Goodness, the thickest part of this tree's trunk must have a diameter of seventeen or eighteen meters, with many thick vines hanging down from it, decorated with numerous brightly colored little flowers.
In the night breeze, the vines swayed gently, and the air was filled with fragrance.
"This world is truly terrifying! This big tree is probably a size larger than the thickest chestnut tree on Earth! Tsk tsk tsk..."
Just as Li Feng marveled at the wonder of this world, a low moan came from behind him.
Li Feng looked back and saw that the woman in white had regained consciousness.
Delighted, he exclaimed, "Fairy, you're awake!"
During the giant ape's previous attack, the woman in white had suffered several broken ribs. A slight movement of her body aggravated her injuries, and an endearing expression of pain appeared on her peerless face.
Seeing this, Li Feng hurried forward and said, "Fairy, your injuries are too severe. Don't move around."
The woman in white took a few deep breaths to suppress the pain, then asked, "Who... who are you?"
Li Feng replied, "I am Li Feng, the senior disciple of the Changsheng Sect. May I ask the Fairy's honorable name?"
"The Changsheng Sect? Li Feng?"
The woman in white had naturally heard of the Changsheng Sect—it had once saved the Mortal World, but now it was the biggest joke in the mortal cultivation world.
However, she had never heard of the nobody named Li Feng.
Looking around and seeing that they were still in the Yan'nangui Lost Forest, she said, "I am Shan Yundi, a disciple of the Yunhai Sect."
Li Feng smiled and praised, "Shan Yundi? What a fine name!"
Shan Yundi seemed somewhat surprised.
She was astonished that the young man before her had never even heard of her.
Thinking Li Feng was just putting on an act, she scrutinized his expression, yet she could find no trace of falsehood or pretense.
That's right!
He actually had no idea who she was—the seventeenth-ranked young expert on the Heaven Elite Roster!
Shan Yundi asked, "What about that evil Zhu Yuan beast?"
"So that big monkey is called Zhu Yuan. Don't worry, it has left."
"Left?"
"Yeah, for some reason, it suddenly stopped chasing us. Fairy Shan, it's so good that you're awake..."
Before Li Feng could finish his sentence, Shan Yundi's pretty face suddenly changed drastically.
She looked around nervously, as if some fatal danger were lurking in the darkness.
She muttered, "Hurry, let's get out of here! This place is dangerous!"
Li Feng reassured her, "Don't worry, I've already checked. There isn't even a single poisonous insect here. It's completely safe."
Shan Yundi's expression grew even more solemn. "If this place were safe, the Zhu Yuan wouldn't dare not approach it. We must leave as soon as possible!"
Li Feng looked around and said, "There's only one big tree here. Could the tree be dangerous?"
Just as he finished speaking, a strange, rustling sound broke out in the previously quiet surroundings.
Chapter 11: Granny Tree Demon
The sudden turn of events left both Li Feng and Shan Yundi speechless as they nervously scanned their surroundings, listening intently as the rustling sound drew closer and closer.
Suddenly, Li Feng felt that the vines before him were somewhat unusual.
The wind hadn't grown stronger, yet the amplitude of the swinging vines hanging from the branches was steadily increasing.
The strange little flowers growing on the vines were also shaking loose and falling off one by one.
He stared at the swaying vines, then shifted his gaze toward the gigantic tree.
"Could this be a Granny Tree Demon?"
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than two vines shot out without warning from the dead leaves on the ground, wrapping tightly around his ankles and beginning to drag him.
With a startled cry, Li Feng lost his footing, instantly tumbled to the ground, and was rapidly hauled toward the trunk of the ancient tree.
After recovering from his panic, he remembered the broken sword in his hand.
With a hard slash, he severed the vine on his left foot.
At that exact moment, Shan Yundi let out a cry of alarm as well.
Stealing a hurried glance amidst the chaos, Li Feng saw that a hanging vine had wrapped around her body and was pulling her rapidly upward.
