Chapter 722

The walking meat tree comes from a legend in The Legends of Ren Zu. Ren Zu’s third son, Northern Dark Ice Soul, revived by unexpected Gu, wanders until he meets his sister Desolate Ancient Moon and gives her a new meaning in life. Guided by wisdom Gu, the two travel to the blue sea seeking a life gem to revive their father. Desolate Ancient Moon sacrifices herself there, becoming a damaged life gem. Northern Dark Ice Soul carries it toward Ren Zu. ^{ch. 722}

He cannot enter the Door of Life and Death, since only courage Gu can overcome its suffering Gu, and Ren Zu already holds that Gu. Guilty over his sister’s death and anxious for his father, he wanders on, crossing mountains and streams and starving through bitter cold. Eventually he strays into black heaven, one of the immemorial nine heavens still connected to the ground in that age. It is complete darkness inside, yet not desolate, with large numbers of life forms there. He grows lost and flustered, tripping again and again. ^{ch. 722}

There he finds fire Gu, a weak, talking lump of flame that agrees to light his way home if he feeds it first. He feeds it branches and it grows from fist sized to a basin’s width, then rocks, until its teeth dull. It keeps growing as they travel, until one day a huge mass of trees, beasts, and insects come running toward its light, fleeing dream realms behind them. Northern Dark Ice Soul runs in fear. Fire Gu tells him the pursuers are its food and asks to be thrown at them. ^{ch. 722}

The first it meets are walking meat trees, whose meat-like branches resemble octopus tentacles, and it burns them to ash and cooked flesh. The smell draws him in. He eats a piece and finds it delicious. ^{ch. 722}

Back in the present, Hei Lou Lan asks whether the broken trunk before them is truly a walking meat tree, and Fang Yuan answers absolutely. Fang Yuan explains that only black heaven and white heaven remain of the immemorial nine heavens, so black heaven’s life forms are easier to obtain, and guesses Seven Star Child, a rank eight Gu Immortal able to explore black heaven, brought this one back. Hei Lou Lan judges its aura amazing, with rank seven battle strength at least, and the tree itself a rare strength path plant. Both are pleased. Its branches, trunk, and leaves suit their own strength path Gu well. ^{ch. 722}

Before they can move in, a huge explosion shakes the sky and breaks the star hall further. Shi Lei and Star Lord Wan Xiang fly out of it, followed by a huge dragon hundreds of meters long, its horn silvery, its scales like grey rock, eight claws on its body, and pale zombie energy coiling around it like mist. Hei Lou Lan names it at once: a zombie dragon. Such dragons are not immemorial life forms but a kind born after Red Lotus Demon Venerable broke fate Gu and souls stopped passing straight into the Door of Life and Death. A dead dragon becomes one if its soul never leaves its body. Fang Yuan reasons its eight claws mark it as rank eight in life, now reduced by death to the peak of rank seven, which explains why it forced Shi Lei from the hall. ^{ch. 722}

In the air the dragon shoots zombie fire at Shi Lei, and though he dodges that, its tail catches him and slams him into a mountainside, rocks burying him completely. Wan Xiang, who has never seen Shi Lei beaten so badly, retreats in shock. Shi Lei shouts from beneath the rubble and unleashes his immortal killer move, shocking rock break, hurling a small hill at the dragon with unusual speed for its power. The dragon rams it head-on rather than dodge, and the move has no effect. Thrilled to find a worthy opponent, Shi Lei charges into direct combat with it. Fang Yuan judges the dragon must carry defensive Immortal Gu from before its death, and Hei Lou Lan worries that under Shi Lei and Wan Xiang’s eyes they cannot claim the walking meat tree. ^{ch. 722}