Xiao Hua raised his head and looked at the leaves, somewhat astonished. Beneath the swirling snow, the leaves remained lush and verdant, not showing the slightest hint of withering or yellowing. The snowy white and leaf green complemented one another, making the greenery seem even more full of life. Looking again at the trunk he had crashed into, he saw that it differed from ordinary tree trunks as well. It was several zhang thick, yet it was not a single trunk, but a cluster formed from dozens of trunks. Those trunks twisted and coiled together into one mass, each individual trunk vigorous and powerful. Beneath them, they plunged deep into the snow-buried foothills. Halfway up, the dozens of trunks wound together and merged into one, while branches and leaves spread from its crown, covering more than a dozen zhang around it.
"What kind of strange tree is this?" Poor Xiao Hua had come from the Buddhist Sect's desolate Xiaoyu Continent, so naturally he knew nothing of this tree's origins. He wondered to himself, This tree does not look like an ordinary spirit tree. But if it is not a spirit tree, how can its branches and leaves remain evergreen amid the freezing cold of this vast snowfall?
At that thought, Xiao Hua looked toward the small temple not far away and smiled. "Wouldn't I find out if this Xiao went over and asked?"
The small temple was not large, comparable to Jiangchao Temple on Jiangchao Ridge. Moreover, the space before it lay blanketed in snow, without the slightest trace of human footsteps. Xiao Hua already knew that this must be another dilapidated temple.
When Xiao Hua arrived before the small temple, he turned to look at the winding trail of footprints he had left behind. A realization arose within his