Chapter 892: Returning to Skytree City

What happened to Adamant City next was no longer Tang San's concern. Though the Adamant Nymph clan had lost the Adamant Nymph Emperor, they were still quite strong; they had at least two Great Nymph Kings, after all. Moreover, with things as they were, the Ancestral Court likely wouldn't have the resources to immediately replace the ruling clan of a main city. They could manage for a while, and what happened after that was their own problem.

Looking down at Adamant City from the sky, it appeared as if everything had returned to normal. However, the city no longer exuded the same imposing presence as when they first arrived, nor was there the uproar one would have expected after such events. Instead, there was a vague air of decline, something Tang San could easily discern through his observation of the city's fortune.

In contrast, the twelve Blue Gold Tree clan elders surrounding Tang San all radiated a sense of pride and vigor. Now that they had left Adamant City, the excitement they had been holding back finally burst forth. Even now, they still found it hard to believe, but with everything laid out before them, they had no choice but to accept the reality.

Unlike the departure flight, their return to Skytree City was in a straight line, and as they passed, vast amounts of life energy surged from the ground. Tang San's life force had clearly advanced again. Even though he hadn't fully absorbed the Adamant Nymph Emperor's power, he had gained another bloodline imprint. His life force had been further elevated during the battle, as his power merged more deeply with the Ancestral Tree's energy. Additionally, more chaos energy had been generated during the explosion of yin-yang energy within the Adamant Nymph Emperor, nourishing him further. As a result, he had undergone yet another transformation.

Of course, hunting the Adamant Nymph Emperor was a one-time opportunity, never to be repeated. Before truly becoming an Emperor himself, Tang San wouldn't dare to hunt another Emperor, or he would undoubtedly face the harshest retaliation from the Ancestral Court.

The return journey was much faster than their arrival. In less than a third of the time, Tang San led the group back to Skytree City, where the Ancestral Tree resided.

It had been more than ten hours since the fall of the Adamant Nymph Emperor, and on the surface, Skytree City appeared unchanged. However, when the Adamant Nymph Emperor was killed, the Ancestral Tree had manifested within the city, and everyone—whether from the Blue Gold Tree clan or other races living there—had witnessed it. Then came the terrifying vision of blood flowing across the sky.

At that time, no one dared to imagine that an Emperor had fallen, but the celestial phenomena were too intense to ignore. How could the Blue Gold Tree clan not be curious about the true situation?

The death of an Emperor was something that couldn't be hidden. Although the information wasn't fully confirmed, the Grand Elder was also connected to the Ancestral Tree and could sense some things. Naturally, the old tree was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unable to contain his worry.

Even though he'd felt it rather clearly, he still found it hard to believe that the Adamant Nymph Emperor had truly died. The Ancestral Tree's light had burst forth and displayed an immense amount of energy right before him, yet this event was so shocking that he still couldn't fully accept it. After all, he knew that no Emperor had been slain on the Daemon Continent since times immemorial.

What concerned him even more was the safety of Jin Miaolin and the other elders. He had no way of knowing what the new clan leader had been planning, but with such a major upheaval and such a significant reaction from the Ancestral Tree, there was no way this had nothing to do with him. There was absolutely no way.

The Grand Elder had finally seen hope for the rise of the Blue Gold Tree clan in this new clan leader; he even hoped that Jin Miaolin could one day become an Emperor, allowing the Blue Gold Tree clan to stop being so passive under the Ancestral Tree's awakening. If this clan leader were to fall now, it would be a disaster. What's more, Jin Miaolin had taken Jin Miaosen, the only other direct descendant of the Ancestral Tree, with him. If anything happened to both of them, it would truly be the end of the Blue Gold Tree clan!

While waiting anxiously, the Grand Elder had sent people to gather information. Unfortunately, all they could gather in such a short time was from the limited number of people who'd fled Adamant City long before anything major happened, and so he had no idea of what was true and what wasn't. All he could do was wait.

