Chapter 753: Stripping the Life Tree

Boom—boom—boom!

The fourth Lei Jie descended; because Feng Zishan had been killed, this Lei Jie was no longer doubled, but instead consisted of eighteen lightning arcs.

Ding Huan seized the opportunity to sweep away everything from Feng Zishan's world.

When the Lei Jie ended, Ding Huan's cultivation stabilized at the first layer of Heshen Realm.

If not for Feng Zishan interrupting his Tribulation Crossing, he might already have reached the second layer of Heshen Realm.

But he wasn't at a loss.

In Feng Zishan's world, he acquired seven or eight Dao Fruit Trees, many of which he couldn't even name.

Twenty-one Chaotic Divine Veins, sixty-three top-grade Divine Veins, and hundreds more of upper, middle, and lower-grade Divine Veins combined.

As for Divine Crystals, Ding Huan didn't bother counting—they were at least a billion or more.

He didn't obtain any Primordial Divine Artifacts, but he did acquire one Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure: the sword Feng Zishan had used.

The pseudo-saints of Dunyi Divine Realm were far stronger than the so-called saints of Dao Court, and their wealth was incomparable to that of the Dao Court he came from.

In less than ten days, the struggle for Chaotic Qi would begin; Ding Huan had no intention of separating the Life Tree from the Cosmic Membrane.

First, he spent several days refining the Chaotic Gourd, then began arranging surveillance array patterns.

At the edge of the Chaos, he spent several days setting up over a thousand surveillance array patterns.

Though Si Anlun hadn't said it, Ding Huan could guess: once this Chaotic Qi emerged, it would be fleeting, quickly swallowed again by Chaos.

If Chaotic Qi were easy to obtain, no one would have been able to withhold it until now.

This thing was certainly not easy to acquire; it was likely that even before he found a Clear Path in the Chaos, the Clear Path had already been assimilated by Chaos.

Ding Huan used the surveillance array patterns to locate Chaotic Qi, and he believed that even if others discovered his method, they could not replicate it.

He had comprehended the Chaotic Laws here; his surveillance array patterns were woven into the Chaotic Laws of this space, so even if Chaos consumed them, it wouldn't happen in a day or two.

By the time they were erased by Chaos in a dozen days, he would have already found the Chaotic Qi.

Indeed, when the eighty-first day arrived, Ding Huan's divine sense detected not a single Clear Path.

But two Clear Paths appeared among the surveillance array patterns he had set up.

Ding Huan immediately used a Heart-Dash to reach the Clear Path closer to him.

In the boundless Chaos, divine sense could not detect Clear Paths from afar, but up close, they were unmistakably clear.

Like a clear stream appearing in a parched desert, this stream tore through the desert and stretched far into the distance.

Ding Huan's divine sense settled on the Clear Path; he sensed the dense Chaotic Dao resonance, a sensation like an untainted spring untouched by any pollution.

Vast and clear Chaotic Laws washed over Ding Huan; internally, he marveled—this was truly Chaotic Qi.

He pulled out the Chaotic Gourd; with a flick of his divine sense, the Chaotic Qi along the Clear Path surged like water through a breach, entirely drawn into the Chaotic Gourd.

Though Ding Huan absorbed a massive quantity of Chaotic Qi, after half an incense stick's time, he felt it hadn't even covered the bottom of the Chaotic Gourd.

The Chaotic Gourd was simply too large.

Just as Ding Huan was happily collecting, the Clear Path was consumed by Chaos and vanished without a trace.

Ding Huan swiftly scanned the other location; sure enough, that Clear Path had also disappeared.

It seemed he could only obtain this much Chaotic Qi.

Ding Huan was actually quite satisfied; though he had collected for only half an incense stick's time, the Chaotic Qi in his gourd barely covered the bottom.

In truth, the Chaotic Qi was still substantial—it was just that his gourd was too big.

The Chaotic Qi feast ended; logically, Ding Huan should leave this Chaos region and find a place to further study the Life Tree.

Ding Huan did not choose to leave; instead, he found another spot at the edge of Chaos, and this time he directly used a Earth-Dash Talisman to enter underground, then arranged various protective arrays.

He knew it was unsafe to leave now; better to stay here and carefully study how to strip the Life Tree.

He entered as Wuliang; no other identity would work once he exited.

He would wait a few years before leaving.

Outside the Great Dao Divine Vein Plaza, beside the forbidden array guarding the Chaos Zone, many still waited.

Meng Meng Zhenting, sect master of the Ancient Desert Divine Woman Sect, wore an unsettled, gloomy expression.

Wuliang had assured her he would capture Ding Xiaotu here.

But eighty-one days had passed; even saints could not remain in the Chaos Zone and had been forced out—yet Wuliang still had not emerged.

There was only one possibility: Wuliang had perished.

Too bad Wuliang had entered the sect for less than a year and lacked the qualifications to leave a mark tablet.

Not only Meng Meng Zhenting, but also Ge Dianzhu, head of the Divine Woman Sect's Enforcement Hall, wore a grim expression.

