There was no telling how many years the Bodhi Ancient Tree before him had existed, but one thing was certain: it had been around since ancient times. By Xiao Yan's judgment, it had probably existed since heaven and earth first took shape.
What truly surprised him, however, was that despite the accumulation of countless years, the Bodhi Ancient Tree had never developed complete intelligence. Perhaps its existence stretched too far back for its intelligence to fully mature. Whatever the reason, the present Bodhi Ancient Tree retained only a few basic functions and possessed nothing resembling a complete mind.
Judging from the information in the images within the earlier sphere of light, that Demon Emperor of the Heart Demon Clan had seemingly wanted to extract the Bodhi Ancient Tree's essence in the distant ancient past, either to heal his injuries or raise his cultivation level. In any case, viewed from any angle, that Demon Emperor of the Heart Demon Clan seemed somewhat weaker than an ordinary Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign.
By contrast, the Second-Generation Soul Emperor who had ambushed him had reached the level of a Peak Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereign and might even have stepped into the ranks of Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereigns. Regardless, once the Heart Demon Clan's Demon Emperor's negative emotions had entwined around the Bodhi Ancient Tree, it had suffered terrifying damage. That damage was precisely why it now stood only about a thousand zhang tall.
Even so, the Bodhi Ancient Tree's strength had still reached an extremely frightening level. At the very least, it did not seem far from rivaling a Nine-Star Dou Sheng.
As these thoughts ran through his mind, another strange, eerie image appeared in Xiao Yan's head. Within it, densely packed black auras spread over the Bodhi Ancient Tree's trunk like venom from