Bao Gu circled the outskirts of Flamefire Holy City and discovered that its defenses were even tighter than she had imagined. There was simply no gap she could exploit to slip in and rescue anyone.
The Flame Saint Sect might not have many people, but it occupied an exceptionally blessed land and possessed countless cultivation resources. Naturally, it had spared no effort in fortifying its home base. Leaving everything else aside, the city-protecting grand formation alone was nothing particularly unusual, but it had been built with extraordinary solidity. Its energy came from the molten lava beneath the ground, and its coverage spread outward from the imperial palace in the inner city of the Flame Saint Sect. The farther inward one went, the stronger the energy became. As for the outer city, sacred artifacts were linked around its perimeter to draw power as well.
There was nothing novel or mysterious about the formation. From far away, one could see the Flamefire Pillar standing in the Sacred Flame Hall of the imperial palace within the inner city. That was the formation core. The pillar extended all the way up from the underground lava to the surface, releasing energy that formed a perfectly rounded barrier over Flamefire Holy City, sealing both the ground above and the depths below with absolute thoroughness.
Breaking this formation would be easy in theory: attack the formation core. But the core was also where the formation’s energy was strongest. There was no clever shortcut. Either one used overwhelming force to smash the formation from the outside, but with the enemy’s endless geothermal energy supply, that stupid method truly became a stupid method; or one sneaked inside and tampered with the core.
Bao Gu felt the difficulty of that was about the same as someone sneaking into Qing Province’s grand formation and carrying off the Xuantian Library sitting at the core.
The spies from Shadow Pavilion did send back news. Jade Shura had been imprisoned in the Flamefire Heavenly Prison. Supposedly, it was a prison that had once held an earth immortal.
Bao Gu thought for a while, then moved the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree out of the flood dragon spirit-herb field. She had just been about to ask if it could sneak in and rescue someone when the old tea tree’s roots shot upright.
With an “Awooo!” it let out a shriek. Its branches bent, pointing at Bao Gu.
“Such a hot place! Are you trying to roast me into charcoal? Put me back!”
Bao Gu gave the absurdly dramatic Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree a cool glance.
This thing had once been the Taixu Divine Tree, the divine tree that guarded an upper realm. And it was afraid of this little bit of heat? Stop joking.
Her pretty face tensed as she said, “Do you see that city ahead? I want to sneak in…”
Before she could finish, the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree screamed again.
“Go in? Didn’t you see that energy barrier made of molten lava and fire slurry covering the whole city? You want me to take you inside? Oh, I understand. You want to bake me straight into dried tea leaves!”
Bao Gu was speechless.
She wanted to draw the Xuantian Sword and chop this lunatic tea tree into firewood.
Seeing Bao Gu’s expression darken, the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree tightened all over and shivered.
“Go find that crazy girl Qingying! She plays with fire. She can do it. Yes, go find her!”
Bao Gu said flatly, “Qingying was taken by the All-Spirits True Cauldron. She can’t come.”
When the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree heard that Qingying had actually been taken, even its coiled roots trembled.
“Who… who could suppress that crazy girl? What is the All-Spirits True Cauldron?”
Then it saw Bao Gu’s cold gaze sweep over. Its bark tightened, and it hurriedly stared at the city opposite them for a careful examination.
“You have the War God Sword, don’t you? Use it to chop down the tallest pillar in the very center of the city. That’ll do it. Once that pillar is destroyed, the force of the collapsing formation will be enough to annihilate the entire city. Otherwise, use your flagship to bombard it. I guarantee it won’t be able to withstand that!”
Bao Gu said coldly, “Do you know Yu Mi?”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree nodded hurriedly.
Bao Gu continued, “Her sworn sister is inside. She was captured and locked in the strongest prison in the city.”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree immediately wilted.
Bao Gu said, “If you can think of a way, I’ll give you ten thousand high-grade wood spirit stones.”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree’s eyes lit up.
“Really?”
Bao Gu said, “If you can help me rescue Jade Shura, I’ll give you twenty thousand high-grade wood spirit stones.”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree instantly became radiant, divine light shining all over its body.
It asked, “What does Yu Mi’s sworn sister look like?”
Bao Gu imprinted Jade Shura’s appearance and aura into a jade token and tossed it to the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree. After a brief pause, she also gave the old tea tree a thousand high-grade wood spirit stones in advance.
“This is the deposit. I’ll give you the rest after you rescue her.”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree rolled out a surge of power and collected the high-grade wood spirit stones Bao Gu had thrown over. Then, with roots far denser than its branches and leaves, it strode straight toward the gates of Flamefire Holy City.
