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Shan Heyuan went with him, but he couldn't approach the Illusionless Tree and could only watch from a safe distance.

For this trip, Shan Heyuan made a special visit to the Hidden Spirits General Store and bought Shen Duheng a larger storage ring. He told him to put the soil inside once he had stolen it, so it wouldn't hinder his movements.

Shen Duheng had given Shan Heyuan a storage ring before, so he didn't refuse the one he received this time and promptly slipped it onto his finger.

Once they were ready, the two set off for Xinglan Mountain.

Strictly speaking, Xinglan Mountain should have been called the Xinglan Mountain Range.

Since the decline of Black She Temple, no one had lived in the mountains. Only cultivators from hunting teams dared travel through them.

The vegetation in the mountains grew lush and thick. Giant trees hundreds of meters tall, low shrubs, and weeds swallowed up every patch of soil.

All kinds of vines hung from the giant trees, concealing countless snakes, insects, birds, and beasts whose gazes made Shan Heyuan's skin crawl.

But as soon as those gazes fell on Shen Duheng, they quickly withdrew, and their owners vanished back into the forest.

Shan Heyuan wore a hat and had his trouser legs and sleeves tied shut. He felt like a little insect that had wandered in by mistake.

No wonder so few hunting teams dared come here, even though resources were so abundant.

He turned to look around and saw thick moss covering the tree trunks.

The moss soaked up water and released it again through evaporation, filling the entire forest with a damp atmosphere.

It seemed the information he'd gathered was correct: there really was a great deal of rainfall here.

After entering the forest, Shen Duheng got his bearings, then pulled Shan Heyuan onto his spirit sword and flew straight toward the depths of the forest.

Normally, Shan Heyuan would certainly have preferred to fly on his own.

But with all sorts of birds and beasts watching him from the forest, he didn't dare stray half a step from Shen Duheng.

They flew onward for a little over half an hour. Suddenly, Shan Heyuan felt his view open up. The giant trees were gone from before his eyes, replaced by blue sky.

Shen Duheng guided the sword upward.

Shan Heyuan saw that the trees stopped abruptly at a certain point, not daring to cross it in the slightest.

In a forest where resources were so scarce, a ring of bare soil had somehow been left exposed.

A little beyond the soil, a mass of giant trees rose from the ground, bigger and taller than those behind him.

It was as if there were an island of forest in the middle of the forest.

Looking down from the sky, Shan Heyuan saw that the forest at the center was much darker, a murky shade of dark green that seemed to swallow even the light.

Even as a cultivator, he couldn't make out any details in that forest.

Beside the giant trees, he seemed to shrink without end. Heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down: the giant trees ahead were the sky, the universe, an infinite abyss.

Within the murky dark green, a deathly silence spread.

A premonition of disaster clutched his heart in an iron grip. His eyes wide, his mouth slightly open, and his knuckles white, he couldn't react any further.

Shen Duheng gave him a gentle pat on the back.

The warmth of his broad palm passed through the clothes on his back to his skin, and he couldn't help shivering.

Shen Duheng said, "Since this Illusionless Tree mutated, it's become especially prone to triggering people's inner demons. Don't stare at it."

Shan Heyuan looked at the giant island of forest ahead. "Are all the trees here actually a single tree?"

Shen Duheng said, "These are all its branches and trunk."

Shen Duheng took Shan Heyuan back to the forest behind them, set him down on a giant tree, and placed a defensive talisman on him. "Wait here. I'll be back soon."

Shan Heyuan grabbed his sleeve. For the first time, he wanted to back out. "What if we just forget it?"

A trace of a smile appeared in Shen Duheng's eyes. "We've already come this far. How can we just forget it?"

Shen Duheng drew his sword and flew forward.

For the first time, Shan Heyuan noticed how resolute his figure was as he charged straight at the Illusionless Tree like a streak of light.

When he drew near, the Illusionless Tree let out a strange roar of fury.

The roar was like the cry of some beast from the depths of the starry sky, distorted and shrill. It struck Shan Heyuan so hard that his face instantly turned pale.

