Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The group continued to climb up the trunk of the Giant Purple Sacred Linden. They soon realized that the main trunk branched off into more trunks. Even though the trunks were splitting off from the main trunk, each trunk still had remarkable width, with no sign of the top.

"The main trunk has branched into five trunks. Which one should we take?" Lan Luo asked.

"Let's take the one in the middle," Mo Fan pointed at one of them and said.

Each of the trunks had a slightly different color. They continued with their journey after choosing the trunk with a blue-yellow surface.

The wind gently touched their face. It was Mo Fan's time feeling like he was high on a mountain with a steep cliff, even though he was only climbing a tree. He took a glance down and was able to see the whole Valley of Yu Grass. It looked like a huge ocean!

---

"Holy crap, what the hell is that!?" Zhao Manyan shrieked. A creature with a segmented body showed up in front of the group. It was moving slowly along the trunk in an undulating wave motion.

"It looks like a caterpillar," Chen Yi remarked.

The creature did resemble a caterpillar, with a strange-looking head and a green body with spikes. However, the group was having trouble believing it, mainly because of its unbelievable size!

"Are the creatures here fed with hormones or what? How is a caterpillar so big!?" Zhao Manyan demanded.

"The Giant Purple Lindens are indeed rich in nutrients for other living creatures. The amount of nutrients that this Giant Purple Sacred Linden has is immeasurable," Lingling said calmly.

"Are we sure we should be going up then?" Liu Xiaojia said in a worried tone.

Who knew what terrifying creatures they would encounter if they kept going up the tree. Liu Xiaojia was starting to feel intimidated by the things awaiting them up there.

"Mo Fan hasn't fully recovered yet. Going down is basically suicide," Lingling replied.

------

The group continued up. They were a significant distance away from the ground. As they looked around them, they could see some clouds at the same height as them. The wind was strong enough to blow them off the ground...

"I see some branches!" Guan Xixi exclaimed.

It turned out that climbing the tree was tiring than making it up a mountain. They had finally gone high enough to see the branches of the tree.

The branches were also incredibly huge. They were more than wide enough for humans to run and jump on them. The long branches extended into the distance without a specific pattern, like roads in a city that would lead them to some unknown places.

The leaves were not very dense, or the sunlight would have trouble passing through the gaps between them. The sunbeams that made it through the canopy were spectacular in the dim world among the branches.

They heard something tapping on the leaves, but they did not see a thing when they followed the sound.

The leaves of the Giant Purple Sacred Linden were bigger than palm leaves. Someone as light as Lingling could even jump onto the leaves. They were strong enough to support her as long as she did not stomp on them on purpose.

They could still hear the sound of something tapping the leaves. It did not sound like the wind. Everyone stayed on alert.

A strange cry was heard. It felt like it had come from higher above, or from other trunks that had branched off from the main trunk.

After all, they had little knowledge of the environment they were in. Even the rustling of the leaves would make them feel uneasy. Zhao Manyan glanced at Mo Fan, who still looked feeble and said, "You better recover soon. The rest of us won't stand any chance if some powerful demon creatures show up."

Mo Fan smacked his lips. He was already trying his best to recover. Liu Xiaojia's Healing Element was not as efficient as the Healing Element of the Parthenon Temple. If Xinxia was around, it would only take her a few spells for him to fully recover.

"I keep feeling that something is watching us," Liu Xiaojia said nervously.

"We are currently in another creature's territory. It would be strange if there wasn't something watching us. Let's just hope it's not some savage species," Zhao Manyan murmured.

Another cry occurred. The sound was a lot closer this time. The group immediately felt uncomfortable at how sharp the screech was.

The leaves nearby shrouding the sky suddenly crackled loudly, followed by the sound of wings beating rapidly and sharp screeches. The silence was replaced with deafening noises!

Blue-white figures appeared from below the leaves and the branch they were walking on. Some were flying in circles in the shadows nearby...

"It's the demon sparrows!" Lingling said.

"Run!" Mo Fan yelled.

Zhao Manyan cast a Water Spell and a Light Spell to defend the others in the group from the sharp claws of the demon sparrows.

The sharp claws of the demon sparrows soon left cracks on the barrier of light. Even with the Totem Seal's effects, Zhao Manyan's defense was collapsing shockingly fast.

Zhao Manyan would not have trouble protecting a single person against the demon sparrows. However, since there were more people in the group, the defensive barriers he needed to set up were a lot bigger, so they were not as thick as the defense he usually set up for a single person.

