Chapter 153: Sacred Tree
Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy
With a swoosh, the Ox King Palace became empty. Everyone had started running towards a certain direction, not one was left behind.
Even Chu Feng was also running alongside the two oxen. These beasts were absolutely frantic as they ran at full speed like a swarm of bees.
The sacred tree coming into being shook the whole Mount Kunlun.
There was no doubt that the Horse King ran the fastest; he instantly morphed into his true form, turning into a scarlet red Ferghana Horse, sparkling and radiant. He was surrounded by a faint red mist as if he was a peerless heavenly steed that had descended to the mortal world.
He spread his hooves and galloped, almost instantly breaking the sound barrier and leaving behind only the terrifying sound of exploding air.
Boom…
As if lightning had descended from the nine heavens, the thunderous explosions atop the mountain were ceaseless!
Within the blink of an eye, he was gone—traversing the skies like a heavenly steed.
The weaver king was also very powerful. Whilst in her human form, she spat out a silvery beam from her mouth which latched onto a tall mountain peak. This was her spider silk; with that, she leapt off the precipice.
She was in full court attire, graceful and lithe. Her green waist-length hair danced behind her, as if she was an immortal crossing the void.
Additionally, she did not even land on her feet. She propelled herself forward with the swinging momentum and attached her silk to the next precipice.
The Snow Leopard had also moved, his white hair spread out behind him. He was as fast as lightning, and even the atmosphere around him exploded due to the extreme speed, sending dust and stones flying everywhere. His explosive sprint was no slower than the Horse King, but naturally, he could not keep up that pace on the long run.
"Roar…" The Mastiff King roared, still in his human form. He immediately charged down the mountain at a terrifying speed, not the least afraid of the dangerous terrain.
The beast kings confident in their own speed directly ran out while the ones with inferior speed summoned their bird mounts.
The beast kings all descended the mountain, revealing their various abilities.
Chu Feng was with the two oxen, sitting on a huge raven. Its huge body was tens of meters long and entirely black.
"Caw!"
The giant raven opened its beaks and cried.
"Stop it! Your cries sound inauspicious," the great black yak scolded. He felt that all good luck would drain away traveling atop this raven.
"Yes, your majesty. Caw!" the raven cried as it charged towards the distant peak.
On the way, Yellow Ox briefly explained the situation to Chu Feng. Their destination was site of the underground palace that was recently discovered. At that time, the interior was deserted and completely empty.
But there was a message: "When spring falls upon the withered tree, the sacred root will be rejuvenated."
At that time, they did not find anything. Not even a clue of said sacred root was found. No one thought that the situation would change not long after they had left.
Swoosh!
The wind whistled as a distant mountain peak came into view. Even though they were still quite far away from their destination, an eruption of resplendent prismatic lights could be seen covering the whole mountain.
Auspicious lights streamed down from the summit, like a brilliant waterfall of dense immortal mists. A tree was rooted at the peak of the mountain, overflowing with vibrant colors.
Chu Feng’s party was not the first to arrive at the scene nor were they last ones.
Comparatively, this mountain was not the tallest. However, it was here that the underground palace was discovered. It was also here that a sacred tree suddenly came into being.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…
The group of vicious beast kings were all amiable back at the Ox King Palace, drinking and eating merrily. Presently, they were all solemn as they charged forth, all of them inwardly competitive.
The raven let out a long pained cry as it stumbled to the ground, unable to resist the lights pouring down from the peak. The trio had no other choice but to run up the mountain by themselves.
Boom!
The Chiru was less fortunate. It was unclear who had secretly attacked him; he fell down the mountain, his mouth full of blood. Apparently, his wounds were not light.
Chu Feng immediately tensed up. The beast kings who were all calling each other brethren just now were no longer recognizing family. Blood might easily be spilled.
After reaching the summit, he saw the underground palace under the earth and rocks. However, no one went in there again since they had already overturned it once.
The tree at the summit was as thick as a water tub and about 10 meters tall. Its bark was rough and ragged. The whole tree was a shade of red, and even its leaves and branches were of the same color. A scarlet mist surrounded this magnificent tree.
It was like a huge torch, burning resplendently. It was emitting an aura that caused the onlookers to palpitate.
However, soon afterwards, everything changed. The tree started glowing a light gold, and even the barks were changing color. Amidst the golden glow, a surge of golden mist flowed out to cover the entire mountain.
This sent the present beast kings into an uproar. The sacred tree was still changing—could it be that it was able to change into a myriad of auspicious colors?
