Chapter 282 - 273: Secret of the Forbidden Land

Chapter 282: Chapter 273: Secret of the Forbidden Land

Compared to the Beast God Tree, even the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture Tower was just a wet-behind-the-ears brat.

"If I could, I would tell you."

"But unfortunately, I know very little about the history of either the Upper Realm or the Cultivation Realm."

"My consciousness awakened over thirty thousand years ago. I remember almost nothing from before that."

"Basically, every five thousand years or so, whenever I nurture a Companion Spirit Tree, people from the Upper Realm come. They repair the array, replenish the consumed crystals, and take the Companion Spirit Tree with them."

"They don’t know I exist. I’ve been cautiously listening to their conversations."

"Unfortunately, these cultivators who descend to this realm are under a restriction that prevents them from saying certain things."

"I’ve never heard them discuss matters of the Upper Realm. At most, they’ll talk about some internal struggles within their family, the Sang Family."

"As for the history of the Cultivation Realm, I know even less."

"And when human Cultivators enter the Forbidden Land, they don’t discuss historical matters either."

Jiang Zuo had hoped to learn some secrets of the Upper Realm from the Tree Spirit, but unfortunately, even it knew very little.

"Over thirty thousand years... For your age, Senior, doesn’t your voice sound a bit too old?"

Jiang Zuo asked after a moment of thought.

Divine Trees in the Cultivation Realm could live for a very long time. The Divine Tree he had obtained from the Endless Sea, the one that grew Divine Thought Fruits, was at least tens of thousands of years old.

But compared to the Beast God Tree, that tree seemed exceptionally young.

"Your feeling is correct. I am old."

"Normally, with my natural lifespan, I should have been able to live for at least a hundred thousand years before reaching my current state."

"But because of this array, my life is being consumed at an accelerated rate."

"Nurturing those Companion Spirit Trees isn’t without a price. For each one I create, I lose about five thousand years of my lifespan."

The Tree Spirit said faintly.

Because of the array, its lifespan was being consumed twice as fast.

The Beast God Tree soon led Jiang Zuo to another hub of the array.

This array hub was also hidden inside the trunk of a giant tree.

Jiang Zuo went inside, took one look, and knew it was the same as the previous array hub.

The array hub before him was also impossible to destroy.

"It seems this is my fate. If I cannot destroy this array, my life will be exhausted in a few more centuries."

Hearing Jiang Zuo’s judgment, the Tree Spirit abandoned all false hope.

But it accepted this outcome calmly.

A few hundred years was not a short time for a Cultivator.

But for the Beast God Tree, it was like the blink of an eye.

"Senior, if you were to die, would this Forbidden Land disappear?"

"If that’s the case, the people from the Upper Realm wouldn’t just stand by and watch you die."

Jiang Zuo asked curiously.

He could tell that the Beast God Tree Forbidden Land was extremely important to the Sang Family.

It would likely be impossible for the Sang Family to create another such place in this realm.

Therefore, the Sang Family couldn’t possibly stand by and watch the Beast God Tree die.

And if the Sang Family planned to do something, as long as Jiang Zuo knew when, he could make preparations in advance.

"I will die, but that doesn’t mean the Beast God Tree will die."

"Under normal circumstances, the Beast God Tree is a Tree of Eternal Life."

"After I die, a new Tree Spirit will take my place."

Jiang Zuo’s reasoning was sound, but the Tree Spirit’s words were something he had never expected.

The Tree Spirit was merely like a transient guest living inside the Beast God Tree.

"In fact, the new Tree Spirit has already been born."

"In a few hundred years, once I die, she will replace me."

"I was originally thinking that after destroying the array, I would have you take her away."

"She would gain her freedom, and I might have been reborn."

"Now, my death is unchangeable, but I don’t want her to repeat my tragedy."

"It’s still possible for her to gain freedom."

"As long as you can take her away."

Then, the Tree Spirit said something even more shocking.

Within the same Beast God Tree, there were actually two Tree Spirits!

"Come, Cocoa!"

The Tree Spirit called out again.

「Elsewhere in the Forbidden Land Forest.」

The little girl in the black dress suddenly looked up.

"Grandmother is calling me. I’m going to her now."

The little girl patted the Golden Wolf, and her figure dissolved into a flash of light, vanishing quietly.

Jiang Zuo heard the ancient voice fade.

In the next instant, a green light appeared before his eyes.

