216: Chapter 216 was merely a branch of the sacred Wutong tree!

With a single step, they entered another realm.

Su Xuanchen and the two women entered the ruins of the wutong sacred tree.

As far as the eye could see, ancient trees covered the ground.

These ancient trees seemed forged from black iron, pitch-black all over, their texture impossibly hard.

Yet, within their trunks, a strange spiritual power was contained.

Threads of flame were nurtured within the wood, shining through the black iron-like bark with multicolored firelight.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple.

Countless points of light flickered in the gloom, illuminating this ancient ruin like a deep and brilliant starry sky.

Even more Soul-shaking was the ancient tree remnant ahead, spanning the horizon like a mountain range.

It was too massive; merely lying there, it gave off a sense of infinite oppression.

Within the remnant, a Small World had formed.

An unimaginable high temperature emanated from that Small World, scorching and distorting the surrounding Void Realm, emitting mournful groans of strain.

At that moment.

Ji Luanxi, who had been following beside Su Xuanchen, suddenly trembled violently without warning.

Her exquisitely beautiful face instantly flushed with an abnormal redness.

The Nine Phoenix Bloodline within her body boiled over completely at this moment!

A yearning from the deepest part of her Bloodline, like a burst dam, instantly overwhelmed her reason.

"This is..."

Her red lips parted slightly, her beautiful eyes filled with uncontrollable fervor and excitement.

"Phoenix..."

"It's the aura of a True Spirit Phoenix!"

She nearly lost control, instinctively about to rush towards that remnant.

Su Xuanchen frowned slightly and raised his hand to press down on her fragrant shoulder.

A gentle force was transferred, instantly suppressing the restless Bloodline within her.

"Calm down."

Su Xuanchen's voice was not loud, yet it carried an undeniable authority.

Ji Luanxi trembled, the desire that had occupied her eyes finally regained a trace of clarity.

Su Xuanchen's Divine Sense, like an invisible tide, swept towards that mountain-like remnant.

*Boom!*

The moment his Divine Sense made contact, a vast and majestic ancient aura, as if from the primordial chaos of antiquity, violently rebounded.

Su Xuanchen grunted softly, his expression growing even more solemn.

"It is indeed the wutong sacred tree."

He thought to himself.

Legend said only this tree could withstand the Origin flames of the True Phoenix, capable of incinerating all ages.

It was once a world-shaking Sacred Tree that awed the Ten Directions, its body as sturdy as the highest-grade Immortal King Treasure Artifact, impervious to all Laws even in death.

Even Immortal King overlords would give it a wide berth.

"But how could such a powerful existence be severed here?"

A deep flash of confusion passed through Su Xuanchen's eyes.

"The one who struck must have been a terrifying, unimaginable forbidden existence."

He grew even more vigilant. Raising his hand, he gently touched the mountain-like remnant with his fingertip.

*Hum—!*

The moment he made contact.

An ancient yet blurry image exploded in his mind!

It was a majestic Sword Qi beyond description!

It fell from beyond the Nine Heavens, tearing through the eternal sky, severing the River of Time!

Before that Sword Qi, sun, moon, and stars were like dust!

The image flashed and vanished.

Yet, Su Xuanchen's pupils contracted violently!

Looking at this "mountain range" spanning the horizon before him, a tidal wave of shock surged in his heart.

"This..."

"This is merely a branch of the wutong sacred tree!"

A single branch, as vast as a mountain range!

Then, in its prime, how sky-covering and sun-shielding must this Sacred Tree have been?!

"Husband, what's wrong?"

Chang Xiyue, seeing his grave expression, quickly asked with concern.

Ji Luanxi had also completely freed herself from the Bloodline impulse and cast a worried look his way.

Su Xuanchen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart.

He gave the two women a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine."

He turned and pointed towards the Small World inside the branch remnant.

"A True Phoenix did indeed dwell here."

His gaze penetrated the layers of firelight, looking towards the depths of that Small World.

"There, that is the true core."

The two women followed his gaze.

Deep within that Small World, firelight soared to the heavens!

The Laws and Spiritual Qi, refined to an extreme, had actually evolved into a boundless sea of fire there!

The sea of fire churned, raising waves ten thousand zhang high.

At the edges of that sea of fire, intelligent Flame True Spirits had even been born.

These spiritual flames took the forms of various ancient spiritual birds, chasing and playing in the air, emitting clear and melodious cries, yet none dared approach the core region of that sea of fire.

As if there existed something that even they feared.

Looking at that sea of fire, the Nine Phoenix Bloodline within Ji Luanxi grew restless again beyond her control.

The yearning from the depths of her Bloodline made her unable to hold back any longer.

Though she knew the danger, she still instinctively sent a thread of her Divine Sense probing towards the depths of that sea of fire.

She wanted to see what was hidden within.

However.

The moment her Divine Sense touched the core of the sea of fire.

"Pfft!"

Ji Luanxi's delicate frame trembled violently as she let out a pained grunt.

Her face, already flushed from excitement, drained of all color in an instant, turning deathly pale!

The thread of Divine Sense she had sent out was utterly erased in an instant by an overwhelmingly domineering force!

An excruciating pain from the depths of her Soul nearly made her faint on the spot.

"Luanxi!"

Seeing this, Chang Xiyue exclaimed in alarm and hurried forward to support her.

Leaning against Chang Xiyue's embrace, Ji Luanxi gasped for breath, her clear eyes for the first time showing an emotion called "terror."

She finally calmed down.

And finally understood the terrifying danger accompanying this heaven-sent Opportunity.

Seeing her pale face, Su Xuanchen's eyes instantly turned cold.

He took a step forward, shielding Ji Luanxi behind him.

"Nine Tribulations Secret Codex!"

He roared inwardly.

*BOOM—!!!*

A Divine Sense power far more terrifying than before, hundreds of times greater, erupted from between his brows!

That Divine Sense solidified into substance, transforming into a golden divine rainbow, like an awakened Immortal King overlord opening his Dharma Eye to gaze down upon all ages!

The golden light of Divine Sense tore through the Void Realm, ignoring the terrifying high temperature capable of incinerating all things, and boldly charged into that boundless sea of fire!

*Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!*

Even with Su Xuanchen's current Mortal World Immortal cultivation, that domineering divine fire still made his Divine Sense feel a burning, piercing pain.

But he did not retreat.

"For this lord, open!"

He roared.

The golden Divine Sense light erupted violently, forcibly carving a path through that sea of fire!

The divine fire was forced back!

Su Xuanchen's Divine Sense advanced unimpeded, finally seeing the scene at the core of the sea of fire.

It was a flame.

A flame only the size of a fist, its entire body showing a sinister, bloody crimson.

It floated quietly at the center of the sea of fire, as if having slumbered for countless epochs.

Yet the aura it emitted was terrifying to the extreme!

Merely approaching it, Su Xuanchen's Divine Sense, comparable to an Immortal King overlord's, felt a lethal threat!

He had no doubt this seemingly insignificant flame could annihilate a Quasi-Immortal King in an instant.

At that moment.

That crimson flame, dormant for who knows how many epochs, throbbed violently without warning.

*Boom—!*

The next moment, it erupted into violent motion!

Firelight shot towards the heavens!

That small flame instantly transformed into a True Phoenix radiating Divine Might!

It spread its sky-covering wings, each feather burning with terrifying divine flames capable of incinerating all ages.

A pair of majestic Phoenix eyes suddenly opened, shooting out two beams of substantial firelight that pierced through the Void Realm.

"Screech—!"

A clear, Soul-shattering cry resounded through heaven and earth!

A visible ripple of flame surged outwards with it.