A man at the Bone Forger Innate stage beside him said, "He seems to be at the Blood Shocking Innate stage, his figure doesn't sway, his steps are steady, and crucially, he shows no signs of being out of breath or struggling when accelerating. He should soon reach the Bone Forger stage."

The young man replied, "No, just by looking at the body and speed, he appears to be at the Blood Shocking Innate stage, but his aura indicates True Liquid Innate only. If you don't believe me, ask the two seniors."

"No wonder he's Second Young Master Zhao, he has keen eyesight."

"Oh, I've just seen a lot, my actual combat level is still quite lacking," Zhao He doesn't care about these people's flattery.

"Honestly speaking, your combat level, compared to the top geniuses, is indeed somewhat inferior, but compared to the normal first-tier, there's not much difference, you're on par. Your greatest commendation is your courage."

Zhao He let a faint smile hang at the corner of his mouth, then suppressed it.

He glanced once again at the back of the unknown man, not knowing why, but felt that person's aura was special.

"I'd rather you stay in Xiongjing." An old man not far away said.

"I use myself as bait, let's see if Tong Tianxia dares to take the bait. If he does, regardless of win or lose, I will respect him as a man. If not... hehe, he's just a rat, not worth mentioning."

"Truly a hero of the era." The surrounding Innate bodyguards praised in succession.

Zhao He opened the fragrant wood fan in his hand, gently fanning it, and said, "I've always wanted to visit the Tree-man World, but unfortunately never had the chance. This time I can finally take a look. To have used the Heart of Life but never visited the Tree-man World is absurd. Besides, who knows, I might encounter a Wild Elf."

"Young Master is truly a wonderful man." Everyone laughed together.

Zhao He smiled and said, "I've long heard of the name of the elves, only seen them in videos, naturally I want to experience it firsthand."

"It's said that in the original Tree-man World, the Elf Empire is the strongest, and the Tree-men are just vassals. Unfortunately, later the elves considered themselves invincible in the world, became increasingly arrogant, stopped developing force, and only developed art."

"Afterward, during the last Ten Realms war, they were defeated by the Giant Insect Race, even transformed into the genetic material for the Giant Insect Race, greatly enhancing the intelligence of the Giant Insect Race."

"The Tree-men, whom the elves originally looked down upon, have always followed the teachings of the Tree God, continually cultivating, and now can contend with the Giant Insect Race."

Zhao He lamented, "The White Elves reduced to Wild Elves, truly a pity."

"However, the historical records of the Tree-men have another version. They say the so-called creator of the Elf Empire was originally Wild Elf, later acquired the 'Root of the Original Tree' from the Tree-man Race, accidentally gained spell and combat knowledge, and due to good fortune, developed and grew strong. Upon reaching a certain level, fell into cultural stagnation, and returning to the state of Wild Elf was normal."

Zhao He said, "We humans must never make the same mistakes as the Wild Elves. Only by continuously engaging with other civilizations, only by continuously absorbing the power of the Alien Races, can we maintain everlasting prosperity. Human history almost follows the same pattern; those countries that close themselves off have rapidly declined and perished, whether in ancient or modern times, or domestically or abroad."

"Young Master Zhao has such broad vision, we martial artists fall far behind."

Zhao He said, "Oh, it's all what grandpa and my dad say, both of them support external exchanges, to take advantage of strengths to compensate for weaknesses."

Zhao He suddenly fell silent.

After a few more words of praise from the crowd, they noticed Zhao He had suddenly lost interest, and they all fell silent too.

Zhao He let out a light sigh, thinking though grandpa and dad both support external exchange, their approaches are different.

Grandpa supports learning throughout the Ten Realms, then retaining the true while discarding the false, although this process is more tiring and longer, it can go further.

Father prefers directly acquiring the power of the Ten Realms for personal use, first overcoming the immediate difficulties, how far to go in the future requires no consideration.

Zhao He felt conflicted inside.

Rationally, he supports grandpa, after all, grandpa is a Martial Saint.

Instinctively and emotionally, he supports father more.

"Perhaps, there is no right or wrong between the two, and I am more suited to the latter..."

Night fell, the team stopped, and set up camp on site.

Zhao He, along with the Zhao Family trusted aides, entered the tent and used magic artifacts to isolate inside from outside.

"On this trip, we have several major tasks."

"First, lure him out, see if Tong Tianxia dares to make a move, if he does, we'll cut him down."

"Second, participate in the war between Giant Insects and Tree-men, strive to hunt for more Water of Life, Tree-man hearts, and Heart of Life. These three are very important for future plans, we can appropriately use the Zhao Family name. To prevent those who are unappreciative, find an opportunity to kill a batch of martial artists, establish prestige, let them know no one can compete with the Zhao Family."

"Third, naturally the White Lake Lotus Fruit. Dragon Scale Vermilion Fruit is too rare, even if someone gets it, they'll eat it themselves, absolutely won't sell it, I can only settle for second best, and find a way to obtain the White Lake Lotus Fruit."

"However, although the White Lake Lotus Fruit is good, my target is the White Lake Mother Fruit."

"Unfortunately, Third Brother had bad luck..."

"As for the fourth goal, continue exploring the 'East Monarch's Six Volumes'. Alas, the 'East Monarch's Collection' clearly only has five volumes, but... you guys say, did grandpa really leave behind a sixth volume?"

"The scene at the time, young master you were also present, the old Martial Saint's words were indeed a bit odd. He said that someone will definitely bring the sixth volume back to the Zhao Family, but seemed to imply something, not really the genuine 'East Monarch's Six Volumes'."

