16: The sacred tree guards the mountain gate, and the flames are reignited!

Myriad Dao Divine Mountain, core hub.

This place was not a palace, but an expanse of Chaos.

Thick Spiritual Qi and dao rhyme intertwined, transforming into a rolling sea of clouds. Below the sea of clouds lay the source of that top-grade Spiritual Vein, like a sleeping giant Dragon, emitting majestic pressure.

The figure of Chu Xuanjin appeared here silently.

He flipped his palm, and the mother plant of the Ten Thousand Year ancient enlightenment tea tree obtained from the System hovered above his palm.

It was only the size of a palm, yet it seemed to bear the vicissitudes of an entire era.

Its branches were knotted like a coiled ancient Dragon, and every tea leaf flowed with the light of Chaos, emitting an aura of the Great Dao that caused this space to solidify.

"Go."

Chu Xuanjin flicked his finger.

The mother plant turned into a stream of light, shooting straight toward the dragon head of the top-grade Spiritual Vein below.

Boom!

The moment the mother plant landed, the entire Myriad Dao Divine Mountain let out a heaven-shaking roar!

The sleeping Spiritual Vein Dragon seemed to be awakened, letting out a high-pitched Dragon roar. Endless Origin of Spiritual Qi, like a burst celestial river, surged frantically into that small tea tree.

The tea tree's roots expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, like golden lightning, instantly piercing into every inch of the Spiritual Vein's body and spreading to every corner of the Divine Mountain.

Hum—

A mysterious dao rhyme that could not be described in words rippled out from the tea tree as the center, like water waves.

On the Divine Mountain, the century-old ancient enlightenment tea tree in the backyard garden seemed to have received a calling, its branches and leaves swaying as it erupted with brilliant green light.

The Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicines in the mountains began to grow wildly.

Rare exotic flowers, seldom seen in the outside world, quietly bloomed among the cliffs and rocks.

Several immortal cranes and elks, condensed from pure Spiritual Qi, appeared out of thin air, curiously poking their heads around in the forest.

The entire Myriad Dao Divine Mountain, at this moment, seemed to have been injected with a true Soul.

It had come alive.

Chu Xuanjin could feel that his connection to this Divine Mountain had become unprecedentedly close.

With a single thought, he could know the veins of every leaf on the mountain.

"This is what can be considered to have a bit of the immortal aura."

He nodded with satisfaction, his figure flickering as he returned to the Hall of Inheriting Skills.

...

Inside the dao conveying jade wall.

In the starry sky killing Formation on the right.

"Ah—!"

Wang Duojin let out a scream. He had been crushed on one side of his body by a passing star, the intense pain nearly causing him to faint.

He rolled wretchedly in the Void Realm, dodging the overwhelming and irregular stellar slaughter.

"No! I can't dodge it! I simply cannot dodge this!"

He panted heavily, his face full of despair.

"This Formation has no method, no logic! How can it be broken? How?!"

Another star whistled towards him, and he closed his eyes, waiting for death.

But just at this moment, his Revered Master's words flashed across his mind like lightning.

"The abacus is for calculating, not for looking at."

"Calculate?"

Wang Duojin's body shook violently.

"That's right! I am a Formation Revered Master! I am not a martial artist! Why should I fight it head-on?"

He suddenly opened his eyes, the fear and despair in them swept away, replaced by a fanatical light.

He no longer fled, actually sitting cross-legged directly in the Void Realm.

Facing the star about to smash into his face, he turned a blind eye.

He closed his eyes, and in his Sea of Consciousness, that old abacus appeared once again.

His hands turned into phantoms, frantically manipulating the abacus.

Pitter-patter!

The crisp sound of abacus beads colliding echoed in his mental world.

The whistling starry sky killing Formation, in his eyes, seemed to have been pressed with a slow-motion button.

The trajectory of the stars, the flow of spiritual power, the changes of the Formation eyes...

All the chaotic and disorganized information turned into clear data, rapidly parsed by his abacus.

"Found it!"

Just at the moment the star was about to touch the tip of his nose, Wang Duojin suddenly opened his eyes, extended a finger, and pointed at an empty spot in the Void Realm to his front left.

"Three feet at the Xun position, the Gate of Life!"

Hum!

That deadly star actually turned its direction right in front of him, crashing into another incoming star!

The chain reaction had begun.

A confident smile curled at the corners of Wang Duojin's mouth.

"Now, it's my turn."

...

The ice and snow world in the center.

On Su Linger's shoulder, a claw mark deep enough to see the bone was overflowing with blood, which was then frozen by her own cold Qi.

She panted, looking at the unharmed ice crystal demonic wolf not far away, her eyes full of helplessness.

Every one of her attacks would be absorbed by the demonic wolf and turned to its own use.

And every pounce of the demonic wolf left her exhausted and running for her life.

