Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 725 The Mysterious Tree and the Haunted Land
Although the masked sorcerers surrounding the abyss were all trembling with fear, not one of them retreated or fled.

The red-robed wizard stood nearby, watching them intently. Anyone who dared to run away would surely die, while those dragged into the abyss by the eerie vines might have a chance of survival if they were lucky.

"What are you afraid of?"

The red-robed wizard snorted coldly, his ferocious expression revealing a hysterical fanaticism. He spread his arms and waved them, saying, "To be able to enter the Holy Land is an unparalleled honor and opportunity!"

The masked sorcerers around the abyss didn't dare to utter a sound, but they were all thinking to themselves, "What do you mean by supreme glory and opportunity? If it's so good, why don't you just jump down on your own?"

Fortunately, the vines, resembling malevolent dragons and venomous pythons, quickly retreated back into the abyss. Then, a surge of malevolent energy surged, carrying the abyss underground and disappearing. Subsequently, the Circular Mound Altar reappeared intact.

Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

The red-robed wizard took a deep look at the altar, then closed his eyes, released his magical energy, and searched the surroundings, but still found nothing.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, sighed regretfully, and then called to the remaining Nuo masked shamans, "Let's go!"

Only at this moment did the Nuo masked shamans breathe a sigh of relief and follow the red-robed shaman as they left the palace that was used specifically for worshipping ancestors and gods.

On the other side, Shang Lu's divine sense followed the Shadow Gu and successfully entered the interior of Wushan.

To be precise, we entered a secret realm.

Shang Lu now possesses considerable experience in exploring secret realms. The moment Ying Gu entered the strange abyss, he sensed something was amiss—space and time within the abyss were distorted and shifting.

This situation often occurs at the boundary between reality and the secret realm.

Soon, the distortion and chaos of space and time stabilized. Shang Lu's consciousness, along with the Shadow Gu, the Guardian Shaman carried by paper figures and paper sedan chairs, and the Nuo masked shamans who had been captured by vines, fell into a huge mountain cavity.

Surprisingly, the place wasn't pitch black; instead, countless flames were flickering.

Inside this massive mountain, there were countless torches and bonfires.

Shang Lu keenly observed that the flames burning in these torches and bonfires were not ordinary flames, but special products that had been enhanced with witchcraft and elixirs.

Anyone who has been to a secret realm knows that there are some special rules that exist there, more or less.

By following the rules, one can turn misfortune into good fortune and achieve twice the results with half the effort. Conversely, violating the rules can lead to death.

The torches and bonfires here are clearly man-made, undoubtedly set up by Ba Wang's henchmen to conform to, or even exploit, some rule of this secret realm, allowing them to survive safely here.

"What kind of rules are related to fire?"

Shang Lu quickly looked around and saw that there were many vines in this huge mountain cavity.

These vines are like snakes and dragons; they can move. They fear the flames, yet they keep trying to use their shadows to conceal the firelight.

At the same time, Shang Lu also saw a huge figure standing in the distance of the huge mountain cavity.

From a distance, it looks like a small mountain inside a mountain, at least a hundred meters high!

Not only was Shang Lu looking around, but Wei Wu, who had been carried there by paper figures and paper sedan chairs, also stared wide-eyed in astonishment at his surroundings.

Their intuition told them that this place was extremely dangerous, but the torture instruments and restrictions on their bodies sealed their cultivation, making them unable to move at all. They could only be carried by paper figures and paper sedan chairs, drifting towards that strange little mountain.

The masked shamans who had been dragged into this place by the vines were also pulled towards the eerie hill. They tried to resist, but neither their shamanic energy nor their hand seals and incantations had any effect.

This secret realm seemed to contain some kind of special rule, or something special, capable of devouring witchcraft and magical energy. The masked shamans quickly realized this, ceasing their chanting and instead shouting, "We're on the same side! We're on the same side!"

Shang Lu noticed that, with their screams, vines that had almost completely covered the inside of the mountain surged in from all directions like startled venomous snakes.

It was only because they were afraid of the flames that they didn't rush up and sweep the person away.

But they kept trying to use shadows to cover the firelight around them and to cover them up.

With his extensive experience exploring secret realms, Shang Lu immediately concluded: "The shadow of the vines is dangerous!"

These vines might be like shadow creatures, able to harm the main body through their shadows!
The masked shamans also noticed the vines sweeping in from all sides, and were immediately startled, quickly shutting their mouths and daring not to make any more noise.

Unfortunately, it was too late; more and more vines surged in from all directions.

In an instant, they were like prey that had fallen into a snake's nest, attracting the snakes to come out in full force.

The Nuo masked shaman knew he had committed a terrible crime. Just as they were panicking and at a loss, a thunderous roar suddenly rang out, not only making everyone's ears hurt, but also shaking the space inside the mountain.

"Fools! Who gave you permission to make such a racket in the Holy Land?!"

With this angry shout, streaks of lightning appeared in the space, striking the vines surrounding the group.

The deafening roar continued, and bursts of fire erupted everywhere.

Under the threat of thunder and fire, the vines that had swept towards the crowd retreated rapidly, like receding waves, several times faster than when they arrived.

The masked shamans breathed a sigh of relief, but soon they were filled with panic again—the vines that were dragging them did not retreat, but instead sped up, dragging them toward the small hill in the center.

The paper figures and paper sedan chairs also sped up at this moment.

When Wei Wu was carried over by paper figures and a paper sedan chair, Shang Lu finally saw Xiao Shan's true appearance.

That wasn't a small hill at all, but a towering giant tree!
The roots of the giant tree were all exposed outside the soil, intertwined like giant pythons.

If you look closely, you can also find countless corpses hidden among the intertwined root systems.

These corpses included not only human remains, but also many strange beasts and monsters.

This place seemed to be a huge and terrifying cemetery!

The pokeweed's gaze followed the root system to the trunk of the giant tree.

The trunk was extremely wide; otherwise, the pokeweed wouldn't have mistaken it for a small mountain. However, the trunk didn't grow straight up; instead, it meandered and twisted. It was precisely this shape that made its size appear exceptionally enormous.

This winding and twisting plant shape is something I've only ever seen in artificially created bonsai.

Could this towering tree have been altered by human intervention?

Shang Lu was surprised when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

He saw the Rat on the Hunt and Lü Yang, and he also saw the Great Sage!

(End of this chapter)