Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 46

Lin Che’s gaze turned icy.

“Don’t kill me,” Wu Xiangyun pleaded in fear. “Lin Che, remember how close we used to be…”

“I’m sorry,” Lin Che said, his face showing a hint of regret. His right hand tightened, ready to end her life. But then, he suddenly paused. His grip on Wu Xiangyun’s neck loosened, and after a moment of struggle on his face, he threw her to the ground. “Get out!”

“You’re not killing me?” Wu Xiangyun was in disbelief. She had already resigned herself to death.

“Leave, now!” Lin Che snarled.

Wu Xiangyun scrambled to her feet and fled, her face covered in sweat and tears, all traces of her former elegance gone.

Once she had escaped, Lin Che vented his fury on the others. In just a quarter of an hour, the fifty-person exploration team from Nanjing City was completely wiped out, except for Wu Xiangyun.

After the last of them had fallen, Su Yao stepped forward. Lin Che stared at her, knowing it was she who had ordered him to let Wu Xiangyun go.

“Why?” he growled through gritted teeth.

“You’re a smart person, Lin Che. You know the reason,” Su Yao replied calmly.

Lin Che clenched his fists. “Wu Xiangyun knows me. If I let her go, she will report everything to the human authorities. When that happens, I’ll be marked as a traitor and a demon collaborator. You’re severing my ties to the human world!”

Su Yao nodded. “But you had the choice. You could have refused and killed her.”

“Indeed!” Lin Che said coldly. “But I understand that, with or without Wu Xiangyun, my path in the human world was already blocked. I have no backing there. The top resources are never meant for people like me. In the past, this might have been tolerable, but in this era of spiritual awakening, staying in the human world would only lead to me being overtaken by those privileged brats. Think about it—those spoiled scions, who live in luxury, who are corrupt and vicious—why should they stand above me when I’ve spent years cultivating in hardship?”

He paused, his voice filled with determination. “To change this, I must stay in the Misty Territory. Here, the Divine Tree Master treats everyone and every beast equally, without favoritism. As long as I continue to prove my worth, I can gain the resources I seek under the Divine Tree Master.”

“And in this age of strife, I, Lin Che, intend to leave my mark on history!”

“Compared to the carefree Huang Shuling, you’re far more ambitious,” Su Yao remarked with a slight smile. She believed that the Divine Tree Master saw this ambition in Lin Che, which was why he had chosen Lin Che for this task rather than Huang Shuling.

“So this wasn’t directly ordered by the Divine Tree,” Lin Che observed.

“It wasn’t an order, but it was tacitly approved by the Divine Tree Master,” Su Yao confirmed.

“Isn’t the Divine Tree Master worried about exposing information about the Misty Territory?” Lin Che frowned.

“Exposing a little information—what harm is there?” Su Yao replied. “This is the perfect opportunity to show the humans that the Misty Territory isn’t a place they can enter at will. Before they try, they should consider the price. If they call this place a forbidden zone, then it should display the traits of one.”

Lin Che’s frown eased. He realized he had little to worry about. Wu Xiangyun hadn’t even come close to the core of the Misty Territory and had little useful information to leak. Even if she returned, she couldn’t reveal the true secrets of the Misty Territory. Moreover, this was likely a way for the Divine Tree Master and Su Yao to display the territory’s fangs, reminding the humans not to take it lightly.

Inwardly, Su Mu smiled. He knew that from now on, he could rely on Lin Che without reservation. With his ties to the human world severed, Lin Che had no choice but to serve him faithfully. Su Mu valued Lin Che highly—he was a formidable talent, even before the era of spiritual awakening.

At that moment, Su Mu noticed something unusual near Su Family Village through the eyes of his spirit crows. The Ancient Wilderness Mountain Range was vast, and the Misty Territory was only a part of it. Many areas of the range were still unfamiliar to Su Mu, and now, something mysterious from another part of the mountains was attacking Su Family Village.

“What’s happening to the west?” Su Yan asked, his face darkening.

For the past year, they had focused mainly on the East, where they had been supporting the Sun family in their struggle against the Ouyang family with resources. They never expected the first crisis would come from the West.

The western region was also part of the Ancient Wilderness Mountain Range. Recently, strange beings had emerged from the mountains and were attacking Su Family Village. There weren’t many of them, but each one was incredibly powerful, causing significant losses to the village.

“We still haven’t identified the origins of these strange beings,” Su Qianqian said gravely. “It’s as if they appeared out of thin air. And they seem to lack any awareness—no matter how we attack them, they never retreat. This makes them incredibly dangerous.”

As they spoke, Su Zheng rushed in. “It’s bad! The strange beings have reappeared and are heading towards Su Family Village!”

The villagers were alarmed and quickly made their way to the village gates. From the bamboo tower at the entrance, they looked out and saw the strange beings approaching.

“This time, there are dozens of them,” Su Qing said grimly.

The others from Su Family Village wore similarly dark expressions. They had found just a few of these beings difficult to deal with before, but now there were dozens.

“We must resist with all our strength. We cannot let them breach the village,” Su Yan ordered.

The village housed many elderly, women, and children. If the strange beings broke through, the consequences would be disastrous.

“Father, don’t forget about the Sun family members,” Su Qianqian reminded him. Today, members of the Sun family had come to Su Family Village to trade resources, led by Sun Zhengping.

“This is bad,” Su Yan muttered. “If the Sun family sees our battle with these strange beings, they might figure out our true strength.” Despite the improvements in Su Family Village’s power, they were still weak compared to an established family like the Sun family. If the Sun family discovered their capabilities, they might decide to take over the village.

The villagers were all anxious. They knew the situation was dire but had no way to resolve it. The strange beings reached the village gates, and the village’s cultivators were already engaged in battle with them, barely holding on.

In the guest house, several Sun family members stood on the roof, watching the battle.

“This fight will be a good opportunity to see the real strength of Su Family Village,” a middle-aged Sun family cultivator remarked with a smile.