Life Tree, Life Gate

Wife, mother!

Xiao Wu's pupils constricted, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The image of killing one's wife, obtaining her Soul Bone, and "Ascending to Godhood" immediately played out in her mind.

Gradually, hatred crept into her eyes.

She did not know the exact details, nor did she know how Li Yu had learned of these matters, but what reason did Li Yu have to deceive her now?

She could not think of one.

Because her life and death were currently in Li Yu's hands, and he seemingly had no reason to lie to her.

"Why do you know these things? How am I supposed to trust you? What do you want me to do?"

In the end, Xiao Wu was the first to speak.

Li Yu chuckled softly as he walked up to Xiao Wu. He reached out, pinched her chin, and lifted her face.

"I have no obligation to tell you any of this. Whether you believe me is up to you."

After a pause, his fingers tightened slightly as he continued, "But now, you only have two choices."

"What choices?"

Xiao Wu stared into Li Yu's eyes, wanting to see what this man before her was truly thinking.

Unfortunately, his eyes contained nothing but calm. She could not glean a single piece of information.

And with her current strength only at the Three-Ring Soul Grandmaster level, she had no ability to resist. She could only take things one step at a time.

"Very simple."

Li Yu released Xiao Wu. "First, die! I can reveal your identity right now. I'm sure I can sell you for a good price."

"And the second?"

Xiao Wu was not particularly surprised.

As a Soul Beast, her most valuable possessions were her Soul Ring and the Soul Bone that would inevitably form. Naturally, she would fetch a high price.

"The second is still death."

Li Yu's tone was calm, as if he were discussing something utterly ordinary.

Xiao Wu frowned, but did not interrupt him.

Sure enough, after pausing briefly, Li Yu continued, "Of course, the ways you die will be different."

"Oh? Death either way. What difference does it make?"

"Of course there's a difference! In the first, you're merchandise. In the second, you can first go and accomplish what you need to accomplish. I can even help you—for example, with revenge!"

"Hm?"

Xiao Wu was somewhat surprised. Then she laughed mockingly. "Are you sure you'd dare? Or rather, are you really willing to let me go?"

As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast reborn as a human, her current strength was indeed weak.

But if she left and returned to the Star Dou Great Forest, she was confident she could cultivate safely to the level of a Titled Douluo.

By then, even if she personally claimed to be a Soul Beast, no one would be able to detect anything unusual.

Not even a Titled Douluo!

Of course, Tang Hao and Li Yu, who had already met her, were exceptions.

So she simply did not believe Li Yu could be generous enough to let her leave.

She would rather believe that Li Yu was merely amusing himself with all this, and that her final fate would still be death.

However.

Li Yu's promise to "help her take revenge" still moved her deeply.

Compared with dying outright, if she could avenge her mother before death, she would naturally be willing.

"What's there to fear?"

A trace of pride appeared in Li Yu's eyes. "As long as you dare agree, I naturally dare let you leave."

After a pause, he added, "Of course, the world is neither too large nor too small, but finding someone is still somewhat difficult, especially when you're a Soul Beast.

"So naturally, I'll need to leave some means on you.

"However, this method will only ensure that I can find you at any time. It will not affect anything else."

After speaking, Li Yu quietly watched Xiao Wu, waiting for her decision.

Though he saw the hesitation on Xiao Wu's face, he remained confident that she would accept his terms.

Revenge had practically become Xiao Wu's obsession.

As for her feelings for Tang San, he believed that after hearing about Tang Hao and Ah Yin, Xiao Wu had already come to her senses.

Of course.

When he told her about Tang Hao and Ah Yin, he had not mentioned that Ah Yin had willingly sacrificed herself for Tang Hao.

Xiao Wu had filled in the rest herself.

And Li Yu himself had doubts about the matter.

First of all, the timing was simply too coincidental.

Ah Yin had just given birth to Tang San and entered a period of weakness, yet Spirit Hall followed the scent right to their door?

And Tang Hao's cultivation had just happened to be nearing the Titled Douluo level. What he seemed to lack was precisely such a Soul Ring.

Second, as a Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin's advantage lay in forests!

Once she entered a forest, with her abilities, she could have used the vision of countless plants to map out a perfect escape route!

