Recalling the scene inside Dragonhorn Grotto, the Immortal Sovereign rushed in, but halfway there—boom!—the cave entrance suddenly collapsed. The surrounding crowd was alarmed and quickly retreated, exchanging confused glances, unsure what was happening.
"Wolf Bro, what's the situation now?" Firebird asked.
"Not sure, but things don’t look good. That kid went in and did something—if he really let Drakehorn out, we’re in trouble," Razor Wolf said, frowning.
"Drakehorn... We thought we could kill that kid, but look at this mess. And even the Immortal Sovereign couldn’t stop him—what’s going on? Did that kid’s power already reach Immortal Sovereign level?" Firebird said in disbelief.
Razor Wolf fell silent. Just then, the mountain suddenly erupted like an explosion. Everyone saw the Immortal Sovereign blasted out, then glimpsed a dark shadow, and everything went quiet.
Everyone was shocked and hurried over, staring at the badly wounded Immortal Sovereign. The Sovereign said, "Quick, send word to the sect—Drakehorn’s head has broken loose. You must protect its body at all costs; don’t let them reunite."
"Yes," Firebird replied. Razor Wolf quickly helped up the injured Immortal Sovereign, and once everyone came to their senses, they left the area.
As for Yang Han, he had already left Blackreed Marsh, but could still see that surge of power erupting behind him. "Did it really break free? No way..."
Yang Han hadn’t expected this—he wondered how much power a single head could really have, so he ignored it, turned around, and kept heading toward his destination.
News of Drakehorn quickly spread across the entire plane, making those who once helped seal it deeply anxious.
At the same time, Yang Han became a dangerous figure in this plane—everyone blamed him for releasing Drakehorn. He had no idea that because of his actions, most major sects now remembered him and even started hunting him.
Lina and Leah Hayes got the news and hurried to Eagle God Hall to find their master.
Their master was Iris Hayes. Since Lina and Leah were orphaned twins, they shared her surname, and their master treated them especially well.
"Where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?" Iris Hayes asked angrily.
"Master, um, we were out on a mission, but we failed," Lina said awkwardly.
"I heard from the sect leader—it was to capture someone, right? What happened? Even you two sisters couldn’t catch a single person?" Iris Hayes asked curiously.
"We didn’t even see the target’s shadow, but another person messed everything up," Lina said.
"Oh? Who was it?" Iris Hayes asked, curious.
Lina said, "It’s the person everyone’s talking about—the one who released Drakehorn."
"What? You saw him?" Iris Hayes exclaimed, shocked.
"Yeah, we saw him—and he fooled us for quite a while," Lina said awkwardly.
"This guy’s origins are unknown, but he’s linked to the target you were chasing. That makes things easier. I’ll spread the word and follow the clues—we’ll track down the one who released Drakehorn," Iris Hayes said.
They knew it was hard to find Yang Han, but tracking Howling Wolf would be easier. So soon, news about Yang Han and Howling Wolf spread across the plane—since Yang Han was tied to Drakehorn, everyone focused on Howling Wolf to find Yang Han and Drakehorn.
Yang Han had no idea what was happening outside. At this moment, he was heading toward Netherdeep Gorge—a place said to connect to the outside, meaning the Immortal Realm. To pass through, you had to cross a difficult region.
But Yang Han didn’t know what that difficult place was. He just wanted to see if he could find any trace of the person he was searching for.
After half a month of effort, in a mist-filled forest, Yang Han saw piles of leaves gathered in neat heaps. Clearly, someone had swept them together—otherwise, there’s no way the leaves would cluster like that. Curious, Yang Han decided to investigate, so he hid himself and waited.
Time passed, and by nightfall, using Night-Eye, Yang Han saw pairs of shining eyes approaching. When he got a clear look, they were apes—clever ones, gathering scattered leaves into piles. "Strange, why are they piling up leaves? And where did these apes come from?" Yang Han wondered. He decided to follow them to see what was going on. Near dawn, the apes finished and left.
Yang Han followed the apes until they reached a huge tree hollow. The apes went inside, and Yang Han followed, discovering many caves—each belonging to the apes.
After seeing the apes, Yang Han climbed onto the branches, wanting to see if there was anything special around. But as he stepped forward, something suddenly touched him. Curious, Yang Han turned around—and saw a giant ape staring at him. The ape was pitch-black, with fist-sized eyes fixed on Yang Han.
