290: Chapter 290 Crossing the River and Destroying the Bridge

The area where the remains of the Wutong Divine Tree lay was a mess.

The Thousand-Layer Formation that once protected the Divine Tree and flowed with a thousand types of spiritual light was already shattered, with countless Formation Foundations broken and runes dimmed.

At the core of that ancient Divine Tree, a massive and shocking hollow remained. The Wutong Divine Tree Heart had been forcibly taken from here, and the remaining branches were losing their luster at a visible rate, heading toward complete withering.

As Bai Zuosi's space-piercing voice fell, the silent gates of Fengqi Palace slowly opened.

The members of the Four Great Families floating outside the palace looked through the open gates and saw the scene inside.

Ye Xinglan walked out.

Standing less than 1.5 meters tall, she wore wide deep-purple star-patterned Daoist robes. Petite and exquisite, her porcelain doll-like face was expressionless, with a trace of blood still lingering at the corner of her mouth.

In those deep purple eyes, fury rose, locking firmly onto the pale figure outside the palace gate.

Behind her were Gu Qingyao and... a floor full of corpses of female officials and maids dressed in palace attire.

Their faces were as pale as paper, their expressions frozen in pain and shock, their breath completely gone.

"Bai Zuosi! It's you!"

Ye Xinglan's voice was cold. "It's you! You killed them!"

Bai Zuosi shook his head slightly, a hint of regret appearing on his pale face as he said playfully:

"You're not even willing to call me Senior Brother."

"And those maids, you were the one who struck them. I merely... placed a small Medicinal Catalyst on them."

"A catalyst... that could briefly cause your Heavenly Secret Sensing to fail."

The three Old Ancestors, Dongfang Zhuo, Ximen Lin, and Ouyang Xuan, heard this and exchanged looks, understanding in their hearts.

It seemed what Beitang Hang said just now was true!

The State Preceptor's seemingly prophetic ability had completely failed, and she had even kept the palace gates tightly shut and done nothing while they were seizing the Tree Heart.

So silent and stealthy. At this moment, their wariness toward this mysterious Bai Zuosi reached its peak.

The three of them also had no time to delve into the meaning behind his "Junior Sister and Senior Brother" remark.

Bai Zuosi's gaze swept over the three, who had varying expressions, and said indifferently:

"Fellow Daoist Beitang, first deal with the matter of whether these three 'allies' stay or go. Lest they get in the way later."

Beitang Hang understood immediately, the corners of his mouth curling up. The pressure of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage pressed directly onto Dongfang Zhuo and the others.

He said coldly:

"You three, now that the world is changing and the Demon Tribulation is upon us, it is exactly the time to work together. My Beitang Family now has me, a Tribulation Transcendence Heavenly Venerable, presiding over it; our strength is no longer what it used to be. As long as you swear a Heavenly Dao oath to submit to my Beitang Family and be servants for generations, today's matter shall be settled."

In fact, if it weren't for Su Fengyi and concerns about Supreme Moonshadow's reaction, Beitang Hang would have wanted to kill them with a borrowed knife!

"Submit? Be servants?!"

Dongfang Zhuo was furious, his hair and beard bristling.

"Beitang Hang! You've gone too far! We have sworn a Heavenly Dao oath! You must not take action against us!"

Beitang Hang sneered.

"Heavenly Dao oath? Correct! The oath constrains me, Beitang Hang, from taking action against you. But it didn't say Fellow Daoist Bai couldn't deal with you. Did it?"

His eyes swept over the three sinisterly.

"Choose. Swear an oath of submission, or..."

The faces of Dongfang Zhuo and the others were as pale as paper, their eyes filled with humiliation and despair!

They, dignified Void Tempering Old Ancestors, were to swear an oath of servitude?!

But facing Beitang Hang's Tribulation Transcendence pressure and Bai Zuosi's threat...

"You!"

Dongfang Zhuo was enraged to the extreme...

Bai Zuosi raised a pale finger, and a bizarre power suddenly descended upon the three, locking them down firmly.

"I have a Gu insect..."

"No! We swear! We swear!"

Under the threat of death and a humiliation more terrifying than death, Dongfang Zhuo and the others had no other choice. They would rather live on with a humiliating oath than be controlled by that bizarre Gu insect and become Puppets without any autonomy.

Soon, the three Old Ancestors—Dongfang Zhuo, Ximen Lin, and Ouyang Xuan—along with all the high-level members of the three families behind them, swore by the Heavenly Dao to submit to the Beitang Family for generations.

The situation was settled, and Beitang Hang was smug and satisfied.

Bai Zuosi turned to Beitang Hang.

"Now that what I promised you is complete, can we begin?"

