He settled the issue in a single sentence!

The elders in the hall remained silent. The emperor had issued his edict, so they dared not say anything.

Zhou Fan turned and bowed deeply without a word. Her expression remained calm, and her eyes were indifferent.

The elders looked at the old man in the dark red robe and Evil Granny. The Great Zhou had expressed their stance. The Evil Dao Alliance just had to accept it. Otherwise, there would be war.

The old man in the dark red robe was silent for a while before saying, "Fine."

With that, he left with Evil Granny.

Everyone in the hall heaved a sigh of relief. A major battle had been avoided. In the end, they were still afraid of the Evil Dao Alliance, as it was a mysterious and powerful organization.

It wasn't worth it to go to war against them over such a minor issue.

The elders soon left the hall, leaving Zhou Fan and Elder Mo.

Elder Mo walked up to Zhou Fan and sighed softly, saying, "Lass, I really don't understand what you did. You're aware of the Evil Dao Alliance's formidable strength, but you still went ahead and did that. You…"

Elder Mo sighed again.

Zhou Fan lowered her head slightly, not saying a word.

After a while, Elder Mo asked, "What exactly are the origins of that young man? Be honest with your Uncle Mo."

"I don't know."

Elder Mo was stunned. "You don't know?"

Zhou Fan nodded.

Elder Mo was furious. "You don't know his background, but you used the Founding Ancestor's Protection and sacrificed your bright future for him? Do you know that your parents are so furious right now that it won't be strange if they end up dying out of fury?"

Zhou Fan hurriedly said, "Please help me placate them, Uncle Mo."

"Placate them? Nonsense!" Elder Mo glared at her. "You're going to kill me, too."

Elder Mo sighed again and said, "His Majesty gave you ten years. After ten years, the succession war will officially take place. If you can make a comeback by then, it'll be great. Otherwise, you will no longer have any value to the Great Zhou. Do you understand what that means?"

"I understand."

"Go on then."

Zhou Fan bowed deeply to Elder Mo and turned around to leave.

Elder Mo sighed once more with eyes full of regret. He stood quietly by himself for a while before disappearing into thin air.

After leaving the Taishi Hall, Zhou Fan immediately saw Zhou Mu and Zhou Di.

Zhou Fan smiled at them and said, "Please be merciful to me in the future, my two elder brothers."

Zhou Mu nodded. "Rest assured."

Zhou Di laughed heartily, but he did not say anything.

Zhou Fan didn't say much and simply turned around to leave.

Once Zhou Fan was out of sight, Zhou Di's smile faded. His maternal family and Zhou Fan's maternal family had always been mortal enemies.

Zhou Fan had been sentenced, so Zhou Di would certainly not miss this opportunity to take down Zhou Fan's side of the family.

There was a saying about how one had to eliminate issues at their roots, or they'd simply grow back.

Among the members of Zhou Fan's branch of the family, Zhou Fan was the only outstanding individual, so it wouldn't be that difficult for Zhou Di to eliminate her and her family.

Zhou Di turned to Zhou Mu and said, "Don't bother trying to win her over; she will not submit to you."

Zhou Mu calmly replied, "If you can afford to forgive someone, you should always do so."

Zhou Di sneered, "Hypocrite. There are no more conflicts of interest between you two, and I'm sure that's the reason why you're no longer interested in crushing her beneath your foot.

"You know that I won't let her go, so just watch from the sidelines and take advantage of the situation."

Zhou Mu merely smiled before turning around to leave.

Left all alone, Zhou Di seemed to have recalled something that made his face darken.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Evil Granny and the old man in the dark red robe were looking down on the Great Zhou Imperial City from the starry sky up above.

Evil Granny's expression was extremely grim. She was displeased with the outcome, as she wanted to kill that wretched young woman.

The more she thought about the outcome, the angrier she became. In the end, she couldn't help but ask, "Master Yue, do we really have to be afraid of the Great Zhou? We can just send people over and destroy them."

Master Yue shook his head slightly and explained, "The Emperor of the Great Zhou is a force to be reckoned with, and the Founding Ancestor of the Great Zhou is even more formidable than him. This isn't the time to go to war with them. Our primary goal is to deal with the True God of the True Universe."

The True God! Evil Granny's brows furrowed. "Master Yue, how strong is the True God?"

Master Yue shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Evil Granny was confused. "As far as I know, she's a Path Creation Realm expert."

"That's right," Master Yue replied, "However, she has suppressed her divinity using her humanity. She can't be compared to an ordinary Path Creation Realm cultivator cultivator."

A full divinity expert was trash if they couldn't make use of their humanity. However, those capable of suppressing their divinity using their humanity were extremely terrifying.

And the True God happened to be someone capable of doing that...

It was the main reason the Evil Dao of the True Universe Region hadn't been able to escape suppression.

However, if the Evil Dao managed to devour the True Universe's Virtuous Dao, her strength would reach new heights

Master Yue recalled something just then and asked, "Was that young swordsman related to the True God?"

