Chapter 397: Fated Situation Qing Yuzi Came Back to Life?

Thousand Illusions TreeStatus: Weakened StateRealm: Life-Death Dao Domain RealmAge: 895 EpochsRemaining Lifespan: 3 EpochsInnate Divine Ability: Eye of Thousand IllusionsInnate Divine Ability: Treant Puppet

"Only three epochs of life left?" Zhao Xing's heart sank as he entered the Origin Space.

The Thousand Illusions Tree was silent, its leaves somewhat withered. At its roots, a pale blue disc, about the size of a human palm, pulsed with light. It was the Water Origin Life Pact! Countless threads branched out from around the pact, spreading throughout the Thousand Illusions Tree's body.

"To resist the Water Spirit Realm, the Thousand Illusions Tree has fought with all its might, its origin constantly depleted, and then I kept it bound for a full 100 years. Only in this state could the Water Origin Life Pact succeed. Otherwise, it would have been truly difficult to deal with this old treant."

Even in its weakened state, the Thousand Illusions Tree had not dropped a realm; it remained in the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm, demonstrating the tenacious vitality of large tree-like beings. If it had been a plant-type like a flower or bamboo, after a century of torment from the Water Spirit Realm and falling victim to the Water Origin Life Pact, it would likely have dropped realms long ago.

"Thousand Illusions Tree, you are now under my control. Let's discuss terms," Zhao Xing said. He had transplanted the Thousand Illusions Tree into the Origin Space, but containing it was extremely strenuous. After all, as a plant in the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm, the Thousand Illusions Tree itself imposed a significant burden on him. The Water Origin Life Pact controlled the Thousand Illusions Tree by proxy, meaning Zhao Xing manipulated the Thousand Illusions Tree's body through the pact. However, this control was not absolute; Zhao Xing could not use the pact to make the Thousand Illusions Tree unleash its divine abilities. If a player were present, they would notice that the Water Origin Life Pact only allowed the Thousand Illusions Tree to use basic attacks, with its skills being completely unusable.

"What do you want to discuss?" The eyes on the Thousand Illusions Tree's trunk opened, revealing a human-like figure. Its eyes held intense hatred. The Thousand Illusions Tree hadn't expected to fall out of one cage and straight into another fire pit, and to be controlled by such a lowly human.

"Don't look at me like that," Zhao Xing said calmly. "You wanted to kill me, I want to control you. We're both just trying to survive. Survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle—you should understand that better than I do. Since things have come to this, there's no need to display such anger. It's a useless emotion. You'd do better to consider what I'm about to say."

The Thousand Illusions Tree calmed down. Powerless rage was indeed meaningless.

Zhao Xing began, "You help me, I help you. I'll provide you with life-sustaining nourishment, and you'll protect my path. I mean, when you're needed for combat, fight seriously." Considering the Thousand Illusions Tree's pride, Zhao Xing avoided words like 'enslave' or 'serve', opting for 'protect my path' instead.

"Protect my path for 500,000 years, and I will grant you freedom. 500,000 years, it's a short time for you, isn't it?"

"Too long," the Thousand Illusions Tree shook its head. "I have less than one epoch left to live—10,000 years. I will protect your path for 10,000 years."

"Still lying..." Zhao Xing chuckled inwardly. A Thousand Illusions Tree in the Life-Death Dao Domain Realm should be very clear about its own lifespan. It clearly had 3 epochs of life remaining, yet it claimed to have less than one.

"It seems you still don't know who I am," Zhao Xing said calmly.

"Who are you?" the Thousand Illusions Tree asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I am Emperor Qingyu! A mighty expert who has undergone a hundred reincarnations!" Zhao Xing's aura shifted, exuding a domineering presence that looked down on the world. "I once controlled a vast ancient kingdom, dominating the entire Profound Spirit Star Domain. I've conversed with countless Reincarnation Realm experts and even met ancient gods. This is now my 101st reincarnation."

The Thousand Illusions Tree's leaves trembled, as if it had heard the biggest joke. Reincarnation Realm, Emperor Qingyu? A hundred reincarnations? What a joke! Powerful beings who have undergone over a hundred reincarnations are usually peerless experts among the Reincarnation Realm, those with the hope of achieving godhood. The Thousand Illusions Tree had experience with cultivation scholars; it wasn't easily fooled.

"You don't believe me?" Zhao Xing said calmly. "I can tell at a glance that you've lived for 895 epochs, with three epochs of lifespan remaining."

The leaves stopped trembling.

"That Divine Fire Turtle outside has lived for 993 epochs, with 7 epochs of life remaining. Not all Divine Fire Turtles are necessarily so long-lived. The one in the Heavy Water River awakened the innate divine ability 'Thousand Epoch Turtle Origin'. You wanted to kill it to obtain its Turtle Origin and extend your lifespan, am I right?"

