Chapter 459: The Gray Sword, Liu Sheng, and the Departure for Cross City

"Have a drink."Lin Lao Er lifted a branch, and a wooden basin filled with a green liquid appeared before Li An.It looked a little strange, but it smelled delicious. One sip and he felt completely refreshed. "Heartwater. These old trees in our Heartwood Forest never stop growing. Have Huihui and the others trim the extra branches and then toss them into the Heartwood Lake. Ordinary lake water, soaked by our branches, will become like this."Li An nodded and said, "It tastes delicious."Lin Lao Er took another deep breath and said, "So you've decided to get involved in this mess?""The Heaven-Defying One, the Heavenly Gate, the Way of Transcendence—these might be the people and things that will appear in the Hezong Alliance in the future."Li An chuckled and said, "I'm curious to see what Shen Ji and the others have figured out.""It might not be useful to me, but seeing the crystallization of wisdom from those supreme beings will definitely be beneficial.""But I don't know where to start investigating."Lin Lao Er said indifferently. He said calmly, "The President.""He's a mysterious figure, but we think he must know something about those things.""The President lives in Cross City.""We won't be giving you any mercenary missions. Take Huihui to Cross City to see the world.""We have plenty of tree heart water. If you find anything useful for our Tree Heart Forest, or if you find any information, we'll give you whatever you want, as long as we can afford it."Li An said seriously, "I need vitality."Lin Lao Er looked curious and said, "Your vitality is already extremely strong.""Any more and I'll explode."Li An smiled, "I have a feeling vitality is the key to my enlightenment.""Okay, okay." Lin Lao Er's tree trunk suddenly broke off and fell to the ground."You can make a hiking stick out of it and carry it with you on the road. You can use it to sense my vitality and communicate with me remotely."Li An lowered his head and touched the dark green branch.The branch was surprisingly not rough at all, but rather crystal clear.It looked beautiful.A good thing. At this moment, Lin Laoer pointed his branch in a direction and said, "Go straight ahead and you'll reach Tree Heart Lake and find Huihui and the others."Li An nodded, turned, and walked straight ahead, holding the branch.Not far away, the view gradually widened.At the end of the forest path lay a vast lake.In the center of the lake stood a small island, upon which stood a large willow tree surrounded by a green glow.The willow tree spoke in human language."Too slow."It wasn't speaking to Li An, but to Huihui.Huihui skimmed the lake's surface, sword in hand, clashing with the willow's branches blown by the wind."Clang! Clang!"The willow branches were stronger than even steel swords.But that wasn't what Li An was concerned about.His eyes were fixed on Huihui's footsteps.He stood up. Even when suspended in mid-air, to generate full force, the initial force must be generated from the feet.Furthermore, only certain footsteps can be used to generate full force, such as one in front of the other.In a brief, intense battle, perfectly controlling one's footsteps is extremely difficult, as the opponent is not a pushover, and the swift, fiery attack can disrupt one's rhythm.Gray Gray was no exception.But he could reset his footsteps in an instant!Each time Willow interrupted his power, he could reset his footsteps in the blink of an eye, exerting force with incredible speed, each strike delivering his full strength!And now, even Gray Gray's plump body was permeated with sword intent.Man and sword became one.The sensation of his reset footsteps was like drawing a sword, sheathing it before each strike, and then striking again in a fully prepared position.For every movement the opponent made, Gray Gray had to perform two.Speed!The agility of this obese giant panda had reached an astonishing level. At least, among his peers in the Cultivation Temple, Li An had never seen such agile movements.Incredible.Even if this guy were placed in the Cultivation Temple martial artist group, he would be at least at the third level.And he hadn't even seen Huihui's full strength yet.Huihui's massive bear paw tapped the surface of the tree's heart lake, sending ripples through the water.His swordsmanship was more than just technical proficiency; it gave Li An the feeling of observing a work of art.At this moment,Li An's eyes narrowed.He noticed something more subtle.Huihui's swift blade struck the same spot each time.Finally."Crack."A crisp sound.The turbulent lake returned to calm.The giant panda stood on the water, a hint of panic in its eyes.A willow branch swayed in the wind and fell into the lake.The willow tree spoke human language, a female voice. "Keep that branch as a souvenir.""That's the fruit of your twelve years of cultivation.""There's a skilled weaponsmith in the human race named Liu Dahu. You can ask him to forge this branch into your sword."Li An's eyebrows raised slightly.Unexpectedly, the willow tree looked at him the next moment.Although no human face appeared on the tree, Li An could sense its gentle gaze. "Other geniuses choose their employers by comparing and weighing the pros and cons.""You chose Tree Heart Forest based on your intuition because you're incredibly confident.""Interestingly, your confidence isn't innate; it's earned.""Keep winning.""You've achieved the One Qi Transformation into Three Purities, and you have the Ten Thousand Dao Stone. You can ask Liu Dahu to help you fuse it.""And by the way, help Huihui forge a sword.""He'll definitely be able to help you in the coming months.""Of course, as a reward, I'll also give you the vitality you need."The willow tree's branches crossed the Tree Heart Lake and touched Li An's forehead.A hint of green appeared in his spiritual aura, like a generator of life force.But unexpectedly, Li An suddenly felt unwell. His thoughts were no longer as clear as before. "Your vitality was already strong enough. Now, the excess has brought you an excess of Qi and blood.""When Qi and blood rush to your head, you become reckless.""How you digest this Qi and blood is your own business.""Xiaohua, you stay. Yuri, you come with me."With that, the willow tree fell silent.From beginning to end, Li An remained silent.The other party had arranged everything for him."Okay." Li An raised an eyebrow, looked at Huihui and the colorful-winged bird, and said, "Let's go, Cross City."Huihui, holding the willow branch, ran quickly on his short legs to follow Li An. Yuri also flapped his wings and began chirping, remarking on Huihui's prowess, saying he had actually severed Willow Saint's branches.Although it took twelve years, it was still a remarkable feat.On the way out of the Heartwood Forest,Li An, holding his hiking stick, glanced more than once at the willow branch carried on Huihui's shoulder. He was actually quite curious about the Liu Sheng Yuri had mentioned.At least from what he had just seen, he felt he was quite formidable.