40: The Sorrow of Azure Mist, the Promise of Ancient Trees

Liu Qingtian was immersed in absorbing and transforming the Black Wind Vulture King's surging vitality. Inside his tree body, it was as if a drought-stricken riverbed had welcomed a downpour; every cell greedily absorbed power. The recovery speed far exceeded that when he relied on the half-strand of Golden Body Origin Essence and weak absorption.

The charred bark gradually peeled off, revealing new wood beneath, dark purple-gold in color, tough and full of power. Broken willow branches regrew, emerald green and grey-white intertwined, flowing with the Dao rhythm of the cycle of life and death.

The spiritual ripple vortex spun joyfully, transporting the refined energy to every corner of the tree body, even feeding back into the shrunken willow leaf grotto-heaven, accelerating the repair of its internal decay.

Sela cultivated quietly nearby, occasionally peeking open her eyes. Seeing the visible changes happening to Tree Venerable, her reverence deepened.

She could also feel that the natural Spiritual Qi in the surrounding world seemed to be drawn by the Tree Venerable's invisible power, becoming much more active than before, making her Cultivation twice as effective. Her gratitude grew even stronger.

Several days passed in a flash.

Liu Qingtian completely digested the Vulture King's energy, and his strength recovered to nearly 40%. Although still far from his peak, he was no longer the inexperienced person he once was.

More importantly, the strength of his new tree body far surpassed the past, capable of accommodating more energy, and his Foundation was more solid. His comprehension of the Silent Origin Spirit Transformation Secret Chapter also deepened by another layer.

On this day, Sela awoke from her Cultivation, her face carrying a hint of worry and longing. She looked towards a certain direction deep in the mountain range, her gaze somewhat distant.

Liu Qingtian sensed her emotional fluctuations and sent out a thought: "What troubles your heart?"

Sela was startled, quickly composed herself, and respectfully replied: "Replying to Tree Venerable, it's nothing, just... I miss my tribesmen in the tribe. I secretly ran out this time to seek Opportunity, and it's been a long time since I returned. I don't know if they are well."

"Where is your tribe? How far is it from here?"

"The Qinglan Tribe is at the other end of the Barren Mountain Range, near the edge of the Forest of Vitality. At my original speed, it would take about ten days of full-speed flight." Sela answered honestly, then became a little dejected, "But now that I've just recovered from my injuries, I probably can't fly that fast..."

Liu Qingtian was silent for a moment. He happened to need to familiarize himself with the Cangmu World and also needed to find the general direction of the star key's sensation. The Qinglan Tribe, as a local elf tribe, might be able to provide more information.

"This Venerable wishes to travel around," Liu Qingtian said. "I can escort you back to your tribe along the way."

Upon hearing this, Sela was first stunned, then a huge surprise surged into her heart, almost disbelieving her ears: "Re-really? Tree Venerable, you are willing to send me back? That's great! Thank you, Tree Venerable!"

But she quickly hesitated: "But... Tree Venerable, your body..." She looked at Liu Qingtian's tree body, which, though much recovered, still appeared somewhat "miserable," finding it hard to imagine how such a massive Tree Venerable could move.

"No matter," Liu Qingtian's thought was calm.

The next moment, under Sela's shocked gaze, Liu Qingtian's massive tree body began to emit a hazy starlight; that was the power of the star key being activated.

At the same time, his roots retracted from the earth like living creatures, and the enormous tree body actually slowly lifted off the ground, suspended several feet in the air!

Although the moving speed could not be too fast, the problem of immobility had been solved.

This was a clumsy method Liu Qingtian had devised in the past few days by combining his comprehension of the star key and the Silent Origin Spirit Transformation Secret Chapter with his own situation: using the power of the star key to slightly offset his own gravity, and using his roots as support and means of movement, like a giant octopus "walking" at low altitude. Although it looked strange, it was indeed feasible.

"Follow," Liu Qingtian sent out his thought, then slowly "drifted" in the direction Sela indicated.

Sela quickly flapped her newly healed wings, flying ahead to lead the way, looking at the giant tree floating and moving behind her, feeling incredibly novel and shocked.

Along the way, Liu Qingtian learned more about the Cangmu World through Sela.

This world was indeed dominated by wood-elemental beings. Besides the various elf tribes, there were also tree demons, flower demons, wood beasts, and other Essence Spirits. Human Cultivators were relatively few, and most were subservient to powerful wood-elemental forces.

The largest force was the Wood Spirit Dynasty mentioned by Sela, established by an ancient Imperial Wood that had Cultivated into a spirit, ruling the most fertile areas in the center of the world.

The Barren Mountain Range, on the other hand, was a relatively remote and desolate area, with sparse Spiritual Qi and scarce resources. Powerful beings rarely set foot there, which explained why a force like the Black Wind Vulture Clan, with a Wutian Realm Demon King, could dominate that region.

Regarding the Realm wall and Seal, Sela knew very little, only being sure that she had never heard of anyone being able to leave this world, and the Imperial Ancestor never seemed to have tried either.

Liu Qingtian listened while silently sensing the star key's pulsation. The sensation was still faint, but it seemed to point towards the depths of the Barren Mountain Range, roughly in the same direction as the Qinglan Tribe, which further strengthened his resolve to go and see.

A few days later, one person and one tree gradually approached the edge of the Forest of Vitality; the surrounding scenery began to show greenery, and the Spiritual Qi also became richer.

However, Sela's expression gradually grew uneasy.

