Across the continent, winds rose and clouds surged. Empires, sects, and Spirit Hall vied to enter the fray, maneuvering step by step, while popular sentiment and the tide of events advanced a thousand miles a day.
A jagged spatial rift two meters tall abruptly tore open, black-and-white turbulence churning ceaselessly within. Two figures, one behind the other, stepped through the fissures in the void and slowly emerged.
"Master, the aura of life here is so rich!" Lan Yi blinked, gazing at the boundless sea of trees with wonder filling her eyes.
"Of course."
Lan Changsheng raised his eyes toward this vast, primordial forest, his gaze deep and calm.
"The second-ranked treasure land, the Lake of Life, is right here. Sleeping at the bottom of that lake is the soul beasts' 'god,' the Silver Dragon King."
"The soul beasts' 'god'? Isn't that you, Master?"
Lan Changsheng flicked Lan Yi on the head. "I haven't become a god yet. But she truly is a 'god.'"
This was where he had been born, where he had spent the most time in his million-year life, and where he had set foot on the path to godhood.
The wreckage of the giant tree he had shattered in shock and fury after learning about Ah Yin from the system still lay quietly on the ground. Fungi had already covered it, turning it into new nourishment for this land.
And new little branches had indeed sprouted from his cross section, densely marked with growth rings. They held their emerald leaves upright, reaching upward. Even with the sunlight blocked by the towering trees around them, they still strove to rise.
Watching this, he gained a little more understanding of life, but he could not grasp the crux of it. He sighed silently in his heart and led Lan