"The world has the Ruo Tree, day and night consuming lifespan," Li Fan recited, echoing the Ruo Tree's lament as he sifted through its memories. The tree itself cowered in a corner, trembling as Li Fan delved into its past.
From the birth of the Xuanhuang World to the present, an immeasurable amount of time had passed. But for Li Fan, reviewing it as an observer, it was but a fleeting moment.
"And this is called longevity…" he murmured, shaking his head.
Perhaps due to its prolonged near-death state, the Ruo Tree's memories were fragmented, with large gaps in crucial areas. But it was enough for Li Fan to gain a general understanding of the Xuanhuang World's history.
From the Ruo Tree's perspective, this history was divided into three periods.
The first, from the world's creation to the rise of cultivation sects, was a time when the Xuanhuang World was under the control of the Immortal Realm. The Ruo Tree even retained memories of True Immortals using it to regulate the lifespans of all beings.
The second period spanned from the Immortal Realm's destruction to the sudden fall of the Profound Heaven Sect. During this time, the Profound Heaven King replaced the True Immortals as the world's guardian. The marks of his modifications to the Ruo Tree and the world remained etched upon the tree's body.
The third period began with the rise of the Ten Immortal Sects and continued to the present. This was the Ruo Tree's most autonomous period. The Ten Immortal Sects, the later Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, and the Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable all claimed to control the Ruo Tree, harvesting its Longevity Fruits. But they were fundamentally different from the True Immortals and the Profound Heaven King.
Their control was limited to harvesting the ripe fruit. They were powerless if the Xuanhuang World's life force dwindled and the tree bore no fruit. The True Immortals and the Profound Heaven King, however, could forcibly extract life force from all beings to create Longevity Fruits. They were true masters of the Ruo Tree, not mere users.
This explained why the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had abandoned the ailing Ruo Tree. Even the Healer and the Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable, despite their attempts to heal it, were thwarted by the unique restrictions placed upon the tree by its creators, the True Immortals. Only they could truly control it.
Moreover, the Ruo Tree, and indeed the entire Xuanhuang World, wasn't just any creation.
Now, having gained complete control of the Ruo Tree through his own potent life force, Li Fan, despite his mortal body, felt an inexplicable familiarity with these restrictions. The seemingly insurmountable gap between mortal and immortal didn't hinder him. Instinctively, he bypassed the heavily guarded immortal restrictions, effortlessly infiltrating and dismantling them. He was now not only the Ruo Tree, but also its master.
The revitalized, towering tree's core was covered in intricate patterns. Though seemingly new to him, Li Fan quickly deciphered their meaning. He was particularly intrigued by the modifications made by the Profound Heaven King.
"Diverting a portion of the Ruo Tree's life force for independent use," he deduced. "Perhaps this contributed to the imbalance in the Xuanhuang World's life force and the Ruo Tree's decline. But where did this diverted life force go?"
Frowning, he narrowed his focus, scanning the area around the Ruo Tree. He didn't remember much about the Profound Heaven King, but both his intuition and the Ruo Tree's memories suggested the King was among the most powerful beings in the Xuanhuang World's history. Even after his disappearance, Li Fan remained wary.
The Ruo Tree's branches spanned the entire world. Li Fan quickly traced the diverted life force to a seemingly ordinary Daoist temple, housing an elderly cultivator, a young Daoist child who didn't seem entirely human, and a seemingly ordinary pond.
Then he saw it.
A surge of instinctive danger, not from the inhabitants of the temple, but from the pond. Images of countless treasures shimmering within it flooded his mind, culminating in the terrifying sight of a cat leaping forth and devouring them all.
"The Fishing Pond…?"
"A cat?"
He stopped abruptly, even though this body was merely an extension of the Ruo Tree. He observed from a distance, tracing the diverted life force. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't flowing towards the temple or the Fishing Pond, but towards a nearby forest. The proximity and the pond's prominence had misled him.
Setting the Fishing Pond aside for now, Li Fan followed the life force to an underground space.
He was stunned by what he found.
"This concentration method… Despite the massive accumulation of life force, there's no leakage. If I weren't the Ruo Tree, I wouldn't have sensed it, even standing directly above it. I should study this."
Li Fan's biggest problem was the uncontrolled leakage of his own immense life force. Even a minuscule fraction was a treasure to others, a problem that worsened as his power grew. Finding a solution here was a welcome surprise.
He studied the space carefully, realizing that even his fragmented memories offered little insight into its workings. This was the first time he had encountered something truly unknown since starting this new simulation.