The roar had no effect on Shen Duheng. His flight path didn't change at all.

Countless hairlike roots lashed out from the forest, whipping straight at him.

Whether the Illusionless Tree was so huge that its movements seemed sluggish, or Shen Duheng was simply too nimble, the fine, densely packed roots couldn't get anywhere near him.

Shan Heyuan's heart was nearly in his throat.

Shen Duheng swooped down and swung his sword.

The sword didn't touch a single root, but it cut away a large chunk of soil, which he collected in his storage ring while it was still in midair.

Had he gotten it just like that?

Shan Heyuan breathed a sigh of relief and prayed for Shen Duheng to come back quickly.

But Shen Duheng turned and charged toward the other side, cutting away another chunk of soil.

Throughout it all, the Illusionless Tree couldn't touch him and could only chase after him.

Shan Heyuan grabbed the bark beside him, digging his fingernails into it.

He gritted his teeth and stared with wide eyes, not daring to make a sound.

Shen Duheng flew among the Illusionless Tree's branches several times, cutting away three chunks of soil in all.

When he returned, not even his clothes were disarranged, and his breathing was calm.

It was as though he had merely gone out for a stroll.

Shan Heyuan stood on the giant tree, looking at him.

Their eyes met. Shan Heyuan suddenly turned his head and, with a retch, vomited over the side of the tree.

Shen Duheng walked over, helpless. "Did it frighten you?"

Pale-faced, Shan Heyuan took water from his storage ring and rinsed his mouth. He shook his head, then nodded, and said quietly, "I was too arrogant. I saw someone at the Core Formation Stage and thought everyone at the Core Formation Stage in the world was like that."

Shen Duheng patted him on the back. "A sense of awe is a good thing, but too much fear can easily give rise to inner demons."

Shan Heyuan said, "I understand."

Having collected soil from the Illusionless Tree's roots, Shan Heyuan asked Shen Duheng to collect several more chunks from the forest on the outskirts, and then the two headed home.

Strictly speaking, they hadn't encountered any difficulties on this trip.

Yet Shan Heyuan's entire inner world was in turmoil.

He was grateful to Shen Duheng for giving him this lesson.

Shen Duheng noticed that, although Shan Heyuan had learned his lesson, his emotions had been in too much turmoil, and he had been exposed to the cold wind. He showed signs of falling ill, so Shen Duheng fetched two doses of medicine, personally brewed them, and supervised him as he drank them.

Shan Heyuan said, "I'm fine. I've even been through transmigration; there's no way something like this could frighten me that badly. I'll be fine after a little rest."

Seeing how weak he looked, Shen Duheng said, "Don't go out for the next few days."

Shan Heyuan said, "All right. I can use the time to deal with the soil we collected earlier."

Shan Heyuan labeled the soil samples. After setting aside a small piece of each, he crushed and dissolved the rest, then added various powders to react with them and used paper to absorb the resulting solutions.

Within a few days, he had a pile of paper in all sorts of colors.

Shen Duheng watched with interest. "What's this for?"

Shan Heyuan waved the paper in his hand. "I'm conducting an experiment to see what's in the solutions extracted from the soil."

Shen Duheng asked, "Is this a method from your world?"

Shan Heyuan smiled. "Yes, we call this a chemistry experiment? I haven't done one in a long time, so I'm a little rusty."

Shan Heyuan laid out the sheets of paper, his expression calm. "It's just as I thought. The soil around the Illusionless Tree's roots really is extremely infertile. It must have lacked the necessary elements for a long time, which is why it's been growing crazier and crazier."

Shen Duheng gestured for him to explain in detail.

Shan Heyuan said, "In the professional field of cultivation, this is actually a leaching phenomenon. Because rainfall in the forest is so abundant, water flows through the soil, dissolving and carrying away magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and so on. In other words, the nutrients essential to plants are carried away, leaving only things that don't dissolve as easily, such as aluminum and iron oxides."

Shen Duheng nodded, looking as though he understood.