The next moment, countless new leaves slowly detached from the branches and drifted downwards, covering the entire sky with a rain of leaves—a truly magnificent sight. Tens of thousands of members of the Shade-Guarding Clan simultaneously raised their heads, their faces beaming with heartfelt joy. "The Ancient Tree bestows its blessing!" "The Ancient Tree's blessing has begun!" "Praise the Ancient Tree!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd, and the countless leaves slowly descended, each one landing precisely in front of a member of the tribe before transforming into a stream of light and gently merging into their brows. There was no pain, no rejection; it was as if the leaves had always belonged to them. Once the leaves had completely merged into their brows...
A strange scene unfolded: the bodies of all the Shade-Guarding Clan simultaneously emitted a soft light. The weariness on the elderly began to dissipate, the smiles on the children's faces became even brighter, and the eyes of young men and women grew even brighter. Tens of thousands of people were bathed in that warm glow at the same time, and the entire altar seemed like a world woven from joy and tenderness.
Countless golden and blue rays of light flowed through the crowd, intersecting and connecting with each other. The entire Shade-Guarding Clan seemed to merge into one, exuding a peace that defied description and a satisfaction that came from the depths of the soul. Just then, a leaf slowly drifted to Qian Wenwan's front. She had originally thought that this leaf would enter her brow like the others.
But the next moment, the leaf stopped, hovering silently in front of her, neither falling nor merging. The two old clan leaders seemed to sense something. They looked in her direction at the same time, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes. Qian Wenwan was also stunned, because she discovered that the leaf was slowly rotating around her.
Then, strands of extremely soft light flowed from the surface of the leaves. These rays did not enter her brow, but instead slowly seeped into her body through the pores of her skin. In an instant, Qian Wenwan's body trembled violently—a violent resonance resonated deep within her Fate Soul.
The emotion of "joy" within her began to vibrate wildly, and the emotion of "love" also began to respond. That power was extremely gentle, yet boundless. She felt as if she were in a warm ocean, and countless memories kept surfacing, including the scene of her first smile as a child.
The joy of receiving recognition for the first time, the emotion of feeling warmth for the first time, all the beautiful memories she had forgotten deep in the years suddenly resurfaced. Qian Wenwan's breathing gradually became rapid, and her consciousness, which had been immersed in the moment, began to slowly clear. She finally realized that something was wrong.
Slowly opening her eyes, she was completely stunned when she looked around again. Tens of thousands of cultivators were still kneeling on the ground, but at this moment, each of them was radiating a soft glow. The glows intertwined to form a huge net of light that covered the heavens and the earth, and everyone had their eyes closed.
With a satisfied and happy expression on her face, as if she were receiving some kind of sacred baptism, Qian Wenwan slowly raised her head and looked at the ancient tree in front of her again. The next moment, her pupils suddenly contracted because she finally saw the true nature of the ancient tree. It was no longer a simple tree; countless Source Dao principles flowed within the entire ancient tree.
Hongmeng, true meaning, the Great Dao, all phenomena, origin, end, destiny, reincarnation, yin and yang, time and space, life and death, rules, the Logic Origin. Countless Dao principles intertwine and flow within the tree, every branch is a condensation of Dao rhythm, every leaf is a manifestation of the origin, and those leaves merge into the brows of the clansmen.
These Source Power were slowly entering their bodies. Qian Wenwan stared blankly at this scene, her breathing slowing down. She finally understood why the people here were so gentle and peaceful—because they had always lived under the protection of this ancient tree.
They were never just worshipping a tree, but a divine tree that could eternally bestow upon them powerful origins. And just then, the jade tablet in the storage crystal core at her waist suddenly vibrated again. This time, the light was even brighter than before, as if reminding her of something. Qian Wenwan lowered her head and finally noticed the constantly flashing communication jade tablet.
Qian Wenwan slowly lowered her head. Inside the storage crystal core at her waist, the jade tablet was constantly flashing. Previously, she had been immersed in the warm and peaceful atmosphere of the Shade-Guarding Clan, and her mind was completely drawn by the resonance of the source of joy and love. She had not even noticed the fluctuations of the jade tablet.
Upon regaining consciousness, she immediately probed into it with her divine sense. In the next instant, the messages left by Qin Yu flooded into her sea of consciousness like a torrent. From the appearance of the Duckweed Clan to the appearance of the Wordless Heavenly Book, to the return of the Sorrow Clan and the Fear Clan to their origins, and the truth about how the Seven Emotions and Six Desires evolved into the Seven Great Clans, all the images and information appeared one after another.
Qian Wenwan's originally calm expression gradually changed, first with doubt, then with shock, and finally completely frozen. Especially when she saw the sentence—"The seven races of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire are all transformed from the seven emotions of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor," her breath visibly paused for a moment.