In just a few steps, it arrived beneath the city gate. A huge mouth appeared on its trunk, and it shouted, “Open the gates! Grandpa Tree is here to surrender to your city!”
The guards on the city wall were shocked when they saw such a divine, radiant treasure tree suddenly walking through the air toward them. Their eyes went wide, and they rubbed them hard. Quite a few released their divine senses to investigate, only to discover that the leaves on the tree’s crown were covered in imprints of the laws of heaven. Their breathing stopped on the spot.
Anything that could bear imprints of the laws of heaven was definitely an immortal treasure or higher. As far as they knew, the Five Elements Immortal Stones in the Hatchet Gang’s Immortal Stone Palace were exactly such things…
Bao Gu was speechless.
She had been out of options and thought this mad tea tree had a bit of quick wit, as well as a powerful background, so she dragged it out to see whether it had any ideas. She had not had much hope in the first place. She had never expected the old tea tree to go this far for spirit stones.
After so many years of recovery, the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree was no longer the withered, dying thing it had once been. Its branches and leaves were lush, and vast vitality burst from it. Multicolored light coiled around its entire body. Standing there, it needed no introduction. The aura and treasure light radiating from it were already shouting brightly to everyone around:
Come quickly! Come quickly! An immortal treasure has appeared! A supreme treasure above the level of a ninth-rank sacred treasure has appeared!
The early Tribulation-stage cultivator who had been sitting cross-legged on the city wall with his eyes closed, responsible for guarding this section of the wall, suddenly opened his eyes. He stared fixedly at the treasure tree that had abruptly jumped beneath the wall.
At this crucial moment, when the Flame Saint Sect was at war with the Hatchet Gang, a ninth-rank supreme treasure had suddenly appeared, and it even carried the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea unique to the Machete Token Holder on its head. The scene was too beautiful, too shocking.
He leaped over, rushed to the battlements, and shouted down at the old tea tree standing at the gate, “Are you the Machete Token Holder’s Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree?”
A pair of eyes suddenly opened on the old tea tree’s trunk. They were pure and crystalline, as clean as those of a newborn child.
It cried out in surprise, “Eh? You know me?”
The Tribulation-stage cultivator excitedly wiped his face with his hand.
“This old man once had the honor of drinking tea brewed from one of your leaves and gained enlightenment from it.”
The Machete Token Holder’s sacred tea tree had come here? He immediately looked around warily but did not see Bao Gu.
“Where is the Machete Token Holder?”
The old tea tree also turned its head and looked all around in alarm.
“Nervously speaking… she probably, maybe, hasn’t caught up yet?”
The Tribulation-stage cultivator asked in surprise, “Are you… Did you sneak out?”
The old tea tree glared and roared, “If someone plucked you bald every three years, and you had a chance to run, would you not run?”
One of its branches bent like an arm and pointed at its own crown.
“See that? I’m already going bald!”
Bao Gu, hidden far away and watching the situation at the city wall, covered her eyes. She could hardly bear to look.
Suddenly, Bao Gu sensed a powerful energy fluctuation in the sky not far behind the old tea tree, as if the heavens themselves were being torn apart. As that fluctuation emerged, a heart-palpitating aura surged out. It felt as though the sky itself was pressing down. Immediately afterward, the Daluo Crimson Gold flagship emerged from the void and loomed overhead.
The Daluo Crimson Gold flagship was so enormous that it covered the entire sky outside Flamefire Holy City.
The sudden appearance of the Daluo Crimson Gold flagship made everyone in Flamefire Holy City feel as though they were facing a formidable enemy.
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree was also badly startled. It sprang up with a whoosh. The pair of eyes that had been facing the people on the wall suddenly vanished and reappeared on the opposite side of its trunk. Then all its roots moved together as it spun in circles at the city gate, shouting nonstop, “Open the gates! Open the gates! She’s caught up! She’s caught up!”
Bao Gu pressed a hand to her forehead. This old tea tree made her heart feel like it was breaking.
Anyone looking at this would think it was trying to trick them into opening the gates. How could they possibly open them?
On the Daluo Crimson Gold flagship, Yu Mi and Qu Yirou were also stunned when they saw the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree hopping around at the city gate.
Qu Yirou cried out, “Is that… Bao Gu’s Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree?”
She had never seen the tree, but she had seen the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea growing on its crown, priced in top-grade spirit stones!
Yu Mi stared with her mouth agape.
“It seems so.”
