Chapter 816: Xuanhuang Three Ancient Trees

"That was too fast!"

Li Fan was instantly astonished.

Traveling from the Spirit Wood Realm to Jiushan State usually meant crossing more than half of Shilin State. At the normal flying speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator, it would take at least five or six days. Even if Lin Ling carried Li Fan, flying through the sky would still take a good part of a day. Yet, by harnessing the power of the earth veins, they arrived almost instantly. More crucially, they traveled underground, completely undetected.

With the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Association currently in a standoff, the border between Shilin State and Jiushan State is heavily guarded by multiple defense lines. However, their journey caused no alarm or detection from either side.

"'The power of the earth veins is pure and exclusive. It seems the Xuanhuang World has yet to discover a method for safe passage through them,' Li Fan mused, recalling the knowledge he had previously gathered about earth veins."

Upon reaching Jiushan State, the flow of the earth veins felt obstructed. It immediately slowed from a rapid torrent to a gentle flow. Li Fan also sensed Lin Ling's discomfort. He then motioned for her to return to the surface.

Before emerging from underground, Li Fan cautiously surveyed their surroundings. Only after confirming no one else was nearby did they break through the soil.

"'The aura here makes me so uncomfortable,' Lin Ling said, frowning slightly."

"'Jiushan State was formed from the corpse of an ancient exotic beast. It's normal for you to feel a slight repulsion towards it,' Li Fan explained vaguely."

"'Such a vast area, all formed from a corpse?' Lin Ling's eyes widened instantly. 'Its power when it was alive must have been terrifying. No wonder even seniors are restricted here...'" Lin Ling mumbled.

"'Senior?' Li Fan's heart suddenly skipped a beat."

"'Yes! We were able to travel so quickly underground just now thanks to the senior's help!' Lin Ling said with innocent sincerity." As she spoke, she proudly pulled out a piece of a branch and boasted, "Master, look, this is a gift from the senior!"

Li Fan couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.

The branch was withered and yellow, yet it didn't appear lifeless. Rather, its appearance was due to years of immersion in the earth vein's power. From it, Li Fan could still sense the surging, potent energy of the earth veins.

Li Fan had seen a similar branch once before. It was during his 115th reincarnation, at Ximen Yu's cave dwelling in Yueyang State.

"'The Earth Vein Tree?'"

He immediately recalled Ximen Yu's conjectures regarding the tree's origin. Years ago, when Ruomu was severely wounded by cultivators, some massive main trunks detached from its body and fell into the world. Over many years, they each re-evolved into distinct ancient trees. This Earth Vein Tree was one of them. It grew upside down, its roots spreading throughout the Xuanhuang World.

"'How did you communicate with that senior?' Li Fan asked, looking at Lin Ling."

Lin Ling tilted her head, glancing at Li Fan, seemingly not quite grasping the meaning of his question. After a moment, she simply transmitted the entire process of her communication with the Earth Vein Ancient Tree to Li Fan.

Communication between ancient trees differed from that of humans. Almost the instant they reached the earth veins, the two had already established a connection and sensed each other. And within an extremely short time, they completed their exchange of information.

The Earth Vein Ancient Tree showed immense fondness for Lin Ling, its newly born junior. Not only did it refrain from attacking her, but it also actively offered assistance. Furthermore, from the Earth Vein Ancient Tree, Lin Ling learned about several other ancient trees within the Xuanhuang World.

First was Ruomu, the oldest tree in the world and the ancestor of all spirits. The Earth Vein Ancient Tree, however, did not reveal its name to Lin Ling. It merely cautioned Lin Ling that the mother tree's temperament had drastically changed, becoming capricious and unpredictable. Even fellow tree spirits would not be viewed differently; on the contrary, it might even devour these scattered ancient trees to nourish itself. It was best to keep as far away as possible.

Next were two entities of the same stature as the Earth Vein Ancient Tree. They were among the strongest portions that detached from Ruomu back then. One was the Myriad Spirit Ancient Tree, and the other, the Tianhua Ancient Tree. Though both originated from the same source, they had embarked on entirely opposing paths.

The Myriad Spirit Ancient Tree chose to propagate itself as extensively as possible, scattering countless branches throughout the world. Even if it suffered calamity, as long as a single branch remained undestroyed, it could regrow given enough time. The Tianhua Ancient Tree, on the other hand, pursued the path of "all methods returning to one," continuously reducing and refining itself, aspiring to one day revert to an existence akin to Ruomu.

A few visual details about the Myriad Spirit Ancient Tree and the Tianhua Ancient Tree flashed through Li Fan's mind. To his surprise, he had actually encountered both of these entities during his cyclical reincarnations here.

The branches of the Myriad Spirit Ancient Tree were precisely the material Jiao Xiuyuan used to refine his clones. "'Spreading branches and leaves, covering all of Xuanhuang. This subtly aligns with Daoist Jiao's Myriad Puppet Dao. I wonder what the actual relationship is between Jiao Xiuyuan himself and the Myriad Spirit Ancient Tree.'"

As for the Tianhua Ancient Tree, Li Fan had only encountered it once. That was the human-faced great tree he saw in Qingfeng Hall, a loan organization on Myriad Immortals Island. During his 115th reincarnation, the Five Elders Association had raided Myriad Immortals Island, intending to relocate the entire island. At that time, the entire space had been sealed, rendering all communication and teleportation methods ineffective. Li Fan still paid a hefty sum to inquire about an escape method from Jiao Xiuyuan. It was through Qingfeng Hall that he successfully escaped the calamity.

"'This human-faced great tree is one of the Tianhua Ancient Tree's sub-entities. And that female voice accompanying the spirit tree... I wonder who that was.'"

Besides these two powerful ancient trees, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree also introduced Lin Ling to several juniors of a slightly weaker tier. Like Lin Ling, they were all worldly trees that had developed their own spiritual intelligence. Most of them resided within the blessed lands and minor worlds of the Xuanhuang Realm. As blessed lands and minor worlds were anchored to Xuanhuang, these spirit trees could also subtly connect with the Earth Vein Ancient Tree. However, Lin Ling was the first among them to be able to fully transform and walk out independently. Hence, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree was quite excited.

Yet, the Earth Vein Ancient Tree seemed rather unconcerned by Lin Ling's situation, being under the control of a cultivator. It merely advised Lin Ling that every spirit tree in the world had its own unique fate and destiny. They simply needed to cultivate according to their deepest inner desires. The recently born Lin Ling naturally understood only partially but obediently complied.

"'Who would have thought so much could happen in an instant? And all of it happened without my full awareness. Even with my complete control over Lin Ling, it was still the case. The methods of these ancient trees truly are mysterious and unfathomable. Fortunately, both this Earth Vein Ancient Tree and Lin Ling possess relatively gentle temperaments, unlike Ruomu, who is quite extreme. Otherwise, if they were to secretly conspire against me... It would be truly difficult to defend against.'" Li Fan sighed softly.