Chapter 553: Emolument Mountain, Longevity Tree, Fortune Star!

The behemoth before one's eyes is quite strange.

If viewed from a one-sided perspective.

One can see the brilliant, golden Golden Ingot Divine Mountain standing within the World Sea. Before this divine mountain, the so-called World Sea does not even count as a sea, but merely a pond; it glitters with pearls and treasures, is aggressively wealthy, stabilizes the laws, and is the Dadao Zhiyuan.

But the next moment, a thought stirs slightly.

The behemoth before one's eyes changes from the Golden Ingot Divine Mountain into a Longevity Tree rooted in the Boundless World Sea, its roots standing tall between heaven and earth, though the seawater rises and falls, it cannot submerge the roots. Surrounded by Chaos Qi, it seems to support everything; individual Eternal Life Peaches symbolizing immortality hang upon it—take one bite and attain eternal life, the Heaven and Earth may perish but I shall not, the sun and moon may decay but I shall not.

Or perhaps it changes into a supreme star.

The star blooms with starlight, illuminating the surrounding World Sea, causing one to experience a mysterious sensation of sudden enlightenment, where all sorts of doubts in one's mind are resolved. Under the illumination of the starlight, those enveloped worlds begin to sublimate and progress rapidly.

Li Heng sees one such world, one such civilization.

Clearly, a second ago, it was still at the level of a technological Earth like his past life, struggling even to utilize Nuclear Fusion, yet ten years later, it can directly dominate the multiverse; a child's toy could create parallel universes—it is an extremely terrifying superhuman upheaval!

Is it truly Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity?

Li Heng is thoughtful, raising his own status slightly, standing in a higher dimension, and looking at what is before him with a more expansive field of vision; the scenery changes again, allowing him to see the full picture and the essence.

First, it is still the Golden Ingot Divine Mountain, with vast worlds acting as dust, a Longevity Tree planted on the mountain, and the immeasurable Great Thousand Worlds as soil; then, Fu hangs high, scattering starlight, covering all existence, bathing the entire Golden Ingot Divine Mountain and the Longevity Tree within it. This strikingly combines the three characteristics of Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity, and the atmosphere manifested is very bright and auspicious, without any bad aura.

If one ignores the shadow behind this behemoth.

"I wonder what Fellow Daoist Li sees? Is it a golden ingot, a star, or perhaps a peach tree?"

At this moment, Xuelianzi speaks up, asking with slight curiosity.

"Oh, is there a difference?"

"There is a difference. If what you see is a golden ingot, it means you are more suited for the Emolument Sect; seeing a star makes you suited for the Fortune Sect, and seeing a peach tree makes you suited for the Longevity Sect."

"However, this does not have much impact; after all, the three sects are of the same breath and branch, and are originally one. So even if the Invitation Letter in my hand is for the Longevity Sect, it does not matter much."

Xuelianzi explains.

"What if I say I saw all three?"

Li Heng speaks with a smile that is not quite a smile.

Instantly, Xuelianzi's heart tightens; he squeezes out a smile and speaks in a teasing tone.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you are truly humorous. If one sees all three at once, that would be at the level of a Supreme. However, we are still very far from that level, so let us not be overly ambitious."

"Is this remark humorous? I am stating a fact."

Li Heng feigns a look of bewilderment.

Xuelianzi is silent for a moment, then acts as if he did not hear, and speaks, "Fellow Daoist Li, let us not waste time. Let us go in; the sooner we enter the Three Immortals Sect, the sooner we obtain opportunities."

"Then where should I go? The golden ingot, the peach tree, or the star?" Li Heng smiles and says indifferently.

"That would naturally be the peach tree. This is the Invitation Letter. Fellow Daoist can use the Invitation Letter to draw upon the power of the Longevity Tree and enter the Longevity Sect." Xuelianzi hands Li Heng a piece of paper, which is covered in dense, incomprehensible Rune, but looks very mysterious.

"I ask that you lead the way, Fellow Daoist."

Li Heng takes the Invitation Letter and nods.

"Easily done, easily done. Follow me, Fellow Daoist."

Xuelianzi feels increasingly uneasy, but things have reached this point, and there is no room for regret; he can only bite the bullet and lead the way for Li Heng, praying in his heart that no accidents occur.

Li Heng nods, saying nothing more.

He continues to follow Xuelianzi, and under the power of the Invitation Letter in his hand, the object before his eyes truly becomes a vast peach tree, with worlds like bubbles constantly arising and perishing around it.

Although it remains meaningless to him.

With a thought, he can still see the full picture of the three things: Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity.

It is said that where there is light, there is darkness, but the darkness of this Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity is far too much, too black—so black that it can no longer be described as darkness.

The Dao is divided into Yin and Yang, positive and negative, movement and stillness; thus, the shadow before him, the darkness before him, is something that does not belong to this category!

Li Heng looks at the shadow beneath the light, feeling a slight sigh in his heart. Twisted, frenzied, terrifying, Unknown, Weird—these words are the first impression this shadow gives him.

From this perspective, the so-called Fu that blooms with starlight becomes even more of a disaster star, full of Inauspiciousness; all that "sudden enlightenment" turns into the First Tribulation descending upon one's head.

Those worlds and civilizations illuminated by the starlight, while constantly evolving, are also constantly alienating, and their futures seem to have been locked long ago.

Either heading toward destruction or toward degeneration and corruption.

And that sacred Longevity Tree has now turned into writhing flesh, constantly twisting, with white maggots crawling all over it, gnawing incessantly; red and white mixed together, it is extremely disgusting.

And the Eternal Life Peach on the tree are nothing more than blood-stained heads, either with eyes closed and expressions Weird, or eyes open and staring in death; some heads have even come alive, wailing loudly or laughing heartily, in total Chaos.

As for the Golden Ingot Divine Mountain that serves as the foundation?

This has not changed much, and remains extremely sacred and glorious. But around the Golden Ingot Divine Mountain, there are endless Resentful Soul circling, with a sea of white bones as vast as the infinite World Sea at the base, holding the divine mountain high up.

If not for the fact that one could still discern a trace of order within it.

He would have thought it was a Calamity or a monster right before him.

But even so, Li Heng believes these three things before him are far more dangerous and evil than ordinary Calamity and monsters; they are inexplicable Forbidden Object.

But the Three Dukes of Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity, what exactly are you doing? You wouldn't really be thinking of joining them because you couldn't defeat them, would you? Li Heng sighs inwardly, having recognized the identities of these three: they are the three top Sacred of the former Heavenly Court—the Three Dukes, Three Elders, and Three Sages of Fortune, Emolument, and Longevity!

Back then, Li Heng had experienced fragments of history in the True Realm and had even seen Shou Lao, one of the Three Dukes. Now it seems clear that these three Sacred escaped the Calamity of the Heavenly Court's destruction and did not fall in the True Realm like most of the other Sacred.

Only, according to the current situation.

How does this look any better than having fallen? Have these three old fellows truly degenerated? Li Heng, as the Acting Heavenly Emperor and Supreme Imperial Teacher, is very curious.

"Fellow Daoist, we have arrived; we have entered the territory of the Longevity Sect."

The two stop under the shade of this peach tree, and Xuelianzi finally breathes a sigh of relief; now it is finally safe, and this Li Daoren cannot flip the sky.

"So, Fellow Daoist, do you choose life, or do you choose death?"

He looks at Li Heng and says with a smile.