Chapter 1010: The Guidance of Law

In the depths of space, the Immortal Emperor of Daru received a report from his subordinates. He promptly turned to the others. "One of the sandworm kings that we've captured has finally spoken up."

"Oh?" Everyone's eyes lit up as they turned toward the Immortal Emperor of Daru.

"This sandworm king doesn't know much about the Darkborn. When it was young, Sibyl threw it and countless other small sandworms on a certain planet. Over time, they multiplied and eventually dominated it. It then fused with the planet's world tree, and was subsequently chosen to become one of Sibyl's followers. The other sandworm kings met the same fate."

"World tree? What specifically is a world tree?" one supreme cultivator asked.

"That sandworm king claimed that every planet is a world of its own. Each world births a world tree. The world tree contains the laws of that world and can channel the power of the entire planet," the Immortal Emperor of Daru said.

"Every planet has a world tree? Why not ours?"

"Ours did have one, back in the day," Madam Rouge replied.

"Oh?" Everyone turned to Madam Rouge.

"Doesn't this 'world tree' sound like the Heavenly Dao of legend?" Madam Rouge replied.

"The Heavenly Dao? But according to legend, the heavens severed it themselves countless years ago. After its collapse, the heavens began the cycle of calamity every ten thousand years. Are you saying that our planet's world tree has been cut down?" someone asked in shock.

Madam Rouge nodded. "I don't want to admit it, but it seems to be the case."

A heavy silence befell the group. They all turned to the Yuqing Grandmaster, the strongest among them, who might know more.

The Yuqing Grandmaster was silent for a moment before he nodded. "Madam Rouge is correct. Our planet once had a world tree, but it was cut down."

"Oh?"

"In fact, all of you have begun to wield a world tree's power," the Yuqing Grandmaster said.

A flicker of realization crossed someone's face. "You mean—these world trees of ours?"

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "Indeed. These nine world trees are what remains of our planet's original world tree."

"Our planet had nine world trees?" someone exclaimed.

The Yuqing Grandmaster shook his head. "No. Rather, the nine world trees were once a single entity. To be precise, they are merely nine branches of the world tree. Only when they are reunited will the complete world tree be formed once more."

Everyone glanced at each other.

"But these world trees were unknown in my time," one cursed king said, frowning.

"That's natural," the Yuqing Grandmaster replied. "When the Darkborn cut down the world tree, they severed and sealed its branches. For some reason, ten thousand years ago, Sathia of the Darkborn lifted the seal and created nine charms of heavenly law, which he gave to the nine saints that we know today."

"The nine branches of the world tree were sealed? But why would the Darkborn unseal them? That doesn't make sense," one person exclaimed.

"It is indeed illogical," the Yuqing Grandmaster replied. "But it was precisely because they were unsealed that their power spread across the world, stimulating all of you cursed kings into awakening in this era. The Darkborn are surely plotting something."

"My subordinates interrogated the sandworm king, but it knew nothing of this," the Immortal Emperor of Daru said.

"It isn't qualified to know such secrets," the Yuqing Grandmaster replied. "I advise all of you not to hoard your knowledge. During this time of crisis, you should share your insights that you've gleaned into your respective trees. By exchanging your knowledge, you can each gain mastery over multiple branches and be better prepared for the next attack from the heavens.

The cultivators exchanged glances. The Immortal Emperor of Daru was the first to step forward. "I agree. I am willing to share my knowledge."

"As am I!" someone else shouted.

All the supreme cultivators voiced their agreement one after another. After all, this was a beneficial exchange for them all. By revealing the secrets of one branch of the world tree, they could gain information about the other eight.

"Yuqing Grandmaster, allow me to pose you a question," Xiao Nanfeng began.

"Oh?" the Yuqing Grandmaster turned to Xiao Nanfeng.

In the past, he had been dismissive of Xiao Nanfeng because he considered him too weak to be worth his attention. However, now that Xiao Nanfeng had slain Sibyl, things were different.

"I have an avatar that cultivates your Yuqing Yin Body. My purple moon opened its eye and became a force of indiscriminate slaughter, and even I have a hard time suppressing it. Why does this happen, and how may I resolve it?"

"Your purple moon has opened its eye?" the Yuqing Grandmaster exclaimed in surprise.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. His avatar rushed over from afar.

He conjured his purple moon and sent it hovering into the air. It trembled and split open, revealing a single purple eye. The moment the eye appeared, a fierce aura erupted. The eye stared intensely at Xiao Nanfeng, then turned to the Yuqing Grandmaster.

