Doing Manual Labor, Gaining Favor

"Good thing my soul is unusual, and my cultivation realm is high enough. Even though I knew there was an illusion, I still ended up trapped in it."

He raised his head. The Bodhi Ancient Tree, thousands of zhang tall and vast enough to blot out the sky, had already vanished. All that remained was a smaller Bodhi Ancient Tree, merely forty or fifty zhang in height.

Just then, he saw the Bodhi Ancient Tree gently swaying its branches, as though it were a person tilting its head with a puzzled expression, seemingly wondering how the person before it had broken through the illusion.

"Xiao Xuan greets you, Senior. I have come this time with no ill intentions. I merely seek a method to become a Saint. I hope Senior will grant it."

In response to Xiao Xuan's request, the Bodhi Ancient Tree swayed. A ball of light emerged, within which stood a Bodhi Ancient Tree ten thousand zhang tall.

Before the ancient tree, a black-robed figure stood in the air. An aura resembling that of a supreme sovereign of heaven and earth slowly spread from his body.

Under that aura, even the massive Bodhi Ancient Tree, ten thousand zhang tall, appeared rather insignificant.

"This is... the aura of a Dou Emperor!"

Though it was merely an image, that aura made even Xiao Xuan's soul tremble.

Other than a Dou Emperor, who else in this world could possess such a feeling?

In ancient times, Dou Emperors had not been as scarce as they were now. Back then, the world was rich in Source Qi. So long as one reached the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Saint realm, one could attempt to break through to Dou Emperor.

That was no longer possible now. Source Qi had been reduced to less than one percent of what it once was. As far as Xiao Xuan knew, only the Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion still retained some Source Qi.

Within the ball of light, the Black-Robed Dou Emperor stood in the air before the enormous Bodhi Ancient Tree. Suddenly, he began attacking it.

In response to his attacks, waves of terrifying, heaven-reaching energy also surged from within the Bodhi Ancient Tree. Under such dreadful clashes, even this world gradually began to collapse.

Apparently, this was the Black-Robed Dou Emperor from the legend—the one who had sought to seize the ancient tree's spirit, only to be killed here in the end.

The image within the ball of light sped up, finally stopping at the last scene: the Black-Robed Dou Emperor was violently struck by a destructive gale that suddenly shot forth from an unknown place.

In the end, both the Black-Robed Dou Emperor's body and this entire world exploded into nothingness.

With the Bodhi Ancient Tree and another Mysterious Dou Emperor joining forces, the Black-Robed Dou Emperor was ultimately shattered into nothingness.

"Dou Emperor is merely another beginning."

The image within the ball of light did not stop with the Black-Robed Dou Emperor's death. Within that void, threads of black airflow suddenly emerged.

The instant these currents appeared, they swiftly rushed into the Bodhi Ancient Tree. As they entered, the pure aura permeating the Bodhi Ancient Tree visibly gained a faint, concealed chill.

Dou Emperors were terrifying indeed. Even after death, with soul extinguished, their will could still turn into something like a curse, making the enemy who killed them suffer a fate worse than death.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree, once ten thousand zhang tall, had now shrunk to only several thousand zhang, and it had become so violent and unstable.

The ball of light gradually dimmed, condensing into an invisible object that darted into Xiao Xuan's mind like lightning before finally spreading out as a strange stream of information.

He slightly closed his eyes and digested this strange stream of information.

Only after a long while did he slowly open his eyes. There was now a trace of understanding in them; it was not far from what he had known.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree before him had existed for an unknown number of years, but one thing was certain: it had existed since ancient times.

However, this Bodhi Ancient Tree had failed to develop complete intelligence. Perhaps it was born too powerful, making it extraordinarily difficult for it to develop intelligence. Even now, it still did not possess a sound mind.

Perhaps this was the fairness of the Heavenly Dao. The weaker a living being was by nature, the more complete and intelligent its mind often became.

Conversely, the stronger a creature was by nature, the longer the process of developing intelligence tended to be. Magical beasts, Heavenly Flames, and the Bodhi Ancient Tree before him were all like this.

The image within the ball of light showed that, in a distant era, a gravely wounded Dou Emperor had once tried to forcibly extract the Bodhi Ancient Tree's tree spirit to heal his injuries.

However, he was ultimately slain by his opponent and the Bodhi Ancient Tree working together. Of course, killing the Black-Robed Dou Emperor had clearly caused the Bodhi Ancient Tree to bear the consequences, becoming entangled by his resentment.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree was afflicted by the Black-Robed Dou Emperor's resentment, and it had finally encountered Xiao Xuan, someone capable of enduring the illusion. Its meaning was obvious.

"Senior, I understand what you mean. But a Dou Emperor's resentment is immensely powerful. I am only a mere Nine-Revolution Dou Zun, so it is truly difficult for me to resolve it for you. You will need to give me some guidance."

The Bodhi Ancient Tree swayed its branches. Its incomplete intelligence prevented it from thinking fully, but it still understood how to protect itself.

As the Bodhi Ancient Tree swayed, more than twenty Bodhi Seeds were tossed out from its lush canopy.

Every Bodhi Seed was formed from the Bodhi Ancient Tree's power. Only by breaking down that power could the Bodhi Ancient Tree expel the Dou Emperor's resentment.

"Please wait, Senior!"

With a lift of his hand, the twenty-odd Bodhi Seeds flew toward him. At the same time, he summoned a cluster of blazing green flames.

As the Heavenly Flame rose, it wrapped around one Bodhi Seed. The green flame was now incomparably scorching; even the Bodhi Seed began to show signs of melting as it trembled.

A moment later, the Bodhi Seed gradually melted away, refining into streams of pure aura. The pure aura condensed without dispersing and floated toward the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

The pure aura fused with the Bodhi Ancient Tree. At the instant they merged, the tree's pure aura grew even denser, while the faint, concealed chilly aura diminished somewhat in contrast.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree happily swayed its branches. Its dense canopy rustled as the leaves collided against one another.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree seemed to be laughing. If one had to assign an emotion to it, it was joy.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree seemed very happy. The resentment that had plagued it for countless years finally showed signs of weakening, and the rustling soon seemed to grow more urgent.

As more and more pure aura appeared, the Bodhi Ancient Tree drew it in and merged it into itself. Its pure aura flourished, while the hidden gray aura clinging to it like gangrene in the bone was gradually dissolved by the pure aura.

Time gradually passed. This batch of pure aura, condensed without dispersing and seemingly alive, was freshly refined. After the Bodhi Ancient Tree absorbed it, that obscure and chilly aura gradually vanished completely from the Bodhi Ancient Tree.