558: Chapter 558 Ancient Tree of Life

[You were silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So, do they know they will die if they go in?"]

["They know."]

["Then why do they still go?"]

[Murong Changge glanced at you, his eyes filled with something inexplicable. "Because if they don't go, they die anyway."]

["Since no one has ever returned, how do you know that one can undergo tribulation and achieve Ascension in there?" you asked again.]

["Not returning doesn't necessarily mean they have fallen." Wuji Old Ancestor's tone was calm.]

[You were stunned.]

[Indeed, it is not difficult to confirm if a person has completely fallen.]

[Choosing the first path means watching them turn to ashes and vanish within the Heavenly Tribulation with your own eyes.]

[What about choosing the second path? At least... there is still a sliver of hope.]

[Wuji Old Ancestor suddenly changed the subject. "There is something I need to tell you."]

["Has something big happened again?"]

["No." He paused. "Liu Xuerong has entered the Chaos Sea."]

[Your heart sank.]

[You knew Liu Xuerong's thoughts better than anyone—with her current strength, as long as you hid in the Wuji Immortal Sect, she could not kill you.]

[She wasn't stupid; she knew attacking the Immortal Sect by force was useless, so she chose another path—the Chaos Sea.]

[There were opportunities there that could not be found in the outside world, opportunities that could allow her to take a step further.]

[You immediately made up your mind—you must also go to the Chaos Sea.]

[Otherwise, you would never be able to defeat her in this lifetime.]

[After the three of you exchanged a few more pleasantries, you each departed.]

[You returned to the true form of the immortal slaying sword, sat cross-legged, and continued to Cultivate the Ziyang Divine Art.]

[Year 115,]

[With the assistance of the xuantian treasure mirror, you finally cultivated the Ziyang Divine Art to Perfection.]

[You did not forget the words left by Venerable Ziyang—Beneath the Ziyang Palace lies my hidden legacy.]

[You set off immediately and arrived at the Ziyang Palace on Ziyang Star.]

[True Man Ziyang received you personally with the utmost respect, leading you all the way to the Ziyang Palace's Forbidden Ground—the Ziyang Hall.]

[The Ziyang Hall was as vast and empty as a wilderness.]

[Within the great hall, there was nothing: no pillars, no decorations, only four silent stone walls.]

["This is where the Ancestral Master's legacy is located," True Man Ziyang said in a low voice. "But for countless years, no one has known how to open it."]

[You nodded.]

[After reaching Perfection in the Ziyang Divine Art, you knew the method to open this hidden legacy.]

[You stood in the center of the hall and chanted silently—]

["Purple Qi comes from the east, the Yang opens the Heavenly Gate..."]

[Word by word, like a bell and a chime, the chant echoed through the empty hall.]

[Then, you flicked your finger.]

[Woom—!]

[A deep hum resonated from the depths of the Ziyang Hall, like a giant beast that had slept for ten thousand years opening its eyes.]

[Purple-gold light patterns emerged on the ground, intertwining and converging to form an ancient formation diagram.]

[Spiritual light shot up into the sky, swallowing you whole.]

[Your figure flickered and vanished.]

[True Man Ziyang stood where he was, looking at the spot where you had disappeared. His whole body couldn't stop trembling, and his eyes reddened. "Ancestral Master... someone is finally able to open it..."]

[At the same time, you found yourself within a hidden space.]

[All around was nothingness.]

[No sky, no earth, no light, no wind.]

[Only a single Jade Slip and a cloak hung in the center.]

[The cloak was entirely pitch-black, shimmering with a cold, dark light. Its material was unknown—like silk yet not silk, like armor yet not armor.]

[You swept your Divine Sense over it, but it was actually repelled—with your Body Integration cultivation, you couldn't even see through a cloak.]

[You frowned slightly and approached the Jade Slip.]

[Lines of characters were recorded on the Jade Slip, the strokes sharp and piercing through metal and stone:]

["I inherited my Revered Master's Dao and obtained the Immortal Slaying Sword Art and the Ziyang Divine Art..."]

["I cultivated for sixteen hundred years and finally reached the Mahayana Peak..."]

["Afterward, I traversed the three Realms and dominated an era, having no more rivals..."]

["However, my Revered Master's disappearance remained a knot in my heart..."]

["Revered Master once said: Ordinary methods of Undergoing Tribulation and Ascension leave no chance of survival. Only by entering the Chaos Sea can there be a sliver of hope..."]

["I searched the three Realms for thousands of years, traversing the Demon Domain, Devil Realm, and Immortal Realm. Wherever living beings reached, I found nothing..."]

["Now I shall enter the Chaos Sea; my fate is uncertain. I leave this legacy to await a fated one..."]

["This cloak is called the chaos cloak. It was a gift from my Revered Master. Below the Mahayana Realm, one can enter the Chaos Sea with this cloak..."]

["If a successor arrives here, know this—the Ziyang Lineage's Dao has not ended, and its people have not perished..."]

[You put away the Jade Slip, your gaze falling upon that cloak.]

[After a long silence, you beckoned with a hand—]

[The cloak trembled slightly and landed silently on your shoulders. Then, it slowly merged into your skin, becoming one with your flesh and blood.]

[You looked down and could see nothing, yet you could clearly perceive that beneath your skin, there was an extra thin layer, like a second skin, like an invisible shield.]

[You felt curious—]

[You wondered if it was because your strength was increasing that the term 'Chaos Sea' appeared with higher frequency.]

[Wuji Old Ancestor wanted to go, Venerable Ziyang wanted to go, and countless Mahayana Cultivators in the Immortal Realm wanted to go.]

[It was as if after reaching a certain Realm, the Chaos Sea became an unavoidable knot.]

[It wasn't that they wanted to go.]

[It was that something was guiding them to go.]

[In the shadows of destiny, it was as if a hand was pushing everyone who reached the Peak toward that direction.]

[You vaguely felt that deep within the Chaos Sea, something was hidden.]

[A monumental secret was hidden there.]

[Without thinking further, you immediately left Ziyang Star and returned to the Immortal Sect. You found Yu Tiankuo and the Yu Siblings, and the three of you set off together for their ancestral lands.]

[Year 116,]

[You followed the three of them to the ancestral lands of the Elf Race.]

[The moment you stepped out of the Great Teleportation Array, you were stunned for a moment.]

[Before your eyes was a boundless primordial forest. Ancient trees reached for the heavens, vines hung down, and branches and leaves blotted out the sky and the sun.]

[You spread out your Divine Sense for millions of miles—it was actually all a primordial forest.]

[Scattered members of the Elf Race resided within every large tree. They carved windows into the trunks, built bridges between the branches, and lit lamps in the tree hollows.]

[But you soon discovered that the ground beneath your feet was not a city, nor was it a continent.]

[It was a single leaf.]

[You looked up.]

[The sky was filled with leaves, each one floating in the Void Realm, rotating slowly like stars.]

[They shimmered with an emerald green light. The veins of the leaves were like mountain ridges, and their patterns like rivers, layering over each other until they covered the entire firmament.]

[The leaves were connected to branches, which were unimaginably thick, traversing the Void Realm like coiling giant Dragons, winding and stretching beyond the horizon.]

[The branches in turn were connected to the trunk, which shot up into the sky, piercing straight into the depths of the starry sky.]

[You tilted your head back, but at the edge of your vision, there was still the trunk, with no top and no end in sight.]

[This is the Ancient Tree of Life.]

[It is said to be nine light-years tall.]