Chapter 1818: Outside That Borderland Is Jiuzhou (Happy National Day)

In the core world, Lu Ye watched as Su Yuqing and Chen Xuanhai slowly regained their senses, their terrifying soul power fluctuations gradually subsiding.

Chen Xuanhai turned to glance in Lu Ye's direction, his expression slightly complex, and said, "Junior Sister, I'll leave this to you."

Su Yuqing nodded.

Chen Xuanhai then flew up and left the realm.

Lu Ye glanced in the direction Chen Xuanhai had left, then walked over to Su Yuqing. After stopping in front of her, he asked, "What's the matter?"

Chen Xuanhai's gaze just now had seemed a bit strange.

Su Yuqing pondered for a moment, then extended a hand to Lu Ye and gently said, "Come."

Lu Ye placed his hand in her palm. The next instant, pure spiritual power enveloped him, and the two swept towards the nearest spirit peak.

A moment later, on the spirit peak, Su Yuqing produced two chairs, and they sat facing each other.

Lu Ye sensed that she likely had something very important to tell him; otherwise, she wouldn't be so solemn. However, as Su Yuqing hadn't yet spoken, he didn't wish to rush her and waited patiently.

After a good while, Su Yuqing finally spoke, "How much do you know about the Dao Tree lineage?"

Lu Ye shook his head. "I know nothing at all."

He had only heard this term from Old Fang, who hadn't elaborated much at the time. So, Lu Ye countered, "Do you know about it?"

When he had mentioned the Dao Tree lineage earlier, Su Yuqing's reaction was noticeably different, clearly indicating she had heard of it.

"I've heard something," Su Yuqing nodded. "In fact, there are records about the Dao Tree lineage in the Abyssal Pavilion."

Lu Ye was surprised. "Why didn't I see any?" The first time he entered Fangcun Mountain, he had spent several months in the Abyssal Pavilion, imprinting a vast amount of information about the starry sky to bring back to Kyushu, thereby filling the void in Kyushu's understanding of the cosmos.

Su Yuqing explained, "Some secrets in the Abyssal Pavilion are not accessible to outsiders."

Lu Ye understood. No wonder he hadn't encountered any records on the subject.

"Tell me about it," Lu Ye said, sitting up straight. He was genuinely curious about his own inheritance. He had previously inquired about it with Little Nine, but she couldn't provide many answers, only revealing that he wasn't the first to receive it; a few other Kyushu cultivators had acquired it before him, though none had managed to fully develop it.

Su Yuqing's voice began, "What I know comes from the records of my ancestors; I haven't witnessed any of it myself, so please just listen. Some things will require your own judgment."

Lu Ye nodded earnestly.

"The Dao Tree is an inheritance, and a very powerful one. There is only one successor in each generation. Its specific form should be as you described: when you look inward, there's a tree inside your body. It has been ten thousand years since the last successor of the Dao Tree lineage appeared. At that time, there was an extremely famous top-tier realm, also a human realm, which surpassed even today's Yellow Dragon Realm, truly deserving the title of humanity's dominant realm. Unfortunately... such a formidable realm was ultimately destroyed because of the Dao Tree lineage."

"Why?" Lu Ye frowned.

He didn't have a deep understanding of the Yellow Dragon Realm's true power, but having spent so many years in the Myriad Manifestation Sea, he had heard its name countless times. Currently, the Yellow Dragon Realm alone occupies a top-tier spiritual island in the Myriad Manifestation Sea.

The dominant human realm from ten thousand years ago was even more powerful than the Yellow Dragon Realm, yet such a realm was destroyed because of the Dao Tree lineage. This puzzled Lu Ye, who couldn't comprehend the causal relationship involved.

Su Yuqing explained, "That generation's Dao Tree successor was a cultivator from that top-tier realm. He rose from obscurity, gained fame throughout the starry sky, and his growth rate was terrifying. However, he committed acts that incited both divine and human wrath, provoking numerous forces. Not only did he become infamous, but even his home realm was implicated."

At this point, she gave Lu Ye a profound look. "With the Dao Tree lineage, there is nothing in the world that cannot be refined. Your exceptionally fast cultivation speed must be related to your inheritance, and you must surely know how much assistance this inheritance has provided in your growth."

Lu Ye nodded solemnly.

Without the Talent Tree, he could never have achieved what he had today.

"During your growth, have you ever used the power of the Dao Tree to refine living beings?" When she posed this question, Su Yuqing's expression was exceptionally serious.

Lu Ye decisively shook his head. "Never."

"Are you certain?"

"Certain!" Lu Ye confirmed with a nod.

Indeed, after the Talent Tree's first transformation, Lu Ye had realized this: if he could harness its power to refine spirit stones, he could just as easily refine the spiritual power within cultivators' bodies for his own use, or even assimilate their vital essence.

If he were to do so, every cultivator would effectively become a cultivable resource for him.

However, Lu Ye had never done this because he felt it was akin to cannibalism and found it psychologically unacceptable. Thus, despite having slain numerous enemies, even non-human ones, he had never refined them.

"That's good!" Su Yuqing let out a long breath, completely releasing her anxieties. She had genuinely feared that Lu Ye might have done something similar.

