The Ginseng Fruit Tree was equivalent to another existence of the Supreme realm; such was the intrinsic might of the tree itself. It was the spiritual root of heaven and earth born of the Earth Immortal Realm. When it wielded the Earth Immortal Realm's Great Dao of heaven and earth, its power grew all the more magnificent and unfathomable!
To control this tree was to command the Great Dao of the Earth Immortal Realm.
Back when Wuzhuang Temple first manifested, the Immortal Emperor had arrived beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree. In his capacity as Immortal Emperor, he had attuned himself to the tree, yet he had not thoroughly refined it.
With his cultivation at the time, he could only refine its mere surface. To go any further had exceeded his strength back then.
However, the Immortal Emperor Supreme had always possessed great patience. He could wait, and now, he had finally found his opportunity.
Xu Ying's Emerald Rock divine ability aimed to fundamentally alter the Great Dao of heaven and earth—an act the Ginseng Fruit Tree could never tolerate. All the Immortal Emperor needed to do was transport Wuzhuang Temple here.
As the Earth Immortal Realm's spiritual root of heaven and earth, this Dao tree did not even require his urging; it would naturally mobilize the Great Dao of heaven and earth to suppress Xu Ying. Meanwhile, the emperor could seize the opening while the tree clashed with Xu Ying to take complete control of it!
Yet to his surprise, the Ginseng Fruit Tree's resistance grew increasingly fierce. He had only managed to control it for a single instant to deliver a fatal strike against Xu Ying earlier. Now, he could command only half the tree's power.
This innate spiritual root seemed to loathe him intensely, though not quite to the extent that it loathed Xu Ying!
Xu Ying represented a foreign Dao, while the emperor was the executioner who had slaughtered the cultivators of the Earth Immortal Realm. To the Ginseng Fruit Tree, neither was good, but Xu Ying was the greater evil.
"I merely harvested some crops; I did not kill them, so it hardly counts as an unforgivable crime! You are just a fruit tree, not the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao—what gives you the right to pose as a saint?"
Enraged, the Immortal Emperor surged with magic power, invading the Ginseng Fruit Tree. "You should submit to me, become my weapon, become my Dao tree! We are the sovereign of the Earth Immortal Realm!"
His timing was extraordinarily cunning. By the time the Ginseng Fruit Tree realized it needed to resist him, he had already invaded half of it. Forced to simultaneously suppress Xu Ying and resist the emperor, the tree found itself strained.
The Immortal Emperor let out a thunderous shout and plunged his right arm directly into the trunk. His own flesh and blood fluttered outward as he forcibly merged with the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
His Chaos Sea Dao scene erupted, drawing upon the power of his Chaos Sea Dao scene situated within the Realm of the Great Void as well, pouring it into himself and the Ginseng Fruit Tree, forcing half his body to grow into one with the tree!
In an instant, man and tree coalesced into a bizarre organism. The Immortal Emperor's flesh and blood spread and climbed across the bark, as though intent on dominating the entire Ginseng Fruit Tree!
Meanwhile, the Ginseng Fruit Tree fought with all its might to expel his flesh and preserve its own purity!
At the same exact time, the Ginseng Fruit Tree's breathtaking blade light arrived before Xu Ying. Giving him no chance to evade, it struck squarely against his body, unleashing its apocalyptic power!
*Boom—!*
Violent tremors reverberated through the Heavenly Abyss. A beam of saber qi hundreds of thousands of li long slashed along the trench, nearly piercing through the entirety of the abyss!
Xu Ying was utterly overpowered by that blade light. His Zangification was thoroughly suppressed, and neither his Three Heavenly Dao Seals nor his Emerald Rock divine abilities could rival it.
*Boom!*
The saber qi bore down on Xu Ying, slamming him violently into the far end of the Heavenly Abyss. The shockwave kicked up by the blade reversed the flow of all the seawater rushing into the chasm. Joined by the erupting saber qi, it soared skyward, painting an aurora-like brilliance across the firmament.
Seen from afar, it resembled a colossal blade spanning hundreds of thousands of li.
The spectacle was magnificent beyond belief, leaving all who watched in awe.