"Everyone, look at the flowers on the trees. There is enough for everyone to evolve once the tree blooms. There is no need to fight each other," the Mastiff King said. He was extremely powerful and his position among the beast kings of Mount Kunlun was high. Since he had advised thus, naturally, no one objected.
All the beast kings were staring at the tree. There were indeed hundreds of flowers upon it, and should all of them bloom at the same time, the rain of pollen would fill the entire sky.
Thinking of the scene, all the beast kings were howling in excitement. This was a chance for them to further sever their shackles and become stronger.
"Everyone, please don’t be impatient."
At this moment, the tree vague transmitted its will. Surprisingly, it was able to communicate, its life energy was extremely vigorous.
"Eh?" All the beast kings were alarmed. Was this a demonic tree? Everyone took a step back in apprehension.
All of them were clear of the existence of certain terrifying plant life. Once they came to possess a conscience, they would have powerful abilities beyond one’s imagination.
There were some among them who had personally witnessed such a mysterious plant in the desert. That plant was able to spit out black flames that could incinerate the mountains and rivers.
The temperature was truly terrifying, and even beast kings were unable to bear it. The whole desert became a molten inferno, and only the most agile of them escaped an otherwise horrible death.
Naturally, when this tree spoke, everyone stepped back in alarm, solemnly preparing for a battle.
Only the Yellow Ox was doubtful. For a moment, he became lost in thought before his expression revealed great delight as he shouted, "Are you the Refinement Sacred Tree?"
"It should be so," the tree replied. At this moment, he had begun to take on a silver hue, encircled by hazy lights.
"Little Yellow, what are its origins?" the Horse King asked.
Everyone looked at Yellow Ox; they had long since recognized Yellow Ox as the most knowledgeable among them.
"We’re definitely going to flourish! What great fortune! Who would've thought that we would chance upon a Refinement Sacred Tree!" Yellow Ox exclaimed with great excitement.
According to him, there were less than 10 trees of this kind throughout history. Any one of them could cause a major power to go to war for it, regardless of the costs.
With the passage of time, many of those trees had been destroyed. It was unclear as to how many are currently left.
"This incident has to be kept a secret. We definitely cannot reveal this to outsiders or else this place will flow with rivers of blood," Yellow Ox warned.
Many realms had never even heard of this type of tree. Even the greatly prosperous world from which he came only had one.
The others excitedly pressed him to explain more about the functions of this sacred tree.
"It is, of course, to refine weapons. The weapons refined by this tree are superior to those of grandmasters!" said Yellow Ox.
According to him, if only one had quality raw materials, a fully matured Refinement Sacred Tree could refine earthshaking giant weapons.
"Can it refine flying knives?" Chu Feng asked.
"As long as you have the materials, this is but a simple matter," Yellow Ox replied.
This caused everyone to gasp.
"Everyone, I hope to live in harmony with everyone. My dried roots had only recently been rejuvenated, and as such, my knowledge of your world is limited," said the Refinement Sacred Tree.
"Don’t worry, we will protect you!" The Mastiff King expressed his stance.
This was also representative of everyone’s thoughts. This kind of mysterious ancient tree had to be protected. At this level, everyone was focused on refining good weapons.
"Sacred Tree, can you demonstrate how you refine weapons?" the Snow Panther asked.
Yellow Ox dissuaded, "Don’t be wasteful. Within a certain period of time, only a set amount of flowers can bloom on the Refinement Sacred Tree, and every one of them counts. Wait till you get a truly good material before refining a weapon."
Everyone was surprised to realize that the "so-called" refinement did not involve any fire at all. The tree would only use its pollen to bestow spirituality to the material, allowing it to transform into a weapon.
"Eh?!" The whole group was stunned.
Yellow Ox further explained that, after this bestowal, the raw material would expand and discharge all the impurities within it, leaving only the quintessence.
"Basically, it’s allowing the weapon to evolve," the old tree explained.
The spectators were all shaken.
Boom!
After understanding everything, the beast kings all dispersed chaotically. They had all gone hunting for materials.
Mount Kunlun was no ordinary place; it used to be called the home of myriad gods. There was a high possibility that some extraordinary items would be left buried beneath the earth. They had also collected some of these things previously.
Unfortunately, the depths of Mount Kunlun were inaccessible, sealed by a bewildering mist. Otherwise, they might be able to get their hands on even rarer items.
A couple of days afterward, the Yellow Ox sneaked back to the where Refinement Sacred Tree was located. He was searching the vicinity for something.
Chu Feng was the first to notice this. He followed the young calf all the way, pestering him until Yellow Ox explained what it was all about.
There should be a unique refinement material in the vicinity of the Refinement Sacred Tree; otherwise, it wouldn't have bloomed so easily.
