91: Chapter 91 The Towering Tree

When the light of the southern territory spiritual pivot spilled over the battlements of Luoxia City, Lin Yue was sitting on the stone steps of the City Lord's Mansion, pinching a Thunder Pattern Grass leaf between his fingertips.

The veins on the leaf shimmered with a faint gold under the spiritual pivot's illumination, faintly resonating with the dragon patterns circulating within his Golden Core.

It felt as if countless tiny electric currents were coursing through his Meridians, bringing a tingling yet warm sensation.

"Clan Chief, the Qinglan Sect has sent a sample of the heaven-reaching tree's remnant root."

Lin Shi approached, holding a jade box lined with cloud-patterned brocade, with a section of gray-black tree root lying quietly in the center.

Though it emitted no spiritual light, one could sense a deep, condensed vitality hidden within—

It was something Mo Chen had sent someone to retrieve from the depths of the southern territory, said to be the thickest main root of the heaven-reaching tree.

Lin Yue opened the jade box, and as soon as his fingertip touched the remnant root, the dragon thunder sword suddenly hummed softly in its scabbard.

The thunder patterns on the sword's body lit up through the scabbard, touching the fine patterns on the remnant root's surface, and a faint golden mist unexpectedly rose within the box.

Within the mist, the faint silhouette of a towering ancient tree could be seen, with lush branches and leaves reaching straight into the clouds, its roots delving deep into the earth, perfectly overlapping with the veins of the southern territory spiritual pivot.

"Just as I thought."

Understanding flashed in Lin Yue's eyes.

"The roots of the heaven-reaching tree were originally part of the ancient spiritual pivot."

He took out the remnant root and carefully examined it with spiritual power, sensing that the dormant vitality within was being awakened by the spiritual pivot's power.

Beneath the gray-black surface, an extremely faint green hue had already begun to appear.

The Thunder Spirit swooped down from the tall tree, its cyan-purple feathers brushing over the remnant root, and the falling thunder light seeped into it like spring rain.

The remnant root suddenly trembled slightly, its surface cracking open a fine seam, from which a thread of white sprout emerged—

It was vitality that had slept for ten thousand years, finally breaking through the soil under the Thunder Spirit's thunderous power and the spiritual pivot's nourishment.

"This... it's alive already?"

Lin Shi watched in astonishment; he had heard the elders say that the remnant roots of the heaven-reaching tree were harder than stubborn rocks.

Many Cultivators had tried in vain to awaken them with their essence blood, yet it was unexpectedly revived easily by the Thunder Spirit's thunder light.

"It's not the Thunder Spirit's credit; the timing was right."

Lin Yue placed the remnant root back into the jade box. "The southern territory spiritual pivot is now complete, with the Five Elements spiritual essence flowing endlessly, just making up for the vitality missing from the heaven-reaching tree."

He looked up toward the south, where the spiritual pivot's light was brighter than elsewhere, as if an invisible hand was guiding all the spiritual essence to converge toward the depths.

For the next three days, Lin Yue would nourish the remnant root daily with the spiritual essence of the dragon thunder sword.

Whenever the dragon patterns touched the tree sprout, it always stirred a resonance with Luoxia City's earth veins, causing the Spiritual Spring Pond in the City Lord's Mansion's backyard to rise several feet.

The Spiritual Crystals at the bottom of the spring floated up one after another, spreading across the water's surface like a shimmering carpet of light.

On this morning, as soon as Lin Yue infused spiritual power into the remnant root, the tree sprout suddenly grew several inches, and as its leaves unfurled, they drew a complete spiritual pivot diagram in the air.

On the diagram, the node representing Luoxia City shone with dazzling golden light, connecting with nodes throughout the southern territory, ultimately forming a massive vortex in the depths—

That was a sign of the heaven-reaching tree's impending revival.

"It's time to go to the depths of the southern territory."

Lin Yue put away the jade box and said to Lin Shi:

"You stay behind in Luoxia City and oversee the operation of the spiritual pivot. I'll take the Thunder Spirit and Lin Yan with me."

Lin Shi was somewhat worried:

"The depths are mostly ancient ruins, and it's said there are lingering battle soul Evil Qi that hasn't dissipated. Should we bring more Elite Soldiers?"

"No need."

Lin Yue patted the dragon thunder sword at his waist.

"With the protection of the dragon thunder sword and the star-embracing sword, plus the Thunder Spirit's thunderous power, it's enough to handle it."

He looked toward the direction of the Sword Hut, where Lin Yan was practicing a newly comprehended sword technique with the star-embracing sword, the Five Elements spiritual essence weaving a five-colored light net around him, echoing the spiritual pivot's light from afar.

Three days later, the Thunder Spirit carried Lin Yue and Lin Yan flying toward the depths of the southern territory.

Below, the spiritual pivot veins resembled golden rivers, winding along the mountain terrain, turning deserts into oases and withered forests sprouting new branches wherever they passed.

Lin Yan lay on the Thunder Spirit's back, watching the Five Elements patterns of the star-embracing sword flow in sync with the spiritual pivot on the ground, and suddenly said:

"Clan Chief, look at those spiritual pivot nodes—don't they resemble the thunder patterns on the dragon thunder sword?"

Lin Yue looked down and indeed saw that the arrangement of the nodes bore a subtle resemblance to the thunder patterns on the dragon thunder sword.

He infused spiritual power into the dragon thunder sword, and the sword's body immediately erupted with cyan-purple thunder light. As it touched the spiritual pivot nodes on the ground, those nodes lit up simultaneously, drawing the silhouette of a giant dragon on the earth—

The dragon's head was at Luoxia City, its tail at the vortex in the depths, perfectly encompassing the entire southern territory.

