Chapter 278 - 271: People from the Sang Family

Chapter 278: Chapter 271: People from the Sang Family

’We’re this deep already?’

’But that doesn’t make sense.’

Jiang Zuo looked up at the sky.

As far as he knew, items like Teleportation Talismans only became unusable once you were deep enough to see the branches and leaves of the Beast God Tree directly overhead.

His current position was quite deep, but the sky above was not yet covered by the branches and leaves of the Beast God Tree.

’Could it be the influence of the Sang Family, coincidentally affecting this area?’

’But if it wasn’t a coincidence...’

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Zuo summoned the fourth-rank Star Dust Bird.

Another fourth-rank Spirit Beast!

Jie Qiu and Xie Xiuyue were shocked once again.

But seeing Jiang Zuo take action, the two felt much more at ease.

"Heh heh, a fourth-rank Star Dust Bird too. Where did you find so many top-grade Spirit Beasts?"

When the Star Dust Bird appeared, a raspy voice suddenly sounded out from in front of the trio. He knew he could no longer hide from the power of its eyes.

"Who’s there!"

Jie Qiu shouted.

The trio looked in the direction of the voice and saw a black-robed Cultivator on the grass ahead. They had no idea when he had appeared.

The black-robed Cultivator hadn’t concealed his face, revealing a pale, bloodless complexion.

The figure beneath the black robe looked extremely gaunt, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

"It seems you’re from the Sang Family of the Upper Realm?"

"Oh? You know about the Upper Realm and my origins? Could it be you’re also from the Upper Realm?"

"No, you’re not. You’re a native of this world."

"It seems you’ve met others from the Upper Realm."

"That makes sense. We’ve been in this place for over a year. Someone was bound to come looking."

Santu sized up Jiang Zuo, a little surprised.

Then he shook his head and muttered to himself.

"Lift the teleportation restriction and let us leave. In return, I’ll tell you everything I know about the people from the Upper Realm."

Jiang Zuo said.

He was offering this information to Santu in hopes of making a deal.

"No deal. If you hadn’t forced me to show myself and had simply tried to leave on your own, it might have been possible."

"But now that you’ve seen me, you can’t leave. You can only come with me."

"As for information on the people from the Upper Realm, you don’t have to tell me. I already know who it is."

Santu refused, shaking his head.

"You think a mere Three Flowers Realm Cultivator like you can make me stay?"

Jiang Zuo glanced coolly at Santu.

"On my own? Of course not."

"However..."

Santu let out a soft chuckle.

He beckoned, and a gray Giant Eagle materialized out of thin air.

"A sixth-rank Demon Beast!"

Jiang Zuo’s expression darkened.

Jie Qiu and Xie Xiuyue, on the other hand, turned pale and nearly fainted.

’This is insane! A Three Flowers Realm Cultivator can actually control a sixth-rank Demon Beast!’

"Get on. I’ll take you somewhere."

"Don’t worry, I don’t mean you any harm. Otherwise, I would’ve acted by now."

Santu leaped onto the Giant Eagle’s back, chuckling with his raspy voice.

Jiang Zuo listened in silence and let out a small sigh.

’This guy really doesn’t seem to be hostile toward us.’

’If it comes to a fight with this guy, I’ll have no choice but to play my trump card.’

After exchanging a look, Jiang Zuo and his companions jumped onto the Giant Eagle’s back.

Once on the Giant Eagle’s back, Jiang Zuo silently moved Great Black to the ninth floor of the Time Cultivation Tower. He then activated a tenfold time acceleration for it.

In other words, Great Black was now in a state of one-hundredfold accelerated Cultivation.

Santu was, of course, completely unaware of Jiang Zuo’s subtle actions.

He patted the Giant Eagle, which immediately flapped its wings and took off, flying deeper into the Forbidden Land.

The Giant Eagle was very fast, constantly weaving in and out of the Chaotic Space.

The scenery before Jiang Zuo’s eyes was constantly changing.

By the time the scenery stabilized, Jiang Zuo had completely lost track of his whereabouts.

He looked up. The sky was now completely covered by the massive branches and leaves of the Beast God Tree.

"We must be very deep inside now,"

Xie Xiuyue said with concern.

The Giant Eagle continued flying deeper. Around them, massive, jet-black trees began to appear.

Fifth and sixth-rank Demon Beasts occasionally appeared in the surroundings.

However, none of them paid any attention to the Giant Eagle flying overhead.

"You sought us out because you want us to do something for you, don’t you?"

Jiang Zuo finally spoke up.

"Indeed. You’re very sharp."

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Santu, and as you know, I am from the Upper Realm."

"I sought you out because there is a matter I need your help with."

Santu praised Jiang Zuo with a slight smile.

’Tsk, so this guy never planned on letting us go from the very beginning.’

’And to think he said we "forced" him to show himself!’

’I can’t trust a word this guy says!’

Jiang Zuo complained inwardly.

"What do you want us to do for you?"

"Inside the Beast God Tree Forbidden Land, I doubt there’s anything we could possibly help you with."

"If it’s a matter concerning the outside world, that would be another story."

Jiang Zuo said, his expression unreadable.

"It’s not too difficult. I will create an opportunity for you. When the time comes, the three of you just need to find a chance to help me steal a small tree."

"After you succeed, give the small tree to me. We’ll rendezvous, and then I’ll send you out of the Forbidden Land."

Santu shook his head.

"Steal a tree? From your companions?"

Jiang Zuo frowned.

According to Qu Chengyuan, a total of eight people from the Sang Family had entered the Forbidden Land.

"That’s right. That tree was supposed to be mine in the first place. They were just unwilling to hand it over, so I have no choice but to resort to... unconventional means."

Santu said coolly.

Only three people had actually come down to the Lower Realm from the Sang Family; the other five were local natives under their control.

He was one of those three.

But the Sang Family was enormous, with all sorts of internal factions.

Santu and the other two belonged to different factions.

It was just that the other two had already joined forces to push him out.

He had come to find Jiang Zuo’s group because an Array had detected an anomaly, and he had been sent to investigate.

Santu had watched as Jiang Zuo used the Fire Phoenix and Xiaoqing to kill the fifth-rank Black Spider.

Sensing that Jiang Zuo’s strength was extraordinary, Santu suddenly had an idea.

’There’s nothing to lose by trying, and if it works, the payoff will be huge.’

When he saw Jiang Zuo summon the Star Dust Bird as well, Santu immediately decided to reveal himself.

"You can command a sixth-rank Demon Beast, so your companions must be able to as well, right? With our meager Cultivation, how could we possibly help you?"

Jiang Zuo didn’t agree so easily.

"I sought you out precisely because you *can* help me."

"When it’s time to make our move, the Demon Beasts inside the Forbidden Land will temporarily stop obeying our commands."

"It won’t last long, but it will be enough time for you to make your move."

"Once you have it, you don’t need to worry about me going back on my word."

"I have no interest in your lives. As long as you help me, I will see you out of here, even if you fail."

"As for ratting me out to the other members of the Sang Family, I’d advise you not to even dream of it."

"You’ll have no proof. All I’ll have to do is say you were trying to sow discord, and you’ll be signing your own death warrant."

"And even in the unlikely event they do believe you and move against me, they would never let you go either."

"Those people... they’re not as reasonable as I am."

"How about this? As a show of good faith, I’ll give you a little something first."

Santu said all this in one breath.

With that, he took out a jade box and tossed it to Jiang Zuo.