Chapter 1156: The European Emperor

Zu An: "..."He couldn't believe he was being looked down upon by a tree.

Sensing his change in expression, the fiery tree quickly said, "Don't... don't do anything rash. If you don't accept my terms, I'll just take us all down together."

Zu An was amused. "You can take me down with you?"

Hearing the disbelief in his voice, the fiery tree replied, "This is a mine. I've heard the miners say it's full of highly flammable gas, so open flames are forbidden. If you provoke me, I'll ignite the entire mine, and none of you will survive."

Zu An and Yu Yanluo's expressions changed instantly. Especially Yu Yanluo; this mine was the lifeblood of the Yu family, and she couldn't possibly allow it to be destroyed.

"But you're usually burning like this. Why hasn't it exploded?" Zu An asked suspiciously.

"I can absorb those gases and burn them slowly, rather than causing an immediate explosion... If you push me too far, I'll stop caring and just detonate it," the fiery tree replied.

Zu An was speechless. "You speak so fluently. I'm starting to wonder if there's a person hidden inside you."

"I'm a flower! I've just been here for so, so long, listening to the miners talk, and I learned from them," the fiery tree said, shrugging its branches.

"You just said you were a tree," Zu An muttered, a dark line forming on his forehead. He was genuinely worried about the tree's threat of mutual destruction. "Alright, answer one more question, and I'll let you go."

"Okay, okay, ask away!" Hearing that its life was spared, the fiery tree immediately perked up, its body rising a few inches higher than before.

"Where did that scale-mimicking death worm come from? And when did it appear?" Zu An asked. Since the tree had been there for so long, it should know about these things.

"That's two questions," the fiery tree said, putting its branches on its 'hips' as if annoyed.

Zu An didn't say anything; he simply revealed the Tai'a Sword in his hand.

The fiery tree was quick to understand and immediately changed its tone. "You mean that ugly worm emitting black gas, right? I've never seen it in all my years here. It seems to have appeared about ten days or half a month ago. A spatial rift opened deep in the mine, and it crawled out from there."

"A spatial rift?" Zu An was startled. Could that strange worm have come from another world?

In a sense, the secret realms he had visited over the years were also other worlds. However, it was usually humans entering other worlds; it was rare to hear of fierce beasts coming *from* other worlds.

"This is troublesome. If these strange worms keep pouring out, it could lead to widespread devastation," Yu Yanluo said, worried. This was Cloud County, and it was her Yu family's mine. Having been there for so many years, she naturally developed feelings for everything in it.

The fiery tree explained, "That spatial rift isn't very stable. For a being as powerful as it to come through was already the limit. For now, no other creatures of the same level should be able to pass. But if enough time passes and the rift stabilizes, then who knows?"

Zu An looked at it suspiciously. "Are you really a tree?"

The fiery tree straightened its 'body'. "When you live long enough, you naturally learn a lot."

Yu Yanluo, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Why didn't that strange worm come and eat you?"

"Do you have no common sense? That strange worm isn't a vegetarian. Moreover, it prefers darkness and doesn't like my bright environment, so we keep to ourselves," the fiery tree replied.

Zu An was amused. "You really like to flatter yourself."

While the tree's strength was decent, it paled in comparison to the strange worm.

"Keeping to ourselves," it said, like him claiming he and Kobe combined for 81 points.

The fiery tree turned its crown to the other side, completely ignoring his remark.

"Where is that spatial rift?" Zu An's joking mood faded.

"How many questions is that now?" the fiery tree said, quite displeased. But after being glared at, it reluctantly answered, "I'm not entirely sure of the exact location, but I can sense it in that direction, about twenty li away by your human calculations."

Zu An and Yu Yanluo exchanged glances. "We need to find a way to seal that spatial rift."

Yu Yanluo agreed, but frowned. "But the death worm's strength is far beyond ours. Going there would just be suicide."

"Have you forgotten there's someone else?" Zu An said.

Yu Yanluo's eyes lit up. "You mean Yan Xuehen?"

