RNP Chapter 431 Fateless! The Undying Divine Tree! Past Events
Chapter 431 Fateless! The Undying Divine Tree! Past Events
The Northern Wilderness Hills were extremely vast. Chu Yang and Luo Shen followed behind the Undying Lord and it took them more than an hour to finally reach their destination.
However, along the way, the Undying Lord repeatedly checked the route, seemingly unable to pinpoint the exact location of that special being.
His explanation was that the senior usually wandered around the Northern Wilderness Hills, and no one knew if he would suddenly change locations, so repeatedly confirming would prevent him from making a false impression.
The Undying Lord rarely leaves the Great Thousand Demon Transformation Array, as this means he has to take on certain risks.
If the evil god were to suddenly attack the seal at this critical juncture, without his personal presence, the great formation might loosen.
Previously, the Undying Lord had some concerns, but just before setting off, Chu Yang activated the Great Thousand Demon Transformation Array, causing the Heavenly Evil God considerable suffering.
In this way, the Heavenly Evil God will likely not cause trouble in the short term, which also puts the Undying Lord's mind at ease.
Arriving at the edge of a chasm, the Undying Lord finally stopped, gazing at the bottomless darkness below, and murmured, "If nothing unexpected happens, that senior is here!"
Chu Yang looked around and found that the rock walls on both sides of the rift were extremely smooth, with almost no place to step, as if they had been cleaved open by a sword. He could also faintly feel a sword intent.
The Undying Lord explained, "Every millennium, the extraterrestrial evil race takes action; last time, they sent out a large number of powerful individuals."
"In that battle, the Green-Robed Sword Saint slew a Heavenly Demon Emperor with a single sword strike. The remaining sword energy tore through the earth, forming this rift abyss."
Chu Yang was astonished. A single sword strike could annihilate the Heavenly Demon Emperor, and the remaining sword energy could still create a rift. One could imagine how terrifying the power of that sword strike was.
The three of them leaped into the abyss, and at their speed, they reached the bottom of the abyss in just a short while.
Here, one can feel an even stronger sword intent; there is a sword mark on the ground that stretches for thousands of feet, and the sharp aura is condensed and does not dissipate.
"Wasn't that special being reduced to a remnant soul?"
Chu Yang asked doubtfully, "In a place ravaged by sword energy like this, won't he be affected?"
The Undying Lord said with a somewhat strange expression, "That senior is rather special, and has an eccentric personality..."
Chu Yang didn't ask any more questions. The three of them headed in one direction and soon saw a figure.
It was an almost transparent, illusory remnant soul, whose appearance and clothing could be vaguely discerned.
This was a black-haired boy dressed in coarse linen clothes, standing next to the sword mark, occasionally reaching out to poke it.
The sword energy raged, and the remnant soul's hand was directly shredded, but it quickly and slowly regenerated.
The boy's remnant soul seemed to feel no pain at all, repeatedly performing the same actions with great enjoyment.
The three walked in, but the boy didn't seem to notice them. Suddenly, he did something that made Chu Yang a little stunned.
The boy suddenly brought his head close to the sword mark, and then his entire head was shredded by the sword energy.
The boy took a half step back, and the remnant soul's head reassembled, revealing a smile on his face, seemingly quite satisfied.
Chu Yang twitched the corner of his mouth. He finally understood why the Undying Lord had said that the other party had an eccentric personality.
So this guy has masochistic tendencies!
Only then did the boy notice them. He slowly turned around, waved to the Undying Lord, and said, "Little fellow, long time no see!"
The Undying Lord bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Senior!"
The boy nodded, then looked at Chu Yang and Luo Shen.
Chu Yang noticed that although the boy's body was extremely illusory, and even his appearance was somewhat blurry, his eyes were exceptionally bright.
His dark golden pupils shimmered with light, radiating a faint, ancient pressure.
The boy's gaze was fixed on Luo Shen. Her features were blurry, but one could vaguely make out that she seemed to be frowning in thought.
After a long silence, the boy suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed, "You...you are...the Goddess of the Luo River?"
Luo Shen asked with a half-smile, "Wu Ming, what did you call me?"
The boy seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, and he shuddered, even his remnant soul fluctuating violently. He quickly changed his address, saying, "Aunt Luo!"
Luo Shen nodded in satisfaction, looked at Chu Yang who was somewhat puzzled, and explained, "Master, his name is Wuming. Back then, the Immortal Emperor invited many powerful figures to help him gather spiritual energy, and I was one of them."
"So, in a way, I am his elder."
This wasn't anything important, so Luo Shen hadn't mentioned it before.
