From the Heavens Descended an Immortal Sister

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Spiritual Root? Spirit Tree?_1

"That's impossible, the generals from the Central Area can't be bad people."

No sooner had Jian Qi'er finished speaking than Mu Huanqing spoke up seriously.

The generals from the Central Area had dedicated untold efforts to protect the entire Human Race.

She had interacted with many generals from the Central Area, who had often teared up at the sacrifices of warriors on the battlefield, attended countless funerals of fallen soldiers, and even risked their lives by personally entering the fray to combat enemies.

They bore the weight of the nation and the safety of the Human Race on their shoulders, monitoring the battlefield almost every moment of the day, without any time to do anything else.

How could such people be bad?

"Exactly, you silly girl, how can you make such wild guesses!" Jing Haichuan also scolded Jian Qi'er.

"But, but, it was you guys who said that the upper echelons are dark..." Jian Qi'er said with an aggrieved expression.

"That's not to say it's the Central Area's fault, they've always been on the battlefield and have no time to care for other matters. What I'm referring to are some idle good-for-nothings from the other areas," Li Xingwang explained.

"Oh..."

Jian Qi'er nodded her head.

"Moreover, how could the Nightfall Organization possibly be righteous? They're nothing but a group of terrorists."

"I, I was just pointing out a possibility. It's not like this speculation is impossible," Jian Qi'er said frantically, waving her hand dismissively.

"There's no possibility of that. The orders from the Central Area's side are clear; anyone inside the Nightfall Organization is definitely not a good person," Jing Haichuan insisted.

Jian Qi'er nodded again and murmured a soft reply, her eyes concealed by her hair filled with sorrow.

Righteousness often arises in situations where many people are oblivious.

...

After eating, the entire school once again began their climb towards the mountain peak.

Jiulong Mountain was incredibly large; it would take an ordinary person a whole day to reach the top. Of course, for those students from the Cultivation System who could fly with their swords, where they chose to go was entirely up to them.

Halfway up the mountain, next to a small waterfall, Fang Ren suddenly stopped in his tracks.

There was a small thicket around the waterfall, lush and dense, obscuring the view within. Other scenes on the mountain were more beautiful, and no one else was interested in discovering what lay beyond that waterfall.

Fang Ren hadn't suddenly become curious; it was the Grey root within him that had stirred, extending a branch that kept pointing in that direction, as if urging him to go there.

"You guys go ahead, I need to use the restroom."

After saying that, Fang Ren ran towards the small waterfall.

"Hold on a bit longer; there's a public restroom further up," Li Xingwang said, looking back.

"I can't hold it anymore."

Fang Ren shouted back and plunged into the bushes.

Mu Huanqing watched helplessly as he rushed off, continuing up the mountain with Jian Qi'er, but slowing down a little to allow him to catch up later.

After diving through the bushes for twenty or thirty meters, the surrounding thicket was quite tall, and no students climbing the mountain could be seen from there.

The closer Fang Ren got to the small waterfall, the stronger the reaction from the Grey root inside him became.

Pushing aside the last of the bushes that stood in his way, he was greeted by a large expanse of red grass.

He was stunned. The grass was strange, shaped like ordinary green grass but a thorough red, as if deliberately dyed with red ink.

He casually pulled up a stalk of the Red Grass, only to find that its roots were also red.

This was a grass he had never seen before.

Thump thump—

A sound echoed in his mind, and Fang Ren immediately probed the Grey root inside him with his consciousness, only to find a branch from it kept pointing at the Red Grass and then at its own upper part, seeming to suggest he should feed it.

"Are you telling me to eat this thing?"

Fang Ren frowned, smelled the Red Grass he held in his hands to make sure it didn't seem poisonous, and hesitantly tore off a piece of the leaf to taste.

However, the instant the Red Grass entered his mouth, he couldn't help but spit it out.

"Holy shit! Is this some kind of devil pepper?"

Fang Ren felt like his tongue was swelling and quickly took a bottle of water from his bag to rinse his mouth,

Despite being just a blade of grass, it was spicier than the average hot pepper.

Thump thump thump—

The Grey root inside continued to knock, urgently prompting him to feed it.

"Bro, how do you expect me to eat this? If I actually eat it, I bet my ass will explode when I go to the bathroom later!" Fang Ren complained helplessly.

But the Grey root didn't sympathize with his misery. After a long while without being fed, it seemed to lose its temper and extended a branch as if to jab towards Fang Ren's abdomen.

Fang Ren panicked when he saw the root getting aggressive. Though it was just an energy form, it could cause serious damage if it actually stabbed into his belly.

"Hey, chill out, bro! What do we do if you puncture something?"

Fang Ren backed down in an instant, grabbing a red blade of grass and preparing to throw it into his mouth.