"Though I don't understand the method, I can see its purpose."
He scanned the underground space, which contained a buried village. Besides buildings, there were no living beings. The diverted life force maintained the village's integrity, concentrating within a single house.
"The accumulated life force diverted here since the Profound Heaven King's modifications… Though insignificant compared to mine, it's far greater than what's apparent here."
His heart tightened. After a moment of hesitation, he approached the house, pausing outside before pushing the door open.
Following the flow of life force, he crossed the courtyard and entered a central room.
He froze.
Through the window, he saw a figure standing within. But his connection to the Ruo Tree told him it wasn't a living being.
He entered cautiously.
As he suspected, the "figure" was a painting.
"Why would a painting require life force to sustain it?" he wondered.
The painting depicted several children playing in the mountains. A boy and a girl, holding hands, stood out. Li Fan felt a flicker of recognition.
"The Profound Heaven King… and…"
As if another switch had been flipped, more memories surfaced. The girl was the Profound Heaven King's childhood sweetheart.
He pressed his temples, his head throbbing from the sudden influx of information. He focused on the painting. Infused with life force, the children seemed to come alive.
The Profound Heaven King, in particular, seemed to be looking directly at Li Fan, out of the painting.
But upon closer inspection, Li Fan realized the young King wasn't the most unusual element of the painting. In an inconspicuous corner, outside one of the village houses, lay a ragged, long-haired man, his face obscured by his hair and beard. He watched the playing children with a strange expression. On his chest rested a small wooden ark.
Looking closer, Li Fan saw the children's faces reflected in the ark's tiny windows.
"What does this mean?"
The painting held a strange allure, drawing Li Fan's attention, his thoughts always returning to the ark. The ark itself was weathered and damaged, seemingly on the verge of collapse, held together only by the constant influx of life force.
As Li Fan stared, he saw his own reflection in the ark's window. He reached out to touch it, but as his eyes met his reflection's, a surge of memories returned, forcing him to recoil.
"The Profound Heaven King was said to be the most fortunate being in the Xuanhuang World's history, always escaping disaster. He even survived the Immortal Realm's destruction… Could this be the legendary Upstream Ark? One of the Three Treasures of Seclusion?"
He channeled his life force to heal his throbbing head, trying to remember more.
"But the Upstream Ark was created after the Immortal Realm's destruction. How could it be in the Profound Heaven King's possession before the calamity?"
"Upstream… did he actually succeed?" He looked at the ragged man holding the ark.
His current body, however, couldn't handle the full weight of his returning memories. He withdrew from the past, looking at the painting with uncharacteristic hesitation.
The painting had been nourished by the Ruo Tree's life force for millennia. As the new Ruo Tree, Li Fan could theoretically use this life force to take the painting. But doing so meant facing the unknown dangers it held.
He hesitated, considering the Profound Heaven King's disappearance.
"I investigated this before. He vanished within the Fishing Pond. Whether it was intentional or not…"
"This means he deliberately left the painting behind. For his childhood sweetheart? But he didn't mention it in his message. He clearly didn't want her to know."
"If the painting contains the Upstream Ark, why would he abandon such a treasure?"
These questions couldn't be answered through mere contemplation.
Back in his original body within the Grand Tutor's residence in the Great Xuan Small World, Li Fan confirmed he could return to the simulation's starting point at any time. Sensing his potent life force, a glint flashed in his eyes.
"Hesitation leads to failure. It's just a simulation. Even if I'm severely injured, I'll just lose my memories and be forced to drink more talisman water."
"Better to confront this mystery now than leave it as a potential threat."
"If it needs life force, I'll give it to it!"
Back in the Xuanhuang World, he exhaled a breath of Longevity Qi towards the painting. This wasn't the raw life force he had used on Kou Hong, Daoist Xuan, or the Ruo Tree, but the refined essence he had cultivated in this life, far more potent. Even he paled slightly from the exertion.
The effect was immediate.
The painting eagerly absorbed the life force. Green tendrils spread across its surface. The landscape within the painting flourished, flowers blooming and auspicious clouds appearing. The decaying ark rapidly renewed itself.
The ark's transformation caught the attention of the ragged man. His hair and beard parted, revealing his face. He looked up, his eyes meeting Li Fan's.
The world spun. Li Fan felt his consciousness pulled into the painting.
Before he could react, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"The Dao of Longevity?" the ragged man asked, his voice filled with surprise.
(End of chapter)