Chapter 3531: Chapter 3531: Fight Hand-To-Hand
Not long after they entered the Flaming Maple Forest, Zen was shocked to feel a slight wave of energy that was coming from the ancestry-level bloodline.
Even though the energy fluctuation was extremely slight, it was still enough to cause a reaction in the Flaming Maple Forest.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the entire Flaming Maple Forest, which covered an area of a few miles, began to sway violently. It seemed that the shining maple leaves might fly and attack them at any time.
As Fuxi and the Snake Goddess saw the scene, their bodies froze and their faces turned pale.
If the Flaming Maple Forest really started attacking them, there would be no escaping it, and they would die a horrible death.
The Other Shore creatures that had been hiding behind the tree trunks somewhere in the forest thought that someone reckless had come. In fear that they would be caught in the trouble, they rapidly fled before the trees started attacking.
But after a few seconds, the light on the maple leaves gradually dimmed, and the energy reaction of the Flaming Maple Forest subsided.
When everything calmed down, Fuxi took a deep breath and yelled, “What do you think you're doing?!”
Earlier, the Snake Goddess had strictly warned Zen not to release any form of energy because that would awaken and disturb the Flaming Maple Forest. She knew that Zen wouldn't deliberately do something stupid.
“I'm sorry. The ancestry-level bloodline just got a little bit out of control that it caused an energy fluctuation,” Zen explained with an apologetic face.
Fortunately, the ancestry-level bloodline didn't fluctuate further, or else they would have definitely died.
After a while, the ancestry-level bloodline stayed calm and showed no sign of making any trouble. Then, the three of them continued to go deeper into the Flaming Maple Forest.
“The Flaming Maple Forest is located in the western part of the Grand Pure Realm and extends all the way up to the Divine River. That's where Madam Yasamin and Eastern Emperor Taiyi are trapped,” the Snake Goddess told Zen.
Previously, Zen didn't have the qualifications to enter Stage Thirty-three, so they didn't bother telling him the details about the situation of Yasamin and Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
The Divine River was a mysterious body of water that ran through the Three Purities Stage. It was said that the source of the river was at the Jade Pure Realm. Then, it ran through the Supreme Pure Realm and extended to the Grand Pure Realm.
Both Eternal Realm warriors and Other Shore creatures were extremely interested in the Divine River because of the things that they could find there. These precious items were often washed down from the Supreme Pure Realm or the Jade Pure Realm. Everyone had been fighting real hard for these treasures for the longest time.
Of course, the river was also accompanied by extreme dangers. Countless creatures had already died there since ancient times. However, they still risked their lives for the chance of acquiring a great fortune. Ṙ𝙖ŊÖʙЁȿ
“So, they are trapped at the bottom of the Divine River? What happened? Did someone chase them down there?” Zen curiously asked.
“That's right. At that time, Mahoney of the New Moon race set up a trap and eventually succeeded in luring Madam Yasamin there. Later, Eastern Emperor Taiyi also got trapped because he came and attempted to save Madam Yasamin,” Fuxi explained.
“What's with the river? Why can't they escape it?” Zen inquired again.
“It's kind of hard to explain. It'll be better to see it with your own eyes,” the Snake Goddess said after failing to think of a better way to explain.
After hearing that, Zen didn't ask any more questions. He just followed the Snake Goddess and Fuxi through the Flaming Maple Forest.
The Flaming Maple Forest was so vast and peculiar that it was difficult to tell which way they should go as they went deeper into it. Without a proper guide, one might easily get lost within it. Fortunately, Fuxi seemed to be rather familiar with the area. Every now and then, he would just take out the Eight Diagrams disk to quickly determine the direction that they needed to tread.
About four hours later, Fuxi suddenly stopped under three tall Flaming Maple Trees. “Wait a moment. I'll be right back,” the Snake Goddess said and instantly left the Other Shore.
In less than five minutes, the Snake Goddess reappeared. From the shadow of the trees nearby, a figure quietly emerged. It was a large Ear Mouse—King Ieuan.
“King Ieuan, it's nice to meet you again,” Zen said as he cupped his hands towards it.
“Oh, no need to be so formal. It's my honor to be of help,” King Ieuan said with a faint smile.
