Chapter 1234 - Ancestral Tree's Branch

Elder Long had already reached the gate. Part of him still held onto the faint hope that Liu Wuxie could create another miracle, but reason told him otherwise. In the long history of the sect, only three people had ever survived the Maneater Worms.

Just as he was about to leave, the three elders called out to him. He hesitated for a heartbeat before turning back toward the crystal wall.

In the blink of an eye, Elder Long vanished from the gate, reappearing so swiftly that the gust of his movement sent the three elders flying backward. They crashed to the ground but took no offense, scrambling to their feet and hurrying over to stand at his side. Together, their eyes locked on the crystal wall.

On the projection, Liu Wuxie formed hand seals. White radiance spilled out, weaving like silkworm thread and cocooning his body in a luminous shell.

Even after so many years of cultivation, he had not comprehended the Light Dao Art, let alone the Light Mythical Art. Since entering the Astral Domain, the light element in his body had weakened to the point where he could no longer wield light laws. Yet he could still manipulate the faint trace of that element, enough to wrap himself in a protective cocoon.

"That's the power of light!" one elder exclaimed, stunned.

The four of them stared in disbelief. They had never expected that Liu Wuxie had a grasp of the light element, even though he was so young.

"Could it be that the Maneater Worms fear light?" another elder muttered, eyes wide.

Evidently, even the four of them were unaware of the worms' weakness. None had ever dared to set foot in the Cannibal Valley to test it. No cultivator in their right mind would volunteer their life to uncover such a secret.

Liu Wuxie, however, knew a little. He understood that fire could drive the worms back, though not effectively. Light, he reasoned, could hold the true key.

In an instant, the cocoon of radiance engulfed him, and a glowing sphere pulsed on the tree branch in his place. A bizarre scene unfolded before the elders' eyes—the Maneater Worms slithered forward until they reached three meters from him, the edge of the light's reach. There, they stopped. Not one dared take another step closer.

They clustered together at the boundary of darkness, quivering.

The sight confirmed Liu Wuxie's speculation. The Maneater Worms truly feared light.

Without realizing it, cold sweat drenched the four elders, as if a river had dragged them under. None of them could tear their eyes away from the crystal wall as time ticked on.

"Look, the Maneater Worms are retreating!" the middle elder exclaimed.

At last, Elder Long released a long breath. Relief softened his features, and a gratified smile tugged at his lips. He returned to his meditation mat, content to continue watching.

The past few days had been an unrelenting storm for them. Their hearts clenched whenever Liu Wuxie brushed against death, yet they silently willed him to survive. Logically, they had no connection to him; his life or death wasn't supposed to move them. After witnessing miracle upon miracle, however, he won them over without their realizing it.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

When dawn finally broke, sunlight streamed into the valley, and the elders felt as though a heavy boulder had been lifted from their chests. If Liu Wuxie endured one more day, he would complete the trial.

Merely four days had passed, but it felt like a century.

Bathed in the morning light, Liu Wuxie opened his eyes. He released the cocoon of radiance and exhaled deeply. The memory of the night still lingered with a sharp edge of fear. He realized then that the memories of his past as the Immortal Emperor were growing hazy, perhaps as a cost of living a second life.

However, he no longer clung to the past. He now had a family, new friends, and new bonds. He sealed those old memories in the depths of his soul and revisited them only occasionally.

"One last day left," he said, his gaze sharpening. He was not a man to dwell on what was lost. In a breath, his mind cleared.

After a whole night of cultivation, his Ghost Eye spread outward, capturing a radius of four thousand meters. Suddenly, the Ancestral Tree within his desolate world stirred, pulling his attention southeast.

"Could it be the divinekin?" he murmured. Each past reaction of the Ancestral Tree was a result of them. He remembered the colossal trunk he had sensed during his last breakthrough; that, too, was connected to the tree. Without hesitation, he sprang forward, weaving between towering trunks and severing Tree Demons that lunged at him.

The valley stretched endlessly, its trees soaring ten thousand feet high, and its ground choked with thorns that hindered every step. After fifteen minutes, his gaze fell on a massive tree.

The Ancestral Tree's agitation stilled at once when he focused on it. He cast his divine sense out for ten thousand meters, but no divinekin lurked nearby. This time, the warning was different.

