Chapter 34: Unbelievable. Then what about my tree?

The command from the sky still echoed. Weisheng Wu dragged the frail Bai Rang, sprinting through the streets. Once a bustling district, it was now a scene of chaos and panic. Young women cradled infants, frantically searching for the entrances to the subterranean palaces, while small children, separated from their families, wept heart-wrenchingly in the thoroughfare.

The golden bamboo lining the streets lay toppled and withered. Without the Great Wall or the golden bamboo to protect it, the city was completely exposed to the purple sun. Many people, while fleeing under the violet light, watched in horror as purple blotches erupted across their skin, followed by their flesh withering and sloughing off in chunks before their very eyes.

Only then did many awaken from their stupor, desperately seeking sacred wood to ignite, hoping the light from the burning timber would repel the corrosion of the purple sun.

Weisheng Wu scooped up a three-year-old child who happened to be under the shade of a bamboo stalk and kicked Bai Rang. "Where is your totem? Why are you just standing there? Summon it, quickly!"

Bai Rang grumbled softly, "Don't rush me!"

He reached out to summon his totem, and a fat, big-eared rat emerged from the soil, its small eyes darting around nimbly.

Weisheng Wu shouted, "Everyone, come to me! I will send you to the entrance of the subterranean palace!"

With a shaman's call, the surrounding crowd swarmed toward them, scrambling to climb onto the giant totem rat.

Bai Rang couldn't help but say, "It’s useless. They possess no shamanic power. Once exposed to the purple sun, they will turn into living corpses; they won't be able to reach the Feather Kingdom or the Shaman Kingdom."

Weisheng Wu retorted irritably, "I know that, of course, but I can't just stand by and watch! Think of something!"

Bai Rang said aggrievedly, "What can I do? I'm just a good-for-nothing..."

Just as he spoke, a giant tree in the distance stretched from the earth to the heavens, shifting from phantom to reality. Its canopy, vast as a sprawling layer of clouds, loomed high in the firmament, shielding the entire Di Kingdom. As the purple sun filtered through the gaps in the branches, it transformed back into golden sunlight.

Weisheng Wu was overjoyed. "The Green Emperor is truly mighty! Everyone is saved. Hurry, go to the subterranean palace! They are stocked with sacred wood and white wood; you can still be saved if you get there!"

The pedestrians in the street wept with relief and raced toward Bai Rang’s totem, forcing the giant rat to grow even larger to accommodate them all. Filled with hope, they dashed toward the nearest entrance, rescuing many others along the way. Upon entering the narrow tunnel, they finally let out a sigh of relief.

However...

"Why is this entrance sealed?" Staring at the golden gate shimmering with runes, Weisheng Wu was stunned. "The entrance to the main tunnel of the palace must remain open at all times. Closing it is a violation of the Lord’s decree and carries a heavy penalty!"

Bai Rang waved his hands repeatedly. "Don't look at me, it has nothing to do with me. My brother doesn't have that kind of authority either."

Weisheng Wu had no time to dwell on this. He gathered his strength and struck the golden gate with a heavy punch. The rune array on the door rippled slightly, but there was not a tremor of movement.

"This was sealed from the command center of the subterranean palace!" Weisheng Wu’s body trembled. "How could they do this? If they seal it, what happens to the people on the surface?"

Bai Rang whispered, "If you go to the Vice Lord and ask for a pardon, you can open this gate."

Weisheng Wu suddenly realized. "Wait here with everyone; I’ll be back soon!"

Bai Rang watched his departing back, then glanced at the terrified gazes of the people around him. He did not follow, but could only sigh with melancholy.

*That fool, hasn't he realized yet? That Vice Lord clearly only intends to save the shamans and their apprentices. He has sacrificed all the commoners in this city.*

***

Deep within the subterranean palace, Lin Zhao and half a dozen messengers hurried through the broad tunnels.

