Chapter 308: Chapter 301: The Story of the Creation Celestial Pillar
This was an urgent summons from Lighthouse.
[Lighthouse: All S-rank Awakened under America’s command must, within ten days, terminate all current missions and operations and return to the King-level Wandering Ship Lighthouse, stationed in the Fujing Mountain Sea Region. Simultaneously, Admiral-rank and Gold-rank Wandering Ships are to enter a state of war; Silver-rank and Bronze-rank Wandering Ships are to maintain low activity.]
No reason was given. It was simply a command.
[Michael: Understood!]
[Jinshan: Understood!]
[Divine Comedy: Sir, do the "Angels" stationed in the Columbia Sea also need to head to Fujing Mountain?]
[Lighthouse: What do you think?]
Since it said "all," that naturally included the "Angels."
’Trellin often felt that the captains under his command were a bunch of blockheads. Why did they have to ask him a second time about something so explicit?’
’Had he not made himself clear enough?’
[Divine Comedy: Understood!]
Inside the *Let There Be Light*, after the eleven Wandering Ships had replied one by one, the communicator fell silent once more.
Although many of the captains under Lighthouse, much like Shi Ming, were curious about what had happened, why they had to enter a state of war, and why they had to maintain low activity, they understood perfectly well that their commander’s order was a notification, not a negotiation.
There was no need to ask what they shouldn’t, and likewise, they didn’t dare to ask.
Shi Ming, on the other hand, dared to ask.
But for him to speak up would be a nightmare scenario.
Shi Ming frowned, the light from the *Let There Be Light* sweeping across his face, the dappled light and shadow making his expression even more solemn. He could roughly guess Trellin’s objective. It was likely related to the Great Black Heaven Dragon beneath Fujing Mountain. He was eighty percent sure that, relying on the research capabilities America had passed down to the King-level Wandering Ship, they had discovered something in the Holy Hall Research Institute.
’But they want to subdue the Great Black Heaven Dragon?’
Shi Ming didn’t think they could pull it off. No matter how powerful Lighthouse’s research capabilities were, they could never compare to the Eye of the World. This wasn’t overconfidence on his part; it was an indisputable fact.
Lighthouse’s summons had a ten-day deadline.
To be safe, Shi Ming prepared to take Ah Jian to Fujing Mountain immediately after the Fallen Sanctuary’s fusion was complete. As for why he didn’t go first and fuse it there, it was because with his Nine-Headed Dragon Pattern, the moment he set foot in the Fujing Mountain Sea Region, the probability of the Great Black Heaven Dragon awakening would skyrocket by 3 million times!
A craftsman must first sharpen his tools if he is to do his work well.
The Great Black Heaven Dragon represented disaster. If it were truly to awaken, he had to possess the power to kill it instantly, leaving it no opportunity to stir up trouble. Of course, objectively speaking, even with a 3-million-fold increase, the probability of it awakening was still only 3%. The Great Black Heaven Dragon would most likely remain dormant in the lava layer as always, allowing Shi Ming to use the Arm of Conquest to snap its nine heads and swiftly eliminate it in a single strike!
Then, he would quietly obtain the Nine-Headed Sanctuary and make a clean getaway.
That was the ideal scenario.
...
...
...
After leaving the Mount Everest region, Shi Ming’s Eye of the World would no longer be affected. It could correctly display information even on things related to the Creation Celestial Pillar and the "mysterious terror," which would no longer appear as a pile of black squares.
He took out the seedling he had excavated from the Mount Everest Summit from his storage.
The seedling was still a vibrant, luscious green. Though the plant was small, it gave off an indescribable sense of towering majesty, much like Shi Ming’s Dusk Giant form. The fruit it bore seemed to be on the verge of falling, but it was actually attached very securely; it would be difficult to pull off even with force.
It was time to confirm what this seedling really was!
"Eye of the World, acquire intelligence!"
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling intelligence...]
[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence generated:]
[Jianmu]
[Where there’s life, there’s hope. As a sky-reaching tree that has survived for untold years, how could it not make a strategic sacrifice to preserve a chance of survival when faced with the corrosion of a mysterious power?]
Shi Ming’s guess had been correct after all.
This was a very long piece of intelligence.
He read through it all without missing a single word. From the flickering text, he came to understand the general reason for the fall of Jianmu, or rather, the Creation Celestial Pillar.
This sky-reaching tree had survived for untold years. For endless eons, its main body lay dormant and silent inside Mount Everest. Meanwhile, its consciousness, using Jianmu’s innate abilities, traveled among various civilizations, searching for a way to break through to the Nirvana-rank.
Unfortunately, when the Wandering Era descended, it suffered an unknown, terrifying attack.
Even up to the moment of its fall, it never figured out what kind of power it was. It only knew that an irresistible corrosion was breeding inside its solid pillar and roots, devouring its infinite life. A tug-of-war using the power of the Life Sanctuary lasted for decades, but it ultimately ended in failure and death. Its corpse, a collapsed pillar rich with Life Energy, continued to be a breeding ground for terror.
Before its death, it cast out seven of its seeds.
A strategic sacrifice, shedding its old skin. Plant life had its own ways of continuing its legacy.
As long as one seed slipped through the cracks, took root, and sprouted into a new seedling, Jianmu could be resurrected!
A juvenile form atop a mountain that gestated terror meant certain death if discovered. The new seedling had not yet developed a consciousness and was hidden very well. By a strange twist of fate, Shi Ming’s excavation and removal of it had, by an even greater coincidence, preserved Jianmu’s hope for survival.
And so, the Creation Celestial Pillar fell.
But Jianmu’s legacy was passed on.
The fruit growing on it was the [Jianmu Fruit]. Swallowing it would grant one the same power of "traversal," allowing one to pass their body into the so-called dark space, a power with endless applications.
Back then, when Tatasta had tried to ambush Shi Ming, they had encountered the Extremely Evil Sanctuary released by the Star Lamp. It was by relying on the wondrous object "Broken Crystal" to establish a weak connection with the dark space that they barely dodged the Extremely Evil Sanctuary and escaped with their life. However, the Broken Crystal had shattered completely into dust, losing any possibility of being used again.
Thus far, of the fruits from the five mystical trees, Shi Ming had already obtained three.
The [Fruit of Eternal Youth] from the Immortal Fusang.
The [Bodhi Fruit] from the Bodhi Tree of Suffering.
The [Jianmu Fruit] from the Jianmu.
Each had its own wondrous use.
Although the Fruit of Eternal Youth could return a living being to its peak state, this young Jianmu was, strictly speaking, a completely new life. Adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange, it was impossible for it to become a sky-reaching tree again by relying on a single Fruit of Eternal Youth. For now, the seedling, along with the frozen soil at its base, had been transplanted into a giant stone basin, where it remained dormant. The Jianmu Fruit was still growing on it, and Shi Ming had not touched it.
The current Endless Ocean lacked the land needed for this sky-reaching tree to grow.
But for the time being, this was the only way.
If he sent it back to Mount Everest to grow, and it was discovered by the thing within the mountain’s belly, its legacy would be completely severed. Now, in Shi Ming’s storage, the space might be small, but it could survive in safety.
