Chapter 2660: Nightmare

After about half an hour, the void where Lu Ye was located was filled with spatial threads. He was covered in blood, completely naked, and even his Panshuan Blade had been put away into his small flower realm. It wasn't that he wanted to be naked; rather, he couldn't resist the incoming spatial threads, which had already cut his clothes to shreds. Fortunately, he was alone here, and no one would see anything.

The spatial power in each wound was rapidly refined and absorbed, allowing the wounds to heal quickly. Such flesh wounds could recover in the blink of an eye, provided there was no external interference. This situation continued unabated. Inside his Origin Spirit Aperture, the spatial Dao Seed became increasingly stable. It could be said that in this short period, Lu Ye had advanced further than other Phoenix Clan external officials would in many years.

One day, two days, three days... Then, all those numerous spatial threads suddenly vanished. Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, guessing he must have passed the second stage. He was somewhat looking forward to what the third stage would be like. It was evident from previous comparisons that cultivating the spatial Dao Seed here meant the spatial power exerted on his body would become increasingly stronger. If his refining speed couldn't keep up, he would inevitably be unable to continue.

Lu Ye felt he had no problems; the talent tree's refining speed was very fast, and this second stage was already somewhat insufficient for his needs. A few breaths later, a transparent blade suddenly appeared out of thin air. It resembled a transparent, hiltless short dagger, about a finger in length, and upon appearing, it swiftly attacked Lu Ye! A Spatial Blade! Lu Ye stood still and endured the blow.

As blood splattered and his flesh rolled open, Lu Ye's body trembled slightly. This blow was much more violent than the spatial threads from the second stage, and upon careful perception, the spatial power that infiltrated the wound was also much denser and purer. It seemed that this Spatial Blade was the challenge for the third stage. He continued to activate the talent tree's power, rapidly refining the residual spatial power within his flesh and strengthening his own Dao Seed.

In an unknown place, a large hand slowly reached out and scattered a seed. The seed immediately sprouted a tender shoot, and in the blink of an eye, transformed into a small sapling. The sapling grew rapidly, soon becoming a towering tree. That towering tree was none other than the Primordial Parasol Tree, though its size was far inferior to the current Phoenix Nest. Consciousness was born with it. The Primordial Parasol Tree could vaguely sense several figures standing before it: a dignified man surrounded by many graceful women.

"Wait here, and pass down the Phoenix clan's bloodline in this universe," a voice commanded. The Primordial Parasol Tree felt streams of Phoenix origin power being injected into its body.

"This universe has become distorted. One day, a person will appear to set things right. That person will also come before you, and you must do everything in your power to assist him."

"The power of erosion will be strong. You must fall into slumber to resist that erosion, maintain your true self, and avoid being enslaved by that power."

"That day will come!"

That voice was familiar yet vague. The era was too distant, so distant that it could no longer clearly remember. It had, however, remembered the voice's original instructions and had always used slumber to resist the erosion of that power. It had worked, but in recent years, its resistance had become increasingly difficult because the power of erosion had grown stronger, and its consciousness had become increasingly vague. In its nightmares, countless terrifying moments occurred.

It did not know how long it would have to wait, nor did it know exactly who it was waiting for, or if that person would ever appear before it. It only knew that it could not last much longer; perhaps in ten thousand or twenty thousand years, it would eventually be eroded by that power and subsequently enslaved. Nightmares assaulted it again, and it resisted desperately, but to no avail.

Beside the Primordial Parasol Tree, the void vibrated continuously, and Phoenix Clan figures flew out from their respective Phoenix Nests, their expressions stern. The Phoenix Lord looked at the Primordial Parasol Tree, which was violently swaying as if trying to break free from some predicament. She quickly raised her hand, formed a hand seal, and softly commanded, "Elder Tree, awaken!"

Everyone believed that the Phoenix Nest, by occupying the supreme treasure of the Primordial Parasol Tree, held all geographical advantages and would never face destruction. However, only the Phoenix Clan themselves knew their true suffering. Starting many tens of thousands of years ago, the Primordial Parasol Tree seemed to have gone awry. While in slumber, it would occasionally experience nightmares that then manifested in reality. Just as now, its movements were not trivial; all Phoenix Nests would be affected.

"The last time was eight hundred years ago, wasn't it?" an elder asked, worried.

"It's becoming more frequent," another elder replied.

"Clan Leader, have you asked Elder Tree what exactly happened?" a third elder asked, looking at the Phoenix Lord.

The Phoenix Lord shook her head. "I have asked, but Elder Tree has not told us." This was her greatest puzzle. The Phoenix Clan and the Primordial Parasol Tree shared a common fate—if one suffered, both suffered; if one prospered, both prospered. Therefore, she didn't understand why Elder Tree was so secretive about this matter, never revealing a hint. When this situation first appeared, the Phoenix Lord only needed to call out softly, and Elder Tree would awaken and break free from the predicament. But now, that was no longer effective. The Phoenix Lord called out several times, but the Primordial Parasol Tree showed no reaction.

