Evolution Begins With A Big Tree

Chapter 209, Return & the Arrival of the Strong

Translator:  Ashish

Translation Checker: Silavin

Tonight, North Canyon was exceptionally bustling…

First, a Transcendent Spider arrived, followed by a pair of critically injured and dying Transcendent Monitor Lizards. And as if that was not enough, a supreme ruler of the sky, a giant Mutant Eagle, was captured.

Of course, the gains did not end there.

When looking toward the depths of the mist, one could see groups of Mutant Beasts arriving one after another.

Leading the pack was Sarcosuchus, White Tiger, Golden Ant, and Thorns of the nine Great Beasts.

Right behind them were the three Generals, Honey Badger, Armored Wild Boar, and Golden Monkey.

Finally, in the rear, there were a pack of Storm Wolves and a herd of Wild Boars. More importantly, these Storm Wolves and Wild Boars happened to be carrying prey with them.

Among the preys, the Mutant Monitor Lizards were the most.

Moreover, Yu Zi Yu also noticed an unfamiliar aura of a Transcendent hidden within the groups of beasts.

“A pair of male and female Transcendent Monitor Lizards?” Yu Zi Yu smiled to himself, quite satisfied with the harvest.

It had far exceeded his previous expectations. Just in terms of Evolution Points, these were at least comparable 40,000 Evolution Points.

After all, each Tier-1 Transcendent could provide Evolution Points in the five digits. Not to mention the fact that these Tier-1 Transcendent creatures were among the most powerful ones, capable of providing tens of thousands of Evolution Points.

While Evolution Points  were not equivalent to Spiritual Energy, the fact was that the more profound one’s Spiritual Energy was, the more Evolution Points they provided.

This was beyond doubt because.

After all, according to Yu Zi Yu’s conjecture, the process of acquiring Evolution Points involves a power akin to the Quintessence of Life.

Therefore, the stronger one was, the more concentrated their strength was.

…

At this moment, Yu Zi Yu suddenly exclaimed, as if sensing something.

Immediately afterward, he turned his gaze toward a distant corner of Misty Mountains, where two figures were slowly approaching.

One figure was self-evident. It was exuding a powerful aura of Earth Element, as if it were the incarnation of the very earth itself. With each step, unusual ripples on the ground, as if the earth was cheering. 

However, the other figure made Yu Zi Yu narrow his eyes.

It was burning, fiercely burning, like a blazing fireball with an unimaginable heat.

What was even more terrifying was that even after being repeatedly suppressed, its overwhelming Spiritual Energy fluctuations could not completely conceal it.

100,000, maybe 200,000, or even 300,000…

Yu Zi Yu made a guess, feeling curious.

Much to his surprise, there happened to be a Tier-2 Transcendent lurking in his vicinity.

What surprised him even more was that the Tier-2 Transcendent did not show any hostility toward him. Instead, it came alongside Qing Gang.

“Hmm?” Intrigued, Yu Zi Yu’s consciousness slowly shifted to a tree root not far from them.

After a moment…

*Boom, boom, boom…* The ground slightly shook as a massive tree root, as thick as an arm, broke through the soil and climbed up a tree as thick as several Humans combined.

What caught Yu Zi Yu’s eye was a big, fat, black and white bear walking upright.

No, to be more precise, it should be the national animal of China, a Panda.

However, unlike regular Pandas, this one happened to be wearing black leather boots and draping a black cloak over its shoulders. Also, it wore a bamboo hat on its head, which was concealing its face.

“What the…” Yu Zi Yu was a bit stunned, unable to make heads or tails of it.

This scene was quite strange no matter how you looked at it.

Just at that moment, as if sensing Yu Zi Yu’s presence, the fat Panda suddenly stopped in its tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Qing Gang, wearing a look of curiosity, gazed at the Panda as it stopped.

“Someone’s here,” replied the Panda with a grin.

He swallowed the Spirit Fruit in his hand and scanned his surroundings.

After a while, he adjusted the bamboo hat on his head as his gaze became slightly focused.

“Lord Divine Tree, since you’re here, why bother hiding?” Saying this, the Panda’s gaze locked onto a large tree not far away, that was as wide as several Humans combined.

The next moment, a root as thick as an arm, resembling a black snake, slowly surged out from this massive tree and fixed its gaze on the Panda. 

“Nice to meet you. I am the Lord of the Mist. You can call me Zi Yu,” Yu Zi Yu introduced himself, showing his due respect to the strong.

Although the Panda was not strong enough to shake the current Yu Zi Yu, the fact it managed to get ahead of countless Mutant Beasts and become a Tier-2 Transcendent was worthy of praise.

Not to mention, it had the courage to follow Qing Gang out of his trust in Yu Zi Yu. Thus, Yu Zi Yu naturally treated the Panda with respect. This was his way of welcoming guests.

“Zi Yu!?” The Panda was slightly stunned before its eyes lit up.

“Is this a name you gave yourself? No wonder this big guy says you can speak the language of Humans and understand everything…”

At this point, the Panda suddenly pursed his lips and asked with a stupid grin, “Regarding my own name, what do you think I should choose? Although I know some Human things, I’ve been having a hard time coming up with a good name even until now.”

“Hmm…” Yu Zi Yu was a bit stunned and looked at the silly-looking but exceptionally intelligent Panda. Yu Zi Yu was a bit confused.

The Panda’s act of dressing like a Human hermit had already left him surprised.

Much to his surprise, the Panda spoke so clearly and wished for a name. 

This was more than just intelligence.

If it were not for the fact that the Panda still looked like a Panda at this moment, Yu Zi Yu would have doubted whether it was a Human or not.

However, after giving it a thought, Yu Zi Yu understood a little.

In this Era of Transcendence, everyone and everything was evolving, not just physically, but also mentally, more or less.

For instance, Tier-0 Beasts possessed an intelligence comparable to 3-4 years old kids, and with some training, they would not be that much inferior to ordinary Humans.

As for Transcendent Creatures, they were practically on par with Humans.

Such a phenomenon could explain why the Panda looked like a Human dressed in Panda skin.

Considering its brain domain development, it was not inferior to Humans by much, it might even be better than an average Human.

If it had extensive interaction with Humans, it could even learn some Human culture.

Yu Zi Yu reckoned that it might have come from the Human side.

He further believed that it might be the same one Qing Er had mentioned back then.          

After all, at the beginning of the resurgence of Spiritual Energy, a Panda had escaped from China’s captivity. This incident had caused China to mobilize thousands of soldiers, but they still failed to find it.

It had stirred up quite a storm. 

Several high-ranking officials were removed from their positions due to their incompetence.

Thinking about this, Yu Zi Yu tentatively asked, “Could it be that you are that Panda that Humans had pursued so vehemently?”

“Human pursuit?” The Panda pondered for a moment before getting startled. Then, as if remembering something, a smug expression appeared on his face.

“You know about that too? Did the big guy tell you? Wait, that’s not right, he’s been with me the whole time. It seems like you’re quite well-informed.”

With another cheeky grin, the Panda scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, but his words were filled with pride.

Clearly, this was something he was proud of.

After all, when he had just advanced, escaping from the grasp of thousands of fully armed soldiers was no small feat, yet he managed to pull it off.