Lan Luo quickly cast a Wind Spell to speed everyone up. They had obviously trespassed into the demon sparrow's territory. The demon creatures seemed very angry!

"Water Curtain!"

Zhao Manyan cast Advanced Spells continuously. He was expending a lot of his energy, but it was the only way to protect the group from the fierce attacks of the demon sparrows!

"This way!" Lingling was sitting on the back of the Flying Creek Snow Wolf as she led the way.

The Flying Creek Snow Wolf jumped between the branches and leaves and went higher into the tree. There were not many demon sparrows nearby. It seemed like they had left the demon sparrows' territory.

Zhao Manyan protected the group as they went higher into the tree. The demon sparrows stopped pursuing after a while. It seemed they were only active between the height of fifteen hundred meters to two thousand meters on the Giant Purple Sacred Linden.

"These demon sparrows are supposed to be Servant-class creatures, but they are way stronger here!" Mo Fan observed.

The demon sparrows were a common species in many places. They had strong reproductive abilities, and could be found in most jungles. Even though they were at the bottom of the food chain, they could still pose a huge threat by abusing their numbers...

It turned out that sections between the height of fifteen hundred meters to two thousand meters were only the bottommost level of the Giant Purple Sacred Tree. The demon sparrows were only the lowest level residents of the tree, but even so, they still gave the group a great scare, as they had rarely seen demon sparrows being so aggressive!

"The Hillmen must have occupied the sea of grass and the roots. I believe the species living on the Giant Purple Sacred Linden didn't change much," Lingling added.

"The tree is so tall. If we split it into layers, we can't even tell how many layers there are. If these fierce demon sparrows are considered the bottommost level, what would the creatures living at the top be like?" Lan Luo lifted his gaze and looked up into the tree with no visible end.

Mo Fan and Lingling exchanged glances with one another. The Giant Purple Sacred Linden had clearly been around for a long time. There was a possibility that the top of the tree was the nest of the Totem Beast of Yantai!

"I don't think we should be going any higher. Didn't we come to take out the Hillmen in the first place?" Liu Xiaojia said timidly.

"It's true that we shouldn't go any higher. We can still protect ourselves against these demon sparrows, but we are likely to stumble into stronger species the higher we go," Lingling agreed.

Although she was very curious about the world higher up in the Giant Purple Sacred Linden, she had no choice but to focus on their current circumstances.

They found a hole in the trunk. Zhao Manyan set up a barrier to prevent creatures from ambushing them while they were taking a rest.

The hole was not in the main trunk. Even the minor trunks branching off from the main trunk were thicker than a tree more than a hundred years old. There were quite a number of holes in the trunks. Some were dry, perfect for the group to rest up in despite the smell of blood inside them.

Zhao Manyan had almost consumed all his energy. He desperately needed a rest. Mo Fan's injuries were still mending, too. He was energetic once again, but he had the same problem as Zhao Manyan; he needed a long time to recover the energy that he had expended!

---

Mo Fan heard a soft rustle from the outside as he was about to doze off.

He immediately opened his eyes. They emitted a sharp flicker amid the darkness.

There was initially a barrier protecting the entrance, but it had been torn down without them knowing. A dark figure slowly crawled inside the hole. Its eyes looked around before reaching its hands toward Lan Luo...

Lan Luo was quite slim. The creature was thinking of snatching her away and making its run!

"You asked for it!" Mo Fan grinned coldly. His eyes emitted a sharp flicker as a strong force rammed into the cunning Hillman who was trying to kidnap the girl.

Following the sound of bones cracking, the cunning Hillman was knocked out of the cave. It fell down and landed heavily on another branch below, turning into a pile of mincemeat!

Unpleasant cries were heard from all directions, waking the rest of the group up. When they looked out of the cave, they were shocked to see lots of Hillmen piling up on the branch. Their eyes glowed red in the dark, like stars in the night sky… but were a lot scarier!

"Damn it, how petty are those demon sparrows? Did they seriously just let these Hillmen go through their territory!?" Zhao Manyan yelled.

They purposely went through the territory of a demon species to prevent the Hillmen from chasing after them. They thought the Hillmen would think twice before crossing another species' territory. They did not think the demon sparrows were so undignified that they simply let the Hillmen cross their territory without making a single noise!

"Time to go!" Mo Fan was well-rested. He immediately led the others out of the tree hole.

He took a quick glance down and saw many black figures moving across the branches below. They were moving like nimble apes between the leaves and branches. They were a lot quicker at climbing the trees than the group of Mages was!