#22 - Chapter 22: World Tree Fragment

“Li Qingyi, you dare to kill my Wang family's ancestor! I, Black Flame, swear to never rest until one of us is dead! Ah ah ah ah!”

【You blasted the Wang family's ancestor to death with a single punch, and from afar came the hateful, painful voice of Daoist Black Flame.】

【The Wang family's ancestor plotted for Daoist Black Flame to enter the Golden Sun Secret Realm, nurturing Daoist Black Flame to become a Heaven's Path Foundation Establishment cultivator. The bond between these grandfather and grandson was extremely deep.】

【Therefore, Daoist Black Flame's face is full of hatred, wanting to avenge the Wang family's ancestor by killing you, but he was stopped by True Man Wubai.】

“Black Flame, you dare to kill in front of me?!” True Man Wubai snorted coldly, directly striking out with a palm, blocking Daoist Black Flame.

This palm resembled five enormous, ancient mountain peaks, directly materializing in the sky, actually trapping Daoist Black Flame.

“So what if you're a Core Formation cultivator? Ancient Jianmu Diagram, break for me!” Daoist Black Flame went berserk. His ancestor had been killed, and his heart was now filled with hatred. He directly spat out three mouthfuls of vital blood, urging his magic power, and slapped his storage bag with his left hand.

A blue scroll painting, three meters long and two meters wide, floated in the sky.

This was the Lower Grade Dao Artifact, 《Ancient Jianmu Diagram》.

Under Daoist Black Flame's urging, the Ancient Jianmu Diagram directly collided with the five enormous mountain peak fingers.

On this Ancient Jianmu Diagram were drawn the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu that existed in the Primordial Era, with savage, giant beasts in the four corners of the painting, as if from the Primordial Era. The painting's sky had ten great suns, and below was a fur-clad man bending and shooting an arrow.

“Break for me!” Daoist Black Flame spat out another mouthful of heart's blood, urging his magic power. Under his urging, the figures in the Ancient Jianmu Diagram seemed to come alive. One by one, the giant beasts leaped out, colliding with the mountain peak fingers. Finally, the fur-clad man in the center of the Jianmu Diagram leaped out of the painting and shot an arrow with a bent bow.

With a "bang", the five mountain peak fingers shattered directly!

This was the power of a Dao Artifact, allowing a Foundation Establishment cultivator to break a Core Formation True Man's attack.

If an ordinary seventh-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, or even a tenth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, encountered True Man Wubai, these five enormous mountain peak fingers would probably only be able to await death.

But this Black Flame, relying on the Dao Artifact Ancient Jianmu Diagram, actually shattered the mountain peak fingers.

Lin Changqing, who was watching the battle from the side, thought to himself that this Dao Artifact Ancient Jianmu Diagram was indeed a good treasure and that he must obtain it in his next simulation.

“It is rumored that once the Ancient Jianmu Diagram is activated, it can display mythical scenes from the Primordial Era.”

“Now, with just a fragment, it can allow the giant beasts and great shamans that existed in the Primordial Era to take action. This Jianmu Diagram is indeed well-deserved of its reputation.”

“However, if you were a Core Formation cultivator, this old man would definitely retreat three times, but it's a pity that you are only Foundation Establishment…”

On the other side, seeing the five mountain peak fingers being broken, True Man Wubai's expression remained unchanged. He directly opened his mouth and spat out three pure white Tai Xuan swords.

“Tai Xuan Myriad Sword Formation!”

True Man Wubai shouted coldly. The three Tai Xuan swords instantly generated two, two generated three, three generated myriad things, transforming into tens of thousands of sword bodies with killing intent, and formed a sword formation that directly attacked Black Flame.

In an instant, the Tai Xu Sword Formation enveloped Black Flame again.

And this time, no matter how Black Flame urged the Jianmu Diagram, he could no longer break the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation.

