Translator: Ashish
Translation Checker: Silavin
The following morning…
Before dawn broke, the muscular young man got up from the bed inside the treehouse.
Exhaling a long, deep breath, the robust young man stood before the door. Nervous and uneasy, he gulped a mouthful of saliva. But after a moment of hesitation, he grit his teeth and declared resolutely, “Fortune favors the bold.”
With that declaration, the burly young man pushed open the door.
The next moment, a vast expanse of swirling mist entered his sight, shrouding everything.
Casting his gaze upward, he could vaguely see a towering majestic tree with a faint glow not far away, appearing and disappearing in the dense fog.
The stalwart young man understood that this faint glow was a manifestation of pure Spiritual Energy.
Pure and refined Spiritual Energy was unintentionally seeping out from the majestic tree, creating fiction with the air and generating a soft luminescence.
From this, one could imagine the sheer terror of this towering tree. Even the Spiritual Energy overflowing from it exuded such awe-inspiring might. And all this was just involuntary…
As these thoughts swirled within his mind, excitement kindled in the young man’s countenance.
For ordinary High Level Mutant Beasts would find it nearly impossible to achieve such a feat, even when fully unleashing their powers.
And now, this majestic tree…
“It must be a genuine Transcendent, a true…”
His conviction grew stronger as the young man’s pace quickened, heading toward the depths of the dense mist.
However, in a sudden twist, the fog underwent a dramatic transformation right before his astonished eyes.
*Rooaar!* The mist coalesced into a colossal behemoth, opening its gaping jaws and roaring right in the young man’s face.
*Boom!* With a resounding boom, the fog dispersed in all directions, leaving the young man momentarily frozen in his place, his eyes wide with bewilderment. But after a considerable amount of time, the burly young man blinked and murmured in a daze, his gaze fixed on the still-roaring behemoth, “Is it all fake!?”
Saying so, the young man extended his hand tentatively. As expected, he did face any resistance. His right arm effortlessly passed through the dense mist.
*Ahem, ahem…* The burly young man forcefully coughed, accompanied by a wiping of the cold sweat trickling down his forehead. He could not help but exclaim, “Impressive!”
[This is even more incredible than holographic imaging technology. Unfortunately, it lacks lethality… wait a minute…] A realization seemed to have dawned upon the burly young man as his expression froze all of a sudden.
[No lethality!? How could that be!? If the mist can be manipulated so effortlessly, then controlling poisonous mist should be equally feasible. In other words…] As he raised his head and gazed at the towering tree hidden within the fog, the young man’s certainty grew.
“It’s not that it can’t, but rather it just chose not to…”
[Poisonous mist inevitably harms everything. Furthermore, the Misty Mountains are home to countless living creatures, including the Mutant Beasts raised by this Divine Tree. Given these circumstances, how could this magnificent entity willingly employ toxic mist and inflict harm upon these living creatures?]
In the burly youth’s mind, Yu Zi Yu’s image grew even bigger.
Having seen through the ever-changing forms of the dense mist, the burly youth lifted his steps forward. But, to his astonishment, the billowing white mist parted ways, revealing a narrow pathway wide enough for a person to pass through.
At the same time…
*Thud, thud, thud…* Accompanied by weighty footsteps, a massive Black Wild Buffalo with crescent-shaped horns emerged from within the swirling mist, swaying his head and left and right.
“St…op…” The voice was dry and a bit unrefined, but it clearly conveyed Bull Demon’s intention. At this point, the stalwart young man finally understood why this fellow had been pestering their group to learn ‘stop’.
He aspired to become a guardian, to protect the Divine Tree.
[No wonder this Buffalo would waddle back and forth or lie down beneath the massive tree in its idle time…] With a wry smile, the burly young man warmly appealed, pinning hopes on the amicable bond they had formed over time, “Bull Demon, I simply want to meet the Divine Tree. Could you let me go in?”
Saying that, the sturdy young man took a few steps forward.
“St…op…” The dry voice echoed in his mind once again, but this time with a hint of icy resolve.
Cold, it was very cold. The chill in the voice caused the sturdy young man to freeze in place. He could not decide whether to lift or lower his raised foot.
“I really, just want to see the Divine Tree.” A tinge of grievance colored his voice as the burly young man teetered on the brink of tears.
[How much longer must I endure this frustration?]
However, what left the burly young man utterly bewildered that regardless of his please, Bull Demon remained unyielding. Furthermore, as time tickled by, an awe-inspiring surge of Spiritual Energy slowly billowed forth.
Looking up, the young man noticed Bull Demon’s black fur slowly fluttering. His crescent-shape horns glinted with an icy-cold sheen. In addition, an imperceptible bloodlust lingered in the air.
“Brother… Brother Bull, don’t act rashly, please stop.”
As he looked at the giant Black Buffalo poised for a charge, the sturdy young man’s complexion turned pale, devoid of any color.
Should a being as massive as Bull Demon come charging into him, he would definitely not survive.
After all, not too long ago, the burly young man had witnessed Bull Demon’s charge, laying waste to dozens of huge trees, and with not a single scratch on it.
*Gulp!* His throat involuntarily constricted, and the young man’s legs quivered with trepidation.
However, just as he was contemplating surrendering, the burly young man was struck with horror as an overwhelming force locked his body in place.
He could not utter a word, nor could he move his eyeballs even the slightest.
“No, no…”
He screamed frantically in his mind. The burly young man was truly dumbfounded this time.
How could he have known that being locked onto by Bull Demon would result in this?
[No wonder every prey targeted by Bull Demon would stand motionless, obediently awaiting death? It is not that they didn’t want to move, but they couldn’t move at all.]
“This must be the unique ability of Bull Demon.” With a tinge of desolation, the burly young man fell into complete despair.
However, just at that moment…
A thunderous boom resounded as if some majestic entity had awakened, causing the clouds of mist to swirl.
Simultaneously, a voice filled with curiosity emerged from within the dense fog, “What’re you all doing?”
Witnessing the confrontation scene between the man and the Buffalo, Yu Zi Yu, who had just recently woken up, could not help but feel intrigued.
However, after seeing the stalwart young man’s pale, bloodless complexion, and then noticing Bull Demon slowly retracting his hoof, Yu Zi Yu understood everything.
[This guy must have scared him quite a bit…] Unable to suppress a chuckle, Yu Zi Yu waved his branch and stated, “Let him come in.”
*Mooo…* Responding with a bellow, Bull Demon receded into the shroud of mist, leaving a dazed burly young man alone. The mist parted on both sides, leading a path straight to Yu Zi Yu’s true body, resembling a path to Heaven.