Chapter 590: The Ever-Flowing Pillar Of Eternity

A gentle breeze stirred, carrying with it a faint, pervasive scent of decay.

Dry leaves rustled in the canopy above. Occasionally one would drift down from the treetops, only to dissolve into nothingness before it could reach the ground. As they fell, Li Fan saw them clearly: twisted, agonized faces flashed across each leaf's surface.

By any measure, such a bizarre and eerie sight should have unsettled anyone who witnessed it.

But in that moment, to Li Fan's eyes, this place called the Simmering of Lifespans was indescribably beautiful.

He drew a deep breath. The foul, stinking air filled his lungs, and he found it strangely sweet. He inhaled several more mouthfuls greedily.

Studying the cultivators hanging from the tree, he saw that their eyes were pools of utter blackness, pupils gone entirely, their faces locked in odd, unsettling smiles. Their hair had grown into the branches and fused with them, forming the ropes from which they were suspended. Some still wore intact clothing. Others had clearly been hanging for many years; their garments had long since rotted to tatters. Decayed twigs and branches coiled around their bodies, covering their exposed flesh even as they burrowed deep into muscle and blood.

"Marvelous. Truly marvelous!"

Without any introduction from Daoist Rottenwood, Li Fan understood at once how this place functioned. Confronted with the deeply unsettling scene before him, he felt not a shred of caution or fear. He clapped his hands in open admiration, his tone carrying a note of envy, as though it were only right for every cultivator in the world to hang from these branches. To have one's flesh pierced by this tree was, in his eyes, an unimaginable honor.

"So, Fellow Daoist Yu, was I speaking falsely?" Daoist Rottenwood seemed to have grown even weaker. He coughed at length before recovering enough to speak.

"Your words ring true, Fellow Daoist!" Li Fan nodded. "A truly magnificent creation. What is this tree called?"

His gaze remained fixed on the colossal withered tree, his eyes glazed with obsession.

"It was originally called the Ruomu Tree. But now..." Daoist Rottenwood also looked up, his expression complex and unreadable.

"It is called the Ever-Flowing Pillar of Eternity."[1]

The moment Daoist Rottenwood uttered the name, Li Fan grasped its meaning.

That which has existed since time immemorial and shall continue to exist eternally. That which stands astride the River of Life, a pillar propping up the heavens.

"I don't like it," Li Fan said, shaking his head. "I prefer its original name."

Daoist Rottenwood let out a low, grim chuckle, unconcerned. "As time flows on, the living beings of this world change crop after crop. Their names for it change too. It never affects the tree's existence in the slightest."

As he said this, a shadow passed through the old man's eyes.

"While that is true," Li Fan replied, "times are different now."

With every moment he lingered here, images pressed into his mind unbidden, and he came to know a great deal about this place.

A trace of nostalgia surfaced on his face. He recited softly, "When heaven and earth gives birth to spirit, the Ruomu Tree pares its lifespan. Drawing life, it yields longevity fruit; consuming them grants longevity."

At those words, Daoist Rottenwood's turbid eyes shifted slightly, a faint light passing through them.

A long silence stretched between them before they spoke again.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, you truly possess great wisdom." Daoist Rottenwood sighed with sudden feeling. "Tens of thousands of cultivators have visited this place over the years, yet those who shift their perspective as swiftly as you are exceedingly rare."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, his voice low and firm. "It is not wisdom on my part. They were simply foolish from the start. What essential difference is there between the cultivators here and any other living being?

"Trees bear fruit. Flowers produce nectar. Beasts give birth, birds lay eggs. People take these things and eat them without a second thought.

"So why, the moment it is themselves being taken, does it become so difficult to accept? Do they truly believe themselves to be the spirits of heaven and earth, the masters of all creation?" He snorted coldly.

The arguments Daoist Rottenwood had prepared were, to his surprise, being voiced first by the other man, and for a moment he had nothing to say.

"In my view, it comes down to nothing more than this: the strong prey upon the weak," Li Fan continued. "When you are the one devouring others, you feel only pleasure. Should the day come when you are devoured, do not complain. The Heavenly Dao gives as it receives. Every debt is repaid." He shook his head, seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts.

Daoist Rottenwood studied him for a moment, then understood. "So it is not that your views have changed. You simply thought this way from the beginning." He gave a slight shake of his head. "A pity. A true pity."

Li Fan seemed not to hear him at all. His gaze remained fixed on the withered Ruomu Tree, as though something about it held him utterly.

"And yet, to think such an anomaly has emerged among cultivators..." Daoist Rottenwood frowned, as if weighing something.

Then, he was suddenly wracked by a violent fit of coughing, a hint of green blood visible at the corner of his mouth.

Above his head, the Ruomu Tree swayed without any wind, and countless withered leaves drifted down.

"Well deserved! Well deserved!" A flash of ferocity crossed Daoist Rottenwood's face, as if he were watching some scene play out before him. Then he broke into wild, unrestrained laughter. "Truly, the Heavenly Dao gives as it receives! For every villain, there is a greater villain to torment them! Keeping this one here would be useless. Better to return him and let him be a scourge! Retribution! All of it, retribution!"

After the frenzy ran its course, Daoist Rottenwood gradually calmed, reverting to the manner Li Fan had first encountered outside.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, now that you have seen the product firsthand, you have a measure of its quality. Shall we proceed with our previous transaction?" he asked, his grin strange.

"Transaction?" Li Fan turned, looking momentarily dazed. "Ah, that matter! There's no hurry." He waved a hand, refusing the proposal outright.

"Keke..." Daoist Rottenwood let out that unpleasant laugh again. "Pleasant as this place is, it is not where you belong. The Xuanhuang World outside... I think it suits you far better."

Just as Li Fan was about to retort, Daoist Rottenwood seized him by the shoulder. Billowing gray mist surged from beneath their feet, on the verge of swallowing him whole.

"Why are you in such a hurry to send me away, Fellow Daoist?" Li Fan asked urgently.

Daoist Rottenwood gave a derisive smile and said nothing.

"You want Golden Cores, right? Since I'm being charitable, I might as well see it through. This time, I'll give you some for free!" The man's voice reached Li Fan as little more than a murmur.

The gray mist swallowed his vision entirely.

Li Fan staggered and found himself back in the courtyard of the Dao Discourse Tower's annex in Tianling Province. Daoist Rottenwood, the Ever-Flowing Pillar of Eternity, and the countless cultivators hanging from its branches had all vanished in an instant. It might have been nothing more than a hallucination.

Only a single withered branch resting quietly on the table said otherwise.

Freed from the influence of the Ruomu Tree, Li Fan's thoughts returned to normal. As what he had just experienced came back to him, a chill settled in his bones, as if he had been plunged into the depths of winter. Fearing that Daoist Rottenwood might still be watching from somewhere nearby, he forced down the terror in his chest and kept his face composed.

1. In the original text, the new name is 亘洹桓恒垣, pronounced Gèn Huán Huán Héng Yuán. It is mentioned that this is an awkward tongue-twister. ☜

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