Disciples from both the Light and Dark sides gathered over from a great distance away after a while. From the cluster of figures, there were about 3000 of them, and everyone was shook as they lifted their heads dazedly to gaze at the Divine Tree of Seven Colors. It should only have existed in the Heavens; what were the odds of them actually being able to see one in the Mortal Realm?
Some of them tried to climb the divine tree but were all blocked from doing so by the Seven Colored Light shielding the tree. At this moment, the disciples had formed into two camps that stood facing off against each other, with Immortal Swords and magic treasures in hand. Both camps were evenly matched in terms of numbers and neither dared to make any reckless move for the same reason.
Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue hid behind a huge rock, and the former’s brows were tightly furrowed. His gaze fell on the Seven Colored Divine Tree and he remained motionless while muttering, “There was a Tree of Heaven during prehistoric times that lived for 16 centuries. Could this actually be the first Divine Tree of Heaven from that time?”
“Are you saying that this is the longest living Tree of Heaven of the legends, Young Master?” Su Lianyue asked softly, a look of doubt flashing across her brows.
“I’m not too sure myself,” Xiao Chen replied, shaking his head. He could not help but sense that the tree was giving him a very strange feeling.
The Tree of Heaven was a divine tree from prehistoric times of Chaos. Legend has it that one could reach the Heaven Realm by scaling it, and it was for this reason that it was also known as the Tree to Heaven. In terms of Archean Eons, it was one class higher than the Undying “Immortal Wood” Tree.
The only question was why would such a Divine Tree appear in the Human Realm? It even grew in Ghost-wailing Hill, an area with a heavier distribution of Rancorous Qi than usual. This did not make sense at all.
Just as Xiao and Su were perturbed, a thunderous voice boomed from beneath the tree. “Hey! This extraordinary treasure appeared in the Holy Sect’s domain, not that of your Cultivators’ Sect. Why have you people come to take part in this?”
Xiao Chen looked in the direction of the voice and realized that an old man with white brows and long hair scattered over his shoulders was speaking. He had an eagle-beak shaped nose and looked somewhat sinister. He was slightly squinting, and his sharp, eagle-like gaze swept toward an old Taoist priest dressed in purple robes about 20 meters away from him.
The Taoist’s hair and brows were streaked with white strands of hair and looked righteous with duster in hand. He did not dodge the old man’s stare and replied coldly, “Naturally, we’re here to prevent such a treasure from falling into the hands of you crooked devils, and from allowing you people to use it to harm the world in future!”
“It’s old Rising Void of the Purple Void Taoist Monastery and Heavenly Eagle King of the Divine Eagle Sect. I didn’t think that they would be here too,” Su Lianyue said softly behind the huge rock.
She was right. They were the Perfected Immortal Rising Void of Purple Void Taoist Monastery and the Heavenly Eagle King, the leader of the rising Divine Eagle Sect. Both possessed Nirvana Realm levels of cultivation and had already covertly became the temporary leaders of the Light and Dark sides.
The Heavenly Eagle King chuckled coldly. “What pompous words. Why? Rising Void, do you think that your sect will be on par with the Divine Mist Sect and others once you’ve obtained the extraordinary treasure?”
Plenty of disciples from the Light Side looked toward Perfected Immortal Rising Void upon hearing the Eagle King’s words. At the same time, they began to become somewhat wary of the others around them. The Perfected Immortal waved his duster and replied coldly, “Stop trying to sow discord among us. All of us from the Orthodox Path are of one heart. If I manage to obtain this treasure tonight, I’ll present it to the Immortals’ League. Your Divine Eagle Sect, however…do you people think that you’ll be to rule the world with it?”
Many of the disciples from the Dark Side looked at the Heavenly Eagle King upon hearing the Taoist priest. Naturally, everyone wanted the extraordinary treasure for themselves, but they also did not want it to fall into someone else’s hands should they be unable to get it.
At the same time, there was a sudden huge booming sound, and the entire mountain valley seemed to tremble. Next, the Heaven-reaching Divine Tree kept shaking, and the Seven-Colored glow that enveloped seemed to vaguely diminish. Everyone kept on their toes, believing that the treasure was hidden in the tree. All they had to do was to wait for the multicolored glow to dissipate completely so that they could climb the tree and seize it.
