Chapter 1243: Drawing the Sword on Ruomu
Chapter 1243: Drawing the Sword on Ruomu
The golden cube blazed with a dazzling light, and Li Ping’s voice echoed long in the absolute darkness of the small world.
Once her instinctive fear dissipated, an irrepressible, intense craving for the entity sealed within the golden cube welled up inside Su Yuqing.
Even the child in her womb stirred with the same longing.
“You and the Heavenly Dao of this small world, still in the process of gestating and awakening, are kindred spirits in a sense. With the method I shall impart, you can slowly refine and absorb it. The benefits would be equivalent to centuries of arduous cultivation.”
As Li Ping’s voice echoed once more, a profound and wondrous technique surfaced in Su Yuqing’s mind.
It was like a secret art, yet also like a formation—or perhaps a fusion of both. It was so incredibly profound that even with Su Yuqing’s keen insight, she struggled to fully comprehend it.
“This realm is of great importance to me and to the entire Great Qi. Once you devour and refine its nascent Heavenly Dao, you can take its place, wielding supreme authority within this small world. I can only be at ease with you watching over things here.”
At Li Ping's words, understanding dawned on Su Yuqing.
“I will obey your command, Master,” Su Yuqing declared, taking a deep breath.
“Master, I don’t wanna stay here! It’s so dark!” the Daoist child, Liuli, protested, shaking her head frantically.
Li Ping, however, had no intention of indulging her.
He tapped Liuli’s head with a flick of his finger. “Light and darkness are two poles of the same whole,” Li Ping stated gravely. “Without darkness, light has no meaning, and vice versa. As a Glazed Wisdom Fruit, cultivation comes easily to you. But that very ease is your fatal flaw...”
Liuli listened with wide, uncomprehending eyes. Her intuition told her that her rather frightening master was speaking the truth.
“Your progress is swift, but compared to human cultivators, your upper limits are naturally constrained. To break through those limits, you must master the principles of both [Glaze] and [Wisdom]. And in this place, you can gain insights into both.”
“You are the youngest of my disciples, so of course you won’t be left without a gift.”
Another ball of light materialized in Li Ping’s hand. Unlike the golden cube, this was not a seal, but a pure concentration of energy.
The Daoist child Liuli instinctively licked her lips. The very sight of the glowing orb made her stomach growl with hunger.
She reached out to grab it, but the orb was illusory and passed straight through her palm. Infuriated, Liuli flailed her hands about, but her efforts were futile.
A supreme delicacy was right before her eyes, yet she could only look, not taste. The injustice of it all nearly brought Liuli to tears.
“Master...” Liuli pleaded, gazing up at Li Ping with wide, expectant eyes.
Li Ping smiled. “I have placed a dual restriction on this Source Power Essence. The restriction will only lift when you achieve a breakthrough in either Wisdom or Glaze.”
“And once you break through your limits, this energy will help you fully stabilize your new, transformed state.”
The Daoist child Liuli stared intently at the orb of Source Power Essence and nodded with fierce determination.
“The Dao is impartial; it treats all of creation as straw dogs. As you take control of this realm, you must adhere to the principle of acting in accordance with nature. Remain aloof. Unless absolutely necessary, you must not personally intervene in the affairs of mortal lives.”
Li Ping's voice lingered long after his form had shattered and vanished from the realm.
Su Yuqing recalled her master's usual conduct before the citizens of the Great Qi and fell into deep thought.
“The You Clan?” Su Yuqing murmured, beginning to sift through the wealth of information her master had sent to her mind.
The Daoist child Liuli, meanwhile, darted her eyes around, eager to find the path to breaking her limits that her master had mentioned.
...
Xuanhuang Realm.
Wang Xuanba had since returned to the subterranean depths beneath Yueyang Province.
With him was Lin Ling.
Lin Ling idly toyed with the wheel Li Ping had gifted her, appearing rather nonchalant about their mission to subdue the Earth Vein Ancient Tree.
“Junior Sister, can we begin now?” Wang Xuanba asked cautiously, somewhat intimidated by his unsmiling companion.
“No rush. We’ll wait a little longer,” Lin Ling replied, shaking her head.
“Wait? For what?” Wang Xuanba asked, taken aback.
He could sense that many of the sixteen lurking insect swarms had already awakened from their seals and were stirring restlessly.
“Master said to give it a chance. If it remains stubborn, it won’t be too late to act then,” Lin Ling explained patiently, though a slight frown creased her brow.
