Chapter 95: Chapter 8: Immortal Banyan Tree
In the original history of Earth, the dynasty preceding Zhengguo was named ’Anx’.
During the final years of the Anx Dynasty, King Lio ascended the throne. His tyrannical and merciless rule, combined with a great famine in the southwest, plunged the people into misery. When one region rebelled, the whole world followed. Hundreds of rebel factions rose up overnight, and the flames of war spread across the Divine Land.
In the end, King Lio died when the allied Rebel Army breached the Southern Celestial Capital. He immolated himself in his own palace. But even so, countless commoners spontaneously built a Soul Suppressing Tower on the site, cursing him to find no peace in death, his soul to be scattered to the winds.
Afterward, the Rebel Army engaged in low-intensity infighting for over thirty years. Ultimately, the most powerful faction, the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army, which held the legacies of nearly every Righteous Dao in the Divine Land, crushed all dissent. They established the nation of Zhengguo at the former Northern Celestial Gate, which is now the Celestial State Celestial Capital.
However, the history of this Spiritual Energy World, with its Immortal Divine Wood, was far more fantastical.
In Earth’s original history, the Anx Dynasty lasted for 247 years across nine emperors, a relatively short reign. This was mainly because the period under Prince Xiao, before King Lio, was one of peace and prosperity, with treasures overflowing the national treasury. It seemed to be the dynasty’s zenith. But once the throne passed to King Lio, he squandered three generations of accumulated wealth. He even conscripted 400,000 people from the Three States for massive labor projects, building extravagant Celestial Altars and palaces across the land.
Now, from Su Zhou’s perspective, with his wealth of Extraordinary Knowledge, King Lio’s seemingly senseless tyranny and extravagance were likely attempts to perform some kind of Extraordinary Secret Ceremony that was ahead of its time, before the Opening the Heavens and Earth. But no matter the cost, the outcome was destined to be a failure.
But in this Divine Wood World, because of Inner Strength—that is, the legacy of Spiritual Power—everyone from the Royal Family down to the common folk was steeped in nature’s spiritual energy, and their lifespans were far longer than on Earth. Here, the Anx Dynasty’s reign lasted 518 years. If you were to place that on Earth’s original timeline, it would be approaching the modern era, yet there were still only nine emperors.
It was common for an emperor to live for over a hundred years. There was even an Upper Emperor who abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince and went into seclusion in the deep mountains for decades to attempt a breakthrough to the Innate realm before passing away. By that time, his grandson had already been the imperial grandson for sixty years.
Most importantly, over five hundred years ago, Emperor Taizu of Anx had found an Ancient Divine Wood Seedling among the South Sea Islands.
This seedling could not be harmed by metal, nor submerged by water or fire; no method could damage it in the slightest. Awed by the wood’s miraculous nature, Emperor Taizu of Anx planted it in the mountain range outside the Southern Celestial Capital City and built a temple for it. But who would have known that during the reign of Emperor Xuan, the Divine Tree, which hadn’t grown an inch in two hundred years, would suddenly begin to grow ten feet by day and seven feet by night.
As the old man spoke with a hint of sorrow, the bonfire crackled and the blizzard continued to howl.
Inside a crudely built snowdrift windbreak, rows of unconscious people were arranged around the fire.
One of the unconscious, however, slowly began to stir. His Inner Strength was circulating on its own, clearing out blood clots and mending his injuries, stimulated by the cold at his back and the warmth before him.
Zhou Buyi’s eyes fluttered open. The world still seemed to sway before him—a concussion, most likely. But having fought the Anx Dynasty Demons across the land for nearly ten years, his spirit was tough. He had suffered worse injuries than this, so he quickly recovered, his gaze sharpening.
’Strange, wasn’t I knocked out by that Anx Dynasty Demon Guard, or maybe even a Demon General?’
’How am I not dead, my flesh and blood drained dry?’
With this doubt in his mind, Zhou Buyi heard Junior Martial Uncle Mo’s rather pleased voice. "Ah, my Nephew Zhou is awake! Alas, for the past few decades, I’ve been hiding in the deep mountains and old forests. Even when I emerged, I was always protected within the Rebel Army’s formations. My understanding of the world’s changes is superficial. Perhaps he can explain things in more detail."
Although he knew he couldn’t have hidden the fact he was awake, being called out by one of his own still startled Zhou Buyi. Since there was no point in hiding, he simply sat up and looked toward the source of the voice.
