Chapter 123: Soul-Devouring Tree

The Yellow Ox did not move herself, letting the two burly men drag her to the so-called Soul Well; this反而 made Hua Changxi breathe a sigh of relief—as long as she wasn't dead, there was still a chance to escape.

Dragged by the two burly men, Hua Changxi arrived at a well opening within the stone mountain that emitted a white glow.

The well opening was about ten meters in diameter; pushed to its edge and bathed in the white light, Hua Changxi felt not the slightest discomfort but rather immense comfort.

The two burly men also wore expressions of ecstasy, greedily inhaling the white radiance.

Just as Hua Changxi was guessing what the white light might be, one of the men removed the prayer beads from her wrist, and after confirming she carried no other storage treasures, he took off the iron claw from her left shoulder.

Before she could react, the other man kicked her squarely in the lower back, sending her tumbling into the well shaft.

Falling into the well, Hua Changxi realized that without the iron claw, she could control her body again; she immediately condensed her spiritual power, causing a spiritual cloud to appear beneath her feet, stabilizing her plummeting form.

Just then, a rustling sound reached her ears.

Because the white light in the well was too intense, she could see nothing; she could only ride her cloud carefully, avoiding the source of the sound.

"Crack!"

Hua Changxi had thought that careful dodging would allow her to evade the hidden danger, but unexpectedly, a crystal-clear white branch materialized out of thin air and struck her with unerring accuracy.

What it meant for one's very soul to tremble in terror—Hua Changxi felt it in that instant.

This pain differed somewhat from the physical agony she had endured before; it was equally unbearable, yet within that suffering lay a despair that made one wish to give up entirely.

"Crack!"

Another branch struck Hua Changxi with unerring precision as she darted frantically, nearly causing her to lose control of her spiritual cloud and fall.

Realizing she could not dodge the branches' lashes, Hua Changxi cared no longer whether the two men above had departed; riding her cloud, she shot straight up toward the well mouth.

As if sensing her intent to flee, the next moment brought even more fierce lashes, with several branches bursting forth simultaneously.

"Crack!"

Riding her cloud, Hua Changxi dodged in a sorry state, yet no matter how she evaded, she could not avoid the branches; they seemed to know her exact location with uncanny precision.

Under the relentless lashing of seven or eight branches, Hua Changxi could no longer hold out and fell from the sky.

"Thud!"

Hua Changxi crashed heavily onto the ground; here, near the floor, the light was not as blinding as in the air, allowing her to finally make out some details.

The next moment, she was struck speechless.

A colossal umbrella-shaped tree, crystal-clear, lush with foliage, with tangled roots, standing at least several thousand meters tall, and radiating a soft white glow, appeared before her eyes.

Sacred—that was Hua Changxi's first impression upon seeing the giant tree, but slowly, terror began to spread across her face.

She recalled the record of this tree in the "Annotations on the Hundred Herbs": it was the Soul-Devouring Tree, specialized in consuming the spiritual power of living souls.

No wonder this place was called the Soul Well; the Yellow Ox had thrown her down to serve as fodder for the Soul-Devouring Tree.

"Rustle..."

The sound of vines rubbing against the ground reached her ears; following the noise, Hua Changxi saw several white, snake-like tree roots surging toward her, attempting to bind her.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi did not dodge; now that she knew this was a Soul-Devouring Tree, she had a method to deal with it.

Others encountering a Soul-Devouring Tree might be unable to escape, but she could.

"Boom..."

Hua Changxi circulated her spiritual power, causing flames to ignite around her body; then, a Fire Lotus bloomed upon her.

From within the Fire Lotus, a Fire Bird flew out, circling above Hua Changxi's head.

As if sensing a threat, the tree roots attempting to bind Hua Changxi paused momentarily, but after a short while, they continued to coil toward her.

At this moment, the Fire Bird flew out and spewed flames at the tree roots.

