No one cared how many powerful warriors fell at the hands of the five semi-saint puppets. Everyone's eyes turned to the ancient Bodhi tree. The air
was scorching, and everyone was wary.
It was obvious that if even five semi-saints had perished here, there must be an even more terrifying danger lurking.
They even unconsciously wondered if the next enemy would be a true Dou Sheng.
With this thought, many began to retreat. But after all the hardships they had endured to reach this point, how could they just give up?
Invisibly, they were experiencing a torment within themselves.
The atmosphere was eerily silent.
After more than ten breaths, the six Dou Zun warriors from the temporary alliance finally sighed, shook their heads, and turned to leave.
No one laughed at them; in the face of such temptation, giving up was a sign of great courage.
After all, the gap between a true Dou Sheng and a semi-saint was indescribable. They could surround and kill the semi-saint puppets, but in the face of a Dou Sheng, they would be slaughtered. By then, most of those present would likely be dead.
Who could guarantee that they would be one of the lucky ones?
Swish!
Amidst their deliberations, Gu Xun'er and Hun Yu took action first, leading their team slowly towards the ancient Bodhi tree. Their air of preparedness showed they weren't taking any chances.
Chen Guan, knowing full well what they were about to face, turned and cast a barrier to block anyone's sight and detection.
"Do you know that the ancient Bodhi tree possesses three treasures?"
"I've read in the records that they are the enlightenment gained under the tree, the Bodhi mind, and the Bodhi seeds," the Hua Sect's Grand Elder replied, unsure of Chen Guan's reasoning.
Chen Guan nodded slightly and said, "Our Danta is renowned across the continent for its alchemy, and we possess a greater understanding of these rare treasures. The opportunities within the ancient Bodhi tree test one's state of mind. If one's mindset is insufficient, one is likely to be lost. Therefore, you must carefully consider whether to proceed."
Unable to explain further, Chen Guan could only offer a warning.
He didn't sternly advise those lacking the strength to avoid entering and risking their lives; it all came down to personal choice.
Respect the fate of others and let go of your complacency.
After all, what they faced next was a high risk, but it could also be considered an opportunity. As long as they could weather it, the rewards would flow.
Perhaps because they had been following Chen Guan throughout the journey, the group trusted his words and didn't think he was aimless, so they all fell into deep thought.
"Hua Wu, Hua Xue, the four of you should stop here and don't take any risks," the Grand Elder commanded, looking at the four members of the Hua Sect.
The strongest of these four elders was only a five-star Dou Zun, and their individual strength was nothing special in this area. Without mutual support, their chances of falling were high.
Hua Wu and the other three, aware of their own circumstances, nodded in agreement.
Back in Yin Valley, Granny Lu also left the newly promoted Dou Zun behind and then looked at Ran Qingchen, somewhat undecided.
In terms of personal strength, Ran Qingchen was at least above average here.
However, due to Yin Valley's secluded environment, his mental state was undoubtedly lacking, and he needed to cultivate it slowly.
The opportunity at the Ancient Bodhi Tree was rare, but Yin Valley's inheritance was even more important. To prevent any unforeseen consequences, Granny Lu had already made a decision.
However, just as she was about to speak, Chen Guan pulled the glowing Bodhi seed from his ring.
"Sister Qingchen, take it with you; it might help you avoid getting lost."
The Bodhi seed had a miraculous effect here. In the original storyline, it was with the help of the Bodhi seed that Xiao Yan quickly regained consciousness from the illusion.
Chen Guan was aware of this, but he was confident in his mental strength. Even people like Jiufeng and Hunyu had escaped the illusion unscathed; it would be a complete joke for him to be trapped.
As for Xiao Yixian, Yun Yun, and the others, they weren't in serious danger either; their escape was only a matter of time. Chen Guan didn't intend to intervene; he could use the ancient Bodhi tree to elevate their mental state.
For these reasons, Chen Guan handed the Bodhi seed to Ran Qingchen.
"Chen Guan, you..."
Ran Qingchen had never seen a Bodhi seed before, but she knew it was no ordinary object and immediately began to refuse.
Perhaps due to Yin Gu's philosophy, she wasn't as obsessed with the opportunity at the ancient Bodhi tree as others. She had come this time with the goal of training and, incidentally, meeting Yun Yun.
As for opportunity, if it comes, it's a blessing; if it goes, it's a fate.
This mindset was truly refreshing.
But she truly believed it.
"Don't worry, I'm confident. I won't need it."
With a faint smile, Chen Guan dispelled the barrier and, with a wave of his hand, approached the ancient Bodhi tree.
Ran Qingchen quickly put away the small box containing the Bodhi seeds to prevent them from being coveted by other teams, and quickly followed.
