious face.

He had never seen that smile on his father's face.

Even when he successfully absorbed Qi for the first time when he was ten years old, Qi simply nodded and said, "Keep practicing."

Even on the day he broke through the limit, Qi only patted him on the shoulder and said, "Not bad."

And now, the father smiled at a stranger.

Unwillingness, like a venomous snake, crawled out from the darkest corner of his heart, coiling around it tighter and tighter.

Yu's hands were trembling; without him noticing, the highly poisonous wooden dagger was already in his palm.

Yu gripped the dagger and walked step by step toward the altar.

Qi stood at the edge of the altar, his back to him, talking to someone.

Their figures overlapped in the sunlight, as intimate as father and son.

The distance was less than ten feet.

Yu raised the dagger, the tip aimed at the old, slightly hunched back.

As long as you stab...

Once the stab is made, all of this will end.

All the cheers, all the worship, all that smile... will be his.

The tip of the knife hovered in mid-air, trembling slightly.

Yu's breathing became more and more rapid, the veins on the back of his hands bulged, and his knuckles turned white.

Suddenly, he saw it.

He saw his own face reflected in the blade of the dagger.

A hideous, twisted face, devoured beyond recognition by jealousy and resentment.

Yu loosened his fingers one by one.

The dagger slipped from his palm and landed on the bluestone steps with a crisp clang.

"boom!!!"

A thunderclap exploded deep within Yu's consciousness.

The illusion shattered.

Rock walls, moss, darkness... the fissure in the ground reappeared before my eyes.

Yu was drenched in cold sweat.

He was horrified to discover that he was indeed holding a short blade in his right hand, with the tip pointing forward.

The tip of the short blade was less than an inch from the back of one of the team members.

Yu abruptly released his grip, the short blade slipping from his palm, bouncing against the rock wall before falling into the darkness below…

Looking at his two companions, whose faces were a mixture of tears and laughter.

Yu raised his hand and delivered two swift and decisive chops to the back of their necks.

Then, holding one in each hand, he leaped upwards using the power of the burst of spiritual light.

The moment he burst out of the fissure in the earth, the sunlight stung his eyes.

The radiance of the sacred site spread from the camp, dispelling the lingering intoxicating fragrance in the air.

Yu dragged his two unconscious scout companions and ran all the way to the totem pole before daring to stop.

He couldn't help but collapse.

He was panting heavily...