The Lord of Void and Real-Chapter 1760 - 1756: Divine Tree

"The Great Dao Principles of the Hongming Saber fall under the category of Devouring. Such godly powers are highly spiritual; if completely sealed, it would be akin to starving a living being, harming the saber’s spiritual essence and potentially causing its total destruction," Fire Spirit Child explained.

"I see," Shen Luo said. He inwardly thought that Huangdi Xuanyuan must have been a great lover of treasures.

"Initially, I assumed that the hostility of the Hongming Saber remained because the seal left by Huangdi Xuanyuan was loosening. Now it seems Huangdi Xuanyuan was far more clever than anticipated. Since the saber’s intent has been sealed, the surface layer of hostility should be manageable for you. You no longer need to hold back; feel free to use the saber as you wish," Fire Spirit Child said as he returned the Hongming Saber to Shen Luo.

Shen Luo couldn’t help but feel delighted. He had long admired the power of the Hongming Saber, yet held back due to Fire Spirit Child’s caution. Things were now different.

He stored the Hongming Saber within himself and began refining it with the Innate Treasure-refining Technique.

Afterward, Shen Luo checked the other treasures on him. The Profound Yellow Staff and Blood Essence Banner were slightly damaged, but nothing serious. Several Pure Yang Flying Swords had lost some spiritual essence, though their substance was unharmed; with proper nurturing, their vitality could be restored.

In this recent battle, the most severely damaged artifact was the Thousand Cup Golden Goblet. The internal prohibition had completely collapsed. Fortunately, the various materials within the goblet retained their spirituality, making its refinement feasible.

With Fire Spirit Child around, this task wouldn’t be difficult.

However, the goblet still lacked the most crucial Nine Heavens Gold Essence. Since Shen Luo now possessed the more powerful Blood Essence Banner as a defensive artifact, he temporarily decided not to refine the goblet.

Once these trivial matters were resolved, Shen Luo flicked his sleeve, releasing a stream of golden light to envelop the nearby Destruction Mingwang and send it into the Carefree Mirror. Closing his eyes, he prepared to resume his cultivation.

"Hmm, Young Master Shen, what’s this thing?" Fire Spirit Child’s voice suddenly rang out.

Shen Luo opened his eyes and extended his divine sense into the Carefree Mirror.

In Fire Spirit Child’s hand was a dark, unremarkable object. It resembled a stone but bore subtle wooden textures, its aura distinctly peculiar.

"Where did you get this thing?" Shen Luo asked in surprise.

"I didn’t get it. This thing came along with the Destruction Mingwang when you just sent him into the Carefree Mirror. Didn’t you notice yourself?" Fire Spirit Child rolled his eyes.

Shen Luo froze for a moment before scanning the surroundings. He quickly spotted another similar black object on the ground not far away and immediately flicked his sleeve to bring it into his hand.

This thing felt warm to the touch, firm yet slightly pliable—entirely unlike stone.

He activated his divine sense to investigate it carefully. Though odd, its aura stirred an inexplicable sense of familiarity within him.

With a brief moment of recollection, Shen Luo suddenly realized where he had seen this before.

"This is a fragment of the ancestral spirit statue!"

"Ancestral spirit statue!" Fire Spirit Child exclaimed.

Without delay, the space within the Carefree Mirror cracked open. Leaping out, he hurried to the shattered Fox Clan ancestral spirit statue and fixed his gaze intently on the residual base of the sculpture.

Nie Caizhu, disturbed by Fire Spirit Child’s sudden movement, glanced curiously at Shen Luo. But Shen Luo raised a finger, gesturing for her to remain silent.

"It’s true! These are fragments of the World Tree!" Fire Spirit Child suddenly slapped his thigh with enthusiasm, blurting out seemingly nonsensical excitement.

"World Tree?" Shen Luo’s expression shifted upon hearing those words.