Previously, Zen had devoured the Chaos Ancient God Lamont alive. Everyone present, including King Ieuan was utterly shocked. If it weren't for Zen's help at that critical moment, King Ieuan and most of its subordinates might have died miserably.
“So, how's the situation of the Flaming Maple Forest right now?” Fuxi asked straightforwardly.
Among the members of the Ear Mouse race, only King Ieuan could enter the Three Purities Stage at will. However, their race boasted the advantage of easily collecting information.
“Actually, some time ago, a lot of people were withdrawn from this place. But just recently, the Element Spirit Civilization sent a lot of people again for monitoring,” King Ieuan reported.
Fuxi furrowed his brows and asked, “Does that mean they know about our plan to rescue Madam Yasamin and Eastern Emperor Taiyi?”
“That's the only explanation I could think of,” King Ieuan replied.
As a disciple of the Oneness Sky Palace, Zen had the responsibility to save Eastern Emperor Taiyi. The Element Spirit Civilization clearly knew about this, so after Zen entered the Three Purities Stage, they wasted no time and sent more people to guard the Flaming Maple Forest.
“Then, is there any way that we can avoid them?” the Snake Goddess asked. If possible, she wanted to save the two without facing the Element Spirit Civilization.
“I'm not sure, but it will be very difficult,” King Ieuan honestly said. “They have been waiting on the river courses. There's no other way but to swim in the Divine River. But it is still very difficult to not be discovered.”
“All right then. Take us there,” the Snake Goddess said in a soft voice.
After they had walked through the dense Flaming Maple Forest for quite some time, they heard loud sounds of water rippling from the distance. Soon after, the Divine River appeared in front of them. Looking at the mysterious dark green river, Zen suddenly realized that it was made up of the Soul Interdicting Water, just like the Sanskrit Light Stage, but the Soul Interdicting Water contained in the river was much thicker.
He realized that the reason why Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Yasamin couldn't escape was that they were soaked in the Soul Interdicting Water present in the Divine River.
“Come on!”
“More!”
“Kill him! The piece of Gold and Silver Bone will be all yours!”
They heard people shouting from the distance.
When Zen and the others got closer to the river, they saw two huge creatures, about forty feet tall, brawling and fighting each other in an open space in the Flaming Maple Forest.
“Hey, what are they doing?” There was a mixed expression of astonishment and confusion on Zen's face.
“They're fighting, of course” the Snake Goddess replied with a playful smile. “The one who wins can take the piece of Gold and Silver Bone for himself.”
She then pointed to the side of the open space, where there was a stone table. On top of the table sat the piece of Gold and Silver Bone that she was referring to. It was most probably salvaged from the Divine River.
It was known that if there was a conflict in the process of salvaging, they needed to solve the dispute through hand-to-hand combat.
The one who won would have the right to claim the items at stake.
“I see that, but that's not my point. I mean, isn't it forbidden to fight in the Flaming Maple Forest?” Zen was further confused.
“It's not forbidden to fight. What's forbidden is the use of energy,” Fuxi corrected him. “Likewise, we won't be attacked by the maple leaves if we just run, jump, and even fight hand-to-hand,” he continued.
Thud! Splat!
Just then, a muffled sound came from afar. One of the two gigantic creatures was seized by the throat. With a sudden mighty pull, his head was completely separated from his body. The more powerful creature smashed the opponent's head to the ground and crushed it. Afterward, the winner raised his hand and roared in front of the rowdy crowd.
“Yes! That's it!”
The crowd burst into loud cheers. They actually enjoyed this kind of scene.
“Fighting hand-to-hand is allowed, huh?” Zen softly uttered as he raised his eyebrows.
“Well, this rule has always been disadvantageous to the human race. There are only few humans who are strong enough to battle those kinds of strong creatures,” Fuxi said indifferently, shrugging his shoulders.
Even if the humans were lucky enough to spot a precious item in the Divine River, this would always be taken by the Other Shore creatures because they didn't have the strength to fight them.
On the other hand, the Yellow Thearch and the Divine Farmer were protected by the Element Spirit Civilization, so they had the advantage in this area. After all, a large number of Other Shore creatures followed the Element Spirit Civilization.