She had long despised Wuliang, planning to slowly punish him after he emerged; she never expected this trash had never left the Chaos Zone.

If Meng Meng Zhenting's expression was merely gloomy, then Fang Wuqiong, sect master of the Baihe Sword Dao, nearly overflowed with rage.

His sect's first genius, Ji Bucheng, had perished inside.

Ji Bucheng was not merely the first genius of Baihe Sword Dao—he was also the first genius of the entire Dunyi Divine Realm.

He could not imagine who had the audacity to harm Ji Bucheng.

And Baihe Sword Dao had lost not only its first genius Ji Bucheng, but also the soul tablet of Ji Bucheng's master, Feng Zishan, had shattered.

Had Baihe Sword Dao been forgotten, now that it had not moved for so long?

Far away, Si Anlun of the Da Zhen Divine Dao frowned at the array gate.

He clearly knew his Falling Moon Arrow had been refined by Wuliang; he had waited here for Wuliang, never expecting the man would not emerge.

Si Anlun did not believe Wuliang had perished inside.

Someone as cunning and treacherous as Wuliang could never die so casually.

His belief that Wuliang was cunning and treacherous stemmed not merely from Wuliang's habit of recording everything on crystal balls.

More importantly, he suspected the Heaven-and-Earth Bow Wuliang had traded him was fake.

Because when he refined the Heaven-Earth Bow, he felt that the mottled Dao rhyme on the outside and the killing-intent Dao rhyme on the inside were completely incompatible.

It was as if they had not been condensed from the same place under the same laws of heaven and earth.

A primordial treasure like the Heaven-Earth Bow would naturally be condensed over countless ages in one and the same place; if the place were changed, if the space were changed, it would be impossible to condense a primordial treasure.

Yet somewhere in his subconscious he still believed that this Heaven-Earth Bow was the very one put up for auction.

If it really was a fake, perhaps even Wuliang didn't know — it was the auctioneer who had faked it.

Although he himself came from the Great True God Dao, he did not dare to casually go and question the Dunyi Auction House over whether this was real or fake.

After waiting another stretch of time, Si'an Lun confirmed that Wuliang was not coming out, and only then did he turn and leave.

Originally he had planned to wait for Wuliang to come out, then go find the Divine Maiden Sect and force Wuliang to hand over the Falling Moon Arrow.

Now that the fellow simply refused to come out, there was nothing he could do about it.

He could only go look for Ding Xiaotu himself — at least Ding Xiaotu still had a Falling Sun Arrow on him.

……

At this moment, Ding Huan had arrived at his own sea-of-consciousness universe world.

He looked at the Tree of Life standing before him.

Others might not be able to peel away the cosmic fascia and the Tree of Life, but perhaps he could.

Once he had thoroughly studied every law of the Tree of Life and the cosmic fascia, he would have a chance to peel them apart.

After the first great universe art, Zhou Tian, was established by Ding Huan, when he once more sensed the law-information within the Tree of Life, although it was still boundlessly complex, he could faintly begin to find some threads to follow.

Ding Huan was in no hurry; he began to comprehend the laws within the Tree of Life one by one.

It was simply that he had long since made up his mind to go into closed-door cultivation here for an extended period.

The first fragment of a law of life was comprehended by Ding Huan and merged into his own sea-of-consciousness world; then the first fragment of a Great Dao law contained within the cosmic fascia was likewise comprehended by Ding Huan and merged in.

The second, the third…

Various fragments of laws of life, fragments of laws of cosmic origin—

As fragment after fragment of law was comprehended by Ding Huan and then merged into his own world, one law after another appeared in Ding Huan's river of laws.

As time kept flowing on amid Ding Huan's comprehension, Ding Huan brushed against one breath of ancient air after another.

Sure enough, this Tree of Life that looked so tender had actually endured endless ages.

The reason the Tree of Life was bound here — besides the cosmic fascia plundering its vitality — was also a hidden, obscure aura of the Great Dao.

Ding Huan was glad he had once been schemed against by the Forgotten Dao Rule; otherwise, he would surely have overlooked it.

It was an imprint of the Great Dao's intent. This imprint would not affect him in any way for now, yet it could attach itself to his own Great Dao.

If one day he met the master of this Great Dao imprint, that person could take back the Tree of Life at any moment, and his very life and death might rest on a single thought of the other's.

Ding Huan carefully circulated the Great Universe Art, and through fragment after fragment of law, peeled this Great Dao imprint loose, then sealed it within his own world.

If one day he met the master of this Great Dao, he would let that person understand what the Great Dao Slaughter Law truly was.

He would make the other understand that one's own Great Dao should not be casually left behind out in the world.

Almost at the very instant Ding Huan peeled away this Great Dao imprint, Ding Huan felt the Tree of Life seem to be freed, and it let out a clear, ringing cry.

Before Ding Huan could even be glad, the Tree of Life withered in an instant, turning into a puff of flying ash.