Chapter 167: Halfway Picking Peaches

Hundreds of meters underground, the Black Ox grimaced, enduring the pain as he pulled another diamond-shaped crystal from the wound under his buttock, so infuriated he wanted to curse.

So far, he had dug out four pieces!

"This is infuriating!" He was so angry that white smoke seemed to billow from his nostrils. He had almost been killed by the silver walnut explosion, was covered in wounds, and was still so unlucky after escaping deep underground.

The Yellow Ox took the red crystal and was examining it. This thing was too dazzling, surrounded by a red glow, like a perfectly cut, top-grade diamond sparkling brilliantly in the sun, radiantly beautiful.

Chu Feng looked at the Black Ox's pathetic state; in such a situation, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

"This is unusual soil, but in the past, it was nourished by the spiritual blood of powerful beings. This thing contains astonishing life energy," the Yellow Ox whispered.

"Can we absorb it?" Chu Feng asked softly.

"No," the Yellow Ox shook his head.

The Black Ox was immediately disappointed, his large black face showing his frustration.

But the Yellow Ox's eyes were still bright, slightly excited. He said, "There must be sacred roots here. These crystals were deliberately placed. If we dig our way through, we might find something."

He informed the two that these items were specifically used to cultivate sacred plants.

The three were cautious and careful, digging in the soil behind the Black Ox's buttock, and found several more vibrant red crystals, beautiful and brilliant.

Chu Feng didn't hesitate and collected them all, as he felt they would be very useful for the seeds in the stone box.

They dug their way, moving quickly underground, searching for potentially hidden sacred roots.

"The direction is wrong. According to the layout above ground, I think we should dig north!" the Yellow Ox whispered, remembering the colorful small tree.

Now, they were no longer in a hurry to escape; they didn't want to leave!

The Holy Medicinal Garden was a mess, full of pits and ravaged ground. Horns, feathers, bones, and other bloody remains were scattered everywhere. More than eighty percent of the beast kings had been wiped out.

This was a tragedy with far-reaching consequences, destined to shock the entire world!

"You are so ruthless!" A beast king was still alive but couldn't move. Its limbs were broken off, and the lower half of its body was completely gone. It clearly wouldn't live much longer.

Chi Lin walked over, brandished a gleaming long saber, and severed its head without hesitation.

"We are both human, please save me." Not far away, a human king-level expert lay there. His body was riddled with holes, and blood stained the ground. He looked at Ovid with a look of longing.

Ovid, clad in his radiant armor and holding a greatsword, walked over. He said nothing, and with a dazzling swing of his sword, he severed the man's head.

"You are devils! Why do you treat us like this?" A king-level creature shrieked, filled with despair.

Whether pleading or cursing, all were mercilessly cut down. Ovid, Chi Lin, and others were utterly ruthless, ignoring them entirely and finishing them off directly.

Blood flowed, and the ground glowed faintly. Streaks of blood converged, extending towards the deepest part of the Holy Medicinal Garden.

After the creatures in this area died, their spiritual blood automatically gathered, emitting light, as if summoned by something.

In the depths of the Holy Medicinal Garden, the small barrier reappeared. Inside was a vibrant small tree, radiating brilliant light. It emerged from underground, resurfacing. The blood and other substances converged towards its roots.

At this moment, a bird king awoke, wracked with pain. After seeing the scene like an Asura battlefield before it, it burned its vital essence, shot into the sky, and tried to escape.

Unfortunately, it swayed unsteadily and was too slow. A gleaming long saber thrown by Chi Lin pierced its head. It immediately let out a shriek and plummeted down.

The Holy Medicinal Garden was a bloodbath. Even king-level creatures that hadn't died initially couldn't escape their fate, as they were all finished off.

Finally, complete silence fell over the area.

Bodies lay piled in swathes across this area, resembling hell. The Holy Medicinal Garden was utterly crimson.

"Where is that human?" Chi Lin asked. He had long crimson hair and a face like mutton-fat jade, very handsome yet extremely cold. Standing among the piles of corpses, he radiated killing intent.

He was searching for Chu Feng but found no corpse. At this level, even if someone was blown into pieces by the silver walnut, some remains should have been left behind.

"There's one that got away!"

In fact, others were also frowning and had already begun to move, rushing quickly out of the Holy Medicinal Garden to conduct a thorough search.

"Here's one!" someone shouted.

Even in this situation, some powerful individuals had survived the ultimate death trap, infiltrated the divine city, preparing to escape, and were now discovered.

"Kill!"

Ovid, holding his Sword of Light, strode forward and pursued them himself.

Sounds of fighting echoed from afar, with sword light piercing the sky.

"There are others over there too!"

Chi Lin heard the report and joined the pursuit.

The ground of the Holy Medicinal Garden was covered with corpses, resembling a twilight hell, instilling fear and trembling.

Apart from a handful of individuals, over ninety percent of the kings had died here, a fact destined to shock the world.

Hundreds of meters underground, Chu Feng and his companions dug their way, aligning their path with the surface location, heading directly towards the underground area where the colorful small tree was located.

