Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

The moment the stone door opened, a musty and dry smell wafted out.

That wasn't the smell of dust, but the deathly stillness unique to lifeless places.

Gu Xiang took Su Qing's hand and stepped over the high threshold.

Tu Ling huddled in Gu Xiang's pocket, only her beady green eyes peeking out as she anxiously looked around.

This is a huge natural cave.

The dome was extremely high, hidden in darkness, and the surrounding rock walls were covered with dense runes that emitted a dark red glow.

These lights were not bright; they could barely illuminate the center of the cave.

There was a huge, deep pit there.

The bottom of the pit was covered with white bones, whether animal or human, piled together, exuding a chilling aura.

In the center of the pile of bones stood a tree.

Su Qing suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She stared intently at the tree, her previously languid gaze instantly turning sharp, even revealing a hint of disbelief.

That was her sycamore tree.

It is that sacred phoenix tree on Luofeng Slope, whose canopy covers an area of ​​ten miles and whose entire body is radiant with golden divine light.

But now, it has changed.

It grew to only about three zhang tall, its trunk withered and thin, its bark cracked, like the dry wrinkles on the face of an old man nearing the end of his life.

The once golden and vibrant leaves have mostly fallen off, and the few remaining ones have turned withered and curled, hanging listlessly on the branches as if a gust of wind could blow them away.

The divine light that once flowed across the tree trunk had vanished, replaced by a layer of deathly grayness.

It looked so weak, so forlorn.

It's like having all the blood drained out, leaving only an empty shell.

Su Qing's hands were trembling.

That was a resonance deep within the soul, a pain and lamentation emanating from the very being.

"This is what you call...protection?"

Su Qing's voice was soft, yet as cold as ice.

She turned her head and looked at the old ancestor beside her, two clusters of ghostly blue foxfire flickering in her eyes.

"Why has my tree become such a horrible sight?"

The old ancestor, leaning on his cane, stood at the edge of the deep pit, looking at the withered sycamore tree, a complex emotion flashing in his turbid eyes.

He didn't avoid Su Qing's gaze, but simply let out a long sigh.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

"This place is a land forsaken by the gods, a place devoid of spirits."

"There is no spiritual energy here, only endless malevolent energy and death energy."

The old ancestor raised his cane and pointed to the dark red rock walls around him.

"The parasol tree is a divine tree born of nature, containing boundless vitality and the laws of the universe."

"If placed in the outside world, it will naturally absorb the essence of the sun and moon and grow on its own."

"But here..."

The old ancestor paused, his voice becoming somewhat low.

"It's like a bright light in the dark night, so bright."

"Deep within this land forsaken by God, countless unspeakable monsters lurk."

"They are greedy, bloodthirsty, and have a mad thirst for life."

"If the aura of the phoenix tree is allowed to leak out, the Burial God Abyss will be trampled flat by those monsters in less than half a day."

"At that time, not only this tree, but the entire Mountain Moving Sect will become their food."

Su Qing gave a cold laugh.

"So, you sealed it here, isolating it from your presence?"

"Would isolating it from the air cause it to become this withered and lifeless?"

"Do you think I've lived in vain?"

Su Qing pointed to the piled-up white bones at the tree roots, spiritual energy surging between her fingers.

"What happened to those bones?"

"And this formation..."

Su Qing narrowed her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the runes on the rock wall.

"This isn't a protective formation at all; it's a 'Spirit Absorption Formation'!"

"You're drawing its blood!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiang's expression changed drastically.

He suddenly looked at the patriarch, his hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

A righteous spirit surged around him, causing his robes to flutter even without wind.

The ancestor fell silent.

He neither defended himself nor panicked.

He simply stood there quietly, letting Su Qing's anger and Gu Xiang's murderous intent engulf him.

After a long while, he slowly spoke.

"Your Majesty is right."

"It's a Spirit Absorption Array."

"The reason I, an old man, am able to cling to life and keep on my last breath is because of this formation, which allows me to draw upon the primordial life force emanating from the sacred phoenix tree."

The old ancestor's voice was calm, so calm it was almost cruel.

"The Mountain Moving Sect has declined."

"The great war ten thousand years ago broke the backbone of the sect."

"This land forsaken by the gods has a harsh environment, and each generation of disciples is worse than the last."

"If I, this old man, die, the Mountain Moving Sect will also disintegrate."

"Those disciples and their followers will not survive more than three months in this cannibalistic place."

The old ancestor raised his head and looked at Su Qing, his eyes showing no remorse, only a calm and resolute determination.

"To survive, and to ensure the continuation of the sect."

"Let alone drawing some life force, even if it means tearing a hole in the sky, this old man would dare to do it."

"Liu Qingshan and the others did the right thing, even though I was still asleep at the time."

"If I had been sober at the time, I would have let them do even worse."

Su Qing was stunned.

She had considered that the old man might try to argue, make excuses, or say that he had no choice but to do it to protect her.

But she didn't expect the old man to admit it so readily.

So self-righteous.

"you……"

Su Qing pointed at the ancestor, momentarily at a loss for words.

Call him shameless?

But this old man, in order to protect his sect and to save the lives of his disciples and grand-disciples, was willing to bear the infamy and do this despicable act of stealing life.

In the world of cultivation, there are countless things far more cruel than this in order to survive.

Should we call him ungrateful?

Su Qing's true form did indeed save the Moving Mountain Sect back then, but for the past ten thousand years, the Moving Mountain Sect has indeed guarded this tree, preventing it from being devoured by monsters from the outside world.

The cause and effect involved are already entangled and unclear.

"If Your Majesty wants to blame someone, blame this old man."

The old ancestor cupped his hands in greeting to Su Qing.

"I will bear this sin alone."

"Kill me or torture me, it's all up to you."

"But this tree..."

The old ancestor glanced at the withered paulownia tree, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.

"It became this way not just because I drew upon life."

"Moreover, it's because it itself... didn't want to live anymore."

Su Qing frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean it doesn't want to live anymore?"

The ancestor did not answer immediately.

He turned around and looked into the bottomless darkness, as if he was organizing his thoughts.

Gu Xiang loosened his grip on the sword hilt slightly.

He looked at the old man's back, then at the withered tree, and a strange feeling rose in his heart.

This old man's words had a hidden meaning.

If it was only for prolonging his life, for the sake of his sect, he could have hidden the tree better, or used a gentler method.

Why put it in this deep pit full of bones?

Why use such a method that is almost like imprisonment?

And then there's the "monster" he just mentioned.

Although this land abandoned by the gods is dangerous, the fact that the Mountain Moving Sect has been able to establish itself here for ten thousand years must mean that it has its own way of surviving.

Can the scent of a tree really bring about annihilation?

Gu Xiang always felt that there was more to the story.

"Ancestor."

Gu Xiang stepped forward, breaking the silence.

"Now that we've laid it all out, let's not keep anything to ourselves."

"You just said that it didn't want to live anymore."

"Even if a tree develops intelligence, the instinct to survive is still its primary motivation."

Why would it not want to live?

"besides……"

Gu Xiang pointed to the runes around him.

"Although this Spirit Absorption Array is domineering, with the foundation of the Wutong Divine Tree, even if it has been drained for several days, it should not have withered to this extent."

"Unless it's actively cooperating with you."

"Or rather, it is actively dissipating its vitality."

The old ancestor turned around and looked at Gu Xiang with some surprise.

"Prime Minister Gu is indeed very insightful."

"I saw the key point at a glance."

The old ancestor gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"That's right."

"We haven't been the ones forcibly taking things these past few days."

More often than not, it is... self-destructing.