The Sacred Wood Enters His Body

Wind and snow howled.

The iceberg that had once towered here had vanished completely, leaving only ruins stretching for miles.

Broken layers of ice lay piled atop one another.

Pale golden wisps constantly seeped from the cracks, tangling with the cold of the Far North.

At the edge of the ruins, two figures quietly appeared.

The woman in front wore white, her silver-white hair falling to her waist, her cool eyes fixed on the iceberg's remains.

Beside her stood a green-haired girl.

The girl was petite, her emerald hair tied behind her head, a trace of childishness still lingering on her fair cheeks.

The swirling wind and snow veered away on their own as they approached the pair.

The green-haired girl held out a hand.

A pale golden wisp drifted from the ruins and landed on her fingertip.

The instant it touched her, it burrowed toward her body like a living thing.

Cold light flashed.

The pale golden wisp froze instantly.

"What strange power."

The green-haired girl crushed the ice crystal.

"Its life presence is strong, but it makes you instinctively recoil in disgust."

The woman in white did not answer.

Her gaze remained fixed deep within the ruins.

"It's still growing."

"Even buried beneath the iceberg, it hasn't stopped spreading outward."

The green-haired girl wrinkled her nose.

"A group of humans was hiding here?"

"They certainly had some nerve, causing such a commotion in the Far North."

Her words had barely fallen.

The ruins ahead suddenly trembled slightly.

Crack.

A chunk of broken ice slid down from above.

Then a hand covered in blood and ice shards reached out through a gap.

A flicker of surprise crossed the green-haired girl's eyes.

"There's still someone alive?"

The broken ice was pushed aside bit by bit.

Leaning on the Imperial Bow, Lin Yuan struggled out from beneath the ruins.

Dust covered him, his robes were in tatters, and the cold had frozen the wounds on his shoulder and abdomen.

Every movement sent a stab of pain through his bones.

Lin Yuan clambered over a broken slab of ice and collapsed onto his back in the snow.

His chest heaved violently.

The smiling mask floated out beside him.

"How does it feel to have an iceberg crush you?"

"Want to try it again?"

Lin Yuan closed his eyes and ignored it.

The mask circled him once.

"You look really amusing right now."

"Your hair's a mess, your clothes are torn, and your face is covered in dust."

"If that young girl saw you-"

Lin Yuan raised his hand and shoved the mask into the snow.

Laughter still rose from beneath the snow.

"Hahahaha!"

"You're lashing out in embarrassment!"

Lin Yuan withdrew his hand and barely managed to stand, supporting himself with the Imperial Bow.

Only then did he notice the two figures nearby.

His Hunting Sense spread out.

The next instant, his gaze sharpened slightly.

The life presence within the green-haired girl was so vast that it far surpassed most of the Soul Beasts he had encountered before.

The woman in white beside her was even more like an ice field with no end in sight.

The moment his Hunting Sense drew near, an invisible chill shut it out completely.

Terrifyingly strong.

The green-haired girl was likewise studying Lin Yuan curiously.

"A Four-Ring Soul Ancestor?"

"Buried beneath an entire iceberg, and you still managed to crawl out on your own."

She took two steps forward.

"Human, how did you survive?"

Lin Yuan did not answer.

The Soul Power in his body was almost exhausted.

He knew neither who these two were nor where they stood; now was no time to lower his guard.

The woman in white's gaze settled on the Imperial Bow.

Then she looked at Lin Yuan again.

A trace of puzzlement flashed through her cool eyes.

With this human's current cultivation, he could never have withstood the force of an entire iceberg collapsing.

He had something else on him.

Just as the green-haired girl was about to question him further, the ruins beneath their feet suddenly shook violently.

Boom!

A surge of dark green Soul Power erupted from deep beneath the ice.

Dozens of enormous chunks of ice were hurled upward at once.

The green-haired girl casually waved a hand.

Utmost cold spread instantly.

The huge chunks flying toward the pair froze in midair, then dissolved into a skyful of powdered ice.

