Chapter 120: The Forest’s Gift

“I really can’t go on anymore!”
Su Che thought to himself, “Lao Hei, look. The first test was to kill over a dozen human cultivators of my strength; the second test was to kill a demon creature at the late Foundation Establishment stage; the third test, I guess, will be a demon at the Golden Core stage…”
“Yes, master. That’s what I think too,” Lao Hei agreed. “Humans, demons, and beasts are all great enemies of the Witch Clan. On a Witch Clan youth’s path of training, none of these three types of prey can be missing, and the difficulty keeps increasing. If they come up with a Golden Core stage demon next time, we’re doomed!”
“I can’t go anymore. Truly, I can’t.”
Su Che turned and entered the main building of the immortal estate. He sat down in the first-floor hall, not in a hurry to move on. He needed to regain his strength first. Besides, during his time in the temple, he had been struck by three disciples of the Xuansha Sect. The injuries had only been temporarily suppressed, and it would take at least one night to recover.
In the Xiaomi Immortal Realm, there was also day and night. After resting for a night, Su Che’s injuries fully healed, and he left the immortal estate early the next morning.
According to the map, he should head to a volcano, but Su Che deviated slightly from the route and went to a forest about ten miles away from the volcano.
Although he didn’t want to face the next trial, Su Che didn’t dare to openly resist ‘it,’ nor could he go against the arrows on the map. So, he chose this forest near the volcano to try his luck.
There was also a piece of wisdom passed down from predecessors: “Never enter a forest!”
This meant that in areas with dense vegetation in the Xiaomi Immortal Realm, one must not enter, as many strange plants were extremely dangerous for cultivators at the Qi Cultivation stage. Even an unassuming flower or grass could take a life.
But Su Che believed that with the protection of Black Stone Clear Flow, he had nothing to fear from the plants here. Moreover, since entering the cultivation world, he had developed a deep connection with plants. So, while others dared not enter the forest, he could venture in boldly.
It had been over an hour since he entered the forest, and he had indeed encountered some peculiar plants. However, they all seemed extremely friendly. As Su Che passed by them, their branches and stems, like little hands, would gently touch him…

Even so, Su Che could faintly sense a sense of joy, as if the best friend had come to visit, filling the master with great happiness. During this time, whenever he encountered plants that appeared listless or with signs of withering, he would infuse them with a little vitality, faithfully carrying out the duties of a spiritual herb doctor in the Little Mi Wonderland. As a result, the entire forest seemed to become joyful… Influenced by this cheerful atmosphere, Su Che even forgot his purpose for coming here. He wandered through the forest, healing any sick plants he found, completely unaware of the passage of time… One whole day passed unnoticed in this way, until night fell and Su Che’s mood finally calmed down. “Master, you’ve used quite a bit of vitality—swallowing nearly a hundred low-level heavenly demons…” Lao He reminded him with concern. But during the day, so as not to dampen the master’s spirits, Lao He remained silent, silently fulfilling his duty by devouring low-level heavenly demons and converting them into vitality to supply Su Che. “It’s okay.” Su Che lay on the crown of a large tree, gazing up at the deep blue night sky of the Little Mi Wonderland, and murmured to himself, “Since entering the realm of cultivation, this is the most relaxed day I’ve had. This forest gives me a sense of home—worth it!” After saying this, Su Che closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. After a while, the crown of the large tree suddenly closed over him, its broad leaves acting like a soft quilt, gently covering him. That night, Su Che slept soundly, even dreaming of Cai Shi Town and his wife’s warm hands gently touching his forehead… The next morning, Su Che decided to leave the forest. Although he hadn’t found any treasures, he felt no regrets. But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed a faint spiritual fluctuation passing by him—a very subtle and gentle sensation. Was it an illusion? “No, it’s not an illusion,” Lao He replied firmly. “Just now, there indeed was a spiritual fluctuation coming from the center of the forest, as if calling you…” As they spoke, another spiritual fluctuation arrived, like ripples on a lake, one after another… “Go take a look!” Without hesitation, Su Che rushed toward the center of the forest, intuitively believing that since this forest gave him a sense of warmth akin to home, nothing could harm him.