The Thousand Illusions Tree could no longer laugh. The eyes on its trunk widened, seemingly frozen in a daze. A single word to decide life and death, a single word to see through him and the old turtle—how could a mere Origin Realm expert achieve this?

"Emperor Qingyu... Could he really be a Reincarnation Realm expert?" The Thousand Illusions Tree began to believe. Its hatred for Zhao Xing wasn't as strong as before. For the strong, being captured by an Origin Realm expert was humiliation! But being captured by a Reincarnation Realm expert—that was an opportunity! If what Emperor Qingyu said was true, asking the Thousand Illusions Tree to protect his path would be an honor! If it truly put in effort, might it advance further in the future? Even if it didn't advance, extending its lifespan would still be good!

"Consider carefully," Zhao Xing said calmly. "Opportunities like this don't come around often." With that, Zhao Xing didn't wait for the Thousand Illusions Tree's reply. His mental projection vanished from the Origin Space.

"Whether it believes me or not, it's helpless now anyway," Zhao Xing opened his eyes. "If it doesn't believe, it doesn't matter. It can still be used as a combat force in the Yin-Yang Dao Domain Realm."

After tricking the Thousand Illusions Tree, Zhao Xing dispelled his Divine Turtle Transformation.

"Moonlit radiance illuminates all directions, the Grand Dao also has its bounds."

The Guest Expulsion Order reappeared, and Zhao Xing's figure vanished from the Shangluo Dao Academy.

Meanwhile, at the exploration base of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, on the Tianji Star Continent, within the magnificent Tianji Prefecture.

"King Tianji, you were originally 'Emperor Lunzhuan', an elder of my Dongyan Ancient Clan. 570,000 years before the 3rd Epoch of the Desolate Domain, one of our clan's strongholds was discovered by the Reincarnation Temple. To cover your clansmen, you voluntarily underwent reincarnation." A black-robed figure sat opposite King Tianji, his voice melodious, seemingly possessing a hypnotic quality.

"You... you are Dongyan Hai?" King Tianji frowned at the person before him. Indeed, some 'past memories' had surfaced in his mind.

"Precisely," Dongyan Hai nodded.

"Why have I only awakened my reincarnation memories now?" King Tianji asked.

"Because your Reincarnation Dao Weapon was shattered by someone from the Reincarnation Temple." Dongyan Hai swept his hand over the table, and a broken black spear appeared. "We only managed to retrieve a portion of your Dao Weapon fragments."

When the broken black spear appeared, the surrounding light seemed to distort. Its tip was like a black hole, devouring all light, including King Tianji's gaze.

"Oh..." King Tianji's expression changed, as he felt a shiver from his soul, as if this weapon was truly one he had used before. He subconsciously reached out.

*Clang!* The broken black spear landed in King Tianji's hand.

"It truly is my treasure—" King Tianji's eyes became unfocused.

"Elder, what do you need me to do?" King Tianji asked. A faint smile appeared on Dongyan Hai's lips. After two epochs of preparation, King Tianji, the renowned figure of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, had finally become 'one of them'.

"The Spirit Domain Grand Assembly will be held in the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom. At that time, the Yuanhai National Sovereign will host a banquet for the Heavenly Star Pavilion Master, King Taiyue, and other Reincarnation Realm experts from various ancient kingdoms. Then..." Dongyan Hai's voice became almost inaudible.

"Zhao Xing, you're out," Scholar Du Wen said, looking at Zhao Xing as he emerged from the cold pond area. "This time, it took a bit long."

"Yes, I encountered some trouble," Zhao Xing replied.

"You Yitian and Fan Qing have both emerged. It seems you've gained quite a lot," Du Wen chuckled.

"It's all thanks to the Prefecture Master, sir, and the exploration team's care," Zhao Xing said.

"Go on, the Prefecture Master is in the usual spot."

"Understood."

After Zhao Xing flew off, Fan Qing and You Yitian emerged from the Realm of Enlightenment.

"The Prefecture Master values Zhao Xing so highly?" You Yitian wondered. "The Prefecture Master is meeting an important guest." Freely entering and exiting the Prefecture Master's cultivation grounds—even ordinary guest elders didn't receive such treatment as Zhao Xing.

"His gains this time were substantial, so it's normal for the Prefecture Master to be polite," Fan Qing said. "It's truly enviable."

Subduing the Thousand Illusions Tree took a hundred years. It was now the year 1315 of the Early New Epoch. After emerging, Zhao Xing immediately went to Du Yun's reception hall. At that moment, besides Du Yun, there were two other people in the reception hall.

