212: Chapter 206 Fleeting Clouds

The audio content was a recording of human voices, sounding like a group of people chanting prayers with rising and falling cadences. The syllables and tones were simple yet rhythmic; it wasn't Buddhist chanting, nor any existing language in the world. It sounded like an ancient incantation recited by a primitive shaman during a sacrifice to the heavens, its meaning impossible to decipher.

Cao Xiao pondered for a long time, thinking about the legends of savages in Yeren Mountain. A suspicion formed in his mind: the audio might have come from the indigenous people who had lived in Yeren Mountain since ancient times. Given the giant tree's mystical nature, in an era of unrefined thought, the ancients likely worshipped it as a deity. Over time, the indigenous people might have mastered a way to communicate with the tree through sound, allowing them to perform sacrifices without being attacked. The Japanese must have used this same method to coexist peacefully with the giant tree.

But if that were truly the case, it wasn't of much use to him. He didn't fear the tree's attacks, and destroying it wouldn't be difficult, but he wanted to take the giant tree away intact. Otherwise, with his cautious nature, he would have acted long ago.

In a playful mood, he decided to try the method anyway. He placed the speakers in the cavern hall and flipped the switch. Immediately, the ancient, desolate chanting echoed through the silent cavern. At once, the tree roots trembled in unison, then remained still for a long while. However, once the entire audio clip finished playing, a massive commotion erupted—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the earth shook and the mountains swayed. The giant tree seemed to wake up like a primordial beast shaking its body. Not just the roots in the cavern, but all the roots began to writhe frantically. In particular, the dozen or so main roots, each ten to twenty meters thick, churned underground like earth dragons turning over. Rocks shattered, and the soil offered no resistance as the ground buckled or split open. Many roots were exposed directly on the surface, tossing and turning like giant pythons. Towering trees were swept down like weeds, while beasts and birds fled in panic, and snakes and insects were startled from their slumber.

The tunnels began to collapse without warning. Cao Xiao was genuinely startled; he never expected that playing a simple audio clip would cause such a massive scene. Had he guessed wrong and made a huge blunder? Had those Japanese people gone through all that effort just to find death? Or was his 'activation method' incorrect? He was stunned, but now was not the time for second-guessing; if he lost focus for even a second, he might get his head cracked open by falling rocks.

Cao Xiao's first instinct wasn't to run; instead, he stood frozen as if frightened. However, at that moment, all the treasures in the cavern and the entire jade vein vanished into thin air. Simultaneously, a layer of blazing white flames suddenly appeared on the surface of the giant tree, wrapping it tightly. The white flames were blindingly bright, turning the giant tree into a massive tree of light, with red light faintly pulsing within. No matter how the tree writhed, the white flames clung to it perfectly. Strangely, the soil, rocks, and plants in contact with the flames were not ignited. All the roots flailed wildly underground like octopus tentacles, grinding hard rock into powder. For a moment, the area within a one-mile radius was like a pot of boiling water. Yet, the tunnel where Cao Xiao and his men stood suddenly became calm, unaffected by the chaos. If not for the faint rumbling sounds coming through the stone walls, the near-collapse just moments ago would have seemed as if it had never happened.

This was, of course, Cao Xiao's doing. Since he couldn't store the giant tree in his space, he had to destroy it. Otherwise, this giant tree was like a frenzied celestial beast; if it were allowed to emerge, it would surely cause a worldwide sensation. At that point, the eyes of various governments would inevitably focus on him, which would not be a good thing.

The giant tree had clearly noticed their presence long ago. Unable to escape the terrifying white flames, it began to frantically attack the tunnel they were in. But Cao Xiao was prepared; he had already isolated this tunnel from the mountain. Not only was it encased in a thick layer of super alloy, but it was also fitted with a vacuum soundproofing and shock-absorbing layer. No matter how much heaven-shaking force the giant tree used to lash or constrict it, it couldn't harm them, nor were they affected by the sonic waves or vibrations. The temperature of the white flames reached tens of thousands of degrees Celsius—a temperature that no biological creature could withstand, and even metals with the highest melting points would vaporize. The giant tree desperately released red energy to resist, but it was futile. Just as the red energy was about to fail and the tree was on the verge of being reduced to ashes in an instant, a variable occurred.

"Honorable human powerhouse, please withdraw your divine power! This old tree is willing to submit!"

