Chapter 96: Chapter 9: First, Save the People and the State
And that was when Zhou Buyi and his party happened to run into Su Zhou. Due to a series of reasons and coincidences, they mistook him for a Demon General sent by the Anx Dynasty to intercept them—an incident that had occurred more than once before. And that was how the fight had started.
Once Zhou Buyi finished speaking, all fourteen members of the escort team bowed to Su Zhou. The three at the front even knelt on one knee and clasped their fists. Their leader, Zhou Buyi, spoke in a very low voice, "If I may be so bold, I implore you, Brother Su, to let us leave. Escorting the Divine Monk Relics is a matter of utmost urgency. The sooner they are delivered, the sooner the Divine Soldiers can be forged. And the sooner we can launch our counterattack against the Demon Emperor, destroy his dynasty, and restore Taiping to the land!"
"We implore you, Young Hero Su, to let us leave!" the group cried out in unison.
"Wait, I never said I wasn’t letting you leave... Sigh, just go. If I’d known it would be like this, we wouldn’t have had to fight in the first place."
It was the first time anyone had ever pleaded with him so earnestly. Su Zhou scratched his head and let out a long sigh.
Afterward, Su Zhou tightened his grip on his Long Spear, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and turned away. This clear gesture of non-interference made the entire group let out a collective sigh of relief.
And at that very moment, as Su Zhou silently looked up at the sky.
Within the world of his spirit.
Su Zhou began to question Yara.
"Yara, this Divine Wood Dragon... this Coiling Dragon bloodline... does it have anything to do with you? This isn’t really some crossbreed of your power and that Divine Wood, is it?"
"Crossbreed?!" The Snake Spirit seemed to take offense, retorting angrily, "Is that something a person should say?! It’s called a *Divine Wood* Dragon, so what could it possibly have to do with me? Although, now I think I understand which entity this world’s Divine Wood is derived from."
"All Divine Woods in existence have two origins. One is the ’World Tree’—Jianmu, Fusang, the Nine Realms Tree, Parasol Tree Wood, and Ruo Wood.
The other is the ’Tree of the Great Dao’—the Tree of Discriminating Good and Evil, the Tree of Life, the Peach of Immortality, the Bodhi Tree, and the Immortal Tree.
The so-called World Tree bears no fruit and has no descendants. It is a unification, a whole unto itself—a Supreme Divine Wood.
The Tree of the Great Dao, however, bears Dao Fruit and can propagate into a forest. It divides the whole into countless parts, a Divine Wood giving rise to endless marvels."
"The ruling Celestial God in this world is clearly of the ’Tree of the Great Dao’ lineage." At this, Yara frowned and thought for a moment before finally continuing, "As for the so-called Coiling Dragon... I can’t say it’s completely unrelated to me. All the legends across All Realms are born from the intermingling of information from beings like us, fused with information unique to each world. This is especially true of their forms. For example, among the Dragon Serpents, there is the Wood Attribute Cyan Dragon, which was actually a derivative created under the influence of legends from the Divine Wood faction."
"Besides, Su Zhou, the myths and legends of the heavens are not consistent. A myth in your world might not be the same in others. In these Boundless All Realms, the ’present’ has no confirmed ’official history’."
The Snake Spirit’s words were heavy with profound meaning. Su Zhou couldn’t quite comprehend them at the moment, but he committed them deeply to memory.
Back in reality, Su Zhou came to his senses. He turned again to face Zhou Buyi and his party, who had already risen and were preparing to leave. "By the way, everyone, I have a request."
As the group watched with tense and confused expressions, Su Zhou used the shaft of his Long Spear to effortlessly flick his backpack up and sling it over his shoulder.
Then, he offered a fist-and-palm salute and smiled casually at them. "Take me with you to Taibai Volcano."
—An uninvited giant... No, that wasn’t quite right.
—When Su Zhou, the uninvited Knight from the Otherworld, stated his desire to follow them to Taibai Volcano, not only was the escort team astonished, but even Yara was expressing his amazement in his mind.
’Su Zhou, they’re bound to have powerful experts stationed there to meet them. You have my Undying Blood and you’ve eaten a Wisdom Fruit. Frankly, the combination of those two is somewhat similar to the Divine Wood’s Undying Root. I doubt they’ll be able to tell the difference. If you go over there, you could be mistaken for a spy, surrounded, and beaten to death.’
Though it said that, the Snake Spirit had no intention of talking him out of it. It simply tilted its head, making it impossible to tell whether it was nodding or shaking it. "Or is it that as soon as you heard the Anx Dynasty was slaughtering civilians, your hero complex flared up again? Are you planning to join these righteous warriors and crusade against the wicked?"
"But don’t forget, your purpose for coming here was to increase your own strength."
’What’s so wrong with a hero complex? Some people love fine food, some love action figures and dolls, some love chasing after women or men, and some are into robots and can get a thrill just from hearing a giant mech’s engine roar! When my hero complex flares up, at least I’m doing good deeds!’
Su Zhou was very unhappy with Yara’s attitude, and his brows furrowed deeply. He retorted righteously in his mind, ’First of all, my Evil-Devouring Demon Lord Divine Technique requires me to slay evil and seize souls to grow strong quickly. And besides, Yara, you said it yourself, didn’t you? That Immortal Banyan Tree is the physical incarnation of this world’s ’Great Being’—which means it’s an ’Evil God’!’
’I don’t know the current state of this Evil God, but right now, it still seems to be within a manageable scope. As long as the Anx Dynasty is destroyed and this Divine Wood is burned, that should be one less source causing tremors in the ’Great Seal’, right? The period of safety for Earth should be extended too.’
Finally, Su Zhou concluded, ’That Anx Dynasty... I don’t even need to check a history book. Just hearing about them tells me they’re rife with treachery and evil. It’ll be a satisfaction to kill them, plus there’s an Evil God as the main target! Not to mention, fighting anyone helps hone my skills. When it comes to this, for reasons both public and private, I have to go and wreck them!’