Before he could eat the Red Grass in his hand, suddenly something whooshed past his mouth and snatched away the grass.

"...What the hell?"

Fang Ren stared blankly at his own hands, the red grass that had just been there had disappeared without a trace.

Crackling—

A chewing noise came from his belly, and Fang Ren subconsciously looked down, only to be stunned by what he saw—a grey twig had extended from his lower abdomen, coiling around the red grass and continuously absorbing it.

Fang Ren immediately lifted his shirt to see if his abdomen had been pierced, but when he looked, not only was his abdomen intact, even his clothes hadn't been touched by the grey twig.

"Is this thing... illusionary?"

Fang Ren furrowed his brow, "No, that's not right. If it were illusionary, it shouldn't be able to touch the red grass. What's going on here..."

While he was puzzled, the grey twig had already devoured the red grass entirely, and it seemed to have grown stronger.

After devouring the red grass, it immediately extended towards the ground, coiling and swallowing over a dozen red grasses at once.

Fang Ren crouched down, watching it devour the red grass continuously with curiosity and reached out to touch it.

As Fang Ren's hand touched it, all of its movements halted, it released the coiled red grass, came over to Fang Ren's hand, and gently rubbed his hand with its tip.

Fang Ren was taken aback—this thing was acting like a small animal fawning over its owner.

He stretched out his other hand and touched the tip of the twig, and the little twig stopped moving and let him stroke it, seeming very gentle.

"I thought you would be fierce, but you're just like a child," muttered Fang Ren.

He casually fed it two blades of grass, and in less than ten seconds, both were completely devoured.

As the twig kept devouring the red grass, it began to grow stronger and its swallowing speed also increased significantly, going from one grass every ten seconds to ten grasses in one second—the pace was incredibly fast.

As it grew sturdier, Fang Ren felt that the grey root within his body started to grow as well—it began to extend numerous patterns, and although its root was grey, the patterns that spread were multicolored.

Seeing that a large portion of the red grass on the ground had been devoured, Fang Ren plucked a dozen or so strands and stored them in his little bag, reasoning that since the little twig liked them so much, they must be extremely precious.

After Fang Ren had picked a few blades of grass and looked up again, he realized that the twig in front of him... could no longer be called a little twig.

It had transformed into a branch tens of meters long, resembling the size of a python, entirely grey with complex patterns that shone with colorful brilliance under the sunlight.

The branch coiled on the ground relentlessly around the red grass, leaving traces in the surrounding earth.

Soon, the branch had consumed all of the red grass on the ground and contentedly returned to Fang Ren's side, coiling around him completely, and its tip gently brushed against Fang Ren's face affectionately.

"Go back, go back."

Fang Ren patted its tip, his expression resigned.

This creature was no longer a little twig; coiled around him, it felt like a large python, which made his skin crawl.

The branch didn't retract but continued to nuzzle against his face.

It was then that Fang Ren noticed a small white mass on its stone.

"Is this... True Qi?"

Fang Ren's brow furrowed as he suddenly recalled the white True Qi that Wang Mang had sent his way that morning at the market.

"Did you protect me?"

The branch nodded vigorously twice and began to sway its body, seemingly taking pride in its actions.

"Good boy," Fang Ren fondly touched its tip, and it stayed still, enjoying the affection like a child.

"But it'll be troublesome if others see you like this," said Fang Ren with a hint of concern.

Upon hearing this, the branch left his hand, coiled around him once more, and then shot towards his feet.

Hum—

Suddenly, a multitude of grey branches sprouted around Fang Ren's body, intertwining and rising until they completely engulfed him.

A rush of air surged, and the grey branches around him vanished instantly, leaving Fang Ren standing in the same spot, with nothing on him.

He stood there stunned before probing his body with his consciousness.

As his awareness reached out, he jumped in shock.

He discovered that surrounding his body was a massive circular trunk! If he wasn't sensing with his consciousness, he couldn't see or touch this trunk.

Expanding his awareness a bit more, he finally saw the full scene around his body.

He found himself inside a huge tree.

The tree was entirely grey, with luxuriant branches, and its main trunk was incredibly thick.

It was covered with patterns that had now become very clear and systematic, as if they harbored deep secrets.

At the tip of each branch was something the size of a small droplet, like the initial form of a fruit, and these nascent fruits varied in both color and shape, exhibiting a multitude of patterns.

The base of the tree didn't grow in the soil; it was ethereal, not touching Fang Ren's flesh, nor the earth—it just presented itself bare before Fang Ren's eyes.

Its roots looked more complex and robust, resembling those of a centennial tree, but the colors didn't show signs of aging; rather, they appeared tender and strong.

"This... this thing doesn't seem to be a Spiritual Root... if it is, it could only be a Spirit Tree..."