Liu Zhenhong set out alone, and before he knew it, he had quietly entered the interior of the Southern Cross Star Forest from the Bailing Mountain Range.

  After being free from worries and burdens, Liu Zhen completely merged into this vast natural world. The scenery in the Southern Cross Star Forest is beautiful, with vines entwined, thick moss covering the ground. The towering ancient trees here are all over 40 meters high, with animal calls and bird songs, waves of pine fragrance, making it even more mysterious and ancient.

  Liu Zhen was not going to the Bearmen's stronghold on the Danube Steppes, mainly because he was afraid of those annoying earth spirits, and another reason was that he also wanted to meet the Titans here.

  In the depths of the vast Southern Cross Forest, among the uneven hills and dense forests that block out the sky, are scattered dozens of mountain giant and hill giant tribes. These one-eyed giants are said to be the descendants of the Titans, standing at around five zhang tall, with boundless strength, able to hurl massive boulders and easily snap trees in two. The giants are an extremely xenophobic race, only able to get along with their close relatives, the dwarves; any other races that invade their territory will be smashed into meat patties.

  The best candidate to originally garrison this area was the Olphen tribe's giant elephant warrior with innate divine power, but the elephant tribe is scarce and has already been dispatched to the northeastern border. Therefore, King Bimon retreated and sought a second-best option, assigning the Perel tribe's brutal bear warriors from among the five major legitimate aristocratic families who excel in strength to this place.

  Although the Feral Bear Warriors are still no match for the Titans in terms of strength, with the addition of their vassal tribe, the Minotaur Warriors of the Bull Tribe, who also excel in strength, the two forces cancel each other out, and at the very least, they can already make the Titan Cyclops think twice before acting.

  Liu Zhen was filled with curiosity about the part of the dragon's power that he had obtained, and he really wanted to fight against these giants.

  But unfortunately, since entering this vast Southern Cross Star Forest, he hasn't encountered the Giant Tribe, but has encountered many magical beasts.

  Bipedal flying dragon, blood-sucking giant bat, lion vulture... almost every day he would encounter a new species, which really broadened Liu's horizons. Gradually, he also figured out some rules: the magical beasts here seemed to have strictly divided territories as well. Every time he entered the territory of a certain type of magical beast, he would immediately be attacked by that type of beast. Places with waterfalls and streams were public areas, relatively safer.

  After walking for several days, Liu's leather pouch had already been stuffed with a few more top-quality magic beast crystal cores. Those magic beasts that rashly challenged him were all knocked down by the terrifying dense array of wolf fangs and the fists of Zhan Yinjin.

  Liu Zhen's only regret was that today he encountered a rare unicorn, and when he released the dense array to charge up, the unicorn actually turned around and ran away.

  Coward! Liu Zhen pointed at the unicorn's disappearing buttocks and scolded loudly.

  When it was time to set up camp for the night, Liu Zhen stunned counted his journey with his fingers and took out that broken map again. He estimated that he wasn't far from the Paili tribe's residence either. His mood was very good. In front of the bonfire, Old Liu proudly laid out his gains for the past half month in a row. Several large crystal nuclei burst forth with enchanting beauty under the illumination of the night sky and the bonfire, causing Liu Zhen to be overjoyed.

  However, there is also a pity. A originally wounded Zhai Jinren was damaged in one arm during the battle with Shi Xiong, and this discovery made Liu feel a little disappointed despite his happiness.

  He finally understood why the old priests and Robert, who had performed the soul ceremony for the two of them in the Southern Cross Star Forest, had been so ambiguous in their attitude.

  This forest teeming with magical beasts, without an army escort, if one's own strength is not formidable, it would be tantamount to suicide.

  "It's still Cui Peishan who is not bad, she actually gave us so many crystal nuclei. She looks beautiful, with a slender and full figure, her waist swaying like a water snake, as seductive as can be." Liu Zhen was puffing on a cigar, lying on the grass, gazing up at the starry night sky, lost in thought, his mind filled with confusion.

  "I don't even know how she spent her first night with Mu Rong's master, and what kind of wedding night did the beautiful snake have?" Liu Zhen thought about it and started to think crookedly, a burst of "heh heh" cheap laughter, a cold wind blew, and he shivered, scolding himself for being shameless and indecent.