Just like that, the duo started to search the area day after day. They did indeed unearthed quite a few extraordinary metallic refinement materials.
The other beast kings were also extremely intelligent. They had someone tailing Yellow Ox from the dark since only he knew about the origins of the Refinement Sacred Tree. The beast kings were all afraid that Yellow Ox might have hidden some important facts.
Finally, a horde of beast kings arrived clamorously and rummaged through the whole area. There was no way to hide this even if they wanted to.
"No infighting allowed. Whoever finds an item gets to keep it. Do not kill or rob!" The group of vicious beast kings all agreed on this rule beforehand.
In truth, they wanted to thoroughly interrogate the sacred tree what kind of treasure there was in the vicinity. However, the sacred tree itself was a dried up root that had only recently revived, and naturally, he knew nothing.
These beast kings were digging with great momentum. They plowed over three meters into the ground and had almost overturned the whole mountainous area. If they kept this up, this mountain would, no doubt, be dismantled.
They all unearthed quite a few rare materials. All of them were rare and high-quality materials.
Naturally, Chu Feng was also busy excavating. He used his scarlet flying knife to hack into the earth and anything he could not cut through, he would dig it out. His efficiency was much greater than the competition.
Finally, he found a piece of black metal the size of a man’s head. However, its weight was astonishing, weighing well over 5000 kilograms.
Afterwards, he immediately left the site, no longer continuing his excavation. He knew that this item was extraordinary.
Previously, he had also found some other materials. However, even if the scarlet knife could not cut through them, it had left some cuts. Only this piece of heavy black metal was completely unscratched.
Especially with its incredible weight, it was extremely mysterious.
Actually, almost everyone felt rather satisfied after finding some good materials and were already thinking about going to the Refinement Sacred Tree.
Chu Feng was the first to leave. Naturally, he would be the first to refine a weapon.
Yellow Ox followed him over; knowing Chu Feng, he had probably found some good stuff. Upon his request, Chu Feng took out the metal for him to observe.
"Over 5000 kg?!" Yellow Ox was stunned. Normal people would have no way to even lift such a heavy piece of metal. They might even be squashed by it.
It was, however, not a big deal for the powerful king level entities.
Yellow Ox used his most powerful abilities to bombard this piece of black metal with successive attacks but was ultimately unable to leave even a scratch.
"A mysterious material buried within Mount Kunlun. Could it be the item stated in the legends?" Yellow Ox cried out, greedily hugging the metal.
"You damned calf, give it back to me!" Chu Feng demanded.
In the end, Yellow Ox returned it to Chu Feng, afraid of alarming the other beast kings. He quickly urged the Refinement Sacred Tree to refine it, wanting to see if it was indeed that kind of material.
"What kind of weapon do you need?" the Refinement Sacred Tree asked. Even though it had only recently awakened, it was naturally familiar with its own abilities.
According to Yellow Ox, this tree was unfortunately destroyed in the past, only leaving a dried root. That was why it took so long to revive.
This thing was too heavy to refine into a flying knife. At the moment, he could not even control his own body through the air.
"After refining it into a weapon, can it be refined once more?" Chu Feng asked. If not, it would be a great pity as he had not decided on a suitable weapon.
"It can be done," said the old tree.
Chu Feng looked down at the bracelet on his wrist; it was a present from the Hollow Jade Temple and Lu Tong, the Diamond Chakram.
The sturdy material came from the mysterious silver mine outside of Shun Tian.
"Then help me refine it into a diamond chakram," said Chu Feng and indicated that it should be a weapon like the bracelet on his wrist.
The sacred tree extended a branch and collected the material before bringing it up to the treetop despite the incredible weight.
The next moment, a fist-sized flower bloomed on the tree with its pollen scattering down on the black metal.
"Eh?" After waiting for a while, the sacred tree discovered that there were no changes in the material.
Pop!
Following that, the second flower bloomed, repeating the process. However, the metal still refused to react.
Pop, pop, pop…
The tree successively caused 10 flowers to blossom. Yellow Ox was stunned; he recalled that only very rare materials would push the tree to this stage.
Even then, the black piece of metal was unchanged.
The Refinement Sacred Tree felt embarrassed. On its branches, the flowers bloomed one after another until there were a hundred flowers raining down pollen.
Finally at this point, the dark material started to change shape. With slight rustling sounds, dark powdery matter were being shed and a radiant white luster was revealed from within.
Yellow Ox was astonished; if even the black outer layer was so solid, how valuable would the material inside be?
"This is definitely the item of legends!" he mumbled, increasingly convinced of his theory.