However, they would be completely taken aback by what happened next. The multicolored light did not dissipate, but instead, the entire tree shrank gradually. It shrank from its previously undeterminable height to 900 meters, then 300 meters, 30 meters…
“The extraordinary treasure! The Divine Tree is the treasure!” many people shouted hoarsely.
The Divine Tree kept shrinking until it eventually reached a height of about 18 meters. The multicolored glow surrounding it had gradually began to dissipate, causing everyone to rush up. However, neither side would allow each other to obtain the extraordinary treasure, and everyone began fighting again. All of a sudden, many magic treasures were drawn and blood flew everywhere. No one noticed that all of the blood had seeped into the ground, however.
Rising Void’s eyes glinted as his gaze shot toward the Divine Tree. The Heavenly Eagle King would not allow him to gain the upper hand, however. He swept his sleeves, creating a huge energy wave that gushed forward. The Perfected Immortal immediately raised his palms to withstand the force, and their clash caused the ground and surrounding mountains to tremble. Rocks began flying around and even the Divine Tree in the middle could not stop shaking.
The Heavenly Eagle King chuckled coldly and extended his left arm. The force from his palm strike formed into a light beam that swept toward the Divine Tree, causing it to shift slightly toward him. Upon seeing this, the Perfected Immortal Rising Void pressed two fingers on his duster. A light beam shot out of it in the Divine Tree’s direction as well, forcefully dragging it back toward its original position.
The disciples of Light and Dark who were fighting each other thought that the extraordinary treasure would be a hot potato, even if it fell into their hands tonight. However, they would never allow the opposition to obtain it.
Xiaoyue’s eyes moved and swept her duster, wanting to fly toward the Divine Tree as well. However, a figure in red suddenly stopped her. “Hehe, you’ve come after me for so long, Fairy. Are you trying to leave just like this?” the figure asked. It was Seven Killings who had previously fought with her.
On the other side, Yi Yeqiu was still entangled by Zuoqiu Yang and the Divine Mist Sect, while Su Zimu and gang, who was farther away, was also being surrounded by large numbers of Devil’s Practice experts. Yu Yifeng and company was also engaged in intense combat, while Zhiluan flew in mid-air, ducking and darting, searching everywhere for a place to hide.
All of a sudden, the entire valley was enveloped in a great melee. The Divine Tree in the center was shaking to and fro while under the influence of both Perfected Immortal Rising Void and the Heavenly Eagle King’s Mystic Powers, as if it was going to be uprooted at any moment.
The battle was growing increasingly intense, but both Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue were still hiding behind the rock. “Young Master, what do you think that tree actually is? Why can it grow and shrink according to its own will?” Lianyue asked softly.
Xiao Chen furrowed his brows tightly and remained silent. Even since the Divine Tree began shrinking earlier on, he had vaguely sensed something familiar about it, but he could not determine what it exactly was. At the moment, the tree was shaking to and fro, and it looked as if it was not going to withstand the push and pull of both Nirvana Realm experts’ Mystic Powers any longer.
He unleashed his Divine Sense to the surroundings as much as he could afford and probed at the heart of the Divine Tree. he could vaguely see a Jade Zither that was covered in drawings of dragons and phoenixes and intricate carvings. It was surrounded in glows of seven colors, put there were no strings on it.
The Fuxi Zither!
Xiao Chen broke into cold sweat in shock. His Divine Sense stopped channeling in an instant and he was immediately enlightened. The Civil and Martial strings of the Fuxi Zither were the transformations of Yinglong, the Divine Archean Dragon and Qiongtian, the Evil Archean Dragon. The zither’s body itself was made of wood from the prehistoric Tree of Heaven that existed since a time before the Great Emperor Fuxi. As for its five other strings, Xiao did not know what they were made of.
His mind was filled with thoughts at this moment, and soon it was flooded with questions. The Fuxi Zither’s strings had been removed and dispersed in various spots within the Human Realm, by why would the instrument itself be here? It was extraordinary, but he did not have that much time to consider all these now. It did not matter whether the zither fell into Rising Void or the Heavenly Eagle King’s hands tonight; either way, it would be impossible for Xiao to seize it back from them.
Su Lianyue could see that his expression changed multiple times over a short period of time and began asking softly, “Have you made up your mind to strike, Young Master?”
