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Chapter 526: Bodhi Tree
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 13:00:12 +0000 UTCRocks exploded into the air as smoke spewed into the sky. The smoke shrouded the sky in black clouds, covering everything underneath it in darkness. The darkness didn’t last long, as the rocks fell down like blazing meteors.
The venerables and grandmasters had a grim expression. Although such an attack was troublesome, it wouldn’t kill them as long as they were careful. The same couldn’t be said for the masters and warriors. Even a graze would kill a peak warrior. Masters had a higher chance of survival, but they could still get grievously injured if they weren’t careful or lucky. In the extreme cases, it would be death.
Every one of them displayed their best movement skills to dodge the incoming rocks. Soon, the area around Mount Underflame was filled with shadows of warriors. The only people that didn’t take action were the ones from Emperor Hall. They stood still as if they weren’t facing possible extinction.
A few venerables even had some expectations in their eyes, as if they couldn’t wait to see the tragic end of the arrogant fools. Unfortunately for them, what they saw made them doubt their eyes.
All the rocks that shot toward them always curved after reaching a certain range and fell harmlessly to the side. Even rocks with a direct trajectory would curve. The venerables and grandmasters boggled at the absurdity, while the weaker ones who witnessed this saw hope. They ran toward the Emperor Hall. As long as they could make it into the range, they would survive!
So, they ran toward the Emperor Hall. Alas, they discovered that even if they were running straight at them, they would inexplicably curve once they reached a certain range. Just like the rocks, the warriors could not enter the forbidden zone, no matter what they did. Their actions only hastened their death as the chances of death dramatically increased the closer they were to Emperor Hall.
In the face of certain doom, many people released their inner thoughts.
“You bastards, are you still human?!”
“I curse you! I curse you to be split into a thousand pieces!”
“The world doesn’t need heartless bastards like you!”
Tianyi covered his yawn with his hand. The moment the people started cursing at him, he sealed off the sound and even restricted his immortal senses so that his mood would not be ruined. As for being destroyed? Sorry, even if the entire Impermanence Realm exploded, he would still be alive.
Instead, Tianyi’s gaze slowly rose. From the moment Mount Underflame erupted, a tree had emerged. It continuously grew, piercing the heavens like a spear.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters, five hundred meters, one kilometer, two kilometers, three kilometers, five kilometers, ten kilometers. Lava flowed down its trunk as it continued to grow. When it cooled, the lava turned into a black bark. The Bodhi Tree continued to grow until it surpassed one hundred kilometers and only stopped when the top touched the boundary of the Impermanence Realm.
Then, the top of the tree split. The original spear-like head transformed into a lush crown of green. The ashen clouds were split, forming a sanctuary of light around the Bodhi Tree. Accompanying the light was the sensation of clarity. All those bathed in the light would feel their mind becoming clear, and problems that plagued them before became simple.
Tianyi nodded. ‘As expected of the Bodhi Tree. Although it can’t increase my affinity for the worldly laws, I can feel my soul resonating with it. Unfortunately, my soul is too strong and I can’t sharpen my willpower.’
He turned around. “You should find a way to see if you refine the Bodhi Tree and become its master.” After a pause, Tianyi added, “It’s fine if you don’t want to. I think your chances of succeeding are infinitely small and that Mo Ling might be the biggest winner. But even if you fail, you should be able to get a large amount of benefit.”
When the cultivators behind Tianyi heard this, they frowned. It was fine if they failed since it was the mythical Bodhi Tree, but they can’t even compare to a yokel from this backwater realm? Their fighting spirit was ignited, and they rushed toward the Bodhi Tree. Their movements turned ghastly as they dodged the falling rubble like it was nothing.
Tianyi glanced at Su Bojing. “Aren’t you going to try? If you succeed, you might have a chance to become a monarch.”
Su Bojing showed a self-deprecating smile. “I know my own limits. It was only thanks to Young Master’s help that I could become a true immortal. Becoming an immortal monarch? I don’t have that fate. Maybe I’ll even have a shorter lifespan as a monarch than a true immortal.”
Since Su Bojing said so, Tianyi didn’t force him. Instead, he observed the progress of his subordinates.
Their actions attracted the attention of most of the people. Before, a few people were already on their way toward the Bodhi Tree, but because their numbers were small, few noticed. Now, an entire group of over twenty did it at the same time, naturally attracting everyone’s attention.
Some people tried to copy their actions, but they overestimated themselves. For a short period, the number of injuries and deaths increased. After this, they learned not to act above their capabilities. The rain of meteors did not last long, only eight minutes or so. However, it also annihilated much of the weaker participants, leaving mostly venerables, grandmasters and a handful of masters.
Those that could fly flew, those that couldn’t could only scale the volcano. Even for grandmasters, flowing lava was dangerous, much less master warriors. When the first person reached the top of the mountain, they couldn’t help but gape at the gargantuan size of the Bodhi Tree. This also included the members of Emperor Hall. After all, even in the Primordial Realm, such a massive tree did not exist.
When they got close to it, they discovered that they could no longer control their bodies. No matter how they struggled, they were pulled close to the trunk. Once they touched the trunk, they would sink into the tree and disappear.
Even Tianyi’s immortal sense couldn’t penetrate through the Bodhi Tree’s bark. The only reason why he was sure they were alive was because the soul lamps in the Immortal Embassy were still lit. This gave more credibility to the Bodhi Tree. Even if it wasn’t the original one mentioned in the myths, it might be a first or second generation descendant of the original Bodhi Tree.
