Twenty-seven, Departure

  Shi Yong saw the robust man bring it to his front, stretched out his hand to receive it, and with both hands holding the stone tray, turned towards Xun Daozi and sent it to Xun Daozi's front. He opened his mouth and said: "Daozhang, this is the barbarian beast Ou Zhu, I previously said that whoever emerges victorious in the trial will be given the barbarian beast Ou Zhu. Daozhang's martial skills were unparalleled in the previous trial, no one could match him, so this barbarian beast Ou Zhu is presented to Daozhang, I hope Daozhang accepts it."

  Xun Daozi didn't know what use this barbarian beast's egg had either. Seeing Shi Yong presenting it, he couldn't bring himself to accept it and opened his mouth to decline.

  Shi Yong saw Daozi decline, and sincerely said: "Daozhang, this barbarian beast Ou Zhu is not a rare thing, but it's also our heartfelt intention. You've come all the way here, can't bear to point us in the right direction, making us greatly benefited. This kindness is hard to repay, this barbarian beast Ou Zhu is just a token of our heart's intention, I hope Daozhang won't refuse to accept it!" The people around also chimed in unison: "Please, Daozhang, accept it!"

  Xun Daozi saw the Wu tribe's enthusiastic welcome and was also moved: these Wu people are mostly straightforward, so he accepted the gift. He stood up and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Stone Courage Tribe Leader and everyone! I will accept this gift with a thick face." After finishing speaking, he bowed his head and took the barbarian pearl, then bowed again to the crowd.

  Everyone else also returned the courtesy and then sat down separately.

  As soon as they sat down, several Wa women brought over roasted golden barbarian meat on stone plates and placed them in front of everyone.

  A thick aroma of roasted meat wafts through the air, making one's fingers move involuntarily.

  Shi Yong made a polite gesture to Dao Zichu and said: "Daozhang, please!"

  Xun Daozi looked at the golden-brown roasted barbarian beast meat, smelling the strong and savory aroma, and couldn't help but stir up a strong appetite. Since arriving in the Desolate Expanse, Xun Daozi had never eaten any meat, and his body didn't feel hungry normally. He only ate some fruits to satisfy his taste buds, but now seeing this roasted barbarian beast meat, he felt a little out of touch with reality. A long-forgotten appetite rose up in his heart.

  Then, Xun Daozi put a small piece of golden wild beast meat into his mouth under the enthusiastic smiles of everyone, chewing slowly, and instantly, a strong fragrance filled his mouth. The meat in his mouth had only one feeling: fresh, fragrant, smooth, and tender. There was not even half a point of burnt or charred smell from roasting. It was indeed the most delicious taste, and Xun Daozi was also slightly surprised in his heart.

  Just as Shi Yong and the crowd were looking forward to it, Xun Daozi swallowed the roasted meat in his mouth, looked at the expectant expressions of the crowd, and said: "Good! It's truly the most delicious!"

  Everyone burst out laughing and picked up the roasted meat in front of them and stuffed it into their mouths.

  Xun Daozi also followed the crowd and stuffed the roasted golden barbarian meat into his mouth. For a while, around the fire pit, only the sound of flames burning and chewing and swallowing could be heard.

  After a big meal that swept away the remaining clouds, the witch tribe woman took away the stone plate filled with roasted meat. The witch tribe's appetite shocked even Xun Daozi, just now for the roasted meat, some of these witches ate at least a thousand catties, and the smaller ones also ate several hundred catties. Even Xun Daozi himself ate dozens of catties, strangely without any discomfort.

  Actually, the large appetite of the witch tribe is not surprising at all. Unlike other practitioners who can absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth through cultivation, witches mainly obtain power through food. The stronger the prey, the more powerful the energy they can provide. The power obtained from food can be used to refine and purify their bloodline, temper their physical body, and strengthen themselves. This is also a characteristic of the witch tribe's cultivation, and some other demon beasts and part of the demon tribes have similar characteristics.

  While Xun Daozi's physical body is incredibly strong, his body's transformation function is extremely powerful. Several tens of kilograms of meat entering the stomach are quickly converted into energy, so how can there be any uncomfortable feeling? Even if several more tens of kilograms were added, there wouldn't be any sensation.

