Chapter 699: The Demonized Ancient Tree

As if possessing a life of their own, the gigantic roots ran amuck the moment they slipped out of the hole in the sky.

“So Lu Yun’s ultimate goal… was this thing!!” Many of the world’s leading figures were shaken. They naturally recognized it for what it was: the Ancient Tree of Life! The very tree that’d made its home in the Endless Desert of Nephrite Major’s western region!

Powerhouses all over the world had long been aware of its existence. In the past, many had ventured into the Endless Desert to try to tame this tree that was both a treasure and a spirit root. But all their attempts ended in failure without exception. Even the mighty Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi had been trapped inside the tree, to say nothing of the rest.

Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi were at least on the level of a Lu Feng or a Mo Yi. But after Mo Yi had severed her own cultivation to attain the void realm and become a void-ascended immortal, she now likely exceeded Qing Buyi, Chen Xiao, and Lu Feng in strength.

However, she wasn’t a daredevil like Qing Buyi and Chen Xiao, who never thought twice about doing anything or killing anyone, so her claim to fame was limited to pioneering the void method. 

……

“The Ancient Tree of Life is unimaginably strong… According to the rare mentions found in ancient writings, it likely used to be the treasure of a primeval powerhouse. Stop him, we can’t let him lay hands on the tree no matter what!” worried a Ling dao immortal.

“Stop Lu Yun? Please go on ahead.” Other immortals rolled their eyes at the man.

Every inch of Dusk Province was protected by the sword formation. Whoever barged inside at a time like this was simply committing suicide. Moreover, Lu Yun would certainly show no mercy at a time like this. He’d give no quarter to anyone who tried to stop him from summoning the tree.

Dongfang Hao also remained silent. He hadn’t expected Lu Yun to do something every immortal dreamed of, to succeed when no one else had.

The Ancient Tree of Life hadn’t fully emerged from the opening yet. Only a hundred of its radicles or so were visible, and these thin roots trashed and whipped around indiscriminately, as if resisting the call.

Lu Yun stood in the center of the immortal crystal garden, the dark-green key floating above him exuding a dazzling halo of light that blended with the garden below.

The immortal crystal garden was a giant formation in itself, one designed to summon the Ancient Tree of Life. However, it now appeared that… this formation wasn’t big enough to accommodate the tree in its entirety.

“To think it’d grow this big after merging with the Wood Altar…” Somewhere nearby, Holy Lord Ashu was a little bedazzled as well. He looked at the root hairs extending out of the opening, his expression blank. Each root was at least five hundred kilometers long… and these were the smaller ones.

When the tree itself arrived, an area at least a million kilometers wide would be needed to accommodate it. Moreover, this tree seemed to have gained awareness and was now bitterly resisting the summons from the Key of Life.

“Feinie, deploy the formations!!” Lu Yun shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Yin and Yang Formation Orbs slowly emerged in the air.

“At your command!” Feinie walked out of the emptiness, and activated the two Formation Orbs, immediately setting about to draw formations without foundation in order to expand the garden’s surface area.

“We’re also going!” The two Lin brothers exchanged a look, ready to help.

“You two, come back!” Lu Yun stopped them, then shouted, “Seniors of the merchant alliance… lend me some money!”

“How much?!” Inside Dao City, the head of the Panorama Pavilion and the other leader of the merchant alliance bristled with alertness. They’d been overawed when they’d realized Lu Yun’s plan, so now that the governor wanted to borrow money, they naturally wouldn’t refuse. 

“Three hundred trillion premium immortal crystals!” Lu Yun cut straight to the chase.

“Very well!” Thirteen people grit their teeth and waved their hands…

Thirteen rivers of crystals rushed through the sky and gushed toward Lu Yun. Three hundred trillion premium immortal crystals was an enormous sum for even the thirteen merchant houses… a sum that they’d never be able to take out in the past.

In the world of immortals, there were so many immortal crystals that the total might as well be infinite. However, most of it was cached underground in the form of raw ore. Immortals all over the world did their utmost to mine it, but what they’d extracted so far was but a tiny fraction of the entire reserve.

Therefore, the amount of crystals in circulation was finite. The thirteen merchant heads were the wealthiest figures in the entire world, but even for them, three hundred trillion was an astronomical number. 

But things were different now. They’d established an alliance and partnered with Lu Yun to distribute the Dusk Province’s many treasures across the entire world. As Lu Yun had enriched himself, and so had they. Even more than him, to tell the truth!

The goods available from Dusk Province sold like hot cakes and caused a similar effect in the trading guilds’ original businesses. The growth was nothing short of exponential.

While there was a difference between assets of the trading guilds and the personal wealth of the thirteen heads, they still were able to come up with the frightening sum of three hundred trillion premium immortal crystals.

Rumble!

An ocean of crystal danced in the sky and amassed in the shape of a magnificent dragon that flew headlong into the garden.

“You two, use these immortal crystals to set up formations and double the garden’s strength!” Lu Yun roared at Lin Yu and Lin Xuan.

“Understood!” The brothers’ eyes lit up.

Lu Yun hadn’t kept any secrets from them when he’d laid down his formations. In fact, he’d left them in charge of the construction efforts in some parts of the garden. Hence, such a task was no issue for the two brothers who shared a near-telepathic bond.

In next to no time, dazzling light erupted from the garden.

With a quick succession of hand seals from Feinie, the Sumeru Formation expanded ever outward to occupy an ever-increasing surface. Each time the formation grew, so did the garden grow as well.

Inside the garden, each blade of grass, each tree trunk, each brick, and each tile shone with a sparkling, translucent glow. From them gathered a terrifying amount of immortal energy, mixed with life essence, which shot at the sky and barrelled into the giant Ancient Tree of Life.

Boom!

Another explosive sound came from the great hole in the sky. A giant root slowly extended out the hole. The lateral roots growing from it no longer struggled. Instead, they tirelessly absorbed the tremendous energy and vitality in the surroundings.

Slowly above the tree roots, the giant trunk, crown, sparkling branches, and translucent leaves slowly descended from the hole in the sky. A vast aura of life spread to every corner of Dusk Province.

“It’s finally been tamed!” Lu Yun sighed gently in relief.

“Hey kid!!” A familiar voice came from inside the tree. “This tree’s been demonized and become self-aware. You better be careful!” The voice belonged to Chen Xiao.

“What?!” Lu Yun immediately looked up with a start and saw a giant human face on the treetop… looking back at him with a supercilious smile. Following which, the branches and leaves of the treetop quickly amassed into a great hand that grabbed at him.

“After an eternity, I’ve finally found you… Key of Life. Hand it over!”

Boom! 

A terrible power erupted into the world as the hand fell on Lu Yun.

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