Ye Guan pondered briefly over Little Ai's suggestion and replied, "I think it's feasible."

The Forest Civilization had already shown hostility toward him, so he believed that a confrontation was inevitable.

Since a battle was inevitable, why couldn't they make the first move?

Having received Ye Guan's approval, Little Ai nodded and replied, "I'll arrange it."

"All right, I'll leave it to your hands," said Ye Guan. Then, he turned to the aircraft behind Little Ai and asked, "How's the research coming along?"

Little Ai responded, "We were just talking about it. These are indeed advanced flying machines. Our preliminary analysis suggests that this aircraft, combined with the array, uses time to perform a spatial jump. It's quite similar to the principle behind the Universe Space Station that we are trying to build."

Ye Guan asked, "Can we learn anything from them?"

"Yes. The logic behind their time manipulation, the auxiliary array, and the special composite materials of this aircraft are all worth studying. Fortunately, it seems that our technology is not inferior to theirs. Once our Universe Space Station is built, we will also be able to perform spatial jumps across the vast expanse."

"I'll leave this to you, then!"

"Sure."

With that, Ye Guan turned around and left. He had more important things to do now. He had to train.

He was planning on kicking it up a notch or five by sparring with Erya.

As always, Erya was licking her favorite candied hawthorn inside the pagoda.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Erya.

Ye Guan nodded. He was still too weak. At the very least, he needed to be able to fight against a supreme elite with ninety percent divinity.

"Then, let's begin!" she exclaimed.

Ye Guan nodded, and with a single thought, dozens of Sword Intent suddenly appeared around Erya, attacking her from all directions. However, Erya remained completely still, letting the Sword Intent strike her without any reaction.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

All the Sword Intent were deflected, and she was completely unscathed.

Ye Guan was speechless when he saw this. How was he supposed to train like this? Erya could literally stand there and let him hack at her without needing to retaliate.

She licked her candied hawthorn again and asked, "Want to try again?"

Ye Guan felt deeply discouraged. At this moment, he really missed Senior An.

Sparring with Senior An was different; she would guide him and provide feedback. In contrast, sparring with Erya left him completely at a loss because she didn't even bother dodging his attacks.

Suddenly, Erya extended her palm, and a storage ring floated toward Ye Guan. Puzzled, he asked, "What's this?"

Erya replied, "It's the Ancestral Veins Little White acquired earlier. They're all yours."

Ye Guan was taken aback. "They're all for me?"

Erya nodded. "Yes."

Ye Guan felt touched. "Erya, this… I feel bad about this!"

Despite his words, his hands moved quickly to take the storage ring. Inside, there were more than a dozen Ancestral Veins!

Erya licked her candied hawthorn and said, "Your combat awareness is already top-notch. If you want to defeat someone with ninety percent divinity, you need to elevate your cultivation realm and start cultivating divinity. Relying solely on combat awareness won't suffice."

Ye Guan nodded slightly, replying, "I understand."

Divine Dao Realm! He knew that it was time for him to start exploring divinity.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

At that moment, a voice echoed in his mind. It was Little Ai's voice.

After a few moments, Ye Guan left the tiny pagoda and returned to the special teleportation array. To his surprise, the array was already active.

Ye Guan was surprised. He asked, "What's happening?"

Little Ai said, "It's not us. The other side activated it."

Ye Guan's expression grew serious. "Someone's coming?"

Little Ai nodded. "Yes."

His eyes narrowed.

At that moment, Shen Qi appeared. She glanced at the activated array and asked, "Someone from the Forest Civilization is coming over?"

"Yes," Ye Guan replied.

She turned to Ye Guan. "What are your plans?"

Ye Guan thought for a moment before saying, "I really want to know why they're coming back."

"There could be many reasons for that. For example, the universe they currently reside in might be experiencing a Universe Tribulation…"

"That's a possibility."

"They're about to arrive."

Ye Guan raised his head to look at the teleportation array. Soon, a figure appeared in it. The next moment, a middle-aged man could be seen slowly emerging. He possessed ninety percent divinity!

However, it was not his true body. It was merely his projection.

This puzzled Ye Guan.

Only sending a projection?

After the middle-aged man appeared, he looked around with a hint of complexity in his eyes. Soon, his gaze focused on Ye Guan and he asked, "Are you the current ruler of the Guanxuan Civilization?"

Ye Guan was a bit surprised. "You know me?"

The middle-aged man replied calmly, "What do you think?"

Ye Guan replied, "Tell me your purpose for coming here."

The middle-aged man said, "When we return, there can only be one civilization here. So, you have two choices: the first is to surrender, and the second is for your Guanxuan Civilization to disappear from this world… Oh, by the way, if you want to surrender, you must bring your grandfather's head to me. Otherwise, we won't accept it."