Yet when Tang Hao took her fleeing, they passed through cliffs and barren rocky ground. Forget forests—even dead trees were rarely seen.

Why was that?

Could it be that after "loving" Ah Yin for so many years, he did not even know what Ah Yin was capable of?

Finally, the Clear Sky Sect's attitude was unclear.

Tang Hao falling in love with a Soul Beast was naturally an outrage against the world.

It was understandable that the Clear Sky Sect had shut him out after learning of it.

But why were they willing to let Tang Hao leave with Ah Yin?

Was it merely out of consideration for family ties?

If so, allowing Tang Hao, who had not yet reached the Titled Douluo level, to be hunted outside was not even crueler and more devoid of familial affection?

Moreover, the Clear Sky Sect occupied a naturally defensible stronghold.

If they had truly wished to stand as guarantors, could Spirit Hall really have stormed in so easily?

Not to mention that during this period, the Clear Sky Sect had even proactively severed ties with affiliated clans such as the Strength Clan.

What did that mean?

Were they deliberately weakening their own power?

It was difficult for Li Yu not to believe that there might have been another conspiracy behind it all!

Who could guarantee that this was not the Clear Sky Sect's plan to give Tang Hao a push, allowing him to obtain Ah Yin's Soul Ring and Soul Bone?

And had Tang Hao tacitly cooperated with it?

Li Yu did not know, but compared to Tang Hao's one-sided account, he was more willing to believe his own deductions.

And Tang San's character was already plain to see. Though he had lived two lives and some things in his nature had long been fixed—

after coming to Douluo Continent for so many years, how could he not have been influenced by Tang Hao?

Therefore, whether toward Tang San or Tang Hao, Li Yu could feel nothing but disgust.

"Fine, I agree!"

At that moment, after pondering for a long time, Xiao Wu had made her decision.

She had no other choice.

As for allowing Li Yu to leave some tracking method on her, she was not afraid.

In her eyes, though Li Yu was exceptionally strong, he was ultimately only a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. Even if she currently lacked the means to remove whatever tracking technique he used—

could Da Ming and Er Ming, who were still at their peak, not deal with it?

Therefore, she had no concerns about this.

She even mocked Li Yu inwardly for being too young!

He actually chose to trust a Soul Beast like her. How ridiculous!

Humans and Soul Beasts were naturally irreconcilable enemies. If she truly honored this agreement, then she would be the one with a problem in her head.

Of course, before Li Yu let her leave, she would not reveal even the slightest hint of these emotions.

What was more—

she intended to use this chance to cultivate peacefully, striving for greater strength and perhaps even avenging her mother!

Simply put.

Li Yu coveted her Soul Ring and Soul Bone, while she could use Li Yu's identity to find the enemy who had killed her mother, perhaps even exacting her revenge.

As for wanting her to kill herself and offer up her bones?

They would settle that with their fists when the time came!

Then, she would make Li Yu understand that while the Soul Beast Race was not entirely united internally, it was nowhere near as consumed by infighting as humanity!

This world should not be ruled by humans alone!

"Good, very good!"

Li Yu clapped his hands, then showed no intention of wasting any more words.

He clenched his hand, and a transparent Elemental Cube appeared.

Immediately afterward, he infused it with Soul Power.

Unlike before, the Soul Power he injected this time was emerald green!

This was Soul Power with the life attribute!

Even Xiao Wu watched Li Yu's jade-green Soul Power with shock in her eyes.

The Elemental Cube had also intrigued her, but Li Yu had displayed it before.

Only the color was different.

Yet the Soul Power Li Yu was displaying now actually stirred a longing within her!

It was as though, as long as she obtained this Soul Power, she could undergo some astonishing transformation.

And beneath her gaze—

the Elemental Cube, already dyed emerald green, suddenly began to split apart.

Then it reassembled...

Immediately afterward, she saw one emerald-green—

Willow Branches after another extend from it and spread outward!

In only a few moments—

a massive emerald-green Willow Tree over thirty meters tall appeared behind Li Yu!

"What... is that?"

Xiao Wu muttered to herself, staring incredulously at everything unfolding before her.

This was already the third type of power Li Yu had displayed.

Fire Bird, Flying Fish, Green Willow...

She was not even sure whether these were all of Li Yu's abilities!