Su Che moved at great speed, as all the plants along the way swayed their branches and leaves to make way, automatically clearing a straight path through the forest. Soon, he arrived at a towering tree whose massive crown covered almost all of the sky visible above. “Is it this?” Su Che felt that it was this tree calling to him. Whoosh! A thick branch, like a giant’s arm, hung down from the crown and landed right in front of Su Che. Understanding what was meant, Su Che gently stepped onto the branch. Whoosh! The branch could bend at will, carrying Su Che to a hole deep within the crown. “A tree hole!” Seeing the hole, over a person’s height and more than three feet wide, Su Che didn’t hesitate to climb in. The interior was spacious, like a comfortable bedroom—dry, warm, and softly lit. Su Che was overjoyed, for in a corner of the hole he saw a pile of items, several of which even shone brightly, revealing their abundant spiritual energy. “Without a doubt, this tree represents the entire forest’s gratitude to me. It called me here to give me gifts.” Without delay, Su Che rushed over to examine these items carefully. Most of them appeared to be plant seeds. Of course, Su Che wouldn’t take what belonged to others, so he wouldn’t take those seeds… After careful selection, he picked out seven items. Five of them were crystal stones that emitted colorful light, about the size of a fist. He could clearly sense that they contained vast amounts of magical energy. Immortal crystals! Su Che recognized these crystals—they were exactly what his master, the Venerable Mysterious Secrets, had long desired. To get five of them at once was unexpected. Before leaving, the Venerable Mysterious Secrets had described the appearance of immortal crystals in detail. Their most distinctive feature was their unique colorful glow, as if seven colors of liquid were flowing slowly within the crystal, giving it a breathtakingly beautiful and luxurious appearance. Besides the immortal crystals, there was also a bronze gourd. Lao He was sure it must be a magical artifact, though its grade and function were still unknown. The last item was a deep purple jade statue. It was a half-foot-tall human-shaped statue with extremely simple craftsmanship. Although it had arms and legs, it had no face or features, so calling it a “faceless statue” was quite appropriate.

Su Che put all these things into the Immortal Prison for Lao Hei to study slowly. He himself jumped out of the tree hole and landed on the ground. He bowed to the giant tree and said loudly, “Thank you so much for your gift. I’m very happy, truly very happy!”

Whoosh whoosh whoosh…

The tree canopy trembled, producing a sound like waves, as if the tree was shaking with laughter.

Su Che also smiled. Just as he was about to say a few more words of thanks and farewell, suddenly, a strange dizziness hit him. His vision became blurred, and he could see nothing at all.

At that moment, Su Che instinctively thought that perhaps the tree was playing some trick on him or had become overly enthusiastic and lost control…

But in an instant, the dizziness receded like a tide. What he saw then made him realize that this change had nothing to do with the tree—it was caused by that “Holy Land Guardian Force.”

It must have thought that he had had enough fun, been crazy enough, and rested enough. So, it was time to get down to business.

Thus, it used some method to teleport him straight to the volcano’s crater.

It was like a parent who finds a child who skipped school on the street, takes them straight to school, and forces them to continue their lessons…

Standing at the top of the volcano and looking back, Su Che saw the entire forest in the distance. All the greenery was swaying back and forth, as if waving goodbye to him.

Suppressing the pain in his heart, Su Che knew he couldn’t defy it. He had to continue his unfinished journey of cultivation.

“Let’s go down and take a look. If nothing else works, then there’s only…”

Gritting his teeth, Su Che leaped down through the giant chimney-like crater.

As he fell, the wind howled in his ears. A practitioner at the peak of Qi cultivation could not die from falling hundreds of feet. Just before reaching the bottom, Su Che used a lightness technique and landed gently on the ground like a leaf.

Right in front of him was a passage several dozen feet high. Without needing any urging from that voice, Su Che eagerly rushed inside.

After passing through this passage, which was dozens of feet long, he arrived in an underground hall that resembled a furnace. Undoubtedly, there was also an underground magma vein here.

“Roar!”

As soon as he entered, a beast-like roar made Su Che’s eardrums ache. Then he heard someone shouting, “Hahaha, not easy! Finally, someone has come to keep me company.”

Su Che turned to look. Deep in the hall illuminated by lava stood a giant stone pillar, covered in totems that glowed with light, constantly exerting some kind of effect. Below the pillar stood a muscular demon with a fierce and ugly appearance; its dark red skin was adorned with strange patterns, as if countless pieces of flesh had been stitched together to form its entire body. Whoosh! As it moved, it could be seen that it wore a heavy metal buckle around its waist, with a long iron chain attached behind it, the other end of which was connected to the pillar covered in totems. Seeing this chain, Su Che felt slightly relieved: it was chained, so its range of movement was extremely limited…