“Come quickly and look, we found the Sacred Tree!”

Zanxing walked to their side, standing at the cliff edge and looking down along with everyone else’s gaze.

It was early morning, and the sun was slowly breaking free through the crevice between the two cliffs. There was surprisingly no morning mist in the snow valley. In the flowing golden light of the red sun, a jade sea rolled, and amid the cold snow wind, a giant tree rose from the ground.

In the vast white snowfield, this giant tree was particularly vivid, flourishing with emerald cold. And within the deep green, there was also glittering brilliance, as if the tree was laden with pearls and gems, shining so dazzlingly it was blinding.

This indeed appeared to be the Sacred Tree without doubt.

“But why didn’t we see this tree yesterday?” Meng Ying was suspicious: “Could it be an illusion like in Wufan City? Just an optical trick.”

“That’s possible,” Mu Cengxiao said, looking down at his feet. “But when we arrived here yesterday, it was already completely dark, so it’s natural we couldn’t see this tree. This morning, when dawn broke, perhaps only then could we see it.”

“Master Uncle, is there anything wrong?” Tian Fangfang asked.

Gu Baiying shook his head: “I don’t sense any Mo Sha aura.”

Zanxing turned and saw Mendong standing at the cliff edge with his small face tensed up, so she asked: “Junior brother, is something wrong?”

“Strange, my Celestial Spirit Aperture can’t sense any spiritual herbs.” Mendong was somewhat uneasy: “Since it’s the Sacred Tree, at this distance, I should be able to sense it, but there’s nothing.” He tugged at Gu Baiying’s sleeve: “Master Uncle, could it be a trap?”

“Hey, who cares about traps? We have no other path to take now; we can only go down. Besides, even if it is an illusion, if they can create an illusion of the Sacred Tree, it means they also know the Sacred Tree’s whereabouts, so we still have to go down. If we can’t find the Sacred Tree, Master Uncle’s spiritual meridians can’t be repaired. I think being timid and hesitant here isn’t a solution either. Better to go down first—when soldiers come, we’ll block them with generals; when water comes, we’ll cover it with earth. We’ll meet moves with countermoves!” Tian Fangfang spoke carelessly.

He was wholeheartedly thinking about finding the Sacred Tree to gain more opportunities, with dangers being secondary. After everyone discussed it, they felt what he said made sense. After all, there was no second path here, so they decided to continue deeper into the snow ravine.

Perhaps because everyone had rested well last night, today’s descent into the valley was somewhat easier than yesterday. The further down they went, the clearer the giant tree’s shadow became, and the more brilliant the radiance adorning it became. With the sun shining on it, it was almost blinding.

“Are what’s growing on this Sacred Tree fruits that can repair spiritual meridians?” Tian Fangfang wondered.

“Why?”

“I remember when traveling, I once heard someone say that legend speaks of a treasure tree that doesn’t bear fruit, but treasures instead, like those pearls and gold blocks in Huajin Tower. Looking at this tree’s gorgeous brilliance and flowing colors, it doesn’t look like fruit, but rather like gems.” Speaking of this, Tian Fangfang was somewhat excited: “If that’s the case, we could dig up this tree and plant it on Gufeng Mountain. Wouldn’t we never worry about food and clothing for the rest of our lives? The Yinfeng Sect only dug up a spirit stone mine and can run rampant in the cultivation world. If the treasure tree came to our sect, with harvests all year round, we’d have made a great contribution!”

“Wake up,” Zanxing reminded him: “Harvests all year round—this isn’t chives. Besides, look at this tree—are you sure you can dig it up?”

As they went further down and could see more clearly, this tree occupied almost half the mountain, with dense green clouds extending beyond sight. To speak of digging it up was truly wishful thinking.

“Then why not cut off a branch to take back and plant, to see if it can grow?” Tian Fangfang settled for the next best thing.

“This kind of grafting technique might be rather difficult.”

“Let’s not talk about this for now,” Mendong’s face was frozen purple. “Don’t you all feel that it’s getting colder and colder here?”

It was indeed getting colder. The clothes everyone wore were specially made fabric from the Taiyan Sect that could ward off cold. Especially Zanxing, who not only wore many layers but also had several warming talismans attached inside. Even so, it was still like entering an ice cellar, making one shiver. Especially when the wind blew, the cold penetrated to the bone marrow, and hands and feet couldn’t help but stiffen.

“It’s so cold here, could this be the Extreme Ice Abyss?” Tian Fangfang shivered.

Zanxing humbly asked for instruction: “What is the Extreme Ice Abyss?”

“It’s the prison of the Demon Realm, where an entire mountain range is sealed in ice and snow. I heard that when the Demon Lord was alive, he sealed guilty demons into the Extreme Ice Abyss. The demons couldn’t break through the ice to escape, and over time, the Extreme Ice Abyss was filled with frozen, dead demons. Not a single demon could come out alive from inside.” Meng Ying explained.

Zanxing said: “Sounds like a storage icehouse for supplies… This place…”

“It’s not.” Meng Ying interrupted her: “The Extreme Ice Abyss is in the Demon Realm, not here. Moreover, this place is a snowfield, not ice peaks. If this were truly the Extreme Ice Abyss, even we would be powerless to escape, let alone be able to walk around here.”

Zanxing made an “mm” sound with half-understanding.

As they were speaking, Gu Baiying’s footsteps stopped ahead, and Mu Cengxiao called out: “Look!”

They had already descended to the valley bottom, from where they could glimpse the giant tree’s full appearance. This tree was extremely vast, its trunk deeply rooted underground, making it difficult to distinguish where the roots were. Going upward, a large mass of green mist enveloped the entire mountaintop. What was most shocking wasn’t just this—on the branches of this giant tree, various weapons of all sizes were hanging.

From swords and blades, to axes and halberds, to hooks and staffs, there were even silk ribbons. However, strangely, despite so many weapons, there wasn’t a single human figure. It was as if these weapons had grown from the tree out of thin air.

“This isn’t a treasure tree, it’s a spirit artifact tree!” Tian Fangfang gestured to Zanxing to go forward: “Junior sister, didn’t your Panhua Stick break? Hurry up and pick one.”

Zanxing momentarily believed his nonsense and walked forward two steps. Before Gu Baiying could stop her, Zanxing had already walked in front of him. However, the next moment, as if hitting something invisible, with a “bang” sound, Zanxing was bounced back.

“What was that?!”

Gu Baiying frowned: “It’s a seal.” He pulled Zanxing behind him, “Be careful, there’s a seal left by cultivators here.”

Seals were mostly used to restrain dangerous, fierce beasts or Mo Sha, and if there was a seal here… Everyone’s gazes fell unanimously on the tree in front of them. The giant tree looked normal except for the spirit artifacts hanging on its branches. Could there be some invisible danger here?

The wind around was silent, the vast snow soundless, with only this brilliantly flowing treasure tree standing tall against the wind.

“Master Uncle, there’s probably something strange here.” Mu Cengxiao pointed at the spirit artifacts on the tree: “We only see weapons, no cultivators. Where did those cultivators go? Could they have already been killed?”

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but shiver.