Chapter 1234: Life and Death Are Uncertain

"Being of the same race certainly comes in handy," Lin Ling remarked. "I never expected it to agree on the spot just from a casual mention."

"What?" Wang Xuanba's expression shifted upon hearing Lin Ling's answer. "Ally with that old thing? Are you serious, Junior Sister?"

The Ancient Leyline Tree, initially defiant then submissive, genuinely made Wang Xuanba feel a sense of disdain.

"It was merely a trick to deceive it," Lin Ling said, her tone flat, yet the profound indifference in her words was undeniable. "An alliance? As if it's worthy!"

"Now that it has joined the Sacred Dynasty, how could it possibly go back on its word? If it dares to bring that up in front of me..." Lin Ling snorted coldly.

Wang Xuanba was stunned. He typically valued promises and found Lin Ling's blatant breaking of her word difficult to accept.

Seeing his reaction, Lin Ling's expression softened, and she smiled. "Senior Brother, all's fair in warfare. When dealing with enemies, always keeping one's word and seeing things through would be foolish, wouldn't it?"

Wang Xuanba had no reply.

"Besides," Lin Ling continued, "do you remember Master's instructions before we went to see the Ancient Leyline Tree, Senior Brother?"

"Of course, I do. Master said that if the ancient tree was stubborn and incorrigible, Junior Sister could replace it," Wang Xuanba recalled.

"The Ancient Leyline Tree has quite an imposing name. I had some expectations, but after seeing its actual appearance, all that's left is disappointment," Lin Ling's answer surprised Wang Xuanba. "It's weak, too weak. The Ancient Leyline Tree's greatest strength is its fusion with the Xuanhuang ley lines, allowing it to draw upon the power of ley line currents throughout Xuanhuang. This is both a characteristic and an advantage, but it also determines the tree's limits. Moreover, the Ancient Leyline Tree's body is too massive; in the eyes of true experts, it's riddled with flaws." Lin Ling shook her head slightly.

"My dream is to become someone like Master. If I were to truly become that Leyline Tree, while my strength would certainly soar in the short term, my future would be completely cut off. I'm not stupid. I'll just fool that old thing into continuing its duty." Lin Ling rolled her eyes at Wang Xuanba. "Senior Brother, what kind of person do you take me for?"

Wang Xuanba gradually understood, awkwardly rubbing his head. He immediately apologized, "I underestimated you, Junior Sister."

He turned to look at the Ancient Leyline Tree within the Sacred Emperor's throne, nodding in agreement. "Ancient Xuanhuang artifacts are indeed powerful, but they merely borrow power from the laws of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. If the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao thrives, their power naturally rises with the tide. But if, like today, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao is trampled underfoot by someone like the Transmitter of Laws, they can only struggle to survive, hiding in dark corners to reminisce about past glory."

"I didn't realize you were quite the scholar, Senior Brother. You have a way with words," Lin Ling said, though it was unclear if it was genuine praise or a small, sarcastic jab. "I hadn't thought that much; I just simply want to become stronger."

"Enough talk, I'm going to cultivate. Consuming some of that old thing's body this time has certainly yielded some benefits. I should have been a bit more ruthless and consumed more," Lin Ling's regretful voice echoed in Wang Xuanba's ears. A moment later, her figure gradually faded, and her aura vanished.

Wang Xuanba chuckled wryly, mocking himself for overthinking.

***

In Tianyu Province of the Xuanhuang Realm, there lies a famous wondrous sight known to the Immortal Alliance. A hundreds-of-miles-long fissure snakes across the land, resembling a black scar. Even before getting close, one could vaguely feel the endless chill emanating from within the fissure. The closer one approached, the more rapidly the temperature plummeted. Even Core Formation cultivators found it difficult to endure the low temperatures for long, unable to linger.

From the depths of the fissure, ethereal blue light would occasionally erupt—icy cold qi. Yet, if one stood beside the fissure and looked down, they would see countless lotuses made of fire blooming within this icy abyss. These were not cold flames but truly blazing fiery lotuses. Cold and heat, completely contradictory, yet intertwined, were strikingly present simultaneously within this frozen chasm.

The Faceless Sacred Emperor of Daqi, Li Ping, suddenly appeared outside this Ice Abyss Fire Lotus spectacle. Like the countless tourists who visited the place, he stood quietly, gazing downwards.

