At the entrance of the tree root tunnel, Wang Wu sensed the mysterious array barrier with the bear claw.

He didn't understand the principles behind it, nor had he ever witnessed how that young boy controlled it. Now that he was leaving, it seemed he had no choice but to use force.

But just as he was about to act, he suddenly heard a rumbling sound from deep within the tree root tunnel, as if something had fallen.

Because a long section of this tree root tunnel was vertical.

"Could it be Old Niu and Little Pig?"

Wang Wu felt a bit hopeful, but couldn't be sure. So much time had passed, how had the two of them managed to endure?

Or was it the Little Tree Spirit's rescue team?

With a thought, Wang Wu stepped aside, leaned against the tree bark, and after three seconds, naturally entered Level 15 Passive Concealment.

However, he quickly heard Little Wild Boar's ear-piercing squeals, so joyous in his heart after so many days, it truly was them.

Wang Wu was thrilled and couldn't bother with concealing himself anymore, he immediately stood upright, straining to look.

"Starving to death, starving to death! So hungry!"

At this moment, the sounds from the tree root tunnel became clearer, and you could distinctly hear Old Niu's heavy footsteps.

It truly was them.

Ha ha, how did these two dummies find this place?

"Old Niu, Little Pig, I'm here!"

Wang Wu shouted full of vigor, and the next moment, the tree root tunnel suddenly fell silent.

"Big Brother, are we hallucinating from hunger? Was that the third brother's voice?"

Rumble!

Old Niu didn't reply; instead, he dashed out like a streak of smoke, slamming into the energy barrier of the Concealing Array with a loud crash. The two of them were flung away, landing on the ground, unable to get up for quite a while.

My goodness, how have these two slimmed down to look like monkeys?

The Little Wild Boar had slimmed down to a pocket-sized pig, and although Old Niu hadn't shrunk, his entire frame was bony, each rib sticking out visibly.

They were even too weak to get up, but their eyes burned with passionate joy and gleamed brightly!

Truly pitiful.

"Old Niu, you two hold on, I'll come out right now!"

With that, Wang Wu hurriedly opened his bag and pulled out the broken sword, it's the only method he could think to break this array.

"W-wait a minute, third brother!"

Old Niu suddenly called out weakly, like a mosquito, no wonder this chatterbox had been silent, turns out he was too starved to speak.

As for why Little Wild Boar still had the strength to shout, it was because he had been riding on Old Niu's back all along.

"Third brother, this... this is a Concealing Protective Array set up by Human Race Cultivators, it's hard to open from the outside, but—but from the inside, it's easier."

Wang Wu was taken aback by the words; even Little Wild Boar paused, how didn't he know this?

And Old Niu, after catching his breath, continued softly:

"Although I—I—only know the basics, but third brother, generally speaking, all arrays require leveraging power, creating circles, making the inside and outside one, self-contained."

"Look for it, it's very easy. Just have to disrupt a bit, and it can be opened."

Very easy?

Wang Wu was confused, but he couldn't afford to question now, as Old Niu was already so weak he was panting, his eyes dim, you better not die.

He quickly turned back, swiftly surveying the internal area, but in reality, over so much time, he had already memorized the terrain here clearly, why couldn't he easily find the key points of this array?

This place was merely a massive tree stump, maybe the location of the tree heart, its surface was very rough and uneven, however you looked, it seemed very natural.

There was no other way but to use the process of elimination, chopping off all the extruding parts.

Yet these protruding parts were very hard, harder than rock, almost the same material as that bark.

Even with the sharp broken sword, even when he was full of physical strength, Wang Wu took quite a while to chop one section off. Just as he was about to continue chopping, he felt the surrounding space undergo a light and shadow transformation, the defense barrier of the array had vanished.

He seemed dumbfounded, it was indeed very easy.

"Third brother, is there any food? We're about to starve!" Little Wild Boar cried out miserably.

Wang Wu felt resigned, all the edible food had long been consumed by him.

Should have left some behind.

He hurried forward and lifted Old Niu, who was so weak that it seemed a gust of wind could knock him over.

"Old Niu, how did you two end up in such a miserable state? You shouldn't have starved to this extent, right?"

"Ah, second brother, you wouldn't know. If we were just to stay still, not to mention the eldest brother, even I could hold on for three months. But we were looking for you, constantly grinding and refining that Profound Iron Jar, nearly exhausting all our Qi Blood to carve out a hole to squeeze through."

"Actually, I'm a bit better off, but the eldest brother was so bent on finding you that he ended up like this."

Ah, so that's how it was. Wang Wu felt a bit touched by these silly guys.

"You two rest first. There's no food here anymore. I'll go out and find something for you to eat."

"Wait, wait a minute!"

The weakened Old Niu seemed to have noticed something, staring fixedly at the wood shavings that Wang Wu had just cut.