But her expression quickly darkened. "But if she sees us, she'll probably kill us first."

"She won't kill us," Zu An said, his expression odd. He wondered how long the Golden Phoenix's effect would last, but surely it wouldn't wear off so quickly. "Besides, since she considers herself a member of a righteous sect and takes it upon herself to protect the common people, if we tell her what we know, she'll surely understand the gravity of the situation."

"Alright," Yu Yanluo agreed with his reasoning. Although Yan Xuehen was a bit fierce, even she wouldn't doubt the other's character.

Just then, the two sensed something amiss nearby. They looked up to see the fiery tree crawling out of the ground. Its dense roots had split into two segments, like a pair of legs, and it was already scurrying away into the distance.

Seeing that they had noticed, it shouted as it ran, "Don't chase me, or we'll both go down!"

As it spoke, it flicked the flames on its branches.

In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the distance.

Zu An: "..."Yu Yanluo: "..."

Today was certainly an eye-opener. Encountering a talking tree was one thing, but this thing could actually run away?

"Did I just imagine that?" Yu Yanluo asked, incredulous.

"That darn tree tricked us," Zu An said, frustrated. Now that it had run off, the previous agreement to nourish the Wuyang Jade was naturally off the table.

Yu Yanluo suppressed a smile. "Don't worry, even if it ran away, it must still be within this mine. Its growth requires such a massive ore vein. We can just take our time to find it later."

Zu An nodded. "True, it at least gave us a lot of useful information today. Let's get ready first, then go find Yan Xuehen."

After speaking, he began collecting items nearby, eventually finding 19 pieces of Wuyang Jade, which was more than enough for Daji to break through to the seventh rank.

After gathering them, he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he said to Yu Yanluo, "I need to do something. Please stand guard for me."

Yu Yanluo simply assumed he needed to meditate and didn't suspect anything. "Alright!"

As she spoke, she summoned the Thousand-Mile Mountain and Sea Map to protect them, staying vigilant for any potential dangers.

Zu An sat down cross-legged and began to tally his rage points accumulated during this period.

He had faced numerous dangers before, using up all his trump cards. Now, to deal with the terrifying death worm, he couldn't miss any opportunity to increase his strength.

Even if he couldn't draw a skill, getting some red potions or similar items would be good.

Total rage points!He could draw nearly 3,000 times in total.

He secretly wished, "If there are gods or Buddhas in this world, please bless me. After all, I'm about to go save the world; you can't just stand by and do nothing!"

Soon, the lottery began, and the cursor spun rapidly across the keyboard.

"Thank you for your patronage" kept appearing, along with vitality fruits, but suddenly his breathing quickened.

Because the cursor stopped on the letter 'Z'!

He got a skill!

Zu An was somewhat incredulous. He had been prepared to only draw some potions this time, so he hadn't expected to get a precious skill.

Just as he was about to check which skill he had drawn, the cursor automatically continued moving to begin the next draws.

*Ding!*

Before long, it stopped on the letter 'H'.

A double yolk?

Zu An had never imagined that he would draw two skills at once!

Aside from the beginner's bonus, he had never experienced such good luck before.

He quickly checked what skills he had drawn.

First, he looked at the 'Z' key.

Congratulations! You have drawn the "Enemy of Zhang San" skill.

Skill Description: In a certain time and space, there was an outlaw named Zhang San who always found loopholes in the law to evade justice. A powerful legal expert, unable to bear it any longer, sought ways to bring him to justice. After much hardship, the expert finally succeeded, convicting Zhang San for the first time in history. However, Zhang San quickly found new loopholes and regained his freedom. The expert continued to seek ways to convict him, and Zhang San continued to escape conviction, a cycle that repeated... Thus, the expert earned the title "Enemy of Zhang San."

Effect: Upon activating this skill, any person named Zhang San within your line of sight will be immobilized for one second. After one second, the target will return to normal.

Do you wish to store it in your inventory? You can retrieve it by pressing 'Z' with your mind.

Zu An: "???"

What the heck? What's the point of this useless skill?!