Just then, he sensed a familiar aura. When he saw the dozen figures in the sky and felt the rich life energy they radiated, the Grand Elder was so moved that he nearly burst into tears.

He immediately spotted Jin Miaolin's figure. Seeing him alive, the Grand Elder subconsciously clenched his fists. The clan leader wasn't dead, and that was all that mattered. His return was more important than anything. Then he noticed Jin Miaosen, and he let out a sigh of relief. As for the other elders... they might as well have been trees on the roadside. He couldn't be bothered to think about them.

Tang San led the elders as they descended from the sky, landing directly in front of the Ancestral Tree's husk in the inner city. This was his city—there was no need to land before the city gates and walk there.

"Clan Leader!" the Grand Elder shouted excitedly, rushing forward. When he sensed the abundant life energy emanating from Tang San, his heart finally settled.

Tang San smiled slightly and said, "Sorry for making you worry, Grand Elder. I need to enter seclusion immediately. The second elder will explain everything to you. Don't worry, it's good news."

As he spoke, he patted the Grand Elder on the shoulder and then walked toward the Ancestral Tree's true form.

Though Tang San hadn't been gone for long, after experiencing such a major upheaval, the Ancestral Tree's husk had also undergone some changes.

The massive Ancestral Tree had become even more translucent, and the crystalline blue color of its trunk had deepened, giving off an aura of profoundness. Tang San could even sense that the Ancestral Tree's sentience had increased a little more. Of course, the Ancestral Tree couldn't fully awaken, much less regain its previous divine consciousness, even if Tang San's chaos energy increased a hundredfold. This was something dictated by the limitations of this plane.

The power of the planar ruler was the power of heaven and earth, and it would not tolerate an independent and intelligent life form that could fully harness it. This was a key characteristic of planes outside of the divine realm. No one could change this, not even Falan Planet with its immense energy. This was a law of the universe.

Thus, Tang San wasn't worried about the Ancestral Tree fully awakening. Quite the opposite—with its sentience slightly elevated, the Ancestral Tree's instincts had grown a bit stronger and more sensitive. Its energy had also become purer and grander.

Tang San approached the Ancestral Tree, raised his right hand, and pressed it against the enormous tree trunk, silently conveying his will through his divine consciousness.

The death of the Adamant Nymph Emperor was a great benefit to the Ancestral Tree as part of the planar ruler. How much fortune and life force had been returned to the plane with the fall of an Emperor? Moreover, Tang San had used the Ancestral Tree's power to extract a third of the life energy from an entire main city, returning it to nature. This made the Ancestral Tree acknowledge Tang San even more.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

At the same time, Tang San had also brought back the Blue Gold Tree clan members who had been captured in Adamant City.

Streaks of blue light flew out from Tang San, landing around the Ancestral Tree. Some of the Blue Gold Tree clan members were still alive, though extremely weak, while others were nothing but broken limbs.

Tang San placed these Blue Gold Trees around the Ancestral Tree, allowing its power to nourish them. This was one of the Blue Gold Tree clan's innate abilities—Return of Spring. Even if only pieces of them remained, as long as they still had some life in them and they were under the blessing of the Ancestral Tree, there was actually a very good chance that they would recover.

The aura the Ancestral Tree transmitted to Tang San became even gentler, and he could also clearly feel that the life energy he was receiving was purer and more powerful. He was getting closer and closer to being fully acknowledged as the representative of the Ancestral Tree.

He sat down cross-legged in front of the Ancestral Tree, leaning his back against it. As he absorbed the pure and boundless life energy, he immediately entered a meditative state.

He couldn't wait any longer. He had to start absorbing the Adamant Nymph Emperor's bloodline imprint immediately, or the seal would no longer hold. He'd been too optimistic earlier; as it turned out, the power of this bloodline imprint exceeded the combined power of all the other imprints within him. Such was the gap between the eleventh and twelfth orders. He had to somehow create a balance between the other bloodline imprints and the Adamant Nymph Emperor's, or he was bound to face serious problems.