Onlooker Lin Xiao

Perhaps because the spiritual energy here had been somewhat denser than in the northern and southern Spirit Regions for many years, the farther one traveled into the interior of the Profound Extremity Region, the more densely packed the spiritual plants and demon beasts became.

Not only were they more numerous, but there were also more varieties, and their grades tended to be higher.

No wonder cultivation was more expensive here. After all, the range of resources available in this region was broader as well.

Lin Xiao was busy collecting information about the various resources marked on his maps. Whenever he spotted something valuable, he would gather a little extra. After all, he had more than enough space in his storage.

He became so absorbed in harvesting wild resources that he completely forgot his earlier intention of finding a city to look around in. Instead, he continued speeding through the wilderness.

On the morning of the second day after entering the Profound Extremity Region, Lin Xiao suddenly sensed that something seemed to be happening on the ground not far ahead.

He swept his divine sense over the area and found that the people and demons below were all merely at the Qi Refining stage. Since there was nothing else to do, he immediately brought his flying sword to a halt and decided to sneak down for a look.

He had no intention of getting involved. He merely wanted to be a spectator in the cultivation world.

With a Nascent Soul cultivator deliberately concealing his presence, there was no way a group of Qi Refining humans and demons could detect his arrival.

Below was a dense forest in the mountains.

The resources here seemed quite abundant, judging by the many traces of spiritual plants having been gathered.

Five Qi Refining cultivators dressed in matching pale-yellow robes were confronting a group of small tree demons that looked rather unkempt.

There were more than thirty of the tree demons, but all of them were at a very low level of cultivation—only the first or second layer of Qi Refining. Each tree demon was barely as thick as two adult palms pressed together, and none of them were particularly tall. Not a single one stood higher than the cultivators. Most of the branches on their bodies were sparse, limp, and listless, making them look severely malnourished.

Although the human cultivators were only five in number, nearly all of them were at the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Judging solely by their cultivation levels, the disparity in combat strength seemed obvious. A group of tree demons at the first or second layer of Qi Refining facing cultivators in the late Qi Refining stage was no different from a patch of chives waiting to be harvested.

Still, perhaps these tree demons had some special ability that gave them the confidence to surround cultivators in the late Qi Refining stage, Lin Xiao thought.

Just then, one of the tree demons—apparently the leader, judging by the dense cluster of branches and leaves on its head—shouted loudly at the five cultivators, “Give our leader back!”

“That’s right!”

“Right!”

“Give it back!”

“Give our leader back!”

The other little tree demons chimed in one after another.

The cultivators did not argue back. All of them wore helpless expressions.

Only the youngest-looking disciple appeared thoroughly impatient, seemingly on the verge of losing his temper. He snapped, “Are you done yet? If you’ve got the ability, go find it yourselves and see whether it’ll go with you! Why do you keep coming to us?”

A cultivator standing beside him tugged at his sleeve and shook his head disapprovingly, signaling him not to speak that way.

The little tree demon with the thickest foliage grew frantic at his words. Its roots bounced off the ground as it shouted, “Then withdraw the barrier if you have the guts! You’re stopping us from seeing our leader. You must have something to hide!”

“Bullshit! It clearly chose to stay with us!” The young cultivator was so furious that he completely ignored the hints from his fellow disciples. He shook off the hand tugging at his sleeve, took two steps forward, and roared, “You come harass us every few days. We tolerated you before because we were giving you face, but do you really think our Zhenyang Sect is made of soft clay? Today, I’m going to teach you ungrateful little branches a lesson!”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and sent a fireball the size of a human face hurtling toward the densest part of the group of tree demons.

With a thunderous boom, the spot struck by the fireball erupted in dust and flames. Quite a few tree demons failed to dodge in time and were blasted into the air, scattering broken branches and charred leaves everywhere.

When the dust settled, a large crater roughly four or five meters in diameter had appeared in the formerly level ground.

In Lin Xiao’s eyes, the fireball’s power was nothing particularly impressive for a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. The young man probably was not very skilled in controlling fire. Still, fire naturally countered wood, and these were only a group of tree demons at the first or second layer of Qi Refining. If the fireball had struck them directly, it would probably have burned them into charcoal on the spot.

Fortunately, though their cultivation was low, their evasive abilities were not bad. Most of them had avoided the vital areas and had not been hit head-on.

The leafy little tree demon who had been shouting at the cultivators had been blasted aside and was lying on the ground. It staggered to its feet, revealing that most of the dense branches and leaves on its upper body had been blown away.

It was about to speak again when it saw another fireball forming in the young cultivator’s hand—one even larger than the previous one.

Several of the little tree demons that were still in good condition immediately lifted the leafy tree demon and turned to flee. As they ran, they did not forget to shout, “Help! The people from the Zhenyang Sect are killing trees!”

The other little tree demons scattered in all directions with a great rustle.

Their numerous roots churned beneath them, moving so quickly that they left afterimages.

One of the senior disciples beside the young man pressed down the hand holding the fireball and advised him, “That’s enough, Junior Brother. These tree demons haven’t done anything harmful, nor have they attacked us. They’re merely mouthing off. They don’t deserve to die.”

Seeing the tree demons disappear in the blink of an eye, the young disciple could only withdraw his attack resentfully. “They keep harassing us like this. We might as well have a proper fight and get it over with. A bunch of useless, worthless trash!”

The senior disciple sighed. “Our sect has indeed benefited greatly from Elder Danling’s support… These tree demons are her kind, after all.”

“They’ve been making trouble outside for so many years. Has Elder Danling ever paid them any attention? Her kind, huh? Hmph!”

The other cultivators all sighed helplessly and tried to persuade him a few more times. Then the five of them resumed gathering resources nearby.

Lin Xiao, who had been thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, felt rather disappointed.

That was it?

He had thought there would be something more entertaining to watch.

Still, judging from the conversation between the cultivators and the tree demons, there seemed to be a story behind it.

The tree demons had a leader from among their own kind, but that leader did not acknowledge them and had instead become an elder of this so-called Zhenyang Sect. Yet the tree demons clearly did not see things that way.

Since the cultivators had returned to their boring harvesting task and there was nothing else worth watching for the moment, Lin Xiao extended his divine sense toward the leafy little tree demon that had fled earlier.

The fireball had blown away many of the branches on Big One’s body, and a large number of its leaves had been scorched black. Its body hurt terribly.

The little tree demons carrying it brought it to a clear pool in the mountains and carefully set it down beside the water.

“Big One, does it hurt?” one of the little tree demons asked softly.

Big One forced itself to sit up beside the pool, then awkwardly lowered the half of its body that had been burned into the water. It nodded with a pitiful expression.

“It hurts.”