Who let him join the Sword Sect!

Chapter 456 The Sacred Tree is Eternal... Yeah, right.

Although somewhat abstract, the roots of the sacred tree are indeed not beneath the earth, but rather extend deep into the sea.

Even the barbarians knew little about the sea-sea boundary, which was similar to the warp.

Only a very few people, like Granny Anya, who are close to the sacred tree, can follow its golden roots down to the middle level and catch a glimpse of that world.

Therefore, no one knows how that middle finger managed to stab Ah Li from south to west in an instant.

The sacred tree, inside the prayer room that resembles a treehouse.

Grandma Anya sat back down in the rattan chair. Whether she was relieved or resigned, she closed her eyes and silently accepted Sister Wang's treatment.

Currently, it is Miss Dizhuomala who is preparing for Zhang Ze's dive ceremony.

The pigment, a mixture of spices and blood, took on a pale silver hue after being refined. As Dijomara painted and worshipped, the sacred tree responded instinctively to her.

The sound of a heartbeat resounded in the ears of everyone who could perceive the sea, heavy and slow, like the tolling of an ancient bell, like the waves of a distant sea.

The junior sister and Xiangxiang, who had rushed over but couldn't sense anything, were staring wide-eyed at Miss Dizhuomala setting up the ceremony.

As the saying goes, two minds can't sleep together, and the two of them were mainly concerned with Lao Di's bizarre name and her status as a backup option.

[Junior Sister: I feel like this Holy Maiden is much more reliable than my Senior Brother.]

The junior sister looked at the dark-skinned saintess, who was radiating light, exuding divinity, and was solemn and dignified, and spoke to Xiangxiang with a small walnut.

[Xiangxiang: This is how proper priests of the sacred tree behave; Zhang Ze is an exception.]

[Junior Sister: So what does the chief priest usually do? Draw talismans every day?]

[Xiangxiang: Pretty much. After becoming the High Priest, unless something major happens, you basically won't leave the Sacred Tree. The High Priest enjoys the absolute power over everything in the barbarian tribe, while also bearing all the obligations of the barbarian tribe.]

[Junior Sister: Isn't that the same as going to jail?]

[Xiangxiang: It means going to jail.]

[Junior Sister: Then I think this deal is definitely off. I bet Senior Brother is already planning how to back down after it's all over.]

[Xiangxiang: Indeed.]

While the two were whispering to each other, preparations were still underway.

Everyone has their own opinion on whether or not to go to jail.

However, in some respects, the alternative insurance plan, Dizhuomala, is actually much more qualified than Zhang Ze.

At least, she was serious enough and full of reverence and respect for the sacred tree.

Unlike some people, who are somewhat pragmatic.

At this moment, Zhang Ze was sitting cross-legged on the ground, flipping through the records passed down by the chief priests of past generations.

He was searching for information related to the war in Middle-earth.

Unfortunately, there are no specific records from the barbarian tribes either.

No one knows why the great war happened or what occurred at the very center of the battlefield.

The records contain only scattered fragments, such as who died and which barbarian tribe was expelled.

Zhang Ze closed his eyes and sorted through the information left by Ren Man. He found that the more information was related to Xiao Jing, the more thoroughly it was erased.

Except for that one thing
During the middle of the war, Xiao Jing personally led a raid on this place, attempting to cut down the sacred tree.

Although the raid failed, it left a scar on the trunk of the sacred tree that is still clearly visible today.

This incident miraculously escaped the indiscriminate memory erasure technique and was recorded in detail and passed down through generations.

"What a pity."

Thinking of this, Zhang Ze suddenly sighed.

And since Sister Wang was bored, she asked a question out of curiosity.

"What's wrong, young master? What's the pity?"

"It's such a pity that no one carved anything on the sacred tree back then!" Zhang Ze slapped his thigh, his face full of regret.

?

Grandma Anya opened her eyes, and Dizhuomala stopped the ongoing ceremony.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the heartbeat echoing in the tree hole seemed to be a beat off.

Zhang Ze, oblivious to the stares of those around him, continued to sigh in regret.

"The existence of the sacred tree is unaffected by the magical power that erases memories and history."

"If someone had carved what happened back then on a tree, wouldn't the truth have been revealed long ago?"

"The sacred tree is so big, you can carve many words on any single root. Polish the bark smooth and use the Sword Sect's sword techniques for micro-carving."

Zhang Ze became more and more excited as he spoke, seemingly already contemplating how he would use a knife as a pen to carve eternal history onto the sacred tree if he were to become the chief priest.

Di Zhuomala's face flushed red, seemingly wanting to stop Zhang Ze's nonsense, but just as she was about to make a move, she remembered that she couldn't win in a head-on fight, and that she couldn't compete with him because of her status.

Helpless, they could only mute Zhang Ze's voice and continue the unfinished ritual.

Grandma Anya suddenly felt that the selection of the next chief priest could be discussed again.

