Chapter 1097: Chapter 738: Bloodwood (Part 2)
They traveled all the way to the back of the city, where there were uninhabited bloodwood houses, and everyone was forbidden from coming here. An invisible formation surrounded the area, isolating it.
Luo Shanyou passed through the invisible formation, and soon a tree with an extremely bizarre appearance appeared in front of them. The tree was entirely red, as if filled with red blood vessels, its thick roots sprawling out all the way to the human-inhabited city outside.
This is the true form of the bloodwood. The entire human city was built upon the roots of this blood-red tree.
The bloodwood before them did not resemble a tree; instead, it looked more like an ugly treant. Above, there was no lush canopy, just a few red leaves. On its side, two extremely strange hands extended, continuously waving.
Creaaak! Creaaak!
The blood-red treant kept moving wildly. Its trunk split open into two scarlet eyes and a mouth, growling deeply, emanating an eerie and powerful aura.
Seeing the mutated bloodwood, Luo Shanyou’s expression changed, and he said, "What’s going on? How did it become like this? Wasn’t it fine when I left just now?"
Duan Guyan shook his head and said, "I’m not sure either. An hour ago, when I came to inspect, it was still quiet, no mutation. But moments ago, for some reason, it suddenly seemed to awaken with its own consciousness, becoming extremely frenzied, and its aura..."
Luo Shanyou’s heart sank.
Li Qianluo, seeing the mutated bloodwood, was also surprised and said, "Uncle Luo, this bloodwood has taken form; its cultivation level is almost equivalent to the Inquiry Dao Realm! How much blood have you fed it?"
"We feed it every day; otherwise it will riot!" Luo Shanyou said solemnly, "I thought it would at least need two more years to take form. How did it suddenly speed up? And become so strong!"
Although the bloodwood can resist void power, it is also fed with blood infused with Spiritual Power by the human cultivators. The bloodwood, over the years, grows quickly by devouring human blood and energy.
Luo Shanyou was aware of this, initially planning to find a substitute within these two years to move away from the bloodwood’s control. But, for some reason, the bloodwood suddenly accelerated the process, now becoming more violent.
Li Qianluo asked, "Uncle Luo, has the bloodwood ever shown signs like this before?"
Luo Shanyou hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "So far, it’s happened three times, but each turmoil wasn’t significant. It just took advantage when we weren’t paying attention, rolled up three people, devoured them, and returned to normal."
Li Qianluo was shocked, "How come I never heard you mention it?"
"Because this would easily cause panic, and we have no better way to respond! We can only suppress the news and not tell others." Luo Shanyou sighed.
He had to spend a lot of energy every day making blood for the bloodwood. Because he was in the Inquiry Dao Realm, he had the ability to feed the bloodwood, but he had discovered something terrifying.
The bloodwood, although it can resist the void’s devouring ability, it is also growing!
This eerie entity, after devouring fresh blood, seemed to start to revive, its appetite increasingly large. If not fed enough, the bloodwood would extend vines, entangle people, and kill them as nourishment.
Recently, three people in the clan have already lost their lives being entangled by the bloodwood, all suppressed by Luo Shanyou.
He couldn’t find another way to protect everyone from the void power. Breath soil couldn’t be used, Shen Li had to protect the children, and he could only rely on the bloodwood, feeding it for as long as he could.
Amidst the conversation, the bloodwood suddenly started rioting, its roots beneath it began to shake, and a surge of energy swiftly radiated out.
"Not good, it’s going to devour someone again!"
Luo Shanyou’s face changed drastically, and he immediately reached out to grab the bloodwood’s roots, then cut his arm, with blood gushing out from his arm.
The bloodwood, smelling the blood, swiftly reversed, growing roots that wrapped around Luo Shanyou’s arm, the roots deeply extending into the wound along his arm.
Gurgle! Gurgle!
The bloodwood devoured, gulping Luo Shanyou’s deep blood, making swallowing sounds. Two tendrils were bloated as if filled with liquid, functioning like hoses.
Soon, its devouring speed suddenly increased, seemingly becoming greedier, extending more tendrils to envelop Luo Shanyou entirely!
"Uncle Luo! Something’s wrong; it’s trying to devour you! We must cut it!" Li Qianluo’s palm emitted a sharp light!