The woman in white did not move an inch.

Lin Yuan immediately tightened his grip on the Imperial Bow and looked toward the center of the explosion.

Beneath the shattered ice, a battered medicinal cauldron slowly rose.

Cracks covered its surface.

Dark green light flickered uncertainly, as though it might shatter completely at any moment.

Bang!

The phantom medicinal cauldron exploded with a thunderous crash.

A blood-soaked figure burst from the ruins and landed heavily in the snow.

Mu Xuansheng.

Not a trace of his earlier composure remained.

Only a few scraps remained of his dark green robe.

His left arm was twisted, his chest caved in, and crisscrossing wounds covered his face.

Eight Soul Rings circled his body.

Several had already lost their luster.

What truly drew the eye was his right hand.

He clutched that pale golden section of the Ambrosial Arbor in a death grip.

Countless fine roots had pierced his skin and joined with his flesh.

Pale golden wood grain spread steadily up his arm.

The Ambrosial Arbor had already fused with his right hand.

With every breath, the wounds on Mu Xuansheng's body slowly writhed.

His torn flesh grew back.

His broken bones were also forcibly rejoined under the power of Abundance.

But that newly grown flesh was clearly no longer normal.

Tiny branches kept bulging beneath his skin.

Mu Xuansheng raised his head.

The first person he saw was Lin Yuan.

Then his gaze fell on the woman in white and the green-haired girl.

His Soul Douluo perception spread out instantly.

The next moment, his expression turned utterly grim.

He could not fathom them.

He could not fathom either the green-haired girl or the woman dressed in white at all.

Especially the woman in white.

Merely standing there, she brought the Soul Power within him to a near standstill.

Neither was an existence he could contend with in his current state.

Ahead stood Lin Yuan, who had destroyed his northern base.

Beside him were two more unfathomably powerful experts.

With his current injuries, he would undoubtedly die here today.

Mu Xuansheng lowered his head to look at the Ambrosial Arbor in his hand.

The last shred of reason in his eyes was gradually swallowed by madness.

He abruptly raised his head and fixed a deadly stare on Lin Yuan.

"The base I spent years painstakingly building..."

"You destroyed it all in a single day!"

Lin Yuan raised the Imperial Bow.

Yet Mu Xuansheng suddenly laughed.

His laughter was hoarse and crazed.

"Since you won't leave this old man a way to live..."

"Then we'll die together!"

Gripping the Ambrosial Arbor, he slammed it against his own chest.

Squelch!

The pale golden branch pierced his flesh and plunged straight into Mu Xuansheng's chest.

Countless roots erupted, burrowing into his heart, bones, and meridians.

"Aah-"

Mu Xuansheng threw back his head and roared.

Pale golden light shot into the sky.

Crack!

His breastbone suddenly thrust outward.

His caved-in chest rapidly recovered.

His broken left arm also regrew under the power of Abundance.

But the new arm no longer belonged to a human.

Rough wood grain covered its skin, and its five fingers twisted and lengthened into sharp branches.

Squelch!

Mu Xuansheng's back suddenly burst open.

More than a dozen thick branches grew from his spine, piercing his tattered robes and thrashing wildly in the air.

Blood dripped down the branches.

Then newly grown roots swiftly absorbed it.

His legs kept swelling.

Flesh and woody roots intertwined, and his feet sank completely into the ice.

The wounds on his face closed rapidly.

Yet fresh buds of flesh kept sprouting around his features.

His left eye was squeezed into his flesh.

His right eye turned into a dark golden slit pupil.

The corners of his mouth tore toward either side, exposing teeth entwined with roots.

In just a few breaths, Mu Xuansheng had become an abomination, neither human nor ghost.

Eight Soul Rings still hovered behind him, but pale golden branches coiled around them in layer upon layer.

His once-feeble Soul Power presence began climbing wildly.

Level 85.

Level 88.

Level 89.

Boom!

A pressure far beyond that of a Soul Douluo suddenly erupted.

