Chapter 912 - 705: Snake... Snake Egg?!
Shen Tang and Xue Yinzhou disguised their identities and quietly tailed the Parasite clansmen they had fought earlier, slipping into their territory.
Their luck was pretty good; no one noticed them along the way.
The Parasite Clan were born with muted emotions; unless they were acting in concert, they rarely engaged deeply with their own kind. On top of that, they were currently busy preparing an important Mother Tree sacrificial ritual; everyone was scrambling, and nobody paid attention to the sudden appearance of two extra "clansmen".
The day before the ritual, the entire Parasite Clan’s territory was in chaos.
Their way of life was extremely primitive. Unlike other tribes, they had no advanced technology or civilization and instead seemed stuck in some ancient primitive society.
The clansmen were patiently firing clay to make pottery jars, bowls, and other everyday vessels.
Then Shen Tang saw a Beastman who was clearly some sort of upper-ranked figure suddenly raise his hand and stab himself in the chest. Pale green fluid immediately surged out and dripped into a bowl.
What shocked her even more was that the nearby Beastmen followed suit one after another.
Without any hesitation they stabbed their own chests, catching that pale green blood in the bowls.
Afterwards, someone specifically in charge collected this blood and poured it into a larger container, then lifted the bucket and walked off in a certain direction.
Shen Tang felt her heart clench. Why did this sacrificial method look so much like a live blood offering?
Xue Yinzhou also creased his brows slightly.
The two exchanged a glance and silently followed.
After walking for an unknown length of time, an open valley appeared ahead.
Strangely, the plants here grew much more sparsely. Not far into the valley, they saw a gigantic ancient tree standing in the center of the basin.
It was unimaginably tall, maybe a hundred meters or more; looking up from the ground, its crown seemed to pierce straight into the clouds. Its trunk was as thick as a small mountain, and its bark wasn’t the usual dark brown but had a warm gray-jade sheen, faintly as if slowly crystallizing into some kind of gemstone.
Countless soft aerial roots dangled from the trunk, exuding a faint luminescence as they gently swayed.
Completely different from those malice-filled vines they had encountered in the forest before, this tree radiated a tranquil, peaceful, even sacred aura.
The Parasite clansmen’s gazes toward the ancient tree were full of reverence.
They knelt and kowtowed one after another, or chanted softly. The language was different from the Beastman tongue, more like some ethereal, eerily beautiful sound wave.
They carefully poured the collected blood over the roots of the ancient tree.
This must be the legendary Mother Tree!
Shen Tang could barely suppress the excitement in her chest—she had finally found it.
Xue Yinzhou’s gaze was also locked tightly onto the Mother Tree. He could feel the Tumor Gu inside his body stirring more violently because of it.
"This tree is withering," Xue Yinzhou suddenly murmured.
Shen Tang froze, then looked again more closely and finally noticed something was off.
Although the Mother Tree as a whole still looked robust, the branches, leaves, and roots already showed traces of decay.
The Parasite Clan’s Mother Tree was withering—was that normal?
But then she thought about it: the Mother Tree was the source of the Parasite Clan’s birth and had probably existed for tens of thousands of years. All living things come to an end; even such an ancient tree growing old should be normal.
And these clansmen holding a ritual and offering their own blood was probably to nourish the Mother Tree and slow its decline.
Once this group left, another group of Beastmen quickly arrived, also carrying a large jar of fluid, which they poured over the Mother Tree.
They came in batches, and left in batches.
Silently, Shen Tang did the math: there was about a four- to five-minute gap between every two groups. That was their best window to act.
As soon as another wave departed, the two of them swiftly moved in close to the Mother Tree.
From afar it was already overwhelming; up close it was downright astonishing.
Standing beneath it, they could barely take in the whole of the tree.
"Sorry, but we have to offend you. Your clansmen planted a Tumor Gu inside my partner; this is the only thing we can do!" Shen Tang drew a deep breath. Ice gathered in her palm into a razor-sharp blade, stabbing into one of the exposed roots of the Mother Tree.
The ancient tree seemed to feel pain. Its willow-like branches and leaves suddenly thrashed wildly, whipping toward them with force!
Xue Yinzhou’s eyes turned cold. With a sweep of his hand, several black blades materialized, slicing apart the attacking vines and shielding Shen Tang as she worked.
Cold sweat seeped from Shen Tang’s forehead, her nerves taut. The bark was unbelievably tough and thick; the Ice Blade could only cut deeper little by little.
Finally, sap slowly oozed from the wound on the trunk.
The liquid was semi-transparent milky white—that was exactly what they were looking for: the Tree Heart Marrow Liquid!