The main artery of this palace was excessively wide, with a vaulted ceiling at least twenty-five meters high and a span of over forty meters. In the center flowed an underground river more than twenty meters wide, flanked by flat, concrete-like paths. The tunnel walls were incredibly sturdy, as if cast from molten metal; even in Lin Zhao's original era, this would have been considered a super-engineering project.

"To think mere mortals could build such a palace—it's a miracle!" Lin Zhao couldn't help but marvel.

"Sir, you jest. How could this tunnel have been dug by mortals?" a messenger behind him explained. "This was built by the瑤 Mountain Heaven Shamans of the Great Shantu sent by the Shaman Kingdom long ago. The totem of the 瑤 Mountain Shamans is the divine creature, the Earthworm, which feeds on soil, metal, and stone and can melt flame and refine gold. This palace extends over two thousand miles, with the main route leading west to the Great Qing River, north to the Feather Kingdom, and south to the Qigong Kingdom."

"Indeed, to build this, the Di Kingdom owed a massive debt to the Great Shantu. I heard it took over a hundred years to pay it off."

The messengers explained, trying to make an impression on this 'Human Shaman' lord, as their squad was waiting for him to rescue them.

Suddenly, Lin Zhao sensed something. He flicked a feather from his hand, pinning a Ghost Lizard emerging from the water to the riverbed. A few seconds later, the feather vanished and reappeared by his side.

Lin Zhao nodded with satisfaction. Ever since he absorbed that feather, his combat speed and danger perception had increased several times over; he could handle his former self with one hand.

*I really am impressive! When I get back, I’ll light a fire for the Old Tree and show him how much I've improved!*

Moments later, they reached the periphery of the Sword Gate. The closer they got, the more Ghost Lizards appeared. Their bodies were far larger than those encountered earlier, some reaching twenty meters in length. For an ordinary shaman, dealing with such a number would be impossible, and even Lin Zhao would have had to put in some effort before he grew his small wings.

But after several hearty meals recently, his mana had surged. The temperature of the feather in his hand had risen from the initial eight or nine hundred degrees to over six thousand. As large as these lizards were, they were still made of flesh and blood.

"They really are quite weak," Lin Zhao remarked as he retrieved the feather.

The messengers behind him could only offer bitter smiles. They were of mediocre talent; once they became shamans, their potential was exhausted. To advance further, they required expensive resources that could only be earned with their lives on the battlefield—how could they compare to this young shaman, so gifted that he had unlocked his internal storehouse and become a Human Shaman at such a young age?

Just then, they arrived.

For a moment, Lin Zhao felt his eyes overwhelmed. The sheer number of lizards was so great that he felt a bit dizzy, as if he were looking not at lizards, but at a sea of cockroaches.

These lizards were desperately assaulting a gate. The gate featured four arrow-slits, with firing platforms high on both sides where dozens of warriors were firing arrows frantically at the monsters. The arrows were clearly carved from sacred wood; when the ignited arrowheads struck the monsters, they triggered massive bursts of flame.

When they arrived, the warriors on the right platform had run out of arrows and were fighting the Ghost Lizards—which were climbing over each other like a human ladder—with swords and blades. The air was filled with flying gore, but the numbers were overwhelming; only two and a half warriors remained on the right platform, while a warrior on the left, his right hand stained red with blood from the carnage, was still desperately providing cover for his comrades.

"My Lord..." a frantic cry came from a messenger beside him.

Lin Zhao did not hesitate. Dozens of feathers circled his fingertips like shooting stars. The golden feathers wove rapidly through the monsters' bodies, leaving behind trails like golden threads. The enemies, like balloons meeting bullets, had no power to resist. In just a few dozen seconds, the area outside the gate was cleared.

"As expected of a Human Shaman!" the messengers exclaimed one by one. "This is a Human Shaman who cannot be harmed even by countless powerful monsters! Only the Great Calamities could stand against them."