"Infused with spiritual energy, a marvel of creation," Li Ping exclaimed in his heart after a long while.

In his eyes, the scene here was actually different from what ordinary cultivators saw. The blue ice abyss, in reality, revealed a profound aura of death—pitch black and suffocating. The blazing red fiery lotuses, however, were pure white, emitting a vibrant life energy. What appeared to be a convergence of cold and heat was, in fact…

"Black Abyss, White Flowers; Abyss of Death, Flowers of Life."

Li Ping stepped forward, his foot finding nothing but air, and he plummeted rapidly into the black abyss. His disappearance, however, went unnoticed by the surrounding cultivators.

From Li Ping's perspective, the surrounding scenery abruptly stretched and distorted. Though the white flowers of life seemed not far away, Li Ping had been falling for a long time yet had not gotten any closer to them. The entire Black Abyss space expanded and extended infinitely as Li Ping fell, bringing with it a correspondingly increasing density of death qi.

Feeling the surrounding death qi attempting to corrupt him, Li Ping sneered inwardly but did not pay it much mind. An ordinary cultivator, even one in the Dao Integration realm, would find their lifespan drastically reduced under the influence of this black death qi. But Li Ping was an incarnation of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, a part of the Xuanhuang laws; even a rogue part, how could it possibly harm him?

Since forcibly devouring the Xuanhuang malevolent thoughts, Li Ping had indeed felt that the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao seemed to have grown somewhat distant. However, Li Ping was confident that this was merely the Heavenly Dao's instinctive reaction after the malevolent thoughts were consumed. After some time passed, his bond with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao would eventually return to normal. Though this was currently a vulnerable period in their relationship, it was not something the death qi of this place could affect.

As expected, even without taking any protective measures, Sacred Emperor Li Ping remained invulnerable to all methods; the black death qi merely swirled around him in layers, unable to find an entry point. Li Ping's gaze pierced through the dense death qi, looking directly at the myriad flowers of life below.

"The boundary between life and death, the source of all spirits. The Xuanhuang Realm has become like this, merely hiding in this secret place, barely clinging to existence… What use are you to me!" A murderous aura suddenly erupted from Li Ping, forcibly pushing back the death qi around him.

"Withdraw, by my decree!" Li Ping low-growled, and the layers of death qi beneath him actually split open, forming a passage. The space stopped extending, and Li Ping drifted forward, passing through it in an instant.

A dense vital energy assailed him, and the white flowers of life were now within reach. Dark shadows of death still floated and lingered persistently overhead.

Facing the dense vital energy, a hint of solemnity suddenly arose in Li Ping's heart. Compared to pure death qi, a large amount of excess vital energy was more like a deadly poison. This was because vital energy, in essence, was a beneficial state. As an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, Li Ping naturally enjoyed such favor from heaven and earth. It was unknown how many years it had been since a cultivator not rejected by heaven and earth had come here.

The life force accumulated over thousands of years beside the Black Abyss White Flowers now seemed to have finally found an outlet, rushing madly towards Li Ping. Despite his conscious resistance, he could not withstand the overwhelming abundance of life force here. A small amount inevitably flowed into Li Ping's body.

Vital energy certainly brought some benefits. However, Li Ping was not a Longevity realm cultivator who relied purely on his own cultivation. The essence of origin power, the Sacred Dynasty's luck, the Heavenly Dao's blessings… It was the combination of these various forces that had forged his current strength, comparable to the Longevity realm. Li Ping's state had already reached a balance after his promotion. Now, this balance was slowly being disrupted by the continuous influx of endless vital energy.

Li Ping's hair grew wildly as if alive. In an instant, it had reached his ankles. His body also expanded synchronously. One meter, two meters... With his bones creaking, Li Ping transformed into a 10-meter giant in just a few breaths. This indeed made him appear more imposing, but for Li Ping in his current state, it was not a good thing.

He frowned slightly, trying his best to transform and absorb the surging vital energy. But the speed of shrinking was far outpaced by the speed of growing. While maintaining the balance of various powers within his body, Li Ping observed his surroundings, searching for a way to enter Ruomu's hiding place.