Shan Yundi's cultivation was far superior to Li Feng's, but severely injured as she was, and with both arms bound by vines, she could only watch helplessly as she was hoisted into the air by the vine, completely powerless to resist.
At that moment, an even more horrifying scene unfolded: dozens of vines within his field of vision suddenly wriggled violently like giant serpents as if imbued with life.
Several thick, arm-like vines nearby began to curl toward both him and Shan Yundi.
"It really is a Granny Tree Demon!"
Li Feng blurted out instinctively.
Whether on Earth or in this immortal cultivation world, in his mind, any thousand-year-old tree spirit was bound to be Granny Tree Demon!
Pity he was no Ning Caichen, nor was Shan Yundi Nie Xiaoqian.
And there was no Yan Chihao roaring "Dao, dao, dao, dao, dao..." while charging to his rescue with a great precious sword.
Seeing two vines about to entangle him, he swung the broken sword with all his might, severing the vine around his right ankle and breaking free.
By now he had been dragged to the trunk of the giant tree. Rolling to dodge the other coiling vines, he sprang to his feet, planted them against the rough bark, and used the leverage to leap upward.
At the same time, he slashed with his broken sword, cutting down several more frantically thrashing vines.
Right now, he had only one thought: cherish life, and stay far away from Granny Tree Demon.
Just as he was about to break out of the danger zone, he suddenly thought of the little beauty.
Looking up, Shan Yundi had already vanished.
Naturally, Li Feng wasn't going to leave someone to die without lifting a finger. He immediately altered his direction and soared over.
Mid-air, about ten-odd zhang above the ground, he finally spotted Shan Yundi, who had been wrapped into a mummy by the vines.
She struggled desperately, but to no avail. The vines were pulling her straight toward one of Granny Tree Demon's giant mouths.
Yes, Li Feng swore his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.
The thick trunk was shaking violently, and its rough bark had split open to reveal dense rows of gaping maws, making Li Feng, who already suffered from trypophobia, feel his scalp instantly tingle with terror.
This old tree spirit was far more formidable than Granny Tree Demon!
Granny Tree Demon only had a single long tongue that could stretch for miles, whereas the old tree spirit before him had thousands of bloody maws covering its entire body.
While Li Feng stood frozen in a daze, Shan Yundi was dragged straight into one of the giant mouths.
Those cold eyes of hers were filled with utter despair.
If Li Feng fled at this moment, he might still have a chance of survival.
However, the helpless and despairing look in Shan Yundi's eyes just before she was dragged into the gaping maw struck deep into the heart of the lecherous Li Feng, who had very little resistance against beauties.
Gritting his teeth, he dodged the countless coiling vines flying toward him and rushed airborne straight into that massive mouth.
Granny Tree Demon's mouth was truly huge, and it suffered from severe oral hygiene issues.
Having existed for who knows how many years, feeding on rotting animal flesh day in and day out without ever cleaning its mouth, the interior of the tree was filled with a nauseating, foul stench.
It was pitch black inside. Groping around blindly with his hands, Li Feng finally touched Shan Yundi's ankle.
Overjoyed, he called out, "Fairy Shan, don't be afraid! I've come to save you!"
He tried to use the broken sword to cut the vines wrapped around Shan Yundi. Because he couldn't see a thing, he slashed several times without success.
At that moment, the giant tree mouth he had just crawled through was rapidly closing.
Sensing disaster, Li Feng prepared to use the broken sword to slice open the tree's mouth when suddenly, a tremendous pulling force surged from Shan Yundi's ankle.
Li Feng tried to pull her back, but her assailant's strength was simply too immense, instantly dragging both of them downward together.
At the same time, the internal space was rapidly shrinking.
When he first entered, Li Feng could still stand, but now the tree walls were squeezing him so tightly that his bones felt as though they were about to snap.
After a period of being dragged downward, Li Feng's consciousness grew extremely hazy.
