Su Xiao's consciousness was perfectly clear, but he couldn't move. The world around him was a riot of colors. He had seen this sort of scene several times when entering a spatial array diagram in the Void.
With a whoosh, the sensation of weightlessness appeared. Su Xiao felt solid ground beneath his feet and staggered forward a few steps as several maple leaves drifted toward his face.
Everything around him was pitch-black. Su Xiao could only see a tall Black Maple tree in the distance. He walked toward it, and soon the darkness around him receded.
Su Xiao arrived on a patch of emerald grass. This hundred-meter-wide patch of grass gave him an extremely safe feeling, driving away the chaotic darkness dozens of meters away.
A gentle breeze brushed past, and the Black Maple tree at the center of the meadow rustled. An old man sat beneath it. His clothes were tattered, and his loose white hair hung messily around his head. He looked somewhat slovenly, but his eyes were extremely unusual—so pitch-black that they sent chills down one's spine.
"You've come."
The old man looked up at Su Xiao and reached out to gently stroke the Black Maple tree behind him. A section of bark was missing from the trunk, revealing several distinct claw marks.
When his fingers brushed over the marks, the old man's calm expression vanished. His face twitched, and he looked heartbroken.
"I cultivated a sapling."
As he spoke, Su Xiao walked toward the old man and sat cross-legged on the grass a few meters in front of him.
"Hm?"
The old man looked at Su Xiao in surprise, then smiled and nodded.
"Then I wish you success. If a swordsman possesses a Black Maple tree, many challengers will come knocking."
The old man sighed wistfully,