"Grandpa said only those who possess the 'East Monarch's Six Volumes' are the true Zhao Family people. My dad couldn't understand either, no matter how he asked, grandpa wouldn't say more."

"But, the 'East Monarch's Six Volumes' involves the foundation and future of the Zhao Family, whether true or false, absolutely cannot let outsiders obtain it."

"We must give our all."

"We have two Grandmasters and one hidden for this journey, no fear from anyone."

"The other two Grandmasters have been cooperative, but the other Great Grandmaster seems a bit arrogant."

Zhao He said, "After all, he's a Great Grandmaster, possibly on the verge of promotion to Martial Saint. A bit of arrogance is normal for such a person; they deserve respect, unlike some people..."

Zhao He's eyes flashed as he slowly said, "Some people have started probing. Such an important inheritance of the Ancient River Sect not only excluded my brother and me but secretly rejected all disciples of the Zhao Family force. We secretly sent two people, but they were killed by the sky fire."

"It is said that the actual host of the Ancient River Research Bureau is Chen Changyi, Chen Shouhu, and Wang Boxiong; the rest are just fronts. For the Demon City Army and the Martial Guard to merge, the leaders of the two major forces must have spoken simultaneously; only then would these three dare to act."

Zhao He said, "If those two personally target us, that'll be trouble. Back then, Wang Boxiong and Chen Shouhu were very close to Tong Tianxia and Ma Xingkong. Who knows what role they play in this matter? Moreover, on the day Third Brother was killed, Wang Boxiong pretended to be in seclusion for cultivation."

"I heard a while ago that the Lou Family had Lou Fei Qiong monitor Ma Xingkong's nephew."

"Ma Xingkong's nephew? A trivial character, the Lou Family is really declining. If I didn't think Lou Fei Qiong was a decent person, I wouldn't want to deal with their family." Zhao He shook his head and said.

"Lou Fei Qiong still has the potential to become a Great Grandmaster; he's had consecutive adventures recently that might bring significant opportunities."

"Fei Qiong is diligent and has a good character. Since he was young, he was unlike the other kids from big families who are either arrogant or aimless; he's destined for opportunities."

Xiongjing.

An underground room of the Lou Family has been transformed into a surveillance room.

All information about Zhou Leng is immediately transmitted here.

After finishing dinner, Lou Fei Qiong walked into the surveillance room.

"Young Master Lou, here's today's surveillance information."

Lou Fei Qiong took the document and, as he flipped through it, said, "Tell me the key points."

"After receiving the summoning order, he went to Shuizhou Demon City. He should be nearing the Tree-man Demon City base now."

"Hmm? Wasn't he injured in the counterattack battle?"

"Yes, possibly for Water of Life and the like, to get there early."

Lou Fei Qiong sighed inwardly; Zhou Leng wouldn't risk his life for mere Water of Life. He must've been inspired by justice to fight while injured.

The data from a few days ago showed Zhou Leng and Mountain and River Origin were severely injured.

Mountain and River Origin hasn't recovered, and Zhou Leng must be covered in wounds.

After reviewing the information, Lou Fei Qiong shook his head and said, "Based on the current information, Zhou Leng seems to have had some encounters but is just at the ordinary level of an Ancient River Sect disciple. This man is proud and arrogant; fighting without healing his wounds, if wounded further, it would be difficult to advance to Grandmaster."

The two people in the surveillance room nodded in agreement.

"Young Master Lou, you're right. After looking at Zhou Leng's experiences, it seems impossible for him to become a Grandmaster."

"Yes, despite advancing to Innate, he pretends to be in the Late Vitality Stage, bullying the Martial Arts Academy students in the Vitality Stage; that's too much."

Lou Fei Qiong said, "I've sparred with him in Hundred Peaks Valley; his strength is not that strong."

"Only you could point out that Zhou Leng was Innate, disguised as Late Vitality Stage. All of us would have thought he was strong."

Lou Fei Qiong laughed, "I also don't care to pay attention, but the family urged me to do it. He went to the Tree-man World, where it's hard for us to acquire effective intelligence. I'm preparing to make a trip, pretending to have a chance encounter to secretly observe him."

"Will it be too dangerous?"

"Don't worry, I've heard Zhao He also went; I'm quite familiar with him."

"You must be careful."

"Alright, I'm leaving now. Remember to monitor well. When it's over, I'll ask the family to give you a big reward."

"Thank you, Young Master Lou; safe travels."

Lou Fei Qiong left the surveillance room with a smile.

Late at night, Zhou Leng walked into the Tree-man World's Demon City base.

The Tree-man Demon City base is brightly lit, and not only humans, but dwarfs, demon spirit masters, and even giants come and go.

Outside the base, the sounds of battle are incessant, and the piercing screams of giant insects rise and fall.

Zhou Leng glanced at it; this base is very large, with a towering Tree of Life several hundred meters high standing in the center.

Around the Tree of Life are buildings of various races.

At the end of the base, on the city wall, lights flicker, and shadows bustle.

Massive war ancient trees stand behind the city wall. Their branches raised high, their innate powers gathered into toxic rocks, which they hurl.

Each toxic rock is three or four dozen cubic meters, like a small room, exploding thunderously upon landing, the sound shaking the heavens.

War ancient trees are lifeforms between tree-men and plants. Each one is thirty to forty meters high, towering over giants like skyscrapers, guarding the Demon City base.

Suddenly, a giant black centipede rushed over the city wall, heading towards the war ancient tree.

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