Reincarnated as a Ginkgo Tree: I Create an Eternal Divine Kingdom - Chapter 73

Qin Lang and the red-clothed woman trembled in fear as they gazed upon the scene.

Everywhere they looked, they saw formidable beasts, all of them powerful second-tier demons. Some of these creatures seemed on the verge of breaking through to the third tier. These demons were gathered around an ancient ginkgo tree, their gazes filled with fervent reverence and faith.

What kind of terrifying existence must that ginkgo tree be?

As the two stood in shock, the green-haired woman and the Purple-Gold Mosquito arrived.

“Great Divine Tree,” the green-haired woman respectfully bowed to the ancient ginkgo tree.

The Purple-Gold Mosquito flew up and settled on one of the tree’s leaves.

The scene was almost dreamlike—except it was a nightmare.

Sensing the presence of the two below, Su Mu assessed their abilities and found them rather ordinary.

Perhaps because he had been an ancient ginkgo tree for so long, or perhaps due to his substantial increase in power, Su Mu’s mindset had grown increasingly detached.

“Great Divine Tree,” the Ironback Ape spoke up, surprising Su Mu, who had been about to dispose of the two.

“Could you let me have these two?”

Su Mu hesitated.

“The human race possesses powerful cultivation techniques and combat skills,” the Ironback Ape explained. “Although my Ironback Ape clan cannot use human cultivation methods, we can certainly apply their combat techniques.”

Huang Shuling looked surprised. “Vajra, you intend to have these two train the Ironback Ape clan?”

“Exactly,” the Ironback Ape replied. “Although Lin Che’s combat skills are likely superior, he is busy with his own cultivation and tasks for the Divine Tree, leaving him little time to help. These two must have considerable combat experience to have survived this long.”

“Vajra, you must be careful,” Huang Shuling warned. “Though I am human, I must admit that humans can be extremely cunning. Given their considerable strength, are you sure you can control them?”

Boom!

Qin Lang and the red-clothed woman knelt down simultaneously.

They clearly understood that this was their only chance to live.

“We are willing to offer our souls,” they said.

“You do have some courage,” Huang Shuling remarked.

The Ironback Ape seemed puzzled.

“Soul essence refers to their very life force,” Lin Che explained. “By controlling their soul essence, one holds power over their lives and deaths.”

In the cultivation world, many factions used this method to control their lower-ranking disciples.

The branches of the ancient ginkgo tree gently swayed, as if in agreement.

Qin Lang and the red-clothed woman clenched their teeth. At this point, they had no other choice.

Offering up their soul essence would place their lives in someone else’s hands, allowing them to survive but as mere shadows of their former selves. Not offering it meant certain death.

Faced with these options, they chose to live, even if it meant living in subjugation.

Soon, their faces contorted in agony as they began to extract their souls.

Moments later, two faint, shadowy figures emerged from their bodies and floated in midair.

These shadowy figures resembled small silhouettes of Qin Lang and the red-clothed woman.

The Ironback Ape, however, did not accept them immediately.

“Great Divine Tree, could you please hold onto their soul essence for me?” the Ironback Ape scratched its head. “I’m not very smart, and if they trick me one day, I might end up giving their soul essence back to them.”

Su Mu chuckled.

He didn’t truly believe the Ironback Ape was that foolish; its words carried a hint of cleverness. The ape was indirectly expressing its loyalty to him.

Naturally, Su Mu didn’t refuse.

“Alright,” Su Mu agreed and took hold of the soul essence of Qin Lang and the red-clothed woman, Xu Manyu.

The Ironback Ape grinned and led Qin Lang and Xu Manyu to the underground world.

It had already settled its several hundred kin in the underground world. The underground world that Su Mu had created now spanned an area of twenty-six miles, comparable in size to a small county.

Besides the several hundred Ironback Apes, there were also a hundred villagers from the Su Family Village and a hundred demon wolves.

As Qin Lang and Xu Manyu stepped into this underground world, they were once again stunned.

The surface world of the Misty Forbidden Zone had already shattered their understanding. They had never imagined that an entirely separate underground world existed beneath it.

This was clearly an expansive underground domain, complete with underground rivers and an incredibly dense spiritual energy. There were several hundred Ironback Apes and even people riding on massive demon wolves, forming what looked like a well-organized wolf cavalry.

They couldn’t imagine what kind of upheaval this would cause in human society if this place were to be exposed. The scariest part was that the human world remained completely unaware of the Misty Forbidden Zone.

The two couldn’t help but exchange glances. They suddenly realized that their plight, leading them to the core of the Misty Forbidden Zone, might not be as disastrous as it had seemed.

Meanwhile, in the northeastern part of the Great Xia Empire, near the northernmost point of the Eastern Sea, there was a coastal nation known as the Ancient Tomb Empire. Initially, this empire was comprised of many warring states, but its founding emperor, Da Que Ming, discovered the ancient tomb of a great sage. From then on, he embarked on a path of conquest, eventually uniting the warring states and establishing the Ancient Tomb Empire.

Although the Ancient Tomb Empire was not as powerful as the Roman Empire, the Great Xia Empire, the Haori Alliance, or the Guo Holy Sect, it was still one of the world’s great powers.

But no one could have predicted the terrifying catastrophe that would soon befall the Ancient Tomb Empire.

It started when fishermen noticed the sea level rising. Shortly afterward, a towering tsunami, dozens of meters high, struck the coast.

Yet the tsunami was not the most terrifying part.

The true horror lay in the sea monsters that had caused it.

Massive shrimps, crabs, fish, and sea serpents emerged from the waves and swarmed onto the land, some of them even reaching the second tier in power.

Within half a day, nearly all the coastal cities of the Ancient Tomb Empire had fallen.

The empire’s response was swift. They dispatched their great marshal, Suwo Shoude, a quasi-Golden Core expert who had been in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Golden Core stage. Faced with this crisis, the emperor of the Ancient Tomb Empire ordered him to leave seclusion and quell the chaos.

Suwo Shoude was indeed powerful, and under his command, the sea monster invasion was temporarily contained.

But then, a massive shadow appeared in the ocean—a colossal octopus, with a body circumference of fifty meters, resembling a moving island. Each of its tentacles was as thick as a giant python.

Such a terrifying creature had come ashore.

The Ancient Tomb Empire had never anticipated facing something of this magnitude.

High above, a cultivator from the Ancient Tomb Empire, riding a flying crane, watched and monitored the situation below.

Suddenly, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “It must be an illusion.”

He had just seen a giant octopus, fifty meters in circumference.

How could this be possible?

How could such a massive octopus exist in the world?

But he quickly realized it was no illusion, as the octopus raised one of its tentacles and lashed out at the sky.