Within the light cluster, the black figure stood before the ancient, towering Bodhi Tree. Suddenly, this figure began to attack the Bodhi Tree. In response, the tree exuded a monstrous, terrifying energy. In this intense clash, even the heavens and earth crumbled. Xiao Yan watched in shock as the clash within the light, finding it hard to believe that the Bodhi Tree had once fought with a Battle King.
Inside the light, the images sped up and finally paused at the last scene. The black figure was suddenly hit by a destructive gust of wind from outside the light cluster, and his body, along with this world, exploded into nothingness.
“Hisss…” Looking at the black figure that exploded into nothing, Xiao Yan’s heart fiercely jolted. Clearly, the sudden attack must have been made by a Battle King with strength no less than that of the black-robed Battle King. And under the combined attacks of the Bodhi Tree and another mysterious Battle King, the black-robed Battle King was shattered into nothingness.
“Two Battle King.” Xiao Yan’s eyes couldn’t help but twitch. Such legendary figures, he had never expected to see two today. Though they were only in the form of images, their unique aura of supreme power still made Xiao Yan’s soul tremble.
In the light, the images did not stop with the fall of the black-robed Battle King. In the void, strands of black energy emerged and surged into the Bodhi Tree. As these energies entered, the clear qi surrounding the tree subtly became infused with a sinister chill. Seeing this, Xiao Yan was stunned, and then thoughtful. The feeling of the Bodhi Tree, now invaded by the black energy, was the same as when he first saw it in the Ancient Domain.
*Puff.* The light gradually dimmed and then condensed into an intangible mass, which swiftly rushed into Xiao Yan’s brain, transforming into a strange stream of information.
Xiao Yan closed his eyes, absorbing the strange information. After a long time, he slowly opened them, gaining some understanding. From the information, he knew many things.
The ancient Bodhi Tree before him had existed for countless years, though how many was uncertain. One thing was certain—it had existed since the ancient times. However, what surprised Xiao Yan slightly was that despite the vast passage of time, the Bodhi Tree had not fully developed sentience. Perhaps due to its age, its sentience remained incomplete. Regardless of the reason, the Bodhi Tree lacked true wisdom and only possessed basic spiritual functions, such as self-defense or counterattacks.
The images in the light were from a time long ago, where a gravely injured Battle King tried to forcibly extract the spirit of the Bodhi Tree to heal himself, but was ultimately killed by his opponent and the tree.
Of course, killing the black-robed Battle King left the Bodhi Tree severely traumatized. Its form, originally ten thousand feet tall, shrank to its current size of about a thousand feet. Yet, even with the immense cost, the tree did not completely kill the Battle King. In the moment of his death, his negative emotions congregated and infiltrated the Bodhi Tree.
Over countless years, these negative emotions gradually eroded the Bodhi Tree, causing its simple sentience to lean towards darkness and cold. In other words, the Bodhi Tree, influenced by the Battle King’s negative emotions, gradually evolved into something evil.
And the illusion Xiao Yan experienced was formed by this evil. Over the years, many strong warriors had lost themselves in that illusion. Only the familiar aura of the Bodhi Seed in Xiao Yan’s hand awoke the deep memories of the tree, allowing Xiao Yan to arrive here. The current Bodhi Tree, if simplified, possesses two kinds of sentience: one is the original, kind sentience, and the other, driven by the dark emotions, leans towards evil…
“Do you want me to help dispel that evil sentience?” Xiao Yan gazed at the verdant ancient tree thoughtfully.
*Rustle!* Hearing Xiao Yan, the tree swayed, as if nodding.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan was speechless. “You overestimate me. That is a Battle King’s remnant, and I am utterly incapable of resolving it.”
Xiao Yan wasn’t lying. The negative emotions of a Battle King, so powerful that even the Bodhi Tree suffered, were beyond his newly attained nine-star Dou Zun strength. If he acted recklessly, he might draw those dangerous emotions onto himself, sealing his own fate.
*Rustle, rustle!* As Xiao Yan finished speaking, a light cluster emerged from the tree, containing a flame and a Bodhi Seed. The flame refined the seed, and a burst of pure qi entered the tree, faintly reducing the tree’s chilling aura.
“Using Bodhi Seeds to dispel the negative emotions?” Xiao Yan was stunned, looking at the seed in his hand skeptically. “This single, impure seed can help?”
*Rustle.* The tree shook, and green light points flew out, hovering in front of Xiao Yan. As the light diminished, Xiao Yan was dumbfounded. He found that these points were all Bodhi Seeds, and their lustrous purity vastly exceeded his own.
“One, two, three… twenty-four seeds.” Xiao Yan’s eyes scanned the green lights, and his mouth twitched. Though not as terrifying as the Bodhi Heart, Bodhi Seeds increased the chances of advancing to Dou Sheng. Any high-quality seed, or even his mottled one, could attract countless strong fighters. Yet, here, twenty-four appeared. He even considered grabbing them and running.
Fortunately, Xiao Yan remained rational. The Bodhi Tree, though lacking full sentience, could easily kill him hundreds of times with just minor instinctive actions. The realistic illusion had already shown him the tree’s power. Thankfully, it lacked full sentience; otherwise, few on the Dou Qi continent could resist it.
“Using Bodhi Seeds to expel negative emotions is too wasteful.” Despite not being his, the thought of refining them pained him.
*Rustle, rustle!* As Xiao Yan hesitated, the tree swayed, urging him on.
Sighing, Xiao Yan nodded. He spread his hand, and a pale purple-brown flame rose, into which he tossed a Bodhi Seed. Refining the highly potent energy within was difficult, even with the help of the flame. It took about an hour to reduce the seed to a clear, transparent liquid, which then evaporated into a wisp of greenish qi. This qi penetrated the tree, and the tree trembled, expelling a thin thread of black energy, which vanished into nothingness.
“Whew…” Relieved, Xiao Yan sat down. The difficulty of refining the seed far exceeded his expectations. Even with his current strength, his Dou Qi could not sustain the process continuously.
“I need to rest,” Xiao Yan wiped his sweat, waving at the tree.
*Rustle, rustle!* Seeing Xiao Yan pause, the tree swayed, and a green light formed a cushion at its base. A branch picked Xiao Yan up and placed him on the cushion.
The instant his buttocks touched the cushion, Xiao Yan’s body convulsed violently. An overwhelmingly pure energy surged into him, making his pores open, and a visible wisp of pure qi slowly permeated from his head…
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