"Mr Mu, thank you so much," Lu Tang said in a weak voice.
"Don't talk. Your injuries are very severe," Shi Mu replied.
This reminded her of something, and she struggled to sit up despite Shi Mu's deterrence. Consequently, the wound on her shoulder cracked open again, and blood gushed out. However, the pain it rendered didn't seem to have any effect on Lu Tang.
"How long have I been unconscious?" she looked anxious when she asked.
"I had arrived here moments ago. But, it shouldn't have been too long. Otherwise, you should've long been dead owing to the excessive loss of blood because of your injuries. Anyway, what had happened here? Why did you show up here again?" Shi Mu's eyes flickered a few times as he shifted the thread of conversation, and fired a couple of questions.
"The Dark Moon Cult's people took advantage of my father and a few close Elders' absence to attack our tribe this morning. Moreover, they snatched away the Tree Protection Stone. I have to report this matter to my father. Otherwise, the Dark Moon Cult may chase them down on their way back," Lu Tang stood up with difficulty, and then walked forward.
"You shouldn't walk in this state. Otherwise, you'll certainly collapse again," Shi Mu's brows creased as he said.
His voice had barely faded when Lu Tang's feet staggered, and she started to fall.
Shi Mu's sharp eyes and agile hands worked together, and supported her body. Then, he said with a sigh, "Well, where is your father? I will take you there."
"Really? Thank you so much." The green-robed girl gave him a grateful look.
Shi Mu didn't say anything. He simply waved his hand. The blue jade shuttle emerged, and started to float in front of the two people.
"A flying Spirit Tool!" Lu Tang's face revealed an awestruck look.
Shi Mu read an incantation, and flicked his hand to shoot a ray of light into the jade shuttle. The blue jade shuttle expanded to a few times its size the next moment. It turned into a large shuttle which was more than ten foot in length and two feet in width.
"Come on," Shi Mu drew Lu Tang, and jumped up. Cai also rushed over, and landed on Shi Mu's shoulder.
The blue jade shuttle was very fast. But, Shi Mu still stimulated its flying speed with all of his strength since it seemed that the shuttle might fail to keep up the urgency of the situation.
A blue light flashed on the surface of the blue shuttle, and it flew into the air.
"Go north," Lu Tang hastily said.
An idea struck Shi Mu's mind at this moment. He controlled the jade shuttle, and made it fly toward the north.
The flying speed of the blue shuttle seemed to have been slightly affected by the fact that it was carrying two people this time. But, it was still as fast as lightning. The surrounding trees seemed to be passing by at an insanely high speed.
"There is a black mountain peak nearly 150 miles to the north from here. The Black Feather Tribe is settled there. It's also a Peaceful barbarian tribe. Father and the other respected Elders should be there. They had gone for a discussion with the Chief of the Black Feather Tribe. My father wants to join hands with them in order to stage a protest against the attack made by the Dark Moon Cult yesterday. We can assume now that the Dark Moon Cult's abrupt attack on us yesterday was a premeditated plan. Their intention should be to draw my father out of the tribe for some time so that they can seize hold of the town's tree stone," the green-robed girl said in a tone that was dripping with resentment.
"Oh, by the way… what is Tree Protection Stone? What's its use?" Shi Mu felt a little puzzled after listening to her explanation.
Lu Tang's face couldn't help but reveal a hesitant look when she heard these questions.
"You can act as if I haven't asked you anything if you feel too inconvenienced to talk about it," Shi Mu swung his hand as he said.
"I'm indebted to Mr Mu for his help. So, it would be highly unreasonable if this little girl conceals something from you," Lu Tang sucked in a long and deep breath.
"The valley where we met Mr Mu yesterday is the sacred place of our Giant Tree Tribe. It is called the Land of Peach Blossoms, and it is situated in the depth of the valley. The fire-attribute peach fruits that grow there are very efficacious for the enhancement of our tribal people's strength. The surrounding trees are just ordinary fire-attribute peach trees. The fact is that the king of fire-attribute peach trees grows in the depths of that valley," Lu Tang explained.
Shi Mu's face revealed an awestruck look.
"The peach fruits that grow on the king of fire-attribute peach trees contain an abundance of elementary strength. Those fruits are called Peach Kings. Their effectiveness is far superior to the ordinary peach fruits. The Peach King has the ability to increase the chance of a breakthrough to a whole new realm for those people who practice fire-attribute or wood-attribute cultivation arts. To be precise… they are extremely precious. Our tribe makes use of the Totem formula technique to envelop the fire-attribute Tree King. This prevents people from stealing the peach fruits. Only those who hold our tribe's Tree Protection Stone can open that formula," Lu Tang said.
