The branches that were hovering around Nie Tian and Dong Li seemed to be even sharper than metal spears, making them shudder with terror.
Dong Li slowly shrunk back into Nie Tian’s chest and said in a low voice, “I beg you not to make another rash move, okay?!”
With a grim expression, Nie Tian was once again releasing his special aura into his surroundings now that the chaotic magnetic field was no longer being channeled.
The aura of his flesh and blood, which was invisible to the naked eye, quietly dispersed and filled a small area around him and Dong Li.
SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!
The sharp branches that had nearly riddled them with holes rapidly shrunk back toward the ancient trees, as if nothing had happened.
Only after she was convinced that the crisis was over did Dong Li lift her head again.
Her face was ghastly with fright and her voice was trembling with fear. “This place is so strange. Using spiritual power with the wrong attribute will immediately trigger great changes. I beg you not to make any more rash attempts!”
Nie Tian realized what had just happened after surviving the sudden change.
Therefore, he deliberately suppressed all other types of power within him, wood power being the only exception. Meanwhile, he made sure that he was constantly wreathed in his faint aura of flesh and blood.
Soon, the comfortable and secure feeling came back to him.
That was when he became convinced that his special bloodline was the fundamental reason why he was able to roam this forest without being attacked by the ancient trees.
Looking down at his glowing right palm and the green aura that seemed to be trying to break free from it, Nie Tian was absorbed in thought.
Dong Li, who didn’t notice the changes in his right hand, once again gazed towards the Tree of Life in the middle of the shallow pond. Eyes fixed on the glittering, emerald-like Fruits of Life, she said in a low voice, “I think you’d better hurry if you want to pick them. I don’t think it’s wise for us to stay here any longer than we have to.”
Nie Tian calmed down and said forcefully, “Alright! Hold onto me!”
Dong Li did as she was bid.
She knew very well that she could only depend on Nie Tian to survive this increasingly scary place.
Once she was separated from Nie Tian, the ancient trees would immediately rain attacks on her. Considering her current cultivation base and strength, she wouldn’t even last a minute.
Seeing that Nie Tian was ready to make the jump towards the Tree of Life, she prepared herself as well.
“Now!” With a soft exclamation, Nie Tian leaped into the air towards the center of the pond.
Since the pond only covered an area that was about a thousand square meters, it would be rather easy for Nie Tian to jump across it, even with Dong Li clinging to him.
The only tricky matter would be collecting the Fruits of Life with lightning speed as he flew past the Tree of Life.
“Hmm?!” However, as he leaped into the air and approached the Tree of Life, his expression flickered.
The gravitational field over the pond was completely different from that in the rest of the forest.
A mysterious force seemed to be supporting him and Dong Li, allowing them to float in the air. Therefore, he slowed down and stopped in the air by the Tree of Life, where the green, translucent Fruits of Life were within arm’s reach from him.
“Interesting. The situation here is similar to the situation above that lake in the Realm of Dark Underworld.” Dong Li was amazed by what was happening. Staring at one of the Fruits of Life, she reached out to grab it.
As her milky-white hand slowly left Nie Tian’s aura of flesh and blood and approached that Fruit of Life, it didn’t incur attacks from the ancient trees.
Nie Tian noticed Dong Li’s action. He was deeply surprised as he glanced around at the sky-reaching trees and discovered that they didn’t launch attacks.
It was as if the region he and Dong Li were in was already beyond the ancient trees’ attack range, a completely different region.
After coming to this realization, he looked down and said to Dong Li, “You can get down now.”
“What?” Dong Li jerked her head around to look at him, confused.
“It seems that this region is out of those ancient trees’ attack range,” Nie Tian explained.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Dong Li, who had remained in this bashful position for a long time, separated herself from Nie Tian slowly and meticulously.
After she climbed off Nie Tian’s chest and floated in the air, the previously scary trees in the vicinity indeed stayed still, just as Nie Tian had said.
Dong Li let out a sigh of relief. Then, eyes s.h.i.+ning with the light of excitement, she intended to grabbed the Fruit of Life that was the closest to her.