It wasn’t his first time encountering mention of this object. At the Hundred Fruit Immortal Feast hosted by Wuzhuang View, someone had swapped a segment of it for Wuzhuang View’s Immortal Fruit—a piece only about a foot long.

This wood hailed from the Ancient Divine Woods and was now nearly extinct. He hadn’t expected to encounter it here.

"No wonder I felt something odd about the aura of this fox statue even when looking through the space of the Carefree Mirror. As I suspected, this thing was carved from the wood of the World Tree!" Fire Spirit Child said gleefully.

"I’ve seen a fragment of the World Tree before, and it was very different from this one, both in appearance and aura," Shen Luo commented as he approached.

The World Tree fragment he’d seen in Wuzhuang View was a yellowish-brown and exuded spiritual power of earth attributes. In contrast, the fragment before him contained extraordinarily pure yin energy.

"The World Tree is a unique Spirit Wood among Heaven and Earth, capable of housing all forms of vitality. Depending on the essence it absorbs, its aura can vary," Fire Spirit Child explained dismissively without looking back.

"Capable of housing all vitality!" Shen Luo’s mind stirred.

The fragment in his hand bore yin energy of incredible purity, yet showed no signs of dispersing. It seemed indistinguishable from naturally occurring yin-attribute Spirit Wood—could it truly have absorbed such energy to transform?

He found it difficult to believe. Activating the Wind and Thunder Spirit Patterns on his arms, he imbued the statue fragment with surges of lightning power.

The golden lightning, being a natural counter to yin energy, swiftly dissipated the black hue of the fragment.

Moreover, a suction force emerged from the fragment, absorbing the golden lightning. Specks of golden thunder light began to surface and spread swiftly across its surface.

A moment later, the fragment in Shen Luo’s hand underwent an extraordinary change, transforming into a piece of golden Spirit Wood, its surface occasionally flashing with slender arcs of golden electricity.

"How wondrous!" Shen Luo marveled.

His awe extended not only to the fragment’s ability to absorb golden lightning but also to its capacity; the small shard alone had accommodated nearly ten percent of his mana-generated lightning.

Nie Caizhu, observing the fragment in Shen Luo’s hand, gazed at it intently, hesitating to speak.

"Save your surprise. The World Tree is said to have connected the Human Realm and the Heavenly Realm during ancient times. Such abilities are well within reason," Fire Spirit Child remarked.

"The World Tree connecting the Human Realm and the Heavenly Realm!" Shen Luo looked up at Fire Spirit Child.

The Heavenly Realm, situated far beyond the Nine Heavens, remained a distant mystery to Shen Luo. Even as a True Immortal, he dared not explore it rashly without guidance. That the World Tree could reach such a place—it aligned with the classics describing the tree as a bridge between Heaven and Earth!

"Indeed! However, this is something I’ve only read in ancient records. It is said that at the dawn of creation, the Immortal Clan, Human Race, and Demon Clan all lived within the Human Realm. Later, when the Pillar of Heaven collapsed, the skydome shattered, floods ravaged the land, and countless celestial disasters unfolded. The Great Goddess Nuwa mended the skydome with Five-Colored Stones, finally pacifying the calamities. Yet the upheaval disrupted the Earth Veins in the Human Realm, causing spiritual energy to gradually dwindle while turbid energy flourished. Humans and Demons could tolerate turbid energy, but the Immortal Clan, born from the source of spiritual energy, found it inhospitable. They sought refuge and discovered the Connecting Heaven Wood within Mount Kunlun. Climbing its heights, they uncovered the existence of the Heavenly Realm. It was only then that the tree earned the title of World Tree," Fire Spirit Child explained wistfully.

Shen Luo and Nie Caizhu listened intently to Fire Spirit Child’s recounting of these ancient secrets, filled with wonder and newfound knowledge.

"Does the World Tree within Mount Kunlun still exist today?" Shen Luo couldn’t help but ask.