After the female assassin's incident, Yang Ling returned to the Spirit Tribe and fell asleep immediately. Although he knew Sophia had misunderstandings, such things were endless and more confusing. For the time being, it was not only unclear what to say, but also feared that the more they talked, the darker it would get, so it was better to let things take their natural course for now.

  Although he couldn't find a way back for the time being, since he's already here, he might as well make himself at home. Yang Ling figured that instead of complaining all day, he'd better think of ways to adapt.

  Life is like rape, since you can't escape it, you might as well relax and enjoy it. In a daze, Yang Ling recalled a classic sentence he had seen online many years ago.

  For Yimia to hire an assassin to come and kill him, Yang Ling was a little unexpected, but he didn't always have his heart in his throat. After all, you can hide from the first day of the month, but you can't hide from the fifteenth, what's meant to come will come sooner or later, and quickly improving your own strength is the key. It's like hunting in the forest, you never know when you'll encounter what kind of beast, only skilled hunters can survive in repeated attacks and sneak attacks.

  Sophia is very pretty, seems like... that female assassin also looks good!

  In a daze, Yang Ling thought of Sophia's bright and clear big eyes and her slender waist that could be grasped with one hand. Immediately following, the scene shifted again, and he thought of the female assassin's cold and beautiful face.

  After an unknown period of time, Yang Ling vaguely heard a faint singing voice. Amidst the rustling sounds of the forest, it was barely audible, as if a young girl's whispers or the inaudible murmurs of a priest during prayer.

  After a moment of concentration, Yang Ling quietly followed the sound of the song and walked out. Treading on the dewy grass, crossing a clear brook, he came to a forest of tall leafy pines where the wind was rustling through the trees.

  Under an ancient tree that reached the sky, Sophia, dressed in white, walked barefoot around the tree, whispering something in the ancient elven language. It was as if she were softly singing a folk song of the elven tribe, or as if she were confiding in the ancient tree, her eyes brimming with tears, and every time she circled around, a few crystal-like teardrops fell.

  It was unclear whether it was a coincidence or an illusion, but Yang Ling felt that every time Sophia shed a tear, the branches and leaves of the ancient tree would rustle in response, as if echoing with Sophia.

  "Sophia!" Looking at the pitiful spirit girl, looking at the tears of sorrow on her face, Yang Ling couldn't help but call out softly.

  "Yang Ling, you... how did you end up here?" Sophia hastily wiped away the tears on her face, her footsteps coming to a sudden stop as she turned bright red.

  "I just had a dream about a beautiful woman, and then I heard your voice!" Yang Ling laughed and walked over to sit down beside Sofia with a plop. "Hm, lovely fairy maiden, you ruined my beautiful dream. Tell me, how are you going to compensate for my loss?"

  "Pay you back!" Seeing Yang Ling making fun of himself, Sophia's face turned bright red. After hesitating for a moment, she plucked up the courage to ask softly: "Why didn't you go with the girl you had a date with and ran out in the middle of the night?"

  Dating?

  Seeing the tears on Sophia's face, Yang Ling vaguely understood something, shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Sophia, that woman was an assassin, I almost died at her hands back then, what date?"

  "Hmph, you humans are all the same, every man is more lecherous than Hausmar!" Sophia's eyes reddened, clearly not believing Yang Ling's nonsense. Which female assassin would romantically send a delicate and exquisite shoe to their assassination target? It's said that human nobles are extremely romantic, often holding a plate of salo pork while staring at the sauerkraut fish in the pot. Looks like it's indeed true."

  Lies are more believable than truths, it seems nothing has changed even if we switch worlds.

  Shaking his head and smiling wryly again, Yang Ling understood that continuing to talk would only make things worse, so he quickly changed the subject. "If this tree has a spirit, I'm afraid it would get dizzy from you constantly turning around like that!"

  "Knock your head off!" Sophia chuckled and said, "This is the oldest tree in our tribe's history, with a legend of over 8,000 years. Although it can't cultivate a Withered Guardian, its spirituality is the highest, I say what it understands!"

  Ancient tree with spiritual energy?

  Sophia leaned against the ancient tree, and Yang Ling, on a whim, also lightly attached himself to it. Suddenly, an inexplicable vibration spread from the trunk of the tree surrounded by over ten people, synchronizing with their heartbeats in a rhythmic pulse, as if saying something.

  Old tree becomes spirit?

  Recalling the chat room stories he read when he was young, Yang Ling's heart moved. The mysterious witchcraft could tame magical beasts, and maybe it would work on mountain spirits and tree demons too.

  Under the devil's luck, Yang Ling bit his right index finger and gently pressed it on, in an instant, the wound seemed to touch a bottomless pit, fresh blood and witch power surged out like the Yellow River bursting its banks.

  "Ah, Yang Ling, what's wrong with you?"

  Yang Ling suddenly shuddered all over, his face ashen. Sophia let out a loud cry. Just as she was about to rush forward to support Yang Ling, he groaned and pulled out a handful of blood-red beads from his pocket and swallowed them. Immediately following that, the towering ancient tree surrounded by more than ten people vanished with a 'whoosh'.

  In a daze, Yang Ling once again unconsciously arrived at the mysterious space where Wu Tower was. Only to see that in front of the towering Wu Tower, a tree with a trunk as wide as ten people could hug had appeared out of nowhere. Many horned beasts and evil eyes were surrounding it, turning around and around. Some climbed up along the trunk, while others leaned comfortably on the branches.

  The big tree's branches and leaves were lush and green, filling the eyes with a vibrant sight. For some reason, Yang Ling had a familiar feeling, walking over to gently touch the massive trunk. Soon after, the trunk began to transmit an inexplicable vibration, as if trying to convey something to him.

  Before Yang Ling could carefully feel the fluctuation, suddenly, his head felt cool and his consciousness slowly exited the mysterious space. Opening his eyes to take a look, he saw that the Elf Elder had arrived at some point, with the staff in his hand emitting a faint circle of green light, as if he had just cast some sort of spell.

  "Yang Ling, are you okay?!" As soon as Yang Ling opened his eyes, Sophia finally let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't understand how the ancient tree that reached the sky could disappear in the blink of an eye, and she also couldn't understand why Yang Ling suddenly lost consciousness, so in a panic, she rushed back to inform Grandfather.

  The location where the ancient tree was standing only had a large pit left, and Yang Ling thought of the giant tree he saw in the mysterious space. His heart moved, and subconsciously, he pinched a hand seal. In the blink of an eye, a twenty-meter-tall withered wooden guardian holding a gigantic wolf-tooth club appeared before his eyes.

  "Labrock, see the master!" Just as everyone was shocked and lost color, the withered wooden guard 'slapped' and knelt in front of Yang Ling, raising a large piece of dust, and the thunderous sound almost shattered everyone's eardrums.

  Unlike the withered treant summoned by Sofia, the large tree trunk crawling in front of Yang Ling had grown quite a few green buds, and its eyes, which were as big as watermelons, shone brightly. With its muscles bulging like dark slate rocks, it looked incredibly ferocious.

  "Heavens! A spiritual withered tree warrior!" After the unexpected surprise, the Elf Elder pointed at Yang Ling and shouted in a loud voice, "Yang Ling, you... are a Tree Shepherd?"