Chapter 39: The Dragon-Embracing Tree

Milin Star is also a highly peculiar planet in the entire cultivation world. Though it is merely a medium-sized planet, it has no oceans at all—instead, it is entirely covered in forests. On this planet stands a truly astonishing giant tree: the Dragon-Embracing Tree. No one knows its exact height; its branches reach almost into the starry sky, and its sprawling limbs cover nearly half of Milin Star’s surface.

Apart from the towering Dragon-Embracing Tree, it seems that all the trees on Milin Star originated from it—each forest consists of trees of normal size that are either variants of the Dragon-Embracing Tree or closely related species. These trees sometimes shrink to small saplings and sometimes grow into towering giants, as if controlled by some magic array, creating a mesmerizing effect.

Human cultivators can only establish sects on certain high mountains on Milin Star, where there are no forests and thus no influence from the Dragon-Embracing Tree. These sects primarily practice wood-related cultivation techniques, as the wood spirit energy on Milin Star is extremely dense. Practicing other techniques is far less effective, and it is difficult to reach advanced levels.

Due to the planet being submerged in forests, there is very little space left for human cultivators. Had it not been for the abundant wood spirit energy, no sects would likely exist there—there simply isn’t enough land to settle on.

Once human cultivators enter the forests, it’s as if they’ve fallen into a magic array, with various strange wood-based spells attacking them. The surrounding trees also launch spells simultaneously, overwhelming them. Apart from those with high cultivation levels, ordinary disciples entering the forests are doomed.

On such a perilous planet with so little suitable land, there are naturally few sects. Across Milin Star, there are ten sects, each occupying a mountain peak in a circular range—no other areas are suitable for establishing cultivation sects.

This circular range is called the Ju Lin Mountain Range, which keeps all the forests grown by the Dragon-Embracing Tree outside its bounds. The valleys within the range are known as the Xiulin Valley, where the forests are not particularly dangerous and serve as training grounds for the disciples of these ten sects.

At this moment, Qu Yi arrived at the Ju Lin Mountain Range and flew directly to one of the sect’s mountain peaks, his Wood Vital Energy radiating outward.

A medium-sized planet, typically dominated by experts at the Divided Mind stage, suddenly saw the fluctuation of a powerful cultivator at the Combined Body stage, which naturally alarmed all the high-ranking members of the sect.

In an instant, ten figures flew into the air, looking at Qu Yi with respect.

Among the ten people, the middle-aged man at the forefront asked with a smile, “Elder, I am Long Feng, the leader of Longlin Peak. What brings you to our Longlin Peak? Do you have any orders?”
Qu Yi glanced at Long Feng, realizing that he practiced wood-based cultivation techniques and was only at the mid-stage of Divination Realm, then smiled indifferently.
“You need not be afraid. I merely came to Misty Forest Planet to search for some medicinal herbs, so I wanted to inquire about the situation here,” Qu Yi said with a calm smile, suppressing his aura.
At that moment, the ten people of Longlin Peak breathed a sigh of relief. If Qu Yi had come to attack Longlin Peak, even together they wouldn’t be able to withstand a single move.
“If the elder has questions, we will answer them in detail one by one. Please take a seat on our Longlin Peak so we can discuss further,” Long Feng said respectfully.
Qu Yi nodded and flew down with a smile, taking his seat at the head of a palace on Longlin Peak.
The ten experts of Longlin Peak immediately followed and sat down in order.
“Long Feng, explain to me in detail the situation of Misty Forest Planet,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Although Qu Yi had heard some information about Misty Forest Planet while on other planets, it wasn’t detailed enough. Naturally, he wanted to hear a more thorough account from the cultivators on this planet.
Long Feng nodded with a smile before saying, “Elder, the eastern hemisphere of Misty Forest Planet is covered by the Dragon-Embracing Trees. In the western hemisphere, aside from our Julin Mountains, all other areas are also filled with trees grown from these Dragon-Embracing Trees. It can be said that Misty Forest Planet is essentially a world of Dragon-Embracing Trees. Whenever a cultivator enters, the trees become alert and use magic to attack. That’s why few people have ever thoroughly explored the entire planet. Apart from the ten sects on our Julin Mountains and some ordinary people in Xiu Lin Valley, there are no humans or monsters elsewhere.”
Surprise appeared in Qu Yi’s eyes. The Dragon-Embracing Trees covered half of the planet—how vast must they be? And how much wood spirit energy did they possess? They must likely be sentient.
“Long Feng, besides these Dragon-Embracing Trees, are there any other trees or strange places on Misty Forest Planet?” Qu Yi asked with a smile.
Qu Yi was here to find the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree. Given that it could produce such an abnormal poisonous fruit as the Ten-Thousand-Poison Fruit, this Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree must also be an extremely powerful species, and there should surely be some unusual characteristics.