The Sky Demon Phoenix Clan and the temporary alliance had likely made their decision by then, and with only a few exceptions, they were all heading towards the ancient Bodhi tree.
Over a distance of a hundred feet, everyone moved with extreme caution. It took nearly five minutes to finally reach within ten feet of the tree.
This distance seemed like a boundary. As Gu Xun'er and the Soul Clan in front of them took another step, something strange happened.
Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from the massive, mountain-like tree!
The light transformed into a beam, so fast that no one could react, instantly enveloping everyone within a hundred feet.
The sudden scene startled everyone. Just as they were about to unleash their Dou Qi, they were horrified to discover that their Dou Qi had vanished completely!
With a whoosh!
As everyone gasped in shock, the beam of light began to rapidly shrink. With a whoosh, it retreated back into the tree at lightning speed.
With it, vanished everyone who had been engulfed by the beam.
"Sect Master!"
"Clan Leader!"
"..."
Cries of surprise echoed from a hundred feet away, yet no one dared approach.
...
Here was a world of yellow sand, stretching endlessly to the horizon, with no end in sight.
The deadly sand sea was majestic and serene, broken only by the occasional sandstorm that raged in all directions, causing a searing pain on the face.
Chen Guan didn't know how long he'd been standing there. When he came to, the sand was already up to his waist, covering his lower body.
"Who am I? Where is this? Why am I here?"
A series of questions popped up in his mind. Chen Guan gently rubbed his brows. A swelling sensation spread in his head, as if something was trying to squeeze out. The more he thought about it, the more unbearable the pain became.
Wow!
He leaped out of the yellow sand and stepped into the sky.
I am a Dou Zong master!
A random thought arose again, a strange, innate knowledge.
Putting aside all distractions, Chen Guan decided to first understand the current situation. He
took a step into the air, each one a hundred feet long.
Soon, a city stood in the heart of the desert. Atop its walls stood fierce, weapon-wielding Serpentine soldiers, their eagle-like eyes scanning the humans and Serpentines entering and leaving the city gates.
Chen Guan concealed himself and observed for a long time, gradually gathering enough information from the people entering and leaving.
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This is the holy city of the Serpent People!
This desert is the Tagor Desert.
On its outskirts lie three powerful human empires: the Mulan Empire, the Izumo Empire, and the Luoyan Empire.
These three empires are immensely powerful, oppressing the Serpent People who inhabit the desert. The conflict is intensifying. Only in this Serpent People's holy city, with the wise and powerful queen at the helm, has humanity finally begun to restrain itself.
"Queen Medusa!"
Chen Guan muttered the name he had heard so many times today, aroused by curiosity, eager to see if she was truly that remarkable.
With a flick of his feet, Chen Guan entered the holy city, unnoticed, and arrived with remarkable ease at the Temple of Medusa, a place of worship for countless Serpent People.
"This Queen Medusa doesn't seem very powerful, but she is quite beautiful."
Arriving at the temple, Chen Guan's heart raced, and he vanished into thin air, feeling a sense of omnipotence.
Gazing at the queen, resting on her throne with her smooth forehead resting, Chen Guan silently commented.
Chen Guan had no intention of revealing himself. He remained hidden, quietly observing the queen.
Day after day.
Chen Guan had seen her high above the Holy City, receiving the worship of the people. He had also seen her, in the dark and windy night, single-handedly slay over a dozen attacking Dou Huang masters. Wounded and wounded, she returned to her secret chamber, her brow furrowed as she diligently cultivated for half a month before regaining her peak power...
month after month.
Occasionally, when she was feeling inspired, Chen Guan would mysteriously grant the queen a spiritual boost, allowing her to repeatedly break through bottlenecks in her cultivation and master a variety of powerful trump cards.
As a result, the Serpent People grew increasingly powerful.
Naturally, they were targeted more aggressively by the three empires.
Finally, one day, war broke out.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, this queen, renowned for her ferocity and splendour, single-handedly took on dozens of Dou Huang masters from the three empires, remaining undefeated and rendering them invincible.
This battle was awe-inspiring!
The Serpent People also rose to prominence, no longer daring to bully them.
However, Queen Medusa was not complacent. Her goal had not yet been achieved. She swore an oath before the Serpent People's totem to lead the Serpent People out of the desert, out of this prison.
Towards this goal, Queen Medusa cultivated with unwavering determination, scouring the vast desert and gathering every available resource.
One day, she obtained a strange fire!
Without hesitation, she began to refine it.
Chen Guan watched her body scream and struggle within the fire, its life force gradually fading.
The swelling in his head intensified a thousandfold, as if it were about to burst. He slapped his head several times, then took a last, deep look at the near-death Queen Medusa, suppressing the overwhelming urge to attack.