How had it gotten here? Had Bao Gu let it out?
Seeing that the people on the city wall had stopped paying attention to it, the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree turned into a streak of divine light with a swish and ran.
When Yu Mi saw the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree run, how could she spare any thought for Jade Shura, who was not in immediate mortal danger? She stepped onto the teleportation formation and teleported out of the flagship, chasing in the direction the tree had fled.
At the same time, she shouted, “Old tea tree, don’t run!”
Seeing that the old tea tree was about to escape into the void, she summoned the Southern Brightness Li Fire Sword and slashed out. A stream of Southern Brightness Li Fire swept forth, striking ahead of the old tea tree one step faster and sealing its path.
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree was so frightened that it screamed, “Awooo!” It hastily stopped in its tracks and shouted, “Awooo, awooo! Another one who plays with true fire! Are you people trying to let anyone live or not?”
Immediately afterward, its eyes stood upright. It bounced in the air and turned around. A pair of eyes faced Yu Mi, but its mouth was on the back of its head.
It called out, “Are you Yu Mi?”
Yu Mi landed about thirty feet away from the old tea tree, sword in hand.
“Go back.”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree shouted with awe-inspiring righteousness, “I won’t!”
Suddenly, inspiration flashed through its mind. Its eyes lit up.
“Unless you give me forty thousand high-grade wood spirit stones. Then I’ll go back with you.”
Yu Mi was speechless.
Seeing that Yu Mi did not react, the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree spun around in place again, with its mouth facing Yu Mi and its eyes staring behind it.
“No wood spirit stones, no deal!”
Yu Mi snapped angrily, “Last time you ran out, did you not get beaten enough? You still want to run?”
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree coughed awkwardly.
“Let the past stay in the past. Let the past stay in the past!”
Then it shouted loudly again, “If I don’t get spirit stones, I’m running away from home! Why does that girl Qingying get rations every day while I don’t? Five wood spirit stones a day, and they have to be high-grade. If you’re short even one, I won’t go back. You also have to give me forty thousand first. After the forty thousand, I still get five every day. Remember, every day, and they must be wood-attribute. I don’t want any other attribute.”
Yu Mi had a violent temper to begin with. Seeing that this Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree had sneaked out and was shamelessly making such outrageous demands, she raised the Southern Brightness Li Fire Sword and slashed at the old tea tree.
The Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree screamed, “Awooo!” It dodged at high speed in terror, afraid of being burned by the Southern Brightness Li Fire.
From far away, Bao Gu watched the person and tree, one chasing and one fleeing, with vast swaths of Southern Brightness Li Fire occasionally sweeping through the air. Both the person and the tree were glowing with dazzling light. Every escape, every movement, every attack and dodge was exceptionally brilliant. The scene was truly too beautiful; she could hardly bear to look.
Having Jade Shura lead troops had been a mistake. Letting the Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree rescue Jade Shura had been another mistake.
Bao Gu felt her heart breaking.
What in the world was happening?
The person and tree, one chasing and one fleeing, were getting farther and farther away. They had already gone from the east side of Flamefire Holy City to the west. If they kept chasing and running, they would be gone completely.
When the Tribulation-stage cultivator on the city wall saw this scene, he suddenly understood.
This Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree must have been fighting for better treatment with the drought demon at Bao Gu’s place and lost. In anger, it had run away from home and intended to find another master. It had found its way to the Flame Saint Sect’s gates, but he had suspected a trick and forcibly rejected it!
A ninth-rank sacred tea tree!
A Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree!
Even a single tea leaf was priced in top-grade spirit stones, and now it was about to run away…
If, just if, this Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree willingly followed the Flame Saint Sect, then a spirit treasure choosing its own master meant it belonged to the virtuous. The Hatchet Gang’s token holder would have nothing to say, right? If they could obtain such a sacred tea tree, at worst they would return those mines and herb gardens the Machete Token Holder wanted.
A supreme treasure moved the heart. This was the priceless Horned Dragon Enlightenment Sacred Tea Tree. Once this chance passed, there would be no second opportunity. Seeing that it was about to disappear into the distance, the early Tribulation-stage cultivator excitedly waved his arms in the direction the tea tree had fled and shouted, his voice rolling in all directions like thunder.
“Brother Tea Tree, come back! I’ll open the gates for you! I’ll give you fifty thousand high-grade wood spirit stones, and ten more every day after that!”
When Bao Gu heard that shout resounding like rolling thunder across the area, she held her breath in her chest and truly did not know what to say.
She felt as though her entire understanding of life had been overturned.