Evil Granny replied, "Yes."

Master Yue said, "Find him and capture him alive."

Evil Granny nodded. "Our people are already searching for him."

Master Yue nodded quietly and glanced at the Great Zhou Imperial City down below. "Once we're done with the True Universe, we'll come and settle our scores with them."

With that, Master Yue turned around and left.

Evil Granny glared at the Great Zhou Imperial City before turning around to leave.

***

Meanwhile, the sapling had already grown into a tree that was nearly ten thousand meters tall with branches stretching out nearly a thousand meters in length.

It was a towering and magnificent tree, and it was surrounded by vibrant flowers like roses, chrysanthemums, etc.

Ye Guan walked up to the tree. He placed his right hand on its trunk, and a mysterious energy seeped into him from the trunk.

Ye Guan felt like he was underwater—light and weightless. He also felt incredibly comfortable, as if he was sprawled out on the softest cloud.

He quickly withdrew his hand, deeply astonished. This tree was indeed a valuable treasure!

Once he was strong enough to no longer need this tree, he'd give it to Little White.

Little White had given him many things over the years, but he had never given her anything in return. Ye Guan couldn't help but wonder whether Little White would like the tree or not.

Just then, Ye Guan called out, "Qianqian."

Swoosh!

Ao Qianqian appeared beside him. She was dressed in a white dress, and she was so beautiful that she was like a celestial maiden.

Ye Guan grabbed her hand and smiled. "What do you think of this tree?"

Ao Qianqian examined the tree, and a complex light glimmered in her eyes as she remarked, "It's extraordinary."

"I think so, too," Ye Guan said, nodding. "The Shui Civilization must have been incredibly powerful in the past. I'm really surprised to hear the decline of such a powerful civilization."

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Ao Qianqian asked, "Are you going to use this tree for cultivation?"

"The two of us are going to use it," Ye Guan said. He then opened his palm to reveal two Dao Fruits. "One for each of us."

"What are those?" Ao Qianqian asked, looking surprised. She had been in closed-door cultivation and was unaware of what had happened outside.

A dragon's closed-door cultivation could easily last hundreds or even thousands of years. As long as Ye Guan wasn't in any danger, Ao Qianqian was always focused on her own cultivation.

Ye Guan explained, "Dao Fruits. I got these from a senior. Let's each take one and become stronger together."

"Alright," Ao Qianqian replied with a nod.

Ye Guan reached out to take Ao Qianqian into the tree, but an invisible spiritual energy blocked their way.

It's not letting us in?

Ye Guan frowned. He pulled out the Qingxuan Sword and took out a whetstone. Then, he started sharpening it before the tree!

Ao Qianqian glanced sideways at him, smiling faintly.

Little Pagoda was at a loss for words.

The invisible barrier instantly vanished.

Ye Guan then put away the whetstone and the Qingxuan Sword. Then, he disappeared into a streak of light into the tree, followed closely by Ao Qianqian

Ye Guan looked around and found himself in a large clearing.

A green glowing sphere that was pulsating like a heart was in the distance.

Ao Qianqian asked, "Is that its heart?"

"I guess so," Ye Guan said, "No wonder it wouldn't let us in here."

Ye Guan walked up to the heart and examined it briefly before grinning. "Imagine the nourishment I'll get upon eating this thing!"

The Immortal Dao Tree had no idea what to say.

Ao Qianqian shook her head with a smile. "Don't scare it."

Ao Qianqian noticed that the tree's heartbeat had noticeably quickened upon hearing Ye Guan's remark.

Ye Guan noticed it, too, and he laughed heartily. "Let's start cultivating, then."

With that, the two down cross-legged. To be safe, Ye Guan activated his sword domain and isolated themselves from everything else outside.

They were completely cut off from the world!

It wasn't just the Immortal Dao Tree; even Little Pagoda couldn't take a peek inside.

Ao Qianqian's face flushed red when she saw Ye Guan using his sword domain to isolate the two of them from the world outside.

Ye Guan walked up to Ao Qianqian and held her hand. "Let's eat the fruit."

Ao Qianqian nodded and said, "Alright."

They consumed the fruit at the same time.

Boom!

An extremely powerful wave of spiritual energy erupted from within them, reducing their clothes into dust in an instant.

Just like that, the two were naked as they faced each other.

Ao Qianqian's face turned crimson in embarrassment.

However, a lick of flame manifested within Ye Guan at the alluring sight.

Instead of suppressing the lick of flame, he inched closer to her…

The sky outside the tree darkened, and a dragon made out of lightning burst out of the clouds, looking both fierce and majestic.

Rain plummeted to the ground below, and it intensified into a torrential downpour.

The wind howled and thunder roared. The raindrops seemed to intersect in midair, forming a net that soaked every inch of the land down below.

The chrysanthemums outside the tree were soon in disarray.

The thunder became more thunderous, and the rain became a storm, falling upon the world like the current of the mighty Yangtze River.

The world was wet, as it poured heavily that day.