Chu Yang nodded, looking at Wuming with great interest.
Wuming stared wide-eyed, also scrutinizing him.
What did Aunt Luo just call this guy?
Owner?
Thinking of this, Wuming's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he said coldly, "Aunt Luo, I once heard from the descendants of my master that you died in battle on the Western Continent."
"While I'm glad you've been brought back to life, if this guy uses it to force you into signing an unequal contract, Wuming will make him pay the price!"
Hearing his words, Chu Yang couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle, saying with a playful tone, "With your current abilities?"
Wuming pointed at the Undying Lord, "Him?!"
The Undying Lord's face twitched, as if he was trying hard to suppress a laugh.
Luo Shen then briefly explained the whole story, and upon learning that she had not been coerced, Wu Ming's hostility lessened somewhat.
As someone who dominated the world in ancient times and is still alive today, he was naturally not a fool, and he immediately connected many things to the story.
Looking at Chu Yang, Wuming asked Luo Shen, "Aunt Luo, do you want me to be like you, to live another life in the body of that true spirit, to acknowledge him as my master, and to follow him for life?"
Luo Shen nodded and said, "That's right. In this way, we can only ensure that the eternal and immortal gods are no longer tarnished."
"Besides, don't you want to conquer the outer realms and witness the destruction of the evil race with your own eyes?"
Wuming was somewhat stunned, his dark golden eyes filled with entanglement and struggle.
After a long while, he shook his head, looked at Chu Yang and said, "Young friend, you are indeed extraordinary. Even I have to admit that even my master is not as good as you."
"But I was born of a master, and I will never serve two masters!"
"If you simply wish to grant the Qilin's true spirit immortality and gather all its spiritual energy at once, I might be able to help you devise other methods."
Both the Undying Lord and the Goddess of Luo frowned slightly, but to their surprise, Chu Yang nodded without hesitation and said:
"That's fine, but the Four Sacred Spirits will be the core force to resist the evil race in the future, and I'm sure you should know the importance of that."
"Actually, before I came here, I already had two choices in mind."
"Since you are unwilling to merge with the true spirit, then I can only choose the second option..."
Wuming understood the implication in his words and asked in confusion, "Is your second target related to me?"
Chu Yang smiled and said, "The Immortal Emperor once had an incredible opportunity, and it was because of this opportunity that he achieved his later success. You were born because of this opportunity."
"I suspect... this opportunity is related to the Immortal Tree?"
Wuming's dark golden pupils suddenly contracted, and he asked in utter shock, "Besides my master and me, no one else knows about this!"
How did you know?
Chu Yang shrugged and said, "I already said, I was just guessing..."
"But judging from your reaction, it seems I guessed right."
Wuming fell silent. The three of them couldn't see his expression, but they guessed he must be extremely embarrassed.
It is said that old people are shrewd and experienced. Wuming has existed for countless years, yet he was tricked out of his past by a single sentence. It is truly embarrassing.
You can't blame him; what Chu Yang said really shocked him.
This secret is of utmost importance, unknown even to the descendants of the Immortal Emperor. Yet it was revealed so casually by the other party. How could Wuming not be shocked?
The Undying Lord frowned, deep in thought.
He never imagined that his ancestor's achievements were actually related to the legendary immortal tree.
Indeed, throughout the entire Great Thousand Worlds, the Art of Immortality is practically a legend.
No one knows how long this sacred tree has existed; all that is known is that it has been recorded in history books since the beginning of recorded history.
There are even rumors that the Immortal Tree was born at the beginning of the world, and although it has experienced countless heavenly tribulations, it has always stood between heaven and earth, immortal and indestructible.
That is why it is called the Immortal Tree.
Such a legendary existence is extremely distant to the people of the Great Thousand Worlds. Even giants like the Undying Lord have never seen it in person.
But every thousand years, the legends would descend upon the world, allowing people to witness its power in the most direct way.
Simply put, every thousand years, the Immortal Tree will produce a leaf with great power, which will then be randomly scattered somewhere in the Great Thousand Worlds.
This leaf is known as the Immortal Leaf, or the Substitute Leaf.
Its function is simple, yet terrifying: it gives people an extra life.
However, this is just a rumor and is somewhat exaggerated, because once the power exceeds a certain limit, even the Undying Divine Leaf will be destroyed along with its master.
But you must know, this is just a single leaf condensed from the Immortal Tree!
If a single leaf possesses such immense power, how terrifying must the true form of the Immortal Tree be?
Wuming slowly regained his senses, shook his head, and said, "This is absolutely impossible!"
