Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Boundless Life-Giving Tree

In the tranquil forest, a strange figure appeared—a being whose skin barely covered his skeletal frame, his hoarse and indistinct voice rasping like withered branches scraping against each other, making one’s teeth ache at the sound. Yet what unsettled Luo Tian even more was the content of his words.

All along, Luo Tian had considered this his greatest secret.

Ever since crossing into this world, with no memories to recall, Luo Tian had cautiously and diligently tried to gather information about himself, but made almost no progress. Unlike the other disciples who occasionally received family letters, or even took leave to visit relatives outside the sect, Luo Tian felt more like an orphan, without parental concern.

He dared not raise questions within the sect, for that would plainly reveal something amiss.

But now, the fact that his soul occupied this body had somehow been discovered by this stranger—how did he know, and what should Luo Tian do?

In an instant, countless thoughts surged and tumbled through Luo Tian’s mind, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

“What’s wrong, are you afraid?”

The skeletal man let out a chilling, cackling laugh. “I see you could only possess a body at the Qi Condensation stage—your soul must be weak, I suppose? You couldn’t even get your hands on a Soul Condensation Pill?”

Soul Condensation Pill?

Luo Tian forced himself to calm down, steadied his nerves, and fixed his gaze on the strange man, asking, “Who are you?”

For some reason, Luo Tian sensed no aura of strength from him; his appearance was that of an old man on the verge of death, his vitality spent, death but a step away.

Yet appearing in this secret realm—how could he be an ordinary person?

Luo Tian grew even more wary. Judging from Liu Longfei and the others’ reactions, this man clearly had no intention of befriending the disciples exploring the secret realm.

“Me?”

The strange man’s voice grew smoother, perhaps from habit. “The name Qin Tianyu—how could you have heard it? Someone like you, a low-level Yuan Dan stage cultivator, likely wouldn’t have much chance to know me.”

Qin Tianyu?

Luo Tian could not recall any nearby noble families with the surname Qin, nor any sects of note.

Of course, given his limited understanding of this world, it was only natural not to know.

“What is this place, and what’s your status?”

Seeing that the man had no immediate intention to attack, Luo Tian relaxed slightly and discreetly took a few steps back.

The instinct that had drawn him here, for some unknown reason, silently dissipated, vanishing without a trace. Whether it had disappeared for good, unable to influence him further, or had been quelled by Qin Tianyu, Luo Tian could not tell.

He suspected the latter was more likely.

“This is nothing but a desolate secret realm,” Qin Tianyu explained. “Years ago, I was ambushed by enemies while competing for a heavenly spirit. Fleeing for my life, I barely managed to enter here, using my last remaining power to obscure and restrict the entrance. If any cultivator above the Meridian Flow stage trespassed, the realm would automatically detonate, leaving no bone intact within a hundred miles.”

His cracked lips twisted into a cruel smile, making him all the more terrifying amidst the gloomy woods. “I am a Nine-Dan cultivator with a single-element Yuan Dan. If I self-destruct, any peer caught here would be dragged down with me! As for my identity, it’s all in the past—you need not know.”

Luo Tian noted how Qin Tianyu spoke of annihilating everything within a hundred miles without a flicker of emotion. He realized this man was at least someone who could kill without blinking; whether he was the sort to murder without reason, a true fiend, remained to be seen.

“What is a single-element Yuan Dan? What is the Nine-Dan stage?”

Luo Tian quietly pondered how to escape, while voicing his doubts.

“You don’t even know that? Hah, you truly are a nobody!”

Qin Tianyu was briefly surprised, but showed no suspicion—he simply assumed Luo Tian’s soul had been of low status in its previous life. “If you use only one elemental true spirit as your Yuan Dan’s core, it’s called a single-element Yuan Dan. Above that is the three-element Yuan Dan, the hallmark of true experts. The strength of a Yuan Dan cultivator depends on how many Yuan Dans they’ve condensed—each additional Yuan Dan marks a higher stage.”