  Everyone sat down around the fire pit after eating and drinking their fill, with the local Shui people sending over melons and fruits.

  Xun Daozi looked at the blurry beast Ou Zhu beside him, and he was also curious about what this beast Ou Zhu was used for. From the behavior of the Wu tribe people, it should not be just an ornament. As he pondered, Xun Daozi casually picked up the beast Ou Zhu and fiddled with it in his hand, wanting to see if there was any mystery to it.

  Shi Yong, who was holding a fruit the size of a watermelon and eating it vigorously, turned his head to see Xun Daozi and saw that he was puzzled by the barbaric beast Ou Zhu. He casually threw the fruit aside and rushed towards Xun Daozi, saying: "Master Dao, don't you understand this barbaric beast Ou Zhu?"

  Xun Daozi heard Shi Yong speaking, looked up and saw Shi Yong looking at him with a sincere face, without any slight color, so he also spoke: "Just want to ask the patriarch for advice."

  Shi Yongdao said, "Alright, I'll tell you about this savage beast's E Pearl. These Hongyuan savage beasts have enormous bodies, and some of them possess strange innate abilities. The ones with these abilities will form a pearl in their abdomen, which is the source of their powers. If you kill these beasts, you can obtain the pearl from their abdomen. By using your own inner power to stimulate it, you can also unleash part of the beast's innate abilities. Today, we captured this savage beast and found that it has a unique ability, but it's still very weak. I suppose its E Pearl's ability is not strong either. I've seen some savage beasts' E Pearls with fire-spewing abilities before, and I've also heard that some can spout water, while others can stir up sand or even repel fire and avoid water. Who knows what kind of ability this pearl possesses? Why don't you use your inner power to stimulate it and try it out?"

  Xun Daozi listened and thought to himself: This barbaric beast's E'zhu is somewhat similar to the dragon pearl of the dragon clan. However, he followed the words and operated the method, separating a strand of the flowing air in his body and injecting it into the barbaric beast's E'zhu in his hand.

  As the power of Xun Daozi was infused, the originally crystal clear and sparkling barbaric pearl in Xun Daozi's hand suddenly turned gray and opened a dark hole.

  The crowd watching were all astonished and looked at each other in dismay, unsure of what was happening.

  Xun Daozi supported Ou Zhu, also unaware of what kind of change this was. After a while, seeing that Ou Zhu had no other changes, Xun Daozi carefully and slowly extended his own spiritual sense towards the open mouth of Ou Zhu. As his spiritual sense approached the mouth, Xun Daozi became even more cautious, ready to withdraw at any time.

  Until Zhen Daozi's spiritual consciousness had connected with the open mouth of E Zhū, Zhen Daozi did not feel any danger or discomfort. The strand of spiritual consciousness then drilled into the open mouth.

  Zhen Daozi's divine consciousness entered the mouth of the black hole, and suddenly felt a change. This was clearly an independent space, with length, width, and height all having dozens of zhang. Even if that dead beast were placed inside, it would still be spacious. It seems that Shi Yong said that this beast had some strange abilities, which might be spatial power. However, due to its weakness, it couldn't exert its strength, so it was captured and killed by Shi Yong.

  Xun Daozi withdrew his divine consciousness from the barbaric beast Ou Zhu, and recalled the power he had infused into Ou Zhu. As a result, Ou Zhu returned to its original crystal clear and sparkling appearance.

  Shi Yong and the others were all staring at Xun Daozi, their eyes filled with curiosity. The Wu tribe didn't have a spiritual sense, so they couldn't understand what Xun Daozi was doing when he silently stared at the savage beast E Zhu earlier. However, the Wu tribe's keen intuition still sensed that Xun Daozi was examining E Zhu in a strange way, and they were all curious to know the result of his examination. Now that they saw E Zhu had returned to normal, they knew that Xun Daozi's examination had yielded results, although they didn't ask out loud, their eyes couldn't help but reveal their curiosity.

  Xun Daozi saw the curious eyes of the crowd and did not conceal it. He told everyone about the results of his investigation and his own speculations.

