When the old woman shouted what seemed like a spell, Wang Wu immediately guessed what was going on.

That is, the Tree Demon Gardener in this Spirit Medicine Manor had died, completely and utterly dead.

That's why the manor had declined somewhat.

Of course, this might not be the main reason.

However, the owner of the manor was busy with something, so some loyal servants attempted to see if they could resurrect the Tree Demon Gardener.

One can only say that their loyalty is admirable.

But the wooden lump was truly dead; even the roots had rotted away, so how could it be resurrected?

Even if the Five Elements Spirit Array is powerful, it still needs to follow the Basic Cultivation Method.

If Wang Wu were the owner of the manor, he would probably be furious.

The Five Elements Spirit Array is probably the manor's most valuable premium asset right now. Wasting such a valuable asset, are you sure your mind is working right?

Watching the wooden lump covered in a mysterious spiritual light but effectively doing nothing, Wang Wu felt pained. The Five Elements Spirit Array he painstakingly repaired was not meant to be wasted like this.

Mainly, the operation of the Five Elements Spirit Array requires maintenance, and since the Tree Demon Gardener from the manor had died, they couldn't find an array expert to repair it when it shut down. If it gets damaged again, where would Wang Wu hide?

At that moment, Wang Wu intervened without hesitation, hacked the control of the Five Elements Spirit Array, and adjusted the amount of injected spiritual light—for example, reducing the value from 100MB to 1KB, as they didn't understand it anyway.

If they really understood, they wouldn't be doing such a foolish thing.

In fact, they might not even be able to see that kind of spiritual light, which Wang Wu perceived through his Level 12 Spiritual Talent; even he couldn't see it with the naked eye.

Sure enough, the blessing and sacrifice ritual continued ceremoniously.

In the end, two men pulled out a live Spirit Beast from a special pouch. It was a Spirit Fifth Grade Wolf Demon, seemingly from the Ancient Blood Demon Race. It wanted to transform into a human, struggled desperately, and tried to plead for mercy but was ultimately killed and used as a sacrifice.

As the sacrifice ritual concluded, the group of men and women left satisfied, even though the wooden lump showed no signs of change, yet hope seemed to be planted, as if they believed there would be a harvest in autumn.

Wang Wu silently watched all this, suddenly feeling that his previous conclusions were too hasty; even among the Human Race, there was no shortage of fools, and even those both foolish and malicious.

Do cultivators not succumb to superstitions?

This doesn't seem to be a paradox.

"This Five Elements Spirit Array really is somewhat in disrepair!"

Wang Wu, having transformed into an Array Hacker of the Cultivation Realm, wandered somewhat bored in the background of the Five Elements Spirit Array. Earlier, he was in a hurry and didn't carefully examine it; only now did he discover that much of the hardware of the Five Elements Spirit Array was on the brink of disrepair.

Long past its normal operational cycle.

Yes, this is important and must be understood.

The Five Elements Spirit Array formed here is, in a way, a spiritual qi variation field—intangible and invisible, yet real.

Like electricity, sunlight, air, and so on.

What sustains all of this is the Array Stone, or so-called hardware.

Hmm, as understood by Wang Wu, being an Earthling.

And what he helped repair before was equivalent to the software of this Five Elements Spirit Array. As for Array Stones and the like, he really didn't understand and couldn't touch them.

"If we don't hurry up and repair it, this Five Elements Spirit Array might collapse in five years. Ah, I hate constantly having to move houses."

Wang Wu was somewhat annoyed, mostly because the Five Elements Spirit Arrays in other Spirit Medicine Manors were probably unhackable for him, and even if he did hack them, he wouldn't dare to act carelessly—the Tree Demon Gardeners were not to be trifled with.

But here, the Tree Demon Gardener was a wooden lump, dead for a long time.

Hmm?

A daring idea suddenly arose in Wang Wu's mind: what if he let his Companion Demon Vine become the Tree Demon Gardener?

No, no, no—

"I could be the Tree Demon Gardener."

Wang Wu recalled the Snow Wolf General's family town, where there was also a Spirit Medicine Garden the size of a football field, and the Elder Song there was almost indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

If he transformed into the Tree Demon Gardener, he could roam the entire manor and replace the Array Stones as needed.

Though he now had control of the Five Elements Spirit Array and could replace them, who knows when the manor's owner might come and go?

In such a case, the control could instantly be taken back.

Overall, transforming into the Tree Demon Gardener seemed more prudent.

Moreover, if this Spirit Medicine Manor gets back on track and generates enough profit, it would be much safer for Wang Wu to hide here.

"Let's give it a try!"

Without hesitation, Wang Wu moved over and immediately sensed the extremely rich Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi. Good heavens, these people were truly extravagant; they must have sprinkled at least fifty thousand points of Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi here, creating a unique landscape of wood spiritual qi release.

His Companion Demon Vine was so excited it almost turned into a husky of the grass world.

But Wang Wu ignored the Companion Demon Vine and instead took out his Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf.

Whatever, I'll collect first and worry later.

Due to the pure Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi, it's practically tailor-made for the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf.

So, in just a short moment, the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf upgraded, and then upgraded again, and finally, it upgraded another level!

It leveled up three levels in a row, damn!

