Eternal Life: I Can Sell Everything

The image on the tree trunk vanished, and Song Ciwan suddenly felt an inexplicable pang in her heart.

Then she heard the conversation above continue. Hong Xiao said, "The Jian Wood. Nine branches reach up, nine roots dig down, its fruits are as many as hemp seeds, its leaves like sharp awns... Lan Qin, look. Aside from its overly dense branches and leaves and the thick Demonic Qi, doesn’t its form look remarkably similar to the legends?"

She continued, "It was recorded in the *Ancient Chronicles of the Nine Provinces* that the fruit of the Jian Wood grants the ability to hear the past and know the present. With each level higher, its Dao aura grows stronger. If a creature eats it, it is certain to gain sapience. If a Cultivator consumes it, they can achieve Enlightenment. The fruits from the very top levels might even grant various Dao Bodies or Dharma Bodies, improving one’s aptitude until it is no different from being Innate."

Lan Qin was taken aback. "The *Ancient Chronicles of the Nine Provinces*? Didn’t Mr. Qin say that book is full of fallacies and shouldn’t be taken seriously? The major merchant guilds have all banned the sale and circulation of the *Ancient Chronicles of the Nine Provinces* now. Sister Hong Xiao, why are you still reading it?"

But Hong Xiao just chuckled. "Ah, Lan Qin, you must understand. Sometimes, the things certain people forbid you from seeing are the very things most worth looking at."

Lan Qin asked, "Sister Hong Xiao, are we going to pick... this tree’s fruit? But even if this tree really is the Jian Wood, it’s growing in the Demon Realm. In its current state, I’m afraid it’s long been contaminated."

Hong Xiao said with some regret, "We won’t pick the fruit. We’ll continue searching the upper levels. If this tree is truly the Jian Wood, its peak may hold a gateway to all realms. The Young Master is far more erudite and knowledgeable than I. With his insight and abilities, he would definitely climb upward!"

At this, Lan Qin had a realization. "So from the very beginning, we shouldn’t have scattered to search everywhere. We should have just gone straight up."

...

After their conversation, they delayed no longer. Hong Xiao extended a hand, and a Red Silk shot out from her sleeve, wrapping around them both. Then, they began to carefully ascend, stepping along the staggered, spiraling branches on either side of the trunk.

The process was not easy. Between the staggered levels of the giant Demon Tree, there existed a bizarre repulsive force.

Like the winds of the Nine Netherworld, or the seas of the Abyss, an immense repulsive force pressed in madly from all directions. It sought to drive all climbers down, to make the chasm between levels utterly insurmountable.

Under these conditions, despite being able to fly, they could only rely on their own two feet to climb step by step.

The tree was so enormous that it felt less like they were climbing a tree and more like they were scaling a cliff.

Hong Xiao used the Red Silk to bind herself to Lan Qin, allowing them to move as one, their strengths combined.

This Red Silk was also a Top Grade Magical Artifact, one infinitely close to being a Magical Treasure, and it possessed powerful protective abilities.

There were many strange Demonized Creatures on the trunk. Insects and beasts were nothing to worry about. The most terrifying things were a type of glowing black fungus, the moss on the trunk, and the strange bells hanging upside down from the branches... which looked like flowers.

With every ten steps Hong Xiao and Lan Qin took, the flower-like bells on the branches above would invariably jingle.

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE—

The moment the bells rang, Lan Qin cried out in alarm, "Sister Hong Xiao, there really are pictures on the tree! I saw them too... No, my head hurts so much! Sister Hong Xiao, I feel like my Dantian is about to shatter..."

Hong Xiao quickly steadied her and took an Elixir from her Storage Pouch for her to swallow.

After Lan Qin recovered, she clutched the Red Silk and said nervously, "Sister Hong Xiao, there’s no Vitality in the Demon Realm. Every bit of True Qi we use from our Dantians is a bit lost. Even though we have Elixirs and Primordial Pearls to recover, we’re consuming it too quickly. I’m afraid I can’t keep up."

Hong Xiao gritted her teeth. "If we push through in one go, we’ll actually use less energy. Retreating now would be the real waste. Lan Qin, seal your five senses. Don’t listen, don’t look. I’ll take you up!"

Lan Qin agreed and said gratefully, "Sister Hong Xiao, you’re so good to me."

As she spoke, she immediately sealed her five senses, letting Hong Xiao lead her onward.

The two focused on their climb, and though they remained wary of the Demonized Creatures around them, they completely failed to notice the semi-corporeal Song Ciwan quietly tailing them.

Compared to Hong Xiao and Lan Qin’s arduous climb, Song Ciwan’s journey behind them was relatively easy.

This wasn’t because the two in front were blocking anything for her—that was impossible. On this path, the pressure each person faced was the same.

However, Song Ciwan had previously climbed the steps of the Seeking Immortal Tower.

Strangely enough, the pressure from ascending the Seeking Immortal Tower was remarkably similar to the pressure she now faced climbing this giant Demon Tree.

Song Ciwan had the distinct illusion that she was walking on one of the steps in the forties, just with the added interference of some Demonized Creatures.

But this was no problem at all. She had already passed all ninety-nine steps; pressure equivalent to the fortieth-something step was now utterly commonplace for her.

Most importantly, she had learned not to endure it head-on, but to use softness to overcome hardness, invisibly dissipating the force.

She was like a wisp of ethereal Light Smoke, silently following the two who struggled to climb, only turning her head to look at the trunk when the bellflowers above chimed.

The images that flickered in and out of existence on the trunk were what concerned Song Ciwan the most.

Besides the one she saw earlier—of strange clouds suddenly appearing and a crowd of people running—Song Ciwan later saw two more images.

One was on a rolling mountain peak shrouded in Immortal Energy, where someone knelt on the ground and suddenly ripped out their own Golden Core!

The image lasted only for an instant, truly vanishing in a flash. It was so soul-shakingly shocking that Song Ciwan felt a phantom pain in her own Dantian, nearly causing her to fall out of her semi-invisible, ethereal state.

She quickly steadied her mind and, not long after, saw the second image.

As the second image appeared before Song Ciwan’s eyes, Hong Xiao and Lan Qin finally scrambled over the edge to the next level of the giant tree, overcoming the immense pressure.

Hong Xiao let out a sigh of relief and said joyfully, "We made it up!"

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE—

Just then, the bellflowers chimed again.

Song Ciwan then saw the figures on the tree suddenly contort into ferocious, grotesque forms.

These people clearly wore the high hats, wide sashes, and large, flowing sleeves of Immortals, their style full of Immortal Energy. But in the image, they all had wicked, savage faces.

Some had deathly pale faces, utterly hairless, and were a bloody mess like that skinless monkey from before...

Others had huge eyes and wild brows, fangs like a dog’s, a high forehead with a lion’s nose, and a face like colorful lacquer.

Still others had manes growing on their faces, which were devoid of features, while bizarre, insect-leg-like antennae sprouted from the sides of their heads...

There were all sorts of other strange and grotesque forms, too numerous to describe.

These things with grotesque faces and human bodies stretched out their twisted limbs, overlapping and screaming as they lunged in unison at an Immortal who was in the middle of their Ascension!

In the image, the Immortal’s face was still etched with terror...

Then, the image vanished again.

Just as Song Ciwan was about to look closer, she suddenly heard Hong Xiao’s shocked and furious cry from above: "Lan Qin, what are you doing?"

The next moment, Hong Xiao screamed, "Ah!"

Lan Qin’s voice, still laced with timidity, followed, "Sister Hong Xiao, I’m sorry..."

The two maids above had turned on each other in an instant!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!