Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 709: Chapter 399: Exploration_2

However, whether it was above the crown of the Xunmu tree amidst the dense and overlapping branches, or the underground root system crisscrossing below, both would nurture the Wood Spirit Liquid. Therefore, after stepping into the periphery of Xunmu Cave Heaven, one had to decide on the route to take.

The plan previously discussed by the group was exactly to explore the underground root system.

The underground root system was intricate and expansive, hardly inferior to the sky-obscuring canopy above, and movement there was even more concealed, unlikely to provoke turbulence. The only flaw was that movement underground was greatly restricted, and it was unfavorable for escape should any situation arise.

In comparison, the area above the canopy was much more open, and Grandmasters capable of the Sky Flying Technique were especially free to move as they wished.

Yan Hong and the others ultimately chose to explore underground after discussion because there were not many among them skilled in the Sky Flying Technique, only two; the rest could barely manage or couldn’t at all, and could only linger briefly. Exploring the canopy would not be much of an advantage.

Moreover, the path of cultivation of the Grandmasters in the group was generally aligned with the ‘Kun Earth Lineage,’ including the Power of Taiyin that Chen Mu displayed, which was also closer to the Kun Earth Lineage.

Chen Mu had no objections to Yan Hong and the others’ choice of route.

The group quickly found a passage leading underground and then left the surface to enter the underground of Xunmu Cave Heaven.

As soon as he entered,

Chen Mu saw an underground world starkly different from Da Xuan; wherever his gaze fell, there was almost everywhere the interwoven Xunmu roots, and these roots contained exceedingly rich and vigorous power of Xunmu. Even for Grandmasters like Yan Hong, it was extremely difficult to damage them, and even leaving some scars required full effort.

“Indeed incomparably tough.”

Chen Mu touched a piece of Xunmu root, sensing its state, slightly pondering.

The underground of this Xunmu Cave Heaven was somewhat like the Ice State Abyss. Due to the crisscrossing Xunmu roots, one could not move freely. Forcing one’s way through the roots required a huge amount of effort, so one needed to move along parts without roots.

The group had not walked far when they found a relatively open underground path nearby, which even vaguely showed signs of being manually excavated. Continuing forward a bit further, they finally came upon an underground building complex.

“Spirit Humans…”

Chen Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking into the distance.

In his view, he saw that ancient underground building complex, constructed against an extremely thick Xunmu root, which emitted faint luminescence, illuminating the surroundings.

Among the buildings, one could faintly see several figures, who looked no different from the Human Race, all having facial features and limbs, only their skin was much darker, similar to the color of tree roots.

The Spirit People Tribe in this building complex all had weak auras and lacked high realms.

Even though Yan Hong and his team had approached nearby and almost entered some people’s field of vision, since everyone was a Grandmaster and had concealed their auras, the group of Spirit Humans still had no awareness.

Finally.

Just as the group almost reached the edge of the building complex, they apparently triggered something akin to a formation, and in a flash, the luminescence of the Xunmu roots deepened significantly!

And the Spirit Human who was closest to the group, who was chopping a stone tool, suddenly looked up upon sensing the anomaly, and saw Yan Hong and the others who had approached nearby. At the sight of them, his face paled dramatically.

“Kakgu!”

He emitted a strange cry from his mouth.

Despite the language barrier, Chen Mu and the others were formidable beings. Even though they could not understand, they could still discern the general meaning of this strange noise—likely something like ‘enemy attack,’ ‘run.’

Yet, this sound did not spread out; it was almost immediately sealed off by Yan Hong’s swift action.

Bang!

Yan Hong’s expression suddenly changed; he slapped his hand down, and with a bang, the body of the dark-brown skinned Spirit Human exploded apart, like a smashed rotten watermelon, with blood spilling profusely.

From their shattered bodies, it was evident that they too had Five Viscera and Six Viscera, only their flowing blood was a deep brown.

“Crack! Crack!!”

Although Yan Hong took immediate action to control the situation, the changing sheen of the Xunmu root system seemed to still send out a danger signal, quickly stirring the entire Spirit Human Tribe into chaos. Hundreds of Spirit Humans surged out, each displaying a look of terror, showing no intention of resistance but instead scrambling to flee deeper into the earth.

“Take action, don’t let them escape!”

Yan Zhengyang spoke out sternly, his body burst into action, and in a flash, he was at the forefront, swinging out his palm and immediately leaving seven or eight Spirit Humans frozen in place, and then one by one, they shattered and exploded.

The others also surged forward, striking out at once, and in an instant, they slaughtered every Spirit Human in the tribe.

Chen Mu walked at the back of the group, not taking action, but watched as Yan Zhengyang and many Grandmasters made their moves, his gaze gliding over a Spirit Human turned into mush by Vigorouss, who seemed quite young, and he sighed softly in his heart.

The law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, moreover, they were not of the same race – he naturally didn’t feel any restraint; after all, if the roles were reversed, and the Spirit Human Race was the stronger party, then it would be the people of the Da Xuan Ninety-Nine States who would be slaughtered so casually.

“The physique isn’t much different…”

Chen Mu didn’t participate in the killing but stopped next to a relatively intact body, gingerly reaching out to touch and carefully examine its structure, his expression thoughtful.

The Spirit Human Race and the Human Race indeed looked quite similar, the difference between their bodies was even less than that between humans and the Demon Race.

Up to this point, the only completely different type of life Chen Mu had come across was the Ancient Demon Clan, whose physical structure was entirely foreign, lacking organs such as the heart and lungs, seemingly fundamentally different from them at the very root.

As for others such as the Demon Race or even the Spirit Human Race, there were always similarities.

After a brief inspection.

Chen Mu rose again and walked toward the center of the tribe, quickly catching up with Yan Hong and the others.

Nearby lay the bodies of the Spirit Human Race everywhere, with only a middle-aged looking Spirit Human alive, also kneeled down, unable to move an inch due to the pressure of Yan Zhengyang’s Vigorous.

“Where is it… speak, and you shall not die…”

Yan Zhengyang looked indifferently at the Spirit Human, trying to extract some information from him, although he could understand the strange language of the other, the other had difficulty comprehending his words.

After a brief interrogation, Yan Zhengyang swung his palm, killing that Spirit Human, and then turned to the others, saying, “The Xunmu Spirit Liquid we need is also known as ‘Holy Dew’ among the Spirit Human Race; it’s also extremely rare to them. This secluded settlement has no right to it; only a large settlement might possess a little.”

“I have found out that if we continue on from here, after passing through four settlements, there is a large settlement.”

Hearing Yan Zhengyang’s words.

Yan Hong nodded slightly and said, “Mr. Yan, you have worked hard.”

Then turned his gaze to the gathered people and asked, “What do you all think?”

“Since there’s no current target, let’s go take a look.”

Someone spoke up.

Given Yan Zhengyang’s words, a large settlement would still only contain a small amount of the Xunmu Spirit Liquid, which was clearly not enough to satisfy everyone. People were exploring underground, looking for special Xunmu root node locations that produce large amounts of Xunmu Spirit Liquid, which could benefit everyone.

However, having no immediate target now, pursuing this clue was not a problem – even if the large settlement contained little Xunmu Spirit Liquid, reaching it might allow them further insights into the root node’s location.

The only problem was making too much noise, which might invite trouble, or might even attract the Spiritual Ancestor. But having already arrived at Xunmu Cave Heaven, conflict with the Spirit Human Race was inevitable.

Here was still not the core of Xunmu Cave Heaven. As long as they moved quickly, they could still manage to control their noise level.