One of them wore very peculiar armor, covered in dense, countless vines—tens of thousands of them—clinging to his torso. His eyes glowed with a faint green light, and a single glance from him was enough to shake one's resolve. The other figure was entirely silver, with blurred features, like a mass of humanoid liquid metal seated on a chair. Zhao Xing could vaguely see meteors streaking through the liquid, while lightning and flames flickered at its shoulders and head, as if its body contained an entire galaxy. In comparison, Du Yun seemed normal; at least his expression looked human.

"The green-armored man on the left is Si Nong, a cultivator of the Yin-Yang Dao Domain Realm, affiliated with the Earth Branch. The figure on the right, whose information cannot be discerned, should be a mechanical clone."

"Greetings, Prefecture Master." In front of outsiders, Zhao Xing still addressed Du Yun as Prefecture Master.

"Zhao Xing, you've returned at a good time." Du Yun gestured to the silver liquid figure and introduced, "This is my Senior Brother Zhan Ze from the Origin Heavenly Palace. My senior brother excels at artifact forging. My Origin Divine Weapon, the Twilight Cloud Armor, was crafted by Senior Brother Zhan Ze's teacher, and Senior Brother Zhan Ze also participated."

"Du Yun, you flatter me," Zhan Ze waved a hand. "I merely assisted; I cannot create Origin Divine Weapons myself."

"Greetings, Senior Zhan Ze." Zhao Xing bowed.

"Hmm."

Du Yun then pointed to the green-armored man and introduced, "This is Huan Feng from the Hill of Primordial Antiquity; he is a close friend of mine."

"Greetings, Senior Huan Feng."

Huan Feng nodded slightly. Du Yun clearly had a very close relationship with these two. To invite them to the Dao Repository, sharing such a secret, indicated an extraordinary bond. However, Zhao Xing didn't understand why Du Yun had him meet these two, as if he had been specifically waiting for him.

"Zhao Xing, I've almost finished excavating the Dao Repository," Du Yun transmitted secretly. "It's roughly as estimated initially, about 15 trillion Scarlet Star Coins. The items are difficult to liquidate quickly, and I can't immediately give you 1.5 trillion Scarlet Star Coins. If you have other needs, that would be best. If you require money, you'll have to wait a while."

1.5 trillion Scarlet Star Coins could buy a low-grade Origin Divine Weapon! Du Yun didn't have that much money either. And selling the treasures excavated from the Dao Repository—those valuable items couldn't be liquidated immediately, unless their prices were lowered. Although Du Yun was powerful, he wouldn't hoard so much cash. Huan Feng from the Hill of Primordial Antiquity and Zhan Ze from the Origin Heavenly Palace were both invited by Du Yun to settle debts, as they owed him favors.

"While I cannot directly admit you to the Hill of Primordial Antiquity, I can arrange for Huan Feng to take you as a disciple. He is Si Nong, a cultivator of the Yin-Yang Dao Domain Realm, affiliated with the Earth Branch. If you are willing, he can take you immediately. Zhan Ze can custom-forge Dao Weapons for you. Whatever type you desire, he can generally create it."

Zhao Xing felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation upon hearing this. "Little Du isn't capable either; he can't even produce 1.5 trillion Scarlet Star Coins and has to use this method to settle debts?"

"Prefecture Master, I once purchased the first level of 'Extreme Land', but I haven't cultivated it successfully yet. I do wish to join the Hill of Primordial Antiquity, but not as a subordinate of a specific member." This concept is entirely different. Of course, Huan Feng is indeed excellent; if it were anyone else, they might consider this introduction a great benefit.

"I don't have much need for Dao Weapons at the moment," Zhao Xing transmitted. "However, I appreciate your trouble, Prefecture Master. I'm willing to wait a bit longer."

"Alright," Du Yun said, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "Then you should go rest for now. I'll inform you on another day."

"Understood."

After Zhao Xing left, Du Yun looked at his two friends and shook his head. "He doesn't have this need for now."

"Hahaha, Brother Du, I'm afraid this young man looks down on you," Huan Feng chuckled. "He probably thinks, 'You, a dignified Prefecture Master, can't even produce 1.5 trillion Scarlet Star Coins? That's all there is to it.'"

"Acquiring sudden wealth yet not spending it recklessly—he's quite a fortunate young fellow," Zhan Ze's face rippled.

"Little Du isn't quite up to par; he can't even produce this much money."

"How can I involve him in my future endeavors?" Leaving the reception hall, Zhao Xing grumbled inwardly. "It seems I can't involve Little Du in the next step; he can't handle it."

Ultimately, Du Yun was just a genius in the Great Divine Ability Realm. Zhao Xing had always treated him as if he were in the Yin-Yang Dao Domain Realm, but Little Du was still young, and his foundation wasn't deep enough. If another one or two epochs passed, when he reached the Dao Domain Realm, perhaps things would be better.

"Since Little Du is a genius, he's still developing himself. I won't involve him further, to avoid causing him trouble." Now that he had the Thousand Illusions