Chapter 758: Just Call Your Aunt

The withered hand stopped just inches away from Ye Guan's forehead.

A deafening silence blanketed everyone.

Ye Guan stared at the hand in front of him. It was devoid of any color, looking like it belonged to a dried corpse.

There was no aura emanating from it, but Ye Guan felt a sense of mortal danger just by looking at it. He had never felt this way before.

However, his plain-skirt aunt's intervention made Ye Guan realize that the withered hand was far more terrifying than he could ever imagine.

It was definitely beyond what he could handle.

Meanwhile, Shen Qi's expression was solemn as she stared at the Path Sword above Ye Guan.

Her heart was in turmoil. She couldn't believe that the mere sight of the Path Sword alone was enough to instill a deep sense of despair in her heart.

How is this possible?

Shen Qi was both shocked and in disbelief.

Just then, the withered hand retreated, and the sense of mortal danger that gripped Ye Guan's heart vanished. The previous calm then returned as if nothing had happened.

Ye Guan looked at the Daogu Tree in front of him. The tree was coming back to life; some of its leaves were even starting to turn green.

Clearly, it was only a matter of time before it was fully revived.

However, Ye Guan's brows were knitted as he stared at the reviving tree.

Shen Qi's brows were knitted as well, but it wasn't because of the anomaly just now. She knew about the withered hand, but the sword that had appeared earlier was truly beyond her expectations.

A single sword had somehow suppressed the entire Daogu Tree!

Shen Qi suddenly understood why Ye Guan was daring enough to confront the Forest Civilization head-on.

Ye Guan asked, "Little White, can you communicate with this Daogu Tree?"

Little White looked at the Daogu Tree and nodded slightly. She waved her tiny paw, and an apparition emerged from the tree.

Ye Guan couldn't clearly see the apparition's features, but he knew one thing for sure. He was staring at the Daogu Tree's spirit!

Ye Guan could feel it just by looking at the apparition.

"Hello, can we talk?" Ye Guan asked.

"Sure," the Daogu Tree's spirit responded, "What do you want to talk about?"

Ye Guan smiled and said, "How about we talk about the Forest Civilization?"

Boom!

A terrifying pressure pervaded the surroundings, eliciting a frown from Ye Guan.

Little White pointed her tiny paw at the Daogu Tree Spirit and waved it rapidly. She was clearly displeased with the spirit's display of hostility.

Little Pagoda's voice echoed just then. "Let me translate her words for you. Little White is telling you that if you dare to show any more hostility, she'll devour you. It's not a joke; she's definitely going to do it."

The Daogu Tree Spirit was silent for a few moments before the pressure acting on Ye Guan disappeared.

Shen Qi laughed and said, "Daogu Tree, I think you're mistaken. We're not from the Forest Civilization. Besides, this Spirit Progenitor is your benefactor. You can choose to be ungrateful, but you shouldn't be hostile to your benefactor."

Little White looked at Shen Qi and waved her tiny paw rapidly.

Shen Qi blinked and said, "Thank you."

Ye Guan was a little shocked. "You understand her gestures?"

Shen Qi shook her head and replied, "No, but I know she must be praising me."

Little White. "..."

Ye Guan. "..."

The Daogu Tree Spirit no longer showed any hostility, but it remained silent.

"Let's go," said Ye Guan with a smile in the face of the Daogu Tree Spirit's silence. He then pulled Little White with him and turned around to leave.

Shen Qi glanced at the Daogu Tree and said, "Your injury isn't completely healed, is it? Do you really think that someone else in this world can help you except for that Spirit Progenitor? I'm sure you know that more than me, so how come you're showing hostility toward them? What a fool..."

With that, Shen Qi turned around and left.

The Daogu Tree Spirit asked, "What did you just call me?"

Shen Qi blinked and said, "I said that you're smart."

She immediately ran away, chasing after Ye Guan and Little White.

Swoosh!

The Daogu Tree Spirit suddenly appeared in front of Ye Guan and Little White. The apparition became tangible, transforming into a woman dressed in a green dress made out of leaves. The woman had long dark blue hair, and her eyes were notably devoid of any emotions.

Ye Guan looked at her without saying anything.

The Daogu Tree asked, "What do you want to know?"

Ye Guan responded, "I heard from Lady Shen Qi that you're the reason behind the Forest Civilization's current level of strength."

"That's right."

"So you're not from the Forest Civilization?"

"No."

"Where are you from?"

"The Gui Yan Era."

"Never heard of that."

Shen Qi chimed in, "The Gui Yan Civilization."

The Daogu Tree glanced at Shen Qi, but she didn't say anything.

Ye Guan was somewhat surprised. "Lady Shen Qi, you've heard about the Gui Yan Civilization?"

Shen Qi smiled and explained, "The Gui Yan Civilization was a civilization that existed before the Shen Zhi Civilization. Apparently, a Universe Tribulation had destroyed it, but I'm not entirely sure whether that's true or not."

Shen Qi glanced sideways at the Daogu Tree Spirit once she was done speaking.

The Daogu Tree Spirit shook her head and replied, "It wasn't a Universe Tribulation. We were invaded by another civilization."

