Chapter 154

Before Huo Yuqing even opened her eyes, she heard the faint sound of metal clinking together near her ear.

"Oh, you're awake?"

Wen Qiang was lounging lazily on a sofa against the wall, holding an ornate, half-red, half-white circular disc in his hands. When he saw Huo Yuqing sit up, he carefully set the disc aside. The intricate gold ornaments on his body jingled pleasantly with his movement.

On the other side of the disc, an image appeared—a woman's face. She had short silver hair, tanned skin, delicate yet deep-set features, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She was looking at Huo Yuqing with curiosity.

That disc was likely some kind of soul tool for instant communication, allowing the communicators to see each other through its display. Huo Yuqing had once read about a concept for such a soul tool in an old manuscript. However, the notes had mentioned that this type of communication soul tool required many supporting components, and its development had been put on hold. But now, it seemed that such a tool had actually been successfully created.

"So, you're Wen Qiang's little disciple, Huo Yuqing?" the woman's voice came from the soul tool. "Hello, I'm Xu Jing."

"Hello."

"Good child." Xu Jing smiled. "Study hard and don't bring shame to your master."

Then she turned to Wen Qiang and said, "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep now."

Wen Qiang nodded, and the image on the disc darkened.

"Goodbye."

Huo Yuqing looked at him with curiosity. Wen Qiang immediately saw through what she wanted to ask and said bluntly, "That's your master's wife."

...Wait, what?

A chill ran down her spine.

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had once told her that Wen Qiang was a soul beast from the Sun Moon Continent. After the collision of the Sun Moon and Douluo Continents, he had left his original home during the chaotic period and met his lover—a princess of the Sun Moon Empire, who was also an outstanding soul tool master.

But that was over two thousand, nearly three thousand years ago!

How could that princess… still be alive?

Yet Wen Qiang didn't seem interested in explaining anything, as if he was merely introducing his disciple to her master's wife.

"Since you're awake, let's go." Wen Qiang put away the mirror-like device, stood up, and brushed the wrinkles from his clothes. "Got some work for you, and you'll absorb your second soul ring while you're at it."

"Understood, Teacher."

Huo Yuqing got up, and the stone bed she had been lying on suddenly crumbled into pieces, causing her to freeze in place.

"Don't worry about it. The energy within that piece of Ice Marrow has been fully absorbed by you. Now that it's empty, it naturally crumbles. Someone will come by to clean it up later."

Lifting the curtain, he stepped out of the room.

Huo Yuqing quickly followed.

A wave of humid heat brushed against her face, and she was startled to find that the room was actually nestled within the canopy of a giant tree. Lush branches and leaves surrounded her on all sides. The dense foliage blocked her view, making it impossible to see into the distance or determine how high up she was. A vine ladder hung at her feet.

A rustling sound came from above. A snake, as thick as a bowl and covered in green scales, lowered its head from a branch, flicked its tongue at her curiously, and then withdrew.

She instinctively activated her Mental Detection, but the branches and leaves seemed to be infused with a gentle resistance that refused her probing.

—That was the overwhelming power of life force, silently nurturing everything. She had been in this environment for so long that her body had unconsciously ignored it.

She was standing in the Golden Ancient Tree's canopy.

Emerald Jade City respected the ancient tree. In the area surrounding it, only creatures naturally capable of flight were allowed to fly. It seemed to be an unspoken rule. But now, perhaps there was a deeper reason behind it…

After all, the God of Emotions had mentioned earlier that he had no personal inheritance site and had merely borrowed someone else's territory…

Huo Yuqing obediently grabbed the vine ladder and started climbing down. A few minutes later, she finally broke through the dense foliage, revealing an awe-inspiring view of Emerald Jade City below.

The cityscape spread out in a circular pattern. The green-tiled rooftops blended seamlessly with the distant verdant forest, eventually vanishing into the rolling morning mist. The towering tree, the city, and the forest formed a harmonious and unified whole, without a single discordant element.

Letting go of the vine ladder, Huo Yuqing landed on a mushroom-like platform beneath her feet, only to immediately freeze at the strange, sticky, and soft sensation underfoot.

"This is a type of fungus that exists between mushrooms and lingzhi," Wen Qiang's voice came from below. "Hurry up. These things are sentient. If they get upset, they'll toss you straight off. You won't die from the fall, but don't go smashing anything down there."

The golden-brown, wet-capped fungi spiraled around the Golden Ancient Tree's massive trunk, forming a natural staircase leading downward.

The mushroom stairs were spacious for humans but seemed almost insignificant compared to the immense girth of the tree trunk.

Just as Huo Yuqing stood there hesitating, the mushroom platform beneath her trembled slightly. Alarmed, she immediately started running down the spiraling path. The soft, fleshy caps beneath her feet made a squelching "squelch-squelch" sound with every step.

She ran for a long while before finally stepping onto solid ground. The first thing she did was rub her feet against the earth to get rid of the sticky feeling.

"The Golden Ancient Tree's overflowing life force nourishes the surrounding creatures, and in return, their vitality feeds back into the tree," Wen Qiang said, seemingly amused by her reaction. "But most of the small animals that can live on this tree long-term have been chosen and are favored."

"This tree has consciousness?" Huo Yuqing finally felt the stickiness subside a little and looked up to ask.

"More or less." Wen Qiang gave a vague reply. "Anything it dislikes can't get close. Come on, we've got work to do, and time is tight."

He led Huo Yuqing through an area filled with classical pillar-style buildings, the structures used for healing the wounded in Emerald Jade City. Huo Yuqing jogged behind him and finally couldn't hold back her question:

"Do you know where Wang Rui went?"

"Lu Mingyou owes me a pill," Wen Qiang replied with a teasing smirk. "She bet that the first thing you'd ask when you woke up would be about your boyfriend's whereabouts."

Huo Yuqing's face flushed red. "Uh, I… But that's not fair! You distracted me first!"

"Doesn't matter, I still won." Wen Qiang chuckled. "Don't worry, he went to a meeting. He'll be back later to go to school with you."

"Alright…" she mumbled, a bit embarrassed. She missed Wang Rui a little. She wondered if he missed her too.

Wen Qiang led her to a standalone house on the outskirts of Emerald Jade City and pushed the door open.

Inside, the room was dimly lit. The only light source came from moss-like organisms on the walls, which emitted a soft, glowing green light.

At the center of the room lay a massive ant, nearly as tall as a human.

(End of Chapter)