  The food buried under the bonfire sent out a fragrant aroma, interrupting Liu's chaotic thoughts.

  Liu Zhenhong moved the bonfire away, used a curved knife to dig open a layer of thin soil under the bonfire heap, and scooped out a steaming hot big melon.

  This watermelon was left over from the trip back to Bra Island, when there were less than ten watermelons in total. Liu Zhen gave three small beauties one each, and the rest were all given to Gu De and others. Helen and Ning Yu's watermelon was eaten by Xiao Chong early on, and both Ning Yu and Helen spoiled Guo Guo a bit, raising it to be more and more chubby. Only Aiyue never dared to eat this watermelon, Guo Guo wanted to steal it, but was scolded once by her pinching his ear.

  Liu Zhen was moved on the first day he entered the Southern Cross Star Forest, and found this green-skinned cucumber that had already begun to wither a bit in his backpack, feeling a warmth in his heart.

  Actually Aiyue has changed a lot now! Liu Zhen thought about the past and the present, feeling that he was somewhat wrong to Xiaoi at times, especially in terms of attitude.

  Be nicer to her next time, Liu Zhen thought as he patted open the watermelon.

  A captivating fragrance suddenly wafted out and Liu Zhen was shaken, taking a deep sniff.

  The inside of the melon was hollowed out, stuffed with two plump hazel grouse, the sweetness of the fruit and the gamey flavor unique to wild meat intertwined together, blending into a rich and savory flavor.

  "Haha! One egg hatches twin phoenixes!" Liu Zhenhong rubbed his hands, extinguished the cigar, picked up two branches from the ground, peeled off the skin, and prepared to make a pair of chopsticks. During this time, Liu Zhenhong had been using a spoon to eat, and was already fed up with it.

  "What a wonderful fragrance!" A muffled thunder-like voice shook the entire quiet forest with a burst of echoes.

  Liu Zhenhong raised his head and saw a tall figure slowly emerging from the darkness, illuminated by the flickering light of the bonfire.

  The figure gradually became clear, it was a giant with a height of over 7-8 meters, wearing clothes made of emerald green leaves all over his body, and long tree whiskers floating all over him. The giant's face was a wax yellow color, mixed with a hint of vague green, his hair and beard were like the vines of an ancient tree, green and oily, and when the night wind blew, they lightly fluttered back.

  Is this a beggar or a giant wild army? Liu Zhen was stunned at first, and then burst out laughing.

  "Traveler of the night, your food smells so good!" The giant seemed to be afraid of fire and walked around the bonfire to Liu Zhen's side, who looked up at him.

  The giant's two massive legs protruded from under the leafy garments, with robust and powerful muscles, no hair on his skin, only wood-grain-like textures in concentric circles.

  "Want to eat something?" Liu Zhenhuan shook the fragrant melon in his hand and called out to the roasted chicken.

  "Thank you so much!" The giant sat down with his legs crossed, his massive body blocking the night sky behind him.

  "Your head is so big, I'm really worried that you won't have enough to eat! Are you a Titan giant? I've heard that the two-eyed giants can grow up to seven or eight zhang in height." Liu said with an air of being knowledgeable.

  "Titan giant?" The giant swallowed a hazelnut in one gulp, chewing with relish as he guffawed: "Night traveler, I'm not some Titan giant, those big lugs with brains like rocks, no relation to me whatsoever!"

  "Slow down and eat, how can you not even spit out the bones?" Liu Zhen felt that this guy was a bit terrifying, his eating appearance was even more unpleasant than his own, "Let me try some of this again!"

  Liu Zhensheng took out the bladder of a Xiezhi beast that was filled with water, shook it vigorously several times, and handed it to the giant. Inside, there was a jug of spring water that he had poured in a few days ago, soaking the turtle pearl for several days now, which Liu Zhensheng hadn't even gotten around to drinking yet.

  "What is this?" The giant asked curiously, pinching the bladder of the mongoose with his thick fingers.

  "This is wine." Liu Zhenhong replied.

  "I love drinking! I have wine on me too." The giant's eyes lit up, as if he had met a kindred spirit. From under his clothes made of large leaves, he pulled out a huge wooden jug and handed it to Liu Zhen.