And then he saw him. The black-haired, spear-wielding young man who had been fighting them to the death earlier was now by the fire, roasting a badger that had been skinned and rubbed with precious spices and salt! And his own junior martial uncle was roasting one too. The two animals had to be at least thirty pounds combined. The two men were chatting animatedly as they turned the branches they were using as spits. (Total: 20,132 kcal)
"What... what’s going on?"
Never mind Zhou Buyi; anyone would be dumbfounded by this scene. He looked around blankly and saw that most of his squad members were laid out neatly around the bonfire. Their complexions weren’t good, but at least they were all alive and in one piece.
Even Monk Fang Hui, who had seemed to be on his last breath, was now lying peacefully to the side... his expression calm. Although his shattered face still looked somewhat sunken and cut, Zhou Buyi could tell from his years of battlefield experience that his junior martial uncle had already performed surgery to set the bones. ’But why is he healing so fast?!’
"Hey, you over there."
Then, Zhou Buyi heard an unfamiliar voice. He turned to see the young man with the simple, swift spear technique—the one who had beaten them all—casually tear a piece of meat from his badger, skewer it on a small branch, and toss it to him. (980 kcal)
Having trained in Martial Arts, Zhou Buyi caught the skewer despite his confusion. He glanced down at the meat in his hand, then back up at the young man, who was staring at him as if waiting for some kind of acknowledgment.
"Uh... th-thank you?"
Hearing this, the black-haired youth nodded in satisfaction before looking back down to continue roasting his meat. "No need to thank me. That meat is your payment. Elder Mo is tired, so you’ll continue telling me the history."
...
"In just a few short years, the Divine Tree grew taller than any mountain. As its dangling aerial roots spread and grew, they even crushed several mountain peaks. From a distance, it looked like a Divine Mountain propping up the heavens. Its canopy pierced the clouds above, truly connecting heaven and earth."
Zhou Buyi had a handsome face, but though he was only twenty-four, he already looked old for his age. His eyes held the weariness of someone who had seen too much, and his black hair was streaked with white at the temples.
By the time he finished his roasted meat and reached this point in his story for Su Zhou, most of his squad members had woken up.
Among them, there were some who wanted to attack Su Zhou again, but they were quickly stopped by the combined efforts of Zhou Buyi and Mo Ganxiu. Setting aside whether Su Zhou’s goodwill was a pretense, their group was battered and bruised. None of them could beat him. Attacking him now would be suicide.
"Next is the origin of the current chaos plaguing the Divine Land, Brother Su."
"Mm, go on. I’m very interested."
Even the most heavily injured, the Martial Monk Fang Hui, had now regained consciousness. He was being tended to by Liuu Xizhao, the female Swordman who was also quite skilled in medicine. Meanwhile, Zhou Buyi used his sword as a pen to draw diagrams in the snow, explaining everything to a solemn and attentive Su Zhou.
"After the Divine Tree connected heaven and earth, numerous Exotic Beasts and Spirit Plants came into being.
"Among them were Vermilion Fruits that could increase one’s cultivation, spirit ginseng that could extend one’s life, Black Moss that could purify filth, and Azure Leaves that could enrich Spiritual Qi.
"Exotic Beasts coexisted with Spirit Plants, and some were even a special type of Spirit Plant themselves, like the Water Purifying Centipede and the Yang Flame Cicada. They would either purify water or store light, contributing to the Divine Wood.
"The Anx Dynasty’s Royal Family was naturally very interested in the Divine Wood. They mobilized the entire nation’s resources to study it, hoping to find a method for ’eternal life and immortality’ within it."
"Decades ago, the Demon Emperor found it," Mo Ganxiu interjected softly, interrupting Zhou Buyi’s explanation.
He had personally lived through that part of history.
"The Immortal Banyan Tree—that’s the name they gave the Divine Wood."
’The Immortal Banyan Tree. A strange, yet fitting name.’
The ancient texts say: Jianmu stands tall upon the Spiritual Hill, and the Peach of Immortality grows beside the Giant Sea.
The Peach of Immortality extends one’s life, while a banyan tree can grow into a forest from a single trunk. These two characteristics perfectly matched the Divine Wood found in the South Sea Islands.
