"Master, you mentioned planting the tree inside the body. How does that work?" Tian Kai asked with curiosity.
The Empress, hearing this question, smiled. "Plant it near your heart. When it starts to grow, it will nourish your entire body with the energy of life, extending your lifespan. Another interesting thing, disciple, is that it will produce fruits of life.
These fruits can be harvested when you open your Spiritual Sea and forms Spiritual Consciousness, allowing you to control every part of your body."
Hearing this, Tian Kai smiled. This tree of life was indeed fascinating.
Extending lifespan?
Producing fruits?
That made him slightly happy. Just prolonging his life was already excellent in his eyes.
"Master, how do I fuse it?"
"Do you have the courage? This method is a thousand times harder than the waterfall."
"I do," Tian Kai replied firmly. If it was beneficial, why be afraid?
The Empress, seeing her disciple's determination, sighed lightly.
This disciple was truly worth training because he was hardworking.
"Land, Kai," she ordered, motioning for him to descend from the white eagle. They were high above.
Tian Kai obeyed and descended into the lush green landscape. They were currently at the beginning of the Green Mountain Range.
Jumping off his mount, he landed on the ground, firm as a rock.
His master, however, simply leapt gracefully and landed with elegance.
Not wanting to waste time, she transmitted the integration technique directly to him.
This time, it wasn't as harsh as the first. Tian Kai, already prepared, absorbed the information fluently into his mind.
Spiritual Integration...
Integrate all spiritual things into your body...
Reading this, he felt confused. The method seemed a bit strange and hard to grasp. It was complex.
"Don't get confused. That's how the method works," she said mischievously.
"Well, disciple, I'm going to kill you!" she added, looking at the stunned Tian Kai.
She's going to kill me...
What's going on here? Does this Spiritual Integration require that?
Tian Kai began sweating cold. As much as he tried to stay calm, when it came to death, he was the least courageous person imaginable.
"Hehehe."
The Empress, seeing his expression, laughed. She was the type who found joy in danger, which brought her childhood memories rushing back.
At that moment, Tian Kai could only think one thing about his master:
She loves seeing others in misery...
What was it called in otaku culture again? Sadism. That's it. This master, calm most of the time, hid this deep in her soul.
"Master, I won't run away. I'll definitely fuse this into my body, but I think I should mentally prepare first," he said, thinking about going back home. But seeing his master shake her head, he realized there was no escape.
"Don't delay. Take advantage of reaching the perfect level of body training and fuse this tree, instantly opening all eight meridians at once... Disciple, as I've said before, cultivation is about life and death."
"But..." He tried to speak but stopped himself. He wanted to be brave, but thinking about dying made him hesitate.
The Empress, noticing her disciple's inner struggle, decided to act on her own. She was doing this for his good, not for her own whims.
It was to help him get closer to his goal.
As a master, she had to support her disciple's dream.
Smiling, she grabbed the Tree of Life and, in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of Tian Kai. "Perform the technique. Relax, you won't die. Your master is here."
After saying this, she moved the tree into his heart, which absorbed it. A bleeding hole formed in Tian Kai's chest.
"Master, you?" Tian Kai, feeling the blood flowing from his body, was more confused than in pain. He hadn't expected his master to be so decisive.
"I won't go easy on you. As I've said, my training is tough. Your thoughts amuse me, but that doesn't mean I'll be passive in everything."
What a lie...
Tian Kai wanted to say this upon hearing her words but took a deep breath and focused on what truly mattered. If he didn't stop the bleeding, he'd die from blood loss.
Sitting cross-legged, he began performing the Spiritual Integration.
The goal was to use the spiritual energy around him, drawn from nature, and integrate it into his body.
He started absorbing all the energy from the lush area around him. In Tian Kai's body, a wave of energy entered through his heart and moved toward the small spiritual tree.
"What a disgusting feeling..."
That was his current sensation. It was as if thousands of slimy worms were invading his body simultaneously and moving around.
It was revolting, a horrible sensation.
Forget about it...
Taking a deep breath, he tried to ignore everything happening in his body. He entered a state where his mind focused solely on cultivation.
The newly born tree, sensing the intense energy flow, began rooting itself within Tian Kai's body. However, it suddenly stopped upon noticing a vortex of energy above it. Frightened, it retreated.
This reaction was instinctive. Although it wasn't conscious yet, being too young, it could identify danger. Born from the heavens, seeing the veins of the tyrant emperor, its instincts screamed.
Too dangerous...
Hesitating, the small tree behaved and began absorbing the spiritual energy the human provided.
As a gesture of gratitude—and fear—it spat a seed directly into Tian Kai's heart. That was its life source. All trees of life had one.
However, no tree had ever given such a seed to a human before. The small tree, terrified by the vortex, acted instinctively.
This inadvertently accelerated the heavens' reaction to interfere with Tian Kai.
Before completing the fusion, he was teleported...
??????????????
The Empress was bewildered. However, she could do nothing about it. The heavens themselves had decided to transport them somewhere random.