"Rumble!"
A thunderous sound rang out atop the immense divine tree's crown, like leaves shaking and a herd of oxen stampeding.
This place already lay in the outer void beyond the world of the Ten Continents, cut off from air, where no sound should have existed. Yet this sound miraculously spread all the same.
It seemed to ring directly in the depths of people's hearts, resonating with their souls.
A presence akin to a cultivator's spiritual consciousness rippled outward like water, immediately startling the demon cultivators below.
On one side of the mountaintop, a Demon King-level expert sheltered inside a cavern. A fierce fire blazed in the fireplace, while cups and dishes lay scattered over the large table before him, alongside several roasted antelopes that had already been more than half devoured.
Upon hearing the sound, he sprang to his feet, the mane around his neck and the hair and whiskers on his head bristling.
"Who disturbed the divine tree?"
Below the mountain, the ox demon Li Ling had previously seen swimming in the icy lake surged out like a flood dragon emerging from water, transforming into a streak of crimson light that flew straight upward.
"What death-seeking fool dared interrupt my cultivation!"
Meanwhile, demon cultivators appeared one after another from the surrounding areas and hurried toward the same spot.
They were effectively the orchard's guards. Whether or not the fruit above had been harvested, whenever the divine tree made a sound, they had to go and investigate.
The bristling lion demon arrived first at the foot of the tree, only to find the place completely empty, without the slightest trace of anything suspicious.
"I didn't see anyone coming down earlier. Could they be hiding among the leaves above?"
He flew up toward the divine tree's lush branches.
What he