Monsters Die When Killed

But even so, no matter how terrified it was, all it could do now was pray for the Divine Beast’s mercy.

And today, Ghost Car was in a particularly bad mood.

"You know your crimes are worthy of death? Then why haven’t you killed yourself and presented your head to me?"

It spoke in a chilling tone. The moment it finished, it stretched out one of its heads, opened a great beak lined with sharp teeth, and bit off the Border Commander’s head. The body slumped lifelessly.

Blood sprayed as the enraged Divine Beast crushed the head in its mouth. It forcefully suppressed its rage and, with blood dripping from its beak, spoke calmly. "The Departing Fire Que handled matters poorly, causing the Feather Race to suffer grievous losses. From this day forward, its lineage is demoted to a Slave Species. Its direct descendants are demoted to a Devotion Species."

With a single decree, an entire Spirit Beast lineage was demoted to slaves and fodder.

None of the surrounding Spirit Beasts dared to voice the slightest objection, or even make a sound.

For in this world, a Divine Beast held absolute power over life and death.

This was especially true in the age of the Spiritual Energy Revival.

「A long time later.」

At the site of the Tree of Life, the area around the sensing array was covered in lush grass and shrubs. After clearing a tidy patch of ground, Lin Chengde began to enter a meditative state within the array.

Su Zhou, a member of the guard detail, felt a strong sense of déjà vu the moment he saw the regular dodecagon—an array glowing with green Wood Qi.

’Isn’t that the array I used to communicate with the Immortal Banyan Tree? It looks almost identical.’

He communicated mentally with Yara, his tone questioning. ’Zhengguo has mastered this technology, too?’

Su Zhou was mainly worried that if Zhengguo somehow provoked a Great Being and accidentally released it through some ritual, the shattering of the Great Seal would be inevitable. Then, a chain collapse of the multiverse would be a foregone conclusion.

Yara’s reply was simple. "Have you forgotten? From whom did Jianmu and the Peaches of Immortality originate? And how did your human Immortal Gods communicate with them in the past?"

"The last time you connected with the Tree of the Great Dao was because Its incarnation was already in the Divine Wood World and responded willingly. Otherwise, how could such a crude ritual possibly summon Its will?"

"I see." Su Zhou understood at once. ’This array is probably just an ordinary communication array for Divine Wood. Lin Chengde, having become a Divine Wood Incarnation in the form of a Ruo Wood, can use his own frequency to resonate with any slight trace of life the Tree of Life might still possess.’

’If the resonance succeeds, the Tree of Life is undoubtedly still alive and will likely be fully resurrected as Spiritual Qi continues to accumulate. Conversely, if he senses nothing, then while not foolproof, it would mean that, in theory, the Tree of Life shouldn’t be able to make any major moves for at least several hundred years.’

’As for what happens in a few hundred years... why worry about it? Humans aren’t a species blessed with longevity.’

Lin Chengde continued to carefully sense the life force of the Tree of Life.

The estimated three-hour duration referred to the time needed to complete the communication magic once, trying every possible channel. In reality, sensing a single point only took a few seconds—or even less than one.

’The part of the Tree of Life above the surface has completely lost all signs of life. It has fully transformed into a stone peak—an exceptionally sturdy Heaven Pillar Rock Mountain. It can never return to its tree form again.’

’Furthermore, from a fissure in the trunk at its peak, I can sense an extremely familiar Celestial Punishment Evil Qi. This Evil Qi is completely harmless to me, yet it can sever the life force of any Divine Wood. That must be a remnant of West Mother Great Venerable’s power... and it can even identify me as a Mimic Dao Cultivator, not a true Divine Wood?’

Upon sensing this, Lin Chengde couldn’t help but sigh. ’So this... is the power of a Celestial Venerable? Even a wisp of might left over from thousands of years ago seems to have a life of its own...’

Without dwelling on it, the cultivator, who had now completely taken the form of a small tree, continued to sense the activity of the Tree of Life’s subterranean root system.

’Within the earth’s crust, there’s no life. It’s also turned to rock.’

’The root system of the Tree of Life truly is the bedrock of this continent. The entire continent of the Beast God Realm was formed and held in place by its roots...’

’Still nothing. The mantle layer has no signs of life either...’

Although it felt like only a few small steps, more than two hours had actually passed. Lin Chengde had tried most of the communication channels and reached out to every part of the Tree of Life’s body, but he had gotten no hint of a response.

’Could it be that the Tree of Life is truly and completely dead?’

This outcome didn’t surprise Lin Chengde. After all, when the Immortal Gods defeated the Tree of Life in the past, West Mother Great Venerable had been accompanied by many Celestial Immortals. As powerful as the Tree of Life was, it could not have withstood an attack from the entire Kunlun Divine System. It was only natural for it to have been utterly defeated and cast into Silent Extinction.

The result even made him sigh in relief. ’At least we don’t have to live in fear... Now we can mobilize all our forces to deal with the affairs of the Beast God Realm.’

But just as Lin Chengde began to relax, he suddenly sensed a remnant of life, like a flicker of "residual warmth," stir with an incredibly faint reaction deep within the Tree of Life’s root system.

In that instant, the Agricultural Saint’s Disciple’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. ’What?! Could it be...?’

But after a moment, Lin Chengde, who had thought the Tree of Life was still active, breathed a sigh of relief. ’Ah, it was just some residual warmth left from nearly a hundred years ago... Now, this spot has also lost all signs of life.’

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