(First update)
Shen Luo secretly rejoiced, then closed his eyes and carefully examined the Ginsengfruit Tree's interior. His expression soon darkened.
Inside the Ginsengfruit Tree were strands of green channels that transported spiritual energy. These spiritual channels only developed in ancient spirit trees and resembled the meridians within a cultivator's body.
The outer spiritual channels appeared fine, but the deeper he probed, the more chaotic they became. Not only were they knotted and blocked, many had become tangled and joined together in the wrong places.
Moreover, these chaotic spiritual channels showed no signs of interference from an outside force. It was as though the Ginsengfruit Tree's channels had run wild on their own.
How could this happen? Secretly startled, Shen Luo continued circulating Divine Wood's Grace, extending it deeper into the fruit tree.
At this depth, however, even probing with Divine Wood's Grace became difficult. He exerted himself to the utmost and examined another few feet inward before finally reaching his limit, unable to advance any farther.
Here, at last, Shen Luo sensed a trace of an unusual aura within the Ginsengfruit Tree.
"Is this demonic energy?" His eyes snapped open.
The aura deep within the Ginsengfruit Tree was filled with baleful energy and closely resembled demonic energy.
He suddenly recalled what had happened after his own demonic energy first erupted. Hadn't his meridians also become blocked, tangled, and joined together incorrectly?
Could the Ginsengfruit Tree have been possessed by demonic energy as well, with a sudden eruption causing it to wither? Shen Luo wondered.
"Well, young friend Shen? Have you found anything?" the Guiding Daoist asked as he approached.
"I did discover some abnormalities. There is an extremely dark and baleful aura within the Ginsengfruit Tree, very much like demonic energy." Shen Luo withdrew his hand. After a moment's