  Liu Zhen took over the wine jug, feeling a weight in his hand, this jug of wine was at least 50-60 kilograms. The wooden jug was obviously naturally grown, the texture on the outside had been polished into a smooth brownish-yellow color, so beautiful that it was hard to believe.

  "It tastes good." Liu Zhen shook open the wooden plug on the mouth of the bottle, took a sip, and as soon as it entered his mouth, there was a wave of sweet fruit fragrance that lingered between his teeth for a long time.

  The giant burst out laughing and also opened Liu's water bag, taking a big gulp.

  "Whoosh......" The giant spat out the mouthful of wine he had just drunk, pouring it onto the bonfire far away from him. With a loud "Boom", the flames of the bonfire suddenly shot up high, rolling up a black cloud, and the flying sparks scorched the tree branches hanging in the air.

  A giant fell head over heels onto the grass, and a towering snow pine behind him was knocked into a buzzing shake, dropping a large pile of nuts.

  "What's wrong?" Liu was startled and jumped up in fright.

  "This wine is too potent!" The giant's face turned pale, "What kind of wine is this?"

  "The tortoise's pearl bubble has been bubbling for several days." Liu Zhen was a bit skeptical, took the water bag, carefully dripped a drop, and a burning sensation accompanied by saliva, from the vocal cords all the way to the stomach.

  "What a strong wine!" Liu Zhen was shocked and puffed out his tongue, picked up the giant's wine jug and took a big gulp.

  "What's the age of that star-tailed turtle with a tortoise pearl?" The giant shifted his body, moving further away from the crackling bonfire.

  "It's over a thousand years old." Liu Zhen took out the black turtle bead, about the size of a pigeon egg, from his water bag and waved it in front of the giant.

  "You've been soaking a thousand-year-old star-tailed turtle pearl in such little water for several days, and now you're going to drink it?" The giant's gaze was as if looking at a madman.

  "What's wrong?" Liu Zhen was somewhat puzzled.

  "This high-purity alcohol will be the death of you!" The giant was infuriated, and the person in front of him, who was even more ignorant than Mong, not only misidentified his own identity but also nearly got himself burned to death by the terrifying flames.

  "What's the point of that, I'll just drink your wine instead." Liu Zhen stunned poured the entire bag of liquor into the bonfire, tightly grasping the giant wooden jug, and from time to time took a few big gulps of the sweet wine.

  "Traveler, can't you drink a bit less? The Munk monkey in the mountain has brewed all the wine for this period of time. You have to leave some for me." The giant said with a little heartache.

  "Monkey-brewed wine?" Liu Zhen shook his head and took another big gulp, smacking his lips, "Not bad!"

  "This is a specialty of the Southern Cross Star Forest!" The giant said with some pride: "Except for us Ent Shepherds, no one else has this good fortune!"

  "Are you an Entish Treeman?" Liu Zhen was stunned, he had never heard Helen mention this race before, and was immediately bewildered.

  He only knew that, apart from the Titan Giant Tribe, there was also an Elf Kingdom in the Southern Cross Star Forest under the Bering Mountains, with a population of about 5,000 people, divided into three tribes scattered throughout the forest. According to Helen, the Elves, whether male or female, all possessed extremely beautiful appearances, kind and wise personalities, sharp vision and hearing, and could remain forever young and healthy, living up to 3,000 to 4,000 years old, unless they were killed or died of a broken heart. It was said that every Elf was extremely skilled in archery, even in the dark night, rushing through the dense forest, they could quickly draw their bows and shoot down small birds' eyes from hundreds of meters away.

  It was precisely because of the elves' archery skills that King Bimon, after repeated deliberations, assigned the centaur archers of the House tribe to be vassals under the Pel tribe. This decision was actually a painful one for Bimon, as long-range combat power had always been a major problem in Bimon. The centaur archers of the House tribe were the best bowmen in Bimon, and in ancient mythology, the constellation of Sagittarius in the sky was named after the centaur totem Ai Olyos.

  Liu Zhen was taken aback and looked up and down at this giant, still unable to understand what ethnicity he was.

  "It's hard to believe that our Entish tree-herders have now vanished into the mists of memory." The giant couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  "It doesn't matter anyway, come on and tell me about it." Liu Zhen shook his head and wiped his nose: "I'm just a country bumpkin, my knowledge is a bit limited."

