Avenue Stowaway

Kong Fang clasped his hands in front of his chest, squinted his eyes, and carefully observed this "ancient tree" that might have been formed by the shape-shifting vine.

"It is very difficult for plant life to cultivate and become a demon. The biggest difficulty for them is that it is difficult to develop spiritual intelligence. If they cannot develop spiritual intelligence, even if they can live for tens of thousands of years, they cannot cultivate and become a demon. Among the many kinds of plant life, there are some very special ones. They are born like other demon beasts and can easily develop spiritual intelligence and thus start cultivation. The shape-changing vine is one of these special plant life forms."

The lifespan of plant life is very long, especially for those who have cultivated into demons. Some powerful forces with deep foundations like to cultivate such powerful demon beasts. One of the reasons is that the long lifespan of plant life means that plant life can guard the force for a long time. Another reason is the natural characteristics of plant life. These lives like to be quiet and unwilling to move around. They often stay in one place for thousands of years. In terms of defense, plant life also has a strong advantage.

Kong Fang frowned even more deeply. "If it is a shape-shifting vine, judging from the ancient aura it exudes, it should have awakened its intelligence long ago and cultivated into a demon. But there is no demonic aura on it at all. Moreover, it was found and placed here, which does not seem like it has intelligence, otherwise how could such a thing happen."

"Could it be that I guessed wrong, and this is not a shape-shifting vine at all?" The more Kong Fang thought about it, the more confused he became. This 'ancient tree' did look very much like the shape-shifting vine recorded in the Records of Rare Treasures, but its current condition made Kong Fang unable to be sure whether his guess was correct.

At this time, Jiang Mengchen bought a strange-looking dark green seedling from a street stall, and then stood on the side of the street again, not even moving towards the stall. If Ziqing hadn't stayed here, Jiang Mengchen would have turned around and left this very dangerous place.

However, if he left at this time, Ziqing would inevitably look down on him, and it would be more difficult for him to pursue Ziqing in the future. Jiang Mengchen stood here with his head held high. Of course, this was also because Jiang Mengchen found that the person in the dark had only dealt with him once. After that, there was no more movement, so he dared to continue standing here.

"A Luo, go take care of Young Master Jiang." Ziqing told the maid. Jiang Mengchen was fine now and didn't need anyone to take care of him. Ziqing said this to let the maid give up her position to Kong Fang. The maid listened to Jiang Mengchen and didn't give up her position, which made Ziqing a little unhappy. Her maid didn't listen to her.

But Jiang Mengchen changed drastically afterwards, and Ziqing didn't bother to scold the maid. So the maid pretended to forget what Ziqing said and still occupied a seat.

At this time, Ziqing found that Kong Fang was still standing behind her maid, and she couldn't help but frowned and said something to the maid.

"Just now, Jiang Mengchen suddenly suffered great pain. It must be related to the stall owner and this mysterious monk. No matter which one of them it is, it is better not to provoke them if possible." Ziqing knew very well that since the other party could punish Jiang Mengchen secretly, he could naturally punish them as well.

In Luofeng City, the most taboo thing is to provoke a mysterious strongman. Because you don't know whether it will bring a terrifying enemy to your family. This kind of thing has happened in the history of Luofeng City. On the contrary, it has not only happened. It is also a major event that shocked all forces.

In fact, when Luofeng City was just built, it was not the two major sects and four major families that ruled Luofeng City, but five major families. Since its construction, Luofeng City's fame has spread rapidly, attracting many cultivators to come here. The arrival of countless cultivators has made Luofeng City more and more prosperous.

The two major sects and the five major families also benefited greatly from Luofeng City, which made the confidence of the seven forces swell to a very terrifying level in just one or two hundred years. The disciples also became more and more arrogant and domineering, completely treating Luofeng City as their own backyard.

Later, a member of the Chunhuo family, one of the five major families, provoked a very terrifying existence in Luofeng City. The mysterious strong man would not have been so hostile to a small cultivator, and after the other party provoked him, he only punished him slightly. However, the member of the Chunhuo family felt insulted and was unwilling to swallow his anger, so he returned to the family and asked some elders to help him.

In the past one or two hundred years, the confidence of the seven forces had swelled to a very crazy level. Suddenly, they were bullied by outsiders in their own territory. Without even knowing the strength of the opponent, the elders immediately took action. This was a big deal. In a rage, the strong man killed all those who came to retaliate on the street.

How could the Chunhuo family let it go when so many of their own people were killed? So the situation quickly evolved to a more terrifying level. The strong man was so furious that he broke into the Chunhuo family alone and uprooted the entire Chunhuo family with his own strength.

From then on, the number of forces controlling Luofeng City decreased from seven to six. In that battle, the Chunhuo family was destroyed, and the remaining two major sects and four major families were all frightened. They were immediately awakened and hurriedly took the initiative to apologize, fearing that they would be implicated.

Since then, the six forces have formulated strict rules, which led to the current Luofeng City. Therefore, even though Jiang Mengchen came from the Jiang family, one of the six major forces, he did not dare to act recklessly in Luofeng City, because the consequences were simply something he could not bear.

A Luo was obviously frightened by Jiang Mengchen's previous situation. She didn't dare to talk back at this time and hurriedly walked towards Jiang Mengchen who was standing on the street. During this process, she didn't dare to look at Kong Fang.

Someone in front gave up his place, so Kong Fang walked up. Being closer to the stall, he could observe this strange "ancient tree" more closely.

Seeing that Kong Fang was also interested in this "ancient tree", the middle-aged stall owner immediately showed joy on his face. It was a good thing for him that someone was fighting for it, and he could sell it for a higher price.