To the roots of the Soul-Devouring Tree, the Zhu Que Fire was like a maggot in the bone; once tainted by it, the tree could not shake it off. Though it could not immediately burn them to ash, it caused the roots to twist in agony.

Sensing the danger, the roots of the Soul-Devouring Tree severed themselves, cutting off the flame-covered tips, while the remaining parts swiftly retracted with a "whoosh."

Seeing the roots of the Soul-Devouring Tree retreat, Hua Changxi immediately approached the severed segments still clinging to Zhu Que Fire and waved her hand to extinguish the flames.

Although the Soul-Devouring Tree posed a deadly threat, every part of it was a treasure; whether leaves, branches, roots, or the Soul Flowers and Soul Fruits it bore, all were rare treasures for replenishing soul power.

Hua Changxi picked up several segments of the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots and stored them in the Shennong Cauldron.

After the Infant Transformation realm came the Spiritual Platform realm.

Upon reaching the Spiritual Platform realm, cultivators needed to absorb vast amounts of soul power to strengthen their soul bodies, preparing for the subsequent condensation of their primordial spirit.

Since she had encountered a Soul-Devouring Tree, and relying on her Zhu Que Fire, Hua Changxi decided to gather more of its components to take back, so she cautiously approached an isolated root.

The roots of the Soul-Devouring Tree were intricately tangled; the part connecting to the trunk resembled a volcanic cone, while below, countless roots radiated outward, deeply anchored in the earth.

Hua Changxi dared not approach where the roots clustered densely, targeting only those sparsely distributed; lacking condensed Zhu Que Fire and sensing no immediate danger, the roots instinctively tried to bind her, pulling themselves from the ground to attack.

Only then did Hua Changxi condense the Fire Lotus, sending out the Fire Bird to burn through the roots.

After luring and obtaining over a dozen root segments in this manner, the other roots ceased to fall for the trick.

At this point, Hua Changxi noticed something peculiar: in a depression left by a withdrawn root, faint white glimmers were visible.

Hua Changxi dug in the depression for a while and unearthed several dozen stones resembling white jade.

Soul Crystals!

Upon seeing the Soul Crystals, excitement shone in Hua Changxi's eyes; these were essential resources for cultivating the primordial spirit!

Hua Changxi began digging in other depressions left by withdrawn roots, uncovering several dozen more Soul Crystals.

As she stored the Soul Crystals in the Shennong Cauldron, Hua Changxi was surprised to discover that the cauldron had absorbed both the previously collected Soul-Devouring Tree roots and the Soul Crystals; however, she soon realized the reason with a sudden clarity.

Having read many cultivator texts, she had learned much common knowledge.

She guessed that the Shennong Cauldron was likely a Divine Artifact, also known as a Soul Weapon.

There were two types of magical treasures used by cultivators: Spirit Artifacts and Divine Artifacts.

Higher-quality Spirit Artifacts could be taken as one's本命 (benming) magical treasure into the cultivator's dantian sea of qi, allowing them to be carried when the Infant Spirit departed the body; whereas high-quality Divine Artifacts could be stored within the Spiritual Platform in the cultivator's brain, allowing them to be carried even when the Primordial Spirit departed.

Spirit Artifacts relied on spiritual qi for nourishment, while Divine Artifacts required both spiritual qi and soul power.

"Shennong Cauldron, at least leave a little for me."

The Soul-Devouring Tree's roots and the soul crystals had all been absorbed by the Shennong Cauldron; Hua Changxi felt somewhat helpless. Although she did not need them yet, she had wished to prepare a supply.

Hua Changxi could only tentatively continue harvesting the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots, which brought her ever closer to where the roots clustered.

After burning one root half a meter in diameter, a sound of tearing through the air rang out; seven or eight branches over a meter thick descended from the sky, whipping heavily toward Hua Changxi.

Knowing she could not dodge the branches, Hua Changxi chose to withstand them head-on.

Fire lotuses encircled her body, while a fire bird hovered above her head.

