Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 108

Nanjing City.

The view from the city walls was vast, allowing those stationed there to see much of the surroundings. However, at this moment, the southwest horizon was already shrouded in a thick mist. The rolling fog, like a towering wall a hundred feet high, steadily advanced towards Nanjing City.

Accompanying the mist was the sound of countless beasts roaring, a cacophony that sent chills down the spines of all who heard it.

Witnessing this scene made everyone on the walls feel as if they had been plunged into an icy abyss; their blood seemed to freeze in their veins.

The mist spread rapidly. From the time the guards first noticed it until it reached the city gates, only a short moment had passed. The soldiers stationed within the city were on edge, their bodies tense and faces pale, their eyes filled with barely concealed fear.

They could muster the will to fight ordinary beast armies, but staring into the approaching fog, their resolve wavered. The reputation of the Misty Forbidden Zone preceded it—everyone knew it was a place even the Great Xia’s National Treasures could not conquer. The Qingzhou Sword and the Sky Mang Spear had both fallen into its hands.

Facing a typical beast army might leave room for hope, but against the Misty Forbidden Zone, they saw only despair.

“Lord Li, give the order to fight the Misty Forbidden Zone!” a young military officer shouted, his face twisted in anger. He was a supervising general sent by the Southern King.

Li Qianjue did not respond immediately. Instead, he looked around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the soldiers around him. After taking in the scene, he turned back to the sea of fog outside the city.

Taking a deep breath, he spoke slowly, “Open the gates. We will not resist.”

Wen Yuchao, though initially conflicted, quickly regained his composure and nodded with a determined expression. “Understood.”

“You’re surrendering?” the young officer from the Southern King’s faction glared coldly at Li Qianjue.

“General Fan, the Misty Forbidden Zone is not like an ordinary beast army,” Li Qianjue explained. “They have always been more orderly. If we surrender, they will not massacre us after entering the city. In truth, we couldn’t hold off either the beast army or the Misty Forbidden Zone. Previously, we fought to the death against the beast army because I knew that if they entered the city, countless civilians would be slaughtered. But the creatures of the Misty Forbidden Zone, based on their past behavior, do not harbor ill will towards humanity. This time, they are retaliating because the Empire has repeatedly provoked them. Given the choice, I’d rather let the creatures of the Misty Forbidden Zone enter the city.”

The young officer’s face darkened. “As a city lord and an official of the Empire, how can you say such things? I suspect you’ve already colluded with the monsters of the Misty Forbidden Zone. Arrest Lord Li!”

Several soldiers near Li Qianjue immediately moved to seize him. This action revealed that the Southern King’s forces had long had a covert influence within Nanjing City. But Li Qianjue was not easily subdued. A group of his loyal followers quickly surrounded him, creating a standoff with the Southern King’s men.

“Wen Yuchao, open the gates!” Li Qianjue ordered firmly. Resisting might provoke the Misty Forbidden Zone further, leading to disastrous consequences. Their only hope was to show they were not a threat and to appeal for the zone’s leniency.

“Kill them!” the young officer roared, his fury uncontained.

But the Southern King’s forces could not stop Li Qianjue’s men. The internal factions within Nanjing City split in two, with Li Qianjue’s followers moving to open the southern gate, while the Southern King’s men retreated to the northern part of the city.

Crash!

As the city gates opened, the fog poured into the city, followed by a vast beast army. When the mist entered Nanjing City, Su Mu’s consciousness extended into the city for the first time.

After days of bloody battles, Nanjing City was already in ruins, with wounded people everywhere. Su Mu harbored no malice towards ordinary humans; he knew that these common people were little more than cattle to the elites. The ones bearing the brunt of the beast tide were these same common folk, who were also the most exploited by those in power.

Su Mu sighed inwardly. Once, he too had been one of them, giving him a deep sense of empathy. With this in mind, Su Mu directed a portion of his spiritual energy outward. The energy transformed into a gentle spiritual rain, which began to fall across Nanjing City.

This was a technique Su Mu had mastered after reaching the seventh level of Earth Fiend Transformation. He had summoned spiritual rain before, but that was a passive occurrence. Now, he could do so actively. The spiritual rain began to heal many of the city’s wounded. Though not as potent as his life essence liquid, the rain was still incredibly precious to the people of Nanjing City. Many on the brink of death found their lives saved by its effects.

Of course, Su Mu was not entirely selfless. He had his own motives—he was experimenting with faith. Long ago, he learned that the power of faith could be converted into longevity. Now, he wanted to see if this act of benevolence would inspire faith in him. Creating faith was notoriously difficult due to its low probability.

To date, only a few of his followers had developed it. However, Nanjing City had a population of over a million. With such a large base, Su Mu was curious to see if faith would emerge.

In the northern part of the city, an elderly woman sat despondently beside a young boy. The boy, about six years old, was covered in blood, his breath weak, and he was clearly on the verge of death. He was her grandson, and she had no way to save him, only able to watch helplessly as his life ebbed away.

At that moment, rain began to fall from the sky. The woman’s heart sank even further; her grandson was already in such a dire state, and now it was raining.

But her despair did not last long. To her shock, the wounds on her grandson began to heal under the rain’s gentle touch. Though the process was slow, his breathing grew stronger, and the signs of life returned to his frail body.

Overwhelmed with joy, the woman looked up. Above the swirling mists, she saw the faint outline of a colossal silver ginkgo tree, from which the life-giving rain was descending.

She quickly knelt down and bowed deeply. “Thank you, great tree! Thank you for saving my grandson! I have no way to repay such kindness, but I will offer prayers and devotion to you every day for the rest of my life.”

“Silence!” a cold voice barked nearby. It was the young officer from the Southern King’s faction, passing by. He looked at the woman with disdain. “That’s no god; it’s a demon tree, the Empire’s enemy!”

But the old woman was unmoved. “To me, anything that saves my grandson is a god.”

“I see you’ve been bewitched by demons. You deserve death!” The officer’s eyes glinted with malice as he raised his sword to strike the old woman down.

Swish!

A lock of green hair streaked through the air, knocking the officer’s sword aside. The officer looked up in shock and found himself staring at a green-haired woman standing at the head of the beast army that had just entered the street.