Upon receiving the news, Jiang Wen rushed to the location Hongluan had mentioned. After a careful examination, it turned out to be a fractured valley.
Within the valley, wind rose without prompting, creating a whistling sound, as if someone were snoring. Looking closer, black and yellow long bones resembled teeth, scattered haphazardly everywhere.
If he wasn't mistaken, Jiang Wen was certain that this was an incredibly huge mouth.
"So, are you saying we might be on some kind of creature?" Hongluan asked tentatively.
"Without a doubt, we are on a giant. This mouth-shaped area is definitely the mouth of some kind of creature. Look at how it stretches into a fissure, and a foul, fishy odor emanates from it from time to time. However, this mouth is different from that of a normal person; it should be like that of a demon beast," Jiang Wen said, pointing towards the distant horizon. The three of them observed carefully and indeed, it resembled the large mouth of a demon beast.
And this mouth was only one part of this fleshy land; another, even larger mouth was absorbing the power of the earth's veins.
"This place is relatively safe; why don't we go down and take a look? Perhaps we can find something of value," Hongluan, bold due to her high skill, even suggested exploring the inside of this large mouth. Jiang Wen's heart stirred, and he somewhat agreed with Hongluan's suggestion. If they could delve deep into its belly and take a look, they might indeed discover something.
However, acting rashly was never his style. Since they were going to venture into such a dangerous place, they naturally had to make thorough preparations. He led Hongluan and Agu to the array formation site, while he and the old ranger returned to the upper level through the deep pool, and then re-entered the blood sea.
Returning to the blood sea, Jiang Wen found that it had shrunk considerably. If it was previously as vast as an inland ocean, it was now as small as a lake.
Within the blood sea, an enormous locust tree had broken through the limitations of the rock layer's top, enveloping the entire upper layer of the blood sea. The tree trunk was thousands of meters wide, appearing incredibly magnificent.
Even the towering locust tree in the Jingxu Temple paled in comparison to the locust tree before them, the difference being like an iron rod and a fine needle.
In a short period, the locust tree derived from the Ziyun clone had become so enormous, which was truly unexpected. Even the old ranger, who was accustomed to all sorts of miracles, was stunned to see such a large tree within the mountain.
Standing blankly before the tree, he didn't know what to do for a moment.
Before the old ranger could figure things out, Jiang Wen reached out and patted the tree's roots. Green light converged, and a figure appeared before Jiang Wen.
The figure was no different from Ziyun, not the small Q version of Ziyun from before. Before Jiang Wen could understand what was happening, Ziyun flew into Jiang Wen's arms.
"Master, you've finally come again."
"…" Jiang Wen blinked, his mind not yet catching up. He looked at the girl before him, who was both Ziyun and yet possessed a completely different temperament from Ziyun, his heart filled with confusion.
What's going on? I haven't been gone for long, what exactly happened?
Just as Jiang Wen was feeling perplexed, the enormous locust tree shone again, and another figure gathered at the roots, her silver hair draped over her waist.
"Ziyun?" Jiang Wen asked the figure that appeared.
"It's me," the transformed Ziyun nodded, her eyes fixed on the other Ziyun who was clinging to Jiang Wen.
"What's going on?"
Jiang Wen looked at the Ziyun in his arms, then at the aloof Ziyun standing to the side, still not understanding what had happened.
"She is also me," Ziyun said softly, a hint of helplessness in her expression when she saw Jiang Wen's puzzled look.
"You fed my split body too well, and she developed her own consciousness. She is now independent of me, becoming another me. There's nothing I can do now," Ziyun rarely spoke so much, and Jiang Wen finally understood the meaning of her words.
In other words, the blood sea had fed the Q version of Ziyun that he had been given too well, to the point that the incarnation had become an independent personality, sprouting and growing into another locust tree, and now Ziyun herself had no way to forcibly command this incarnation.
"So, this is still my fault?" Jiang Wen said with a wry smile. He never thought that his good intentions could lead to bad results. He only fed the Ziyun clone to defeat enemies. Who knew that Ziyun's incarnation could change so much, suddenly becoming another independent locust tree.
"It's not your fault. It's just that the yin and evil energy here is too abundant," Ziyun said calmly.
"Master, you're never wrong. Master is the best to me. I'll be Master's little maidservant from now on, serving Master all day long. If Master is willing, I can also give birth to little masters for Master. I heard that humans value reproduction the most…" The other Ziyun babbled on, and Ziyun walked over expressionlessly and grabbed her, covering her mouth to prevent her from making any more noise.
The other Ziyun struggled, waving her limbs, but how could a newborn child defeat her mother of many years? The power of her counterattack was weak and feeble, earning her Ziyun's cold gaze.
Jiang Wen looked at the two spirits. Although their faces were very similar, there were great differences in various places. Ziyun's hair was silver-white, while the other's was pinkish-white like peach blossoms. Ziyun's pupils were purplish-red, while the other's had a silvery-white hue.
Just by looking at their temperament, one could clearly distinguish the difference between the two spirits. Ziyun was a cold locust spirit, while the other seemed very lively?
Looking at the suddenly emerging Ziyun clone, Jiang Wen rubbed his brow in a headache: "So, what should I call her from now on?"
Jiang Wen pointed to the other Ziyun. Although she was a clone of Ziyun, he couldn't keep calling her Ziyun, Ziyun.
"You give her a name," Ziyun said calmly, releasing her grip on the clone as she slowly calmed down, her eyes subtly examining her.
"You are called Ziyun, and there is also Ziling at home, so why don't we call her Zile," Jiang Wen chose a compromise and gave the clone a name that wasn't too unpleasant.
The other Ziyun, or rather Zile, was very happy to hear that she had a new name. She secretly glanced at Ziyun, then winked at Jiang Wen, sticking out her pink little tongue, her pinkish-white hair as elegant as peach blossoms.
Ziyun naturally noticed all of this. She frowned slightly and then relaxed. For some reason, Ziyun felt that she really wanted to beat this clone up.
"How did you get here? This place isn't close to Dingzhou, is it?" He was a little curious how Ziyun had run over, after all, Buzhou Mountain was located at the junction of Cang and Tai, thousands of miles away from Dingzhou. Even if Ziyun could control clones, it would be difficult to reach such a distance.
"Once Zile takes root and becomes a tree, I can come over," Ziyun answered truthfully. After hearing her simple explanation, Jiang Wen understood what was going on.
It turned out that the clone had taken root and become a towering locust tree, establishing a connection with Ziyun. No matter where this locust tree was, she could transform out of the locust tree at any time. As for the main body, it could still remain in place, as convenient as a teleportation array.
"Your divine power is really useful," Jiang Wen envied Ziyun's heaven-sent ability. If he could plant locust trees all over the world, wouldn't Ziyun be able to go everywhere?
"I can only split out three more locust trees at most," Ziyun regrettably shattered Jiang Wen's wishful thinking. She said that she could split out countless incarnations, but the split bodies that took root and became trees could only be created three more times at most.
As for why there was this restriction, Ziyun herself couldn't explain it clearly. She only said that her intuition told her that if more than five locust trees were split out, she would suffer unforeseen disasters.
"In any case, it's most important that you protect yourself," Jiang Wen said seriously.
