The Cyan Flame said, "The aura of the Ancient Heart of Life is powerful. Once it leaves the body, it can be sensed for dozens of kilometers around. No surprise, the trees will signal. Have you all received it?"

The Vigorous Root nodded, "Received continuously. It's moving continuously, but it has nothing to do with me; I don't want to die."

Zhou Leng said, "Since the Ancient Heart of Life has surfaced, there might be fragments of Ancient Tree Fossils nearby."

"True, we can't interfere with the Blood of Tyranny, but we can't miss the fragments of the Ancient Tree Fossils."

Everyone quickened their pace and dashed in the direction of the tremor and the White Dragon's death.

Along the way, they encountered Innate beings from various races, all keeping a cautious distance.

Occasionally, they would meet Tree-men, and the Vigorous Root and others would greet them.

To the left in the front, the forest swayed as a massive creature ran through.

Upon getting closer, Zhou Leng sensed the aura of Ancient Tree Fossils on that person.

Upon closer inspection, it was a large white bear, about five or six meters long, likely a Druid transformed into a bear.

Everyone continued to run forward, Xiaoyong suddenly chirped, and dove underground.

The ground under his pointed head seemed to be under an invisible Spell, naturally making way for Xiaoyong.

Zhou Leng realized this was Xiaoyong's innate Divine Technique, not merely a digging ability.

Moving through the earth as if through water.

No wonder Xiaoyong never fought; once he burrowed into the ground, not even a Grandmaster could deal with him.

"Xiaoyong can sense the Ancient Tree Fossils. His sensing range is larger than ours. We can only sense what's near the roots," Vigorous Root said.

Everyone stayed nearby, remaining vigilant of the surroundings.

Occasionally, passersby glanced over and quickly left.

Before long, the earth surged like a fountain, and Xiaoyong burst up swirling, leaping onto the ground like a large seal, shaking off the dirt on him.

The small mouth on his head opened, spitting out over a dozen pieces of Ancient Tree Fossils.

The largest was the size of a thumb, the smallest the size of a grain of rice.

Altogether, they were about half a fist in size.

"Xiaoyong, amazing!" Vigorous Root loudly praised.

Xiaoyong excitedly wiggled his round body.

Vigorous Root said, "According to the rules, you take half of what you find; the rest is shared equally."

Xiaoyong shook his head and wagged his tail, chirping.

Vigorous Root said, "You, this is the only flaw. Always saying you eat dirt, yet you always want to share good things. Keep it first; we'll split it at the end."

Xiaoyong nodded repeatedly.

The Cyan Flame said, "I'll take a photo for the record."

Vigorous Root said, "Let's keep moving forward. If we can find more Ancient Tree Fossils, it means this area already has many, so there's no need to head to the tremor area. Not only are there a lot of people there, but the good ones are likely snatched by those who arrive early. Since they are all small fragments, it's better to search in less crowded places."

"Indeed. No surprise, they're probably fighting over there. Do you Tree-men also fight?"

"We do. Tree-men aren't Divine Spirits, and even Divine Spirits often fight."

Everyone continued moving forward. Within ten minutes, Xiaoyong sensed again and soon dug out five more pieces of Ancient Tree Fossils, slightly larger than the last time.

Everyone praised Xiaoyong, who excitedly shook his head and wagged his tail.

"Now, let's spread out at intervals, form a line, and investigate together. The tremor will expose some Ancient Tree Fossils, and in such places, other Ancient Tree Fossils are often underground nearby. Whoever sees them gets half of the nearby ones!"

Everyone separated, about a hundred meters apart, able to aid each other.

Zhou Leng recalled his previous sensing. His sensing range was about a hundred meters.

But if it's a hundred meters underground, he couldn't dig it out and could only rely on Xiaoyong.

Zhou Leng had a sudden idea and took out the Octagonal Bone Fragment he didn't know how to use, a gift from Jax when in the Dwarf world.

Its intricate patterns were a variant of Divine Text, undoubtedly a treasure from a High-Level Civilization, though its exact use was unknown.

Pretending that it could sense Ancient Tree Fossils could mask his abilities.

There were far fewer Ancient Tree Fossils than imagined.

After half an hour, they hadn't come across even a single bit of hair yet continued to see various Innates coming and going.

Giants, Giant Dragons, human Martial Artists, Tree-men, and even Demons, but everyone gave up fighting, continuing to search.

Occasional sounds of fighting or flashes of magical power came from afar.

Suddenly, Zhou Leng quickened his pace, standing on a patch of land, then loudly shouted, "Vigorous Root, all of you come over, call for Xiaoyong."

"Got it!" Vigorous Root didn't hesitate and called everyone over.

Tree-men could communicate through roots underground, remarkably fast.

The five people gathered around with Xiaoyong.

"Did you sense it?" Zhou Leng asked.

The four Tree-men and Xiaoyong shook their heads in unison.

Zhou Leng looked around, raised the Octagonal Bone Fragment mysteriously.

"Don't tell others; this treasure in my hand occasionally senses Ancient Tree Fossils. Though it's not reliable all the time, once it senses, it's surely true. Right below, there's a piece of Ancient Tree Fossil, and it's not small."

The four Tree-men and Xiaoyong looked at Zhou Leng in puzzlement.

Vigorous Root said, "There are dense roots below here; within twenty meters, there's nothing."

"Chirp..." Xiaoyong said.

Vigorous Root translated, "He said even at twice that depth, there's nothing."

"How deep can Xiaoyong sense?"

"About forty to fifty meters."

"This Ancient Tree Fossil is deeper. Xiaoyong, go straight down until you sense it."

Xiaoyong looked at Vigorous Root in confusion.

Vigorous Root said, "Anyway, you're fast, give it a try, won't waste much time."

