Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 23

“Father.”

A sobbing voice suddenly broke the silence.

Everyone, including the surrounding spirit beasts, turned toward the source of the sound.

The one crying was a young girl.

Lying beside her was a middle-aged man.

Although Su Mu had kept the beasts in the Misty Forbidden Zone from attacking the villagers from Su Family Village, they were still only ordinary people.

Being driven by the Green Hills Mansion disciples to traverse thirty miles without rest was an arduous task for them.

The middle-aged man had been injured by a wild beast outside the Misty Forbidden Zone.

Now, after the long and exhausting journey, he finally couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed unconscious.

The other villagers from Su Family Village looked on with sorrowful expressions.

They felt that their own fate wouldn’t be much better.

In a place considered forbidden to humans, where even the “immortals” of Green Hills Mansion were slain, how could ordinary people like them hope to survive?

At this moment, a branch from the Ginkgo tree moved slightly.

Then, a drop of cyan liquid materialized out of thin air in the airspace above them.

The drop of cyan liquid formed an arc in the air and swiftly entered the middle-aged man’s forehead.

The villagers initially thought the Ginkgo tree was trying to kill the middle-aged man.

But to their surprise, after the liquid entered his forehead, the middle-aged man did not die.

On the contrary, his injuries began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“This…”

The villagers’ eyes widened in disbelief.

In the background, Su Mu communicated this event to Su Yao.

Su Yao quickly grasped Su Mu’s intent. “Divine Tree, are you planning to bring Su Family Village under your protection?”

“Indeed,” Su Mu replied with a slight smile.

“Su Yao thanks you on behalf of Su Family Village for your great kindness.”

Su Yao expressed her gratitude immediately.

She knew very well what a tremendous opportunity this was for Su Family Village.

“But wouldn’t the villagers of Su Family Village leak information about you?”

Su Yao was worried for Su Mu’s safety.

“I will do my best to ensure they don’t reveal my existence,” Su Mu assured her. “And even if they do, it may not be a disaster for me. If the human race harbors ill intentions toward me, it might turn out to be their misfortune.”

Su Yao’s heart skipped a beat.

She understood the implications of Su Mu’s words.

If humans attempted to deal with Su Mu, it could very well become a catastrophe for them instead.

Of course, in her heart, she was firmly on Su Mu’s side.

She was fully aware that without Su Mu, she would have been just an ordinary village girl.

If she died, only the people of Su Family Village would care.

No one else would even know she existed.

Everything she had now was a gift from Su Mu.

She immediately said, “I will find time to return to Su Family Village soon and establish a shadow guard. Anyone who dares to leak information about you will be executed by the shadow guard.”

As they conversed, the middle-aged man regained consciousness.

“Father.”

The young girl cried tears of joy.

The other villagers were bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

After so much time, the Ginkgo tree hadn’t killed them but instead saved one of their own.

This left them utterly perplexed.

Su Mu naturally had no intention of explaining himself to them.

“I’ll use the Phantom Snow Eyes,” he thought.

He activated the Phantom Snow Eyes.

The fourth-tier Phantom Snow Eyes had incredible capabilities.

For ordinary people, it could completely reshape their perceptions.

Su Mu used the Phantom Snow Eyes to implant certain memories into the minds of the five villagers from Su Family Village.

These memories told them that Su Family Village had been worshiping the Divine Tree for a thousand years.

Only the true core members of the village could know of the Divine Tree’s existence.

The Divine Tree was sacred and inviolable, and revealing its existence to outsiders would result in divine punishment.

A quarter of an hour later…

The five villagers awoke.

They first appeared dazed, then suddenly, their bodies trembled as they looked at Su Mu with extreme reverence.

“Divine Tree above,”

“Su Zheng of the fortieth generation of the Su family pays homage to the Divine Tree of Miraculous Methods, ruler of the heavens,”

“Su Qing, Su Qianqian, and others of the forty-first generation of the Su family…”

The five villagers scrambled to kneel and bow.

Seeing this, Su Mu couldn’t help but recall when he first encountered Su Qin and Su Xue.

At that time, he had only mastered the second-tier Phantom Snow Eyes.

The subsequent events had shown him that the effects of the second-tier Phantom Snow Eyes were far from ideal.

Only the inherently kind Su Yao had remained grateful to him.

Su Qin and Su Xue had both harbored malicious intentions.

Now, the reactions of these five villagers were vastly different, displaying extreme fanaticism.

This demonstrated the power of the fourth-tier Phantom Snow Eyes.

Next, Su Mu granted each of the other four villagers a drop of Life Essence Liquid.

In an instant, all five villagers advanced to the early stage of Qi Refining.

Afterward, Su Mu instructed his spirit beasts to escort them back to Su Family Village.

When the five villagers returned, the other villagers were overjoyed.

They had thought the five would surely perish in the mountains.

“You…”

Village Chief Su Yan’s face was filled with astonishment.

How could he not see that the five had become cultivators?

“The Ancient Wilderness Mountain Range is full of dangers, but it also seems to contain great opportunities,”

Su Yan thought to himself.

When Su Yao, Su Qin, and Su Xue ventured into the mountains, they all returned as cultivators.

Now, these five villagers had done the same.

However, he didn’t publicize this fact.

“Come with me,”

Su Yan said, leading the five to his private quarters.

“Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Su Yan asked, his gaze sweeping over them.

“Village Chief,”

The eldest of the five, Su Zheng, replied, “We cannot disclose the details.”

Su Yan’s eyes narrowed.

But he wasn’t the type to press on sensitive matters.

He understood that many things in the cultivation world were taboo.

“Very well,”

Su Yan nodded immediately. “In that case, I will issue an order forbidding anyone from discussing this matter.

As far as Su Family Village is concerned, the people of Green Hills Mansion were never here, and we know nothing of their affairs.”

“Wise decision, Village Chief,”

The five sighed in relief.

Though they carried a great secret, they respected Su Yan as their leader.

“By the way, Village Chief, we noticed that many parts of the village seem rather chaotic. Did something happen after we left?”

Su Zheng asked.

Su Yan’s face darkened slightly. “It was Zhang Family Village. We still hadn’t settled the matter with them from before, and now they’ve come to cause us trouble.”

“What did Zhang Family Village do?”

Su Zheng inquired.

“They’re demanding that we marry Su Yao to Zhang Wei, the son of the Zhang Family Village chief. If we refuse, they threaten to make things difficult for Su Family Village,” Su Yan explained.

“The audacity!” Su Yan shouted angrily. “That Zhang Wei is nothing but a scoundrel, and yet he dares to lay claim to Su Yao?”

Su Qing, however, was puzzled. “Everyone in the surrounding villages knows that Su Yao has gone to Nanjing City. Is Zhang Family Village not afraid of retaliation?”

“They’re not afraid anymore,” Su Yan replied. “Zhang Family Village has allied with Wang Family Village and Jiang Family Village this time.

Moreover, it seems they now have the backing of some cultivators.”

The expressions of the villagers from Su Family Village grew grim.

The villages on the edge of the Ancient Wilderness Mountain Range mainly consisted of four: Su Family Village, Zhang Family Village, Wang Family Village, and Jiang Family Village.

In the past, Su Family Village held the upper hand.

But there had always been conflicts among the four villages.

Unexpectedly, the other three villages had united this time.

“How could they have united?” Su Zheng wondered.