Chapter 592: The Ruomu Tree's Changes Over Thousands Of Years

The once lush and verdant tree aged visibly before their eyes as specks of green light drained away from it.

The Ruomu Tree did not accept its fate quietly.

It trembled, spawning countless spirits and monsters that threw themselves fearlessly at the cultivators. Its branches lashed out like swords. But the cultivators who had arrived here were terrifyingly powerful, and every act of resistance was crushed in an instant.

Even the Ruomu Tree's final, mutually destructive act—wilting all the purple-golden fruits borne at its crown—was reversed by these people. The fruits were salvaged and restored.

Powerless, the Ruomu Tree could only watch as its life essence was siphoned away without mercy.

Its leaves yellowed and fell like rain. Branches shattered. Cracks began to spiderweb across the trunk. Still, the cultivators showed no intention of stopping. They seemed determined to drain it completely dry.

Then, at the critical moment, a second group of cultivators arrived.

Chaos erupted between the two factions, forcing the extraction to halt. The original group seized the condensed mass of green light and retreated. But as they withdrew, they did not forget to launch a combined strike against the already ravaged tree.

The blow seemed to do even greater damage than the forced extraction had. A massive fissure crept upward from the base of the trunk. Swathes of branches broke away and fell, vanishing to unknown places.

Seeing this, the cultivators who had come to its aid abandoned their pursuit and turned back to tend to the Ruomu Tree. Through their efforts, they managed to avert its complete demise.

But the injuries it had sustained were too severe to undo.

From that day forward, withering and decay never left it.

Then, many years later, a humanoid cultivator took form within the Ruomu Tree.

The visions held within the Simmering of Lifespans were fragmented shards of imagery. Yet the information they carried was immense. Li Fan replayed them again and again with the Dao Transformation Stone, and gradually, combining what he saw with intelligence gathered earlier, a conjecture took shape.

The cultivators who had harmed the Ruomu Tree were likely those who, when the great calamity descended, had advocated abandoning the world and fleeing. Judging by the power they displayed, there were undoubtedly Eternal Life realm powerhouses among them.

Five hundred years ago, for reasons unknown, this group sought to return to the Xuanhuang World, triggering a great war.

Sima Changkong once said that heaven and earth bear extreme hatred toward these cultivators, far surpassing even the hatred reserved for those who plunder the world.

Traitors... stole something...

Could it be this very Ruomu Tree? The one that can condense the Fruit of Eternal Life?

Hmm... Given this group's methods, there were probably other things as well.

Thousands of years passed, and they returned. Did they ultimately fail to escape the Immortal Ruins? Or was there another reason?

Li Fan's brow furrowed slightly.

The existence of the Immortal Ruins was no secret to the Ten Immortal Dao Sects. This group had acted with uncompromising ruthlessness, which meant they had been confident in their ability to flee the Xuanhuang World successfully. So what unforeseen event had forced them back?

With too little information to work from, he set the question aside.

What he did now understand, at least, was why the Ruomu Tree harbored such deep resentment toward cultivators. Whether it was the humans who had wantonly plundered its fruit, or the near-death experience that followed, its enmity ran bone-deep. If Li Fan had suffered the same treatment, his revenge would likely have been several times more brutal.

After the Heavenly Venerable imparted his Dao and established the new methodology, the Fruit of Eternal Life had lost its power to grant eternal life. For the Ruomu Tree, that might actually have been a blessing.

In a sense, the Dao Teacher could even be considered its savior. Because without that change, no matter how powerful the Ruomu Tree became, it likely would not have escaped being plundered again and again.

As for the tree's desire to reverse the principle of “mourning for one's own kind,” it probably hasn’t reached the Eternal Life realm. And yet, given its unknown age and its nature as a living entity of utterly inconceivable depth, its strength cannot be measured by simple realms.

Another existence above Dao Unity, yet below Eternal Life.

The chasm between Dao Unity and the Eternal Life realm seems far too vast.

The Heavenly Physician, Old Man Fisher, and now this Rottenwood—Li Fan had now encountered three powerhouses, all stranded at the very same threshold.

It was a coincidence, but it illustrated, from one angle, just how brutally difficult it was to defy the principles of heaven and earth and attain eternal life.

The world was full of heroes and geniuses, yet those who achieved it through the new methodology remained few and far between.

Li Fan's gaze grew distant. He was silent for a long time.

When he had finished summarizing everything he had gained from this encounter, he began to reflect.

Being discovered by Rottenwood and nearly losing my life was just terrible luck, plain and simple.

I can't honestly say this happened because I got carried away after breaking through a realm. I’m in Tianling City. This is a private courtyard leased from the Dao Discourse Tower. The security here is absolutely guaranteed.

Who could have anticipated that a cultivator running a shady business trafficking in Golden Cores would turn out to be a powerhouse brimming with malice toward humanity?

Li Fan couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.

He couldn't have his true self turtle up forever, relying solely on his avatar each time he needed to take action, could he?

An avatar was, after all, just an avatar. Many divine abilities couldn't be fully deployed through it.

It was also a cultivation stage lower than his true self. Expecting to cultivate all the way to the Eternal Life realm by relying on it alone was nothing short of a fool's dream.

It's like being struck dead by lightning while walking down the street. An absurdly low probability. One shouldn't stop eating for fear of choking.

Many things require my true self to act if I want to leave no trace.

Still, I need to find a way to guard against abilities like Daoist Rottenwood's, the kind that can distort and alter a person's thoughts.

If not for its hatred of cultivators, and the fact that it seemed to foresee that I might serve as a tool for its revenge against them, it would never have let me leave. I might have remained lost among its branches for who knows how long before regaining my senses.

I pride myself on having a will of considerable fortitude. Yet I had no power to resist it whatsoever.

The cultivation world is full of endless wonders and techniques. There must be a counter. I don't need to block it completely. If I can just preserve a sliver of clarity, that would be enough to cover my weakness.

Li Fan committed this matter firmly to memory, placing it at the forefront of his priorities.

He began to focus his efforts on gathering information.

After a long while, when his thoughts had finally settled, he picked up the Ruomu Tree branch that had been lying on the table all this time.

Running his fingers over it carefully, he suddenly felt a flicker of familiarity. Not because he had ever been near the Ruomu Tree's true form. Rather, the branch seemed remarkably similar to the material Jiao Xiuyuan used to craft his avatars.

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