"No..." She flapped her wings, accelerating towards a valley ahead, where the Qinglan Tribe should have been located.

Liu Qingtian also sped up to follow.

Crossing the ridge, the sight before Sela struck her like lightning, leaving her frozen on the spot.

The valley, which had once nestled ancient trees and housed exquisite treehouses, was now a scene of utter devastation! Many ancient trees had been cut down or burned, treehouses reduced to charcoal, and traces of battle and dried, blackened bloodstains remained on the ground!

The tribe was destroyed!

"No... how could this happen?! Mother! Elder!" Sela let out a mournful cry and frantically rushed towards the ruins below.

Liu Qingtian hovered at the mouth of the valley, his vast perception quickly sweeping across the entire valley. There were no signs of life, and the battle traces indicated it had occurred several months ago. The attackers were not weak and employed ruthless methods.

In the ruins, he sensed a lingering, repulsive cold aura, different from the Black Wind Vulture Clan's ferocity, more like a... dead, decaying Qi.

Sela frantically searched through the ruins, crying out the names of her relatives and tribesmen, but only found some broken artifacts and blood-stained rags.

Finally, beside the remains of a huge ancient tree, cut in half at the waist, in the center of the tribe, she found a faintly glowing leaf sealed with a special resin. This was the "Memory Leaf" used by the Qinglan Tribe to preserve information.

Sela trembled as she injected her Mental Energy into the Memory Leaf.

A fragmented image and information flooded her Sea of Consciousness:

...Countless monsters, covered in black vines with pale pupils, suddenly attacked the tribe... The tribesmen fought desperately, but the strength disparity was too great... The Elders activated the ancient tree's protective barrier, but it was also polluted and destroyed by a strange decaying power from the enemy... Some tribesmen died, others were captured... In the final moments, a severely injured Elder left a message: "Black Vine Demon... Wood Spirit Imperial Dynasty... Imperial Guards... Why..."

The information abruptly ended here.

"Black Vine Demon... Wood Spirit Imperial Dynasty's Imperial Guards?" Sela collapsed to the ground, her face devoid of color, her eyes filled with despair and disbelief. "Why... why would the Imperial Dynasty's Imperial Guards attack a small tribe like ours?"

Liu Qingtian silently perceived all this. Wood Spirit Imperial Dynasty? Black Vine Demon? Imperial Guards? It seemed to involve power struggles in this world.

He had no interest in these, but that lingering decaying, deathly Qi made him subtly feel something was amiss.

Just then, the star key imprint deep within his tree soul pulsed again!

And this time, the source of the pulsation was none other than the Memory Leaf in Sela's hand, and the remains of the ancient tree cut down beside her!

Liu Qingtian's heart stirred, and a willow branch slowly extended, gently touching the massive ancient tree stump.

Through contact, he perceived more clearly that deep within the ancient tree's remains, there was an extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure and ancient vitality, as well as... a ripple that was of the same Origin as the star key, but even more subtle and ancient!

This ancient tree was not simple!

The moment Liu Qingtian's willow branch touched the ancient tree stump, the remains suddenly flickered with a faint emerald green light, and a phantom, aged, and weary tree spirit apparition slowly emerged from the stump.

It looked at Liu Qingtian, then at Sela, who was beside it consumed by grief, and let out a long sigh.

"Ancient... fellow traveler... and... Qinglan's last Bloodline..."

"Have the gears of fate... finally begun to turn...?"

The voice of the tree spirit apparition echoed directly in Liu Qingtian's and Sela's Sea of Consciousness.

"Senior! Are you the tribe's guardian ancient tree? What exactly happened? Where are the tribesmen?" Sela asked anxiously, as if grasping a life-saving straw.

The Ancient Tree Spirit's phantom face showed sorrow: "Dead... most are dead... some were captured by the Black Vine Imperial Guards and taken to Imperial Wood City... The charge is... colluding with extraterrestrial demons, attempting to destroy the Seal."

"Extraterrestrial demons? How could that be! We never..." Sela retorted excitedly, then she thought of something.

"A trumped-up charge..." The Ancient Tree Spirit sighed, "Their true target... was me, or rather, the thing I guard..."

Its gaze turned to Liu Qingtian, filled with complex meaning: "That thing... is of the same Origin as the aura on your body. They sensed its fluctuations, which is why they..."

Liu Qingtian's tree soul trembled! Of the same Origin as the star key? Could there also be a fragment in this Cangmu World? Or... another key?

The Ancient Tree Spirit continued: "Ancient fellow traveler... I don't have much time left... I hid that thing deep within my tree heart; only a being with the 'Origin Key' aura can sense and retrieve it... Now, I entrust it to you... I only ask that you... if you can in the future, look after Qinglan's last Bloodline..."

Its phantom began to dim further, on the verge of dissipating.

"In return... I know of an... ancient ruin... that might lead outside this world... it's in... the deepest part of the... Barren Mountain Range... Burial Dragon Valley..."

As its voice faded, the Ancient Tree Spirit's phantom completely dissipated, turning into specks of green light that merged into the stump.

And at the center of that stump, a faint starlight slowly lit up, resonating strongly with the star key imprint in Liu Qingtian's tree soul!

Liu Qingtian's heart surged. Indeed, there was a fragment! And, there was a clue leading outside this world?

Sela, meanwhile, was immersed in the Ancient Tree Spirit's final words and entrustment, looking at Liu Qingtian with sorrow and bewilderment.

The situation seemed to have become complicated.