Suddenly, he felt his body become weightless, followed by a sensation of freefall.
He snapped back to awareness instantly, wanting to channel his Qi to control his body, but with two consecutive splashes, he and Shan Yundi plunged simultaneously into a viscous green pool of water.
He immediately broke the surface and shouted, "Fairy Shan! Fairy Shan..."
Hearing what sounded like an echo beside him, he hurriedly paddled over.
Sure enough, he spotted Shan Yundi, who was still wrapped in vines with only her small head exposed.
Shan Yundi had lost consciousness once again.
After hacking through several vines, Li Feng hauled Shan Yundi out of the sticky pool.
The interior of the tree spirit turned out to be surprisingly vast. Moreover, the tree walls were dotted with numerous glowing green fruits, making the space less than completely dark.
Staring at the sticky liquid coating his body, he immediately doubled over at the edge and retched.
The un-digested remnants of the two sweet potatoes he had eaten last night all came up, leaving only bitter stomach acid at the end.
Only after finishing vomiting did he remember to check on Shan Yundi.
Naturally, the method he chose to check on her was feeling and listening to her heartbeat.
"Immortal cultivators really have tough lives to survive even this!"
Confirming that Shan Yundi's heart was still beating faintly, Li Feng let out an exclamation of wonder.
After settling Shan Yundi down, Li Feng began pondering ways to escape.
This space was about forty or fifty square meters in size. Right in the center was a deep pool of liquid; when Li Feng had fallen in earlier, his feet couldn't even touch the bottom.
This viscous liquid presumably provided nourishment for the entire tree spirit, as many leg-thick vines extended from the tree walls and plunged directly into the pool to absorb its nutrients and sustain the giant tree.
Surrounding the sticky pool was a relatively dry patch of ground covered in a layer of fine grass about ten centimeters tall.
Numerous glowing green fruits hung from the vines and tree walls.
Occasionally, bright flowers could also be seen.
If Li Feng hadn't experienced all this firsthand, nothing could have convinced him that he was inside Granny Tree Demon's belly.
He looked up. Returning via the path they came in was definitely out of the question; he would have to find another way out.
Wielding his broken sword, Li Feng tapped and probed the surrounding wooden walls, hoping to find a relatively weak spot where he could carve out an escape route with his blade.
After searching for a long time with zero results, he slumped back down dejectedly beside Shan Yundi.
At that moment, Shan Yundi slowly stirred and woke up.
Chapter 12: Ranked Seventeenth on the Heavenly Mystery Roster
Shan Yundi, twenty-four years old, was the personal disciple of Master Xuanzhi, the Sect Master of the Yunhai Sect.
Endowed with a naturally aloof temperament, she was exceptionally suited for cultivation and the Dao. Having entered Master Xuanzhi's sect just twelve years ago, her cultivation had already reached the peak of the seventh layer—the Soul Exit Peak Realm.
Half a step further, and she would achieve Dao Integration.
In the Mortal World stood the Tianji Pavilion, which gathered intelligence from all under heaven and released three rosters every three years.
These were respectively the Heaven Elite Roster, the Heaven Kirin Roster, and the Heaven Human Roster.
The Heaven Elite Roster encompassed all sects and rogue cultivators across the entire Jiulong Mainland, gathering young experts under the age of thirty. Based on qualifications, cultivation, and various other factors, it evaluated and selected the ninety-nine most outstanding young experts.
The Heaven Kirin Roster accommodated experts aged thirty to one hundred, also consisting of ninety-nine slots.
The Heaven Human Roster housed powerhouses over a hundred years old, with only fifty slots available.
Aside from these three popular rosters, the Tianji Pavilion also maintained the Heavenly Artifact Roster and the Heavenly Demon Roster.
These recorded the divine artifacts and beast demons of the Jiulong Mainland.
Because little changed regarding them, these two rosters had seen very few major updates over the years.
