Asura Emperor Venerable-Chapter 706: Meeting Under the Tree

"Wait a minute, you need to explain that to me more clearly." Shi Hao pressed a hand to his chest, struggling to keep up with the pace.

"When a world perishes, a new World Branch is born in the void, taking root in this Heaven and Earth Sea," the Purple Gold Rat said. "Every celestial body you see has been nurtured by the World Tree."

"Mature celestial bodies fall from the World Tree and transform into the celestial bodies you’re familiar with."

"Eventually, the World Tree’s energy is depleted, and it can no longer nurture celestial bodies, causing it to wither slowly."

"But within extreme death lies rebirth; the World Tree will leave behind a few seeds to birth the next World Tree."

"Do you know how strong you would become if you could refine a World Tree sapling into your primeval spirit?"

Shi Hao spread his hands wide again: "I don’t know."

"As long as the sapling grows and reaches maturity, you could say that aside from a few old monsters in the entire Immortal Realm, you would be the strongest!" the Purple Gold Rat exclaimed. "That’s why those old monsters will try every means possible to obtain the seeds of the World Tree and implant them into the bodies of their descendants, crushing all geniuses right from the starting line!"

"Of course, even if you have the seeds of the World Tree, the resources required to make it germinate and eventually grow into a World Tree are incredibly formidable, and only those old monsters could bear the cost."

Shi Hao, driven by curiosity, asked, "You keep talking about those immortal old monsters; who exactly are they?"

"I can’t say," replied the Purple Gold Rat solemnly. "Those old monsters have contributed to the creation and are in harmony with the Heavenly Dao. If you were to speak their secret names, it would instantly alert them. With a freak like you, that would definitely draw their attention, and they would directly capture you."

Shi Hao thought for a moment and said, "If I knew their true names and carelessly shared them, wouldn’t people be calling out these old monsters’ names all the time? Wouldn’t they be annoyed to death?"

"Hahaha!" The Purple Gold Rat laughed heartily. "You’re really on my wavelength, thinking of trickery right away! Unfortunately, creatures of such caliber have already been acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, and their secret names, heh, no one can use them."

"How is that possible, the Heavenly Dao can even manage that?" Shi Hao didn’t believe it.

The Purple Gold Rat shook its head: "Once acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, a profound force arises, causing you to unconsciously avoid those few secret names when you choose a name."

That powerful?

Truly domineering, to be so strong that others aren’t even allowed to have the same name.

Although Shi Hao was very surprised, he didn’t harbor the slightest doubt.

The Purple Gold Rat had no reason to deceive him about such matters.

"Eh, wasn’t I discussing the World Tree with you? How did we get sidetracked onto those old monsters?" the Purple Gold Rat suddenly realized.

Shi Hao said innocently, "You were the one who mentioned them first."

"Alright," the Purple Gold Rat conceded, not arguing with Shi Hao for once, and continued, "This World Tree, it must have long been dead, and its seeds would no longer have any vitality. Even if planted inside beings like us, they would be duds, yielding no benefit."

"However, if we find a section of the World Tree’s trunk and use it to light the incense flame... hiss, we would still be able to create the strongest Supplementing Divine Temple!"

Shi Hao also nodded slowly. Using the World Tree as incense, after lighting it, how strong could one become?

Although he was still just at the Founding King Court level, he had an Immortal Abode! He could simply store the World Tree first, and after he advanced to the Supplementing Divine Temple, calmly light it. Once the scent dissipated, he could emerge from the Immortal Abode unscathed.

"Let’s go!"

Shi Hao was excited and grabbed the Purple Gold Rat, striding through the sea.

"In the days when the World Tree was alive, this Heaven and Earth Sea would have been tumultuous, with waves reaching the skies; even an Immortal could have been easily obliterated," mused the Purple Gold Rat. "But now, it’s become a stagnant pool with not the slightest power, truly lamentable."

"Hey, have you actually seen a living World Tree?" Shi Hao immediately asked.

"Uh, what did I just say?" The Purple Gold Rat feigned ignorance. "Alas, as one grows old, the mind can get confused, remember things incorrectly."

Hmph, keep pretending!

Shi Hao didn’t press further; if the rat had something to say, it would spit it out naturally. Otherwise, the creature would definitely not loosen its lips.

As they continued forward, soon, an indescribably large withered tree appeared before them.

This was the World Branch, an existence capable of nurturing worlds.

One should know that this world had already shrunk countless times, yet the World Tree remained immensely huge; how magnificent and spectacular was it at its prime?

"Hiss, so many branches could allow everyone under the heavens to light an Incense Flame," Shi Hao commented.

"How could that be possible!" The Purple Gold Rat hissed, "First of all, if this World Tree were still alive, lighting Incense Flame on different parts of the main trunk and branches would yield varying powers. Secondly, this World Tree is already dead. Despite its vast size, it is actually hollow and weak on the inside. If you touch it, you’ll find that most of it has lost its essence and has become like rotten wood, without the slightest use anymore."

Shi Hao bared his teeth; where on such a huge tree could he begin looking?

How difficult this was!

Crucially, the Spirit Exploration Compass was ineffective here; it simply couldn’t be used.

He could only rely on his domain.

Shi Hao walked forward, arriving at the foot of the World Tree.

"Shi Hao!"

"We’ve found you!"

At this moment, voices came from behind him.

Shi Hao turned around and saw Wang Tianyu, Bai Anping, and the three others.

Huh, they actually managed to chase him here?

Shi Hao was somewhat surprised; he had taken a convoluted path without any fixed route, yet Wang Tianyu and the others had caught up so quickly, which he found incredible.

He gave a faint smile, "Congratulations on finding me. Now it’s my turn to be ’it’, and you all better hide quickly."

Hide my ass!

Wang Tianyu and the others were all showing their teeth in anger; this guy was really not taking them seriously, even daring to tease them.

"Shi Hao, where do you get such courage?" Bai Anping strode over, his aura growing stronger with every step he took.

The reputation of a top-tier talent was indeed not undeserved.

Just as Shi Hao was about to take action, he froze, noticing yet another group of people arriving.

A total of seven people, all with handsome and elegant appearances, had an indescribable quality about them, as though they were floating immortals.

"Eh, there are more people here?" Xiong Zhiyong said, appearing somewhat astonished.

This place was deeply hidden within the Ancient World and had previously been sealed by layers of dense fog, so it was impossible for anyone to know its secrets.

Yet, they had only just arrived and already discovered six people standing under the World Tree, which naturally surprised them.

"Who cares who they are, just kill them," Xu Junrong said indifferently. Despite her beautiful appearance and elegant demeanor, to those from the Immortal Realm, even the most monstrous talents of the Mortal Realm were nothing but ants.

To crush them to death was of no consequence—insignificant.