Just at the critical moment, an ancient and anxious voice rang out strangely in Cao Xiao's mind. Cao Xiao was startled and looked around; no one else had appeared, and his bodyguards seemed completely oblivious. With a flash of thought, he guessed that the owner of this voice could only be the giant tree. Was this method secret vocal transmission or mental projection? This was the first time Cao Xiao had witnessed such a legendary skill. Regarding the existence of the giant tree, Cao Xiao had already formed several theories: it was either a mutated, giant ancient species, a plant like a man-eating flower, or a legendary demon. Now, it seemed clearly to be the latter.

Besides the giant tree, Cao Xiao had already scouted everything else in the cave. The abnormal growth of plants and the extraordinary quality of the jade in that vein were clearly linked to the tree. This ability to accelerate plant growth made his heart race—he owned a desert farm in Australia, after all! If he moved the giant tree there, the possibilities would be endless! Moreover, the tree could improve the quality of jade; it was practically a money tree that could provide continuous wealth! Furthermore, given the immense power the tree displayed, placing it at home would make it a supreme guardian artifact to ward off all evil. A single root was enough to instakill a Transformation Realm master; even a hundred of them would just be fodder.

Now that the giant tree was willing to submit, Cao Xiao had no reason to refuse. The frustrating part was that he could only hear the tree's voice but couldn't communicate back, and it wasn't convenient to speak out loud. Seeing the tree's red energy shield on the verge of collapse, Cao Xiao didn't hesitate and immediately reduced the energy output. However, he didn't stop completely, maintaining just enough to keep the white flames from dissipating. The temperature dropped to a few thousand degrees, no longer threatening the tree's energy shield. At the same time, he began attempting to collect the tree. At first, the tree instinctively released waves to resist the spatial power, but Cao Xiao immediately increased the white flame's energy output and tried again. Fortunately, this time the tree understood Cao Xiao's intent and stopped resisting. Thus, the giant tree was successfully taken into the research space and isolated in a separate small dimension.

Fearing it might die, Cao Xiao thoughtfully placed some soil and air inside to ensure its survival. Suddenly thrown into a strange space, the giant tree was dazed. Without the threat of the flames, it stopped its frantic struggling and curiously explored the spatial barriers with its roots before slowly quieting down. Cao Xiao paid it no more mind; now that the business with the Japanese was settled, it was time to leave.

"Boss, let's get out of here! That didn't feel like an earthquake just now; something world-shaking must have happened up ahead. That kind of power isn't something we can contend with." The upheaval had come and gone quickly, lasting only a minute or two. The bodyguards hadn't even figured out the situation before it ended. Now, Duan Hong spoke to Cao Xiao, sounding as if he were waking from a nightmare, still shaken.

"Let's go! We've already dropped the heavy loads; head out at full speed," Cao Xiao nodded and said.

Seeing that Cao Xiao agreed to return, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They were truly afraid their boss would insist on going further in. The miserably dead bodies they had seen along the way were enough to show how dangerous this place was. The earth-shaking commotion just now wasn't something any 'expert' could settle. Faced with such overwhelming power, any expert would have been buried just the same. Given Cao Xiao's personality, whenever he made up his mind to do something, he would use bizarre reasons to shut them up. If Cao Xiao had truly been headstrong, their objections would have been useless, and they would have had to accompany him, even if it meant going to their deaths.

The tunnel had been cleared and held no danger; they moved light and fast, exiting the cave in half an hour. Huang Sheng and the other two waiting outside were pacing anxiously. They only relaxed when they saw everyone emerge. They had heard the commotion; although the cave entrance was far from the incident and they hadn't seen what happened, it certainly wasn't anything good. The Huang father and son were tactful enough not to ask questions, only urging Cao Xiao to leave the mountains immediately. Zheng Hui looked anxious and seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

"Eat something, then head back to camp. Pack up and start the return journey out of the mountains!"

The tunnel they had taken led deeper into the mountains, about eight hundred meters below the surface. A ten-kilometer detection range was enough to completely cover the core area of Yeren Mountain. Cao Xiao hadn't been idle along the way, constantly collecting the flora and fauna resources he wanted, filling his space to the brim. Therefore, Yeren Mountain held nothing left for him to miss. Calculating the time, it was indeed time to return. He spent some effort disguising the surface traces caused by the giant tree's movement. This cave would also completely collapse after they left, so even if the Japanese returned, they wouldn't find anything.

After a quick meal of roasted meat, they returned to camp and organized their belongings. Cao Xiao had everyone keep only essential gear, discarding other outdoor equipment like tents, food, and cooking utensils. After they left, Cao Xiao collected these into his space. Not a single item they left behind could be found in Yeren Mountain—not even trash. Once they reached the small road outside the mountains, he also cleaned up the vehicles and other items left by the Japanese, even disguising the license plates. As long as they didn't speak of it, no one would ever know they had been to Yeren Mountain.