With Qu Yi’s question, none of the ten experts from Longlin Peak could respond. In their eyes, aside from the Dragon-Holding Tree, there was nothing special about Misty Forest Planet. However, one of the ten, a thin-old man, moved his lips but did not speak. How could such a scene escape Qu Yi’s spiritual perception? “Fellow cultivator, do you have anything to say?” Qu Yi transmitted his voice to communicate with the old man. The thin-old man trembled slightly; he hadn’t expected Qu Yi to communicate with him directly through spiritual perception and seemed at a loss. But as someone at the Outward Journey stage, he quickly regained his composure. “Elder, I recently went on a journey and observed the Dragon-Holding Tree from space. I noticed that among its vast leaves, one area had leaves of a different color from the rest. I also found in our sect’s records that the leaves of the Dragon-Holding Tree used to be all red, like dragon blood, but the leaves in that area I saw were black,” the old man replied immediately. Qu Yi’s eyes lit up—he realized he might have found the location of the Poison-Eating Fruit Tree. “Fellow cultivators of Longlin Peak, here are ten storage bracelets, each containing some spirit stones and medicinal pills that should help with your cultivation. I’ve heard about what’s happening in your Longlin Peak; it’s best if you don’t spread the news, otherwise, your peak might suffer great calamity. Well, our fate ends here. Goodbye.” Qu Yi threw the ten storage bracelets and instantly teleported away. Of course, in the bracelet given to the thin-old man, there were not only spirit stones and medicinal pills but also several powerful wood-type magical artifacts. …… By now, Qu Yi had arrived outside Misty Forest Planet and was observing the Dragon-Holding Tree from space. The Dragon-Holding Tree was truly immense. With his experience visiting countless planets, Qu Yi was astonished by the size of its leaves. From space, it appeared as a sea of blood-red, with all the red leaves and branches merging together, as if half of Misty Forest Planet was covered in red clouds. Suddenly, Qu Yi stopped moving in the sky, his eyes brimming with joy. Among the red leaves, there was an area about a thousand miles in size where black leaves took its place.

In this black area, the spirit consciousness of the Artifact God had already detected someone flying in—it was the mysterious man in the early stage of the Tribulation phase who had surrounded and attacked Qu Yi on Desert Star.
“It seems that Meng Chen sent by Beast Peak is the same strong man in the early stage of the Tribulation phase who attacked me last time. Good, with him here, I don’t need to waste time searching for him. This time, once I get the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree, he can also be dealt with,” Qu Yi chuckled in the starry sky.
At that moment, in the area covered by the leaves of the Dragon-Holding Tree, the man named Meng Chen led two human cultivators in the early stage of Fusion to the top of the black area.
Meng Chen came from Beast Peak. To feed the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree, he naturally went to capture human cultivators in the Fusion stage.
“Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree, you reside inside this Dragon-Holding Tree, aiming to completely devour its essence. How long will it take? Fortunately, Beast Peak has discovered you and keeps sending human cultivators to accelerate your growth. Back then, you only occupied an area of ten meters, but now it has expanded to thousands of miles. With more cultivators sent, you’ll be able to devour half of the tree’s branches. Then you can directly compete with the tree for its spiritual essence and take over the entire tree,” Meng Chen said joyfully as he reached the center of the black area.
It turned out that the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree grew from within the Dragon-Holding Tree, thriving by devouring its essence. It used to grow slowly, but later, the essence from human cultivators sent by Beast Peak accelerated its growth, bringing it to a terrifying level now.
At least, in that black area, the tree was now covered with no fewer than ten thousand fruits—poisonous fruits capable of threatening cultivators in the Fusion stage.
After speaking, Meng Chen threw down the two Fusion-stage cultivators sealed by his magic power and flew toward the center of the black area.
Suddenly, from the center of the black area, two vine-like branches stretched out, over ten thousand meters long, dark and strong. They instantly wrapped around the two human cultivators and pulled them into the black area, where they disappeared.
“Ahh! Ahh!”
Only two cries were heard before the black area returned to silence. It seemed the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree had already devoured the two cultivators.
Moreover, the black area indeed expanded again, now spanning about two thousand miles wide.
“Haha, indeed, only the essence of Fusion-stage cultivators can make the Poison-Devouring Fruit Tree grow so rapidly,” Meng Chen laughed heartily.

At this moment, Qu Yi suddenly stepped forward and said with a smile, “Meng Chen, I wonder if this Poison Devouring Fruit Tree will grow faster after swallowing a strong warrior in the early stages of tribulation.”