"What an indescribable dream! If it continues like this, it'll reach an obsessive point. But let's stop here."
Chen Guan shook his head slightly. As a Dou Zong powerhouse, he could do anything and already foresee his 'future': a life together, free and unfettered between heaven and earth. How enviable!
But it was too good to be true.
He had sensed something was amiss the first time he secretly offered assistance, but he let things take their own course, simply wanting to see how this 'movie' would unfold.
Overall, Chen Guan was quite satisfied, and he roughly guessed that it was probably because of his long separation from Medusa, and the deep longing she felt for her, that there was only one female protagonist. It
was a strange experience.
Even now, Medusa was on the verge of death. Even if it was fake, he didn't want to see it. He also didn't want to go along with it any longer, so he simply flipped the table and called it quits.
With a thought, the world before him shattered.
As the world exploded, Chen Guan's mind drifted into a trance. His vision blurred, and when he returned to reality, he found himself in a space shimmering with emerald green.
Within this space, an ancient tree, roughly ten feet tall, stood as if eternal. Its emerald green, as if cast from the finest jade, emanated an astonishing vitality. This tree
was identical to the massive, thousands-foot-tall Bodhi tree outside, only seemingly shrunk countless times smaller!
"Ancient Bodhi tree...what do you want to do?"
Chen Guan asked, knowingly, gazing at the smaller Bodhi tree not far away.
As Chen Guan watched, the emerald-green tree suddenly trembled slightly, and balls of light floated out from its core, finally hovering before Chen Guan.
The balls of light shifted, emitting a variety of images.
Chen Guan's gaze revealed the images of the people who had previously entered the Bodhi tree:
Xun'er, Hun Yu, Jiu Feng, Xiao Yixian, Yun Yun, and others.
Dozens of figures appeared, some with faces struggling in agony, others with faces of ecstasy, some with smiles of contentment. A few, expressionless, slept soundly...
The only exception was Ran Qingchen. She had awakened from her illusion and was curiously examining the Bodhi seed in her hand.
Clearly, the seed had worked its magic.
"This should be your origin. What do you intend by drawing me in?"
Having anticipated the illusion everyone would experience, Chen Guan remained unfazed. He withdrew his gaze and, with a wary expression, looked towards the ancient Bodhi tree.
At Chen Guan's questioning, the tree shook again, and another ball of light emerged.
This time, the scene within the ball of light was no longer the image of someone entering the illusion, but a towering Bodhi tree.
Chen Guan's gaze was fixed on the air in front of the tree.
There, a figure clad in black stood in the air. An aura, as if that of the supreme being of heaven and earth, slowly emanated from their body. Under this aura, even the vast, ten-thousand-foot-tall Bodhi tree seemed dwarfed.
"Is this the fallen Dou Di?"
Chen Guan's heart trembled, inexplicably shocked.
Even though it was just an image, the transcendent aura still made him, possessing a celestial soul, tremble.
In the image, the black-clothed Dou Di began to attack the ancient Bodhi tree. After a long struggle, he finally defeated the black-clothed Dou Di with the help of a mysterious Dou Di.
Before the image stopped, wisps of black air suddenly emerged from the void. As soon as these air currents appeared, they quickly rushed into the ancient Bodhi tree. With the entry of these air currents, the clear air permeating the ancient Bodhi tree was clearly given a subtle and cold tinge.
That was the negative emotions of the Dou Di powerhouse!
Chen Guan remembered the incident vividly. Witnessing it firsthand, while still visibly shocked, he managed to keep his expression under control.
"Puff!"
The ball of light slowly dimmed, then condensed into a formless object that rushed into Chen Guan's mind like lightning, eventually dispersing as a strange stream of information.
Chen Guan closed his eyes, digesting this strange flow of information. After a long moment, he slowly opened them.
From this stream of information, he learned that the ancient Bodhi tree had existed since ancient times, but had yet to develop sufficient intelligence, possessing only basic spiritual instincts such as self-preservation and counterattack. The
ancient Bodhi tree itself harbored no evil intentions. The previous illusions were caused by the negative emotions of the black-clothed Dou Di, which had automatically condensed them.
Simply put, the ancient Bodhi tree now possessed two spiritual faculties: one its own, and one the result of the Dou Di's negative emotions.
Because its own intelligence was suppressed, various crises arose.
This time, the spiritual intelligence deep within the ancient Bodhi tree's memory was awakened by the aura of the Bodhi seed in Ran Qingchen's hand.
The ancient Bodhi tree wants to save itself and return to its former appearance. The extremely yang and strong strange fire in Chen Guan's body is the hope it sees!