“Whatever you say, Junior Sister,” Wang Xuanba agreed with a grin.
They stood silently within the earth veins for several hours. Suddenly, Wang Xuanba again felt the vast consciousness of the Earth Vein Ancient Tree sweep over them.
Unlike before, however, its consciousness did not simply pass by. This time, it lingered.
Wang Xuanba saw Lin Ling put away her wheel, her expression growing serious.
She seemed to be in communication with something.
Wang Xuanba didn't interrupt, but inwardly, he was on high alert. The moment Lin Ling gave the command, he was ready to unleash all the Dao One insect swarms.
At first, Lin Ling seemed to be merely chatting with the Earth Vein Ancient Tree. She even smiled faintly from time to time.
Then, without warning, her expression hardened.
“I spoke to you openly because I considered you one of my kind,” she snapped, her voice turning frigid. “So why did you spout such nonsense, urging me to commit treason?!”
“My master’s power is beyond what a decrepit old tree like you could possibly fathom!”
Receiving Lin Ling’s telepathic command, Wang Xuanba gave a cold smirk and awakened the dormant swarm beneath Yueyang Province.
A black shadow erupted like a bursting dam, an unstoppable torrent that surged for miles.
Before their very eyes, the yellow currents of the earth veins were instantly dyed black. A sharp crack echoed from deep underground, only to be swallowed by the roar of the surging swarm.
“How does it feel to lose a tendril?” Lin Ling asked, her eyes glinting with murderous intent.
“Severing hundreds, even thousands more, would be just as easy.”
Understanding her intent, Wang Xuanba awakened the other fifteen swarms, holding them back as a menacing threat.
The entire land of Xuanhuang began to tremble almost imperceptibly. It was the flow of the earth veins spiraling out of control, a physical manifestation of the ancient tree's terror.
The illusory figure of a hunched old man materialized before Wang Xuanba and Lin Ling.
He looked at Lin Ling, his face a mask of terror mixed with a hint of fury. “My intentions were sincere!” he demanded. “Why would you harm me?!”
Wang Xuanba studied the rather shifty-looking old man before them, finding it hard to reconcile this image with the legendary ancient tree that controlled the earth veins of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Faced with the ancient tree’s accusation, Lin Ling merely sneered. “Good intentions? I have followed my master for only a few short years, yet in that time, I have gone from a weak, formless consciousness to a sentient being with a formidable cultivation base.”
“And how long have you cultivated? I could kill you with a single thought!” Lin Ling’s cold gaze locked onto the ancient tree as the wheel materialized behind her, spinning ominously.
As if sensing her intent, the insect swarms within the earth veins responded in unison, surging violently. Though they had not yet fully broken their seals, the fifteen shadowy masses swelled in size.
“Let’s talk about this! We can talk about this!” the hunched old man stammered in a panic.
But Lin Ling ignored him, pressing her advantage. “Your mother tree is not mine. What you call turning from darkness to light, I call the ruin of my path!”
“And for those who obstruct my Dao,” Lin Ling roared, “there can be no rest until one of us is dead!”
Wang Xuanba chuckled grimly and released the bonds on another insect swarm.
The ancient tree’s face contorted in horror. Before he could utter a word, one of his legs seemed to snap, and his illusory form buckled, collapsing to the ground.
“A misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding!” he cried. “The mother tree is the source of all life! Not just for us spirit trees, but for humans as well...”
He was cut off as another swarm erupted, shattering his other leg. The hunched old man looked up, his expression a wretched mask of pure panic.
“The source of all life?” Lin Ling’s voice dripped with contempt. “And where is it now?”
“Even if what you say is true, what of it?”
Lin Ling strode forward until she stood over the fallen form of the ancient tree.
“Compared to my master...”
“...it is utterly worthless!”
With that, Lin Ling stomped her foot down hard on the ancient tree's illusionary body.
The illusory old man wailed in agony. Though parts of its body had been eroded by the Dao One insects, it should have had enough remaining strength to resist. Yet, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree did not struggle.
Because it knew that this young member of its own kind spoke the truth.
‘What in the world is this stuff...’ On the surface, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree had completely submitted, but secretly, it was trying to neutralize the bizarre black energy infesting its body.
This power, however, was unlike anything it had ever encountered in the Xuanhuang Realm, and it had no idea how to counter it.