Only after the saber qi dissipated did the onlookers along both banks of the Heavenly Abyss finally get a chance to peer inside. Yet Xu Ying had been blasted so far away that no one could see where he had landed.
Figures dashed along both rims, rushing to the edge of the Heavenly Abyss. Peering down, they saw only splattered blood that had sprayed outward in an explosive starburst, coating every surface.
Drifting in the air were fine threads of blood, stretching in all directions as if still growing.
Numerous fractured rays of spiritual light also illuminated the area.
The spectators felt their hearts leap into their throats.
The Demon Ancestor murmured, "Even the Leakless Golden Body couldn't withstand that strike. If only the monkey were here..."
Just as he said this, the voice of the Last Lord of Ziwei rang out, "The Leakless Golden Body held."
The Demon Ancestor started, following his gaze. Sure enough, he spotted Xu Ying's human skin plastered against the cliff face, buried beneath gore, minced flesh, and shattered bone. Without looking closely, one would never have recognized it as a human skin.
The Leakless Golden Body was indeed absurdly sturdy—not even the blade light released by the Ginseng Fruit Tree had managed to slice through it. But the strike's sheer force had been so overwhelming that it crushed Xu Ying until he burst!
The scattered flesh and blood had mostly erupted outward through his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and other apertures.
The might unleashed by the Immortal Emperor wielding the Ginseng Fruit Tree was truly terrifying. Xu Ying had still been capable of dueling him a moment ago, yet now he had been shattered into pieces before he could even withstand a single move!
"Has Dao Ancestor Xu... succumbed to his tribulation?" someone asked aloud.
Everyone's gaze fell upon the drifting threads of blood. Countless fine red filaments were still multiplying in midair like branches, closely resembling the branch-like patterns formed in Xu Ying's Zangified state.
Even amid that horrific strike from the Ginseng Fruit Tree, some of the Emerald Rock Great Dao had actually survived, leaving the onlookers astonished and uncertain.
Aside from these threads of blood, the Taiyi Cave Abyss was also rotating faintly in the air.
Great Dao Lord Xuhuang mused, "When a master dies, their Taiyi Cave Abyss departs, vanishing without a trace. Yet right now, the Taiyi Cave Abyss remains..."
Suddenly, a Dao scene flew out from the Taiyi Cave Abyss. It was none other than Xu Ying's thirteenth Dao scene: the Hongmeng Dao scene!
Great Dao Lord Xuhuang raised an eyebrow and praised, "Immeasurable merit."
That Hongmeng Dao scene had not been derived from Xu Ying comprehending the Hongmeng Great Dao; rather, when Xu Ying established each realm of the New Dao, severed his own cultivation, and cultivated anew from scratch, Hongmeng qi had arisen in response during his tribulations, coalescing into his thirteenth Dao scene.
Hongmeng qi was a reward bestowed by the Heavenly Dao of the Three Realms for his merit.
Tribulations inherently possessed both rewards and punishments, judged impartially by universal law without requiring gods of the Heavenly Dao to deliberately administer them. When someone of immense merit underwent a tribulation, their perils were few and their rewards great. When someone guilty of heinous evils crossed a tribulation, their perils were severe, carrying a high chance of perishing beneath the lightning.
Xu Ying was certainly hated by countless people, but as the Dao Ancestor of the New Dao, he was equally revered and worshipped by countless souls. Though he had yet to gather divine power, his merit was already established.
The Ginseng Fruit Tree was the spiritual root of the Earth Immortal Realm. It had shattered twelve of his Dao scenes—facing a slight challenge only with the Emerald Rock Dao scene while crushing the rest with ease—yet when it came to the Hongmeng Dao scene, the tree's blade light had not grazed it in the slightest!
Now, as the Hongmeng Dao scene flew forth and rotated gently, spiritual radiance converged and reorganized in the void. First, it reconstituted Xu Ying's Undying True Spirit, followed by his Primordial Spirit.
Simultaneously, the threads of blood in the air proliferated on their own. Branch-like patterns stitched together and grew, reforming flesh, bones, and skin.
Within the Taiyi Cave Abyss, the aura of the Taiyi Great Dao grew stronger and stronger, gradually manifesting phenomena such as the Chaos Sea, the Unfixed Long River, and the Glazed Pure Void.