The return journey was relatively easy; they were on familiar ground and exited the mountains in less than two hours. They didn't return directly to Myitkyina, nor did they go to the Pagan Jade Mine. The Huang father and son were given a generous bonus—or rather, hush money—and sent back. Zheng Hui was also sent back to Yangon. After Cao Xiao's group dropped them off at Pagan Town, they left them to their own devices. They drove back to tour other jade mines in the Pagan area, then made a trip to Mogok overnight, circling the jade mines there as well. Near every mine, Cao Xiao would get out of the car alone and disappear for a period of time.

It was already the next morning when they returned to Myitkyina from Mogok. Everyone had taken turns resting during the trip. Cao Xiao didn't plan to stop in Myitkyina; he flew non-stop to Mandalay, then rented a helicopter to take Zhang Qiling, Duan Hong, and Niu Zhen on a loop through Mogok and Gyamai Town. They only returned to Mandalay around noon, found a place to enjoy a proper lunch, and then set off for Yangon. Upon arriving in Yangon, they didn't go to the public auction. Although they had rested in the car, the constant travel was exhausting, so they simply returned to the hotel to get some good rest, waiting until tomorrow to participate in the final day of the hidden bid auction.

After being infused with Yuan Energy, Cao Xiao's physical condition was incredibly good, and his mental state was much improved. When he rested, he easily entered a deep sleep; as long as he got five or six hours of sleep, he could remain energetic all day. As the boss, he didn't have to drive, so he didn't feel tired at all. After chatting on the phone with He Yueyou for a while, he began to take stock of the harvest in his space.

The largest portion was naturally timber. There were over twenty thousand tons of various high-quality woods, dried and processed. Based on the situation at the outskirts of Yeren Mountain, there shouldn't have been so much, but in the core area—especially above the giant tree's root system—rare timber was everywhere. Once found, it grew in vast patches, and the trees were exceptionally thick and tall. Many trees had exceeded their natural growth limits, some having grown for hundreds or even a thousand years. Towering giants over a hundred meters tall were common. Furthermore, the wood was denser than normal varieties, with larger growth rings, and the quality was a level higher than the same species elsewhere. Especially those thousand-year-old trees; the older they were, the higher the density and the harder the wood, rivaling even Ironwood. This was a unique phenomenon of that place.

Next was the jade. The vein in Yeren Mountain was massive, stretching for nearly several kilometers, with an incredibly high density of jade and extraordinary quality. Cao Xiao had stripped the outer shells from all the rough stones, obtaining a total of over nine thousand tons of polished material. He couldn't even estimate the specific value; the more than one thousand one hundred tons of glass species jade alone made him lose the heart to calculate the total worth. Combined with the hundreds of thousands of tons of rough jade stones collected from various mines in the Pagan-Mogok Jade Triangle, and the large batch of rough and polished stones from Wu Meng's family mines and warehouses, he had become somewhat numb to jade. When you have so much of something that you can never use it all, it no longer feels as precious.

Then there was the wealth the Japanese had kept in the cavern hall. The largest part was gold and silver: a total of 2,536 tons of gold bricks, bars, and gold products; 5,360 tons of silver; 25,119 pieces of precious antiques from China, Myanmar, and India; and 2,100 pieces of furniture made from rare wood. The quantities were staggering. Gold, in particular—2,536 tons was a terrifying figure, roughly one-third of the reserves of the world's largest gold-holding nation and more than China's gold reserves. From this perspective, it seemed impossible, but considering that during the Japanese invasion, they had plundered over 6,000 tons of gold from Jinling alone, stripping everything in their path—even taking gold teeth from the dead and scraping gold dust off Buddha statues—it made sense. India, as an ancient civilization with a populace obsessed with gold, had vast amounts of private gold, as did Myanmar. Even a commoner who could barely afford food might own gold. China went without saying; the cellars of merchants and landlords were filled with massive gold chunks. Legend had it that the Japanese plundered no less than 60,000 tons of gold from China and no less than 30,000 tons from Southeast Asian countries. In comparison, these two thousand-plus tons weren't such a large amount. It was likely that late in the war, when maritime transport was blocked, the Japanese moved this here from various locations to be retrieved later. However, for the Japanese, it was all now just passing clouds; this massive fortune now belonged entirely to Cao Xiao.