Chapter 1410: Found the Star Empress

After his Seed of Life was forcibly taken, he should have fallen into a state of absolute, death-like stillness. To put it plainly, the Seed of Life is the source of this ancient tree's life, its true soul. How could an ancient tree without a soul actively release energy fluctuations with a spiritual nature towards Xu Yang?

The reason Xu Yang hadn't discovered this critical logical error earlier was that he had been focusing more on the appearance of the moon's outline. Consequently, he hadn't overly concerned himself with the motive behind the spiritual energy's appearance.

Now, reflecting carefully, the ancient tree itself had undeniably revealed a fatal flaw. Given Xu Yang's intelligence, he quickly grasped the truth hidden behind this error. That truth was that the ancient tree's physical form must be the true location of the Star Empress's seclusion. The spiritual energy itself was also a tactic employed by the Star Empress to confuse Xu Yang's judgment. Her original intention was likely to make Xu Yang focus more on obtaining the moonlight lineage's inheritance, thereby completely diverting his investigation.

Unfortunately, the Star Empress hadn't anticipated how difficult Xu Yang would be to deceive, especially with Xiao Hua's absolute support. Xu Yang would never make such a basic error. Having identified the root cause of the problem, all difficulties would now unravel effortlessly, posing no further obstacle to him.

"I'm genuinely curious to see where else you can hide this time."

Xu Yang sneered. Transforming into a streak of light, he immediately returned with Xiao Hua to the ancient tree's location. Lord Long Kun was nowhere to be found, and only the ancient tree stood calmly in place.

"So it's this tree. It's hard to imagine such a seemingly fragile form harboring such an incredible origin. If the Seed of Life is indeed within this ancient tree, merging with the Star Empress's power, then this location will undoubtedly be the primary battlefield."

After speaking, Xiao Hua instinctively moved to approach the tree's periphery. However, at a distance of about several tens of meters, her path was suddenly blocked by an invisible wave of light.

"Come back. In your current state, it's impossible to break through this barrier of light. This is precisely what makes the Star Empress truly formidable."

Hearing Xu Yang's words, Xiao Hua immediately relaxed and moved behind him, waiting for him to make his move. Xu Yang didn't hesitate further. His brows furrowed momentarily, as if he intended to discern the precise nature of the energy halo condensed around the ancient tree. Then, Xu Yang suddenly waved his palm, and an incredibly luminous sword gleam shot forth from behind him.

This sword gleam did not possess immense destructive power; it was merely Xu Yang's initial probe to test the specific strength of the opponent's protective halo. However, the immediate feedback surprised both Xu Yang and Xiao Hua. This seemingly unremarkable light-blue halo possessed the unexpected ability to isolate space. This meant the Star Empress's actual combat prowess was likely a tier higher than Xu Yang's current assessment and evaluation of her power level.

"Someone who no longer possesses a complete physical body is not qualified to enter the Ancient Tree of Life and confront my power. Don't let your beloved woman take this risk; come in alone. Currently, you are probably the only one on the entire Yingzhou Continent qualified to face me in a one-on-one duel. Don't you wish to stop me from acquiring the full power of the Seed of Life? Then enter the interior of this ancient tree with your most formidable stance. We will fight to the death in a truly unique new space. It would be best if you could unleash your greatest power, because should you fail in this battle, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Xu Yang had already deciphered the Star Empress's words. The "consequences" she referred to clearly meant harm to the ancient tree itself. According to Xu Yang's judgment, even in the current era, a significant portion of the life essence on the Yingzhou Continent originated from this ancient tree, nurtured in conjunction with the Seed of Life. If Xu Yang failed to secure victory in this battle, he would be forced to watch the Star Empress seize the most vital condensed life-force product of the Yingzhou Continent and, indeed, of the entire Greater World civilization system.

The cold expression on Xu Yang's face seemed to reach an extreme. At this point, he could no longer maintain a perfectly unperturbed mindset when confronting the situation. Xu Yang immediately adopted an unprecedentedly serious demeanor, unhesitatingly transforming himself into the outline of the divine artifact Tu Tian. Then, with the formidable posture of shattering all seals and obstacles, he entered the energy barrier surrounding the ancient tree. In a mere instant, the physical form of Tu Tian vanished, and Xu Yang, shielded by this transformation, finally entered the ancient tree's interior.

The scene that unfolded before him was exactly as the spiritual energy from within the ancient tree had guided him. For the very first time on the Yingzhou Continent, and indeed within the entire Greater World system, Xu Yang beheld the complete outline of the moon.

Shortly thereafter, the Star Empress's soul totem reappeared in its complete form, perfectly reflected by the brilliant moonlight. It materialized directly in the center of Xu Yang's vision, as if she were a hostess scrutinizing him.

"Haven't you always wanted to know the true entrance to Wuyue Tian? I can tell you now, with certainty, that this vast lunar outline behind me is the entrance to Wuyue Tian. In other words, this ancient tree originally served as the nexus connecting the world of the Yingzhou Continent with Wuyue Tian—the mysterious realm where the Sword Immortal resides—or what the Yingzhou Continent refers to as the Divine Realm. Only once I completely devour the Seed of Life and evolve, fully expelling the life force that has been permeated by the Yingzhou Continent from my being, and reappear as a higher-level life form, will I be qualified to open the true entrance to Wuyue Tian. My objective is to become the strongest in this world, then, as a representative of the extraterrestrial star civilization, to slay the Yingzhou Continent's Creator God, Sword Immortal Yun Wangji, and thereby claim the Yingzhou Continent's civilization. I will then establish my own era on the vanished Moon Star."

Without a doubt, the Star Empress before him—who was also the Fourth Prince's birth mother—had now identified Xu Yang as her greatest adversary. Otherwise, she would never have directly revealed to Xu Yang the ultimate purpose behind all her actions. This implied that their ensuing confrontation would inevitably be a battle to the death.

"So that's how it is. The entrance to Wuyue Tian was hidden here. Your motives for wanting to acquire the Seed of Life's energy couldn't be clearer now. One more question remains: by what means did you gain control over the entire ghostly army?"