Those tentacles had sharp barbs with a golden luster to them. They looked chillingly sharp. However, those tentacles now slowly retreated back into the earth, vanishing without a trace.

“My apologies. I hope that you won’t take offense.” An ancient voice rang out.

The forest began to move, the trees parting to create a path. At the end of the path was a large mountain with an ancient tree growing on the top of it. This tree was not much smaller than the Luo Spirit race’s Life Spirit God. The light flowing within it made it appear to be a divine tree from the immortal world.

“Please, come and have a chat.” The ancient voice rang out once more. This time, Long Chen clearly heard it come from the ancient tree.

“Then I’ll disturb you.” Long Chen cupped his fists slightly and walked over. Once he arrived, he saw an old man seated beneath the tree. He appeared to be a hearty elder who seemed to exude the aura of an immortal Daoist.

Behind the elder were a dozen maids in white dresses. They had various fruits in their hands that they were arranging on the table.

“My sincere apologies. These children have been trapped here for countless years, and we are often invaded. Let me apologize on their behalf. There’s not much within this wilderness, but I have some fruit that I hope can make things up to you,” said the elder.

Even before tasting any of the fruits, their fragrance had reached Long Chen, almost making him drool.

“Senior is too courteous. It was rude of me not to visit without a gift,” said Long Chen courteously. However, his hands weren’t courteous at all. He immediately grabbed one of the fruits and ate half of it in one bite. It was an apple-like fruit whose juices were exceptionally sweet. It also contained concentrated life energy, and it was even more effective than top grade healing medicines.

With an apple in his left hand and a melon in his right hand, Long Chen began to chomp down while praising them. They truly were delicious and extremely satisfying after the taxing journey.

“Hahaha, I’m glad that you like them. I don’t have much else other than this to offer you, so eat up,” said the elder happily.

“Then many thanks.” Long Chen consumed dozens of the various fruits, only stopping once his stomach was full. With a satisfactory belch, he said, “Senior, I suppose you must be one of the aboriginals of this place. Do you know what happened in the battle back then?”

The elder sighed. “Yes, we are the original inhabitants of this place. That battle back then shattered our peaceful lives. It was a battle of gods that resulted in a calamity for us who live on the bottom levels. It’s a long story. Here, I know the human race likes wine. I’ve learned many wine-making arts from the human race. Would you like a taste of my abilities?”

One of the maids brought over some wine cups and poured for the two of them. The wine was amber and gave off a strong fruit wine fragrance.

“I don’t even know how many years it’s been. Probably tens of thousands of years. Back then, one of the experts of your human race saved my life. I also learned how to make wine from them. It can be said that the human race is our greatest benefactor. The tree demon race here will always be grateful to the human race and welcome you,” said the elder happily.

“You’re too courteous. Here’s to a long friendship between the human race and the tree demon race. Cheers!” Long Chen laughed and drank the cup of wine. He used an ancient form of wine etiquette, holding it with the sleeves of both hands.

After drinking it, Long Chen smacked his lips and frowned ever so slightly.

“What is it? Is my wine still lacking some maturity?” asked the elder, a smile in his eyes.

“Forgive me for my directness. The fruit was good, but this wine was lacking. Perhaps you might not believe me, but it just so happens that I have some fruit wine made by a grandmaster of the Wine Dao. Normally, I’m not even willing to drink it, but I’ll take it out today to discuss the Wine Dao with you,” said Long Chen.

Long Chen took out a jug of wine. Opening the seal, a dense wine fragrance instantly filled the air. Just the scent was able to intoxicate people.

“Good wine!” The elder’s expression changed.

“Of course. Otherwise, would I dare to bring it out?” Long Chen smiled. “Here. To the friendship between the human race and the tree demon race.”

The elder drank it and was instantly filled with praise. “This is truly good wine.”

“Haha, this is-” Long Chen suddenly shut his mouth.

“What is it?” asked the elder curiously.

“Nothing.” Long Chen waved his hand. “Maybe I drank too quickly. I feel a bit off.”

Long Chen’s face began to grow pale. His aura also started to fluctuate chaotically.

“Do you feel like your bones are rotting?” The elder’s smile grew twisted and sinister.

“You… you poisoned me?” Long Chen cried out in shock.

“Hahaha, I didn’t do anything.” Any air of an immortal Daoist vanished. The elder’s face was now like a crafty old fox.

As for the maids behind him, they transformed, becoming malevolent fiends.

“You poisoned the wine?!” demanded Long Chen.

“Hahaha, wrong. The wine isn’t poisoned nor is the fruit. But if you drink the wine after eating these fruits, well sorry, but it’s toxic to your human race. Do you feel like your bones are being stabbed? Do you feel your soul being pierced? Even having your blood flow within your body should be painful.” The elder slowly rose.

“How despicable! Didn’t you say that the human race is your benefactor?!” cursed Long Chen.

“It was a bastard from your human race that made me fall to this place. I wish I could slaughter your entire race!” The elder suddenly roared furiously. “If it weren’t for that bastard destroying my true body, my Yuan Spirit wouldn’t have been forced to struggle on death’s door within this tiny world. This is all because of your human race. You, little fellow, seem to have a strong body. You’re perfect for fertilizer. With you, I should be able to break through the last step and rebuild my true body.”

The elder laughed. The giant tree behind him shivered, and countless tentacles fell from the tree, every one of them very slender. They were like hair, and there were tiny mouths at the end of them like the mouthparts of mosquitoes.

“You came at the perfect time. I was just lacking a little bit of Blood Qi to rebuild my body, and you came right to my front door. It seems that this is the cycle of karma. A bastard from the human race destroyed my physical body, and now another human came to rebuild my body.” The old man began to form hand seals.

“Hm?” The elder’s expression suddenly changed. A black mark appeared on his forehead. It quickly spread until it covered his entire body. “This is…?!”

The elder suddenly found that he couldn’t move his body.

“You wanted to poison an alchemist? Your brains must be made of wood.”

The kneeling and pale Long Chen slowly rose, chortling.

The fiendish tree demons immediately surrounded him.

“What did you do?!” demanded the elder.

“I did what you did to me,” said Long Chen with a bright, mischievous smile.

“The wine was poisoned?!”

“No, this wine truly came from the Wine God Palace. I would never poison the wine from the Wine God Palace, or the High Priest would look down on me. If you want to see the poison, look down,” said Long Chen.

At some point, the soil beneath their feet had turned black. None of the tree demons had noticed.

“Just as your focus was on making sure to poison me, I gave you my own gift. How do you like my surprise? Is it a nice one?” asked Long Chen.

BOOM!

The earth suddenly exploded. The elder vanished, and the ancient tree shook, sending Long Chen and the black soil flying into the sky.

At the same time, countless roots exploded. Any of the roots touching the black soil were ejected from the main body.

“This bit of poison is useless against me!” The elder’s roar rang out from the giant tree.

“Not necessarily. After all, this black soil is not ordinary. I extracted its essence and had it invade your soul already,” said Long Chen nonchalantly.

Having reached the third step of Netherpassage and gaining control of death energy, Long Chen had gained a deeper understanding and control over the black soil. That was why he had been able to hide its aura and poison this giant tree. He had sent its law of annihilation into the tree demon’s soul.

“This poison can’t touch me!” Life energy vibrated from within the tree. Every one of its leaves began to shine brightly.

“You want to disperse the poison and slowly grind it out? It’s a good idea, but it won’t work.” Long Chen sneered. Forming hand seals, black spears began to condense in the sky.