Little Nonpoint went back to wait for the moment the Kunpeng Nest truly opened.
Although Meng Chuan and Willow God's unexpected arrival had stirred the Kunpeng Nest several years early, they had not entered it. So when the prodigies and experts reached the nest's entrance, they still had to wait a while.
At the Light Gate stood a branch bearing a single leaf, lush green and brimming with life.
Meng Chuan and Willow God had spotted it when they arrived, but Meng Chuan had been in a hurry to pass through the gate and had paid it no mind.
It was called a branch, but it was as thick as a bucket. On an ordinary tree, it would have counted as a bough.
The branch had rotted, perhaps from soaking in water, or perhaps for some other reason.
Yet dragon markings still wound across its surface, glimmering with divine radiance.
Its sole green leaf was more extraordinary still.
Meng Chuan reached out and beckoned gently. The branch flew out of the gate and landed in his hand.
No one noticed a thing. Meng Chuan and Willow God seemed to inhabit a different world from everyone else who had come here.
Only Little Nonpoint could see both worlds at once.
Meng Chuan studied the branch in his hand, and Willow God sighed softly.
"The World Tree of old."
The sight of it stirred memories.
Seeing this piece of branch reminded Willow God of the World Tree from the Immortal Ancient Era.
It had blotted out the sun, with stars circling its branches and the sun and moon revolving around it.
Countless powerful beings and clans had lived under its protection.
When the World Tree still stood, the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands had been at their peak.
This branch had indeed