When the Heaven Elite Roster was published a little over two years ago, Shan Yundi ranked seventeenth—an exceptionally high ranking that made her a household name.
Because of her cold demeanor and aversion to smiling, she was known to the world as the "Frost Cloud Fairy."
"Fairy Shan, you're finally awake!"
Li Feng flashed what he believed to be a very handsome and reassuring smile.
Shan Yundi glanced at her surroundings and asked, "Where is this?"
Li Feng's smile stiffened slightly as he replied, "We're inside that giant tree demon's body. We both got eaten by it."
Shan Yundi felt no particular surprise. When she was dragged into the gaping maw by the tree demon, her consciousness was still intact, and she knew that Li Feng had disregarded his own life to dive in and save her.
Looking at the bitter-smiling young man before her, Shan Yundi slowly said, "You could have escaped. Why did you turn back to save me, only to fall into certain doom with me now? What on earth are you plotting?"
Li Feng was somewhat speechless. "Killing someone might require a reason, but does saving someone require a reason too?
Defending the righteous, helping the weak, and drawing your sword against injustice—aren't these things our duty to do?
Besides, didn't you also turn back earlier to rescue me from the jaws of that Zhu Yuan beast? When you saved me back then, could it be you were plotting something against me?"
Shan Yundi seemed somewhat taken aback by Li Feng's retort.
For a moment, she was utterly left without words.
After a brief while, she struggled to sit up, but the movement aggravated her injuries, causing her to let out a low moan of pain and a wince.
Hurryly, Li Feng said, "Your ribs are broken, and your left leg is fractured too. Don't move around recklessly."
Sure enough, Shan Yundi abandoned her attempt to sit up, reached out to grope at her waist, and pulled out a grey cloth pouch.
Closing her eyes slightly, she inverted the pouch.
To Li Feng's complete bewilderment, the mouth of the small pouch suddenly opened, and three pristine white porcelain bottles tumbled out.
These porcelain bottles resembled plum vases, featuring wide bellies and narrow mouths, standing about seven or eight inches tall—roughly twenty-odd centimeters.
Hanging from the neck of each bottle was a delicate little jade plaque.
Li Feng's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Was this magic?
A cloth pouch no larger than two fists could actually pour out three slender porcelain bottles!
The very next moment, fragments of memories from the body's original owner told him that this gadget was a storage bag commonly used by immortal cultivators, containing its own miniature space capable of holding numerous items.
Shan Yundi looked at Li Feng and said, "I... I can't move right now. Help me open the medicine bottles."
Shan Yundi was no poor wretch like Li Feng. As a prominent figure among the young disciples of the Yunhai Sect of this generation, the cultivation resources she commanded were unimaginable to paupers like Li Feng.
Last time, Li Feng's original body had been beaten to a pulp by disciples of the Xiaoyao Sword Sect. Given the original owner's Primordial Spirit Realm cultivation, had he been supplemented with some spiritual elixirs, his life wouldn't have been in danger.
It was precisely because he was too poor to afford spiritual elixirs that he had kicked the bucket, allowing Li Feng to pick up a huge bargain.
To treat her injuries, Shan Yundi had produced three bottles of miraculous elixirs all at once.
Naturally, Li Feng was more than happy to help—ideally even helping Shan Yundi set her bones...
After all, with broken ribs, setting them through clothing wouldn't be easy, and at that time he'd get to feast his eyes... Hehe...
Picking up a porcelain bottle, he glanced at the small jade plaque hanging from it, which was engraved with the four characters "Nine Revolutions Returning Origin Pill."
"Good stuff!"
Drawing on the fragmented memories of the original owner, Li Feng knew that these Nine Revolutions Returning Origin Pills could help immortal cultivators rapidly recover their True Qi and stamina, with each pill valued at over a hundred taels of silver.
Squinting inside, he saw well over half a bottle of Nine Revolutions Returning Origin Pills—easily twenty or thirty of them.