"Vitality..."

She remembered her Revered Master's words.

"My Dao should not only be about destruction."

She looked at the demonic wolf, no longer treating it as an enemy, but starting to observe.

Observing the structure of every ice crystal on its body, observing the flow of cold Qi when it ran.

Gradually, she discovered that although this demonic wolf was violent, the operation of the cold Qi inside its body followed a certain peculiar rhythm, full of vitality.

And the cold Qi she mobilized was cold and dead.

"I understand."

She closed her eyes, no longer attempting to attack.

She extended her small hand, imitating the demonic wolf, and began to guide the surrounding cold Qi.

Not commanding, not forcing, but gently combing through it.

Wisps of cold Qi, like obedient elves, gathered at her fingertips.

She opened her eyes and flicked lightly at the demonic wolf that was pouncing again.

A small, exquisite ice flower, containing a trace of lively vitality, flew out quietly.

The ice flower did not attack the demonic wolf but landed on its path of pouncing forward.

The demonic wolf stepped on the ice flower.

The ice flower instantly bloomed, and a gentle yet irresistible chill spread up along its claws, causing its movements to pause for a thousandth of a second.

Although it was insignificant, Su Linger's eyes suddenly lit up.

...

The Chaos space on the left.

Ye Chenfeng stood holding his sword, and opposite him, another "Ye Chenfeng" also stood holding a sword.

Between the two, there had already been over a thousand clashes.

Each time, it was a draw.

The opponent's sword moves, speed, and strength were no different from his.

"You are me."

The phantom opposite spoke for the first time, its voice exactly the same as his.

"The killing intent in your heart is my strength."

Ye Chenfeng's brows were tightly locked.

He remembered that sword strike that killed the Third Elder of the Blazing Fire Sect.

That sword strike had no hatred, no killing, only the pure sword.

"I understand."

He slowly closed his eyes and loosened his grip on the sword hilt.

He let go of all hostility, let go of all desire to win or lose.

His whole person seemed to have merged into this expanse of Chaos.

The phantom opposite was stunned.

It could not feel Ye Chenfeng's killing intent and was unable to lock onto his aura for a moment.

Just at this moment, Ye Chenfeng opened his eyes.

He struck with his sword.

It was just a simple, straightforward thrust, without any flair.

But this sword strike seemed to be the only real existence in this Chaos.

Pfft.

A soft sound.

The tip of the sword sank into the center of the phantom's eyebrows.

The phantom revealed a smile of relief on its face and slowly dissipated.

...

Eastern Desolate Region, central part.

A huge volcano that burned with raging flames all year round was where the Blazing Fire Sect's mountain gate was located.

Deep in the belly of the mountain, inside a magnificent ancestral hall.

Thousands of Soul jade lamps were neatly arranged on layers of obsidian shelves.

Crack—

A crisp shattering sound, in the dead-silent ancestral hall, seemed particularly jarring.

On the top layer, a Soul lamp burning with a deep red flame, representing a Nascent Soul Elder of the Sect, shattered without warning, and the flame extinguished instantly.

The Disciple guarding the ancestral hall was so scared that his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, scrambling and crawling as he rushed out.

"Oh no! Oh no!"

"The Third Elder's Soul lamp... has gone out!"

The news, like a storm, instantly swept through the entire Blazing Fire Sect.

Sect Master Hall.

A middle-aged man wearing a red-gold dragon-patterned robe with a dignified face was sitting in meditation with his eyes closed.

Flames swirled around his body, and the air twisted because of it.

It was the Sect Master of the Blazing Fire Sect, a supreme powerhouse at the Void Refining Initial Stage, Lie Shan!

"Sect Master!"

A Disciple ran into the hall in a panic and knelt on the ground.

"Reporting to the Sect Master! The Third Elder... the Third Elder, he..."

Lie Shan slowly opened his eyes, and two beams of flame, like substance, shot out from his pupils.

"Speak."

A single word, yet it contained the terrifying pressure to burn mountains and boil seas.

"The Third Elder's Soul lamp has gone out!"

Boom!

An indescribable terrifying aura erupted from Lie Shan's body!

The entire Sect Master Hall shook violently, and the hard volcanic rock floor cracked inch by inch!

"Who!"

Lie Shan stood up from his throne, his voice sounding as if it came from the Nine Nether Hell, every word carrying monstrous rage.

"Who is it! Who dares to kill an Elder of my Blazing Fire Sect!"

He took a step, and his figure already appeared outside the hall.

He looked up at the sky and let out a roar that shook the firmament.

"Transmit my decree!"

"Summon all Elders and Disciples!"

"Activate the 'Ten Thousand Mile Soul Chasing Mirror'!"

"I want to see which ignorant fool dares to touch someone from my Blazing Fire Sect!"