There was also a Heavenly Dao oath constraining the two of them.

Beitang Hang naturally agreed.

"Good! Supreme Moonshadow could arrive at any moment; let us break the Formation quickly!"

The two of them struck at the same time!

Dongfang Zhuo, Ximen Lin, and Ouyang Xuan, the three Old Ancestors who had just sworn the humiliating oath, did not dare to delay either. Suppressing their inner resentment, they followed suit and attacked.

Majestic spiritual energy and Dao laws converged into a destructive torrent!

Ye Xinglan, Gu Qingyao, and the remaining loyal female officials did their best to resist, using the last trace of power remaining in the Wutong Divine Tree.

However, the Wutong Tree, having lost its Tree Heart, was already like a candle in the wind. Briefly resisting the attack of one person at the Early Stage of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage would have been fine, but facing two in the Tribulation Transcendence Stage (Beitang Hang and Bai Zuosi) and three at Void Tempering Perfection (Dongfang Zhuo and the others), it was simply impossible to turn the tide.

The shockwave from the Formation shattering instantly sent Ye Xinglan and the others flying. Each spat out blood, their spiritual energy exhausted, and they collapsed on the ground.

Bai Zuosi walked straight to Ye Xinglan, who was slumped on the ground with a withered aura.

"Junior Sister, why be so stubborn?"

Bai Zuosi looked down at her from above, his face sickly as he said with pity:

"You have been struck by my Heavenly Secret Extinction Powder. This Heavenly Secret poison can only be neutralized and your life saved by practicing the Star Fate Co-Participation Art with me, where Yin and Yang converge and our destinies are linked."

Ye Xinglan looked up, her purple eyes filled with cold hatred.

"Using forbidden techniques of the Heavenly Secret Sect, using people as catalysts, and administering Heavenly Secret poison is a violation of natural laws. You are unworthy of being the Heavenly Secret Sect's Saint!"

The bit of fake gentleness on Bai Zuosi's face vanished instantly, and he smiled evilly:

"But besides you, Junior Sister, who would know?"

"Those who understand the times are wise. If I hadn't come to this Cangwu Prefecture on a whim and happened to meet you, Junior Sister, I wouldn't have known that you actually recultivated to Void Tempering as a cripple after being expelled from the Sect."

Bai Zuosi's eyes sparkled with greed as he said,

"According to ancient records, those with the Heaven-Peeking Profound Veins can assist a ruler of a nation and use that nation's Luck to cultivate. The cultivation speed is countless times faster! This is truly covetable!"

Ye Xinglan sneered,

"Back then, Revered Master was framed for colluding with the True Demon Realm and her soul perished. Your shadow was among those responsible. My cultivation being destroyed and being expelled from the Holy Land to wander here was also thanks to you! Don't even think about it!"

Seeing Ye Xinglan unmoved, Bai Zuosi lost his last bit of patience.

His desire for Dual Cultivation was real, but practicing the Star Fate Co-Participation Art was a lie. What Bai Zuosi wanted to do was seize Ye Xinglan's Physique Origin Foundation!

If it weren't for the fact that seizing the Physique Origin with the Heaven-Usurping Creation Art required the other half's voluntary cooperation at the start, he would have acted directly!

His voice turned cold.

"Junior Sister, this is your last chance. Come with me, or... watch your last Disciple and these loyal people suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering before your eyes."

Ye Xinglan's body trembled slightly.

She looked at Gu Qingyao, who was also heavily injured but still stubbornly shielding her, and at the few loyal female officials who were ready to die. She pursed her lips tightly, and a hand hidden in her sleeve quietly formed a hand seal.

In her mind, she recalled what Su Fengyi had said to her during a casual chat in the past.

"Xinglan, remember! If there ever comes a day when you encounter a life-and-death crisis and I am not there... do not hesitate. Use the last of the Wutong Divine Tree's power to take them and flee! Flee as far as possible! Better to save your life than let the Wutong Divine Tree fall into someone else's hands!"

Once this hand seal was activated, it would completely detonate the last bit of the Wutong Divine Tree's Origin, forcibly tearing through space to spirit her and the nearby Cultivators away.

The price was... this Divine Tree, which had supported the Wutong Divine Dynasty for thousands of years, would be completely reduced to ashes with no possibility of recovery.

This Wutong Divine Tree was the hope for the continuation of Fengyi's clan!!! If it were destroyed now, even if Fengyi could unite with that Supreme, it would still...

Ye Xinglan's fingertips pressed together slightly, a flash of pain and determination in her eyes.

"Revered Master! Revered Master! I've brought the Good Person Supreme to save you!!!"

A crisp voice suddenly came from the distant horizon.