The Dao power contained within this cave abyss was immense, capable of recreating Dao scenes. Soon, the other twelve Dao scenes—including the Emerald Rock—formed once more, becoming increasingly real!
Relying solely on this single Hongmeng Dao scene, Xu Ying remade his Primordial Spirit and physical body, steadily recovering.
Right at that moment, Wuzhuang Temple suddenly flew over. The Immortal Emperor sat high within Wuzhuang Temple, looking down from above. His body had already grown into one with the Ginseng Fruit Tree, turning into something inhuman.
The Ginseng Fruit Tree was also extraordinarily powerful. To fight him now was to fight itself; its branches lashed about, yet it could do nothing to dislodge him.
"Xu Ying, you no longer have the strength to fight me!"
The Immortal Emperor sought to raise his right hand, and branches of the Ginseng Fruit Tree whipped out, sweeping toward Xu Ying!
Xu Ying's physical body had mostly reformed. He raised a hand to block, only to be sent flying by the strike.
Under the Immortal Emperor's control, the branches coiled toward his Dao scenes, but those scenes swished instantly into the Taiyi Cave Abyss and vanished.
Xu Ying's left arm had yet to fully regenerate. He dodged the pursuing branches left and right, but the branches pierced through the void of heaven and earth, striking from unfathomable angles and repeatedly lashing his body, covering him in blood!
*Swish!*
A branch of the Ginseng Fruit Tree wrapped around Xu Ying's ankle, dragging him back. Xu Ying spun around and brought out the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler. A burst of sword qi lanced from the ruler, severing the branch.
With a shake of his hand, landscape scrolls filled the sky, raining down with whooshing sounds!
Unconcerned, the Immortal Emperor maneuvered the Ginseng Fruit Tree's countless branches to parry all attacks from the ruler!
Xu Ying bellowed as his left arm grew out. He reached out and grasped; his human skin on the rock wall flew up with a howl, inflating like a balloon until it looked like another Xu Ying.
Seeing this, Xing Daoyuan, the Master of the Niwan Palace, silently lamented the missed opportunity.
He had planned to wait until Xu Ying and the Immortal Emperor fought further away to steal Xu Ying's skin and slip into it himself. Unfortunately, Xu Ying had suddenly summoned his shed skin, leaving him no opening whatsoever.
Xu Ying cast One Qi Transforming into Three Pure Ones, bringing forth three Pure Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits. The three Primordial Spirits worked in unison to drive the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, sending sky-covering Dao realms crashing against the branches of the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
Virtually burning themselves up, the three Pure Primordial Spirits pushed their cultivation to the utmost limit, charging forward behind the ruler!
Yet although the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler was a Supreme treasure, it fell far short against the Ginseng Fruit Tree. In an instant, the ruler's countless attacks were shattered, and branch after branch surged toward Xu Ying!
Standing beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree, the Immortal Emperor Supreme looked upon him coldly. "Xu Ying, you are crops planted by my hand! A crop is just a crop—you will never have the chance to turn against your planter!"
He channeled the Ginseng Fruit Tree, gathering the Great Dao of heaven and earth across the Earth Immortal Realm. At that moment, ten thousand rays of multicolored haze flooded in from the void, making the Ginseng Fruit Tree blaze with radiant splendor!
*Whew—!*
The ten thousand rays transformed into another blade light, slashing down toward Xu Ying!
The previous slash had gravely wounded Xu Ying; had it not been for the Hongmeng Dao scene, he would already be dead. Back then, the Immortal Emperor Supreme had still been struggling to control the Ginseng Fruit Tree, lacking the opportunity to harvest him.
This time, however, even if Xu Ying did not die, he would not escape being harvested!
Xu Ying shouted loudly and hoisted the Hongmeng Dao scene, meeting the falling blade light!
Before the Immortal Emperor's flabbergasted eyes, that breathtaking blade light actually veered aside at the very last moment, narrowly skimming past the Hongmeng Dao scene and slicing into the void behind Xu Ying!
A thunderous rumble echoed from deep within space, fading into the distance until that peerless blade light finally dissolved into nothingness.
