Chapter 769: Whoever Wants Her Can Marry Her

Daylight lasted a long time in this place, and so did the night. After regulating his breathing for an entire night, Niu Youdao had more or less recovered from his injuries.

At daybreak, he finished circulating his cultivation and opened his eyes. His gaze settled on the Moon Butterfly resting against the stone wall and grew deep for a moment. Then he took out a Spirit Seed, crushed it into powder with his spiritual power, and mixed it into the Moon Butterfly's food.

After coming this far, few people remained willing to follow him. Only this Moon Butterfly could be trusted completely. It would stay beside him, never leaving or abandoning him. So he would rather waste Spirit Seeds—even if that shortened his own supply—to preserve the Moon Butterfly as long as possible and keep it from dying inside the Secret Realm.

After putting away the Moon Butterfly, Niu Youdao picked up his sword and rose. He stepped out of the tree hollow and nodded to Wu Zhaoxing, who was sitting cross-legged outside on guard.

They were setting out.

Although Niu Youdao had secretly gone out for several days, the supposed five-day period of secluded cultivation had not yet ended. But since he had decided to leave, the people from Yan's three major sects naturally had no objection. The entire group resumed its journey.

Carefully controlling their expenditure of spiritual power, they traveled for somewhat less than half a day. Just as they were about to leave the forest without quite having done so, a deep rumbling vibration came rolling toward them from afar through the ground.

Everyone immediately went on alert. They quickly left the forest and stopped atop a hillside, looking out over a vast grassland.

The grassland was unlike those of the outside world. The wild grass rose higher than a person. Even the scattered trees across the plains, though nowhere near as gigantic as those in the ancient forest behind them, were still far larger than ordinary trees outside. Being here constantly made everything from the outer world seem small and delicate by comparison.

They soon found the source of the rumbling. A herd of abnormally enormous animals was crossing the grassland like a procession of small mountains. They had long necks and long tails, and every footfall landed with a muffled boom.

Everyone stared in wonder, clicking their tongues in amazement.

Niu Youdao, however, was dumbstruck. His thoughts became a little disordered as one word flashed through his mind.

Dinosaurs?

If he had not mistaken them, judging by what he remembered from his previous life, these enormous creatures strolling leisurely past should be... what were they called again?

Brachiosaurus?

Before entering the Tiandu Secret Realm, he had heard there were many gigantic animals here. Even after stretching his imagination as far as it would go, he had never imagined he would see something like this.

He looked back at the forest of colossal trees behind him, then around at his surroundings. A jumble of associations formed in his mind, though he had no idea whether any of them were right.

It was said that under normal circumstances, animals from the outer world could not survive here, while animals from this place could not survive outside. The difference lay in the special environments of the two realms. That made him think of what his previous life had called extinction. Could the destruction of some special environment have been what caused such an extinction?

"Everyone can relax," Shan Hai called back, calming the Xiaoyao Palace disciples whose expressions had changed. "According to the experience of those who came before us, these creatures may look enormous, but so long as you don't provoke them, they won't attack on their own."

Then he added a warning. "That doesn't mean everything here is harmless. If you encounter other creatures, pay attention and judge for yourselves."

Niu Youdao suddenly asked, "Myriad Beasts Sect specializes in controlling beasts. Can they control the animals here?"

"No," Shan Hai replied. "Once they come here, even Myriad Beasts Sect is helpless. The creatures of the two realms are different. It probably has something to do with this place's unusual environment."

"Let's go. First we'll find a landmark we can use as a gathering point, then arrange for everyone to spread out and search." Yan Li called out and took the lead, guiding Zijin Cave's people away.

The others followed one after another. More than a thousand cultivators leapt and swept over the grassland.

From time to time, vicious little creatures with sharp teeth and claws sprang out of the grass. Even with their heads raised they stood about as tall as a person, and they could leap a good ten feet into the air. They waited for cultivators to descend, then lunged up to bite them. Unfortunately for the creatures, they were not fast enough to match cultivator reactions. Some were kicked away. Others merely became footholds beneath the cultivators' feet.

Eventually, a pack of more than a hundred of the savage little beasts gathered below and gave chase, racing through the tall grass as though cleaving waves apart.

They could not keep up with the cultivators' speed through the air. In the end, they could only swish their tails and watch helplessly as the humans disappeared into the distance.

After traveling for about two hours, the group left the grassland and entered a stretch of rolling mountain forest.

The trees here looked somewhat more normal. They were still exceptionally tall, but not grotesquely gigantic like those in the ancient forest.

The old forest had contained almost only one kind of tree, whereas all kinds of vegetation grew mixed together here.

The moment they entered the forest, the three major sects reminded their disciples to be careful.

Niu Youdao understood the reason well enough. The colossal trees of the ancient forest had blocked out the living space of other plants, damaging the food chain and making it difficult for many animals to survive there. There had therefore been fewer fierce beasts. Outside that ancient forest, things were different. Predators could be waiting to hunt them at any moment.

These beasts had lived wild all their lives. They could not tell whether the people before them were cultivators with power far beyond ordinary creatures. If an opportunity appeared, they would attack.

The group swept through the mountains, heading directly toward the highest main peak.

Their luck was good. A black tree grew on the summit. Its trunk and branches were pitch-dark and its leaves sparse.

It was precisely a Spirit Tree.

Zijin Cave's people seized the first opportunity. They had been traveling at the front, and the instant they discovered the Spirit Tree, they stripped every fruit from it.

Although the Spirit Tree was enormous, it bore only seven fruits. All seven grew upward from the very tops of seven clusters of principal branches, as though absorbing the essence of sun and moon.