Xiao Chen nodded. At first, he was only planning to take a look and was not bent on obtaining the treasure within the tree. However, now that he knew that it was the Fuxi Zither, he knew that he had to obtain it. “Please help me later, Fairy,” he said before waving his arms to grab a conical bamboo hat strewn on the ground nearby. He put it on his head and flew toward the Divine Tree.
Both the Heavenly Eagle King and Perfected Immortal Rising Void did not expect someone else to charge toward them from hiding and unleashed a ray of energy from their fingers respectively without even bothering to see who it was. Even though both of them were focused on obtaining the Divine Tree at this moment, the energy rays were not to be trifled with. Xiao Chen unleashed his Immortal-Overriding Steps to avoid them and wanted to dash toward the Tree, but was blocked by an invisible force.
It was as if there was a restrictive barrier around the Divine Tree that stopped anyone from getting close. As he considered this, Xiao Chen rose into the air and immediately used his Star-shifting Substitution skill. However, the Divine Tree still remained motionless; the skill was unable to overcome the restrictive barrier beneath the tree.
However, both the Heavenly Eagle King and Perfected Immortal Rising Void had felt the immense force as well by now. Without waiting for them to react, Xiao Chen extended his arms again. Images of two gold dragons immediately rushed out and flew toward the Divine Tree, causing it to shift sideways. It was the “Divine Dragon Governing Skill” of his own creation and the merger of psychokinesis and the Dragon Roar Palm. He had used it to deal with He Chentian of the He Family before in Widespread Wintriness Sect.
The Heavenly Eagle King and Perfected Immortal Rising Void felt their hearts sink as they thought about who this person could actually be. He possessed wonderful skills, and they had not heard of any junior disciple from either the Light or Dark side that was so able. “Who are you, my young friend?” asked Rising Void.
“You should think about how to break the seal beneath this tree, seniors,” Xiao Chen said indifferently, the amount of energy from his palms growing stronger as he spoke. The Divine Tree crept toward him gradually.
Perfected Immortal Rising Void noticed that there was something devilish about his tone, and believed that he was not from the Orthodox Path. He felt that anyone not from his side must have ill intentions and channeled more energy from his hand to drag it back toward himself as he saw the Divine Tree moving in the young man’s direction. The Heavenly Eagle King squinted. There was a mixture of Light and Dark energy in the young man, and he did not seem to belong to the Orthodox Path. He became more relaxed and even thought about recruiting him.
Everyone else who were far away saw the appearance of someone else beneath the Divine Tree, and that the two Dragon images seemed even more powerful than that of Perfected Immortal Rising Void and the Heavenly Eagle King. “Who is this person?” they thought. Some of them saw Xiao Chen’s conical bamboo hat and noticed that he was on par with both Nirvana Realm experts. “It’s the Person in the Straw-Raincoat! The Lone Wolf in the Straw-Raincoat!”
A huge commotion rang out once the name of “Person in the Straw-Raincoat” spread among them. A few days ago at Precipice Peak, he had killed Dan Yangzi, a peak Nirvana Realm cultivator, and his name had grown after that.
Perfected Immortal Rising Void felt his heart shook. It was no wonder that the young man had not been awestruck at all when speaking to him, a cultivator at Nirvana Realm. So, he was the same person who worked with the three other Devil Practitioners to kill a cultivator of peak Nirvana Realm! He felt a chill rising along his spine as he thought about this.
The Heavenly Eagle King laughed. “Good! Good! I’ve long heard about you, young friend. These useless people from the Orthodox Path are truly incomparable to you! I’ve much respect for you, much respect!”
“You’re too kind, senior,” Xiao Chen smiled casually as he channeled more force in his hands. The Divine Tree immediately began to tremble incontrollably, and the Eagle King squinted. “I may be thinking of recruiting you, young fellow, but I can’t allow you to take the extraordinary treasure away,” he thought as he channeled more energy along his arms. The Tree began to move back toward him.
Rising Void felt cold sweat trickling along his back and channeled a huge amount of the True Energy in his body before eventually managing to pull the Divine Tree back toward him for a bit. In this manner, the Tree shook here and there under the influence of their energies, almost half of its roots having left the earth by now. Obviously, it was not going to be able to withstand their pulling for much longer, and it was going to be completely uprooted soon. There also seemed to be strange noises coming deep from beneath the ground.