It even shot out a beam of purple light at the latter.

"How foolish," the Yuqing Grandmaster said coldly.

He struck out with a palm, shattering the purple light in an instant. His immense force caused the purple eye to tremble, bloodshot. Slowly, the eye closed and returned to its moon form.

Xiao Nanfeng began, "Yuqing Grandmaster, as you can see, I can't exert much control over my purple moon."

The Yuqing Grandmaster eyed the moon. "It is extraordinary that you've cultivated the Yuqing Yin Body to such an extent. Besides myself, you are likely the only other person in existence to have made the purple moon open its eye."

"I was extraordinarily lucky, but using my purple moon under the current circumstances is risky. Though it's extremely powerful in battle, it cannot distinguish friend from foe. I fear it's lying in wait and preparing to consume me when an opportunity arises."

The cultivators glanced at Xiao Nanfeng, shocked. His purple moon wanted to kill him?

The Yuqing Grandmaster nodded. "You are correct. It intends to kill and replace you."

"Please assist me, Yuqing Grandmaster," Xiao Nanfeng requested.

"I created the Yuqing Yin Body with heavy reference from the Body of Yin. The Body of Yin is a cursed technique, one that can devour its cultivators if advanced far enough. I performed quite a few experiments in the past; many who cultivated the Body of Yin were consumed by their spiritual moons and transformed into cursed effigies. That was why I chose not to cultivate the technique. Rather, I integrated its core insights with my path of cultivation. Though the Yuqing Yin Body is tamer as a result, it retains its cursed essence—the purple eye that you now possess."

"Oh?"

"Do not expect to coexist with it in harmony. All cultivators suffer injury. If you ever end up in a grievously wounded state, that purple eye will strike immediately. If you do not handle it now, you will eventually die."

"How should I handle it?"

"Seal it."

"Seal it?"

"I sealed it with my will and cultivation. My purple moon is docile, and no further problems will arise. As for you, it'll take you significant time and experience to emulate my actions. I advise you to meld your moon to a cursed king's body and turn them on each other. Doing so can resolve the problem for the time being, but you will ultimately need to strengthen your will and polish your cultivation until you can suppress it without external aid."

Xiao Nanfeng fell silent. He had considered the option the Yuqing Grandmaster mentioned, but believed that it wasn't an optimal choice. Now that the Yuqing Grandmaster had given him pointers personally, he finally made up his mind.

"Thank you for the advice, Yuqing Grandmaster," Xiao Nanfeng replied, bowing.

The Yuqing Grandmaster gave Xiao Nanfeng a grudging nod. "You are ambitious to simultaneously cultivate the Taiqing, Shangqing, and Yuqing Yin Bodies. The resulting backlash will be severe. Be prepared."

"I will." Xiao Nanfeng nodded seriously.

"In that case, I shall retire to recuperate. Farewell," the Yuqing Grandmaster said.

"Let us see you off, Yuqing Grandmaster!" the crowd chorused.

The Yuqing Grandmaster flew into the distance, retrieved the broken fragments of Mt. Kunlun, and vanished.

Madam Rouge spoke up. "Everyone, I have mastered the branch of the world tree that governs death. I have transcribed its essence into this key, which I will pass to all of you. How much you can intuit from it will be up to you."

"This is my key of life," the Divine Emperor began.

"And mine on reincarnation," Liu Miaoyin added.

"Mine on stability," the Immortal Emperor of Daru said.

One supreme cultivator after another procured keys of their respective domains, then passed them around to the others.

These keys allowed other cultivators to attune to the other domains of heavenly law, reproducing the effects of the charms that they had seized from the saints. Whether or not they could intuit the respective branches of the world tree, however, would depend on each cultivator's talent.

Xiao Nanfeng received a copy of all nine keys as well.

An even fiercer fight loomed over the horizon, and all the cultivators would have to make their final preparations. They all eyed Xiao Nanfeng's golden tree enviously, but it wasn't tied to any domain of heavenly law, and Xiao Nanfeng had no intention to share it with the others.

In the eastern continent, in a hidden valley, Tang and two saints' avatars were recuperating.

"These people are crazy!"

"If we hadn't followed Tang here, we'd likely have died with the others."

The saints' avatars eyed each other and shuddered.

Tang began, "Your Eminences, I was simply lucky to have avoided the assault. I felt danger in all other directions."

"Well done, Tang. You will accompany us in the future."

"Precisely. You will attend us at all times," the two saints' avatars commanded. The fear from their close shave with death lingered.