Shen Qi's eyes narrowed. "What civilization?"

The Daogu Tree remained silent, but her expression unconsciously turned grim.

Ye Guan asked, "Was it the Gui Zhe Civilization?"

The Daogu Tree looked at him, slightly bewildered. "You know the Gui Zhe Civilization?"

Ye Guan nodded. "I know them."

The Daogu Tree's expression turned strange.

"What?" Ye Guan said with a smile.

"The Gui Zhe Civilization is a Tier Four civilization, and they're located extremely far away from here. With your current level of strength, there's no way you'll reach them even if you spend your entire life traversing the vast expanse. So how could you possibly have heard of them?" the Daogu Tree asked.

Shen Qi was curious as well. She knew some bits of pieces of information about the Gui Zhe Civilization, but she was surprised to learn that Lord Ye had heard of them.

Ye Guan replied, "I know them, but I'm not familiar with them at all. Lady Daogu, was your Gui Yan Civilization destroyed by the Gui Zhe Civilization?"

"No," replied the Daogo Tree with a shake of her head. "It's the Tianxing Civilization. They're a terrifying civilization that specializes in plundering other civilizations."

Tianxing Civilization?

Ye Guan frowned, and then he asked, "Who is stronger, the Tianxing Civilization or the Gui Zhe Civilization?"

"The Tianxing Civilization is a Tier Five civilization," the Daogu Tree replied, "From what we know back then, a massive war once erupted between the Gui Zhe Civilization and the Tianxing Civilization. In the end, the Gui Zhe Civilization was defeated, but they were not annihilated for some reason."

After a moment of silence, Ye Guan asked, "Can you tell me what tier the Guanxuan Civilization belongs to?"

"How strong are you in your civilization?"

"I am a top-tier supreme elite in my civilization!"

"Then, your Guanxuan Civilization is a trash civilization that's not even worth mentioning in the vast expanse."

Ye Guan's expression froze.

"

Pfft!

" Shen Qi couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Wait," the Daogu Tree seemed to have recalled something just then, and she asked, "Was she from the Guanxuan Civilization? I'm talking about the person who stopped me from killing you just now."

Ye Guan nodded. "Yes."

The Daogu Tree frowned immediately. "If that's the case, then how can you shamelessly claim to be a top-tier supreme elite in your civilization?"

Ye Guan was at a loss for words.

Shen Qi quickly chimed in, "Daogu Tree, if that woman is from the Guanxuan Civilization, then what tier does their civilization belong to?"

The Daogu Tree was silent for a few moments before muttering, I don't know..."

Shen Qi asked, "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know if that sword strike just now was a casual strike or an all-out strike," the Daogu Tree explained, "In other words, I don't know the limits of her strength, so I can't make an accurate judgement. However, I'm sure that the strength of that sword has surpassed the limits of the experts in a Tier Three Civilization, and it's all because our Gui Yan Civilization was a Tier Three civilization."

The Daogu Tree stared at Ye Guan, clearly wanting to know whether that woman's sword strike was a casual one or an all-out one.

Shen Qi stared at Ye Guan as well, curious about the true strength of Ye Guan's aunt.

"I'm not sure of her exact strength, either. I just know that she never needs a second sword move."

The Daogu Tree asked, "Can I meet her?"

Ye Guan shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible for the time being."

The Daogu Tree looked disappointed.

Ye Guan then asked, "How about the? What tier does the Forest Civilization belong to?"

The Daogu Tree's expression immediately turned cold at the mention of the Forest Civilization.

Ye Guan's curiosity was piqued by the sight, and he couldn't help but ask, "Did something unpleasant happen between you and them?"

The Daogu Tree remained silent for a long time before she replied, "My circumstances are a bit special, so I managed to escape the destruction of our Gui Yan Civilization. I drifted across the universe for millions of years before arriving in this remote area. Then, I encountered the denizens here. I thought one of them was pretty decent, so I taught him martial arts. With my help, he became a powerful expert, and he spearheaded the rise of their civilization..."

"Did he betray you later on?" Ye Guan inquired further.

The Daogu Tree nodded and said, "Human ambition and greed truly have no bounds. He took advantage of my trust in him to ambush me, forcibly absorbing all my spiritual power..."

The Daogu Tree's expression became fierce at the end of her recount.

Ye Guan fell silent. He truly didn't expect that the Forest Civilization's origins were indeed linked to the Daogu Tree—no, to the Gui Yan Civilization.

Shen Qi asked, "How come he didn't kill you?"

"Well, he wanted to kill me, but he had no idea that I had a special life-saving technique. The technique allowed me to survive, but I was severely injured and fell into a deep coma until now I was revived by this Spirit Progenitor today."

She looked at Little White, who was propped on Ye Guan's shoulder, and said sincerely, "Thank you."

Little White waved her tiny paw in a dismissive way. She still didn't like the Daogu Tree, as she had tried to kill Ye Guan earlier.

"They're coming back," Ye Guan remarked.

The Daogu Tree asked, "Coming back?"

"Yes," Ye Guan said with a nod.

"The person who owns that sword earlier... who is she to you?"

"She's my aunt."

"In that case, just call your aunt if they really come after you."