"The Immortal Tree is nearly immortal, so why would it abandon its primordial power, which is almost as enduring as heaven and earth, to choose to merge with your true spirit?"
Chu Yang smiled and said, "Nothing is absolute. Besides, the more powerful a special creature is, the more difficult it is to gather spiritual energy."
"What's the point of living a long life or gaining great power if one's intelligence is clouded?"
"Besides, some conditions are simply irresistible..."
Chu Yang's last words referred to the ability to escape the Great Thousand Worlds and witness the wonders of other worlds.
He was certain that the more powerful a being was, the longer its lifespan, and the more it struggled to gather spiritual energy, the more it would be tempted by these two conditions.
Aren't the ancient Bodhi tree and the myriad demons and Buddhas vivid examples?
"Since you're still not giving up, then let's give it a try..."
Wuming smiled and said, "I'm actually somewhat looking forward to seeing how it all turns out..."
With that, he flashed and soared towards the top of the Rift Abyss.
Chu Yang and the other two followed closely behind, flying out of the Rift Source. Wu Ming stood in the air, gazing in one direction, his dark golden eyes filled with reminiscence.
He said softly, almost as if murmuring, "Now that things are out in the open, and you're not outsiders, I won't hide anything anymore..."
"Actually, I am not entirely derived from my master; my true form is a branch of the Immortal Tree..."
Upon hearing this, both Luo Shen and the Undying Lord were shocked. Chu Yang had already made some guesses, so he was not too surprised.
The nameless one then said, "My master obtained a fortuitous opportunity back then, which became my true form."
"He obtained a portion of the primordial power of the Immortal Tree from this branch, and with it, he forged a path that was uniquely his own."
"So it wasn't this stroke of luck that made the master who he is, but rather his own extraordinary talent!"
All three nodded. Just as Wuming said, if someone lacks talent, even if they obtain a branch of the Immortal Tree, they may not be able to achieve the same level of success as the Immortal Emperor.
Moreover, the divine tree essence within the branches can only be considered as laying a solid "foundation" for the Immortal Emperor; the height of the superstructure depends on his own efforts and talent.
Wuming continued, "Although the essence within the branch has been completely exhausted, it is still no ordinary object. Therefore, the master combined his own power to make this branch a completely independent entity from the Immortal Divine Tree."
"I was born because of this, but at that time, although I had a spirit, I had not yet gathered a spirit."
"In the end, it was only with the combined help of the master and the elders that the spirit was successfully gathered."
He paused, turned to look at Luo Shen, and asked softly, "Aunt Luo, I learned from the descendants of our master that you have all perished. I wonder if anyone, like you, has been reborn into a second life?"
Luo Shen shook her head and said, "Most of them are like me, only their remnants of will remain, and not even their remnants of soul remain."
"In this situation, even the master cannot revive them."
"but……"
At this point, Luo Shen hesitated for a moment, looked at Chu Yang, and only continued after seeing the latter nod:
"The remnant soul of the Heavenly Emperor still exists; soon, the master will help him be resurrected!"
Wuming's eyes lit up slightly, then dimmed again. He sighed and said, "My birth was thanks to the efforts of my master and the thirteen predecessors, but now only Aunt Luo and Uncle Heavenly Emperor remain..."
"Past events are like fleeting clouds. No matter how strong a person is, if they don't take that final step, they will eventually turn into a handful of dust." Luo Shen was quite open-minded about it.
Or to be more precise, she has witnessed far too many changes and transformations during this period, and in the process, she has accepted reality and her mindset has changed.
Luo Shen seemed to remember something and said, "By the way, the Tai Ling Ancestor of the Tai Ling Ancient Clan, the Fu Tu Ancestor of the Fu Tu Ancient Clan, the Qing Tian Ancestor of the Huang Gu Clan, and the Qiang Ancestor of the Hei Tian Ancient Clan will all be resurrected soon with the help of the master."
Wuming paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "They're all old friends..."
Composing himself, he looked at Chu Yang and said, "Although I have become an individual independent of the Immortal Tree, I still have a subtle connection with it."
"I can pinpoint the general area where the sacred tree is located, and that's the greatest help I can offer you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wuming raised his hand and gently pointed at Chu Yang. A wisp of soul power swept into Chu Yang's brow, containing a coordinate.
Chu Yang nodded, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Thank you!"
Wuming waved his hand, "No need to thank me. You are the hope of the Great Thousand Worlds. Even if countless lives are sacrificed and hundreds of continents collapse, it's worth it if it helps you reach the summit!"
After saying that, he flashed away and disappeared into the air. (End of Chapter)