“Three-element Yuan Dan requires three true spirits of the same attribute?”

This was the first time Luo Tian had heard such a theory, and he accepted it as truth, since nothing he had read contradicted it. “Each attribute has nine true spirits—why not create a nine-element Yuan Dan?”

“Do Meridian Flow cultivators possess souls comparable to Yuan Dan cultivators?”

Qin Tianyu’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes betrayed his contempt for Luo Tian’s past life. “Heaven and earth have true spirits; each attribute’s true spirits come in nine varieties, that’s correct. But a Yuan Dan cultivator must maintain balance within their Yuan Dans. A single-element is fine, three-element is fine, as long as every three Yuan Dans use the same true spirit. Yet the strength of the soul is naturally limited; one can only accommodate up to five true spirits. For balance, even the most powerful families can only grant their outstanding heirs three-element Yuan Dans.”

Not impossible, just unachievable?

Luo Tian felt a surge of excitement—he possessed two talent wheels, making him, in terms of soul strength, unique in this world.

If soul power were an immense army, consciousness would be the marshal, commanding it. The original Luo Tian’s consciousness had been erased, but his soul power remained. The traverser Luo Tian not only had his consciousness, but brought his own soul power, resulting in the anomaly of the dual talent wheels.

So that was it—this was the reason!

Luo Tian finally had a plausible hypothesis: his greatest advantage as a traverser, apart from the divine eye, was the immense depth of his soul!

Soul power was mysterious and unfathomable. In this world, everyone had the same amount, but how much one could wield depended on the strength of their consciousness. As cultivation advanced, the cultivator’s consciousness grew stronger, but there was always a limit.

That limit was the soul’s innate essence, dictated by the world itself.

“Boy, any more questions?”

Qin Tianyu asked, growing impatient, eager to carry out his plan.

Damn it, still no way out!

Luo Tian racked his brains for a solution, then suddenly realized, “You drew us here to seize a body, to possess someone?”

“Heh, you’re not entirely stupid!”

Qin Tianyu slowly stood, his withered body like a dead tree, appearing even taller atop a stump, exuding an air of a god overlooking ants. “My nine Yuan Dans all use the Boundless Vital Wood true spirit as their core, granting unmatched vitality and recovery. I merged all their power with the secret realm, causing this barren land to sprout forests and grasslands, even imbuing the beasts with the Vital Wood’s strength.”

All the power dispersed?

Hearing this, Luo Tian’s mind leapt to a possibility, and he quietly spoke, “So when a Qi Condensation cultivator enters and discovers this, they’ll desperately hunt beasts and anyone with this power. Once enough accumulates in their bodies, you are drawn to possess them?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Qin Tianyu seemed quite proud of his scheme. “Letting the Vital Wood true spirit enter your bodies and drawing you here is just a side effect—the main purpose is to transform your bodies.”

“Transform the body?”

For reasons unknown, Luo Tian felt a chill down his spine and shivered involuntarily.

“Though this power isn’t in me, it’s still mine. When it takes root and grows in your bodies, it inevitably picks up my aura. Then, when I possess you, it will erase your body’s advantage, reducing everything to a struggle of souls!”

Qin Tianyu’s eyes glinted. “I am a Yuan Dan cultivator—when it comes to soul power, how could you hope to match me?”

“Does this power harm us?”

Luo Tian asked his final question, knowing the moment for Qin Tianyu to act was near, but felt little fear.

“Harm? If I don’t possess you, it’s a great boon! The power of a heavenly true spirit is rare indeed—letting you ants enjoy it is your fortune!”

Qin Tianyu sneered coldly. “But since your soul and body are naturally fused, possession is tricky and might go awry. I waited so long for you because your soul and body are not fully integrated—making you the easiest target. Now, you can die in peace!”

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Thanks to friend Hubo Ruiyi for the reward.