Chapter 37: Seeking

The woman’s pale face was frosty, and her slender fingers were clenched, their knuckles turning blue. Even through the communicator, a murderous intent was palpable.

A surge of anger burned within her, unable to be released. Chu Feng’s attitude, in particular, infuriated her even more; she truly wished she could immediately go to the foot of the Taihang Mountains and kill him.

She tried her best to control her voice, making it cold and devoid of emotion. "You must ensure their safety!" she said.

"Who exactly are you? Sending monsters over every day! I'm a normal person; if this continues, I'll have a heart attack," Chu Feng expressed his strong dissatisfaction from the other end of the communicator. He then questioned further, "You're not some old hag, are you?"

With a *click*, the woman immediately hung up the communicator, ending the call. Her once young and beautiful face had now turned livid.

"Who exactly is helping him?!" She stood by the window, gazing at the night sky. Her delicate brows were tightly furrowed, and a cold glint flickered in her eyes. Consecutive failures made her heart pound, filling her with a hidden worry.

Six or seven extraordinary individuals had gone missing. Dozens of elite operatives, who had gone with modern weaponry, also vanished without a trace. This was no small loss.

If accountability was pursued, she would find it hard to avoid.

She had analyzed it previously and ruled out the possibility that Chu Feng was responsible. His hair had been taken for analysis, confirming that he was unlikely to become an extraordinary individual.

"Is a powerful master helping him, and perhaps watching my every move?" She became apprehensive.

Under the crystal chandelier, the woman paced back and forth in the room. Finally, with a *smash*, she forcefully threw the wine glass, full of red wine, to the floor.

It couldn't be Lin Nuoyi; she had already ruled that out last time.

As she thought it over carefully, a sense of panic began to set in.

That wild boy at the foot of the Taihang Mountains was just an ordinary person. She had initially promised others that he could be dealt with easily, without causing any significant trouble.

In fact, she had already devised a way for him to die, and to outsiders, it would appear to be merely an accident.

Now, all of this was beyond her control. For a mere nobody, she had successively lost several extraordinary individuals and an elite combat team.

Were those missing people still alive? She didn't know!

At this moment, she felt some regret and fear. She had a persistent feeling that there was an abyss ahead, and if she continued, she would sink deeper and deeper.

This was an intuition; the more she thought about the matter, the more uneasy she became.

"This is truly unbearable, Chu Feng, you deserve to die!" she said coldly. Her red lips and pearly teeth looked very alluring, but her face was very cold, a murderous aura permeated the air, and she was extremely annoyed.

Finally, she frowned, took out her communicator, found someone named Mu, and dialed the number.

"Mu, some things have exceeded my expectations, and they concern me..."

That night, Chu Feng slept exceptionally soundly. When he woke up in the morning, he felt refreshed. He estimated that the woman certainly hadn't slept well; even if she hadn't been scared, she must have been flustered.

Anyone suffering such a significant loss could not possibly be in good spirits.

Facing the morning glow, he performed his special breathing technique. He felt warm all over, bathed in the sun's golden rays, as if his entire being was being purified.

After a hearty breakfast, Chu Feng called the yellow ox to depart. Today, they were to enter the mountains and search, one by one, according to the map's guidance.

After entering the mountains, he first went to look at the pile of modern weaponry. He even picked out a rocket launcher and test-fired it, because he would need it soon.

*Boom!* In the distant mountains, flames surged, boulders shattered, ancient trees fell in swathes, and smoke and dust billowed into the sky.

"Not bad, the power is decent. I wonder if it can bring down the Silver-Winged Deity if I hit him with it," Chu Feng muttered to himself.

Chu Feng couldn't assess the strength of the Silver-Winged Deity. However, based on the seven or eight extraordinary individuals he had encountered so far, he was confident he could handle them all without any problems.

After familiarizing himself with its operation, Chu Feng hid the rocket launcher.

He unfolded the map and headed deeper into the mountain range.

Each location marked on the map was within the original Taihang Mountains and did not venture into the primeval mountains.

Chu Feng and the yellow ox had a smooth journey. Soon they reached their first destination: a verdant peak, not particularly high in elevation.

On the mountaintop, vegetation was sparse, with a few old pine trees and some green rocks.

The map had a mark that read: "Already Harvested."

Chu Feng guessed that mysterious fruits had probably appeared here, but they had already been harvested. However, he still came along the way, hoping to see if there were any other discoveries.

The yellow ox immediately fixed its gaze on a plant.

Chu Feng also noticed that it was distinctly different. It was lush green and slightly luminous, with a vigorous life essence seemingly swirling around it.

On closer inspection, it was plantain, a very common roadside weed.

Plantain has oval leaves with many clear veins. Had this particular plant ever borne fruit?

