Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1358 - 1354: Ancient Tree

Any shadow is the result of special powers blocking the Super Sensing Illumination.

Ordinary powers cannot block the Super Sense.

Being able to block the Super Sense is by no means an ordinary power.

Like the valley where the Flower God Sect is located, or another forest.

He didn’t go directly to the valley of the Flower God Sect, but appeared next to that forest.

He wanted to see what this power was.

Even as he approached the shadow, the Super Sense still couldn’t penetrate it.

A seemingly faint Flying Knife slipped from his sleeve, gracefully flying out.

It flew toward the depths of the forest.

Contained within the Flying Knife was a trace of his spirit, as if he were personally present, traversing through the branches of towering ancient trees, lightly passing through leaves, moving ever forward.

Onward and onward, finally reaching the boundary of the shadow.

He frowned slightly.

The Flying Knife served as his eyes; within the shadow, it was merely a forest, nothing more.

What he saw was a grove of ancient trees, each twenty meters tall, requiring two people to encircle, tall and straight.

The only anomaly was that these ancient trees varied in size and height only slightly, differing merely in minor details.

This was not surprising.

Perhaps years ago, someone planted the same batch of saplings.

Being close to the Flower God Sect, it might well have been the work of the sect’s founder.

The Flying Knife darted through the forest, and he opened his Heart and Spirit Sensing.

Turning circle after circle, all within the shadow, he was determined to find the anomaly.

Some special power here was undoubtedly preventing the Super Sensing Illumination, and he needed to find this power.

Ultimately, the Flying Knife stopped before an ancient tree, gently piercing toward the trunk.

"Ding..."

A clear ringing sounded like metal striking metal.

The Flying Knife couldn’t pierce the bark of the ancient tree.

This blade was as light as a feather, thin as a cicada’s wing, yet extremely sharp, cutting iron like mud.

Even a true Green Blade Long Sword could easily pierce through.

Yet, it couldn’t penetrate this bark.

Indeed, something was amiss.

"Ding ding ding ding..."

The clear ringing continued, the Flying Knife endlessly striking at the ancient tree, all stopped by the bark.

In the chorus of sounds, the bark remained unmarked.

Chu Zhiyuan didn’t rush to use the Golden Sword, continuing to let the Flying Knife strike.

Another Flying Knife floated over, lightly touching the tree trunk.

Through the Flying Knife, he sensed the ancient tree’s power fluctuations.

Simultaneously, his Spring Acupoint slightly moved, connecting with the earth, feeling the Earth Power, sensing the Earth Qi.

The Earth Power flowed, forming a network, with these ancient trees as the nodes.

In a trance, it was as if he stood on a chessboard, a hundred pieces surrounding a single piece.

Each piece was positioned at the nodes of intersecting lines.

And these lines were the Earth Power.

These ancient trees manipulated the Earth Power, forming a network centered around the central ancient tree.

Thus, the central ancient tree could mobilize the Earth Power within a hundred meters.

The Flying Knife retreated gracefully, soaring back to Chu Zhiyuan’s sleeve from its position in the air.

The other Flying Knife also left the ancient tree, drifting back to Chu Zhiyuan’s sleeve.

Chu Zhiyuan took a step forward, leveraging the Earth Power, arriving at the ancient tree.

The earth’s violent force surged like a turbulent flood, converging from all sides toward the ancient tree.

A fierce wind rose from the ground, causing the ancient tree to sway as if in anger.

Chu Zhiyuan, however, smiled and gently placed his right palm on the tree trunk.

In the void of his mind, the Spirit Summoning Talisman, long dormant, suddenly flickered.

Then, a roar of anger sounded in his ear.

He hurriedly sent a wave of goodwill and friendship through his right hand, through his heart.

The angry roar abruptly stopped.

Then came confusion.

Chu Zhiyuan continued to impart his friendliness, soothing the ancient tree.

The ancient tree expressed doubt.

Chu Zhiyuan persisted in conveying goodwill, explaining his curiosity and that he meant no harm.

He was also curious about its identity.

