Changes to the Fusang Divine Tree!

Changes to the Fusang Divine Tree!

As the energy within the Soul Ring slowly began entering Ye Chen's body,

an intense pressure enveloped Ye Chen, crushing him until he could barely breathe.

To fully absorb this Thousand-Year Soul Ring, he first had to endure the resentment of the Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast.

Although the Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast had only fifteen hundred years of cultivation, what made this species unusual was that it possessed a certain degree of intelligence from birth.

Though not much, it was enough to pose a threat to Ye Chen.

It knew perfectly well that Ye Chen had not defeated it. It had lost to that being and the scruffy old man.

Now that it was about to be absorbed by such a weak human, the lingering consciousness within the Soul Ring carried intense unwillingness and resentment as it battered every corner of Ye Chen's body.

"So strong!"

Ye Chen muttered. His handsome little face had turned the color of pig liver, and a sweet taste rose in his throat.

Suppressing the urge to spit out that mouthful of blood, Ye Chen focused all his Spiritual Power on the Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast's resentment, trying to mobilize the ultimate light-attribute Soul Power within him to resist it.

Yet he discovered that the Soul Power which normally obeyed his every command seemed to be completely imprisoned within the Fusang Divine Tree Martial Soul.

It was as though it were calmly watching Ye Chen's body get battered again and again by that resentment.

At the side, Xuan Zi watched Ye Chen's pained expression nervously, filled with regret.

Why did I agree to this on some damned impulse? If anything happens to Xiao Chen, never mind how I'll explain it to Mu En and the others—I won't even be able to forgive myself!

Usually so carefree and unrestrained, Xuan Zi now paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.

Ye Chen clearly could not withstand the pressure brought by the Thousand-Year Soul Ring. He was about to reach his physical limit!

Yet the absorption of the Soul Ring was not even halfway complete!

Xuan Zi was frantic, but he did not dare interrupt him midway.

If he interrupted Ye Chen now, it would be no different from killing him with his own hands.

"Aah!"

Ye Chen cried out, his once youthful voice becoming hoarse.

As if a leaking roof had met a night of relentless rain, the resentment belonging to the Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast was still wreaking havoc inside his body when a violent pain struck his mind as well.

It felt as though his soul were being torn apart completely by an invisible giant hand.

Fine cracks also appeared across his body as the energy of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring flooded in, while his bones let out cracking sounds.

His entire body seemed on the verge of exploding.

Am I really going to die? Ye Chen murmured in his subconscious.

No, I can't die. I haven't fulfilled my dream of roaming the continent, and I haven't even enjoyed life with beautiful big sisters yet. I can't die!

I can't die!

Ye Chen shouted in his heart, and his consciousness cleared.

That cry from his heart was like a sharp sword, instantly breaking through the restraints upon the Fusang Divine Tree.

Endless ultimate light-attribute energy surged into every one of Ye Chen's meridians, sweeping away the resentment of the Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast bit by bit.

Ye Chen once again felt tearing pain in his mind, then fell into a deep sleep.

His last trace of consciousness sensed a warm aura instantly enveloping his body.

Xuan Zi watched Ye Chen's body gradually split apart and had already begun to despair, when a sudden change occurred.

He felt an intensely scorching aura rush toward him. Boundless flames erupted from Ye Chen's body, wrapping his entire body within them.

These ultimate flames seemed capable of burning even the soul. Watching from afar, Xuan Zi would feel a scorching heat deep within his soul whenever he tried to get even slightly closer to Ye Chen.

They were clearly in the middle of the forest, yet these flames seemed to possess intelligence of their own. Other than clinging to Ye Chen's body, they did not spread into the surroundings.

Xuan Zi's Spiritual Power could not penetrate the flames, so he had no way of confirming Ye Chen's condition. However, he knew Ye Chen had to be all right.

That was because he could sense an ultimate aura of life within those flames.

What Xuan Zi did not know was that within the flames around Ye Chen, a sapling was quietly floating in the air. It was Ye Chen's Fusang Divine Tree Martial Soul.

But unlike before, another branch had grown from the roots of the Fusang Divine Tree. If one did not look carefully, it seemed like two complete trees.

At the same time, the entire sapling had grown much taller, reaching a height of about one meter. On the newly formed branch stood a three-legged crow.

The crow was entirely black, with strange golden patterns on its chest and wings. Its beak was streamlined in interwoven red and gold, and a long fiery-red plume hung behind its head.

The flames surrounding Ye Chen's body were being spewed from this crow's mouth.

Ye Chen's consciousness slowly awoke, but his body seemed to remain asleep.

Strangely, although his eyes were closed, he could still see everything happening outside.

"The Three-legged Golden Crow?!"

Ye Chen stared in astonishment at the changes in his Martial Soul and recognized the crow. It was the legendary sun bird, the Three-legged Golden Crow!

The Aurora Dragon-Tooth Beast's Soul Ring had already been completely absorbed and now appeared around the Three-legged Golden Crow's body.

How did this happen?

Ye Chen looked in confusion at the changes in his Martial Soul and the miniature Three-legged Golden Crow.

Looking back at his own body, he found it far more translucent and crystal-clear, as though the ultimate flames had burned every impurity within him to ash.

He clearly remembered that his body had been on the verge of collapse because it could not withstand the energy of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring. So what was going on now?

Ye Chen wanted badly to ask someone, but he knew that no one in this world could answer his questions.

Just as he fell into deep thought, all the flames on the surface of his body returned to the Three-legged Golden Crow.

The Fusang Divine Tree Martial Soul disappeared as well, reappearing in Ye Chen's sea of consciousness, where it echoed from afar with his Second Martial Soul, Taiyin Youying.

Xuan Zi waited anxiously some distance away, watching Ye Chen with concern as he remained wrapped in flames.

He did not dare return to the academy to find Mu En, afraid that something might happen to Ye Chen if he left.

At the same time, he could not approach the flames brimming with life aura. Thus, Xuanzi, the Taotie Douluo renowned across the continent, could only sit on the ground and stare helplessly, utterly at a loss.

This waiting continued through the entire night.

When the first pale light of dawn appeared on the distant horizon, the flames around Ye Chen finally receded.

Seeing Ye Chen unharmed, with a bright purple Soul Ring circling his body, Xuan Zi finally felt the weight in his heart lift.

Ye Chen caught a terrifying mixed smell of alcohol and the sour stench of someone who had not bathed for a long time.

When he opened his eyes, he discovered that Xuan Zi was holding him in his arms.

Even more humiliatingly, he was not wearing any clothes!