Su Yang advanced in the direction pointed out by the Great City Lord and soon discovered several corpses in the path, surprisingly belonging to the Feather Clan descendants from earlier.

These people had entered and engaged in battles inside, all of them perished in combat.

It seems that the chosen direction was correct, at least everyone was moving this way.

Su Yang carefully advanced with three Crystal Skulls, encountering numerous people engaged in skirmishes.

They maneuvered around the fighting masses and finally caught up to Ye Xingjun and Shariel at the forefront after more than an hour.

Shariel was wielding a longsword, fleeing with all his might, while Ye Xingjun relentlessly pursued, the gap between them gradually narrowing.

Seeing this, Shariel became even more alarmed. Seeing Ye Xingjun about to catch up, he suddenly turned and slashed at Ye Xingjun.

The power of this sword was immense, bursting forth in mid-air.

Su Yang saw clearly that Shariel used his own Origin Power, resulting in such an effect.

Clearly, Shariel knew the danger; once caught by Ye Xingjun, escaping would be impossible. Hence, he used Origin Power at any cost to slow down Ye Xingjun for escape time.

Ye Xingjun furrowed his brow and paused slightly, dodging the sword. However, even that pause widened the distance between them.

Ye Xingjun continued his pursuit while Shariel employed this method to keep widening the gap.

After another hour, Shariel almost ran out of stamina, and finally, there appeared a Heaven-Reaching Giant Tree ahead.

This palace seemed like a different space because there was no roof. Outside it appeared like a palace, but here it was entirely different—like another realm.

Now, the giant tree seemed to connect heaven and earth, tens of thousands of miles tall, impossible to see its top.

The tree canopy stretched into the sky, seemingly piercing it, and Su Yang and his group couldn't see the canopy from below.

Previously, Su Yang had been walking where clouds obscured their view, hence not seeing it. Now at the front, it became visible. Otherwise, upon entering, it would have been instantly noticeable—the tree truly was colossal.

"Look, over there!" The Great City Lord suddenly pointed at the giant tree.

Su Yang looked in the direction pointed by the City Lord and indeed saw a gap in the middle of the giant tree. Within the gap was a myriad of red glowings, as if something was inside.

"The greatest part of the power I sensed earlier is right here!" The Great City Lord whispered.

Su Yang was astounded by such a giant tree, almost unimaginable. Truly, even seeing it himself, Su Yang couldn't accept it, constantly suspecting it was an illusion.

The gap in the giant tree wasn't large from this distance. But in reality, Su Yang quite understood that this gap was absolutely not small.

The tree's diameter was estimated at several hundred miles, comparable to a mountain, and the gap spanned ten miles, naturally sizable.

Seeing the gap made Su Yang more shaken.

Such a giant tree was anything but ordinary, surely something extraordinary.

And on such a giant tree was a gap? How did this gap form? And what was the red glow within the gap?

As Su Yang was wondering, the Second City Lord suddenly said, "Huh, someone's climbing the tree!"

Su Yang followed the direction pointed by the Second City Lord, and sure enough, someone was quickly climbing the giant tree.

Or rather, not one person but two. However, one wasn't climbing, instead being dragged by the other.

Though distant, Su Yang clearly saw it: the one climbing was the masked man, and being dragged was none other than Qi'er!

Seeing Qi'er, Su Yang's heart nearly leapt out. At this moment, he couldn't care about anything else and dashed forward.

The three Crystal Skulls were initially unwilling to move, but seeing Su Yang sprinting away, they eventually followed him.

As they approached the giant tree, something strange occurred: their gourds above began to faintly glow, seemingly sensing something or being awakened.

Su Yang was racing, yet he felt an invisible pressure the closer he got.

Initially, his speed was rapid, but nearing the giant tree, it slowed due to the increasing pressure.

After a long time running, Su Yang finally arrived beside the giant tree, with Shariel and Ye Xingjun catching up.

They saw Su Yang, yet neither had the mind to stop him.

Shariel looked up excitedly and said, "Masked Lord, we were attacked outside, half betrayed, I was pursued here, and someone wants to kill you, preventing you from getting the Feather Spirit Palace inheritance!"

The masked man glanced down but didn't reply, continuing to climb as if he hadn't seen Shariel.

Shariel was dumbfounded; he thought the masked man would aid him, yet the outcome was like this. The masked man glanced at him, took no action, apparently not caring about his fate.

At this moment, Shariel was disheartened. He originally thought siding with the masked man would bring countless benefits. However, now it appeared he was just an insignificant ant; the masked man wouldn't care about his survival.

"Fool!" Ye Xingjun arrived, cursed, and then struck Shariel, taking the Nine Extinction Divine Sword from him.

"You idiot, did you really think he cared about you? You're imagining too much!" Ye Xingjun sneered mockingly.

Shariel lay on the ground, coughing blood, unable to rise, his face pale, eyes despairingly watching the masked man in the sky.

In the air, Qi'er saw Su Yang beneath, ecstatic. She quickly waved and shouted, "Brother Su, Brother Su, I am here! I am here!"

Su Yang reached the base of the tree, prepared to fly, and responded immediately, "Qi'er, don't be afraid. I'm coming to save you!"

Qi'er was delighted, glanced at the masked man beside, became desolate again, whispered, "Brother Su, don't come up. I am fine. He's just making me open the gap, won't harm me!"