Deep within the Fluorescent Forest, inside a hidden rock crevice concealed beneath the caps of enormous glowing mushrooms.
Neji sat cross-legged, his aura withdrawn as deep as an abyss. Before him floated three pale golden orbs of light and a small segment of multicolored branch tip—the spoils he had obtained from the Divine Tree Scion.
He did not rush to absorb and refine them. Gaining something so soon after entering the Ancestral Grounds was already an unexpected delight; now, he needed to be even more cautious. The secret realm had only been open for half a day. The true bloody struggle had only just begun.
His Divine Eye opened slightly, and his perception silently spread outward like an invisible spiderweb. The forest remained tranquil, yet the energy fluctuations and faint roars drifting from afar foretold battles breaking out everywhere.
He did not linger. After adjusting his breathing for a moment, he sealed his gains inside a specially made jade box and stored it in the deepest part of his storage ring. With a flicker of his body, he drifted out of the crevice like a wisp of smoke and continued sneaking deeper into the Ancestral Grounds.
The farther he went, the stranger the environment became.
The glow of the giant trees was gradually replaced by a deeper, denser dark gold. The life energy saturating the air was nearly tangible; when inhaled through his nose and mouth, it even carried a faint stickiness. The ground was no longer soft moss, but crystallized soil that was warm and smooth like jade, with flowing light contained within.
The danger escalated with it.
From afar, he had once seen a seemingly peaceful crystallized meadow. A glowing deer the size of a cow, with an aura comparable to a Viscount Rank expert, had wandered into