Inside the tree demon's inner world, the light was dim, and the air was thick with the stench of decay and despair.
An incomparably enormous tree stood at the center of this world, its twisted trunk resembling a coiling dragon, as though it held up this deathly silent sky. Its branches hung down like countless dying tentacles.
Beneath the tree sat numerous spirits captured by the tree demon.
Their faces were ashen, their eyes hollow.
A ferocious Green Seed was embedded in every spirit's chest. It throbbed violently like the heart of a living creature, and with every contraction, it greedily drained the host's origin and divine power, emitting faint "thump, thump" sounds.
The air of despair hung over everyone like a tangible, dense fog.
Some spirits indulged in fleeting pleasures, surrendering themselves to wine and lust, casting aside all restraint as they tried to numb their fear of death with momentary joy.
Others closed their eyes and cultivated, brows tightly furrowed as weak ripples of divine power moved around them. They were still making their final struggle, trying to seize that faint sliver of life.
Neither choice was right or wrong. They were simply the best choices each person could make according to their own abilities and experience.
Jiang Ping An sat cross-legged in a corner, his back against a withered little tree.
His expression was calm, yet he was completely immersed in cultivation, deaf to the clamor around him.
He remained seated like this for several years.
Each year, he absorbed a drop of blood essence provided by Demon Illusion Fairy, using her bloodline to suppress the seed and buy precious time for himself.
Besides suppressing the seed, Demon Illusion Fairy's blood essence also had the miraculous effect of accelerating the recovery of bodily injuries.
Jiang Ping An