"Is there some hidden danger in doing so?" Seeing her change in demeanor, Lu Ye vaguely had a hunch.

Su Yuqing nodded. "There is a hidden danger, and a significant one. With the Dao Tree lineage, everything can be refined, yet there's one thing that cannot be refined, or rather, cannot be thoroughly refined!"

"What?" Lu Ye asked, utterly astonished. In all his cultivation, he had never encountered anything that couldn't be refined. Anything that could aid his growth seemed susceptible to it.

"The seven emotions and six desires!" Su Yuqing's red lips parted slightly. "Or, more precisely, the emotions of living beings with flesh and blood. Ten thousand years ago, that generation's Dao Tree successor wasn't particularly gifted; one might even say his talent was quite poor. However, he soon discovered a method to rapidly enhance his own aptitude: slaying enemies and then refining them. This process not only seemed to boost his strength but also improved his talent, as if the Dao Tree could strip others' aptitudes to strengthen his own. Relying on this method, his power grew steadily, and his talent became increasingly exceptional. Yet, the more living beings he refined, the more malevolent his nature became. Every enemy he killed was filled with various negative emotions before death, and these emotions, which the Dao Tree couldn't completely refine, simply accumulated within his body."

"Later, to further enhance his strength and talent, he secretly murdered many cultivators from powerful factions, even including successors from top-tier realms, as these individuals possessed extraordinary talent and significantly aided his growth. He strayed further and further down this wicked path, committing increasingly more massacres, ultimately losing himself and bringing catastrophic ruin to his home realm."

"After his deeds were exposed, countless powerful forces allied to besiege that realm. Countless Sun-Illumination stage powerhouses participated in the battle, leaving the realm's inhabitants in utter misery. Had the realm's mighty cultivators not prepared in advance by creating a mystical treasure to relocate the realm, it is feared that the entire realm would have been shattered in that conflict!"

"Hmm?" Lu Ye had been listening as if to a mere story from ten millennia past, feeling a quiet empathy and an internal warning about his ancestors' plight. But at this point, a strong sense of familiarity suddenly arose within him.

The powerful cultivators of a certain realm had prepared early, creating a mystical treasure that moved the entire realm away at a critical moment...

He quickly asked, "What was the name of the Dao Tree successor from ten thousand years ago? And which realm did he originate from?"

Su Yuqing pondered for a moment before saying, "That person was named Zhao Nian, and his home realm was called Kyushu!" At this point, she raised her hand and gripped Lu Ye's, looking at him earnestly. "Lu Ye, you must remember Zhao Nian's cautionary tale. With the Dao Tree, you possess a growth rate faster than anyone else. Under no circumstances should you covet temporary gains by refining living beings; it will only harm you, never benefit you."

Of course, Lu Ye wouldn't do such a thing; if he were inclined to, he would have done so long ago. For him, cultivation was straightforward: as long as his Talent Tree had sufficient fuel reserves, he simply needed to delve into the Myriad Manifestation Sea. Why would he resort to refining living beings?

Since he hadn't embarked on that wicked path in his early days, he certainly wouldn't do so now.

"I understand." Lu Ye nodded, then looked at Su Yuqing and said, "Yuqing, I need to tell you something."

"Tell me," Su Yuqing said, looking at him intently.

Lu Ye gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. "That realm outside, the one I came from, is Kyushu!"

Su Yuqing blinked her large eyes. "Isn't it Nine Heavens?"

She still remembered Lu Ye previously introducing himself as Lu Yiye from Nine Heavens...

"Nine Heavens is merely an external designation," Lu Ye explained. "A senior once instructed us never to mention 'Kyushu' when we're out in the world, which is why cultivators from our realm have always identified themselves as originating from Nine Heavens."

This matter was bound to be revealed to the Little Human Race eventually, because once Fangcun Mountain integrates in the future, they would sooner or later learn the truth about Kyushu.

And when facing Su Yuqing, Lu Ye had no intention of concealing it whatsoever.

Su Yuqing froze for a moment, then instantly realized. "Your Kyushu and Zhao Nian's Kyushu..."

Lu Ye nodded. "Unless I'm mistaken, it is the same Kyushu!"

When he first met Little Nine, she had used a method to show him the scene of the former Kyushu being besieged. At the time, he had no idea what egregious acts the former Kyushu had committed to provoke such a siege from so many powerful enemies. Unfortunately, Little Nine couldn't explain it to him, as her consciousness hadn't yet been born when the former Kyushu was attacked.

The reason Little Nine could show Lu Ye that scene was primarily because the earth-shattering battle had left an incredibly deep imprint on Kyushu's origin. Since Little Nine was a fusion of the Heavenly Mystery Disk's artifact spirit and Kyushu's origin, it naturally recreated the events through the origin itself.

Only now did he realize that the catastrophe of the former Kyushu originated with Zhao Nian. It was Zhao Nian who had chosen a wicked path, offending too many powerful forces, leading to their combined assault on the former Kyushu.

Every morning, I have to spend a considerable amount of time battling a cough... I'm unsure how long it will take to fully recover this time.

Happy National Day! By the way, please consider voting; it seems like there are double votes right now.

(End of this chapter)

No pop-up related