"So, this is the case. But, I had overheard your conversation with those disciples of the Dark Moon Cult the other day. Your tribe and the Dark Moon Cult had formed an alliance in the past, right?" It seemed as if Shi Mu was just nodding. However, his heart had been throbbing with a fit of excitement since he had heard about the fire-attribute Peach Kings.
"Hmm, they had formed an alliance in those years to fight against the Demon race... However, this alliance is not very reliable. The people of the Dark Moon Cult are very deceitful. They completely lack the so-called trustworthiness," Lu Tang groaned and said.
Shi Mu stole a glance at Lu Tang, and then withdrew his gaze.
The two continued their flight in the front direction. In this meantime, Shi Mu inquired about things related to the Western Continent from time to time in a roundabout way. Lu Tang didn't seem to take note of his intentions. She told him everything truthfully so long as she was aware of the matter that she was asked about.
This girl's knowledge was very limited. But, Shi Mu had still gained a basic understanding of the situation in Western Continent.
The two people covered a distance of hundred or more miles, and soon reached their destination with the help of the astonishing speed of the jade shuttle.
But, Shi Mu chose to land outside the mountain peak instead of landing directly in the territory of the Black Feather Tribe.
"Miss Lu Tang, I belong to the Fierce Snake Tribe. And, it is a Vicious Barbarian's tribe. So, it would perhaps be inappropriate for me to accompany you into the territory of the Black Feather Tribe. So, I'll drop you here," he said.
"Mr Mu, I'm deeply grateful to you! I have received several precious favors from you. I wonder if Mr Mu has some matter that this young girl can help him with. I'll certainly not decline it," Lu Tang said.
"It would be a great help if Miss Lu Tang has a map of this place." Shi Mu's eyes shone brightly when he asked.
"A map... of course I have. Mr Mu, please wait a moment," Lu Tang gawked when she heard these words. But then, she gave him a quick nod.
She waved her hand, and a green jade slip appeared in her hand. She then handed it over to Shi Mu.
Shi Mu received it, and instilled his spirit sense into it to explore it. And, his face beamed with a delighted look the next moment.
The jade slip contained an exhaustive map that illustrated every minor detail within the radius of several thousand miles around the Giant Tree Tribe. In fact, the locations of tribes, cities, and even some dangerous places were properly marked on it.
"Thank you, I needed this thing very much. We should now part our ways here. But, I'm sure that we will meet someday again," He received the jade slip, and cupped his hands toward Lu Tang with respect. Then, he turned around and walked away.
Lu Tang looked at Shi Mu's receding silhouette. There wasn't even a trace of hesitation in his movement. She let out a sigh in her heart. But then, the matter of the Dark Moon Cult popped into her head once again. So, she immediately turned around, and rushed toward the Black Feather tribe.
Meanwhile, Shi Mu also accelerated his pace.
"Shi Tou, your present appearance allows me to think that you haven't departed from that place empty-handed!" Cai said while looking at Shi Mu.
"Certainly not." Shi Mu put away the jade slip. Then, he looked in the direction of the Land of Peach Blossoms of the Giant Wood Tree, and a smile bloomed on his face.
He waved his hand, and a blue light emerged. It lifted his body, and scuttled in the direction of the Land of Peach Blossoms.
A wave of upheaval had erupted in the Black Feather Tribe not long after Shi Mu had departed. A series of green lights flew out of the tribe. People's silhouettes could be faintly seen in those beams of light. They also flew in the direction of the valley where the Land of Peach Blossoms was situated. But, their speed was inferior to Shi Mu's jade shuttle by far.
Shi Mu landed outside the valley of the Land of Peach Blossoms after a while.
He saw a huge purple light in the valley which seemed to be reaching the sky. Also, the heavenly and spiritual energy in this place was fluctuating in a violent manner.
Shi Mu's brows gathered together in a frown as this scene appeared in his field of vision. But, he still felt relieved in his heart.
The present situation was enough to indicate that the people sent by the Dark Moon Cult were still in the process of breaking the Protecting Barrier. Therefore, it could be assumed that they hadn't gotten their hands on the Peach Kings yet.
Shi Mu restrained the aura around his body. Then, he carefully sneaked into the valley by using the surrounding trees of the valley to camouflage himself.
As for Cai... he had already flown into the valley. He possessed excellent eyesight, and a good vantage point. Therefore, any camouflage or cover-up by the opposite party was futile as they couldn't slip through his eyes.
Shi Mu also became aware the situation in the valley by drawing support from Cai's vision-sharing ability. He arrived at the place of his previous battle after a few seconds.
