Ch. 1764 - The Bamboofolk

“Oh? You even brought some humans with you. Not bad,” Panda Seven said with a grin.

Panda Sixteen snorted coldly.

“I still remember how you snatched my Black Demon Bamboo last time.”

“That wasn’t stealing. It was fair competition,” Panda Seven replied, shaking his head.

It was clear the two did not get along.

“So what now? Your people go in first, or mine?” Panda Seven asked again.

Panda Sixteen snorted.

“Aren’t you always the one who wants to go first? Then you go ahead.”

Panda Seven did not mind at all.

“You want my people to test the waters for you? Sure, as long as you’re not afraid we’ll get the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo first.”

As he spoke, Panda Seven said something to the humans he had brought along.

The human cultivators nodded in response.

They stepped forward and entered through the iron gate.

The gate offered no resistance. With a light push, it opened.

Once the group entered, the iron gate closed on its own.

“It’s the power of a spatial seal,” Xu Zimo said, frowning slightly.

“Once someone enters, the spatial seal inside this mountain locks everything down. Unless the people inside die. Judging by this, the one who fell here must have been a space-type powerhouse.”

Xu Zimo already had a guess in his mind.

As for Panda Sixteen’s claim that the cultivator inside had stolen the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo from their race, Xu Zimo did not believe it at all.

He did not care what the truth was.

He only wanted the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo and a path into Divine Mountain. That was enough.

Not long after the group entered, screams echoed from within.

Panda Seven glanced at the time.

“Half an hour and they still haven’t come out. Looks like they’re all dead.”

He then turned to Panda Sixteen with a smile.

“Well? Want to send your people in now?”

It was clear that the Iron-Eating Beasts often brought humans here. Death meant little to them.

This was a transaction, nothing more.

Ji Zhan and Ouyang Xiu, however, had gone pale.

“Panda Sixteen, you only said you wanted us to find the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo. You didn’t say it could cost us our lives,” one of them said.

“If there were no danger, why would we need you?” Panda Sixteen replied bluntly.

“That’s enough. I’ll go in and take a look. You two stay outside,” Xu Zimo said, waving his hand.

With Ji Zhan and Ouyang Xiu’s level of strength, entering would only force him to protect them.

Better to leave them outside.

“My lord, be careful,” Ouyang Xiu said.

After Xu Zimo passed through the iron gate, he immediately felt the surrounding space being sealed.

The sealing force was not particularly strong.

With his current strength, he could shatter the seal and leave at any time.

This confirmed his suspicion.

The existence that had fallen here was likely an Infinite Dao cultivator, just like himself.

Beyond the gate lay a grand avenue embedded with countless luminous pearls.

At the center of the avenue, strands of spatial power twisted and shredded everything in their path.

Xu Zimo remained calm.

He stepped onto the avenue, and the spatial shredding power could not harm him in the slightest.

He continued forward and crossed the avenue.

Ahead lay a vast sea of bamboo.

These were not Heavenly Immortal Bamboo, but a mixture of countless bamboo species intertwined together.

There were Purple Radiance Bamboo, Azure Crane Bamboo, Imperial Bamboo, and many others, all of which had developed sentience.

“Another human. These humans really don’t know when to quit, trying to steal Lord Heavenly Immortal Bamboo.”

“That one already said it. Fair competition. Even killing humans is fine.”

“We’ve killed plenty of humans already anyway.”

In an instant, thousands of bamboo stalks began chattering at once, filling the space with noise.

Several bamboo stalks shot into the air, their sharp tips piercing the sky as they attacked Xu Zimo.

Boom!

The bamboo attacked from multiple angles. Xu Zimo shook his head slightly.

With a wave of his hand, overwhelming force shattered the bamboo.

“Brothers, this one’s tough. Attack together,” a bamboo stalk shouted.

But Xu Zimo was faster than all of them.

He raised his right hand. All the spirit energy between heaven and earth surged toward his palm like a whale swallowing the sea, forming a massive hand that blotted out the sky.

Boom.

The giant hand slammed down, stirring storms within the bamboo sea.

Boom, boom, boom.

Countless bamboo stalks collapsed and shattered.

The dense bamboo forest instantly became a vast empty zone.

The sheer power left the bamboo spirits stunned.

“I’m only here for the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo. The rest of you shouldn’t seek your own deaths,” Xu Zimo smiled calmly.

“You’re too weak to stop me.”

“It was those panda brats who brought you here, wasn’t it?” one bamboo asked.

“The Heavenly Immortal Bamboo is the enlightenment sacred bamboo of our clan. It cannot be harmed.”

“That has nothing to do with me,” Xu Zimo replied calmly.

“Name your conditions. What will it take for you to leave?” another bamboo asked.

“I want to meet the one behind you. As for conditions, even if I told you, you couldn’t afford them,” Xu Zimo shook his head.

This situation was becoming interesting.

The Bamboofolk and the Iron-Eating Beast race were natural enemies.

The Iron-Eating Beasts fed on bamboo. Conflict between the two races was inevitable.

Now that the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo had appeared within the Iron-Eating Beasts’ territory, this situation had come to be.

“You cannot let him pass,” one bamboo said firmly.

“If you want to seize the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo, you’ll have to step over our corpses.”

“If you don’t move aside, I don’t mind,” Xu Zimo replied indifferently.

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from deep within the bamboo sea.

“Let him in. Do not stop him.”

As the voice echoed, all the bamboo spirits’ expressions changed.

They knew exactly who was speaking.

“My lord, we can die to defend the honor of the Bamboofolk,” a bamboo cried out.

“Stand down. Invite our guest in for a talk,” the man said again.

Though unwilling, the bamboo spirits parted, creating a narrow path for Xu Zimo.

“The Bamboofolk’s cultivation conditions are indeed blessed by heaven. What a pity…” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head.

The Bamboofolk had too many natural enemies. To truly rise was almost impossible.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Passing through the bamboo sea, Xu Zimo saw a towering mountain ahead.

The mountain itself was not the focus.

Beneath it, a figure was being suppressed.

It was a burly man with long red hair, rough and rugged in appearance.

“Daoist has arrived. Forgive me for being unable to greet you personally in this state,” the man said with a smile.

Xu Zimo looked at the mountain suppressing him.

He said in surprise, “A mountain of edicts. And it’s the edict of strength.”

“That’s right. The Iron-Eating Beasts are truly hateful. With this mountain suppressing me, I fear I’ll never be able to leave,” the red-haired man said.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am King Vast-Sea of the human race.”

“Xu Zimo,” Xu Zimo nodded.

Then he asked directly, “Where is the Heavenly Immortal Bamboo?”

“If the Iron-Eating Beasts offered you terms, we can offer double,” the man said.

“The Heavenly Immortal Bamboo cannot be lost.”

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