Ascension Day

"But why did the locust tree try to kill him?" Yuan Weiyang was rather perplexed.

If the locust tree hadn't acted, it likely wouldn't have died.

Its body was massive, its countless roots buried deep underground. The part of it beneath the earth was likely many times larger than what was visible above. To kill such a majestic being was truly a difficult feat.

But the moment it acted, Zhou Qiyun was able to pinpoint where its Divine Soul and consciousness were hidden, and thus, he cut it down!

"The Big Locust Tree was probably looking for a body to be reincarnated in. Zhou Qiyun is the most powerful being here, and he was injured. If he had been unable to resist, it could have possessed him. After all, it only had eight thousand years of life left."

Xu Ying felt a pang of emotion and said, "Our lives are but a hundred years long. Even after arduous Cultivation, someone like the Zhou Family's old ancestor only has a lifespan of a little over three hundred years. Even though the Big Locust Tree's vitality was fading, it still had eight thousand years left. For it to give up eight thousand years of life to possess a mortal with such a fleeting existence seems like a terrible trade."

Yuan Weiyang thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps when it saw Zhou Qiyun deploy his Hidden Scenery Transformation Land, revealing the Divine Land Immortal Realm, it believed it could rely on that method to live forever."

Xu Ying suddenly shuddered.

'Back then, Zhou Qiyun had likely already conceived the idea of plotting against the Big Locust Tree, planning to use its vitality to heal his own wounds. His every word and action from that point on was a carefully laid trap, meant to lure the Big Locust Tree in.'

'He didn't want to remain injured for too long, because he still had a second matter to attend to.'

'The Big Locust Tree was his miraculous healing medicine.'

'So, did Zhou Qiyun choose the Big Locust Tree as the location for his duel with the Master of the Mud Pill Palace because he had intended to plot against the tree all along?'

'The Big Locust Tree might truly be, as Da Zhong said, capable of great evil. But for Zhou Qiyun to use such entrapment to lure it into making a mistake... His scheming is too profound. That is not the way of the Righteous Dao.'

Thinking of this, Xu Ying suddenly remembered something Zhou Qiyun had said.

' "When facing these old monsters, you truly cannot make any mistakes. Any single slip-up could mean death." '

'To make a mistake is to die!'

'It's that ruthless.'

'To us, Zhou Qiyun is one of those old monsters too. When we face him, it's the same: we absolutely cannot make any mistakes. Otherwise, a single slip-up could mean death!'

「The next day.」

When Xu Ying was cultivating, he could distinctly feel the fragrance of the Big Locust Tree's flowers had grown much fainter. The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, once so dense it permeated one's very being, had also thinned.

However, the Big Locust Tree's flowers still bloomed with intensity. The buds on every branch had blossomed overnight, as if it were using the last of its life to put on a final, magnificent display, leaving a unique and splendid color in the Underworld.

'What a pity. You took one wrong step,' Xu Ying thought to himself, watching the locust blossoms wither and drift down from the sky.

He returned to the great hall and began to decipher the Tuo Yu Immortal Book, one word at a time.

The Big Locust Tree was dead. The Master of the Mud Pill Palace was dead. Emperor Bai Gu had fled to distant lands. And once Zhou Qiyun's injuries healed, he would attend to his second matter. In the time he had, Xu Ying had to decipher the Tuo Yu Immortal Book.

As for how much to decipher, that was something Xu Ying had to carefully deliberate.

'Decipher too much, and they would no longer have any use for him. Decipher too little, and he would be just as useless. To preserve his life, he had to remain somewhere in the balance between useful and useless.'

'Moreover, he had to give them the actual True Scripture.'

'Zhou Qiyun's talent and insight were frighteningly high; if the Scriptures he was given were mixed with errors, he would easily notice. To have one's motives suspected by such a person was to court death.'

Xu Ying deciphered the Immortal Book and cultivated simultaneously, with neither pursuit hindering the other. He had originally thought that by leveraging the blooming locust flowers, he could step into the Second Heaven of the Gate-Opening Stage. Now that the Big Locust Tree was dead, he feared he would be unable to reach the Second Heaven through Cultivation.

In the past two days, the number of Zhou Family members in Huaihua Palace had been growing. The Zhou Clan disciples and members who had evacuated the Water Gate Temple had also rushed over.

In the great hall, several Zhou Clan disciples looked toward Xu Ying repeatedly, their faces full of unconcealed delight.

Xu Ying kept his head buried in his work of deciphering the Immortal Book, paying them no mind.

Before long, Zhou Qiyun came out of his seclusion to find Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang. He asked, "You are both individuals of extraordinary talent and intellect. Have you deciphered the Tuo Yu Immortal Book?"

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang each presented the section of the Immortal Book they had deciphered. Zhou Qiyun placed the two scrolls together, unrolled them both, and began reading them at the same time, one eye on each scroll.

After a long while, Zhou Qiyun rolled up the two Scriptures. "This is all?" he said.

"I've deciphered as much as I can," Yuan Weiyang said. "This is my limit."

Zhou Qiyun turned to Xu Ying. "If you could just give us some more time..." Xu Ying said, feigning difficulty.

Zhou Qiyun rolled up the two Scriptures, put them away, and said, "I am heading to the Yin Court to pay my respects to the Yin Court Emperor. You two will accompany me and stay by my side. The Tuo Yu Immortal Book, along with the Inner Mansion Classics, will be at your disposal to read as you please!"

Xu Ying and Yuan Weiyang secretly let out a sigh of relief, knowing they had deciphered just the right amount to preserve their lives for the time being.

"I need to make a trip up the tree," Xu Ying said quickly. "My friend, Yuan Qi, is still up there."

Zhou Qiyun waved a hand. "Go, and be quick about it. My Zhou Clan's men have already started felling the tree. Everything here is to be taken away."

Xu Ying quickly exited Huaihua Palace and hurried toward the Big Locust Tree, only to see many Nuo Masters from the Zhou Family busy at work.

Some were clearing the battlefield, cutting the massive creature's corpse into many pieces. They sorted the different parts by their use: for Refining Treasure, for Alchemy, or for consumption, arranging each category neatly.

Others were drawing the great creature's Dao Image Map, the Dao Image Map of the Big Locust Tree. Yet another group was dismantling Huaihua Palace, loading the disassembled Palace onto carts to be transported to an unknown destination.

Xu Ying arrived under the Big Locust Tree and saw a dozen or so men and women with Sword Boxes on their backs, commanding Flying Swords to cut into the massive tree. Their Swordsmanship was quite refined. As they manipulated their swords, their bodies glowed, each one resembling a large, constantly flashing snowball.