"What is he doing?" one of the elders asked, baffled. The four exchanged looks. To them, Liu Wuxie had already resolved every threat in the valley. His final day should have been free of danger.

Activating Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie peered through the strange tree. Vines wrapped their trunks in dense coils, and unlike the barren trees around them, the surrounding vegetation leaned inward, as though their presence drew it like moths to a lamp.

At the tree's heart, he found a three-meter-long branch segment. The instant he saw it, the Ancestral Tree within his desolate world trembled violently, looking desperate to burst out.

Liu Wuxie had never seen the Ancestral Tree tremble in this manner before. In the past, whenever he encountered divinekin, the tree would only sway its branches at most. However, this time, it was different. Judging from the violent reaction, it seemed as if the Ancestral Tree wanted to burst out of the desolate world itself.

"This is a segment of the Ancestral Tree!" Liu Wuxie exclaimed. It wasn't the main trunk, only a fragment of a branch.

"No wonder the surrounding vegetation had swarmed over. The wood-attribute energy in this branch is drawing them in," he murmured. He could tell that even the slightest wisp of wood energy from the Ancestral Tree's branch would be enough to transform an ordinary sapling into a towering tree.

The thick vines choking the trunk stood as proof. Most vines grew no thicker than a finger, with rare exceptions reaching the width of a human arm. But here, the vines were as thick as a man's thigh, impossible without nourishment from the Ancestral Tree's branch.

Summoning the Heretic Blade, Liu Wuxie slashed apart the encircling vines without hesitation.

"Don't you find it strange? That trunk looks unusual; it's drawing the surrounding vegetation in. The vegetation around it is lusher than anywhere else," one elder remarked. From behind the crystal wall, they couldn't sense the powerful wood aura.

"It should be a rare wood containing powerful wood-attribute energy," the three elders whispered, unaware of the branch's true nature. None of them knew the secrets of the Ancestral Tree.

Liu Wuxie carefully tucked the segment of the branch away, and then he vanished to search for a safe place to transfer it into his desolate world.

The moment he did, the Ancestral Tree stirred. Its branches swayed wildly, wrapping around the branch segment like a mother clutching her child. Vast waves of wood-attribute energy surged into the Ancestral Tree.

In mere minutes, the tree doubled in size. An even more extraordinary sight unfolded as runes spread across its leaves—runes Liu Wuxie had never seen before, not even during his time in the Celestial Realm. They radiated the aura of heaven and earth themselves, as though creation birthed them as natural runes.

This branch still holds so much wood-attribute energy even after all this time? These runes must come from the ancient era,

Liu Wuxie thought, astonished.

Whatever the truth, it was good news. With this growth, the Ancestral Tree's ability to draw in spiritual energy multiplied, and Liu Wuxie's confidence against the divinekin grew stronger. If the tree failed to advance, it would never match the divinekin that he would inevitably face in the future.

He cultivated for the remaining half-day and quietly awaited the trial's end.

"Hand this to him when he comes out as his reward for surviving in the Cannibal Valley," Elder Long said, producing a porcelain bottle and passing it to the three elders. He did not need to keep watching.

"Why don't you want to give him the reward personally?" the three elders asked, baffled.

"No need," Elder Long replied curtly. He had nearly gotten Liu Wuxie killed in the Cannibal Valley, and a misunderstanding could happen if the youth were to learn of it. Without another word, he left the chamber.

The three elders understood immediately. They accepted the porcelain bottle, silently swallowing the truth about the Cannibal Valley.

At dusk, Liu Wuxie felt the surroundings shift.

"The teleportation array is about to activate?" he murmured, finally relaxing. Light flared around him, and in a blink, he stood once more in his chamber within the Primordial Pagoda.

"This is strange... there's no option for the Cannibal Valley," he muttered as he scanned the scene selector, scratching his head. He let it go. The trial had ended, and the harvest was immense. His only regret was the lack of an official reward.

When he stepped outside, the three elders waited for him, smiling faintly.

"Elders, you're looking for me?" Liu Wuxie asked, surprised.

"This is the reward for the Cannibal Valley," the middle elder said, handing him the porcelain bottle.

Liu Wuxie accepted it curiously. It didn't feel as if it contained a pill. When he pulled the stopper free, his eyes narrowed, and the three elders instinctively staggered back in shock.