  "Unlike you humans who evolved from animals, we Ent are intelligent humans evolved from plants." The giant picked up the cigar that had fallen to the ground and put it in his mouth: "Don't be surprised, dear Bimonts sacrifice, your intelligence can guarantee that you can understand what I'm saying. After tens of thousands of years of evolution, the physical structure of us intelligent humans is basically the same, whether we evolved from animals or plants, it's all the same principle."

  "Obisuraqi!" Liu Zhen was a bit horrified: "Then what do you Ent people usually eat? Just like just now? Eat meat?"

  "Dear Bimon, even plants have carnivorous flowers! What's the big deal about eating meat?" The words of the Shepherd seemed to mock Liu Zhen's shock and amazement.

  "So you've discovered my true identity." Liu Zhen was a bit embarrassed, his own startled and awkward behavior had indeed compromised the dignity of a knowledgeable ritual master.

  "During the Great War of Gods and Demons, I was still with you, resisting the invasion of the Demon Clan from the space-time rift in the Southern Cross Star Forest. You were still a member of the Bimon tribe back then, and hadn't betrayed your war god Kampas yet!"

  "Obis Laqi!" Liu Zhen asked: "Old brother, how old are you this year?"

  "Me?" Mu Shu Ren said with a hint of sadness: "I've even forgotten my own age, the long years have made me almost forget past events. We Mu Shu people have extremely long lifespans, not even comparable to those of the Mong Zhong Mo Te tribe."

  "It turned out to be a respected elder!" Liu was shocked and respectfully stood up.

  "Don't be so formal, kid. The faint dragon aura on you is enough to keep even the mosquitoes at bay, I knew you weren't just a simple Bimon soul sacrifice. Even among the strong warriors of the Bimon tribe, it's rare for someone to dare venture into this terrifying magical beast forest alone!" The Shepherd laughed: "I wonder if those few giant dragons I knew back in the day are still alive... really nostalgic."

  "Why is there no record of the Ent tribe in the Mongol Empire at all? I'm really curious!" Liu Zhen also laughed. However, he was puzzled that this tree herder knew some powerful creatures and had fought side by side with the Mongolian beastmen, but now they were so unknown.

  "It may have been that battle a thousand years ago that destroyed your civilization and records. For the past five hundred years, I've been in a deep sleep, due to loneliness, I enter into long periods of hibernation every thousand years or so, and each time I wake up, I can tell from the rings on my body how long I've slept again." The Tree Shepherd stroked his arm, with a hint of sadness hidden in his eyebrows: "We Ent tribe's Tree Shepherds are the masters of the forest, just like your shepherds herd the Crias beasts, we Tree Shepherds are the shepherds who herd the forests. Back then, I came from the distant continent of Atlantis to the Donau continent, which was still a battlefield after the war between gods and demons, with not a single blade of grass growing, but now, the Southern Cross Star Forest has become the most beautiful green treasure trove on this continent."

  "Afforestation of the forest?" Liu was speechless. The history of this forest is at least tens of thousands of years old, who can be so capable?

  "Now my hometown, the continent of Atlantis, has also been submerged in the endless ocean, and I don't know where my people are..." The Shepherd Tree sighed and took a puff of his cigar, swallowing the smoke into his belly.

  Liu Zhen was moved by his words and felt a sense of shared fate, thinking to himself that he wasn't much different either, his hometown, what a distant dream...

  "We, the Tree Herders, all possess the ability to communicate with plants. The day before yesterday, I had just woken up from my slumber and heard the old trees in the forest discussing a powerful demon sacrifice that was hunting magical beasts. So, I came to take a look. Magical beasts also have their own right to survive. We Tree Herders love life very much and hope to maintain the balance of the forest." The Tree Herder clumsily knocked off the ash from his cigar and said to Liu.

  "Haha......" Liu Zhen also laughed. In his heart, he thought, you can brag all you want, but trees can discuss things? That's too far-fetched.

  "I wasn't going to meet strangers, I'm old and already accustomed to loneliness. What a wonderful coincidence that you're here for the Bi Miao ceremony, do you know why I came out to see you?" Mu Shu Ren smiled as he looked at Liu Zhen.

  "Is it because I'm rather ugly?" Liu Zhen asked, rubbing his nose.

