Chapter Eighteen: Meteorite from Beyond the Skies

"There's no doubt about it—the Red Moon was summoned by the Newfoundland wolves to increase their pack's fighting strength!" After observing their surroundings, Haoyun finally reached this conclusion.

"So incredible! They can summon the Red Moon just like that! Can humans do it too?" Ruoxi immediately caught up and asked curiously.

"It's in the wolves’ nature," Haoyun replied.

After the catastrophic changes of the Carcinogenic Era, the trees of the world had grown ever more lush and dense, and the animals, forced to evolve in the harsh environment, had become ever more fearsome.

Birds soared across the sky, casting massive shadows on the ground below.

Fortunately, Earth's energy had not yet been exhausted, and the age of beasts had not regressed to the time of dinosaurs.

Yet with the ever-shifting world, magnetic energy was being gradually compressed and depleted, becoming a nonrenewable resource. The remaining magnetic energy would no longer be supplied to the common people; thus, electrical power had returned to humanity’s daily life. As the planet’s core shifted, even electricity production was compressed, making it even more precious than magnetism. In the end, candles became the primary tool for illumination, lighting up the nights of ordinary folk.

Instinct!

"Do all powerful animals have something special about them?" Xiaoshan asked doubtfully.

"I think the Book of Beasts mentions something about that, but I can’t remember exactly," Haoyun replied after thinking for a moment.

"I just wonder why the Newfoundland wolves retreated," Haopo said coldly.

"Remember how Father told you to master that sword as soon as possible?" Haotian asked.

"You mean the sword scared them off?" prompted by Haoyun's words, Haopo immediately thought of the sword’s uniqueness.

Back in the Tang dynasty, the sword’s master was a general renowned for his campaigns.

"The sword is steeped in deadly energy—the more powerful one is, the more sensitive they are to it," Haoyun said, glancing at the blade in Xiaoshan’s hand.

The Sword Without Edge had been drawn and left unsheathed for some time. Xiaoshan gripped the sword calmly, his face serene as if unaffected.

A famed sword possesses a spirit; the blade glimmered with a faint red light, a sign of its singular nature.

Haopo’s eyes grew unfocused as he stared at Xiaoshan’s youthful face, unable to fathom why the boy could wield such a sword.

"He's extraordinary—otherwise, how could he have entered the Lin family, or won Ruoxi’s favor?" Haoyun whispered to Haopo.

Haotian nodded in agreement.

Ruoxi had always treated others with a cold reserve, the very image of a proud and haughty young lady.

Why, then, did she see Xiaoshan differently? They’d just met, yet she brought a boy with no background into her home, and even Lin Feng approved! They all knew the sword was vital for their journey, yet none sought to reclaim it.

If you agree to lend something, you don’t demand it back before time. That is a sign of respect!

Besides, even if they wielded the sword, they couldn’t draw forth a fraction of its true power.

After being chased by wolves, their journey was smooth and uneventful; they encountered no other animals.

At last, they stopped—under a great tree.

A man-eating tree.

The wind rustled the leaves, and the carnivorous tree swayed, its long tendrils unbothered by the sudden light.

"Is this a fully grown man-eating tree?" Xiaoshan stepped forward and examined it closely, surprise in his voice.

"Are we headed to the Forbidden Ground?" Ruoxi asked when she saw the looming tree.

Man-eating trees of such size grew only near the Forbidden Ground—there was no need to guess.

Man-eating tree. Meteorite. The two words flashed through Ruoxi’s mind.

The Forbidden Ground was a land of death, a place of ill omen.

It was known as the Forbidden Ground because, in the Carcinogenic Era, a meteorite had crashed down, altering the planet’s core. Around the meteorite, a wild and luxuriant forest had sprung up.

At the forest’s heart lay the meteorite, where the ground trembled and fissures yawned beneath the feet of the unwary, ready to swallow them whole.

The environment within was lush with all manner of strange flowers, yet nothing grew beyond its perimeter—only danger thrived, and only the man-eating trees survived.

Why did the man-eating tree flourish so? Because the land of death was littered with the corpses of animals, and humans too. The more it absorbed, the higher it grew.

Some might ask why, with so many dead, no barriers had been set up around the Forbidden Ground. The man-eating trees themselves served as a natural barricade, turning most away in fear.

Their last visit here had been an accident; she still didn’t know why they’d come in the dead of night—was it to keep their mission secret?

But if secrecy was the goal, why bring them along? Staring at the man-eating tree, Ruoxi’s mind swirled with questions.

"We have indeed come to the Forbidden Ground, though the journey has been fraught," Haotian said, eyeing the man-eating tree with anticipation.

"What’s in the Forbidden Ground?" Xiaoshan had only recently learned of this place, so he had to ask.

He’d always felt something different about the place, as if something inside belonged to him and only by retrieving it could he feel at peace.

"There’s danger in the Forbidden Ground," Haopo replied at once.

"I figured as much—the man-eating tree is proof enough!" Xiaoshan jabbed at the tree’s branch with his sword’s tip.

"No, there’s something even more dangerous than the man-eating tree."

"Then what is it, exactly?" Xiaoshan asked urgently.

"Xiaoshan, maybe we should go back," Ruoxi tugged at his sleeve from behind, her expression shifting—she seemed afraid.

Xiaoshan glanced at her, then followed her gaze to the Dreadspirit Sword.

To his surprise, the sword was trembling in her grasp, making Ruoxi’s right hand quiver as well.

It was as if the sword was warning of some evil in the Forbidden Ground.

"I sense much corruption within—whatever it is, it’s nothing good!"

A famed sword has a spirit, and is always first to sense the world around it.

"But my own sword feels excited—as if with anticipation. At the same time, I feel as if something I’ve lost is inside, waiting for me."

Xiaoshan met Ruoxi’s gaze, and her eyes softened at once.

She nodded, silently promising to go with him, to accompany Xiaoshan inside.