"Fellow Daoist, do you also want this ancient tree?" asked the middle-aged stall owner with a smile.

Kong Fang shook his head slightly. "If the girl doesn't want it, I will consider it, but if she plans to buy it, how can I take away someone else's love? After all, she chose it first."

A trace of disappointment flashed across the stall owner's eyes. He wanted to take the opportunity to raise the price, but it seemed that he couldn't do it. Ziqing turned to Kong Fang and nodded with a smile, and she couldn't help but feel a little fond of Kong Fang.

The stall owner looked at Ziqing. "You've been looking here for a long time, and you should have made a decision. Do you want this ancient tree?"

Ten million is really not a small sum, and Ziqing cannot afford it financially. But when she saw this "ancient tree", she was attracted by the ancient atmosphere that it exuded.

"I want it." Ziqing gritted her teeth and made up her mind, but then she looked at the middle-aged stall owner awkwardly, pursed her lips slightly, and said very embarrassedly: "Well. I don't have so much green gold on me now, can you wait for me for a while? I'll ask Luo to go back and get some money quickly."

The stall owner did not answer, but glanced at Kong Fang. He found that although Kong Fang was observing the 'ancient tree', his expression was very calm, and it was obvious that he was not very interested in the 'ancient tree'. Since no one was fighting for it, the stall owner would not be a bad guy, so he nodded and said, "Okay, but don't make me wait too long."

"Don't worry, fellow Daoist." Zi Qing smiled and turned to the green-clothed woman and said, "A Luo, it's too late to go back to the family now. Take my token to the Treasure House and borrow 4 million green gold from it first. Tell the manager of the Treasure House. I will pay back the money as soon as I return to the family."

As Ziqing spoke, a purple token with cloud patterns appeared in her hand. On one side of the token was engraved the word "Zi" and on the other side was the word "Qing".

When the stall owner saw the token in Ziqing's hand, his eyes narrowed slightly, "So it's the Zi family among the four major families. The Zi family is stronger than the Jiang family. No wonder this kid surnamed Jiang is following us and showing us his courtesy." The stall owner glanced at the three of them and regained his composure.

No matter whether it is the two major sects or the four major families, they will not mess around in Luofeng City. The stall owner is naturally not afraid of these people from the six forces, otherwise he would not have said that about Jiang Mengchen before.

Seeing Ziqing took out her token, Jiang Mengchen was a little surprised. The next moment, Jiang Mengchen understood that Ziqing must not have brought enough money. Although their status was not low, there were also many young men in their families, which meant that each person would not get much money. To be able to take out millions of green gold, one needs to accumulate more in normal times, otherwise it would be amazing to be able to take out hundreds of thousands of green gold.

Jiang Mengchen waved his hand to stop Luo from turning around and leaving, and said to Ziqing: "How much do you need? If I have enough, Luo wouldn't have to make an extra trip."

"Isn't this a bit bad?" Ziqing hesitated.

Jiang Mengchen smiled indifferently, "What's wrong with this? Tell me how much you still need. If even with mine, it's still not enough, then Luo will still have to make a trip."

"I still need four million!" Ziqing said embarrassedly. It was indeed too much to lend others four million at once.

Jiang Mengchen smiled, "What a coincidence, I just happened to have a little over four million on me."

Ziqing got enough money, and happily handed the storage ring to the stall owner, who took it and quickly counted it. Fortunately, with the power of the soul, he could tell how much there was by just scanning it, which was very convenient.

Kong Fang, who was frowning as he looked at the 'ancient tree', suddenly had his eyes light up, "This is indeed a shape-shifting vine, but I don't know why it has changed. I don't know if it was caused by humans or if it has changed on its own."

Kong Fang was not enthusiastic about the shapeshifting vine. He had just embarked on the path of cultivation and could not settle down in a short period of time. He did not need this defensive tree demon. In addition, even if he really chose a plant life that could suppress the essence, Kong Fang would not choose the shapeshifting vine. Among the known plant life, the shapeshifting vine was also very precious, but it was not the best.

Kong Fang's eyes fell on the junction of the second branch on the left side of the Transformation Vine and the trunk. There was a piece of slightly gray bark there. The whole ancient tree was light gray, and this small piece of bark, only the size of a fingernail, was not conspicuous at all. Kong Fang also observed it carefully several times before he found that this area was slightly different.

In fact, even if other people found this place, they would not care. The different colors of the bark are normal. You know, the bark color of the whole shape-changing vine is also dark and light.

"Okay, this ancient tree is yours." The middle-aged stall owner returned the empty storage ring to Ziqing, and pointed to the ancient tree planted in the wooden barrel with a smile on his face.

It is very rare that an ancient tree whose value cannot be determined can be sold for 10 million.

Just when Zi Qing was about to put away the transformation vine and leave, Kong Fang suddenly spoke up, "Do you think this is an ancient tree?" Kong Fang asked a very strange question.

Ziqing looked at Kong Fang in surprise. A'Luo and Jiang Mengchen also looked confused, but after what had happened before, they didn't dare to interrupt easily.

The stall owner also looked at Kong Fang strangely, wondering why Kong Fang suddenly asked such a question. If Ziqing didn't think it was an ancient tree, why would she risk spending 10 million green gold to buy it?

"Yeah!" Ziqing was also very surprised, but still nodded.

Unexpectedly, Kong Fang shook his head and said calmly: "If you really think so, it will definitely not live for more than three hundred years!"

At this moment, several people present were stunned. Just a thought would affect the life of an ancient tree? What a joke!