"Crack, crack, crack~"

The Soul-Devouring Tree's branches struck the fire lotus petals, instantly extinguishing dozens of them. However, the branches gained no advantage either; infected by Zhu Que Fire, they were forced to snap off and retract quickly.

Seeing the branches retreat, Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief. She waited a moment, and upon confirming no further attacks were coming, she withdrew the fire lotuses.

Looking at the seven severed branches lying on the ground, each over a meter thick and ten-plus meters long, Hua Changxi felt a surge of hidden joy. She quickly moved forward and stored them in the Shennong Cauldron.

This time, the Shennong Cauldron finally did not absorb everything, leaving her one segment.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi decided not to continue digging up the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots. Although she possessed Zhu Que Fire capable of burning soul power, activating such divine abilities consumed immense spiritual energy.

Since she was still in danger, she needed to conserve her spiritual energy for escape.

Just as Hua Changxi was devising a way to leave this Soul-Devouring Well, she heard a faint cry.

"Help!"

Following the sound, Hua Changxi searched for quite some time before spotting several dozen human-shaped objects resembling cicada pupae where the cluster of tree roots emitted the brightest light.

There was no need to guess; those cicada pupae must be cultivators entangled by the tree roots.

Strands of white radiance swirled around the human-shaped pupae, constantly converging upward toward the trunk of the Soul-Devouring Tree. Hua Changxi knew this was the tree draining their soul power.

"Help!"

The weak, low cry sounded again.

Upon hearing it, Hua Changxi hesitated. To save these people, she would have to burn the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots, which would surely provoke a fierce counterattack from the tree.

These people had nothing to do with her. Judging from the two battles she witnessed while crossing the wooden bridge earlier, many cultivators in the Ghost Market were mutually hostile, committing arson, murder, and plunder against anyone weaker than themselves.

She did not wish to take risks for such people.

She definitely intended to flee this Soul-Devouring Well, preferably without alerting the yellow ox inside the Stone Mountain.

That yellow ox could transform into human form yet displayed no fluctuations of spiritual energy; she suspected it was a soul-cultivating demonic beast.

She was currently only a Nascent Soul cultivator and had not even opened her Spirit Platform; she could not withstand attacks targeting the divine soul.

Saving these people would provoke the Soul-Devouring Tree into a rampage, which would certainly alert the yellow ox, placing her at a severe disadvantage.

Thinking thus, Hua Changxi moved away from the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots to an open area. While remaining vigilant against a sudden attack from the tree, she gripped top-grade spirit stones to rapidly replenish her consumed spiritual energy.

One top-grade spirit stone after another turned to powder in her hand. Once she had fully restored her depleted spiritual energy, spiritual clouds condensed beneath her feet as she prepared to escape the Soul-Devouring Well.

The spiritual clouds failed to rise for some time. Hua Changxi turned back to look at those dozens of human-shaped pupae. Was she truly going to let these human cultivators become fodder for the Soul-Devouring Tree, allowing it to bloom with soul flowers and bear soul fruits to strengthen the yellow ox and other demonic races?

After much hesitation, Hua Changxi finally flew her cloud toward the Soul-Devouring Tree's roots. When still several dozen meters away from the root cluster, she condensed fire lotuses one by one, sending them speeding toward the human-shaped pupae.

The next moment, regardless of whether the fire lotuses burned the roots or freed the cultivators inside, she tossed several bottles of Spirit-Resolving Pills onto ground free of roots, then turned and rushed toward the well mouth without looking back.

As expected, when the dozens of fire lotuses struck, the Soul-Devouring Tree flew into a rage. Dozens of branches shot through the air, lashing at the fire lotuses.

This ironically benefited Hua Changxi; since the Soul-Devouring Tree was attacking the fire lotuses, it did not attempt to intercept her as she fled the deep well.