The green light quickly coalesced into the form of a little girl.

’It’s her?’

Jiang Zuo recognized the little girl in the black dress at a glance.

So she was the other Tree Spirit of the Beast God Tree. No wonder she could move about the Beast God Tree Forbidden Land so freely.

Above Jiang Zuo’s head, branches and leaves descended, weaving together to form the image of an old woman.

"Grandmother."

The little girl looked at the old Tree Spirit, then glanced timidly at Jiang Zuo.

"Senior, do you just want me to take her out of the Forbidden Land?"

Jiang Zuo said, looking at the little girl in the black dress.

The task didn’t seem difficult, and taking a Tree Spirit would be a great help to his Pet Beast Spirit Garden, so Jiang Zuo naturally wouldn’t refuse.

"Yes, but it’s not as simple as you imagine."

"Like me, Cocoa has another, true body."

"Her true body is still small, nurturing within the Beast God Tree."

"Originally, if we could have destroyed the array and created chaos, it would have been simple for you to take her away."

"But now, you must seize the moment when the Sang Family’s cultivators are sealing and taking away the Companion Spirit Tree. That is the only time you can take Cocoa."

"Once you miss that window, Cocoa will be bound by the array, just like me."

"And once I die and Cocoa takes my place, there will be no more chances."

The Tree Spirit explained.

The reason the Sang Family cultivators had to use a Sealing Array to take the Companion Tree Spirit was because the Companion Tree Spirit was also restricted by the Forbidden Land’s array.

Otherwise, why would transplanting a mere Spirit Tree be so troublesome?

Jiang Zuo had transplanted many Spirit Trees into his Spirit Garden, and he had always just dug them up directly.

Cocoa was actually also within the scope of the Sealing Array. As long as the Sealing Array was activated, Jiang Zuo could take her.

’Great! Now everything is happening at the same time!’

Jiang Zuo frowned.

But between helping Santu snatch the Companion Spirit Tree and helping the Tree Spirit take the little girl, Jiang Zuo feared he would only have time for one.

To snatch the Companion Tree Spirit *and* take Cocoa away would be impossible, unless the people from the Sang Family were complete trash. Jiang Zuo felt it was highly unlikely.

But how could people from the Upper Realm lack powerful methods?

Santu alone had given him a Talisman that could block a full-power blow from a Manifestation Realm cultivator. The other members of the Sang Family probably had means even greater than Santu’s.

But if he only took Cocoa and didn’t help Santu snatch the Companion Tree Spirit, Santu might turn on him, making things even harder to handle.

After some thought, Jiang Zuo told the Tree Spirit about Santu.

"You don’t need to worry about that."

"In fact, I am guiding a few other human and Demon Race Cultivators here."

"Among them are a Demon Venerable and a human Venerable."

"When the Sang Family people activate the Sealing Array, those individuals will encounter them first."

"Based on my understanding of the Sang Family, they will inevitably clash with those cultivators."

"You can then wait for the right moment to make your move."

The Tree Spirit’s words were news that made Jiang Zuo’s eyes light up.

Jiang Zuo asked a few more questions and quickly confirmed that the cultivators the Tree Spirit mentioned were Bai Ling, the Cyan Ape Demon Venerable, Gu Wei, and the Sect Leader of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil.

If those people fought the Sang Family members first, and he was prepared, he could indeed fish in troubled waters. At the very least, he could ensure he wouldn’t be collectively targeted by the Sang Family.

"Grandmother, are you telling me to leave?"

Cocoa, who had been listening silently, finally spoke up.

"Cocoa, Grandmother knows you don’t really care about any of this."

"But the world is vast. You can’t be trapped here for your entire life."

"Even if you’re not interested in the outside world, you must leave this place."

"Here, your lifespan will become very short."

"Your life form is different from Grandmother’s. Your existence will be more conducive to the nurturing and growth of the Companion Spirit Trees."

"If you don’t leave, your lifespan will be drastically shortened."

The old Tree Spirit said in a gentle voice.

"I understand, Grandmother. But, I want to take Mao Mao with me."

Cocoa said after a moment of thought.

"Mao Mao? That giant golden wolf? Have it come over. I can take it with us!"

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo’s spirits soared.

That was a fifth-rank Demon Beast!

Moreover, Jiang Zuo could tell that this giant golden wolf was a special existence within the Beast God Tree Forbidden Land!