She slowly raised her eyes and looked once more at the tens of thousands of the Shade-Guarding Clan members around her. At this moment, she finally understood why the people here were so gentle, why they fought each other, and why their Fate Soul were so pure. It was because they were not living beings in the normal sense; they were the embodiment of "joy" and "love."
It is a race evolved from the perfect emotions of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor, and the ancient tree in front of her is not an ordinary divine tree, but Tree of Joy and Love that has differentiated from the Dao Source Ancient Tree. It is the origin of the Shade-Guarding Clan. Thinking of this, Qian Wenwan's mind could not calm down for a long time. She had traversed the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain for countless years.
She had seen countless secret realms and countless ruins of great emperors, but she had never seen such an unbelievable world. The entire world inside her body was actually formed from the seven emotions and six desires of a great emperor. This was beyond all her previous understanding. At this moment, the two old patriarchs who were standing in front of the altar and presiding over the ceremony suddenly stopped their actions at the same time.
The two men slowly turned their gazes toward Qian Wenwan. Their aged eyes held no hostility, but rather gentleness and kindness. They exchanged a glance and then stepped forward simultaneously. The tens of thousands of the Shade-Guarding Clan members around them noticed the unusual activity and raised their heads to look in their direction. Qian Wenwan was slightly taken aback.
She instinctively stood up. The two elder clan leaders approached her, first carefully examining the leaf floating before her. Then, gentle smiles appeared on their faces. The white-haired elder on the left softly said, "Young lady, the divine tree has chosen you. You are incredibly lucky. Are you a member of my Joy Clan or a member of my Love Clan?"
As the words fell, the surrounding crowd showed no commotion, not even a hint of hostility. Everyone simply watched quietly, as if it were an ordinary occurrence. Qian Wenwan's heart trembled slightly, but she did not deny it. Instead, she slowly nodded. "I'm sorry, I come from the outside world; I am not from this realm."
The old man on the right smiled upon hearing this, as if they didn't care whether Qian Wenwan was from this world or not. His smile was warm and kind. "I see." "No wonder the ancient tree's leaves didn't merge with you. It neither rejected you nor accepted you; it was observing you."
Qian Wenwan frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Observing me?" The two elders nodded simultaneously. Then, they looked up at the enormous ancient tree, their eyes filled with respect. "The fact that you could elicit such a reaction from the ancient tree indicates that you have a special connection with the origin of our Shade-Guarding Clan. If you don't mind, young lady, you can come with us to the Ancient Tree Temple. Perhaps the answer will be there."
Qian Wenwan's expression shifted slightly. The Ancient Tree Temple was clearly the core of the Shade-Guarding Clan. She was just about to answer when suddenly—BOOM!!! A deafening roar exploded from the depths of the sky, shaking the entire world. Tens of thousands of the Shade-Guarding Clan members looked up at the same time, and the smiles on the faces of the two old clan leaders vanished instantly.
Instead, an unprecedented solemnity filled the air. Qian Wenwan abruptly looked up and saw that large swathes of auspicious clouds were rapidly disintegrating in the Eastern Region, and the once warm and peaceful sky was suddenly tinged with a dark red light. Rumble—the space trembled continuously, and a violent, frenzied aura filled with destructive desire swept in from the horizon.
The moment that aura appeared, the atmosphere throughout the entire Shade-Guarding Clan territory changed drastically. The smiles on the faces of many children vanished, and many young clansmen showed panic in their eyes. Meanwhile, the two old clan leaders slowly tightened their grips on their divine staffs, their aged faces becoming extremely serious. The next moment, deep in the sky...
One after another, dark red cracks tore open. Boom! Boom! Boom! Dozens of spatial cracks appeared simultaneously. One after another, burly figures slowly emerged. They had broad shoulders and thick backs, their bodies covered in scorch marks, their eyes burning with furious flames, wielding weapons such as giant axes, spears, and warhammers, and exuding a suffocatingly violent aura.
Beside them, another group of figures stood out completely. Their faces were cold and sinister, their eyes venomous, and a chilling smile played on their lips. They seemed to be constantly plotting how to drag others into the abyss; one was as furious as fire, the other as venomous as a snake.
The Wrath Clan and the Hatred Clan, along with two major branches of the Blazing Erosion Clan, descended simultaneously. Their leader took a single step, and the entire sky instantly darkened. He looked down at the tens of thousands of the Shade-Guarding Clan members below, a ferocious smile slowly spreading across his face. "Hehehe..." "The day of the Ancient Tree's blessing." "As expected, everyone has gathered." "That saves us the trouble of searching for them one by one."
As soon as the words fell, dozens of powerful members of the Blazing Erosion Clan simultaneously unleashed their auras, their overwhelming killing intent sweeping across the entire Eastern Region. The tens of thousands of members of the Shade-Guarding Clan instantly turned pale, and a disaster that would engulf the Joy Clan and the Love Clan was officially about to descend.