Li Feng pulled the cork and poured out six jujube-sized wax pellets.
Crushing one wax pellet, a strange fragrance immediately wafted into the air, revealing an orange-yellow pill about the size of a fingernail encased inside.
He desperately wanted to swallow this potent spiritual pill whole, but he ultimately maintained his moral bottom line.
Handing the Returning Origin Pill to Shan Yundi, he watched as she tried to raise her arm laborantly; the moment she touched it, the pill slipped from her fingertips.
Li Feng picked the pill back up and said, "Forget it, since I've played the good guy to the end, I'll send the Buddha all the way to the West. I'll feed you—open up."
Shan Yundi initially wanted to refuse, but her current condition was indeed precarious.
She had no choice but to let this punk feed her the medicine.
Biting her lower lip, she said, "This Returning Origin Pill fell on the ground and got dirty. Give me another one."
"What?"
Li Feng was speechless to the extreme. "Your Yunhai Sect really is filthy rich. If you won't eat it, then I won't stand on ceremony."
Li Feng swallowed the Returning Origin Pill on the spot. Instantly, a warm current surged through his entire body, and his strength rapidly recovered.
Greatly amazed, he promptly crushed another wax pellet, retrieved the Returning Origin Pill, and brought it to Shan Yundi's lips.
Shan Yundi took four Returning Origin Pills in succession.
Along with two pain-relieving powders and three bone-mending pills.
About the time it took to burn an incense stick after taking the elixirs, Shan Yundi's complexion improved significantly, and the pain in her body seemed to have subsided by more than half.
She actually sat straight up, first resetting the broken bone in her left leg, and then reaching out to readjust her fractured ribs herself.
However, broken bones were broken bones after all; even the bone-mending pills could not regenerate her bones in an extremely short time, requiring the fractures to be immobilized to prevent them from misaligning again.
Seeing Shan Yundi set her own broken bones left Li Feng a mixture of profound shock and deep regret.
He had been hoping he could help her set her bones and reenact the wonderful bone-setting scene between Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang, but who would have thought this woman would resolve everything with her own two hands?
After setting her bones, Shan Yundi picked up her Qiankun storage pouch and produced several specially crafted wooden splints and cloth strips for binding.
Then, with Li Feng's assistance, she helped him immobilize his fractured leg bone and ribs.
Once the bandaging was complete, Shan Yundi stated, "I have scanned this place with my spiritual sense and will power. No other life forms exist here, so it should be safe for the time being.
I'm going to meditate to recover some strength and heal my internal injuries. Help me stand guard."
Li Feng nodded.
He knew that Shan Yundi's cultivation far surpassed his own. If she could recover somewhat, joining their forces might give them a chance to escape from this place.
Chapter 13: Poisonous
Shan Yundi did not spend a long time in meditation—about an hour, or roughly two hours, before she finished her session.
At that moment, the paleness on her cheeks finally yielded a trace of healthy color.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she caught Li Feng staring directly at her with glowing eyes.
She was startled.
Then, composing her mind, she said, "Stare at me again and see if I don't gouge your eyeballs out."
As a renowned beauty across the land, her fame stemmed not merely from her formidable cultivation and heaven-defying aptitude; her figure and appearance were also major pluses.
Over the years, she had seen plenty of men harboring improper intentions toward her.
She assumed Li Feng was just another lecher coveting her looks.
Pity she had guessed wrong.
Li Feng's eyes were glowing simply because he was starving.
His last meal had been the two sweet potatoes cooked by his junior sister, and most of those had been thrown up when he tumbled down here earlier.
Withdrawing his gaze, Li Feng asked, "Fairy Shan, is there any food in that bag of yours? I'm so hungry I'm about to kick the bucket."
Shan Yundi's expression froze, and then she shook her head with a heavy look.
Li Feng asked, "Not a single scrap?"
Shan Yundi still shook her head gently.