Ye Guan laughed.

The middle-aged man stared at him. "Do you find this funny?"

"You want my grandfather's head?" Ye Guan asked.

The middle-aged man nodded. "One person's head in exchange for the survival of your civilization is a good deal for you."

Ye Guan pretended to think for a moment before he said, "I can't make that decision. How about I bring my grandfather to talk with you? What do you guys think?"

"Fine. Just make sure you both actually turn up when the time comes."

"We will."

"I truly hope that when the time comes, you can remain as confident and composed as you are today."

With that, the middle-aged man's projection began to dissipate. Soon, it completely disappeared, and with his disappearance, the array was slowly deactivated.

Shen Qi asked, "Young Lord Ye, the Forest civilization has effectively declared war on you. Do you have confidence?"

"No," Ye Guan replied. "But my grandfather does."

Shen Qi blinked. "Is your grandfather particularly strong?"

Ye Guan laughed. "He's alright; he's just a bit stronger than me,

haha

."

Shen Qi rolled her eyes and said, "How cheeky."

Ye Guan burst out into laughter at her response.

"Young Lord Ye, let me take you somewhere," Shen Qi said.

"Where?" Ye Guan asked out of curiosity.

"Come with me," Shen Qi said. Then, she turned around to leave, and Ye Guan followed closely behind her.

After a while, they came to a mountain range.

Ye Guan couldn't help but ask, "Lady Shen Qi, where are you taking me?"

"We're almost there," she said with a smile.

"Lady Shen Qi, you seem very familiar with this place."

"A little."

Ye Guan looked at her, smiled, and did not say anything further.

Naturally, he was not foolish. Shen Qi's calm and collected demeanor did not seem like that of a captive. From the moment that they met until now, he noticed that she remained very composed, even when facing people from the Forest Civilization, showing no hint of reverence or fear. Such confidence could only come from deep within her. For someone to be so assured, they must possess considerable strength.

After all, she was First God's daughter and a traveler. It was reasonable to assume she was no ordinary person. However, he did not expose her because, at least for now, she did not seem to have any hostile intentions towards him.

Soon, she led him to the depths of a canyon. She stopped in her tracks and pointed into the distance. Ye Guan looked at where she was pointing and saw an ancient, withered tree several hundred feet away.

He was puzzled. "What is this?"

Shen Qi smiled. "Do you know how the Forest Civilization came to be?"

Ye Guan pondered and said, "Could it be because of this ancient tree?"

Shen Qi nodded. "Yes."

Ye Guan was shocked. "Really? It's because of this ancient tree?"

Shen Qi explained, "This isn't an ordinary tree. It's called the Daogu Tree. Initially, the Forest Civilization was just a small civilization. Until one day, they discovered this tree and obtained supreme cultivation methods from it. After that, they began to advance rapidly."

Ye Guan frowned as he looked at the withered tree. "So, it's all because of this tree?"

Shen Qi nodded and said, "Yes. It was because of this Daogu Tree that the Forest Civilization grew strong. Their cultivation methods and mysterious technologies all originated from this tree."

Ye Guan asked in a low voice, "Why didn't they take this tree with them?"

"Because the tree is already dead. Moreover, it lost its functionality many, many years ago. To them, this tree is useless," she said.

Ye Guan walked over to the tree and examined it closely. Indeed, the tree was completely dead, devoid of any aura. In fact, it looked like it had been dead for many, many years such that even its trunk was beginning to slowly disintegrate.

There was a complex expression on Shen Qi's face as she said, "Who would've thought that this withered ancient tree was once the Daogu Tree? The Forest Civilization became powerful and managed to escape a tribulation because of it."

Ye Guan asked, "Why did it perish?"

Shen Qi shook her head. "I don't know. There's no record of it in the Forest Civilization. It is very strange."

Ye Guan thought for a moment before he called out to Little White, "Little White, can you revive this ancient tree?"

Little White blinked, then touched the Daogu Tree. After a moment, she closed her eyes slowly and mysterious energies began to flow into the tree. At first, nothing happened, but soon, the tree started to tremble slightly.

Shen Qi was stunned.

Can the Daogu Tree really be revived?

Then, an unexpected change occurred. The Daogu Tree suddenly shuddered violently and a withered hand shot out from the trunk, aiming straight for Ye Guan's face.

Ye Guan's expression changed drastically. At that moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of mortal danger.

Boom!

At that instant, spacetime above Ye Guan ripped open and a sword emerged, cutting through the air. It was the Path Sword!

At the same time, a cold voice echoed, "Try touching him if you dare."

It was Plain Skirt Aunt!

This was the first time Plain Skirt Destiny was intervening of her own accord!