The surrounding snow was instantly thrown into the air.

Shattered ice in the ruins trembled incessantly.

Pale golden light frantically gathered beyond the eight Soul Rings, finally forming a dark golden Soul Ring covered in tree patterns.

The ninth Soul Ring!

All nine rings appeared together.

With the power of the Ambrosial Arbor, Mu Xuansheng had actually forced his way past the threshold of Level 90.

A Titled Douluo!

But this was no normal breakthrough.

That dark golden Soul Ring was formed entirely from the power of Abundance.

Although Mu Xuansheng's presence had reached the level of a Titled Douluo, his body and mind had already left the bounds of humanity completely.

The curiosity on the green-haired girl's face gradually vanished.

"He was still a Soul Douluo just now."

"After fusing with that piece of wood, he actually broke through outright?"

The woman in white did not answer.

She watched the branches constantly growing from Mu Xuansheng's body, and for the first time, a grave look appeared in her cool eyes.

The scene before her reminded her of many years ago.

Back then, an uninvited guest had come to the Far North.

Beast God Di Tian.

The strongest being in the Star Dou Great Forest had ventured deep into the Far North alone and sought her out personally.

He had neither challenged her nor fought over territory.

He had merely brought a warning.

"A power never seen before has appeared on the continent."

"It can heal wounds, halt aging, and even make dying creatures stand again."

"But it is no true blessing."

"The deeper the contact, the more uncontrollably flesh and blood grow."

"Branches, roots, wooden armor..."

"In the end, even the mind is swallowed by life without end."

At the time, the Snow Empress had never seen this power herself.

Di Tian had only said that those mutated things had ultimately been purged by a special cyan-blue power, leaving no intact traces behind.

She had thought it was merely an isolated mutation on the other side of the continent.

She had never expected that, many years later, she would witness it herself in the Far North.

Moreover, the life presence emanating from the abomination before her was even stronger than what Di Tian had described back then.

The Snow Empress's gaze fell on Mu Xuansheng's chest.

It had already turned completely to wood.

The Ambrosial Arbor had taken root in his heart, and pale golden light flowed throughout his body with every beat.

"Just as Di Tian said."

The Ice Empress turned to look at her.

"Di Tian has seen this sort of thing?"

"Many years ago."

The Snow Empress said softly:

"He made a special trip to the Far North to warn me."

"This power makes life continue endlessly, but it also makes flesh and blood go completely out of control."

The Ice Empress looked back at Mu Xuansheng.

"Then let's freeze it and shatter it before it gets any stronger."

She took a step forward.

Ultimate cold instantly spread.

A layer of frost swiftly covered the branches on Mu Xuansheng's body.

The next instant.

Crack!

Newly grown branches forcibly burst through the ice.

Several branches snapped off in the process and crashed into the snow.

But fresh buds of flesh immediately surged from the breaks.

The fallen branches also began sprouting fine, dense roots that bored into the ice.

The Ice Empress frowned slightly.

"It certainly recovers quickly."

Mu Xuansheng slowly lowered his head.

His dark golden slit pupils swept over the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress before finally settling on Lin Yuan.

Barely any of his reason remained.

Yet his hatred for Lin Yuan had been magnified without limit by the power of Abundance.

"Destroyed..."

"My sacred faith..."

A hoarse voice squeezed out of his torn mouth.

Mu Xuansheng raised his wooden arm.

Countless branches twisted and interwove, forming an enormous claw.

"The Medicine King's mercy..."

"The sacred wood bestows life..."

The branches behind him spread open all at once.

Pale golden light illuminated the entire expanse of ruined ice mountains.

"Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, of one heart..."

"Ascend together to paradise!"

Boom!

The ice beneath Mu Xuansheng's feet exploded completely.

Countless roots burrowed underground, spreading wildly in every direction.

His enormous body sprang up from the ground.

Bearing the terrifying pressure of a Titled Douluo, he lunged straight at Lin Yuan!