She suddenly glanced toward Su Yan in that direction, and her expression changed. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. Inside the Phoenix Nest, there wasn't just the Phoenix Clan now; there was also an external official and the Dragon Clan!

In front of the tree hollow, Su Yan was also filled with anxiety. She hadn't expected Elder Tree to have an issue at this moment, which worried her greatly for Lu Ye, who had entered the tree hollow. Since many Phoenix Nests had already been affected, the tree hollow would surely be impacted too, and Lu Ye might not be able to cope. Yet, even if she wanted to go in and bring Lu Ye out, she couldn't, because anyone entering through this tree hollow would enter an independent space.

At this moment, Lu Ye's expression was stern because he noticed that the surrounding Spatial Blades had suddenly become much more violent. If the previous trials had been progressive, then from that moment on, the difficulty had suddenly increased. Fortunately, his Dao Seed was now stable and the talent tree's power was strong; otherwise, he truly might not have been able to cope. However, even so, he was struggling a bit to cope.

Furthermore, he also faced another problem: the accumulation of insights into the Dao of Space was already close to exceeding his own limit. He had originally planned to withdraw after a while, slowly digest the accumulated insights, and then return to continue tempering his Dao Seed. But now, he had to do it sooner. With that thought, he prepared to withdraw.

However, as he prepared to do so, he was surprised to find that the gateway which had always stood behind him had disappeared without him noticing when. He was stunned. He had been so focused on tempering his Dao Seed that he hadn't noticed when the gateway disappeared. A problem arose: the gateway was gone, so how was he going to get out? Su Yan hadn't told him about this. Lu Ye vaguely felt that something had likely happened to the Primordial Parasol Tree; otherwise, things wouldn't be like this. While desperately dealing with the numerous Spatial Blades attacking from all directions, he quickly pondered a countermeasure. The most urgent task was still to leave this place quickly.

Before he could think of a solution, another unexpected change occurred. The void he was in rapidly twisted and then shattered, releasing an extremely dense surge of spatial power. Lu Ye was greatly alarmed. He fully activated the talent tree's power to refine the pure spatial energy, but even so, it was somewhat too late. It felt as though someone had pried open his mouth and was forcibly pouring things into his stomach; the talent tree's refining speed simply couldn't keep up. At this moment, he was certain that something had gone wrong with the Primordial Parasol Tree.

It was also at this moment that he suddenly noticed the void he was in had multiple overlaps, as if many similar voids were overlaying each other. Then he saw a naked figure suddenly appear not far in front of him. Lu Ye blinked, a bit disbelieving. Primarily, this figure was clearly a woman, her skin dazzlingly white, and even her beautiful hair was like snow cascading like a waterfall.

When Lu Ye noticed her, she also saw him. Their eyes met, and the same thought arose in both their minds: *Is this a Phoenix Clan member?* They were probably both cultivating, and somehow, the Primordial Parasol Tree had caused their respective voids to overlap, which was why they had suddenly encountered each other. Immediately, both their expressions changed, and they simultaneously surged their vital energy to cover themselves. Lu Ye almost forgot that he was also naked, just like the other person; his clothes had been torn apart during his previous cultivation. This was a bit awkward. He hoped the other person wasn't an elder of Su Yan or a similar relation... But then again, the Phoenix Clan's inheritance model didn't seem to have any distinction between bloodline elders and juniors.

As he thought this, the entire void twisted, and Lu Ye suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness, as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss. His first reaction was to move closer to the white-haired woman. No matter what the situation was, the white-haired woman, being from the Phoenix Clan, surely knew something about it, so joining up with her was definitely the right choice. What made him feel fortunate was that the other party clearly had the same idea.

Two masses of vital energy quickly approached each other, but the surrounding spatial power was also distorting with the void, making this approach seem extremely unreal. Compared to before, Lu Ye had greatly improved his mastery of the Dao of Space. He immediately judged that at this rate, they couldn't truly get close; what seemed like inches away was actually a vast distance. Visually, they might appear very close, but in reality, they were far apart. His expression turned stern as power surged from his Dao Seed, immediately weakening the spatial interference around them significantly.

On the other side, the white-haired woman also clearly had a profound understanding of spatial mysteries, and using some unknown method, she too broke through a trace of spatial interference. The two masses of vital energy finally converged. Lu Ye glanced, meeting the other's gaze through the distortion. Then his body was flung about, completely uncontrollably, as he continued to fall towards the bottomless abyss. He quickly extended a hand towards the other person.