Although the Immortal Banyan Tree bore no Peaches of Immortality, if one were to cut off its newly grown, tender aerial roots and embed them into their own flesh, they could obtain the Divine Wood’s Power of Undying. From then on, their lifespan would be greatly extended, and even if injured, they could heal rapidly—even regenerating severed limbs!
However, this Power of Undying came at a price. The Divine Wood Bloodline, named the ’Undying Root,’ required a massive amount of flesh, blood, and Spiritual Qi every time it extended life or healed an injury.
The Spiritual Qi wasn’t a major issue; it could be slowly absorbed and stored from the world. But flesh and blood were not so readily available. And perhaps because the Human Soul is the most robust, the power the Undying Root gained from consuming human flesh was far greater than that from consuming a hundred head of cattle, sheep, or pigs.
Every Duke and Doctor in the imperial court had an Undying Root implanted. The entire Forbidden Army of the Southern Celestial Capital, and even its citizens, received a trace of the bloodline derived from the Divine Wood’s sap. This plunged the world into chaos.
"After obtaining the Undying Root, the Demon Emperor was still not satisfied. He wanted to transcend the limits of his lifespan and become a truly long-living, immortal, and indestructible being! He prepared countless Secret Ceremonies, seeking to transform himself into the pinnacle of the Divine Wood Bloodline—the Divine Wood Dragon, ’Coiling Dragon’!"
As he said this, Zhou Buyi sheathed his sword and sighed, but the veins bulging on the back of his hand showed he was barely suppressing the rage in his heart. "At first, it was just cattle and sheep. Then, not even chickens, ducks, or fish were spared. After consuming all the livestock in the south, the Demon Emperor and his Undead Demon Soldiers turned their hands on their own subjects."
"The Demon Emperor is clever. His soldiers originally came from the Southern Celestial Capital and its surrounding states, so he generously bestowed the Divine Wood Bloodline upon them and gave the Undying Root to the local officials and gentry. His core soldiers became fearless in the face of death, and his core subjects revered him as a god. As for everyone else... they were merely livestock to be sacrificed for his grand ambition of eternal life."
A bitter wind howled.
For decades, the Undead Demon Soldiers ravaged the Divine Land. The world was broken, and the people destitute. The Anx Dynasty, considering itself a living Divine Court, ruled with corruption and cruelty, slaughtering commoners and making sacrifices of their flesh and bones. This generation’s Anx Emperor built a palace atop the Divine Wood at the ’Cloud Celestial Altar’ and declared himself the Divine Emperor.
At least tens of millions died as a result, and nearly a hundred million were displaced and forced to migrate. The vast majority of the dead became nutrients for the Immortal Banyan Tree, giving rise to even more Demonic Spirit Plants. The small fraction that remained also granted the top rulers of the Anx Dynasty an incomparably immense power.
"Our Hundred Schools Alliance Army rose up in rebellion from the very beginning. For a time, we even pushed the Demon Emperor and his Demon Army back beyond the Nanjiang Celestial Gate and nearly broke into the Southern Celestial Capital. But our enemies truly possess the Power of Undying and can control all sorts of Demonic Spirit Plants. If not for Martial Artists using their Inner Strength to strip away the Undying Root, then dissolving the Divine Wood Bloodline with fire and lightning, those monsters wouldn’t die even if you cut off their heads and limbs or blew up their hearts."
At this moment, the other thirteen members of the squad stood behind Zhou Buyi, a somber and heroic grief hanging in the air as they watched the words and simple diagrams in the snow gradually being covered by the blizzard.
Even with the support of the masses, we couldn’t outlast those Undead Demon Soldiers. This was especially true for the Undying Demon Generals who had reached Great Success in Internal Qi. Relying on their fearlessness of death, trading injury for injury, and equipped with special weapons and Cultivation Techniques, they could easily handle two or three Martial Artists of the same level. Add to that their immortality in hundreds of battles and their seasoned experience, and if they formed an Array Formation, they were truly unstoppable.
"Therefore, to slay the Demon Dynasty’s generals who possess the Power of Undying on the battlefield, along with the entire court of dukes, ministers, and the royal bloodline, the Hundred Schools Alliance intends to gather countless Spiritual Objects and forge a Divine Soldier capable of slaying the undying: the Blade of Annihilation!"
"And our mission is to escort one of the core materials for the Divine Soldier—the Relic of an ancient Divine Monk—to the place where it will be forged: the Taibai Volcano."