For now, Tianyi didn’t take action. He glanced toward the area where the Thunderclap Academy had settled in. They only sent in one venerable, Kai Yanwu, but that wasn’t why Tianyi was paying attention to them. Although they cultivated the warrior path, he could sense some hints of Buddhism. Of course, many of the warrior cultivation methods had connections to Buddhism, but only the Thunderclap Academy’s method made him suspicious.
Recalling the information about the Impermanence Realm, Tianyi suspected that the Thunderclap Academy was the Buddhist’s branch that monitored the Impermanence Realm. Even though the Thunderclap Academy was not considered an old force, it could simply be that they went by another name ages ago and only changed it to not attract attention.
Tianyi blinked when one of the members of Thunderclap Academy looked toward him. He didn’t know if it was his imagination or not, but he felt as if they had locked gazes, even though his face was hidden behind a mist.
The man had a head full of white hair. He didn’t have facial hair, but his long brows reached his waist. After a split second, he smiled and looked away.
A few hours passed, and Tianyi grew bored. It was not like he could continue eating. He only ate when he felt like it, or when he wanted to try something new. Instead, he took out the Xiyi Talisman and started surfing the Xiyinet. He didn’t tell anyone in the Samsara Travelers Chat Group about the Impermanence Realm or the Bodhi Tree because it was a secret. Only the high echelon like Grand Elder Xia could know.
Tianyi soon forgot about the gaze of the elderly man of the Thunderclap Academy. In his opinion, he would be fine even if he faced a siege of a hundred emperors. He might not be able to defeat them, but forget about killing or defeating him, much less capturing him. He had never fought an immortal sovereign before, but he didn’t think an immortal sovereign could do much to him either.
Well, unless an anomaly like Bao Ling appeared again, but Tianyi pointedly ignored that possibility. After all, what were the chances of another anomaly like Bao Ling appearing?
Soon, a year passed. Even Tianyi didn’t expect the fight for the Bodhi Tree to last so long.
During this time, the Emperor Hall used this chance to announce their presence and solidified their image of mysterious and powerful into the minds of the denizens of the Impermanence Realm. Of course, none of the forces of the central region wanted to see another powerful force emerge, so they all tactically banded together to suppress Emperor Hall.
Unfortunately for them, most of their high end forces were stuck in the Bodhi Tree. As a show of deterrence, Emperor Hall destroyed four forces: one clan, one sect, one mountain, and one union. From the original twenty-eight forces, only twenty-four forces remained if you dis-included Emperor Hall.
Instead of scattering, the remaining twenty-four forces entered a formal alliance. They feared and could not tolerate the existence of Emperor Hall. However, when they attempted to destroy Emperor Hall, they discovered that they could not locate it at all, no matter how they searched.
In desperation, they came toward Mount Underflame in an attempt to capture Tianyi and force him to reveal everything he knew. Unfortunately, all it took was a wave of Su Bojing’s hand and the entire expedition force was annihilated.
After this, the allied forces collapsed. They no longer sought to destroy Emperor Hall and sought only to save themselves. Even Pill Palace could only bind a quarter of the forces. In reality, most of the twenty-four forces did not have venerables. And half the forces that once did no longer had them because they were part of the expedition. After this, it would not be wrong to say that the forces of the central region entered a period of unprecedented weakness.
The forces from the northern, eastern, western, and southern regions saw this and took action to destroy and replace the forces in the central region. In such dire situations, how could the forces have time to deal with Emperor Hall?
Not that Emperor Hall would fall, even if all the forces vowed to destroy them at the cost of destruction. The end would remain the same even if the immortal families joined.
Tianyi, who was laying flat on the couch, opened his eyes and looked toward the Bodhi Tree. “Finally out?”
The cultivators that had entered the Bodhi Tree appeared one by one. To Tianyi’s surprise, only about a third of his subordinates made it out. The casualty was even higher than the denizens of the Impermanence Realm. He waved his hand, and the survivors appeared in front of him. “Explain.”
After listening, Tianyi finally understood. The tests the people underwent in the Bodhi Tree tested their willpower. Although his subordinates had an absolute advantage in combat over the natural denizens thanks to the foundation of the Immortal Court, their willpower was actually not that strong.
Willpower was actually one of the easiest attributes for people to strengthen, no matter their location. Tianyi’s subordinates had always been on the lower rung of the hierarchy. Without confidence or hope, their willpower did not improve much. Instead, it was the denizens of the Impermanence Realm who held an advantage. Even if their techniques weren’t as good, they were all full of confidence and hope for themselves.
Tianyi glanced toward Mo Ling. His people said that they didn’t know who got what, but Tianyi had the suspicion that Mo Ling got at least a Bodhi Seed. Still, he had greater things to do. He flew up into the air and flew toward the Bodhi Tree, to the confusion of everyone watching.
The people who came out heard about what happened and were filled with hatred toward Emperor Hall, but they didn’t dare do anything. Even if their presence increased their forces’ combat potential, it only returned to the level of before they attacked Emperor Hall. Right now, they are facing a crisis from the forces of external regions. They could not afford to attract Emperor Hall’s ire now.
Tianyi reached out his hand and made a grabbing motion. The Bodhi Tree, which had started to sink into the ground, froze. It trembled, causing the ground to quake as it was slowly being forced up. The quake intensified until it filled the entire southern region. It didn’t end there. The higher the Bodhi Tree rose, the farther the earthquake reached.
Finally, it covered the entire Impermanence Realm. The boundaries of the realm shook and tears leading to the Vast Void appeared.
Upon sensing this, Tianyi frowned. Was the Bodhi Tree connected to the entire Impermanence Realm?