***

Once the body's internal storehouse is opened, a Human Shaman is no longer of the same species as a mortal. A single Human Shaman is enough to command ten thousand ordinary shamans; to them, he was a figure of immense stature, rarely seen.

The messenger who had come out of the Sword Gate was overcome with excitement and leaped down from his post: "Captain! Little sister! I’ve brought reinforcements—"

Before he could finish, Lin Zhao felt a sudden, ominous sensation. "Get back!"

But it was too late. As the messenger leaped, he seemed to collide with invisible blades in mid-air. Before he could utter a final word, he fell to the ground, reduced to a pile of uniform chunks of meat. The scene was so bloody that it sent a piercing pain through one's very soul.

Lin Zhao had no time to mourn. He suddenly sensed an even greater danger and instinctively raised his hand to block.

*Click!* A faint sound rang out.

The pocket watch on Lin Zhao's chest suddenly floated up. Its hands transformed into countless green vines that shot outward. The dozen or so invisible monsters in front of him were instantly bound, their snake-and-tortoise outlines revealed before being sucked into ash by the vines.

After completing the task, the vines retracted rapidly into the watch, turning back into three exquisite hands that ticked silently, as if nothing had happened. Only a single drop of blood remained on the hour hand, likely picked up from the ground.

Feeling its master's gaze, the hand twitched, and the blood stain vanished instantly.

"Are you cursed or something, you broken watch?" Lin Zhao felt a touch of disdain, but thinking of the danger just now, he felt a chill.

"Why is there a Shadow of the Black Tortoise here?" Lin Zhao had, of course, seen this thing before. It was a shadow monster that hid within shadows, extremely difficult to detect and possessing lethal power. He had once tried to lure the Old Tree into the lair of a Black Tortoise Shadow to have it killed.

*Tsk, I was so innocently naive back then; the Old Tree must have died laughing.*

Suddenly, a sense of crisis even stronger than the last arose. Lin Zhao pulled a bead from the bracelet on his wrist and, relying on intuition, ignited it and hurled it like a bullet.

The wooden bead exploded instantly. The spraying sparks seemed to have eyes, automatically seeking out the Black Tortoise Shadows in the darkness. Whenever they touched one, it was like dousing the monster in ignited gasoline. In the blink of an eye, it burned them into outlines and reduced them to ash.

The sense of danger finally dissipated. Lin Zhao looked at the bracelet on his wrist in amazement. *Awesome!*

*Heh, and this Old Tree was being modest, adding features to my gear without telling me. Does he think I’m the kind of person who would shout about being independent and not needing anyone's help?*

*I'll have to go back and squeeze more gear out of him!*

But this was no time for admiration. Lin Zhao took the messengers to the gate. "This is the order from the Chief Academic Official: you are to take the shaman apprentices immediately, head north to rendezvous with the Black Cavalry Regiment, and retreat to the Feather Kingdom."

"The Black Cavalry Regiment?" The captain, unable to grieve for his fallen comrade, was shocked. "The Black Cavalry Regiment is guarding the northern line of the Great Wall. How could they possibly come to support us?"

"I don't know, it's the Chief Academic Official's request," Lin Zhao said with some hesitation. "Over a hundred thousand young apprentices—how long will it take to evacuate them?"

When the captain heard this, his whole body trembled. He bit his lip and suddenly wiped his eyes. "Very well, I understand."

*Wait, what exactly do you understand?*

Before Lin Zhao could speak, he saw the man pull out a whistle and blow it with all his might, producing a shrill, three-long and one-short note.

Instantly, the great gate behind them opened. Countless children swarmed out like locusts, whistling past Lin Zhao. Their jumping ability far surpassed that of fleas; many ran directly along the walls and ceilings. By the time they reached the river, some were stepping on the water, others sliding across it. The area was filled with the frenzied shrieks of children, as if students who had been in school for a month were finally being allowed to go home.