Chapter 597: The Return Gift of the Jula Tree

Venerable Wood Spirit didn't care much about affairs, focusing on cultivation, but his cultivation was said to be higher than the Sect Master's, and in his later years, he studied the classics and refined divination, correcting many calculation principles that had been chaotic since the catastrophe of heaven and earth. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was declining, human countries began to rise, and the Great Return Sect was no longer as prosperous as before.

No matter how refined Venerable Wood Spirit's cultivation was, he couldn't survive the poisonous hand of time; the sentence he said most often was "Time waits for no one."

Eventually, he was about to sit in meditation under the Questioning Tree.

The disciples wept bitterly.

Venerable Wood Spirit smiled: "I'm lucky; if I were born in later generations, I'm afraid I wouldn't have such an opportunity to leave peacefully."

Everyone hurriedly asked the reason.

Venerable Wood Spirit said: "Sects are like people, having ups and downs, life and death. I observe the fortune of this sect; it has lasted for more than a thousand years, which is rare in the world, and many outstanding figures will appear in the middle."

A disciple was unwilling: "Master, the Immortal Sect has weakened into a Daoist Sect; will it disappear along with the spiritual energy in the future?"

"Perhaps heaven and earth will sink, perhaps things will turn for the better." Venerable Wood Spirit stroked the trunk of the Questioning Tree, "Old friend, you know what I want to say."

A leaf immediately drifted down from the Questioning Tree, golden-red like the evening glow.

Venerable Wood Spirit bit his fingertip and wrote a few sentences on the wide leaf: "Meet Huan and live apart."

"A leaf blocks the eyes."

"Dongli enters the Kan water."

Not only was it nonsensical, but it didn't rhyme. The disciples were confused: "Master, it seems like one sentence is missing?"

Shouldn't a prophecy be four sentences? This was only three sentences, and there was one more?

Reading it like this was so uncomfortable.

"Can't figure it out anymore." Venerable Wood Spirit sighed, "If Dongli were here, he could still help me consult and proofread; perhaps it could be seen more accurately and further."

Everyone was silent, not daring to answer.

"Although he has fallen into the demonic path, he will eventually wake up and return; I will wait for him here." Venerable Wood Spirit reached out and pointed forward, "Young people, you know, should be allowed to make mistakes."

The disciples looked at each other, not daring to speak out a retort in their hearts: Dongli is already not young, okay? Venerable Wood Spirit blew on the leaf, and a disciple stepped forward, preparing to take it.

After the master passed away, these few sentences of prophecy were to be worshipped.

Where did Venerable Wood Spirit shrink his hand, but threw the leaf into the water pool under the tree.

The golden-red leaf spun twice on the water surface and sank to the bottom of the pool before everyone could react, disappearing into the darkness.

"???" Everyone was stunned.

Venerable Wood Spirit said indifferently: "Why are you reaching out; it's not for you."

"..." Then who was the master giving it to? Such an important dying prophecy, and it wasn't handed to the sect? "Then what will happen to the sect in a thousand years?"

"Worship the mountains and marshes well, perhaps you can survive the disaster, I'm just afraid that by then you will be powerless." Venerable Wood Spirit's breath was already a bit weak, "Time, fate!"

He whispered another sentence: "It's a pity, exhausting the strength of a lifetime, I can only deduce this much. Further... further on, you have to rely on yourself."

Another disciple asked urgently: "Supreme Venerable, are there really immortals in the world!"

"Are there still immortal seniors in our sect, are they still in seclusion?" The Great Return Sect was already one of the most powerful sects passed down from ancient times. If there were no immortals here, how many could be left in the world?

But Venerable Wood Spirit's eyes were half-closed, and he no longer answered.

Everyone then realized that he had passed away in meditation.

Everything before his eyes gradually blurred.

He Lingchuan came back to his senses and found that not only had the perspective changed, but the scenery had also changed; Heavenly Pivot Peak and the Questioning Tree were all gone, and he was standing in Panlongcheng again.

What happened just now?

He was standing by the South Gate Square he was very familiar with, and in front of him was that Jula Tree.

"Eh? The leaf changed color?" The Jula Tree had an extra golden-red leaf, just like a person having a small strand of dyed hair on their forehead, which was particularly eye-catching.

And the Jula Tree had grown bigger; He Lingchuan had to look up to see the top of the tree. He patted the trunk: "So the Questioning Tree's leaf was eaten by you. Is it particularly nutritious?"

A gust of wind blew, and the Jula Tree crown rustled, not knowing if it was replying to him.

At least He Lingchuan didn't understand.

But that golden-red leaf actually drifted down and was caught in his hand.

"For me?"

He played with this leaf over and over, seeing that its shape was slightly different from the original Questioning Tree leaf, but it was also the size of a palm, and the leaf veins were also golden; there wasn't a single wormhole or a trace of scorched edge on the whole body, exquisite like a handicraft.

Is this a return gift from the Jula Tree? "Thanks!" He tucked the leaf into his bosom and patted the trunk again, "Truly sensible, unlike the Great Fang Hu that only enters and doesn't exit, lazy and gluttonous."

￥￥￥￥￥

The next morning, He Lingchuan woke up in the big bed of Pan Shan Zhai, dazed for a long time.

He actually had a different dream!

In the past year, this was the first time he had dreamed of somewhere other than Panlongcheng.

Tears of joy; he thought his divine soul could never go anywhere else at night and couldn't have other dreams.

