Boiling Beast Bloodline-Chapter 2173 - 669: Preparing for Battle (Part 2)

The magical wutong tree that he’s longed to see, Lao Liu soon witnessed with his own eyes. These magic wutong trees had an elemental rhythm that was clear and majestic, with leaves and branches both in a stunning, noble gold hue, towering over a hundred meters tall, with canopies like royal parasols.

Every phoenix’s nest was built atop the canopy of a wutong tree. Whether they had advanced to a human form or were ordinary undead birds, they all lived in beautiful vine tree houses. From this, it wasn’t hard to see why phoenixes and elves got along so well. Without the help of elves, who excelled at building tree houses, even with outstanding magic ability, the undead birds couldn’t create a tree house so beautiful.

"What’s the name of this magic plant? Why do the leaves look so much like a maple tree?" Liu Zhenhuan feigned ignorance, casually patting the trunk of the golden wutong. What he didn’t expect was that when his fingertips brushed the tree, the crisp sound that resulted was more distant and moving than the music of a clear spring leaping through a mountain ravine, with an echo that lingered without end, circling in the clouds. It was as though he had struck piano keys in a deep ravine, not just a tree trunk.

"Richard, master, you’re joking. This is our phoenix’s dwelling, the ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong.’ This magical plant possesses top-tier wind system blessing magic. Our race isn’t light weight, and only the wind floating technique blessed by the canopy of this magic wutong can support our weight..." Before Elder Ferdinand finished his sentence, Lao Liu gave the wutong another slap.

With a loud "clang," Lao Liu’s hit left a palm-sized imprint, three inches deep, on the trunk, wide enough for ten people to hug. The golden tree sap, like tears on the zither platform, overflowed from the imprint and dripped down with a "hualala" sound. The whole tree vibrated and hummed, its leaves fell like rain.

The phoenixes’ faces went collectively pale.

"Sorry, sorry, I used a bit too much force. But this wutong tree is really too tender..." Liu Zhenhuan hurriedly greeted them while secretly muttering to himself in frustration. Damn it, another wasted trip.

That slap wasn’t unintentional; he had intentionally added a bit of force.

Listening to Elder Ferdinand saying that this ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong’ magic wasn’t an attack spell but a wind system blessing, his enthusiasm had already waned by half. Magic plants, in his consistent impression, were "sharp at both ends," although no match for top experts, they were the bane of underlings. Yet, this wutong tree was focused on blessing spells like a priest! If one used the ’Life Spring’ to transform this wutong into an ent, it would need to be more solid in build; otherwise, why would it be worth cultivating? Unfortunately, in practice, this magic wutong’s wood was atypically fragile. Lao Liu estimated that if he turned it into an ent, an enemy could chop it down in three strikes.

"Forgive me for being forward, but is the blessing spell of the ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong’ a permanent blessing?" Lao Liu deliberately asked, preferring to use the ’Life Spring’ to cultivate regular wutong if this magic plant was so odd. At least regular wutong would be more substantial in material.

"More or less, the wind system blessing from the ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong’ can continuously supply, in some sense making it practically permanent," Phoenix girl Cen Kailun replied, having detected the irony in Liu Zhenhuan’s words, with calm confidence.

"Actually, you can’t really blame the ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong’s’ material for being weak..." Elder Ferdinand lovingly stroked the palm print on the tree trunk: "Richard, master, this magic wutong is the finest instrumental material. Which quality timber that rings as clear as a bell isn’t equally delicate?"

"The finest instrumental material?" Liu Zhenhuan’s eyes rolled as he thought that drinking the broth when there’s no meat is not too bad: "What do you mean by that?"

"This wutong tree is called ’Nine Heavens Ringing’ because its sound quality resonates like jade, piercing the sky. Of course, this is also the result of the wind magic power naturally amplified by the magic wutong itself," Elder Luanfeng boasted with pride: "Phoenixes don’t dwell in places without treasures. Surveying the magic wutong in Aegean, there’s none that can compare with the ’Nine Heavens Ringing Wutong’ for versatility! If the master doesn’t believe, I can play you a piece, ’Phoenix Seeks Phoenix,’ on a self-made Nine Heavens Ringing Five-stringed Zither, and you’ll understand everything once you hear it."

The old man, whether from his artistic temperament or wanting to show off in front of the Lord Saint Xiao, hurriedly flew up to the vine house built on the tree canopy and soon returned with a golden zither. He sat cross-legged under the umbrella-like shade, lit some incense, and plucked out a melody, a little courtyard tune echoing in the air.

Honestly speaking, Elder Luanfeng’s zither playing was not great; as a musical instrument player, even a clunky Beamon priest had the right to say it wasn’t good--needing a plectrum to pluck the strings was just too unprofessional.

However, the clear, resonant sound of the zither completely masked Elder Ferdinand’s amateur playing technique, its music weaving through the forest and mingling with distant water’s ripple, lingering and soul-enchanting. Lao Liu even suspected that even a complete beginner who doesn’t know how to play could randomly strum this five-stringed zither and still produce equally melodious sounds.

"Such haunting music." When the piece ended, Liu Zhenhuan applauded: "Can I try to play a tune too?"

Elder Ferdinand rolled his eyes at Liu Zhenhuan for quite some time, seemingly doubtful that this rugged, fierce man could play the refined five-stringed ancient zither--Liu Zhenhuan’s appearance and battle feats did indeed easily obscure the fact that he was a legitimate priest by training.