The fruits were black as well. To Niu Youdao, their shape resembled coconuts.

The instant the fruits were plucked, an astonishing scene unfolded. It was as though the entire Spirit Tree's vitality had been removed with them. The great tree suddenly seemed incapable of bearing even its own weight. Branches cracked and crashed down in disorder, while the remaining trunk rapidly decayed before finally collapsing with a thunderous crash.

This was one of the miraculous aspects of Spirit Trees.

They had no seeds from which they grew. Heaven and earth gave them birth, and they arose by gathering the essence of Heaven and earth. They took twenty years to become trees, another ten years to flower, ten more to bear fruit, and another ten for the fruit to ripen.

Exactly fifty years for one complete cycle of life and death.

The Spirit Seeds inside the fruit could exist here for no more than five years. Once those five years were up, what had mysteriously arisen from the unseen would vanish back into the unseen.

As for where Spirit Trees would grow, or where they would disappear, there was no fixed pattern anyone could grasp. At least, the cultivation world had yet to discover one. Spirit Trees seemed to grow wherever they pleased.

Zijin Cave's people had seized the first Spirit Tree they encountered, but no one fought over it. There was no need for factions on the same side to kill one another over such a small amount.

Instead, several groups called everyone over so they could watch how Spirit Seeds were harvested.

The fruit shell was extremely hard and had to be forcibly broken with spiritual power. Once opened, it released a subtle fragrance that refreshed the heart and mind. The flesh inside had already become fibrous sacs, packed densely with Spirit Seeds—each sesame-sized, crystalline, translucent, and violet.

Every fruit contained exactly the same number: no more and no fewer than seven hundred Spirit Seeds.

That meant a single Spirit Tree yielded nearly five thousand Spirit Seeds.

The number sounded large, but in reality it amounted to only a small handful.

Watching from the side, Niu Youdao finally gained firsthand understanding of the process.

Afterward, the three major sects discussed matters and decided to use this main peak as their starting point. Their people would spread outward and conduct a broad search. Once everyone had advanced roughly an agreed distance, they would gather again, reorganize, and collect whatever Spirit Seeds each group had found.

After the arrangements were settled, the manpower was divided among the center, left wing, and right wing. Each of Yan's three major sects took responsibility for one direction and began making its own deployments.

Niu Youdao did not know which group he was supposed to fall under.

Before anyone else could arrange him, Chu Fengping, Elder of Lingjian Mountain, sought him out first. Finding an opportunity to speak quietly, he asked, "Have you thought it through? Do you really need to wait the full five days? With your head, do you need that long to think? Dragging it out another day or two has no meaning."

Yan Li on Zijin Cave's side and Shan Hai on Xiaoyao Palace's side both cast occasional glances in their direction. The two knew perfectly well why Chu Fengping had approached Niu Youdao, yet both pretended ignorance. They saw through it but said nothing.

Whether fortune or disaster, what could not be avoided would eventually arrive.

"Elder Chu is right..." Niu Youdao's mood grew somewhat heavy. He spoke one word at a time. "Marriage is no trifling matter. I, Niu, find it very difficult to obey."

Chu Fengping's face sank. "Brother, this is no place to let emotion dictate your actions. If you still haven't thought it through, then take the full five days and consider it again. Don't act on impulse."

Niu Youdao said, "Elder Chu, why force me this far? Is there truly no other way for us to discuss the matter?"

"Another way?" Chu Fengping replied. "Fine. Then tell me one. If you can give me another method that lets me feel completely secure, I'll listen to you."

It was not that Niu Youdao had no way at all.

He could reveal some enormous secret and hand it over as leverage against himself.

The problem was that Chu Fengping—or rather, Lingjian Mountain—could not bear the weight of the secrets Niu Youdao possessed. There was a very real chance they would simply sell him directly to Misty Pavilion.

The loss would far outweigh any gain.

Put plainly, he had no good solution either.

He answered with silence.

Chu Fengping watched him for a while, then softened his tone. "Brother, why make things so difficult for yourself? There's truly no need. How about I give you one more day to think?"

Niu Youdao said, "If we cooperate, everyone benefits. That's good for all of us. Why push someone too far?"

"I want mutual benefit too," Chu Fengping said. "But you refuse to understand what is good for you. Nor am I forcing you. Bringing you with us makes you a burden and will draw enormous trouble. If Lingjian Mountain gains none of the benefits it wants, and you and I are not our own people, then why should I make Lingjian Mountain's disciples sacrifice themselves for you?"

"Brother, I've already treated you well enough. Plenty of men want to marry that disciple of mine. I'm handing you a beautiful match for nothing. Why make it so difficult? This is such a good thing. What is there left for you to hesitate over?"

Niu Youdao asked calmly, "So if I agree to marry her, that's enough?"

"Agreeing is the minimum!" Chu Fengping said. "Of course, marrying in a place like this would hardly be proper. I don't want to wrong the girl either. It would be too careless. Once we leave the Secret Realm, I'll arrange a grand wedding for the two of you."

"Naturally, the wedding itself is only a formality. To put your mind at ease, I can give her to you first. Once there's a child, everyone can rest easy..."

Exactly as expected.

Niu Youdao had already guessed what he would say. He raised a hand and cut him off. "Elder Chu, I appreciate the goodwill. It seems the two of us simply cannot reach agreement."

Chu Fengping's expression became extremely ugly. "Niu Youdao, don't refuse the face I'm giving you. Don't reject a toast only to be forced to drink a penalty cup. Think carefully before you speak!"

Niu Youdao threw back a hard answer.

"Whoever wants her can marry her. There isn't a single woman in Lingjian Mountain who catches my eye!"

[End of Chapter 769]