"You can sense me?" Yang Han said in surprise—it meant the ape was at least Immortal Sovereign level.
"Who are you? Why are you following my children and grandchildren?" the ape chief demanded. The other apes, unable to sense Yang Han, exchanged puzzled looks, unsure who their chief was talking to.
At that moment, Yang Han revealed himself, startling the surrounding apes. He looked at the chief and said, "I’m just here looking for someone. I happened to see you sweeping leaves, so I got curious and wanted to check it out."
"You mean the god-tree leaves," the ape chief relaxed after hearing Yang Han’s explanation.
"God-tree?" Yang Han asked, puzzled.
"That’s right—the god-tree. It’s a tree that can communicate with a God, but only when enough leaves have accumulated can it make contact once," the ape chief replied.
"I see. Sorry, I was just curious about what you were doing. My name’s Yang Han—I’m human. How should I address you?" Yang Han asked.
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"I’m Ben Sun, chief of this clan," Ben Sun replied.
"Chief of the clan? Then could you help me with something?" Yang Han asked.
"Sure, tell me—if I can help you, I will," Ben Sun replied.
"I’m looking for someone—a woman who came here ten thousand years ago. I don’t know if she ever managed to leave," Yang Han asked.
"If anyone passed through our territory, I usually remember. Describe her," Ben Sun replied.
Yang Han showed Ben Sun the woman’s portrait. After thinking for a while, Ben Sun’s mind flashed with recognition. "So it’s her—you’re looking for her?"
"Yeah, you know her?" Yang Han asked excitedly, seeing that the chief ape seemed to recognize the woman.
"That’s right, she did come here, but she didn’t leave. She’s trapped in the yin ground of Netherdeep Gorge," Ben Sun said.
"Yin ground? What kind of place is that? Can you get in?" Yang Han asked.
"I’ll take you there now," Ben Sun said to Yang Han. Yang Han was naturally delighted and followed Ben Sun out of the tree hollow, passing by the leaf piles again.
As Ben Sun and Yang Han walked past, the surrounding trees trembled as if they were saying something. Ben Sun was shocked, looked at Yang Han, then at the god-trees, and asked incredulously, "Do you carry an inheritance item from a God?"
"An inheritance item from a God?" Yang Han asked, puzzled.
"That’s right. Can I see it?" Ben Sun asked Yang Han.
Yang Han thought about what could be an inheritance item from a God, and realized he only had the Divine Seal. He took it out, and when Ben Sun saw it, he smiled, "Yes, yes, that’s the one."
"What’s wrong?" Yang Han looked at the Divine Seal, puzzled.
"This is something left behind by a God, but its energy is almost used up," Ben Sun said, examining the artifact.
Yang Han replied, "Yeah, I’ve used it a few times before."
"Even though there’s not much energy left, it can still work. Can you help me with something? Just once is enough," Ben Sun asked, excited.
Yang Han didn’t know what Ben Sun needed, but since he was so polite and was helping Yang Han find the woman, he had no reason to refuse. "Sure, what do you need? If I can do it, I’ll help," he replied.
"Use the Divine Seal’s power to touch the god-trees around here. If they absorb a bit of its energy, their leaves will grow faster. Please help," Ben Sun said.
Yang Han hadn’t expected the Divine Seal to have this function, so he nodded, "No problem."
Following Ben Sun’s instructions, Yang Han used the artifact to touch each god-tree. Just as Ben Sun said, the leaves grew much faster, and there were far more than before.
"Thank you, I’m so grateful—now the process will be much quicker," Ben Sun said excitedly.
"Why do you communicate with the God?" Yang Han wanted to know what kind of God they were connecting with, and whether Gods truly existed in this world.
"To help the God revive," Ben Sun said, smiling.
"Revive a God? Does that mean the God you worship also sacrificed themselves?" Yang Han asked, not knowing which God the apes believed in.
"You could say they’re half-awake. It takes our efforts to awaken the God fully. The process is long, but we believe we can do it," Ben Sun replied.
Yang Han nodded, understanding now. He continued with Ben Sun, heading toward the yin ground. After they left, the trees in their original spot began to tremble, as if speaking.
If you listened closely, you could even sense excitement in the air.
Yang Han wondered if someone was hiding nearby, eavesdropping on their conversation. But it was said that this sometimes happened, usually only when the leaves were fully piled up. Now, it happened even though the leaves weren’t, which puzzled Ben Sun.