At this moment, the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf seemed to have finally transformed, finally rising to a new level. Even the Companion Demon Vine was stabilized and behaved, like a mouse seeing a cat, subdued and suppressed to the point it didn't dare make a sound.

Then, Wang Wu held the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf, which had leveled up three times, in front of him. This item now looked completely vibrant green, no longer the dry state it was before.

"Hundred-Change Ruyi, as you wish, follow my will."

Silently chanting a spell, the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf vanished before Wang Wu, and immediately, he transformed into the appearance of Elder Song. His thoughts changed again, transforming into the form of a teenager.

This Transformation Dao is quite formidable.

At this time, the appraisal information provided by the Inheritance Soul Jade + attribute bar came out.

"Appraisal: Your Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf has absorbed enough Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi and has recovered to sixty percent of its peak state. You can even use it to communicate with Grandpa Tree."

"After using this item, your Spiritual Essence Level will be temporarily weakened by five levels, but your Passive Concealment effect will significantly increase, equivalent to adding Level 1 Passive Concealment."

"After using this item, you can transform as you wish, yet there remains a great likelihood of being subdued. It is well-known that the Human Race Cultivation Realm has deeply researched Ancient Trees and greatly fears Grandpa Tree. It's suggested that the best strategy is to use without transforming, stay away from all Tree Demon Gardeners, and stay away from any Cultivation City with fixed detection arrays. In a field environment, this item allows for vast freedom."

"Warning, once you enter Black Forest, this item is highly likely to be reclaimed by Grandpa Tree, unless you choose to pledge allegiance to Grandpa Tree or refine this item into a Magical Artifact or Magical Treasure. But if you do, you will be seen by Grandpa Tree as an unforgivable desecrator of Ancient Trees."

——

"Hm, not the best, but it's a decent tool in certain environments."

Wang Wu blinked, ignoring the final warning message, not kidding; as long as the Great Illusion King Insect is there, he wouldn't even try to go to the Black Forest.

However, he now understood why both Human Race and Demon Race are so keen on attacking the Black Forest.

He also understood the greatness of the Bear Demon Emperor; that old fellow could actually persuade Grandpa Tree to collaborate.

Impressive!

Next, Wang Wu once more seized control of the Five Elements Spirit Array, using its operation to cover his movements, feeling quite good about it.

"Rise for me!"

With forceful hands, he directly uprooted that dead chunk of wood and tossed it into the Storage Pouch.

Then, Wang Wu himself jumped into the hole, buried it with soil, and put on the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf, transforming directly into an identical piece of wood, the only difference being a fresh sprout appeared at the top, a small green bud just a few centimeters long.

The entire process, the entire plan was seamless, unless the owner of the Spirit Medicine Manor brought back another Tree Demon Gardener or deployed a specific Reconnaissance Array in the manor.

But that possibility was almost zero.

Or even if it were so, he could just keep on escaping.

Escape again and again, it's what he'd grown accustomed to.

After completing everything, Wang Wu's attention finally fell on the wolf corpse before him. It died horribly, its eyes wide open, probably never expecting the Human Race would use a Spirit Beast as a sacrifice.

Damn it, it's a Spirit Beast, not basic livestock!

No reasonable argument available.

And for Wang Wu, it was a decent sacrifice to give to the Companion Demon Vine, though not an ally, it deserved a burial.

But this wolf looked kind of familiar.

Wang Wu carefully recalled and finally found a familiar face among countless clues—Wolf Bu'er.

When Wolf Bu'er took him to the Wolf Clan Town, he greeted a man of similar age and fair appearance. Wolf Bu'er seemed to call him——

"Cousin? What a poor soul, thinking to have embraced light, only to be consumed by it."

Wang Wu wasn't even in the mood to mock, nor did he dwell on it, transforming back to a wooden stump, with a green sprout atop, practicing the Ice and Fire Spirit Root, synchronized with the Inner Breathing Technique, subtly adjusting the Qi and Blood Circulation.

It can be done simultaneously, very simple, just like breathing.

No left-hand drawing square, right-hand drawing a circle, those absurdly meticulous demands existed.

After waiting like this for half a day, he was finally spotted by someone in the manor. With exclamations and rustling, dozens of people rushed over, each one overexcited, unable to control themselves, the old woman even burst into tears, completely moved.

"Quickly, send word to inform the master, our Master Mu has finally returned, our ancestors have manifested!"

Amidst the uproar, the group was driven off the clearing, only the old woman stepped forward respectfully, taking out a blank talisman paper, stepping on all sides, chanting spells, and instantly inscribing some indecipherable runes upon it.

Then, activating this talisman, in an instant, a peculiar force enveloped Wang Wu's whole body, seemingly intending to pull him out from the tree hole.

He had no idea what it meant.

Seeing his changes thanks to the Hundred-Change Ruyi Demon Leaf were about to be exposed under such force.

A line of information lazily floated by.

"The old steward of Jade Mountain Manor attempts to awaken you, do you respond to her call, transforming into human form to communicate?"

"You have gained permission to transform into a human within Jade Mountain Manor, you can freely walk within Jade Mountain Manor, you have obtained the permission to care for Spirit Grass, Spirit Medicine, and Spirit Fruit in Jade Mountain Manor."

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