The purple light still looked deep as before. However, the fluctuation of spiritual energy in the air seemed far more intense.
Shi Mu took a light breath. Then, he dashed toward his goal at such an astonishing speed that it seemed as if he had changed into a shadow.
He quickly covered a few dozen feet. He then noticed that the valley became increasingly narrow. In addition, the surrounding temperature continued to gradually increase as he proceeded.
The Dark Moon Cult had assigned two people here. It seemed that they had been ordered to hide in an obscure place, and monitor the movements outside.
However, the position of these two people had long been detected by Cai. Therefore, Shi Mu bypassed them from an overlooked area in a very cautious manner. Then, he quietly sneaked into the deepest part of the valley.
His field of vision suddenly got widened as he turned around a corner. This place was the end of the valley. It was a circular open space which was several hundred feet in size.
Shi Mu quickly hid behind a boulder. Then, he stuck his head out to have a look at the surroundings.
He saw that fifty or sixty people of the Dark Moon Cult stood in the open space. They had gathered around a bright-red fruit tree.
Shi Mu was left stunned for a moment. He had heard from Lu Tang that the king of fire-attribute peach trees grew here. He was under the impression that it was a gigantic fruit tree. However, the red fruit tree before his eyes was only twenty or thirty feet tall. In fact, its height was not even half the height of the ordinary fruit trees that he had seen outside.
However, the branches and leaves of this fruit tree looked twisted and curved. In fact, the branches looked like a bright-red precious stone. They were emitting waves of red radiance like the luster of a gem. However, there were only a few leaves on the tree. They rather portrayed an image of a tree that was on the verge of decay.
However, three mauve peach fruits could be seen on the top of this tree; they were as big as a fist.
The fruit tree was shrouded by a hemisphere of the Protection Barrier; this barrier was purple in color. The barrier didn't appear very thick at a glance, but it gave off a kind of indestructible feeling.
A dozen or more disciples of the Dark Moon Cult had gathered around this fruit tree at this time. These people's bodies exuded a circle of grey light which constituted a very complicated magic array. Then, the array attacked the purple Protection Barrier. However, it didn't seem to have much effect on that barrier.
Shi Mu's eyes streaked across everyone present on the scene, and finally landed on a middle-aged man who wore a round hat.
The imposing aura around this man seemed majestic. He was apparently at the primary stage of the Earth-rank. As for the rest of the people… more than ten of them were either Xian Tian martial warriors or Star-ranked magicians. And, the remaining people were either Hou Tian warriors or Spirit-ranked warlocks.
Shi Mu's eyes slightly narrowed. The Dark Moon Cult's sub altar was supposed to have turned out in full strength at this place according to the information that he had extracted from Lu Tang.
The middle-aged man in a round hat held a jade-sceptre-like purple stone in his hand. He mumbled something. A beam of light departed from his hand, and integrated into the purple stone.
"So, this is the Tree Protection Stone." Shi Mu looked at the stone from afar, and said inwardly.
Kcha!
The purple jade-sceptre flew up from the middle-aged man's hand, and emitted glaring purple rays of light… like a small purple sun!
The movement of the surrounding people stopped, and they looked in the direction of the light.
The middle-aged man's facial expression looked solemn as he brandished his hands in the air. The small purple sun began to slowly drift toward the purple Protection Barrier that had been set-up around the purple tree. And, it soon came in contact with the purple barrier.
A purple electric-flash emerged from the point of impact.
Then, a 'Chi' sound rang out!
A purple lightning bolt flew out of the jade scepter, and bombarded the purple Protection Barrier.
A loud thunderous sound resounded, and the purple Protection Barrier gleamed brightly. Then, the lightning dissipated, and the glory of the purple Protection Barrier slightly dimmed.
The middle-aged man in the round hat revealed an exhilarated look, and started to brandish his hands in order to keep stimulating the purple jade sceptre.
A loud 'Zi Zi' sound was heard again!
A series of purple lightning bolts flashed out, and bombarded the Protection Barrier one after another. Simultaneously, the bright radiance of the purple Protection Barrier continued to decline at an incredible speed. A dozen of breaths passed like this. And, only a thin layer of light remained around the tree at this moment.
The middle-aged man's facial expression looked dignified, and he pointed his finger.
The purple jade-sceptre dazzled, and a thick purple lightning bolt darted out of it once again… like a dragon. It cascaded down on the barrier with full force.
Kcha!
The last layer of the Protection Barrier shattered into pieces with a loud rumble.
The middle-aged man revealed an ecstatic look as he saw this scene. He was about to speak something when something strange happened!