"No! You can’t cut it! If it dies, the city will be destroyed, and everyone here will fall into the void and die instantly!"
Although Luo Shanyou was tightly wrapped by the tendrils, he did not resist but instead forbade Li Qianluo.
The roots of the bloodwood constituted the city; those humans needed the bloodwood to resist the void power. Without the increasingly frenzied bloodwood, the people here wouldn’t survive.
Li Qianluo’s eyes flickered with micro light, reflecting the bloodwood, she exclaimed, "It’s not just devouring your blood now; it’s also touching your soul! Uncle Luo, you’ll be in trouble if this continues!"
"I can hold on! You mustn’t interfere!" Luo Shanyou shouted.
"You can’t hold on any longer!"
Li Qianluo stomped her foot, about to turn and find someone for help, when suddenly a figure flashed by!
Crack!
The glint of a blade flashed, and the tendrils entwining Luo Shanyou snapped in response.
Xiang Beifei yanked Luo Shanyou out from the tangle of roots.
Luo Shanyou looked up and, seeing that it was Xiang Beifei, immediately shouted angrily: "What are you doing?"
"I’m saving your life," Xiang Beifei said calmly.
"I don’t need you to save me! Don’t you know what will happen if the blood tree doesn’t absorb enough fresh blood? If it goes berserk, everyone here will die!" Luo Shanyou shouted angrily.
"No one will die."
Xiang Beifei turned around and looked at the blood tree.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The blood tree also noticed Xiang Beifei and immediately roared as it pounced toward him!
But before it could reach Xiang Beifei, it suddenly stopped in midair, frozen like a statue, completely motionless, and then, as if sensing something, it began to tremble!
"You can’t just suck anyone’s blood."
Xiang Beifei looked at the blood tree coldly and raised his hand to grip!
Whoosh!
A burst of black and white flames instantly burst from the blood tree, setting the entire tree ablaze; the blood tree immediately let out a painful howl, twisting frantically in an attempt to extinguish the flames, but the fire, like a bone-attached maggot, rapidly spread and rushed out along the tree roots!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The entire city was enveloped in flames, and all the buildings formed by the tree roots were set alight.
"Stop! You’re going to kill everyone this way!" Luo Shanyou shouted loudly.
"Awoo!"
A mighty kylin appeared in the air, its whole body a dark green, letting out a loud roar, and in the blink of an eye, the entire void became vibrant, as if spring breezes swept through, life renewed, and wooden planks rapidly spread, replacing the previous structure of the blood tree!
It was Erha!
Erha shook its head and swayed in the air, and only when it had covered the entire city with green wood did it proudly wag its tail and land here, its form shrinking quickly, landing on Xiang Beifei’s shoulder.
Seeing Luo Shanyou’s shocked expression, Erha even made a funny face.
Luo Shanyou looked at Xiang Beifei, then at Erha, not understanding what had happened.
Xiang Beifei didn’t say much, the blood tree was still burning but gradually converged into his hand, being refined into a mass of spiritual power. With a casual wave, he forcibly infused this mass of spiritual power into Luo Shanyou’s body.
"Is this... the blood tree’s power?" Luo Shanyou asked in surprise.
"If Uncle Luo is in trouble, how can there be a future for the Human Race?" Xiang Beifei asked.
Luo Shanyou felt the pure power extracted from the blood tree in his body, most of this spiritual power belonged to him since he was the one feeding the blood tree, not expecting it to be returned by Xiang Beifei.
He looked uncertainly at Xiang Beifei, and after a moment, said in a deep voice: "Weren’t you leaving?"
"I didn’t say I wouldn’t care about the life and death of the Human Race," Xiang Beifei replied.
"So you’ve given up going to Common Valley?"
"I’ll deal with future matters in the future."
Luo Shanyou looked at Xiang Beifei, silent for a long time, then asked: "Can the Human Race trust you?"
Xiang Beifei’s expression was very calm; he knew what he wanted to do and what he had to do.
"They can."
He gave the answer.
The long-dimmed light in Luo Shanyou’s eyes gradually brightened, as if someone had pulled him up from an abyss, he saw that glimmer of dawn in the darkness.
"Thank you."
Luo Shanyou bowed deeply.