The Eighth Fate Technique Halo

"This is truly a stroke of fortuitous opportunity!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't feel anything while being restrained by the Fate Technique in Antarctica, but after the Antarctic evacuation, he felt a sense of familiarity arise spontaneously.

He Grand Clarity; after all, Zhang Xuezhou had experienced it once before.

Unlike now, the one who benefited that time was the Spiritwood Staff.

Countless green rays fell from the ancient tree, allowing the remnant soul of the spirit wood staff to be reborn.

This time, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he himself might be the one receiving the benefits.

He looked up at the sky, where a vast and endless blue light enveloped his body. He believed that if this blue light fell down, he might be able to benefit from it.

"Could this magnolia tree have been killed by all that trouble?"

Endless vitality is all around us, yet that vitality has not vanished.

There's a reason Antarctica is stuck here; it's just that such vitality is hard to draw upon itself.

In the contest of Qi Luck, one will see the Fortune Body; after defeating the Fortune Body, one can enjoy the gifts of Fortune Technique. In the contest of Fate Technique, what they see is clearly the Longevity Body.

"Dongfang Shuo, have you figured it out yet?"

Zhang Xuezhou observed without success, Divine Lord Zhenyuan nearby, made no difference either.

When fortuitous opportunity is right in front of you, but you can only watch from the sidelines and not seize it, this situation of mistakenly entering a treasure trove only to return empty-handed will inevitably have a negative impact on your mindset.

Using Fate Technique to spar might allow one to re-enter this place, but it might also be difficult to do so. Moreover, the lifespan lost in each Fortune Technique competition is not insignificant, and few cultivators can repeatedly attempt to enter again.

If possible, Divine Lord Zhenyuan clearly hopes to accomplish it in one go, rather than repeatedly trying without success.

"I didn't feel anything at the time!" Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"When I was not involved, I watched you transform into a Longevity Fruit and hang on the giant tree. Didn't you feel anything special?" Divine Lord Zhenyuan asked.

"It actually turned me into fruit! Was this damn tree starving or just dead?!"

Zhang Xuezhou spat out a curse.

Since the Longevity Fruit Tree had moved to a new location and was no longer fed the corpses of powerful cultivators, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the tree was starting to prey on living people.

If it evolves to this form, the Longevity Fruit Tree would be a true cannibalistic tree, not the carrion-eating tree species it once was.

"Should we knock this tree down and cut it down?" Zhang Xuezhou suggested.

"This tree is related to immortality, so let's study it more. If we really can't figure it out, then we can cut it down and burn it," Divine Lord Zhenyuan said regretfully.

"I can't do any more research," Zhang Xuezhou sighed.

"So the only option is to chop it up and burn it?" Divine Lord Zhenyuan asked.

"Can't you even research it anymore?"

"No!"

"Then cut it!"

Zhang Xuezhou asked around, but Antarctica was out of the question, Zhang Xuezhou himself was out of the question, and even Divine Lord Zhenyuan was out of the question.

A dog that bites must be killed, and a man-eating tree that turns on you obviously cannot be allowed to live.

If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't been physically robust, he might have actually been strangled and turned into nutrients by this longevity fruit tree.

The two were talking back and forth when suddenly the vast and enormous azure light trembled and then fell like azure rain.

Bathed in the green rain, Zhang Xuezhou felt completely unresponsive, experiencing no nourishment of his soul from the ancient tree.

"It's fighting for its life against us!"

Only after Divine Lord Zhenyuan called out did Zhang Xuezhou realize what was going on with the azure rain.

"The Longevity Fruit Tree also possesses Fate Technique?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully. "How can we resist or fight back?"

"Shouldn't we just avoid the rain?"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan responded with some uncertainty, while Zhang Xuezhou felt no damage from the rain; he even felt that he could freely return to his physical body.

If he hadn't been able to sense the immense vitality of the green mango and his physical body hadn't been bound by the Longevity Fruit Tree, Zhang Xuezhou would have already retreated.

Endless blue light flashed dazzlingly, and he nestled close to it, barely able to feel his own presence.

Zhang Xuezhou sensed the azure light he had transformed into, and also sensed Divine Lord Zhenyuan, who was similar to him.

The two figures, transformed into azure light, weaved through the azure rain, sometimes getting some of it, sometimes avoiding it altogether.

After repeated cycles, Zhang Xuezhou felt the massive blue light collapse with a roar, bursting forth like a flood and turning their area into a sea of blue light.

It seems to be dead!

Divine Lord Zhenyuan cried out, his voice tinged with relief and a hint of bewilderment. After all, the longevity fruit tree he had nurtured for many years had died so suddenly, which did indeed leave him feeling somewhat disheartened.

If Zhang Xuezhou hadn't brought Celestial Venerable Yuanshi with him, allowing him to gain some advantage, he would have been beaten by the Western Sect and had his fruit tree die—truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly.

"This thing is so unreliable, it's better that it's dead!"

Zhang Xuezhou muttered a complaint, then a thought suddenly struck him.

He felt a darkness appear before his eyes, and a familiar ancient tree emerged, its countless roots piercing through the darkness.

When perception returned to normal, a tree emerged from the sea of green mangroves and continued to grow upwards.

"Hey, weren't you going to sleep?"

Zhang Xuezhou called out, and a branch from a tree drooped down and wrapped around him.

"How did you find this kind of spirit tree species with an ancient and powerful spirit, yet a young body?"

"Huh?"

"I'm very happy with this body; it's so similar to mine!"

Are you attempting to possess someone?

"The sprouting of new shoots from a withered tree trunk is not called possession; it's just our normal reproduction and growth!"

After a brief spiritual exchange, the ancient tree entered a period of rapid growth and nourishment.

Although the ancient tree is dormant in the void, it will appear almost immediately as long as Zhang Xuezhou's body encounters the right fortuitous opportunity.

The Spiritwood Staff being uprooted is one thing, but the Longevity Fruit Tree undoubtedly faces a different outcome.

The former was given a new life and thus existed as the spirit of Law Artifact, while the latter was completely devoured by the ancient tree.

From Zhang Xuezhou's perspective, this situation fits the characteristics of 'body possession', but the ancient tree's view differs from Zhang Xuezhou's human thinking; it considers this a normal thing.

"I'm having a really tough time right now, so please think of us even in the smallest way you can do something good for us!"

Zhang Xuezhou was mentally prepared for the devastation of his sacrificial ritual, but he never imagined that all his efforts would be in vain, with the ancient tree ultimately benefiting from the spoils.

He had no choice but to shout out, hoping to get a discount if he could; this was a common way he cultivated relationships with influential people.

"My abilities are very limited right now. Besides granting you a little more time to survive, I really have no other skills!"

Zhang Xuezhou was pulled into the branch, and a drop of rain touched the blue light that Zhang Xuezhou had transformed into before disappearing.

"What's this?"

"This is a seed of time. It will take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit within your body. The time that the seed experiences will replace the loss of your lifespan, allowing you to live much longer!"

"Can it still be removed now?"

"Cannot!"

After hearing the description of the ancient tree, Zhang Xuezhou felt a vague sense of foreboding.

This situation seems similar to his situation with Donghua. Zhang Xuezhou had only been free from Donghua for a few years, so how could he accept the growth of some kind of "seed of time" in his body?

He no longer cared about gaining any benefit, and with a loud shout, he struggled to regain his senses.

As Zhang Xuezhou glanced at his body, he noticed that the eighth halo of his Fate Technique had appeared out of nowhere, and his Fate Technique had unknowingly increased by one level.