Defeated!

"System, shouldn't you give me a reward this time?"

Every time he ran a simulation, the system would give him something, neither too much nor too little. That was why Xu Xuan asked.

"Ding! This is a trial for the host himself. The host must break free on his own. If anyone else forcibly breaks it, they will kill the host as well!"

The system's notification chimed again in his mind.

Xu Xuan nodded speechlessly, but said nothing more about it.

"Since you're a tree, I'll roast you to a crisp!"

Xu Xuan gritted his teeth slightly, and wisps of spiritual energy suddenly rose from his palm.

Almost at that same instant, the spiritual energy in his hand turned into blazing flames, ready to burn the great tree!

"Useless brat! I took form ten thousand years ago. Calling me the ancestor of your ancestors wouldn't be an exaggeration."

The great tree roared with laughter, its voice dripping with mockery.

As a Ten-Thousand-Year Tree Spirit, it was naturally no being that ordinary flames could destroy.

"Fuck! How dare you claim to be my ancestor!"

Xu Xuan flew into a rage at those words.

"Divine ability, Heaven-Burning!!!"

"..."

Xu Xuan looked utterly bewildered. He discovered that he could no longer unleash his divine ability.

"What the hell is going on?"

Even if ordinary flames couldn't burn this great tree, his divine ability, Heaven-Burning, was no ordinary fire. It was heavenly fire.

Heavenly fire ought to work, right?

But why couldn't he use it?

"Ding! Host, please note: the instant this Ten-Thousand-Year Tree Spirit suspended you, you lost the ability to unleash your divine abilities. The only things you can use are cultivation techniques!"

"Cultivation techniques?"

Xu Xuan's mouth twitched violently. Since arriving at the Mystic Universe Heavenly Palace, he had never seriously searched for any powerful cultivation techniques.

He had mainly been cultivating divine abilities.

But now the importance of cultivation techniques had become apparent.

"Am I really going to die at this tree spirit's hands?"

Xu Xuan's expression darkened. He said coldly, "Fine. In that case, I'll take you down with me!"

Hearing this, the great tree was the first to panic.

"Wait! Wouldn't dying with me be a loss for you?"

"Without freedom, how is living any different from being dead?"

Xu Xuan roared and looked straight at Yun Qingxue below, who was utterly bewildered.

"Qingxue, freeze everything indiscriminately! Don't worry about me. Kill this bastard!"

Yun Qingxue had been unwilling to do that, but when she saw Xu Xuan wink at her, she understood.

She nodded, and an enormous ice snake appeared behind her again, flicking its forked tongue and releasing wisps of freezing air.

"All right, Brother Xuan, don't worry. On this day next year, I'll come burn a stick of incense for you!"

As she spoke, Yun Qingxue prepared to attack, but the great tree panicked first.

"Wait, wait! You can't attack!"

"And why is that?"

Yun Qingxue feigned curiosity, but showed no intention of withdrawing her divine ability.

"If you freeze me, he... he'll suffer the same fate as me. He'll die too!"

"I know. That's why I'm avenging him first. Once he's dead, I'll burn incense for him. Mostly, though, I want the wood essence inside you too!"

Yun Qingxue spoke calmly, feeling rather amused.

"..."

"Then if I release him and give you half the wood essence inside me, will you spare me?"

The great tree's tone actually softened somewhat.

Xu Xuan was still quite curious. Why didn't it simply suspend Yun Qingxue with its branches too?

That would seal Yun Qingxue's divine abilities as well. Xu Xuan really couldn't understand it.

He didn't know whether the tree had failed to think of it or couldn't act again for some reason.

As though it had seen through Xu Xuan's thoughts, the great tree said slowly, "Because she ate the ice snake's gallbladder. If I suspend her too and absorb her power, I'll probably drop dead on the spot. That thing is my natural bane."

In truth, it had thought of that long ago, but it knew it couldn't touch Yun Qingxue.

To think it really had fallen into their hands.

"No wonder..."

Xu Xuan nodded. Fortunately, he had listened to Luo Xiaotian and given that snake gallbladder to Yun Qingxue.

Otherwise, they really might have been eliminated right here.

"Fine, then give me half the wood essence inside you, and we'll leave immediately."

Xu Xuan clapped his hands and was lowered from the tree.

Now that he understood what was happening and the reason behind it all, he naturally had nothing left to worry about.

"Yes..."

The great tree had no choice but to extract half the wood essence within it.

"This is it. Wood essence embodies life. Even if you're on the verge of death, taking a single drop will immediately make you as vigorous as a dragon and lively as a tiger. This is a priceless treasure. If word got out, even ordinary Saints would probably be tempted."

"It's that good?"

Hearing this, Xu Xuan's eyes widened slightly, and he grew rather excited.

Wood essence truly had plenty of uses. Xu Xuan couldn't help being excited!

"All right, farewell. See you next time!"

Xu Xuan accepted the wood essence without the slightest hesitation, then spoke with a faint smile.

Elsewhere.

Luo Xiaotian had actually entered as well, but on the sixth floor, unless people walked right beside one another, they would immediately be teleported to different places upon entering.

Luo Xiaotian had been teleported onto a sheet of ice.

Standing on the ice, Luo Xiaotian looked bewildered.

"Looks like we've been teleported to different planes."

Luo Xiaotian spread his hands speechlessly. He understood now: he and Xu Xuan's group had been teleported straight to different places.

He himself had been sent onto the ice.

"Sir, if you wish to pass, please defeat me first."

Just then, an icy shadow shot into the sky. Soon, a masked figure slowly appeared before Luo Xiaotian. He held a broad, double-edged saber, and a cruel smile rested on his face.

"Sir, if you win, I'll let you leave. But if you lose, you'll have to stay here and keep me company!"

The man attacked mercilessly as soon as he finished speaking. On his own territory, he could easily seal his opponent's divine abilities!

"That's all?"

Luo Xiaotian looked utterly disdainful. Watching the man charge at him, he casually drew the dagger at his waist and made a light slash.

"Urgh..."

The man's vision suddenly blurred. He struggled to glance at Luo Xiaotian one last time, then fell heavily, crashing into the frozen lake.

With just one strike, Luo Xiaotian had killed the man.

After doing all this, Luo Xiaotian acted as though he had merely dealt with some insignificant little matter.

"Trash. You couldn't withstand a single blow!"

Luo Xiaotian reached into the frozen lake and felt around lightly, finally retrieving an extremely cold, long pillar.

"The Ice Pillar. Not bad. It can be refined into a weapon. I'll take it for now."

Nodding in satisfaction, Luo Xiaotian finally turned and left.