136: Magic Oak

At the same time, the Jiang Family in the outside world had fallen into chaos.

Because the pillar of their family, the Ancestor who had been the family head for who knows how many centuries, had just... died!

The Ancestor enjoyed tending to flowers and plants; every day he was either resting in his chair or pruning and watering the greenery.

But now, he had remained completely motionless for three or four hours, which was highly unusual.

"Ancestor, wake up! Don't scare us!" Seeing the motionless Ancestor in the rocking chair, a Jiang Family member mustered the courage to push him and said.

But with his movement, the Jiang Family Ancestor's neck immediately snapped, and he collapsed like a limp noodle, subsequently turning into a handful of fine dust.

"Ancestor!"

The Jiang family members immediately burst into mournful cries.

Although a large part of the reason the Jiang Family was able to develop to its current scale was due to clinging to Holy Sun's thigh.

However, Holy Sun only became a War God in the past hundred years. Before that, the Jiang Family relied entirely on the Ancestor's deterrent power and cohesion to achieve its current scale.

Now that the Ancestor was dead, not only did the Jiang Family lose a top-tier combatant, but its cohesion alone could no longer compare to before.

In such a large family, there was no one capable of commanding respect, and the decline of the Jiang Family had become inevitable.

Amidst the overwhelming cries, undercurrents were surging; their tearless eyes signaled their most trusted confidantes.

The Ancestor died without leaving any last words or a will, so how much could be inherited depended entirely on individual capability.

Some people walked into the Ancestor's bedroom, a place they had never dared to enter before.

Others quietly slipped away, preparing to take over the family's external assets.

Even more people approached the large tree in the garden.

They all knew that this large tree was actually the Ancestor's Contracted Beast.

Not only was it diamond rank, but this plant-type Demonic Beast was likely a Level 100 max-level Demonic Beast!

It was only because the Ancestor lacked the talent to take that final step that the Jiang Family never had its own Level 100 War God.

It could be said that among all the things the Ancestor left behind, this Contracted Beast was definitely the most valuable.

Moreover, the death of the master would be a major blow to the Contracted Beast's Spiritual Power, significantly reducing the difficulty of forming a contract.

But just as he tried to communicate with the Tree Spirit, he found that its interior was completely silent.

It was then he noticed that the leaves of this towering giant tree had begun to yellow, and even the vines wrapped around its body were starting to wither.

"This... is it dead?" The person said, finding it hard to accept. "I never thought the Ancestor's Contracted Beast would be so fragile. What a pity..."

Someone else in the crowd was watching all this with indifference, observing everyone's superficial grief and hidden scheming—that person was Jiang Liu.

He also understood now: from the moment Jiang Tianlong failed, they had already been abandoned.

Countless hands within the family had pushed them to this point, and after enjoying the sight of his two sons' deaths, they were now secretly laughing, just like this.

The entire Jiang Family could be considered the murderer of his sons.

Therefore, the Ancestor's death did not cause him any grief; he simply noticed the anomaly of the giant tree and quietly slipped away.

He arrived in front of the secret chamber where Holy Sun had previously been invited out.

Sure enough, Holy Sun was inside, looking frantically at the Jade Coffin before him.

As soon as Jiang Liu stepped into the secret chamber, he was violently pressed onto the ground by a powerful pressure.

"What are you doing here?! I said I wouldn't move against that kid again, so stop bothering me, or I won't consider your relationship with Yi Yi anymore!"

But Jiang Liu did not back down. He struggled to push himself up from the ground, panting heavily, and said, "You must be distressed right now, right? Yi Yi's life force can't be maintained much longer..."

Holy Sun was indeed agitated because of this.

The life in the relic had been frozen at the last moment, suspended on the boundary between life and death. It required powerful life force at all times to stabilize her condition, and for all these years, this had been achieved by relying on the vigorous life force of the Jiang Family Ancestor's Contracted Beast.

But now, with the death of the Ancestor, his Contracted Beast had withered and died alongside him.

Jiang Yiyi's condition was constantly deteriorating, making Holy Sun inevitably restless.

So before Jiang Liu could finish speaking, Holy Sun grabbed him through the air, clutching his neck, and demanded, "Speak! What do you know?!"

"Heh heh, before I speak, let me save this girl first."

Hearing this, Holy Sun looked at Jiang Yiyi's current state inside the Jade Coffin before finally letting him go.

Jiang Liu approached the Jade Coffin, took out a small knife, and then, under Holy Sun's intense gaze, cut his own palm.

The fresh blood dripped down onto Jiang Yiyi's body and was instantly absorbed. Her complexion immediately improved as a result.

Holy Sun showed a hint of joy upon seeing this, but then, he saw a tiny vine emerge from Jiang Yiyi's glabella, wrapping around Jiang Liu's palm and greedily sucking his blood.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Holy Sun was furious. Just as he was about to step forward and uproot the damned thing, Jiang Liu stopped him and said, "Don't be rash. This thing is called demonic mistletoe. It is crucial for maintaining Yi Yi's current state. If you pull it out, Yi Yi will truly be beyond saving."

"Then let me take over! You're an old man with one foot in the grave. Even if this damned thing sucks you dry, it probably won't help!"

Holy Sun yanked Jiang Liu aside, and just as the vine seemed displeased, he cut his own hand and offered it.

"What exactly is this demonic mistletoe?" Holy Sun asked, glaring at Jiang Liu while feeling his blood rapidly drain away.

But Jiang Liu did not answer directly. Instead, he said, "My guess was right. To prevent you from discovering it, it severed a piece of itself, planted it inside Jiang Yiyi, and cut off its connection with the main body."

"This is why, even after abandoning its original body and re-parasitizing, the resulting sub-body still retained its vitality."

"What are you talking about?" Holy Sun said impatiently.

At this point, the vine finally retreated, having drunk its fill.

Jiang Liu walked out of the secret chamber and said, "Follow me."

Holy Sun first looked back to confirm that Jiang Yiyi's condition had stabilized before following Jiang Liu out.

They walked straight past the mourning crowd and approached the withered tree.

The other Jiang family members gradually stopped crying because of their actions and looked at them in surprise.

"What are you trying to do?"

Jiang Liu ignored his cousin, pointed at the slowly dying giant tree, and said, "Now, knock it down! It's time for the Jiang Family's sins to be revealed to the public!"