Published: February 7, 2025
This place used to be guarded by Sister Rong, Xia Bai, and others, but unfortunately now, aside from these two, the women who once protected it have all perished in various battles.
This is the location of the Hypocritical Ghost Tree. Behind it lies an entrance with four wheels, ranging from level 2 to level 5, along with three level 1 wheels outside, forming the most valuable seven-star alignment of Cloud Summit Villa.
Ye Zhongming has always suspected that the celestial tree from his previous life, which occupied a city and was feared even by nine-star experts, evolved from the Hypocritical Ghost Tree. Therefore, he never completely destroyed this mutated plant, opting instead to periodically cut its branches for materials to limit its growth.
However, upon entering, Ye Zhongming displayed a look of astonishment. He discovered that there were over ten Hypocritical Ghost Trees in the underground cave, densely filling the pathways through the four wheels.
A quick glance at the levels revealed that aside from the original tree, which had reached level 4, the others varied between levels 2 and 3.
"What’s going on?"
Xia Lei was busy coordinating affairs at the villa and had asked Liang Chuyin to accompany Ye Zhongming. Seeing the situation, Ye Zhongming turned to the woman behind him with a question.
"Spies, traitors, and those with ulterior motives," Liang Chuyin scoffed, "Not everyone is on our side. Many factions are trying to infiltrate us to gather information and steal intelligence. Especially with the improved potions, magic crystal weapons, and genetic technology; these are highly coveted. If they can't do it openly, they'll come in through the backdoor. Besides direct killings, those captured alive, especially high-level evolvers, are fed to Da Huang, while the low-level ones, which Da Huang disdain, are given to this tree, effectively preventing intrusions."
Ye Zhongming nodded. In the half-year since he left, the people of Cloud Summit had learned to handle such matters. Dealing with these spies and traitors in this way was indeed cruel, but it was merely a difference in approach. Both direct killing and feeding them to the Hypocritical Ghost Tree were forms of life deprivation, yet the psychological impact was drastically different.
"What kinds of people have ulterior motives?"
Ye Zhongming noticed that aside from the level 4 mother tree, the other Hypocritical Ghost Trees were still intact, indicating that the people of Cloud Summit were deliberately doing this.
"There are quite a few, like those who engage in intrigue to get ahead, those who frame their companions, and those who harbor desires towards us women."
"Hmm?" Ye Zhongming chuckled, "Is it not allowed for people to pursue you?"
Liang Chuyin shot an annoyed glance at the oblivious Ye Zhongming before replying, "Do they want to pursue us? The better ones seek to gain wealth and position, trying to shortcut their way into the core of Cloud Summit. The worse ones, like this tree."
She pointed to a level 3 Hypocritical Ghost Tree, adding, "Three months after you left, someone started to aggressively pursue Sister Lei, relying on his looks. His intent was to become the boss of Cloud Summit Villa! Sister Lei exposed his true colors with a little trick and sent him here with all his limbs severed. What else could that be but ulterior motives?"
Such things happened? Ye Zhongming squinted and approached the ghost tree. The branches immediately began to curl around him.
With a casual kick, he sent the ghost tree flying against the cave wall, crushing the core magic crystal part, causing it to convulse twice before dying.
"Then what are we keeping it for?"
After saying this, Ye Zhongming began to inspect the mother Hypocritical Ghost Tree.
Liang Chuyin watched from behind, sticking out her tongue, feeling that the kick was quite impressive.
After checking, it turned out he was looking for signs of the celestial tree’s influence. However, he still found no clues. After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhongming said to Liang Chuyin, "It can be upgraded to level 5 now."