"The wolf king ran into us while fleeing for its life."
"Whatever injured a thousand-year Wind Wolf King this badly was definitely no ordinary opponent."
After examining the corpse, Tang Tian stood up, his gaze passing beyond the undergrowth toward a direction deep in the forest.
"Dean, let's head that way."
"The owner of this leaf is probably between two and three thousand years old."
Following the blood trail left by the Wind Wolf King and that peculiar aura of life,
the four ventured deeper.
As they advanced,
the surrounding vegetation began to change visibly.
The once-dense shrubs gradually grew sparser and shorter.
The weeds on the ground also began to yellow and curl.
It was as though the soil here had lost all its vitality and nutrients.
Then they crossed a desolate little hillside.
The view before them suddenly opened up.
A huge valley basin appeared before them.
At the center of the valley
lay an extremely eerie, empty zone.
It was a perfect circle roughly sixty meters in diameter.
Within this circle,
not a blade of grass grew, and not a single ant or flying insect could be seen.
It was as though some overbearing presence had forcibly drained away every trace of life.
And at the very center of the circle,
a lone tree towered.
It was a wondrous tree that left them awestruck.
It was not tall, standing only about five or six meters high.
But its trunk was exceptionally thick, gnarled and powerful.
Its entire body looked as though it had been cast from gold.
It reflected dazzling light beneath the sun.
Its branches were not supple like those of a plant, but instead resembled sharp swords.
Every leaf was pure gold in color, just like the one from earlier.
They gave off crisp