Hua Changxi had not expected such a gain. Seeing the chaotic whipping of branches below, she felt somewhat guilty and tossed down several bottles of healing pills. Then, paying no further attention to matters below, she focused entirely on rushing toward the well mouth.

Upon reaching the well mouth, Hua Changxi did not burst out directly. Instead, she hung at the edge to scout the situation above. Seeing no one there, she quickly exited the Soul-Devouring Well.

After leaving the well, she carefully retraced the route the two burly men had taken to bring her in.

Previously, when the iron claws had seized her, she had been like a living corpse, yet her eyes could still move, allowing her to memorize the route.

Just as Hua Changxi passed the great hall where the yellow ox resided, a noisy clamor suddenly erupted within the Stone Mountain.

"It's bad! Something has happened at the Soul Well."

"Quickly inform the Venerable One! Something has happened at the Soul Well!"

Earlier, while walking through the Stone Mountain, Hua Changxi had encountered no living creature, but now, countless demonic beasts poured out of the mountain, all rushing toward the Soul Well.

Taking advantage of the demons' diverted attention, Hua Changxi slipped away quickly. Soon, she reached the mountain gate of Ox-Head Mountain.

Sensing no presence of spiritual energy at the mountain gate, she dared not be careless. For no other reason than that this Ghost Market—no, she felt it should be called the Ghost Realm—seemed to be the territory of soul cultivators.

Without reaching the Spirit Platform realm, she could not project her divine sense, making it impossible for her to detect whether soul-cultivating demonic beasts were hiding outside.

The commotion within the Stone Mountain grew louder. Hua Changxi quietly observed the mountain gate for a moment, then clenched her teeth and sped out on her cloud.

Just as she was about to fly out of the mountain gate, a giant python, merged seamlessly with the gray mist, appeared out of nowhere, blocking her path.

Having guessed that the mountain gate would not be unguarded, Hua Changxi was not surprised. She condensed fire lotuses and proactively attacked the giant python.

Only after the battle commenced did she see the python in its entirety.

It was enormous; the python's body was several meters thick and hundreds of meters long.

Seeing the white moon mark on the python's forehead, Hua Changxi recognized it as the Moon Nether Python mentioned in the "Illustrated Classic of Myriad Spirit Meridians" provided by the Shennong Cauldron.

The Moon Nether Python could emit a poisonous mist; once inhaled, this mist would pollute the Spirit Platform, trapping the primordial spirit.

Although she had not yet condensed a primordial spirit, every human possessed a soul body. If she inhaled the poison mist, she estimated she would become unable to control her own body, just as when the iron claws had hooked her earlier.

Seeing mist already surging from the giant python's body, Hua Changxi's expression changed drastically. She gathered spiritual energy in both hands and condensed a fire lotus.

"Boom~"

Countless streams of spiritual energy surged forth; the fire lotus rapidly expanded. Its seventy-two flame petals quickly enveloped the entire mountain gate, trapping the Moon Nether Python within the fire lotus.

After burning the Buddha's Hand at Mount Wuzhi, the fire lotus had gained the power to burn mountains and boil seas. After awakening her lotus bloodline, the fire lotus activated the Lotus Domain divine ability. Coupled with the Zhu Que Fire capable of burning the primordial spirit, or soul body, the Moon Nether Python, which had just been preparing to attack, panicked and began crashing wildly within the fire lotus.

Launching three divine abilities simultaneously, Hua Changxi consumed nearly thirty percent of her spiritual energy. Seeing the Moon Nether Python trapped, she immediately dashed out of the fire lotus, rode her cloud, and swiftly departed from Ox-Head Mountain.

More than a kilometer after she flew away from Ox-Head Mountain, an infuriated "Moo~" echoed through the night sky. Immediately after, the figure of a giant ox, radiating brilliant white light, manifested above Ox-Head Mountain.

Hua Changxi originally thought she had angered the yellow ox by blocking Ox-Head Mountain with her fire lotus, but the next moment, a golden character '卍' flew out, directly shattering the giant ox into pieces.