"So the spiritual essence of the dragon thunder sword shares the same origin as the southern territory's earth veins."

Lin Yue murmured, countless images flashing through his mind:

Ten thousand years ago, a certain great power used their own dragon soul as a guide to forge the dragon thunder sword in the southern territory, using the sword as bones and the spiritual pivot as blood to protect this land;

Later, the spiritual pivot shattered, and the sword fell silent, until he obtained it at Black Wind Pass and slowly awakened the dragon soul within.

The Thunder Spirit seemed to sense something and accelerated toward the depths.

When they arrived above the vortex, they saw that the ground had already split open into a massive deep pit, with the spiritual pivot veins at the bottom spinning wildly, gathering the Five Elements spiritual essence toward the center.

That section of the heaven-reaching tree remnant root had been placed at the center of the vortex and had now grown into a small sapling ten feet tall. The patterns on its leaves perfectly matched the spiritual pivot, greedily absorbing the surrounding spiritual essence.

"Is this the sapling of the heaven-reaching tree?"

Lin Yan held the star-embracing sword, and as the Five Elements patterns touched the sapling's patterns, they stirred layers of light waves.

But Lin Yue frowned.

He could sense that although the spiritual essence at the vortex's center was abundant, there was a faint sense of stagnation, as if bound by something.

He summoned the dragon thunder sword, and cyan-purple thunder light struck toward the vortex—

The moment the thunder light exploded, countless broken Armor and Weapons unexpectedly surfaced at the bottom of the pit.

These were all relics from the ancient battlefield, with Evil Qi and spiritual pivot essence entangled together, forming an invisible barrier.

"It's the battle soul Evil Qi hindering the heaven-reaching tree's growth."

Lin Yue said gravely. "These Battle Souls' lingering obsessions have condensed the spiritual essence into a dead knot."

Lin Yan tried to guide it with the Five Elements spiritual essence of the star-embracing sword but was rebounded by the Evil Qi.

That Evil Qi carried intense resentment, incompatible with the spiritual pivot's vitality, clashing like ice and fire.

The Thunder Spirit let out a clear cry, spread its wings, and cyan-purple thunder light poured down like a waterfall onto the Evil Qi, eliciting a piercing hiss.

But the Evil Qi was too thick; the thunder light could only disperse the surface layer, while the underlying resentment remained stubborn.

"Using thunder power alone won't work."

Lin Yue said:

"Battle soul Evil Qi stems from obsession; it must be broken with 'emotion.'"

He gripped the dragon thunder sword, infused his own Divine Sense into it, and the dragon soul's spiritual essence flowed along the sword's body, condensing into a massive dragon shadow in mid-air—

That was the protective obsession contained within the dragon thunder sword, directly opposing the Battle Souls' slaughter obsession.

"Lin Yan, guide the Five Elements spiritual essence to protect the heaven-reaching tree."

Lin Yue called out clearly, and the dragon shadow swooped down, colliding with the battle soul remnants within the Evil Qi.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only the silent clash of two obsessions, with the dragon shadow's protective intent like a gentle stream.

Slowly seeping into the Battle Souls' slaughter intent, those broken Armors even began to tremble slightly, as if recalling their protective hearts from when they were alive.

Lin Yan followed instructions and thrust the star-embracing sword into the pit's bottom. The Five Elements spiritual essence spread along the spiritual pivot veins, weaving a five-colored light shield around the heaven-reaching tree, isolating the Evil Qi outside.

He could sense that within the Battle Souls' Evil Qi, besides slaughter, there was also hidden attachment to their homeland. When the dragon shadow's protective intent touched this attachment, the Evil Qi began to slowly dissipate.

Three days later, the Evil Qi at the bottom of the pit finally completely dispersed.

The heaven-reaching tree sapling had grown to a hundred feet tall, its branches and leaves spreading out, blocking the sky and sun, its roots delving deep into the spiritual pivot veins, delivering the Five Elements spiritual essence to all parts of the southern territory.

Lin Yue looked at the dragon patterns emerging on the tree trunk and suddenly understood the relationship between the dragon thunder sword and the heaven-reaching tree—

They were born from the same origin, one protecting the southern territory in the form of a sword, the other nourishing all things in the form of a tree, together forming the spiritual essence Foundation of the southern territory.

The Thunder Spirit landed on a branch of the heaven-reaching tree, its cyan-purple feathers contrasting with the emerald green leaves, like a flowing painting.

Lin Yan held the star-embracing sword, the Five Elements patterns perfectly matching the leaf patterns, a tired yet satisfied smile on his face.

Lin Yue stood under the tree, the thunder patterns of the dragon thunder sword touching the dragon patterns on the trunk.

A vast spiritual essence surged along the sword's body into his body, and the dragon and thunder patterns within his Golden Core intertwined faster and faster, faintly showing signs of a Breakthrough.

He knew this was the southern territory's spiritual essence rewarding him, as well as the Dao path gift he deserved for protecting this land.

On the return journey, the heaven-reaching tree's branches and leaves swayed gently in the wind, as if bidding farewell.

Lin Yue looked back and saw the spiritual light at the tree's top shooting straight into the clouds, connecting with the light of the southern territory spiritual pivot, weaving a massive net between heaven and earth, firmly locking the vitality of this land.

"Clan Chief, do you think the heaven-reaching tree will grow up to the sky?" Lin Yan asked curiously.

Lin Yue gazed at the distant starry sky, the dragon thunder sword humming softly in its scabbard, as if responding:

"It will. Just like our Dao path, there is no end, only continuous upward growth."

The Thunder Spirit let out a clear cry and accelerated its flight toward Luoxia City.