After devouring the Xuanhuang malevolent thoughts, there was very little in the Xuanhuang Realm that could escape his notice. Even if some of the malevolent thoughts' memories were blurry and unclear, as long as he saw it with his own eyes, he would quickly re-sense it. With a flicker of his figure, Sacred Emperor Li Ping disappeared from the bottom of the Black Abyss.

Deprived of a target for infusion, the vital energy suddenly became somewhat disoriented. The white flowers swayed gently, forced to draw the life force back in.

***

Li Ping's nearly 17-meter-tall body suddenly appeared in a world filled with an eerie aura, like faded, withered yellow leaves. The boundless vitality he carried surged from his body and spread outwards. Yet, in this peculiar environment, it seemed utterly unable to propagate. Soon, like autumn leaves falling, it transformed into withered yellow entities, drifting down from the air.

Having found a means to vent the unwanted vital energy, Li Ping gradually expelled the culprit that caused the imbalance from his body. His body slowly shrank. However, due to the brief period before, the balance within his body had already changed. When Li Ping returned to normal, some physical details did not revert; instead, they became a part of his new physical characteristics. For example, his height remained at 11 meters, and his ink-black hair reached his waist. His physique also became more robust, and explosive power was contained beneath his golden robes.

Li Ping did not particularly mind these changes. They were merely external appearances; he could revert to his original form whenever he wished. His attention was now focused on this peculiar place. The pervasive scent of decay here made even him feel somewhat uncomfortable. What concerned him more was the center of this place.

A towering tree, withered yellow all over and covered in spots, stood silently. Li Ping, an 11-meter giant, was like an ant at the foot of the colossal tree. Densely packed on the withered yellow branches, countless cultivators hung like fruits on a tree. They all had their eyes closed, their faces displaying strange, satisfied expressions.

Li Ping's gaze swept over the area; apart from this withered ancient tree, he found no other figures. "Only the main body is here, then..." Li Ping knew that Ruomu had an avatar that often went out to lure cultivators here, turning them into Core Formation fruits to vent its inner resentment. He presumed the avatar was currently out.

Li Ping was not in a hurry and continued to carefully observe this space. On the towering trunk, some deep etchings were faintly visible, as if it had suffered some fatal injury. Li Ping narrowed his eyes, attempting to awaken the connection between this creature of heaven and earth and the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. But perhaps because of the blight of decay, Li Ping's call received no response whatsoever. Instead, it triggered the ancient tree's spontaneous defense. Specks of withered yellow, following the tree's veins, began to erode the ground beneath Li Ping's feet.

Li Ping intentionally dropped his guard and absorbed a trace of the withered yellow into his body. He enveloped it with the essence of origin power to prevent its spread, then observed it closely. Although the power of decay was insidious, it could not break through the seal of the essence of origin power. From this withered power, Li Ping not only felt ordinary aging but also sensed the decline of the entire world. It was as if the sky was about to collapse, revealing an irreversible decline and hopelessness.

"This is...""The world is heading towards ruin."

Countless images flashed through his mind—scenes from various provinces of the Xuanhuang Realm where countless calamities had befallen due to the decline of heaven and earth. Yet, Li Ping knew that in reality, these provinces of the Xuanhuang Realm had not experienced these supposed events.

"Ruomu is the source of all spirits in the Xuanhuang Realm; to a certain extent, it does reflect the state of vitality in the Xuanhuang Realm.""Ruomu has become like this now, but the Xuanhuang Realm still appears vibrant and full of life..." Li Ping frowned slightly.

Soon, he knew the answer. "If there had been no injection of external life force, the Xuanhuang Realm would certainly have decayed synchronously with Ruomu.""The source of this life force is...""Fragments of other swallowed cultivation worlds.""Although they were dismembered, during the integration process, the last vestiges of life force were extracted from those cultivation world fragments.""Xuanhuang also gained new life as a result..." Li Ping pondered aloud. "This operation was indeed incredibly intricate."

As an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, and nominally a victim, he couldn't help but express heartfelt admiration after realizing what had truly happened over these past millennia.

"Life and death are impermanent. Death and life are impermanent. I was once an entity that controlled life and death, yet now I am reduced to this state. How could I not harbor resentment when the world chooses to abandon me?"

As Li Ping pondered, a strange voice suddenly echoed from behind him, without a sound. Li Ping knew that the owner of the voice was Ruomu.