The ancient tree expressed curiosity.

Chu Zhiyuan conveyed his background through his thoughts: he came from Biyuan Heaven, following the disciples of the Flower God Sect, wanting to understand the sect.

All this happened in a single thought, much faster than speech.

The ancient tree continued to express curiosity and doubt, the anger swiftly dissipating.

Chu Zhiyuan continued the exchange, conveying through memory what the Flower God Sect had done in Biyuan Heaven.

The ancient tree still expressed doubt, also sharing some images.

These images were chaotic and crowded, yet they depicted the emergence of the Flower God Sect, its establishment in that nearby valley, the building of houses and great halls.

The population grew from nothing, until finally, a Strange Flower gradually took shape in the valley.

This Strange Flower was usually hidden in the Void, invisible.

All disciples of the Flower God Sect stood in a neat, peculiar formation, forming the pattern of a rose, layer upon layer.

The two hundred disciples stood silently and reverently, forming the same handprint, solemn and dignified.

After a while, a Strange Flower would slowly appear in the sky.

As if it had originally been there, simply revealing itself.

Through this image, Chu Zhiyuan saw the Strange Flower clearly.

A gigantic rose, the size of a hot-air balloon, seemingly carved from Mutton Fat Jade, radiating a gentle luster.

In the increasingly devout expressions of the Flower God Sect disciples, it descended from a hundred meters above them, continuing to transform.

Shifting from jade, it gradually turned transparent, becoming crystal clear.

As it was about to touch the heads of the people, it suddenly lit up, turning into a mass of light, which then dimmed, transforming into countless beams that entered the bodies of the disciples.

They immediately adopted a fanatical expression, their expression glowing, their Spiritual forces skyrocketing.

Chu Zhiyuan observed this scene, deep in thought.

Was this nourishment, an endowment?

He noticed that the amount of essence each Flower God Sect disciple received varied.

And the amount received had no relation to their cultivation.

What was it related to?

With the entry of the essence, their cultivation soared, progressing rapidly.

Through the images, he learned that this ritual was held monthly.

Thus, the cultivation of the Flower God Sect disciples advanced quickly.

Reviewing these images repeatedly from memory, he noticed a strange phenomenon: the number of disciples remained unchanged.

Since reaching two hundred and sixty-five, it hadn’t changed.

It seemed two hundred and sixty-five was the limit, or rather, the limit for forming a formation.

He shook his head; what the ancient tree saw was ultimately just the surface, not revealing the source of the Flower God Sect, or how exactly that rose emerged.

It seemed it had always been there, simply discovered and used by the founder of the Flower God Sect.

Despite this, he had already gained a lot.

He speculated that the massive rose was what blocked the Super Sensing Illumination.

And this rose was the source of the Flower God Sect’s power.

If he could destroy this rose, he could deal a severe blow to the Flower God Sect, possibly even annihilate them.

Thinking this, he looked at his own hands, then at his Lao Gong Acupoint.

Since mastering the Second Layer of the Human Element Skill, he hadn’t truly unleashed its power.

Now was the time to test the power of the Second Layer of the Human Element Skill.

Thinking this, he removed his hand from the ancient tree.

Before leaving the tree, he first sent a farewell intent.

Before him, a Light Gate appeared, and out stepped Chu Liezhao.

From Chu Liezhao’s sleeve flew out a pavilion, the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion.

After the appearance of the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion, Chu Zhiyuan shot straight up, soaring up to two hundred meters, then took a turn, gliding into the distance.

He flew like a giant eagle, approaching the nearby mountain peak.

He flew straight over the valley, crossing the position where the rose appeared.

Without hindrance, the rose did not appear, nor was there any sensing.

He wasn’t worried about being discovered by the people in the valley.

With the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion activated, their ears and eyes were rendered useless, seeing and hearing into illusions.

"Who goes there?!" A sudden shout rang out within the valley.

Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback.

Somehow, an expert from the Flower God Sect had broken the suppression of the Heavenly Illusion Pavilion and discovered him.