  "You look very handsome, my young man. Perhaps many people don't understand your handsomeness. But even the most refined handsomeness is nothing compared to a small but thriving cloud spruce in the eyes of a forest spirit." The forest spirit smiled and pointed at the melon on the ground: "This melon of yours is extremely unusual, I've never seen anything like it before. As someone who claims to be the master of this forest, I have to admit that I've never tasted anything as sweet as this melon. It's made me want to come out and meet you. Forest spirits love collecting rare plants just like dragons love collecting gold coins. May I ask where this melon came from?"

  "From a desert country." Liu Zhen replied after some thought.

  "Oh......" Mu Shu Ren suddenly realized: "No wonder I've never seen it before, it's actually from the forbidden zone of our Mu Shu people, a plant from the desert."

  "Do you Tree People also have restricted areas?" Liu Zhen looked at his gigantic body and thought to himself that this guy was probably a coward.

  "We are the evolution of plants, and we have an innate fear of deserts and fire. So, there is no forest in the desert at all, because there is no tree herder to graze there." The tree herder smiled.

  Nonsense! Liu Zhen thought to himself, if there's a forest in the desert, can it still be called a desert?

  "Do you still have any of this melon?" Mu Shu asked Liu Zhen, "I want to exchange some collectibles with you."

  "This kind of melon seed I have a lot, don't know what you're going to exchange for it?" Liu Zhen was excited as soon as he heard about exchanging collections, his whole body came alive. Ever since the last pleasant bamboo knocking trip, he had been missing it dearly. Moreover, this simple and honest herdsman had already shown his trump card, heh heh, loving plants is just like Old Dragon loving gold coins."

  "Have you heard of the deepest part of the forest, where some secret places have the Spring of Life and the Spring of Elements? Those are the essence condensed by the forest spirits over millions of years." The Tree Herder took out a wooden jug from under his leaf-made clothes. "The Forest Spring of Life is an essence that can nurture life, every drop can turn barren land into fertile soil, and make plants grow to their peak in just one day. And the Forest Spring of Elements is rich in elemental power, it can instantly help you, as a priest, replenish your song energy, or help magicians replenish their magic power. For you, this is really the most suitable thing. This wooden jug contains the purest Spring of Elements, which I accumulated over thousands of years ago. I'll use this to exchange for that wonderful gourd seed of yours, how about it?"

  "No." Liu was taken aback and felt a pang of despair.

  The Spring of Elements might be useful for Helen, but for him, it's almost useless. His singing voice is almost gone, he can't sing official battle songs, and his own creations are not appreciated by others. Moreover, after singing battle songs, the faint feeling of weakness in his body makes him think that battle songs are just a waste of time.

  "What?" Even the knowledgeable and experienced Mu Shu, was confused by this sacrificial ritual. Was there actually a sacrificial ritual that didn't require instantaneous replenishment of spiritual energy?

  "What else?" Liu Zhen asked.

  "What do you want?" Mushtari was a bit unsure about this guy.

  "Is this it?" Liu Zhenhong tilted his face to one side and rubbed his two fingers together.

  "Ugh, metal! The Entmoot's most detested thing is metal." Treebeard was so gloomy that he even spoke in dialect, this guy was a complete miser.

  "Campus!" Liu Zhen also felt a sense of disappointment: "Don't tell me that all you have on you are some plants."

  The shepherd nodded.

  "How about this? You're familiar with a few old dragons, aren't you? Go and borrow some money from them, then we can make an exchange. How's that?" Liu Zhen thought of a compromise.

  Mu Shu was left speechless by his words, and for a moment, he simply didn't know what to say.

  "Are you really left with nothing of value?" Liu Zhen asked relentlessly: "Do you have ginseng? Do you have Tai Mu La Ya's thousand-year-old snow lotus...?"

  "You think this is something to look at?" Mu Shu was almost out of breath with rage. "That thing has been growing for ten thousand years and no one has eaten it, yet it still hasn't grown into an old tree trunk."

  "Have you eaten the crops that are both filling and delicious? And with high yields!" Liu was shocked, thinking of all the people at home, a brilliant idea flashed.

  "This is indeed available." Seeing that the merchant had finally asked for something he could have, Mushtari hurriedly rummaged through his things and pulled out a package of seeds wrapped in leaves.