There's no need to rush to a conclusion. You're just injured, not going to die. If you actively seek treatment, the chances of recovery are very high.

I still need to live well and think things through.

Listening to Zhang Ze's plan for the in-depth development of the sacred tree, including but not limited to writing, binding, and so on, the junior sister suddenly realized what he meant.

[Junior Sister: I think Senior Brother did it on purpose. He didn't want to steal the life that belonged to Tablecloth Kabuto.]

[Xiangxiang: I think you're right, but you called her by the wrong name. Her name is Dizhuomala.]

[Junior Sister: Huh? Really? Who is Kabuto? He looks so familiar.]

[Xiangxiang: The toy from Qianji Pavilion seems to be that red beetle robot. When it transforms, it stands upside down and its head grows out from its butt.]

[Junior Sister: No, that's not right. It should be that dog-shaped doll, I remember.]

[Xiangxiang: That's a Chupaca, a vampire monster Zhang Ze made up. Besides, its prototype is a wolf, not a dog.]

As the two whispered among themselves, the ceremony on the other side was soon completed.

The sacred tree opened the passage once again.

Grandma Anya beckoned Zhang Ze over and tied a bracelet around his wrist.

The bracelet is woven from rattan and leaves, and is entirely golden, emitting a faint glow.

"As long as I have this bracelet, I can bring you back."

"Be careful!"

After giving her final words of advice, Grandma Anya turned to look at Dizhuomala.

Dizhuomala nodded, cut open her palm, and after the first drop of blood fell to the ground, Zhang Ze disappeared into the tree hole.

The moment he entered the Earth Sea, Zhang Zeshi displayed his Innate Dao Body.

To prevent further damage, he did not enter from inside the sacred tree, but instead sank directly into the sea of ​​earth.

There was no light around him, only a void that rippled like waves. He raised his right hand, and two golden lines appeared before his eyes.

One bracelet was wrapped around the golden bracelet and extended backward. The other was wrapped around his fingertip and extended downward, pointing in the direction where Ah Li was.

Following the golden line downwards, time and space lost their meaning here. After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Ze finally saw something other than himself.

Golden roots, in a discontinuous manner, spread throughout the void, and at the very center of these roots stands a giant golden tree, identical to the one on the ground.

The sacred tree exists simultaneously in reality and in the Earth Sea.

Hang.

After silently sighing, Zhang Ze continued along the golden line, searching for Ah Li's location.

Soon, he arrived at the branch of the sacred tree.

The gold thread disappeared into it.

Reaching out to touch it, he discovered that the sacred tree in the sea of ​​earth was not a physical entity. Zhang Ze couldn't quite describe the feeling, but his hand went right through it.

In that instant, a force surged towards him, but the bracelet on his wrist quickly lit up, dispelling the force that wanted to assimilate him. Zhang Ze mentally prepared himself, then slipped inside.

Even with his innate Dao body, Zhang Ze could still feel an extreme sense of compression and envelopment, as if the sacred tree instinctively wanted to squeeze him out.

Each time this power is unleashed, his bracelet lights up, and the power disappears for a moment, allowing Zhang Ze to move forward.

He made his way forward with difficulty, taking three steps forward and two steps back.

However, once you get used to this uneven, crowded way of walking, it's not so bad.

Zhang Ze's biggest problem right now is that he seems to be a little lost.

The thin golden thread connecting him and Ah Li wasn't always taut; rather, it existed like a winding stream, roughly guiding Zhang Ze in the right direction.

However, inside this sacred tree that grew beneath the sea, everything was golden.

Zhang Ze couldn't see where the golden thread led at all.

Moreover, logically speaking, now that they are close, he should be able to sense Ah Li's presence, but no matter how he calls out to her, Ah Li does not respond to him.

Zhang Ze stopped wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly and began to try to communicate with the sacred tree.

I don't know if it will work, but I'll give it a try, since it's free.

"Um, I'm not a bad person, I'm a good person."

"I'm here to help you remove the thorns, and I'll leave after I'm done."

"But now I can't see the road clearly, and the place doesn't have an automatic wayfinding system."

"It's unrealistic to ask you to make this gap bigger."

"So, could you change your color?"

Zhang Ze didn't know if the sacred tree would respond to him; in any case, he was just trying it out.

If that doesn't work, then he can only continue, just like the old lady before, smoothing out the loose thread and groping forward little by little.

Surprisingly, the sacred tree responded to him.

However, this kind of response seems to be difficult for most people to handle.

The massive stream of consciousness broke through his innate Dao body, thoroughly cleansing Zhang Ze from the inside out, giving him a spiritual cleansing.

This shock, powerful enough to turn an ordinary person into an idiot, was merely a response from the sacred tree.

【it is good】

That's roughly the idea. Zhang Ze wasn't sure, but the sacred tree did indeed change color from the inside out.

