Huo Xiu looked at Zhang Hao proudly and said, "I'll give you a chance. I can let you join the Seven Stars Alliance for free and guarantee your advancement to the next round. How about that?"
"What's the price?" Zhang Hao naturally knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Huo Xiu said indifferently, "It's very simple. You just need to agree to be my servant."
"My servant your sister..."
Zhang Hao's eyes narrowed. His body disappeared from where he stood, and in the next second, he appeared before Huo Xiu.
In that instant, Huo Xiu felt a blur of a figure before his eyes. Zhang Hao had appeared in front of him, and then a snowy white long saber was held against his neck.
"You..."
Huo Xiu's expression was terrified. He couldn't speak for a moment. He felt an unparalleled Killing Intent lock onto him, making him feel a chill down his spine.
Zhang Hao's cold gaze stared at Huo Xiu without any emotion, and he said indifferently, "Huo Xiu, next time I hope you use your brain when you speak. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that your head will still be on your neck at that time."
"Let's go!"
Zhang Hao glanced at Huo Xiu coldly, then turned to Ying Da and the others.
"I..."
Huo Xiu felt his lower body was wet. His face was flushed. A feeling of endless humiliation washed over him. He, a dignified Great Martial Master, Sixth Level Martial Warrior, was defeated in an instant and so scared that he lost control of his bladder. If this got out, it would only be a laughingstock. It was too hateful.
"Just you wait, I'll make sure you can't leave the Death Swamp," Huo Xiu gritted his teeth.
"Boss, what do we do now?"
Dou Bi looked at Zhang Hao with some worry. Actually, he also supported Zhang Hao joining the Seven Stars Alliance, but he didn't expect something like this to happen.
"Heh heh, Young Master doesn't believe that without that Butcher Wang, we'll have to eat hairy pigs. Let's go!" Zhang Hao smiled faintly.
"Okay!"
Although Dou Bi was a little worried, he could only take things as they came at this moment.
At this moment, Yun Qiuyu was the most shocked. She learned from the Martial Warriors nearby that Huo Xiu was at the Great Martial Master, Sixth Level cultivation. However, he was still instantly defeated by Zhang Hao. She found that she couldn't see through Zhang Hao's limits.
One day later, Zhang Hao and the others reached the end of the forest sea. They were surrounded by jungle. Along the way, they encountered several dangers, but fortunately, they got through them without serious harm.
It was now night.
Suddenly, Zhang Hao heard the light of a fire ahead. When he got closer, he found that it was the people from the Seven Stars Alliance. There were several tents lined up.
Huo Xiu also saw Zhang Hao. Although he was filled with hatred for him, the thought of that terrifying saber from yesterday still made him feel lingering fear. He wasn't sure if he could defeat Zhang Hao. Therefore, he just snorted coldly and made no other moves.
For some reason, Zhang Hao felt an extremely dangerous aura. But he couldn't find the source of this dangerous aura, which made him feel a deep sense of unease. Perhaps it was because he was a Fusion of two Souls, his perception of dangerous auras far surpassed that of ordinary Martial Warriors. Therefore, Zhang Hao greatly trusted this sharp intuition of his.
"Boss, should we go over?"
Dou Bi asked Zhang Hao.
In Dou Bi's opinion, being with the Seven Stars Alliance might be safer. After all, there were so many Martial Warriors here. But Zhang Hao refused.
"No... stay away from them!" Zhang Hao shook his head.
Dou Bi was a little speechless, perhaps thinking it was because of Huo Xiu. He sighed and followed behind Zhang Hao. Yun Qiuyu and Ying Da naturally deferred to Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao didn't know that as they left, pairs of evil, scarlet eyes were watching everything.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Zhang Hao felt that as they moved further away from the people of the Seven Stars Alliance, the feeling of danger lessened considerably. They were now about three hundred meters away from the Seven Stars Alliance camp.
Zhang Hao said indifferently, "Just stay here, don't go anywhere else. Something might happen tonight. Be vigilant."
Dou Bi, Yun Qiuyu, and Ying Da looked at Zhang Hao's solemn expression and nodded slightly.
Huo Xiu originally thought Zhang Hao would shamelessly stay near the Seven Stars Alliance, seeking protection. At that time, he could properly ridicule Zhang Hao and regain the face he lost yesterday. He didn't expect Zhang Hao to take his people and leave. This made Huo Xiu a little unhappy.
Midnight
A piercing scream cut through the air.
"Help! Help!"
Screams rose and fell, waking Zhang Hao and the others.
Zhang Hao looked towards the direction the sound came from, which was the Seven Stars Alliance camp. When he looked closely, his expression changed. Because in the jungle ahead, huge Tree Demons were wantonly harvesting lives. Each Tree Demon was at least ten meters tall, and on their massive tree bodies, human facial features appeared eerily. The tree trunks turned into gigantic hands, wantonly hunting the surrounding Martial Warriors.
A Martial Master (8th Layer) Martial Warrior was tightly bound by a gigantic Tree Demon's tendrils and dragged closer.
"Ah ah ah!" Although that Martial Warrior struggled desperately, his resistance was like that of a child in front of the giant Tree Demon. The hand-shaped branches inserted into the Martial Warrior's body, greedily absorbing his blood essence.
That Martial Warrior screamed in agony. Soon, he was sucked dry, becoming a human husk.
Scenes like this were constantly playing out all around. Every moment, Martial Warriors were being killed by the Tree Demons. Only some stronger Martial Warriors could still barely resist.
"Everyone, gather together!"
A youth Martial Warrior held a battle saber and killed a Tree Demon with a single strike.
This youth was Xiao Kuang, a Great Martial Master (8th Layer) Martial Warrior. Although those Tree Demons were strong, they couldn't do anything to him. The Tree Demons that got close were cut in half by his saber. But he was alone and couldn't hold out, because there were too many Tree Demons around.
However, where Zhang Hao and the others were located was a blind spot, and there weren't many Tree Demons around. Because the people of the Seven Stars Alliance were there, the surrounding Tree Demons didn't notice these small fry at all.
"Are these the man-eating trees you mentioned?"
Zhang Hao looked at Dou Bi with a solemn expression and asked.
Dou Bi nodded repeatedly, his expression filled with terror as he said, "Although it was recorded on the map, I didn't expect there to be so many of these man-eating trees?"
Zhang Hao shook his head and said, "These are not man-eating trees at all, but some Tree Demons that have gained sentience. Those were just ordinary Tree Demons earlier. I'm worried there might be a Tree Demon King nearby. We need to leave quickly, or we won't be able to."
The more Zhang Hao thought about it, the more terrifying it became. These ordinary Tree Demons wouldn't be able to launch such intelligent sneak attacks on humans without a leader. The only explanation was that a Tree Demon King with intelligence no less than that of humans was behind them.
The Tree Demon King, with a thousand years of cultivation, had long since gained sentience and was extremely terrifying.