  Everyone who heard it was delighted for Xunzi, and they were all able to obtain this precious thing without any greedy expression.

  Xun Daozi also felt a liking for the simplicity of the Wu tribe. He put the barbarian beast Ou Zhu in his arms and started chatting with everyone.

  The atmosphere was very warm for a while, and everyone vied to talk about their various experiences in the vast wilderness of Honghuang, as well as some memorable experiences.

  Everyone's casual chat made Xun Daozi feel very rewarding and gained a lot of knowledge. Especially the experience of Shi Yong, a strong man of the Wu tribe, made Xun Daozi have an astonishing feeling.

  Xun Daozi listened to the crowd's gossip, and his heart suddenly moved: I want to find the tea tree, but after searching for so long, I still haven't encountered it. If one person continues to search, who knows when they will bump into it? There are many witches walking around, maybe someone knows some information. If we're lucky enough to get some information, we won't have to wander around blindly and can find it earlier and return earlier. I wonder if Master and the others have left their seclusion yet. Hopefully, I can find it quickly and return to ask for their help in setting up the array after they leave their seclusion.

  Xun Daozi thought to himself that he couldn't delay any longer and needed to return soon. He also felt a sense of urgency in gathering information from the Wu tribe, so he took advantage of a pause in the conversation to speak up: "Stone Courage Tribe Leader, fellow Wu tribe brothers, I have come out this time to search for something. After a year of searching, I still haven't found it. Taking this opportunity, I'd like to ask all of you, if anyone has any knowledge, please inform me. I thank you all in advance." Having said that, Xun Daozi stood up and bowed to the crowd.

  The crowd of witches said in succession: "Master Dao, please tell us what it is. We will definitely inform Master Dao as soon as we know. Why should Master Dao thank us?"

  Xun Daozi heard the crowd inquiring, so he described the tea tree he was looking for. In order to let the witch tribe people understand the characteristics of the tea tree more intuitively, Xun Daozi also tried to use magic to display the image of the tea tree he imagined in front of the witch tribe people.

  After that, all the people of the Wu tribe fell into deep thought, trying their best to search for memories of whether they had seen this tea tree before. Xun Daozi also looked at the crowd with a hopeful face.

  After a good while, the witches gradually woke up from their meditation, but they all shook their heads to indicate that they had never seen this tea tree before.

  As more and more people shook their heads, Xun Daozi's hope of getting information about the tea tree became smaller and smaller.

  When only Shi Yong and the scar-faced strongman Shi Ba were left, Xun Daozi had basically given up hope. The only thread of hope was that he felt Shi Yong was slightly stronger than the others, and there was a tiny bit of fantasy about him being able to escape.

  When Shi Yong raised his head, Xun Daozi saw the expression on Shi Yong's face and knew that there was no hope. Shi Yong made an apologetic gesture to Xun Daozi and said: "I haven't seen this tea tree either, next time I go out, I will pay attention for the Taoist priest and see where there is such a tea tree."

  Xun Daozi smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I'll take my time to look for it, I'm sure I'll find it."

  At this moment, Shi Ba opened his somewhat dazed eyes and said uncertainly: "I seem to have seen this kind of tea tree before."

  Everyone turned their heads and looked at Shi Ba.

  Shi Ba said with a hint of shyness, "I once chased a monster to a mountain valley, and on the cliff wall of that valley, there were trees that looked very similar to the tea tree you mentioned, Master Dao. I don't know if it's really the same kind of tree, but they look quite alike."

  Xun Daozi hastily asked where he had seen him.

  Shi Ba said that in the southeast of the Wu tribe's residence, there was a mountain valley more than 10,000 miles away, and he described the characteristics of the road to go there, as well as the features of the mountain valley.

  Xun Daozi didn't think he would actually get useful information, and his heart was filled with joy. He felt that this trip to the Wu tribe wasn't in vain after all. Not only did he obtain a spatial treasure that he had been dreaming of, but he also got information about the tea tree. It seemed like he could return soon.

  Afterwards, as it was already late, everyone went their separate ways to cultivate.

  On the second day at dawn, Xun Daozi bid farewell to the Wu tribe and headed straight to the valley described by Shi Ba.

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