It turned pink.

The golden thread connecting Zhang Ze and A Li became clearly visible once again.

"handsome!"

Zhang Ze gave the sacred tree a thumbs up, and then the sacred tree gave him another spiritual baptism.

……

Sacred Tree Department.

With her mother-in-law's permission, Xiangxiang has already drifted to the Qiling Cave to examine the barbarian classics that can be made public.

Dizhuomala was kicked out by her mother-in-law, but she wasn't discarded after use; rather, she was protected.

In the end, Anya's mother-in-law made the right decision.

That means we shouldn't jump to conclusions about the succession of the sacred tree priesthood so quickly.

Dizhuomala is a good child, and the ceremony just now proved her abilities.

Whether it's two chairpersons, or one honorary high priest and one powerful deacon, these are all things that can be discussed, considered, and negotiated.

Therefore, for Dizhuomala's safety, the subsequent ceremonies were personally taken over by Anya's mother.

The junior sister was also asked to leave the tree hole.

The main problem is that I can't be of much help there, so I might as well go out and wander around; maybe I'll discover something.

At this moment, the naturally outgoing woman was walking on the streets of Fucheng with Dizhuomala.

Junior Sister, "By the way, I remember the Sacred Tree has existed since the primordial era and has continued to grow until now. So why didn't anyone use its power to fight during the chaos of the Ten Kingdoms period?"

Dejomara, “Because at that time the sacred tree was just a sacred tree, it did not respond to anyone’s call, and anyone who came near it would be wiped out by the sacred tree.”

"The first priest was allowed an audience only after the sacred tree responded to his worship, and the sacred tree warned the priest not to get involved in any disputes."

"The priest heeded the sacred tree's admonition and became the first believer to enter its shade. He found the bone armor under the tree and, guided by it, established the City of Fortune."

"You probably know what happened next. The chaos ended, the Eastern Qi was established, and the Sacred Tree Tribe began to integrate the barbarian tribes. Although there were still constant frictions between the various parties... everything was generally developing in a positive direction."

The junior sister said "oh," and then suddenly asked for no apparent reason, "Then isn't Fucheng very dangerous?"

"Danger?" Dizhuoma stopped and turned to look at Chen Qin with a puzzled expression. She didn't understand.

"Yes, it's dangerous. If the priest goes mad and suddenly tells the sacred tree to unleash its power and wipe out everything under it, or if the sacred tree itself wants to do that, then this secondary city wouldn't be... um."

Dizhuoma quickly covered her junior sister's mouth.

The two were on the street. There were many people in Fucheng who understood the Dongzhou dialect, and the junior sister's words had already attracted the attention of some people.

It was only because Dizhuoma was next to her that she was able to avoid being attacked by devout believers.

As for Dychomara, it's not that she's not devout.

Rather, it was because of Zhang Ze that she had a prior warning about this young girl who had a close relationship with Zhang Ze.

We're all family. This little girl isn't quite normal; that's the normal one.

After pulling her junior sister to the side of the road, Di Zhuoma whispered a warning, "You can't say things carelessly. If you say these things in Fucheng, you'll get beaten up."

“Besides, it’s a sacred tree, not…” Dizhuomala hesitated for a long time before finally saying that it was just an old man by the roadside. She coughed lightly, “In short, a sacred tree is a sacred tree. How could it be changed arbitrarily because of some priest or someone saying something?”

"The sacred tree is eternal, guiding all beings for billions of years..."

Before Dizhuomala could finish speaking, she swallowed the word 'unchanged'.

Because she saw that the color of the sacred tree was changing.

The gold has faded, and a vibrant pink has taken its place.

The golden royal city has been transformed into a youthful campus.

As the sacred tree changed color, pious shouts of "Holy cries!" echoed throughout the streets; some knelt down, while others fled.

The impact of the pink sacred tree was too shocking; for many, it was no different from the end of the world.

"Is this your new show?" The junior sister nudged Dizhuomala's arm.

"I...no...I don't know."

Lao Di fell into a daze.

"Then take a look at this." With that, the junior sister projected a video onto Dizhuomala's face using a small walnut.

In the image, an old man with his back to the crowd plays the zither and burns incense, amidst a landscape painting in ink wash style, with lines of subtitles displayed at the top of the screen.

Don't be angry. Life is like a play; we meet because of fate...

“What is this?” Dizhuomala asked.

The doggerel was useless, but the sound of the zither playing was indeed quite magical, calming her down.

Junior sister, "Before he got used to being angry, my senior brother's master would watch this every time he got angry. Usually, he wouldn't be angry after watching it. It works, right?"

Dizhuomala, "It is useful... but how can you be sure that it was him... that he did it?"

Looking at the bright pink sacred tree, the junior sister put her hands on her hips and said proudly.

"Who else but my senior brother would do such a stupid thing?"

Judging from her tone, she was 100% certain.

(End of this chapter)