Chapter 1512 — Can This Tree Be Felled?
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
And beings who have attained the Dao are the most concentrated energy of all; the Dao trees of those who attain the Dao are lodged in the Ultimate Void, and there becomes the place where energy is most concentrated. The more Dao-attaining beings crowd into this universe, the sooner the Ultimate Void is destroyed.
The great calamity of destruction begins precisely in the Ultimate Void. " Shen Mu steadied himself, his gaze still on the divine tree, and murmured, "Can we not fathom the mysteries of the World Tree and find a way that even the great calamity of destruction cannot erase? " Tai Yi said, "If there were such a way, the powerful ones of the former universes would have found it long ago. They still had to rely on the World Tree to survive, which shows it cannot be found. " Shen Mu fell into thought. Suddenly a violent tremor came from beneath the ground, and the World Tree's sapling actually began to grow upward with a rumbling roar!
In the space of a few breaths, the World Tree grew another thousand zhang or more, its trunk thickened considerably, and another leaf sprouted! As the tremor underground ceased, the World Tree's growth stopped once more. Tai Yi said, "Before you woke, this tree had already trembled many times, once each day, and always by daylight.
Why has this tree come back to life, and why does it grow in the daytime? Does Lord Mu know the secret of it?
" Shen Mu shook his head and said earnestly, "Pray instruct me, brother.
" "Someone is nurturing this tree.
The World Tree's revival, the World Tree's growth, the whole Ancestral Court turning into a vast altar that devours the dead living things here — even Lan Yutian obtaining the Pixiang Hall, Wei Suifeng sending the Pixiang Hall back to the Jade Capital, the reappearance of the Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court — perhaps all of it lies within that person's control. " Tai Yi, never content unless his words shocked, said mildly, "Perhaps even the thought you now have, of preserving the World Tree, is within that person's grasp.
" Shen Mu's heart stirred.
"You mean that powerful one from the first cosmic era? He has already come into the Ancestral Court? " Tai Yi shook his head.
"I do not know.
I seem to know all things, but in truth there is much I do not know. For instance. . .
" He hesitated, and did not go on with that thread. "The Jade Capital of the Ancestral Court is also a place I cannot see.
It is exceedingly mysterious; I can sense that a most terrifying existence there blocks my sight. Lord Mu, after all this talk — is the tree to be kept or not?
" Shen Mu paced back and forth, now and then stopping to look up at the World Tree's young shoot, unable to decide. Tai Yi waited quietly.
After a long while, Shen Mu's disordered mind gradually settled, and his steps gradually slowed. At last he halted, his eyes bright as snow, and looked at Tai Yi with a smile. "Brother, your powers are vast and you know nearly all things, so let me ask you something. The powerful ones of the prehistoric universes can crawl along the World Tree's roots into our universe — then can we not likewise pass through the World Tree into the prehistoric universes?
" Tai Yi was stunned.
He truly had never considered this question.
"You mean.
. . " He looked at Shen Mu's brilliant eyes, somewhat hesitant. This was the first time in his life he had ever hesitated — an experience he had never had before! "What I mean is: since the coming of the prehistoric powerful ones cannot be avoided, and whether we cut it or not they will descend upon our universe, why not keep this World Tree and wait for it to grow?
By then we can go first into their universes, hold these old fellows back inside their own universes, and even slay them one by one?
" Shen Mu smiled.
"Defense can never guarantee that you have no flaw, but attack will make your opponent expose his weaknesses!
Thus the balance of offense and defense is reversed!