【The Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation is True Man Wubai's trump card. Once this move is used, even if Daoist Black Flame is a Heaven's Path Foundation Establishment cultivator and has a Lower Grade Dao Artifact in hand, he is still no match for True Man Wubai.】

【The gap between Foundation Establishment and Core Formation is too great. It is not a gap that a Lower Grade Dao Artifact can bridge.】

【To some extent, Core Formation is a key point that determines the direction of the war between the righteous and demonic paths.】

【The reason why the righteous path is retreating steadily is because it is inferior to the demonic path in terms of the number of Core Formation True Men.】

【The battle continued for another two minutes. Under the attack of the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation, Daoist Black Flame was repeatedly and severely injured. He was directly beaten into serious injuries in these two minutes.】

【You are watching the battle from the side. Judging from the current situation, your plan has been implemented perfectly. You persuaded True Man Wubai to ambush Black Flame. Now the matter is coming to an end. Under the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation, Daoist Black Flame looks like he is about to be killed.】

【But you always feel that something is wrong in your heart. On the surface, Daoist Black Flame has already used all his trump cards: Heaven's Path Foundation Establishment and the Lower Grade Dao Artifact Jianmu Diagram.】

【But you know that the opportunities Daoist Black Flame obtained in the Golden Sun Secret Realm are definitely not just a Lower Grade Dao Artifact.】

【You feel that Daoist Black Flame should still have a trump card…】

“Li Qingyi, Wubai, you wait for me, especially you, Li Qingyi. Today you killed my grandfather, this hatred is irreconcilable!” Daoist Black Flame looked at Lin Changqing and Wubai with resentful eyes. At this moment, his whole body was seriously injured, and his divine soul was almost destroyed.

“I didn't want to use this treasure, you forced me, you forced me!” Daoist Black Flame shouted loudly, directly forming a Dao seal with his left hand. The skin and flesh of his whole body strangely and rapidly withered. He weakened from middle age to old age at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, a vast blue light suddenly enveloped him.

That was a power that seemed to come from endless time and space, the end of endless void.

There were even bursts of sacrificial chants from ancient times. Immortals, ancient gods, Buddhas, and great demons were chanting around a towering, giant Jianmu.

Gradually, a piece of wood fragment appeared in Black Flame's hand. This piece of wood fragment was entirely cyan-yellow, with an indescribable antiquity. In the instant it appeared, the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation was instantly shattered, and True Man Wubai spat out blood and retreated.

“Li Qingyi, Wubai, you two wait for me. You can never imagine what kind of opportunity I have obtained.”

“I will come back to kill you two.” The wood fragment directly wrapped the weak and disfigured Black Flame and disappeared.

True Man Wubai wanted to stop him but couldn't, because this wood fragment was an unknown treasure and was too fast.

【You saw this scene from the side. Your previous guess was correct. Daoist Black Flame indeed had a trump card.】

【That cyan-yellow wood fragment may be the heaven-defying treasure that allowed Daoist Black Flame to become a Heaven's Path Foundation Establishment cultivator.】

【You guessed what level of treasure that wood fragment was, that it could shatter True Man Wubai's trump card, the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation, in an instant, and lead Black Flame to disappear directly, leaving a Core Formation expert like Wubai helpless and unable to pursue him.】

【You must know that True Man Wubai is not an ordinary Core Formation cultivator, but a peak third-level Core Formation cultivator. The Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation has once trapped and killed a first-level Core Formation demonic cultivator.】

【The wood fragment can shatter the Tai Xu Myriad Sword Formation at once. Perhaps it is a Middle Grade Dao Artifact, an Upper Grade Dao Artifact, you guessed in your heart…】

【While you were wondering what that wood fragment was, True Man Wubai's words made you…】

“To think that traitor ran away. I didn't expect that this traitor would obtain such a heaven-defying opportunity, actually obtaining a World Tree fragment.”

“What, a World Tree fragment?”

【True Man Wubai said that the wood was a World Tree fragment. Hearing this, a monstrous wave arose in your heart.】

【The World Tree is something that is both distant and unfamiliar yet familiar to every cultivator. In every myth and legend, there is a shadow of the World Tree.】

【According to legend, in the Primordial Era, or even before the Primordial Era, in the center of the world, there was a Heaven-Reaching Giant Tree that connected the origin Immortal Realm of the myriad worlds. It is said that mortals who climb the World Tree can climb to the Immortal Realm step by step, thereby becoming immortals.】