  The seeds are yellowish-brown in color, plump and round, set against the bright green oak leaves, very cute.

  "What is this thing?" Liu Zhen asked.

  "This is my grandfather's grandfather's collection, an ancient divine dragon era plant - the Cycas revoluta. This plant has now become extinct, and at that time it was the main food for some powerful herbivorous dinosaurs! The tall stem stood upright, reaching a height of eight zhang, with a beautiful posture, large pinnate leaves, three zhang long, scattered and fluttering, elegant and unique. Its pinnate leaves are the finest banana meat, fragrant and sweet, and after each harvest, it can continue to grow again." said the Shepherd Tree person.

  "Haha, like a leek!" Liu Zhenhong laughed.

  "What a pity, although it has this function, the Cycas revoluta was almost extinct because of the huge appetite of the Asian aurochs. I think... in your home, you shouldn't have raised many aurochs, right?" Mu Shu Ren also laughed.

  "It's almost the same." Liu Zhenhong cried with a sad face. The half-grown children, who had eaten up their father's wealth, and the several hundred boys and girls at home, were simply on par with Guo Guo.

  "I highly recommend the Cycas revoluta for you!" Mu Shu Ren took out half of the seeds and handed the other half to Liu Zhen Huai.

  Liu Zhen shook his head: "I think I'm still a bit at a loss, do you have any other good plants, preferably ones that can be sold for gold coins and make money? Take out another one, and consider it as a gift to me."

  Even though Mu Shu was a gentle and peaceful person by nature, he almost couldn't help but turn against him.

  Looking at the unseen watermelon share, the shepherd took a deep breath and pulled out a package of oak leaves wrapped in seeds: "This is the already extinct thousand-colored wisteria, its flowers are very beautiful, each flower has its own unique color, among a thousand flowers there will be no repeated colors. This wisteria flower can dye fingernails for girls who love beauty; its green and slender vines can also decorate your mansion, and... this thousand-colored wisteria flower will bear red fruit, which has a very good use, it can absorb body odor."

  "What's the use of absorbing the body's aura? It can't even be exchanged for money!" Liu Zhen said disdainfully.

  "What do you know?" Makoto scolded the dim-witted Bimon: "Among the Bimon beastmen and humans, aren't there many people with strange smells in their armpits?"

  "It seems I don't." Liu Zhenhong patted his armpits and sniffed, fortunately, there was only a sweaty smell.

  "That's it, you pick this fruit and sell it to these people with a sense of smell, can't you make money?" said the shepherd.

  "Ah!" Liu Zhen was shocked and patted his own forehead, delightedly taking over the package of seeds.

  "Hmph! Only you evolved animals would have this problem. The Shepherd scratched his armpit."

  "Take it!" Liu Zhenhua handed a packet of cucumber seeds to Mù Shùrén and kept another packet for himself.

  "I won't disturb you anymore." Mushtari smiled and said, "The food you cooked really has the flavor of a hobbit's meal, thank you for tonight's hospitality."

  Liu Zhenhong didn't speak, tiptoed and made a shade with his hand to look behind Mu Shu.

  "What are you looking at?" Mu Shu slowly turned around to look back, and behind him was only a dark forest, nothing else.

  Liu Zhen took advantage of his turning back and poured the wooden bucket containing the Elemental Spring into his own water bag.

  Pastor Tree turned his head, and Liu Zhen had already finished work. The wooden barrel of about ten gallons of Life Spring was drained by him for at least two gallons.

  Corruption should not be too much.

  Liu Zhen estimated that according to this herdsman's build and strength, the difference between five and ten kilograms was negligible.

  "Hehe, I just saw a shooting star and made a wish for you. Hopefully you can find your own people soon!" Liu Zhen looked at Mu Shu with a sincere expression.

  The shepherd remained silent for a long time, simply gazing at him with moving eyes.

  "Thank you!" Pastor Tree nodded gratefully, bent down to pick up the Elemental Spring, and handed the wooden jug containing Monkey Wine to Liu Zhen: "I'll give you this jug of wine too, my dear Bimon kid."

  Grandma! Liu Zhen was so angry in his heart. If only he had swapped the positions of these two wooden barrels earlier!

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