"I see." Zhang Chen suddenly understood.
"But it’s not peaceful inside right now. A few days ago, some ordinary folks ate some kind of fruit in there, gaining thunder and fire power. When they came out of the portal, it alarmed all the major factions. They sent their main members inside to compete for the fruit, and it’s said that over a dozen prominent figures have already died in there." Huang Chao said beside Zhang Chen.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen was shocked. Nobles died? This is not a minor affair, showing how intense the battles inside must be. He just wondered how Xie Lingyun was doing.
However, considering that Xie Lingyun was protected by experts from the Inspection and Supervision Department, as long as she didn’t encounter the local creatures inside, she shouldn’t face any major threats.
"Let’s go in and take a look." Zhang Chen disappeared into the crowd first, heading towards the space portal.
Along the way, no one hindered him, but stewards from various factions were standing in front of the space portal, eagerly watching it, as if waiting for something.
As Zhang Chen arrived at the space portal, a steward approached him to talk, "Brother, I am a steward from the Shangjing Niu Family. No matter what you obtain from the Immortal Realm on the other side, even if it’s just a blade of grass, feel free to come to me and sell it. I will definitely give you a satisfactory price."
As soon as the steward finished speaking, someone nearby interjected, "You Niu Family are miserly, stingy buyers, yet you have the nerve to collect things here? Little brother, I’m with the Huainan Li Family. If you obtain anything in the other world, come to me to sell, and I’ll definitely offer you a good price."
"What level is the Huainan Li Family at? How dare you embarrass yourself here? Little brother, I’m from the Longnan Zhao Family..."
A group of people crowded around Zhang Chen, all introducing themselves, leaving him with a headache. He quickly pushed them aside and headed towards the space portal.
What’s it like to enter the space portal?
It seems like there’s no special sensation, just an ordinary step forward, and the scenery unexpectedly changes, merely a change of scenery, nothing else.
In front of his eyes was a primordial forest, lush and green, no different from when Zhang Chen previously entered the Spiritual World from the Meditation Realm.
At this time, there was no one in front of the space portal. Zhang Chen stood there, looking at the towering, rugged mountains. After sensing them for a moment, he found that his magical power could still operate without issue, feeling relieved.
"This Meditation Realm has no effect on me." Zhang Chen breathed a sigh of relief, then transformed into a bat in the next instant, flapping his wings and flying into the gray sky, with ultrasonic waves spreading out.
He knew this was the Spiritual World, a primeval forest, and those from the Material World who came here were all ordinary humans, unable to travel far.
As the ultrasonic waves echoed between the mountains, Zhang Chen indeed sensed something. In the dense forest ten miles away, thousands of figures were gathered together, engaging in combat.
Zhang Chen flapped his wings and flew there, seeing thousands of people fighting around an apricot tree from afar.
The apricot tree was tall, over ten meters high, its canopy expanding, covering more than thirty meters in radius.
The apricot tree shimmered with mysterious purple light, like purple mist flowing between the branches, and amidst those branches and leaves were more than a dozen crimson, fiery apricots, the size of fists, with mysterious, unfathomable glows.
At this moment, blood flowed like rivers in the dense forest, countless figures continuously battling, appearing very bloody.
Zhang Chen, in the form of a vampire bat, perched on a branch of a large tree, observing the battlefield from afar, seeing that the ground was already littered with corpses, likely tens of thousands of people had died there.
"This is quite intriguing. Those fighting include martial arts experts and soldiers conscripted by Prince Pingbian’s Mansion, all engaged in relentless combat." Zhang Chen observed the battlefield from afar, pondering as he watched the mysterious apricot tree at the center.
Zhang Chen did not rashly intervene and instead reverted to his original form, using the Invisibility Technique to conceal himself before heading towards the apricot tree.
"I have a question: since Prince Pingbian’s Mansion knows there’s a mysterious apricot tree here, why don’t they dispatch an army of ten thousand to seize it directly?" Zhang Chen was puzzled.
"Kid, don’t be careless. This place is not simple!"
Suddenly, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon appeared on Zhang Chen’s shoulder, its eyes looking at the apricot tree with an odd expression.
"What do you mean?" Zhang Chen asked curiously.
"Why is there no exotic beast guarding such divine objects? I suspect those people are engaged in blind slaughter, not acting voluntarily." Suddenly, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon spoke.
"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Look carefully at the bodies and blood on the ground." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon replied.
Following its words, Zhang Chen lowered his head to examine the bodies and blood, but noticed nothing unusual, so he turned to the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, filled with confusion.
"Don’t rush, look carefully." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon said.
Heeding its advice, Zhang Chen continued looking and, though he still had no revelations, continued observing the bodies and blood. Moments later, a body suddenly vanished right under Zhang Chen’s nose, and the blood on the ground disappeared without a trace.
"What?" Zhang Chen doubted his eyes, rubbing them and shifting his gaze to another body. Soon after, another body disappeared, and the blood on the ground vanished completely without a trace.
"How can this be?" Zhang Chen was horrified. If not for the Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s hint, he wouldn’t have detected the anomaly.
"This fruit tree is eating people." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon said leisurely, "Kid, you better run, you can’t handle that fruit tree."
"You see those soldiers and martial artists have gone red-eyed, not knowing why they’re killing, just mindlessly slaughtering. They’ve lost their minds and become killing machines." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon pointed to the distant slaughter, "All the dead have become nourishment for the fruit tree, absorbed by it."
"What kind of trick are those people under?" Zhang Chen asked, "And what’s the background of that fruit tree?"
"Fruit tree? It’s not a fruit tree; it’s clearly a dead Ba Snake." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon said.
"A dead Ba Snake? But it looks like an apricot tree. Just look at those bright red fruits." Zhang Chen doubted the Great Freedom Celestial Demon’s words.
Shaking its head, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon replied, "Kid, use your Eye of Devouring! Your Golden Light has been deceived!"
Listening to this, Zhang Chen activated his devouring skill, his eyes focused on the apricot tree, and was abruptly shocked, shivering in fear.
What did he see with the Eye of Devouring? It’s not a tree!
The supposed tree he saw was clearly a large snake, coiled there, its colorful scales forming a camouflaged pattern, resembling a vividly alive tree, when in fact, it was merely the pattern of the Ba Snake, deceptively resembling an apricot tree.
The Ba Snake exuded a mysterious aura which influenced people’s perception, making them think they were seeing an apricot tree.
At that moment, black streams of air flowed from the Ba Snake, weaving through the crowd, continuously infiltrating their bodies, bewildering their minds.
"What about those bright red apricots?" Zhang Chen’s gaze fell on the clusters of red apricots; they were indeed apricots, undeniably real.
"Snake eggs!" The Great Freedom Celestial Demon said leisurely, "And they’re still alive."