She became even more curious about just what Li Yu's martial soul was, that it could display so many abilities.

And each of them seemed to have its own distinct characteristics!

Li Yu did not care what Xiao Wu was thinking.

His attention rested on the Willow Tree.

This was not the first time he had summoned the Life Tree, formed from the power of the Life Element!

That was right!

Its name was the Life Tree.

During the journey back to the city, Li Yu had already experimented with it and explored it. He had grasped its abilities, which was why he had told Xiao Wu that he would "leave some means" on her.

So far, Li Yu had discovered two abilities of the Life Tree.

The first: Seizure.

It could directly seize control of unconscious lifeforms, gaining their sight, hearing, and bodily control!

And the range of "unconscious lifeforms" was rather broad!

During his experiments, not only ordinary grass and trees, but even Plant-type Soul Beasts under a thousand years old could be directly "seized"!

And Li Yu believed this ability would grow alongside his strength!

Perhaps in the future, he would be able to directly "seize" Plant-type Soul Beasts at the Thousand-Year or Ten Thousand Years level.

As for animal-type Soul Beasts, this ability was somewhat difficult to use.

Li Yu had yet to figure out the specific reason, but it did not matter much.

For animal-type Soul Beasts, he had other exotic beasts to deal with them.

Furthermore.

During his experiments, these "unconscious lifeforms" also included products created by soul skills, such as Vines!

And this discovery—

had only come when Tang San released Blue Silver Grass Vines!

After thinking about it briefly, he understood.

Vines and similar things created through soul skills were not the Main Body of the martial soul. In reality, they had no consciousness of their own.

Instead, a Soul Master's consciousness attached itself to them and controlled them.

That was why the Life Tree's "Seizure" could take effect. And it was also why, when Tang San released Blue Silver Grass Vines, the Life Tree had stirred restlessly, allowing Li Yu to discover this ability.

In short, the range covered by "Seizure" was extremely broad!

As for how broad exactly, Li Yu would need to explore it slowly. It was also closely related to Li Yu's Soul Power and Spiritual Power!

The second was the Life Gate.

This was the method Li Yu had previously said he would leave on Xiao Wu.

Though called the "Life Gate," it was actually a kind of "mark"!

Once unleashed, it could brand a mark upon the other party's soul.

Through this mark, Li Yu could not only sense the marked person's location at any time, but even communicate with them.

Moreover, she could use this mark to truly open a "gate" and summon the other party to her side!

However, for the time being, this "gate" was one-way.

And because it involved the soul, this 'Life Gate' was essentially a kind of servant's mark.

After being branded with the 'Life Gate,' it would be difficult for them to develop hostility toward Li Yu, and just as difficult to disobey her will.

However, those who received the mark did not gain nothing from it.

First, their aura could be concealed, while their affinity with the Life Element would also increase.

Even their Soul Power cultivation speed would improve!

Therefore, for those branded with the mark, this was an ability with both advantages and disadvantages.

Its benefits naturally included concealing one's aura, increasing affinity with the Life Element, and accelerating Soul Power cultivation.

Moreover, when facing danger, one could even use it to escape.

The downside was obvious. Put bluntly, one would become another person's servant—albeit a "free" servant.

"Next, I will leave my method upon you, ensuring that I can find you at any time!

This is also your last chance. Are you sure you accept?"

Li Yu's stern gaze fell upon Xiao Wu.

After a pause, she added, "There is something else you need to know: my method has both benefits and drawbacks for you!

There is no need to say more about the drawbacks. Since it involves the soul, you should understand that yourself!

But there are many benefits. For example, the matter you have always worried about—being seen through by a Titled Douluo-level existence—can be resolved.

I will not elaborate further. If you agree to be branded, you will naturally learn the rest in the future!

Now, make your choice!"

Xiao Wu's eyes narrowed slightly.

Only then did she realize that she might have been thinking too simply before.

Li Yu's method actually involved the soul. Did that not mean she would become someone else's servant from now on?

For a moment, she found it difficult to accept.

Yet when she heard of the benefits Li Yu mentioned, she was somewhat tempted.

If her aura could be concealed, all her previous worries would disappear. She could truly walk through the human world as a human!

Of course, she only hesitated for an instant.

She had no better choice now!

"I'm willing!"