"It's a bit different; the leaves are thicker," Chu Feng said. "Compared to ordinary plantain, it's as crystal clear and luminous as if carved from green jade."

Unfortunately, there was a very obvious fruit stalk on it. The fruit had long been picked by someone, and he didn't know what was special about it.

*Chomp!* Just as Chu Feng was thinking, the yellow ox lowered its head and bit off the plant in one go. In just three or five mouthfuls, it was completely gone.

"You Demon Ox King!" Chu Feng exclaimed, furious.

The yellow ox turned its head and glanced at him, its look seeming to ask, "What?"

"You're like an ox munching on peonies, wasting a treasure of nature! Why did you eat it?!" Chu Feng glared. Even the people from Heavenly Deity Biology hadn't destroyed this plant; they had marked it down, probably intending to see if it would bear fruit again.

And he had also planned to come back and check on it after a while.

The yellow ox had an innocent expression. It simply wrote a few words on the ground: "Ordinary grass mutates, only bears fruit once."

Chu Feng was startled, secretly lamenting the loss.

The yellow ox bared its teeth, snickering.

"What's so funny?" Chu Feng glared at it.

This time, the yellow ox wrote more words, revealing some secrets to him.

"This world is undergoing mutation; countless root systems are awaiting revival!"

"Awaiting revival, what do you mean? Ancient species that existed long ago?" Chu Feng pressed for details.

"A once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity," the yellow ox wrote this last line and said no more.

Chu Feng still remembered the few secrets the yellow ox had revealed earlier. It seemed to have come to achieve sainthood and establish a lineage, harboring great ambitions!

"Is it related to those root systems awaiting revival?" he wondered.

He was momentarily lost in thought. This world seemed to hold a great secret, causing even those monsters to want to rush over.

Next, Chu Feng dug out the plantain's root system. Since it could no longer bear mysterious fruit, he wouldn't hold back. He wanted to see what was truly different about it and why it could mutate.

"Oh!" He did find something. Some soil on the root system was very peculiar, only about the size of a fingernail, but it was tightly entwined by a dense network of roots.

It was purple soil, slightly luminous, resembling grains of sand.

"Could this be the reason for the plantain's mutation?" He was somewhat skeptical.

The yellow ox also peeked over to look, but it didn't understand either.

"Never mind, I'll put it away first."

Next, they went to three more places in a row, finding mutated plants at each. Unfortunately, the fruits had already been picked.

Chu Feng was surprised to find a piece of soil about the size of a fingernail under each plant. Each piece was slightly luminous, some reddish, some bluish, and different from ordinary soil.

These strange soil pieces were entwined by the plant roots, as if they contained some kind of essence.

In this way, he collected four small pieces, each of a different color. He carefully wrapped them up.

"With this soil, my three seeds will likely take root and sprout." Chu Feng felt a slight excitement in his heart; he wanted to know what exactly would grow.

He was very much looking forward to it, as they were indeed extraordinary in origin, coming from a mysterious stone box found at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

Chu Feng unfolded the map. There was still one crucial place he hadn't visited. It was also the central area of this map, marked with a black skull.

Did this signify extreme danger?

According to leaked information, there was a strange small tree in the Taihang Mountains that had borne fruit, but it was not yet ripe. This had alerted extraordinary individuals from all sides.

Chu Feng suspected that the location marked by the black skull was very likely where the small tree grew.

"Several days have passed, and I estimate some extraordinary individuals have already arrived," Chu Feng guessed. "Before long, many masters will certainly appear in the Taihang Mountains, and a fierce battle will be inevitable."

He called the yellow ox, and they continued forward. He wanted to see what was happening, and if the timing was right, he was also prepared to get involved.

Along the way, he indeed found traces of extraordinary individuals and carefully avoided them all.

The fruit wasn't even truly ripe yet, and it was already like this. What would it be like in a few more days? This place would likely become a hotbed of activity, with extraordinary individuals from all corners of the world coming to compete.

After all, rumor had it that this type of fruit could create top-tier masters like the Silver-Winged Deity and Vajra!

"How could it be this place?" Chu Feng was surprised.

White Snake Ridge! This was a mysterious area within the Taihang Mountains.

Legend had it that a white snake here had attained great power. It had lived for an unknown number of years, and its legends persisted.

However, many people didn't believe it, because the last eyewitness had died decades ago. According to that old person's account, the snake was too massive, at least a hundred meters long.

Who could believe that? The largest pythons in tropical rainforests only reach a little over ten meters.

"Someone's here, be careful!" Chu Feng warned, taking the yellow ox and avoiding them.

Extraordinary individuals were guarding the mountain pass. Moreover, he saw an acquaintance—Zuo Jun.

"Nine times out of ten, that small tree is right here!" Chu Feng made his judgment.