Along the way, Chu Feng acquired dozens of crystals, radiating vibrant life energy. This filled him with great joy.

"Hmm, we can't dig any further!"

Ahead, a mysterious energy permeated the air, forming a luminous barrier, like a boundary.

"This cursed place has barriers even underground, and there's no way for us to get in," the Black Ox cursed.

They were now in an extremely dangerous situation, yet they remained calm.

"I was hoping for a big haul!" the Black Ox grumbled.

"Keep digging!"

They quickly worked around the area, digging out a large section of the luminous barrier, looking for a weak point, hoping to break through.

Chu Feng's flying sword was impeded when it struck something extremely hard while digging through the soil and rocks.

A broken spear had pierced the barrier and was embedded there. Additionally, there were some arrow fletchings and other items also embedded in the barrier.

In the past, a battle had taken place here, and these weapons had pierced the underground barrier.

"The Vatican is truly mysterious!" Chu Feng exclaimed.

"This is part of the Holy Medicinal Garden, and the barrier is protecting a sacred tree. In fact, once the world fully recovers, there won't be just one in the depths of the garden; there will be other barriers as well," the Yellow Ox explained.

"Oh, we might be able to get in!"

The barrier, pierced by weapons, was very unstable. For thousands of years, no one had come underground to observe it. The barrier had always remained punctured by those weapons.

Whoosh!

In the end, they actually squeezed into the barrier without obstruction, successfully entering the mysterious pure land.

"Be careful not to go the wrong way, or we'll be in big trouble if we run into those ancient trees that have grown angels!"

This was because they had seen two small barriers in the depths of the Holy Medicinal Garden, one of which was very dangerous.

"I've dug up a dry root!" the Black Ox exclaimed in surprise.

Within this barrier, there was a gigantic root, completely dried out and devoid of life, buried for an unknown number of millennia.

The Yellow Ox's expression was grave as he said, "This is a true sacred tree root!"

The three continued to dig around it, eventually revealing a snow-white rootlet connected to the dry, massive main root, extending towards the surface.

In the process, Chu Feng collected hundreds of red crystals, and the bag he carried was almost full.

They followed the snow-white rootlet upward, eventually breaking through the soil layer, and smelling fresh air, along with an astonishing fragrance.

At the same time, they felt a chill. There was blood, scales, horns, and feathers in the soil.

"It's indeed that colorful small tree!"

On the surface, there was a small tree, dazzlingly brilliant and entirely translucent. From their close proximity, they could see flower buds growing on it.

"What a shame, it's too small!" the Black Ox swallowed, his mouth watering.

There were five flower buds on it, each only the size of a longan fruit, looking as if they had just sprouted not long ago, and seemingly needing more time to fully bloom.

"Huh, it's getting bigger?"

The three were surprised. The flower buds on the colorful small tree swayed and grew larger. Although not very fast, the change was definitely occurring.

"Blood!"

They realized that the blood in the surrounding soil was being absorbed by the small tree.

At the same time, they cautiously scanned their surroundings. Through the barrier, they vaguely saw piles of corpses in the distance, which immediately shocked them.

So many king-level creatures had died?

This was enough to shake the heavens. The entire world would be rocked!

"No, this place is too dangerous. We could be discovered at any moment. We need to leave quickly!" Chu Feng said.

"But the flowers are still growing!" The Black Ox's eyes were practically glowing green. This trip to the Vatican had been utterly frustrating, leaving him filled with resentment.

He had originally intended to seize a great fortune, but found it to be a massive deception. Not only had he failed to obtain any true sacred fruits, but he had also nearly lost his life here.

"The flower buds are also effective," the Yellow Ox said. "These are the fruits of the sacred tree. And having been nourished by various spiritual bloods, their medicinal effects are terrifying!"

He also felt it was too dangerous to wait. It would be better to just pluck the five flower buds and escape immediately, regardless of the consequences!

The Black Ox was unwilling, swallowing hard. He said, "Let's wait a bit longer. Every time the flower buds grow a little, their medicinal effect will become stronger. We might even break free from more than two shackles in one go!"

In truth, while both the Yellow Ox and Chu Feng rationally wanted to leave, they found themselves unable to move. They genuinely wanted to see the flower buds on this small tree bloom.

If possible, they wished to fully extract the pollen, then wait a long time to see it bear fruit, and take those as well.

Unfortunately, they didn't have that much time to linger.

"So, the so-called sacred tree is just a wisp of life emerging from the dried main root underground?" Chu Feng asked.

"It's like this with all famous mountains," the Yellow Ox explained. "The current 'sacred tree' is only in its initial stage of recovery; its medicinal effects can't compare to a truly mature one. But it's enough for the evolution of current creatures."

"Ah..."

Screams echoed from the divine city in the distance. The sounds of fighting that had just been present had completely ceased.

"No, we have to pick them now. If we don't leave soon, it'll be too late!" Chu Feng said.

Those people would surely return soon!

At this moment, the flower buds had grown larger, about the size of plums, vividly colored and dazzling. The spiritual blood in the soil had a very obvious effect on them, containing a large amount of essence that was promoting their growth.