Nie Tian, however, didn’t make a move. He looked at the Fruit of Life she was going to take with rapt attention.
“Wait!” Nie Tian yelled.
Startled, Dong Li stopped and turned around to look at him. Confused, she asked, “What now?”
Eyes wide, Nie Tian stared down at the murky, green water underneath them. “Look! Down in the pond!”
Dong Li followed his gaze and looked down.
At this moment, ripples appeared in the water of the murky pond.
Oddly, the ripples didn’t start from the center of the pond, but rather from the sh.o.r.e where he and Dong Li had come from, and were spreading towards the sh.o.r.e across from it.
Wherever the ripples spread, the originally murky water became clear.
What was even more surprising was that, as the water cleared, a gigantic, green, crystal-like object gradually appeared at the bottom of the pond, and started to emanate a bright light.
Soon, the ripples reached the other side of the pond, like gradually lifting a veil from over the pond.
The green, crystal-like object was now fully revealed.
It was a green, spherical, crystal-like object, which almost filled the entire pond. The Tree of Life was rooted in its top that rose slightly out of the pond.
At that moment, a formidable aura of life suddenly burst forth from under Nie Tian and Dong Li.
Dong Li’s gorgeous face turned pale with fright. “Nie Tian, that... that’s an eye! The Tree of Life is growing out of a gigantic eye!
“Dear lord! What the h.e.l.l is this place!? What kind of creature has such a huge eye!? And it can even give birth to a Tree of Life?!”
Nie Tian instantly realized what had just happened.
The previous ripples of water were actually the eyelid of this huge eye opening.
The so-called Tree of Life was actually rooted in this huge eye.
A scream almost escaped his mouth as he felt the overwhelming aura of flesh and blood that burst forth from under them.
The two of them were instantly submerged in a strong sense of crisis.
At this moment, even the green aura in his palm had become quiet and obedient, no longer yearning for the Fruits of Life.
That was when Nie Tian realized that, if he didn’t do anything, perhaps he and Dong Li would be killed in the next moment.
“An eye... A giant eye that hides in the earth...” A train of thoughts flashed across Nie Tian’s mind as he floated by the Tree of Life.
All of a sudden, an image that had been imprinted in the depths of his soul suddenly surfaced in his head.
It was an image of the mysterious dimension that the Blood Core and the Flame Dragon Armor had taken him to, where he had sat on the dilapidated alter and glanced at the distant, mountain-like arms sticking out of the earth and pointing towards the heavens.
“t.i.tans!” A shudder ran through Nie Tian’s body as he realized that this enormous eye must belong to a t.i.tan.
“If this is one of the t.i.tan’s eyes, does it mean that this entire dimension, including the barren land and the lush forest, is the t.i.tan’s p.r.o.ne body?” As these thoughts entered his mind, he felt that the sense of oppression that almost devastated him and Dong Li was growing stronger and stronger.
At this critical moment, it occurred to him to try to create a chaotic magnetic field around him.
He wanted to see if he could ease the terrifying sense of oppression with the secret magic he had learned from that mysterious dimension.
However, his chaotic magnetic field didn’t seem to change anything.
The overwhelming sense of oppression was still growing stronger. Beside him, Dong Li was already kneeling in midair and short of breath, as if her heart was going to explode.
Anxious, Nie Tian went on to try to form a spiritual energy ball with the secret magic he had learned from that mysterious dimension.
WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+ WHOOs.h.!.+
All of a sudden, the green, ribbon-like auras in the sky started converging on him from every direction.
Not only that, but the fragmented will from the t.i.tan, which seemed to contain a secret magic regarding wood power, started flowing up towards him.
To his surprise, as he formed a spiritual energy ball in his left hand and channeled the gathered green energy and fragmented will into his vortex of wood power, the devastating sense of oppression that had been weighing on him and Dong Li was gradually relieved.
Seeing that this method had worked, he continued to cast the spell as he approached the Tree of Life and reached out to grab one of the Fruits of Life with his right hand.