111: Avenue willow

Boom!

In an instant, ten thousand Daos roared, Dao rhyme permeated, immortal music resounded, and brilliant seven-colored immortal light shone brightly, enveloping the entire Asking Immortal Bridge, turning the whole world into a dreamlike seven-color hue.

Wu Ning immediately felt his body lighten; after stepping onto the Asking Immortal Bridge, the power that had enveloped him instantly vanished.

He looked back at the three thousand layers of seven-colored immortal steps.

The Wu Clan's Shenwu Continent had two highly renowned Trial Grounds:

Immortal-Stepping Staircase and Heaven-Penetrating Bridge.

These two Trial Grounds should be imitations of these seven-colored immortal steps and the Asking Immortal Bridge.

Wu Ning paused for a moment, then continued walking towards the other side of the Asking Immortal Bridge.

He took a step.

He felt the surrounding scenery immediately change; it wasn't an illusion, but rather the appearance of majestic illusory figures, seemingly all imprints of heaven and earth recorded by this Asking Immortal Bridge.

Those majestic illusory figures were extremely powerful, and the aura emanating from them made Wu Ning feel a surge of alarm.

Although they were merely illusory figures, they seemed to be existences that had traversed the river of time, capable of crossing endless space and time to gaze at him.

Wu Ning did not stop, continuing to walk towards the other side of the Asking Immortal Bridge.

One majestic illusory figure after another flashed through his vision, then vanished in an instant, as if they had never appeared.

Some figures were extremely blurry, while others were relatively clear.

But he found that even with the clear illusory figures, after they disappeared, he couldn't remember their appearance.

“Is this the power that transcends an Immortal Emperor?”

There was no test on the Asking Immortal Bridge, only those majestic illusory figures.

This was actually a type of Opportunity; observing and recording the heaven and earth imprints of those majestic illusory figures was of great benefit to comprehending the Dao.

However, Wu Ning didn't care; comprehending these heaven and earth imprints was too time-consuming, and he didn't want to stay here any longer.

Soon after.

Wu Ning arrived at the other side of the Asking Immortal Bridge.

This was the entrance to the Enlightenment Forest.

The next moment, Wu Ning's figure disappeared from the Asking Immortal Bridge, reappearing within the Enlightenment Forest.

This place was like a floating cloud immortal realm, boundless and a vast expanse of white, with large white cloud clusters drifting throughout the heaven and earth, seemingly within reach.

Furthermore, Wu Ning discovered that he seemed to be standing in a vast willow garden, where three thousand verdant and mystical willow trees grew.

These willow trees were extremely massive, with any single one being billions of light-years tall, and each willow tree was covered with hundreds of millions of pale golden willow branches; the willow branches emitted an extremely terrifying aura, seeming to pierce through heaven and earth, and the willow leaves also had rose-gold profound patterns.

“...Is this the Enlightenment Forest?”

A hint of shock flashed in Wu Ning's eyes.

These three thousand willow trees, each one of them, emitted an aura of a Dao Origin.

It seemed that these three thousand willow trees were the manifestation of the three thousand Great Dao!

And those willow branches, each one seemed to represent a derived minor Dao.

Three thousand Great Dao, hundreds of millions of minor Daos!

Was this also the terrifying means possessed by Dao experts?

Or rather, were these Great Dao Willow Trees themselves so extraordinary?

Wu Ning was utterly shaken.

A feeling suddenly arose in his heart: this Asked Heart Forest had likely already touched upon the deepest foundation of the Wu Clan.

His previous understanding of the Wu Clan was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

The truly terrifying foundation should be the part that even Ink Treasure couldn't investigate!

“Trial taker, welcome to the Enlightenment Forest.”

Just then, a slightly familiar voice suddenly sounded.

Wu Ning turned his head; it was precisely the Azure-Clad Man he had met in the Ancient City of Asking.

He was looking at him with a smile.

Wu Ning felt a bit strange; this person was identical to the Azure-Clad Man in the Ancient City of Asking, but seemed not to be the same one.

“Senior, may I ask what this Junior should do next?”

The Azure-Clad Man smiled faintly, “The trials experienced by different trial takers may also vary. There have been Heaven-Defying Luck trial takers who, upon entering the Trial Grounds, came directly here.”

“This is the end point of the Asked Heart Forest trial, and also a new beginning.”

“What you need to do next is to choose a willow tree to comprehend the Dao it contains, and gain the recognition of the tree spirit, then the trial will be considered complete.”

“Gain the recognition of the tree spirit…”

Wu Ning glanced sideways at a large willow tree nearby, which emitted a rich aura of the Dao of Life.

If he could gain the recognition of these Great Dao Willow Trees, his comprehension in the corresponding Dao would likely advance by leaps and bounds.

“Senior, can I only choose one willow tree?”

The Azure-Clad Man smiled faintly, “If you are confident, you can also choose more than one willow tree.”

“But I must remind you, your first choice is crucial.”

“After choosing the first willow tree, you will be repelled by the other willow trees, and gaining the recognition of a second tree spirit will be much more difficult.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Wu Ning nodded, then asked, “If I leave this place now, can I come back later?”

The Azure-Clad Man replied, “Aside from the Dao Child trial, every Immortal Emperor of the Wu Clan has one Opportunity to enter the Enlightenment Forest. So, you can enter one more time.”

“Additionally, there are other ways to gain opportunities to enter the Enlightenment Forest; you will need to explore those yourself.”

“Alright, go find the Great Dao Willow Tree that suits you best.”

As his voice fell, the Azure-Clad Man's figure directly disappeared.

Wu Ning released his Divine Sense and flew directly towards the willow tree containing the Time Great Dao.

“You’re the one.”

Wu Ning sat down cross-legged, gazing at the majestic willow tree before him, so vast that he couldn't see its end, feeling the aura of the Time Great Dao emanating from it, his heart couldn't help but stir.

Comprehending the Time Great Dao while facing this willow tree gave him a feeling of comprehending the Dao Origin; this efficiency was countless times higher than that of ordinary secluded Cultivation.

“However, I should sign in first right now.”

This Enlightenment Forest was such a mystical and extraordinary place; not signing in would be unfair to the System.

“System, give me three annual sign-ins!”

The next moment, the System's notification sounds rang out continuously.

“Ding, sign-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining an Innate Spiritual Root—the time willow tree!”

“Ding, sign-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining an Innate Spiritual Root—the Space Willow Tree!”

“Ding, sign-in successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining an Innate Spiritual Root—the soul willow tree!”

“Innate Spiritual Root?!”

Wu Ning was startled; could it be that these three thousand great dao willow trees were all Innate Spiritual Roots?

Innate Spiritual Roots are born from Chaos, when did there get to be so many?

Wu Ning took a deep breath and immediately checked the detailed information of the several Great Dao Willow Trees.

“Hiss! They’re actually just sub-trees!”

According to the information description on the System, unlike ordinary Innate Spiritual Roots, these three thousand great dao willow trees were all evolved from the roots of a chaos divine tree over endless ages.

They were all considered sub-trees nurtured by that chaos divine tree.