At the same time, thousands of dancing branches pushed past the obstruction of the Landscape Heaven-Measuring Ruler, thrusting toward Xu Ying. Yet these branches of the Ginseng Fruit Tree also swerved wide around the Hongmeng Dao scene, refusing to graze it in the least!
Using the Hongmeng Dao scene as a shield held before him, Xu Ying charged toward Wuzhuang Temple!
At his flanks, the three Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirits jointly raised the ruler, unfurling landscape scrolls across the void to intercept the branches attacking from other angles.
Pushing the Hongmeng Dao scene ahead of him, Xu Ying sprinted forward, storming into Wuzhuang Temple and bearing down directly on the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
*Swish, swish, swish!*
Countless branches lunged at him, yet they all curved around the Hongmeng Dao scene to strike at Xu Ying behind it, only to be blocked completely by the landscape paintings.
The Immortal Emperor Supreme was both shocked and furious. He repeatedly commanded the Ginseng Fruit Tree in an attempt to slay Xu Ying, but no matter the attack, the tree actively steered clear of the Hongmeng Dao scene.
That Hongmeng Dao scene was formed from Xu Ying's merit as the Dao Ancestor of the New Dao—the focus of faith and incense for countless Qi Practitioners in the future, worthy of being called the Patriarch of Ten Thousand Daos.
If the spiritual root of heaven and earth of the Earth Immortal Realm were to attack this Dao scene under the emperor's command, it would sever its own ties to all under heaven, forfeiting its very title as the realm's spiritual root.
Roaring in anger, the Immortal Emperor raised his left hand and blasted toward the incoming Xu Ying. However, with half his body already assimilated into the Ginseng Fruit Tree and his attention split on controlling it, his movements were clumsy, and the strike's power was far inferior to before!
Sensing the attack, Xu Ying suddenly sent his skin flying out in front of the Hongmeng Dao scene, taking the blow head-on.
Xu Ying had already refined his shed skin into an external avatar. Though its strength was meager, the power the Immortal Emperor could muster was likewise feeble!
The human-skin Xu Ying was sent hurtling backward, slamming into the Hongmeng Dao scene and deflating, only to inflate like a balloon once more.
The Immortal Emperor struck repeatedly, but Xu Ying darted up, down, left, and right behind the Hongmeng Dao scene. Whatever he could not dodge, the human-skin Xu Ying intercepted. Not a single strike landed on Xu Ying or the Hongmeng Dao scene.
*Thud!*
Xu Ying's feet landed in Wuzhuang Temple's Jade Capital. He sprinted forward, smashing straight through Wuzhuang Temple's Domain of Six Immortals, Dao domain, bodhimanda, Dao tree, and Dao flower along the way, arriving at the bodhimanda of the Ginseng Fruit Tree the very next moment!
Beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree, the Immortal Emperor Supreme was struggling frantically. Bound to the tree, he could not move his physical body and could barely muster a third of his full cultivation and might.
Only by breaking free of the Ginseng Fruit Tree could he restore his combat prowess!
Yet Xu Ying gave him no such chance. In an instant, the Hongmeng Dao scene dispersed, transforming into a wisp of Hongmeng purple qi swirling around his body. Xu Ying charged into the bodhimanda, heading straight for the Immortal Emperor Supreme!
Everywhere he passed, every branch of the Ginseng Fruit Tree retreated.
Above the Heavenly Abyss, the crowd watched in disbelief. Earlier, the Immortal Emperor Supreme had held total confidence, refining the Ginseng Fruit Tree, yet now he was tied down hand and foot, unable to counter Xu Ying!
Letting out a long cry, Xu Ying took the Heaven-Measuring Ruler from the hands of the three Pure Primordial Spirits. Cold light erupted from its tip as he thrust it toward the Immortal Emperor Supreme!
The Immortal Emperor Supreme snapped his head up, a smile spreading across his face. With a forceful wave of his hand, Primordial Monarch Zitong flew involuntarily from his Supreme cave abyss, hurtling toward Xu Ying's Heaven-Measuring Ruler!
Seeing Primordial Monarch Zitong bearing Yuan Weiyang's face, Xu Ying dazed for a fleeting moment. Yet paying it no heed, the Heaven-Measuring Ruler disregarded everything and thrust straight forward!
"No woman will ever shake my resolve to kill you!"
Chapter 626