Before him stood a thick tree trunk, a full zhang wide. An ordinary tree this thick would surely be terrifyingly tall, yet this one was only some three zhang high, almost as tall as the collapsed palace.
Yet its height was not even the strangest thing. A tree ought to have luxuriant branches and leaves, but this one had only a single thick branch sprouting from its crown. Everywhere else, it bore only extremely tiny twigs, making it look utterly lopsided.
The entire trunk appeared withered and yellow. Aside from the thick branch, which showed a hint of green, all the other branches were predominantly yellow.
Needless to say, that branch was the one that had attacked Zhang Xiaohua earlier!
It had now shrunk back to its original shape, but the spot pierced by the Prajna Heavy Sword had still not healed. Green sap continuously seeped out, and a delicate fragrance permeated the entire clearing.
As though it could see Zhang Xiaohua approaching, the branch swayed faintly in the air, crackling as if to intimidate him. In truth, however, it exposed its fear. "Eh? Someone else came in here too?"
While Zhang Xiaohua examined the great tree in the clearing, he also glanced around. Beneath a broken stone pillar directly opposite him, he spotted a skeleton.
"This person managed to get all the way here. That alone proves he was no ordinary man." Zhang Xiaohua pondered silently. Then his gaze fell upon an ordinary jade box commonly seen in the Incense-Passing Cult, placed before the skeleton, as well as a small bundle beside it.
The clothes on the skeleton had long since rotted away, yet the bundle remained completely intact. Its material was presumably unusual, and whatever it contained made Zhang Xiaohua all the more curious.
"Crack, crack, crack!" As