‘If his disciples possess such power, who in the heavens is their master? Could he be some great power from ancient times? We have no quarrel, so why target me now? Is it to get at...’ The ancient tree’s mind raced with countless alarmed and suspicious thoughts.
Lin Ling, however, gave it no time to ponder.
“Only the wise adapt to the times. Seeing as we are both spirit trees, I will give you one chance. Surrender to our Great Qi Sacred Dynasty!”
“Otherwise,” Lin Ling said, her voice cold and her killing intent palpable, “I wouldn’t mind taking your place as the ancient tree of the earth veins myself!”
As she spoke, emerald-green roots extended from her feet like countless tendrils, plunging into the black torrent of the insect swarm.
A pure, verdant energy spread from her lower body, rapidly tinting the black swarm with green.
In control of the wheel, Lin Ling’s body merged with the swarm. She was the swarm, and the swarm was her.
Wherever the black Dao One torrent flowed, her will followed, and it all became an extension of her own body.
Before, the ancient tree might have had a chance to reclaim the parts of its body infested by the Dao One insects. It would only need to find a way to exterminate them and then flush the area with the power of the earth veins.
But now, the parts that Lin Ling had claimed...
The ancient tree’s face grew deathly pale.
It had completely lost all sensation in that part of its body. It could even feel a new, malevolent presence lurking right beside its original form.
...ready to devour the rest of it in a single gulp!
The sensation was utterly terrifying, confirming that Lin Ling’s words were no empty threat.
There wasn't much time left...
The thought flashed through the ancient tree’s mind.
But surrendering to this Great Qi Sacred Dynasty meant betraying its father.
The grim face of Ruomu suddenly materialized in its mind’s eye, and the ancient tree couldn't help but shudder.
Any thought of surrender vanished instantly.
Just as the ancient tree was wavering, unable to decide, it faintly perceived a peculiar intent emanating from Lin Ling.
‘Hm?’
The ancient tree savored the thought for a moment, then recalled Ruomu's increasingly erratic behavior of late. Finally, it made its decision.
“This old one...”
Lin Ling shot it a glance. The ancient tree paused, then corrected itself. “I... am willing to surrender to the Sacred Dynasty.”
Wang Xuanba eyed the tree with suspicion, but Lin Ling simply instructed, “Then come with us to meet our master.”
She left no room for refusal.
Feeling the swarms still lurking menacingly within its body, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree had no choice but to agree.
Its body solidified from illusion to reality, appearing in a rather wretched state.
It obediently followed behind Wang Xuanba and Lin Ling.
The journey was uneventful, and soon they arrived within the small world of the Great Qi.
Unfathomable auras emanated from all directions, making the ancient tree feel as though it were treading on thin ice.
Two of his disciples alone had brought it to heel; it couldn't imagine the power of the Great Qi's Sacred Emperor.
Before the Sacred Emperor's throne, the ancient tree's submission was a foregone conclusion.
It was ensnared in the Sacred Emperor’s net of golden source power, its body and mind no longer its own, reduced to a slave of the Great Qi. Beyond that, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree confessed everything it knew about Ruomu.
But at least its life was spared.
And with that, the Sacred Dynasty now had a way to locate Ruomu’s true body.
“Your Majesty,” the ancient tree volunteered, having committed fully to its surrender, “I have revealed my father’s aura today. He will surely sense it soon. Therefore, the key to success is one thing: speed.”
“You are correct,” a voice replied from the throne. “Which is why I am already on my way.”
Li Ping’s voice came from the throne, but to the ancient tree's utter astonishment, the figure of the faceless Sacred Emperor was already fading into nothing.
It hadn't even perceived his departure.
“The Sacred Emperor’s power... it’s truly unfathomable. Even greater than... Father’s.”
“Hmph. That old madman is in for a surprise.”
For some reason, the ancient tree found itself feeling a strange sense of anticipation.
Meanwhile, outside the throne room, Wang Xuanba looked at Lin Ling, hesitating to speak.
“If you have something to say, say it,” Lin Ling said flatly. “If you keep staring at me like that, I might just draw my blade.”
Her sudden words startled Wang Xuanba.
He scratched his head, no longer hesitating. “A moment ago, right at the end, when you were convincing the ancient tree to surrender... did you say something else to it, Junior Sister?”
Lin Ling gave him a look of disgust, as if to say, *That’s your brilliant question?*
“I merely told it that if it surrendered, I might consider forming an alliance with it.”
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