Paradise Road

Two months later, Tang San felt that his state of mind had undergone a profound change.

The stories of those withered trees flowed into his heart like gentle streams, washing away his obsession with life and death.

The things that once filled him with fear, anxiety, and unease became less important in this graveyard of withered trees.

This allows him to deal with more powerful enemies with greater composure.

This is a sublimation of mindset, daring to face the challenge of life and death.

Tang San and Ye Lingling exchanged a glance, both seeing an even more determined light in each other's eyes.

They held hands and continued walking in the same direction.

Five days later, they saw a huge ancient tree that was about to wither.

The ancient tree soared into the clouds, its trunk so thick that it would take dozens of people to encircle it, and its canopy, like an independent sky, covered the ground for miles around.

Its bark is covered with deep lines, recording the passage of time.

This ancient tree is probably over 300,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living things in this forest.

But at this moment, it was on its last legs.

Its leaves turned yellow with curled edges, and large, withered leaves fell from the branches, covering the ground in a thick layer.

The tree trunk was covered in cracks; life was slipping away rapidly.

Tang San stood before the ancient tree, a complex mix of emotions welling up within him.

Just a few days ago, his Soul Power broke through the bottleneck of level 80.

Ye Lingling also successfully broke through the level 70 bottleneck, taking only six months to go from level 66 to level 70, breaking through four levels in a row.

The Forest of Life was a perfect Mimicry Training Ground for the two of them, and their Soul Power grew rapidly as they cultivated there.

Now, if Tang San can absorb the Soul Ring from this 300,000-year-old tree before him, he will obtain a Soul Ring that is unimaginably powerful.

The power of a 300,000-year-old Plant-type Soul Beast's Soul Rings is self-evident.

With such temptation right in front of them, no one could resist.

Ye Lingling stood beside Tang San, looking at his eyes that seemed to shift with light, and remained silent for a moment.

Then she spoke softly, "Third Brother, wouldn't this be a temptation? If we choose to kill it for the Soul Ring, will it affect our assessment?"

Upon hearing this, Tang San frowned slightly, momentarily caught in a dilemma.

He recalled the past six months, each step seemingly designed to give them more complete control over their Life Force.

After struggling for a long time, he finally convinced himself to give up his plan to make the ancient tree his Soul Ring.

"You're right," Tang San's voice was a little hoarse. "If I kill it now for my own improvement, then all the insights I gained in the past six months will have been wasted."

He took a deep breath and suppressed the greedy thought in his heart.

"We'll save it."

Ye Lingling's lips curved into a slight smile, and she nodded.

The two walked to opposite sides of the ancient tree, placed their palms on the trunk, and began to heal the tree.

Both of their Martial Soul possessed extremely high vitality, and they continuously and repeatedly infused the ancient tree with their life force.

Injection, meditation to recover, then injection again, meditation to recover again.

Nourished by the life force of the two people, the ancient tree began to undergo visible changes.

The cracked bark began to moisten again, and the cracks closed one by one as if stitched together by an invisible hand.

The withered yellow leaves begin to turn green from the edges, gradually becoming emerald green, and regain their vitality.

For three whole months, the two worked almost non-stop, continuously infusing the ancient tree with life force.

Actually, this ancient tree was saved a month ago.

But Tang San felt that since he had chosen this path, he should see it through to the end.

So the two of them spent another month repeatedly infusing their life force into the ancient tree to help it recover to its original strength before the healing process was complete.

Tang San's face was somewhat pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his eyes held an unprecedented peace.

After three months of fully controlling his life force, Tang San gradually understood that this was a process of life transformation, the purpose of which was to purify the life force of his body by constantly consuming and restoring it.

While infusing them with vitality, they also eliminate impurities from the body.

Within this forest, they restored their purest vitality, ultimately making their life force even deeper and purer.

The feeling was indescribable; it was as if I had been blessed by the countless plants in this forest, a kind of sublimation from the inside out.

Their Soul Power was also much deeper, but neither of them had Soul Rings, so it was impossible to sense the specific level of their Soul Power.

After settling everything, Tang San and Ye Lingling continued on their way.

The air was filled with an increasingly strong sense of life, as if every speck of dust contained a vibrant vitality.

Five days later, they arrived at the entrance to a valley.

The valley is long, winding its way into the distance.

There are sloping hillsides on both sides, covered with all kinds of plants.

The life force here is several times stronger than anywhere else I've been before.

Tang San took a deep breath, feeling the warm life energy flow into his body through his nasal cavity, like drinking a sip of warm honey water, warming him from his throat all the way to his stomach.

He felt an indescribable sense of comfort, as if every pore on his body had relaxed.

Looking into the distance, the other end of the valley appears to be the outer edge of the forest.

Tang San said with delight, "Lingling, now that we've crossed this valley, we should be considered to have finished our trials in the Forest of Life."

Ye Lingling also glanced into the distance, a hint of caution flashing in her eyes. "Yes, Third Brother. But I feel this valley won't be easy to cross. There seem to be several violent auras inside. It seems we'll need a real battle in this challenge."

Tang San nodded and reached out to grasp Ye Lingling's hand. "No matter what, we'll get through smoothly."

The two smiled at each other and walked into the valley side by side.

At the entrance to the valley, three ancient characters are carved on a bluish-gray boulder half-buried in the soil.

"Paradise Road."

Tang San's lips curled into a smile, "The Paradise Road... Interesting. It's clearly the final journey, yet it's called the Paradise Road. It seems this trial is indeed quite dangerous."

They continued walking.

The two entered the Paradise Road and, after walking for a while, were attacked by a 40,000-year-old Plant-type Soul Beast. Tang San easily defeated it using the Blue Silver Overlord Spear.

A black Soul Ring slowly rose up.

Their first attack was against a 40,000-year-old Soul Beast; the challenges ahead are likely to be considerable.

Tang San and Ye Lingling's expressions also became serious.

The two continued deeper into the valley.

After walking for a while, the terrain ahead became more open, the slopes on both sides became gentler, and the vegetation on the ground began to grow exceptionally lush.

But unlike the dark jungle before, this area was exceptionally bright, as if countless tiny points of light were floating in the air.

In the center of this open area bathed in light, grows a strange and beautiful plant.

It was a huge Sunflower, with a flower head the size of a millstone, and petals that were pure gold with warm glowing edges.

At the center of the flower disc is not an ordinary stamen, but a slowly rotating sphere of light, radiating a soft yet rich aura of life and light.

The Sunflower stood there silently, neither attacking nor moving, blocking their path.