"Good stuff!"

Wang Wu was taken aback and quickly scooped up a small pile of wood shavings, but Old Niu already had a piece in his mouth.

The Little Wild Boar immediately followed suit and also put a piece of wood shavings in its mouth, but its clueless little eyes showed it had no idea what it was doing.

Wang Wu, out of curiosity, picked up a piece of wood shavings, chewed it a few times, and indeed, felt nothing.

Should it be swallowed?

No way, this stuff is too tough, even harder than stone. In case it can't be digested and comes out the other end, that would be quite the painful realization.

So after a few chews, Wang Wu spat it out, and almost at the same time, heard the Little Wild Boar's wail.

"Ah, what to do, what to do? I carelessly ate this thing. Won't I die from this?"

This was really speechless.

Wang Wu found himself helpless about it.

At this moment, Old Niu suddenly began to chew actively, raised his neck, and swallowed the wood shavings with difficulty. It seemed to give him some strength, as even his eyes became much clearer.

"Second brother, third brother, you shouldn't eat this. It's a Sixth-Grade Tree Heart. For Human Race Cultivators, it's an excellent refining material, and for me, it's an excellent food. To think that after this disaster, I'd encounter such fortune."

"Third brother, don't go looking for food. It's already winter, and the mountains are closed due to heavy snow. Without the identity of Grass and Wood Demon Soldiers, we'd definitely get caught by the Snow Mountain Great Ape King and sent to the Seek Death Camp. A major change is imminent, and among us three brothers, we can't afford distractions. We'll hibernate here until spring, and then migrate westward."

Old Niu spoke solemnly, and Wang Wu looked at him in astonishment, feeling that in just a couple of months, Old Niu seemed like a transformed cow, no longer so frivolous and unreliable, but steady and grounded.

"Third brother, don't look at me so surprised. I've lived fifty years, always relying on the protection of my parents and the backing of my sister and brother-in-law, living a carefree, promiscuous life. I deserved what was coming. I've realized this time that I need to get my act together and stop idling away."

"No, I mean, Old Niu, how did you learn so much? You spoke about the array with such precision!" Wang Wu half-joked because Old Niu had indeed given him a small surprise just now.

"Ha! It's nothing!" Old Niu exhaled, visibly becoming more spirited.

"Third brother, you're just an exile, a little demon losing your family's protection; you might not understand our heritage. Ever since tens of thousands of years ago, when the wise ones of the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses decided to 'learn from humans to control humans,' Demon Kings and clan leaders throughout the West Wilderness have valued the transmission and learning of knowledge."

"Though I'm the worst student in the Monster Academy, I've seen and heard things enough to know much more than you. Even your second brother also studied in the Monster Academy for half a year."

"Indeed, indeed, though I learned nothing in those six months, I'm still probably a bit better than you, third brother."

"Monster Academy? Where is it?"

Wang Wu was intrigued by what he heard, though it seemed hard to comprehend. 'Learning from humans to control humans' was no empty talk.

"They're everywhere, just with different levels. The South Mountain King and North Mountain King have the lowest level Monster Academies. Any grown Little Demon can enter for free to study. On the Great Snow Mountain lies the largest Monster Academy within a radius of tens of thousands of miles. Your eldest brother once had the good fortune to study there for three months, only to be kicked out for being too terrible."

"Ah, enough about this. Third brother, how did you survive? Were you captured and raised by Human Race Cultivators? What about the Big Mountain Cat and Master Tu the Third?"

Old Niu curiously asked, taking another bite of the wood shavings.

"It's a long story, and to this day, I'm still a bit confused. By the time I chased here, there were no Human Race Cultivators to be seen. It seemed the Big Mountain Cat and Master Tu the Third triggered some mechanism and died tragically on the spot. I managed to survive by relying on the two of them, and besides that, there was some Ascetic Flower Honey here. After consuming it, I became like this."

Wang Wu casually concealed this matter, not because he didn't trust these two goofy friends, but because some secrets were best kept under wraps.

"Gosh, third brother, is there still some honey? Get me a taste; I'm starving to death!"

Hearing about food, the Little Wild Boar howled again, diving into Wang Wu's embrace and sniffing around frantically.

This guy was truly starved to the point of delirium.

"Second brother, don't be reckless. I'll share some Spirit Essence with you." Old Niu lifted a hoof, pressing it on the Little Wild Boar's large head, and instantly, golden Spirit Essence descended—a rather magical display.

Then Old Niu turned his head to Wang Wu, saying with joy:

"Third brother, congratulations on acquiring such fortune. Seeing you now, you should soon be able to compete with me. Good! It's about time our West Mountain Three Heroes made a name for ourselves. Next year, we'll seize a mountain and play king for a bit."

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