The outer perimeter of the Divine Tree is the stronghold of the Ten Thousand Immortals Association.
The divine tree was enormous, its roots rising from the ground like petrified dragons, intertwining and forming a natural barrier with the surroundings.
The stronghold of the Ten Thousand Immortals Association Society was built on one of the thick roots, surrounded by layers of array flags and warning runes, with several teams of cultivators patrolling back and forth, exuding an air of solemnity.
Inside the stronghold was a cleared-out flat area, with a makeshift stone hall standing in the center. Although rough, it exuded an inviolable majesty.
Inside the stone hall, Chi Yuan was sitting in the main seat, meditating with his eyes closed. He looked quite young, wearing a spotless moon-white robe, with a handsome face and a hint of the noble air of a natural superior.
Even in the Ten Directions Sacred Domain, a place fraught with murderous intent, he maintained an almost obsessive level of cleanliness, as if all the chaos around him was irrelevant to him.
The lean male cultivator strode into the hall, clasped his hands in greeting, and recounted in detail his encounter with Han Xuanji outside the divine tree. He then added at the end:
"I had intended to recruit him into our Ten Thousand Immortals Association, but he declined. After weighing the pros and cons, I felt it would be unwise to act rashly, so I let him go."
Chi Yuan did not stop cultivating, and did not even lift his eyelids.
Only after the lean male cultivator finished speaking did he speak slowly and deliberately, his voice clear and gentle like jade, yet carrying an air of nonchalant indifference:
" Han Xuanji? The disciple that the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord took in five hundred years ago?"
"Exactly."
"At least we've found someone with backbone."
Chi Yuan's lips curled slightly, as if he were commenting on a trivial anecdote.
"However, the reason someone comes in is simply because they have some skills outside, thinking they can do whatever they want anywhere."
Isn't this kind of mentality common?
He paused, opened his eyes, and said lazily:
"He'll soon discover that here, everyone eventually runs out of energy, and then they either leave, bow down, or get beaten to death—there's no fourth possibility."
He raised his eyes, calmly looking at the lean male cultivator, and said indifferently:
"Never mind him. The most important thing right now is the Ten Directions Immortal Hall. In a few days, gather more Ten Directions Sacred Light and then go to the Immortal Palace to retrieve the inheritance."
Once the inheritance is obtained, Han Xuanji, Fang Han, Li Fu, and the others will all be dispensable background figures.
"Yes."
The lean male cultivator immediately perked up, thinking to himself that Chi Yuan was indeed worthy of being called, not even taking the Holy Lord's disciple seriously.
Only someone of this caliber could pass through the Ten Directions Sacred Domain and obtain the Holy Lord's inheritance.
The lean man left the stone hall, his footsteps extremely light, as if afraid of making even the slightest unnecessary sound to disturb the tranquility of the person inside.
Only after walking several dozen feet out of the palace gate and confirming that no one was paying attention did he exhale a long breath, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
When he reported to Chi Yuan earlier, he appeared calm and composed, but he was actually quite anxious.
Chi Yuan never spoke harshly to anyone; in fact, he was quite gentle and polite. It was precisely this unhurried gentleness that made people dare not overstep their bounds in the slightest.
In any case, in all the years he had followed Chi Yuan, he had never seen the other party lose his composure. Whether it was when he first entered the Saint Realm and was besieged by a group of people, or when he later clashed head-on with others while fighting for territory, he always maintained that calm and composed demeanor, as if everything was under control.
It was as if all the conflicts within the Ten Directions Sacred Domain were nothing more than a game of chess in which he had already calculated all the variables.
How could Han Xuanji, this greenhorn, possibly contend with someone like him?
The lean man thought to himself, and his steps quickened.
What good is it if a newcomer is personally taught by the Holy Lord?
Master Chi Yuan is a disciple of Saint Venerable Haoxuan, and has been operating in this Sacred Domain for many years. Han Xuanji is all alone, without even a helper. How can he fight?
It's nothing more than a newborn calf not being afraid of a tiger; once it hits a wall, it will naturally turn back.
However, by then, one's status would be somewhat lower if one wanted to rejoin the Ten Thousand Immortals Association.
He shook his head, temporarily suppressing the thought.
In any case, everything that needed to be reported has been reported. Since the leader said it was nothing to worry about, then it really was nothing to worry about.
He quickened his pace and headed out of the stronghold. There were still several areas that needed to be explored by small teams, so he didn't have time to worry about these troublesome matters.
Silence returned to the stone hall.
Chi Yuan remained seated in the main seat, his handsome face showing no emotion whatsoever.
After the lean man withdrew, he did not stand up, but turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on a vertical map in the main hall.
The map marks the known habitats of Variant species, fortuitous opportunity lands, and power distributions throughout the Ten Directions Sacred Domain, with large areas marked.
Another person has been added.
Chi Yuan muttered to himself:
"But it shouldn't be a problem."
He didn't know much about Han Xuanji.
Long before the Ten Directions Sacred Domain opened, he had already entered the Nine Mysteries Saint Realm. Over the years, he had devoted himself to cultivation in the Saint Realm and knew very little about the changes in the outside world.
He had heard people mention that the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord was taking on disciples, but at the time he thought it was just a routine matter and didn't take it to heart.
For someone of his stature, it wasn't unusual for Holy Lord to accept disciples.
As for Han Xuanji's deeds, he had never heard of them.
Ten years have passed since the opening of the Ten Directions Sacred Domain. During these ten years, he has led the Ten Thousand Immortals Association to expand continuously, growing from a dozen people to a behemoth that now occupies one-third of the Sacred Domain's territory. He has already collected hundreds of beams of the Ten Directions Sacred Light.
The Holy Light wielded by others was far inferior to his.
It's important to know that Holy Light is the key credential for entering the Ten Directions Immortal Hall, and the more the better.
Someone like him naturally intends to collect as much Holy Light as possible before entering the temple.
He was the most likely person to receive the inheritance of the Ten Directions Holy Lord.
He's just a newcomer; he's not worth getting distracted by.
Han Xuanji continued on his journey.
In the Ten Directions Sacred Domain, there are only three possibilities for a cultivator like Han Xuanji who travels alone: he is a madman, a fool, or he has something to rely on.
A normal person would only guess the third possibility.
Therefore, even though some cultivators were traveling in groups, after sensing the calm and reserved aura emanating from Han Xuanji, they only glanced at him from afar before continuing on their way. No one took the initiative to speak to him, and no one dared to make a move.
Han Xuanji was happy to remain invisible, as it was best not to disturb each other. He steadily advanced towards the divine tree with his escape light moving at a leisurely pace.
After traveling for a while longer, suddenly, a violent tremor came from the depths of the dense forest ahead.
The fluctuation was not the result of spiritual energy collisions during a battle between cultivators, but rather a more primal and pure energy pulse, as if something that had been dormant for countless years was awakening.
Han Xuanji paused, followed the direction from which the fluctuations came, and then a thought suddenly struck him.
He sensed an extremely rich aura of life, a vitality so pure and surging that it seemed to compress the life force of the entire primeval forest into a tiny point, and then suddenly burst forth at that moment.
The quality of this vitality is surprisingly similar to that of the Azure Origin Hongmeng Dao Fruit.