Fox Queen move closer to get a better look at the tree, but she soon started to frown. “Is there something inside the tree? Is the holy monument inside the tree?”
Mister White stepped forward in alarm. “Please do not touch it!”
“Why?” Fox Queen and Han Sen both looked at Mister White.
Mister White said, “This tree is very sturdy, and it has been infused with a special magnetic force that repels all xenogeneics. Inside the trunk, however, is a Shatter Space Crystal.”
“Shatter Space Crystal?” One of Fox Queen’s eyebrows rose.
“Yes,” Mister White confirmed gravely.
Han Sen asked, “What is a Shatter Space Crystal?”
“It is a material that is used to construct teleportation devices,” Harder explained. “Using one of those crystals in a device will greatly extend the device’s range. It is the best-known material to use when crafting teleportation devices.”
“That means there is a teleportation device inside that tree? We can use it to visit the holy monument?” Han Sen asked, starting to catch on.
“That’s the theory,” Mister White nodded. “But you must open the tree to gain access to the teleporter that is located inside it.”
“With our big sister’s power, tearing down the tree to reveal the crystal should be easy, shouldn’t it?” Han Sen questioned.
“It’s not that simple,” Fox Queen replied in a distracted tone. “Shatter Space Crystals are unparalleled in their use for teleportation technology, but they are also very fragile. And the tree and the Shatter Space Crystal have been integrated very carefully. They are one with each other. If we use force to bring down the tree, the Shatter Space Crystal on the inside will be broken. That would completely ruin the device on the inside.”
“It fortunate that you have the key, then. You simply need to use the key to open the tree’s door,” Mister White said.
Han Sen felt worry descend on him. He hadn’t known that the stone tablet would be the key required to open that device. The piece of crystal he had given Fox Queen was little more than the makeshift paperweight. It was going to be impossible for her to gain access to that device.
“How do we use it?” Fox Queen looked at the brick in her hands, then back at Mister White.
“If our theory is correct, then there must be a keyhole.” Mister White looked hesitant as he spoke.
“But there is no hole in the tree’s surface that is this big.” Fox Queen looked at Han Sen, the suspicion clearly visible in her eyes. She already thought that Han Sen had given her a fake.
“I really did take that item from Ghost Bone Town. Keep looking; you should be able to use it.” Han Sen pretended to observe the tree, feigning innocence.
“Over there!” Han Sen suddenly pointed to the crown of the tall tree, looking very excited.
Fox Queen and the others looked at where Han Sen was pointing, but they couldn’t see anything special.
As the others were distracted, Han Sen leaped back onto the blood kirin. A bird’s nest appeared in his hand, and he held the nest out to protect himself from Fox Queen’s attacks.
The blood kirin roared and streaked toward the tree.
Fox Queen was the quickest to react. She threw her hands forward, sending countless cords of power chasing after Han Sen.
Han Sen put his hand into the concave part of the bird’s nest, and suddenly it began to grow larger. It became a giant shield that stopped the pursuing cords of power.
As the blood kirin arrived at the old tree, Han Sen brought out the real stone plate. He shoved it into a moon-shaped indent in the surface of the tree, and the stone plate slotted into it perfectly.
Katcha-cha!
The old tree suddenly broke open to reveal a large frame contained within the trunk. A shining orb of twisted space hung in the center of the frame, filled with spiraling, fractallic patterns. It was so bright that it was barely visible through the light.
The blood kirin carried Han Sen into the orb. Space seemed to fold around them for an instant, and then they vanished.
Fox Queen leaped after them. The dimensions of space were twisted, and she too disappeared with Han Sen.
Ice Blue Knight King gritted his teeth and ran inside, as well. Mister White, Crime, and Harder also decided to follow. They didn’t want to give up on claiming the Sacred Leader’s legacy here, after everything they had been through.
Han Sen set the bird’s nest atop his head. When the space around him untwisted and deposited him back in reality, he found himself standing in a palace. The stone tablet was back in his hands. He quickly activated his Purple-Eye Butterfly and looked around.
He was standing in a jade stone palace. There were many strange statues around him, fashioned in the images of animals, gods, and demons of all kinds.
The walls and the ceiling were covered in strange paintings. They didn’t look like drawings or precise script, but they did seem to be symbols of some kind. Behind Han Sen, the teleporter began to shift again.
“Run!” Han Sen shouted. It appeared as if someone else was coming. He nudged the blood kirin, urging it to hurry toward the palace gate.
The palace gate was open, and a white light was shining through it. It seemed like the light had been placed there intentionally to block any view of what lay beyond, and not even Han Sen’s Purple-Eye Butterfly could pierce that veil.
Han Sen was so desperate to get away from Fox Queen that he ignored the possibility of encountering traps. He and the blood kirin raced through the light.
The blood kirin carried Han Sen through the palace’s front gate, and both of them felt space twisting in the same manner it had with the teleporter. When Han Sen’s vision returned, he found himself inside another palace. He was standing before its teleporter.
It was different from the first palace, though. This palace didn’t have half as many statues or paintings. In the middle of the palace, however, there was a fruit tree.
The fruit tree only stood about two meters high. Its body was like a plum tree, but it was wrought of twisted black steel. The branches seemed crooked and crudely made.
The leaves on the tree were silver, and the fruit hung like egg-sized silver sycees.
Han Sen counted eight silver sycees on the tree. They were all of the same size, and they all looked silver-white. At the bottom of each sycee was a unique pattern that appeared to have been branded into it.
“Silver treasures?” Han Sen had a closer look. Words were woven into the pattern.
“Is this tree manmade?” Han Sen looked at the teleporter behind him. The teleporter remained silent and inactive, which made Han Sen feel uneasy.
With Fox Queen’s speed, she should have caught up with him by now. How was it possible that she was not there yet?
“When I traveled through the palace gate, did the light there send me someplace else?” Han Sen thought to himself. Aside from that, he couldn’t think of another reason why Fox Queen wouldn’t have caught up with him.
He was happy about this turn of events regardless of the reason, though. Without her on his heels, he felt a lot safer. Han Sen decided to look at the silver treasure again.
He hesitated for a moment, then put on his Galactic Lobster armor. He walked directly to the tree and pulled out his knife to cut down one of the silver treasures.
The Ghost Teeth Knife shrieked across the steel surface of the tree. Instead of severing the twig, the knife had only left a light mark upon it. The mark did produce some blood-like sap, though.
“This tree is alive!” Han Sen looked rather surprised. The sap welled with energy.
Han Sen used his Purple-Eye Butterfly to observe the silver treasure fruit tree. He quickly confirmed that it really was a living tree. It had been there for many years, growing from a small sapling to what it was now.
With the Purple-Eye Butterfly, Han Sen was able to observe a timeline that spanned a billion years.
