At the entrance to the Different Space, the participants stood in silence, seemingly caught off guard by the way things had begun.
Suddenly, the body of one member of the Fireblade Squad began to twist and shudder! With a series of terrifying cracks and pops, a cluster of Rune tattoos on his back rapidly spread across his skin!
“If not for all of you harboring your own agendas and holding back, she never would have survived the first round of bombardment!”
The man lifted his head, his gaze venomous. The voice coming from his throat was unmistakably that of the deceased Fireblade Squad Captain!
“You…”
The surrounding Cultivators stared at him in shock.
Someone finally realized what was happening. “Possession? But wasn’t your Spiritual Platform already…”
“Luckily for me, my Spiritual Platform was in the wrong place,” the Fireblade Squad Captain sneered. “Besides, I left a back door in this body long ago. Killing me isn’t that easy.”
‘What a ruthless fellow,’ the others thought. He had actually used his own teammate’s body for a rebirth through Possession.
The surrounding Cultivators immediately became extremely wary of him.
No one wanted to offend such a cold-blooded person.
“You are certainly thorough in your methods. I am impressed,” a man with a simple, honest-looking face stepped forward. “How should I address you?”
“Chen Bule,” the Fireblade Squad Captain said, taking a cautious step back.
“Zeng Tie,” the man replied with a smile. “We have all witnessed your strength. I am sure you will make great contributions and leave your name in history during the upcoming hunt.”
“You overpraise me. In the end, I still failed to kill that Demonic Talent,” Captain Chen Bule sighed. He looked around at the other Cultivators and said, “In my opinion, we must unite to deal with that monster. Her strength is unfathomable. I fear… she is stronger than any of us!”
“Hahahaha—”
As soon as Chen Bule finished speaking, bursts of laughter erupted from the crowd.
“Kid, why are you destroying our morale and puffing up the enemy? Just because you lost one move doesn’t mean you should treat us all like useless cowards!”
“A whole group of people surrounding one girl? What kind of behavior is that? Even if we won, it would be embarrassing!”
“Even if you lost to her, there is no need to hype her up just to give yourself an excuse for failing, right?”
The cold, mocking words made Chen Bule tremble with rage.
“Thirty of us are already dead! Even if she only achieved that by taking advantage of the terrain and catching us off guard… doesn’t that prove her strength exceeds our expectations?” Chen Bule urged.
“Since you know it was just the terrain and the element of surprise, what are you worried about? We Cultivators aren’t like the physically sturdy Barbarian Demons; our margin for error is low to begin with. That brat just happened to get lucky and find an opening. If we are careful next time, it won’t be so easy for her to ambush us.”
A Cultivator spoke with disdain.
“What is there to fear? Our Human Clan has survived until today by relying on wisdom! The same trick will only work on us once!”
“Right, it was just carelessness this time. Looking at the way her energy collided with yours just now, her Spiritual Power reserves aren’t that high. In fact, they are pathetic. She’s probably close to exhaustion by now.”
Chen Bule was speechless. For a moment, he didn’t even know what to say.
The honest-looking man, Zeng Tie, patted his shoulder in consolation. “Alright, alright, I understand what you mean… Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me.”
“I am Zeng Tie, the Captain of the Celestial Second Team,” Zeng Tie said, displaying a “nice guy” smile that made it hard for anyone to stay angry.
“Everyone here is an elite of our clan. Naturally, we wouldn’t fear a few Little Demons. Killing Demons is a common occurrence for all of you…”
“However, those Demons are truly detestable, actually claiming they would kill us all! Furthermore, thirty of our compatriots have already died at their hands. For our clan, this is simply a humiliation!”
Zeng Tie’s indignant tone resonated with those around him.
“We cannot afford any more losses! We should unite, not because we fear those monsters, but to avoid acting separately and giving them openings!”
The crowd pondered for a moment. Many nodded, finding Zeng Tie’s words somewhat reasonable.
While they were confident in their own strength, they were skeptical of other teams.
If another team messed up and died at the hands of the enemy, it would be a blow to their collective reputation.
“But wouldn’t a collective hunt be even more embarrassing?” someone questioned.
“Simple,” Zeng Tie smiled, his honest, farmer-like face appearing quite upright.
“We don’t have to unite openly. We can communicate via secret transmissions to share information. On the surface, we will continue to compete and fight as normal, but in reality, we will hold back to avoid hurting one another. Once we quickly wipe out that so-called Bagpipe Squad, we can decide the winner among ourselves. How about it?”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
“Let’s do it!”
Her increasingly red tail allowed Jiang Ke’er to clearly feel the moods of both the spectators and her enemies.
Obviously, the audience outside hadn’t seen the show they expected.
Not only was the Bagpipe Squad not instantly killed at the start, but they had also pulled off a brilliant counter-attack before successfully vanishing into the shadows to find a chance at survival.
Putting herself in their shoes, Jiang Ke’er felt a scratchy sense of irritation just thinking about it.
‘So great.’
Following the hidden Spiritual Power signals left by the others, Jiang Ke’er quickly regrouped with the Bagpipe Squad.
Just as the enemies had guessed, she had very little Spiritual Power left; she had used the last of it while escaping.
When they reunited, Jiang Ke’er and the other members all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.
When they had seen Jiang Ke’er stay behind to face the enemy alone, they thought she intended to sacrifice herself to delay them.
Fortunately, she had returned.
“We need to find a place to rest and figure out the environment here,” Jiang Ke’er said weakly, supported by Gan Ruanruan.
“Isn’t this place… basically the same as Shenzhou?” Jie Shui asked in surprise.
“Look closer,” Jiang Ke’er said, stomping her heel hard against the ground and using her Spiritual Power to blast a small pit.
Following her movement, the soil was overturned, revealing a layer of flat, brownish-black board.
“This is…”
Jiang Ke’er leaned over and tried to pull up a small shrub nearby.
To be precise, she didn’t pull it up. It would be more accurate to say she snapped it.
From the point where it broke, clear and obvious wood fibers were exposed.
Where the roots should have been growing, there were no plant stems at all.
It looked exactly like a piece of snapped wood.
One end of the wood was exposed above the soil, while the other end was connected to the brownish-black board.
The Little Demons all realized how ridiculous the situation was.
“This is… a tree?” They swallowed hard, unable to believe the evidence before their eyes.
They had heard of Celestial Trees that blocked the sun and were as large as a mountain, but this tree seemed to be countless times larger than any legendary tree. The lush, magnificent Senlin before them was just its tiny twigs and leaves, and the towering, jagged mountain ridges were merely the knots on its bark!
“Appraisal.”
Jiang Ke’er cautiously pinched a piece of bark, transformed into her fox form, and activated her Appraisal skill.
[Sky Tree Bark]
[Source: Dragon Perch Island — Sky Tree]