Chapter 634: Is This Etiquette Standard Enough?

It was a massive stone gate that seemed to have formed naturally. The gate had not been carved by human hands. Instead, it had been woven together from the roots of two completely petrified ancient trees. Deeply engraved across its surface, in the spirit-race seal script that carried an ancient Daoist resonance, were eight large characters.

“Within the Greenwood Realm, all things possess a spirit.”

On both sides of the stone gate stood two orderly rows of spirit-race guards.

This was also the first time Su Ming had seen living members of the spirit races from such a close distance.

They were so tall and slender that they scarcely resembled mortals, standing more than nine feet tall. Their skin was a pale green filled with vigorous life, and faint patterns resembling the grain of wood seemed to flow across its surface. They had no hair. Instead, willow-leaf-like green tendrils grew from the tops of their heads. Most striking of all were their eyes, a pair of crystal-clear amber pupils resembling fine glazed glass, without the slightest impurity.

Judging from the fluctuations of aura radiating from their bodies, all of them actually possessed cultivation at the early Soul Nurturing stage, equivalent to the early Foundation Establishment stage of the human race!

Each guard held a plain wooden staff without the slightest trace of carving.

The instant Su Ming’s figure emerged from behind the stalactite pillar.

“Buzz!”

Two guards turned their heads at the same time. The emerald-green lights at the tops of their staffs suddenly blazed like two miniature suns, and two waves of pure, powerful life-force pressure instantly locked onto the area where Su Ming stood.

At this extremely tense moment.

Su Ming did not retreat even half a step. His eyes did not show the slightest panic under that pressure. More importantly, he made no defensive movement or any action that might be mistaken for preparing to attack.

He knew very well that on someone else’s territory, even the smallest excessive reaction could trigger a life-and-death battle that could not be undone.

Su Ming stood where he was, his expression calm.

Slowly, using an utterly relaxed movement that contained not the slightest hostility, he raised both hands and spread his palms completely forward, showing that he held no weapons.

Then, following the most deeply rooted etiquette in Qingyan’s memories, he slowly drew back his right hand and solemnly pressed it against the left side of his chest. Facing the two guards, he bent deeply at the waist in a precise, formal bow.

This was a greeting used by members of the spirit races when addressing their own kind.

Its true meaning was: “I bare my heart to you. I show you my life force, and I harbor not the slightest ill will.”

The spirit-race guards exchanged a glance, their amber, glazed pupils filled with undisguisable astonishment.

From their perception, the “creature” that had suddenly emerged from the underground river before them radiated life essence that blended perfectly with this jungle. Its appearance also faintly resembled that of a member of the spirit races after taking human form. Yet no matter how they looked at him, something about him seemed strange.

And yet this strange fellow had actually performed an ancient ritual that, even within the Greenwood Court, would only be used by those old-fashioned elders who followed ancient customs!

The powerful contrast left the two guards momentarily at a loss as to how they should respond.

“Master, is there anything improper about my greeting?” Su Ming calmly asked within his Consciousness Sea while maintaining his bowing posture.

“It is a fine greeting, and your posture is formal enough.” Lin Yu smacked his lips inside the ring, but there was a hint of schadenfreude in his tone. “But did you forget one thing? Your life essence coat is ultimately nothing more than a layer of skin. If you run into a true expert, I’m afraid…”

Lin Yu had not even finished speaking.

The somewhat taller spirit-race guard on the right was clearly much more cautious. Although most of the hostility in his eyes had faded, he still did not lower his guard.

He raised the wooden staff in his hand and pointed it at Su Ming from a distance.

“Whoosh!”

A beam of emerald-green light as thin as a strand of hair shot from the top of the staff. Like a probe, it instantly shone onto Su Ming’s body.

Su Ming’s heartbeat stalled for a moment.

When the emerald-green beam pierced through the outermost layer of his life essence coat and was about to touch the isolation layer of formation lines at the foundation, the layer that belonged to his human flesh.

Although the laws of two completely different forces had only produced the slightest, most microscopic friction.

That friction still caused a clearly visible disturbance on the life essence coat covering Su Ming’s body, rippling like waves across water.

The amber pupils of the staff-wielding guard suddenly contracted. His eyes, which had relaxed slightly, instantly became as sharp as a blade’s edge.

The wooden staff in his hand thrust forward violently. The emerald radiance at its tip swelled explosively, transforming into a blade of light that exuded bone-chilling cold. It pointed directly at Su Ming’s throat.

The guard on the left also stepped sideways at the same time, sealing off every possible route Su Ming could use to escape.

The air seemed to solidify at that moment.

Su Ming continued to maintain his bowing posture. Not even his eyelashes trembled.

Although the other side had revealed a weapon, the blade of light hovered half an inch from his throat and did not stab down immediately. The life-force pressure carried extreme vigilance rather than pure killing intent. If he resisted now, he would immediately confirm his identity as an enemy and be surrounded and attacked by the entire patrol squad.

“I absolutely cannot move.” Su Ming issued himself a deadly order in the depths of his heart.

“Cheep…” Shadow, hidden inside the collar of Su Ming’s clothes, sensed the threatening chill. She shifted uneasily, and the muscles beneath her feathers instantly tensed.

“Stay quiet.” Su Ming’s left hand hung seemingly casually at his side, but he secretly curled his index finger and used an extremely faint trace of water spiritual energy to gently tap Shadow’s head in reassurance.

The two guards stared fixedly at Su Ming and began speaking to each other in low voices in the spirit-race language, which carried an ancient rhythm.

“This coat is false. The fluctuations of the laws of life are abnormal. Another power we have never seen is blocking our investigation at the foundation. He is definitely not a pure-blooded member of the spirit races.” The tall guard on the right spoke in a deep, cold voice, without shifting his staff even slightly.

“Could he have been sent by those filthy members of the Dark Current Sect? Recently, the Scouts on the outskirts have repeatedly discovered those disgusting impostors of theirs wandering along the borders.” The guard on the left furrowed his brows tightly, a trace of disgust flashing through his eyes.

“Whatever it is, we cannot deal with it casually. Take it inside and let the elders examine it personally.”

Su Ming lowered his eyes. Relying on the memory fragments of Qingyan in his mind, he heard every word of their conversation without missing a single one. He secretly weighed the situation. The Dark Current Sect had indeed begun probing them frequently. The Greenwood Court’s guards were like startled birds. This perfectly confirmed Lin Yu’s earlier deduction. The conflict between the Neutralists and the Dark Current Sect had already reached the verge of open confrontation.

“Move.”

The guard on the right lightly tapped Su Ming’s back with his staff, signaling him to follow. The action could not be considered violent, but the emerald-green light at the tip of the staff, held ready but not yet released, conveyed the meaning with absolute clarity: if he dared make any unusual move, he would be killed on the spot.