“Maybe another lair was destroyed and the lucky survivors are moving to this one?” Xiaoxiao speculated after hearing him.
He smiled and shook his head: “A corpse lair can’t be found so easily. Plus, it is virtually impossible for one to be breached, let alone destroyed. Unless it is a powerful legion of an emperor, even an ordinary imperial lineage wouldn’t be able to attack a large number of lairs in the Divine Tree Ridge.”
With a flash in her eyes, she thought of another possibility and excitedly spoke: “Didn’t you say corpses like to be around alchemy ingredients? Maybe there is an immortal medicine inside this valley.”
“You wish!” He played with her little nose and said: “Even if the ridge has immortal medicines, they don’t want to live with the corpses. Plus, even when it is a willing cohabitation, these medicines would be occupied by extremely powerful treecorpses, the others can’t have any part in it.”
“Then why are there so many running here?” She felt disappointed after Li Qiye poured a bucket of cold water over her idea.
“Wait and see. Look, people are attacking right now. Let’s watch to see how they will die.” He chuckled while looking at the valley.
In fact, many cultivators that were waiting outside were very curious about the large number of treecorpses gathering here.
Some had the same idea as Ye Xiaoxiao and blurted: “There might be an immortal medicine in there that is attracting all of these corpses!”
“Immortal medicine!” Everyone became spirited after realizing this possibility. Next, their eyes lit up with unrestrainable excitement and even greed. Saliva was on the verge of dripping down.
One cultivator swallowed and said: “There’s a high chance for an immortal medicine to be here. Why else would all of these corpses come here? If it really is an immortal medicine, then we’re about to be rich.”
“Kill our way in!” A different group reacted faster and immediately took action to beat the others inside.
“Kill!” The others saw that group take the initiative and didn't want to be outdone. They roared and rushed in as well.
“Kill them all!” The ambushing cultivators outside of the valley chose a direct attack and issued battle cries. Everyone scrambled inside, unwilling to be the last one in.
An immortal medicine was too tempting for any cultivator. They would be instantly rich and on the rise after obtaining one.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Long roots suddenly shot out from the ground like snakes. Some also flew out like arrows.
The treecorspes have finally attacked. These were formidable attacks with a power that shouldn’t be underestimated.
As Li Qiye had said before, even though treecorpses were soulless, they were the favorite children at the Divine Tree Ridge and had been granted protection. Despite the lack of cultivation, they were still instinctively powerful.
“Ah!” A burst of screams resounded shortly after. Some cultivators were pierced by the vines and dragged into the ground with seeds entering their foreheads.
“Kill them!” A few people noticed that their companions were being invaded by the seeds and were about to transform into withered. They shouted in horror and quickly destroyed the corpses.
“Ah!” Many seeds the size of sesame seeds sprung out from the ground. Some cultivators’ blood fell onto these seeds, causing them to immediately shoot for the forehead. The cultivators couldn’t dodge in time and were immediately infected.
One cultivator fell to the ground and convulsed as cracking sounds came from all over his body. At the same time, his scream before death echoed across the valley, instilling fear into all the shuddering listeners.
“This is horrible.” Xiaoxiao was startled to see a living cultivator being infected then killed.
Li Qiye didn’t find this surprising at all and insipidly explained: “Locations with a lot of treecorpses will have more seeds. These seeds will be much stronger and ferocious. On the other hand, the seeds near the locations of the withered won’t attack people. They would wait until you are dead before drilling into your forehead.”
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” The sizzling of fire came about. A treecorpse actually spewed out a blazing flame towards the cultivator.
Some of them used fire while others preferred ice for an assault. Some cultivators were frozen completely.
Xiaoxiao was a bit dumbfounded to see this and asked Li Qiye: “Didn’t you say the treecorpses don’t cultivate? Aren’t they using merit laws right now?”
“No, this is just part of their nature.” Li Qiye shook his head: “They were born with these types of fire and ice.”
“How can that be?” She was stunned again. If a cultivator could be born with these natural gifts, wouldn’t they be exceedingly powerful in the future?
“This is all thanks to their parents.” Li Qiye elaborated: “The marks of the living cultivators still remain after the transformation process of the first generation. For example, when the corpse was alive, they might have cultivated an ice art. Because of this, when the first generation took over, they would pass on the mark of this cultivator to the second generation, allowing them to have this innate gift of ice.”
“So it’s like that.” She murmured: “Doesn’t that mean a successful second generation capable of cultivating would be immensely powerful?”
He flatly responded: “Definitely, but it is also bad in a sense. All in all, the cons outweigh the pros. There’s no need to be envious, such innate gifts aren’t necessarily a good thing.”
“Why not?” She found this surprising.
“It is precisely because the first generation carries the mark of the host that the second generation can’t be successful.” He explained: “Even a successful second generation with a soul and natural gift of ice has a negative prospect. This is because these are marks that belong to a different race, not the withered. To a certain extent, it reduces the intelligence of these second generations.”
He paused for a bit before continuing: “At the same time, due to these foreign marks, even if the second generation could cultivate, they would be alienated from the dao. Their foundation at the start is too convoluted and needlessly complicated, making it easy for them to suffer qi deviation.”
Li Qiye had studied the withered from one generation to another. He had absolute authority in this field; no one in the nine worlds understood this race more than him.
“But there are the same as interracial marriages in Heaven Spirit.” Ye Xiaoxiao asked: “There are no problems there. Sometimes, the bloodlines would become even more powerful. For example, charming spirits and humans would allow for an easier reproduction of the spirits’ bloodline.”
“That’s a different scenario.” Li Qiye shook his head: “The marriage between those two races is a type of bloodline fusion. Meanwhile, the first generation relies on corpses to come into being. They can’t fuse with marks from other races. Because of this, the remnant marks do not belong to them, so they can’t integrate it into their own blood.”
“Ah, I see.” Her understanding of the withered grew deeper after this explanation.
“Ah!” More screams echoed across the valley. At this time, the battle has come to an end. This group of cultivators overestimated their abilities and were wiped out before being able to penetrate the valley. All of them were turned into first generation withered after death.
“Let’s go inside now.” Li Qiye chuckled after seeing this scene and said: “We’ll take a look at what they are doing.”
In the blink of an eye, the duo went inside and was immediately met with aggression from the treecorpses.
Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but say: “Should, should I prepare or something? It would be bad if a seed drills into my forehead….” She felt nauseous after recalling the scene of a living person turning into a withered.
Li Qiye laughed and replied: “Don’t worry, even the most powerful seed wouldn’t dare to touch you since you have the supreme bloodline. You are completely untouchable at the Divine Tree Ridge. Your blood will absolutely crush them!”