"Chirp chirp."

After Xiaoyong finished speaking, he jumped lightly, diving headfirst into the earth like a diver, and swiftly burrowed underground.

"What is this?" Cyan Flame looked curiously at the Octagonal Bone Fragment, as Demon Spirit Masters are interested in peculiar things.

"Not sure, I haven't used it until today when I sensed something."

"Hope it proves useful." Everyone was filled with anticipation.

Before long, the ground stirred lightly, and soil flew up as Xiaoyong emerged from the ground like a dolphin leaping from the water, spitting out a piece of something the size of two fists while still mid-air.

Zhou Leng caught it and glanced at it—an Ancient Tree Fossil with a black jade-like surface, its golden patterns covered by black jade, heavier than steel.

"So amazing," said the Tree-men.

"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp..." Xiaoyong rolled around Zhou Leng in circles with immense excitement; even though he would dig into the ground every day for fun, he rarely saw an Ancient Tree Fossil this large.

At this moment, a large group of Tree-men passed by from not far away.

More than twenty in total, with even some Bone Forger Innates among them.

Zhou Leng and Cyan Flame grew vigilant; Tree-men were not warlike, but in times like these, they were no different from other races.

Those Innate Tree-men slowed down, all looking over.

Vigorous Root waved its branches, greeting them, indicating its identity from the Vigorous Tribe, and the opposing leader nodded before turning away.

Some among them glanced at Xiaoyong, the leaves on them rustling softly.

Cyan Flame asked, "If you weren't here, would they have made a move?"

"There's a fifty percent chance. Don't think too highly of the Tree-men. The more conservative they are, the more repressed, and thus, the more frenzied," said Vigorous Root.

"Indeed, there are no truly peaceful places in the Ten Realms."

"Let's go, keep searching."

The group continued, spreading out in a horizontal line every hundred meters.

The further they traveled, the more Innate teams they encountered. Whenever someone noticed a change in the others' expressions, they would gather close together.

The others saw this team was rather odd, with a Demon Spirit Master, and even someone suspected to be a giant insect, preventing any conflict from sparking.

As they kept encountering more people, the group decided against heading north to join in on the excitement, choosing to head east to search for Ancient Tree Fossils instead.

After three days and nights, the team gathered under a tree to distribute the Ancient Tree Fossils.

Zhou Leng and Xiaoyong got the most, each obtaining pieces the size of two fists, while the others received fewer pieces.

After the distribution, Vigorous Root suggested, "With this many Ancient Tree Fossils, it's enough for us to improve our capabilities slightly. I propose we absorb the power first. Xiaoyong, dig a large pit underground, while Cyan Flame, you'll reinforce the subterranean pit with spells, can you do it?"

"Chirp chirp!"

"I can."

With the collaboration between Xiaoyong and Cyan Flame, the group built an underground chamber ten meters beneath a large tree.

Xiaoyong used his innate Divine Techniques, Cyan Flame applied spells, and the Tree-men used root spells for mutual reinforcement, making the structure incredibly sturdy.

Zhou Leng did nothing.

Once completely built, everyone descended into the underground chamber to begin their cultivation.

Xiaoyong took charge of the watch; he didn't need to cultivate and instead consumed the Ancient Tree Fossils like food.

During the group's cultivation, Xiaoyong slowly dug out three escape tunnels leading in different directions.

Zhou Leng cultivated alone in an underground room.

The original plan was to use the life force from the Ancient Tree Fossils separately for cultivating the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique, compressing True Qi, and the Undying Star Body.

Since the Star Phoenix Feather was close to the thousand-feather Realm, he focused solely on the Star Phoenix Rejuvenation Technique.

The two fist-sized Ancient Tree Fossils contained incredibly astonishing power.

The process of integrating the Power of Life into his body was filled with pleasure, both physically and spiritually.

The Ancient Tree Fossils diminished in number.

The Star Phoenix Feathers increased steadily.

After absorbing the last piece of Ancient Tree Fossil, the Star Phoenix Feathers reached 987 in number.

Zhou Leng took out some Radiant Juice.

The Radiant Juice had only been half-absorbed, but his body was nearing its limits; further absorption would only equate to more potent Water of Life, enhancing only the Star Phoenix Feather with limited additional reinforcement to the body.

In a hurry to reach a thousand-feather stage, there was no need to be overly frugal.

Zhou Leng took a big gulp of Radiant Juice and continued cultivating.

With the aid of the colossal Power of Life from the giant ant tribe, dense red Phoenix Power surfaced within him.

Phoenix Power swept through his body, strengthening it before entering the center of his chest, where it coalesced into a brilliant Star Phoenix Feather.

The Star Phoenix Feather sparkled with starlight, slowly sinking into the spinal marrow.

...998, 999, 1000 feathers.

The moment the last Star Phoenix Feather merged into the marrow, the entire spine trembled softly.

Within his introspection, Zhou Leng observed his entire spine—beginning at the neck and extending down to the lowest coccyx—ignite with a faint red flame.

Upon careful sensing, those flames were composed of countless Star Phoenix Feathers, akin to stars and fire.

They flowed around the spine like water, like moving red spell texts, refining it.

Intense pain radiated from the spine throughout his body.

Without having undergone the trials of the Gate of Purgatory, Zhou Leng might have been rendered unconscious in an instant, interrupting the refinement, greatly reducing the cultivation effect.

But, this level of pain was only half as severe as the Red Lotus Fire Purgatory.

Zhou Leng maintained his composure, focusing his mind, visualizing the Mountain of Will, unmoved.

The Star Phoenix Fire continuously refined the spine, gradually revealing fine feather-like striations on the smooth, white surface of the spine.

Like patterns of an ancient fossil within a rock.

Spinal Ancient Text.

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