Of course, after he calmed down, he remembered that this dream was related to the golden-red leaf of the Questioning Tree he got yesterday.

What you see during the day, you dream at night.

Was it because he fed the leaf to the Divine Bone Necklace, so the Great Fang Hu showed him the information contained in the leaf at night? What a powerful card reader.

Wait, then this dream was ultimately related to the Great Fang Hu! He Lingchuan closed his eyes and sighed long.

He couldn't escape the clutches of others.

However, recalling the content of the dream, what he saw was a selection of the Questioning Tree's life.

The reason it was called a selection was probably because the Questioning Tree lived for a very long time, spanning the ancient, medieval, and modern eras, at least four thousand years.

It lasted too long and experienced too much; if every bit of information around it had to be shown to He Lingchuan, his divine soul might not be tough enough to carry that volume of memory.

Having been in dreams for so long, He Lingchuan had some understanding of the endurance of his divine soul—after all, he was always being forced to train by the Great Fang Hu.

Perhaps it was the Questioning Tree itself, or perhaps it was the Great Fang Hu, that screened and showed him the most important node information.

He Lingchuan still had an impression of the name Venerable Wood Spirit; wasn't this True Lord Dongli's master? In the cave dwelling under Immortal Spirit Lake, True Lord Dongli left a will repenting for falling into the demonic path and failing the cultivation of his master, Venerable Wood Spirit.

Otherwise, He Lingchuan wouldn't have followed this clue all the way into Ruin Mountain.

Fortunately, it wasn't a total loss.

In the memory of the Questioning Tree, he saw the immortal demeanor of numerous immortals, saw the sect disciples who didn't eat the food of the human world and focused on cultivation during the era of longevity, and even felt the joy of surging spiritual energy and the flourishing of all things like the Questioning Tree.

That was indeed the best time for practitioners.

Actually, the medieval period wasn't bad either; the spiritual energy of heaven and earth increased and decreased, and the Emperor's Flowing Dew descended frequently. Although practitioners weren't suitable, strong people like Venerable Wood Spirit still lived for more than eight hundred years.

His disciple, True Lord Dongli, only lived for six hundred years.

Later on, the lifespans of demons and humans were increasingly discounted.

Of course, what He Lingchuan really cared about were the three sentences of prophecy written by Venerable Wood Spirit on the golden-red leaf.

He didn't leave them to the sect, but threw them back to the Questioning Tree, letting the fallen leaves return to their roots.

The elders before said that the human body decays while the Questioning Tree lasts forever. So, were these words left for later people?

After all, only it could span thousands of years of time and live to this day.

Speaking of which, whether it was Venerable Wood Spirit or the old turtle demon who took away the "Collection of Passing Water" written by True Lord Dongli, the prophecies left behind were all three sentences! It was just missing the last sentence.

Truly worthy of being in the same line.

He Lingchuan grabbed the Divine Bone Necklace and said: "Why don't you solve it for me?"

The necklace naturally wouldn't pay attention to him.

When he touched the necklace, he felt something different in his bosom, and reached out to take it out, eh—

Took out a golden-red leaf.

He Lingchuan was stunned on the spot for a long time.

The Jula Tree's leaf actually followed him into reality? Of course, the Jula Tree itself had the ability to travel through the blue sky, and He Lingchuan had used its branches to bring the Nightmare out to play. But the little tree being so proactive seemed to be the first time.

Hmm, leaf...

He Lingchuan stroked this leaf and remembered the sentence in Venerable Wood Spirit's prophecy: "A leaf blocks the eyes."

Was this how it was used, blocking it in front of his eyes? Except for light, it didn't seem to block anything.

Even the Jula Tree's leaf had no divine ability fluctuations. Except for being beautiful, it was no different from an ordinary tree leaf.

It was hard to imagine that the high people of the Great Return Sect could use the Questioning Tree's leaves to block the great demon Mu Lian's divine ability.

Forget it, perhaps this leaf would be useful later.

He tucked it into his storage ring, and then failed.

Hmm? Can't put it in?

At this time, a servant reported:

A guest is here.

He Lingchuan tucked the leaf back into his bosom: "Please invite him in."

The visitor was not yet forty, with a long face and a goat beard, looking a bit old-fashioned. In short, he was an ordinary person, ordinary in appearance, ordinary in clothing, and couldn't be found if thrown into a crowd.

He reported his name as Dan Qixiang, introduced by the Master of Songyang Prefecture.

He Lingchuan met him in his own courtyard: "Are you the manager of Songyang Prefecture?"

"Oh, not really. When the branch of Songyang Prefecture opened, I helped, but I don't work in the branch and have no connection with Songyang Prefecture." Dan Qixiang smiled, his eyes narrowing, "The Lord once saved my family, and we have been in contact ever since. She said you were short of people to use, so I came. You can just call me Old Dan."

Li Qingge had indeed said she would send him someone, but he didn't expect him to come so soon.

Before He Lingchuan could ask, Old Dan handed over a pair of hook ropes with both hands: "These are your things; the hook claws have been repaired. The Lord asked me to send them to you."

These hook ropes were damaged when He Lingchuan was capturing the Snail Toad in Zhitian Township; the hook claws made by Li Fubo with refined gold were broken by the double attack of the Snail Toad and the explosion. Although he had spares, they weren't as smooth to use as this pair.

He Lingchuan took them and smiled.

This thing was also a token, implicitly explaining that Old Dan was indeed sent by Li Qingge, letting him use him boldly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 598 =====