He stared at the red glow, his brow twitching slightly.
"These animals are cultivating." He handed the phone back to Chen Siyao. "But they aren't doing it actively. They're absorbing energy passively. There's something beneath that tree releasing energy. Animals are more sensitive to energy than humans, so they've all gathered around it."
Chen Siyao's eyes widened. "There really is something there? What is it? Is it like the Flame Spirit Stone?"
Chen Hao nodded. "Possibly. Remember the Flame Spirit Stones I brought back from beneath Gusu? They can make living creatures evolve. There should be a small piece beneath this tree, too."
Yang Wanqing drew in a sharp breath. "Then will these animals grow as big as the ones beneath Gusu? That spider as big as a sow, and that snake dozens of meters long..."
Remembering that scene sent a chill down her spine.
Chen Hao shook his head. "No. There were lots of Flame Spirit Stones beneath Gusu. That was what produced creatures that enormous. There should only be a small piece here, with limited energy. Enough to make these animals a little smarter and help them live longer, but not turn them into monsters."
Chen Siyao breathed a sigh of relief. If all the village's cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks turned into monsters like those beneath Gusu, the sight would be too terrifying. She dared not imagine it.
She immediately told Huang Qiaoling what they had learned and asked her to pass it on to Fu Zhaojie so he would not worry. For the time being, she put the matter out of her mind.
Meanwhile, in Shushan City, Yizhou, a thousand miles away, the atmosphere inside a temporarily requisitioned residential building was as heavy as the sky before a storm.
Cao Shoujun stood by the window, looking