Chapter 32: Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree

A few days later.

On an icy plain surrounded by countless icebergs and ice spires stood a bizarre stone platform untouched by the frost. The platform was massive and flat, its surface carved with ancient runes that faintly emitted weak spiritual light, standing out starkly against the frozen, snowy landscape.

In front of the stone platform, violent fluctuations of spiritual power spread outward. The overwhelming pressure could be clearly sensed even from a hundred miles away. Someone was engaged in a magical duel.

Countless cyan chains tightly bound an Eighth-Rank Demon Beast, squeezing ever harder. Ice-blue blood seeped through the gaps in its scales, quickly freezing in the cold and falling to the ground as strings of icy beads.

The Eighth-Rank Demon Beast struggled and roared desperately, its massive body stomping the earth into tremors. The chains groaned under the immense force, showing signs of loosening. After all, it was an Eighth-Rank Demon Beast—even if its intelligence was low, its pure physical strength was nothing to scoff at.

Jiuyou’s expression remained unchanged as he raised a hand and struck.

A deep blue beam shot out from his palm, its momentum awe-inspiring. Wherever it passed, the air condensed into fine frost flowers, slamming viciously into the demon beast’s head.

The cold began spreading from the beast’s skull like a plague—forelimbs, hind legs, tail. In the blink of an eye, the Eighth-Rank Demon Beast that had been fighting desperately was frozen into a lifelike ice sculpture.

The blue beam’s power did not diminish; it pierced straight through the beast’s head like a sharp sword. The ice sculpture could no longer hold, and with a thunderous crash, it shattered into pieces, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

Jiuyou slowly withdrew his hand, his gaze indifferent.

This was already the third Eighth-Rank Demon Beast he had encountered on the Frozen Path. He had dealt with the first two, which had cost him some time. Otherwise, it would have taken him only half a day to reach this teleportation array.

Behind him, the Nether Capital Gate manifested. A pitch-black skeletal hand reached out from the gate, grabbed the beast’s shattered corpse, fished out the beast’s spirit essence from the remains, and swiftly retracted into the gate, vanishing without a trace.

Jiuyou raised a hand, and the perfectly preserved beast pill floated slowly into his palm. The crystal-clear blue beast pill reflected his deeply wrinkled face.

Canfeng stood nearby, watching in complete awe. Just as he was about to offer a few flattering words, he suddenly turned and pointed to the left.

“Ancestor, Ancestor, look over there—that seems to be Senior Blood Vine!”

Jiuyou slowly lifted his head and saw a blood-red streak of light speeding toward them.

Within the red light, who else could it be but Blood Vine? At this moment, Blood Vine’s aura was slightly unstable, clearly having just gone through a fierce battle.

The blood-red streak of light slowed, and Blood Vine landed gently on the stone platform. He patted the dust off his clothes, forced a faint smile at Jiuyou, and nodded slightly.

“Ran into some trouble on the way. Apologies for making Brother Jiuyou wait.”

“Brother Blood, did you also encounter an Eighth-Rank Exotic Beast?” Jiuyou asked casually, playing with the beast pill in his hand.

“By your tone, are you implying you encountered one too?” Blood Vine raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“It seems so.” Jiuyou nodded slightly. “I suspect it’s not just those of us on the Frozen Path who had trouble. Blood Sea True Person and the others on the Lava Path must have faced the same. The other roads are likely no different. But the question is… what exactly caused this change?”

Blood Vine lowered his head in thought for a moment, then shook it.

“Since we’ve all made it here, there’s no turning back. For now, we should focus on reaching the summit of Heavenly Abyss Mountain to compete for the Life-Extending Fruits. Otherwise, by the time others have snatched them all, we’ll be left empty-handed, having made this trip for nothing.”

Jiuyou exchanged a glance with Blood Vine, nodded silently, and said no more.

The three of them stepped onto the teleportation array together.

The moment they set foot on it, the array activated on its own. Their figures slowly floated up, and white light flashed before their eyes. When they finally touched solid ground again and opened their eyes, they found themselves in an entirely different realm.

Gone was the endless expanse of snow and ice.

In its place was a vibrant paradise.

Above, colorful auroras flowed and shifted in a dazzling display. Dozens of floating islands revolved slowly around a central point, lush with vegetation, adorned with waterfalls and springs—a scene straight out of a fairyland.

An incredibly dense wave of spiritual energy washed over them. A single deep breath made their entire bodies feel comfortable, and their spiritual power flowed more smoothly.

Jiuyou thought to himself: If he could go into seclusion here for a hundred or so years, even without the aid of rare treasures, he might break through to Mid-Nascent Soul on his own. Unfortunately, time waited for no one.

He looked ahead.

Where the auroras converged, a colossal tree could be seen in the distance.

It seemed to use the very heavens as its backdrop and the entirety of Heavenly Abyss Mountain as its foundation, deeply rooted in this place. The top of the tree was beyond sight, but its trunk was transparent. Countless streams of light flowed through its branches like blood surging through veins.

On the branches, rays of multicolored light gathered and condensed into fruits, emitting an alluring luster. They looked like stars scattered across the canopy.

“This is the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree! We’ve arrived…”

Blood Vine’s voice trembled slightly, his gaze filled with longing and shock as he unconsciously stepped half a pace forward.

Jiuyou’s breathing grew heavier as well, his expression turning solemn.

This was the core of Heavenly Abyss Mountain—the birthplace of the Life-Extending Fruits.

As the three stood in awe, pillars of light descended from the sky in every direction.

One, two, three…

Each pillar represented a group of cultivators who had arrived at the summit via teleportation arrays. As the light faded, figures emerged—some Nascent Soul cultivators with calm expressions, some Golden Core cultivators panting heavily, and others covered in blood, clearly having endured brutal battles.

Blood Sea True Person, Blood Withered old monk, Wei Kun, Zhong Huo, and the others appeared one after another.

Blood Sea True Person looked composed, though his robe bore several scorch marks, suggesting he had encountered trouble on the Lava Path as well. Blood Withered old monk still had his hands clasped together, his expression peaceful, but the hem of his cassock showed obvious tears.

Wei Kun and Zhong Huo, the senior and junior brothers, were in decent shape, though their auras were slightly unstable.

Everyone exchanged nods of acknowledgment without saying much. This was not the time for pleasantries. All eyes were drawn to the center of this realm—the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree that pierced the heavens.

Some had already begun flying toward the sacred tree.

Jiuyou’s gaze shifted as he scanned the surroundings.

He counted roughly fifteen or sixteen Nascent Soul cultivators who had made it to the summit.

There were even more Golden Core cultivators, traveling in small groups of two or three, their eyes brimming with greed and longing. But they knew their limits, heading only toward the outer edges of the sacred tree, clearly targeting the century-old Life-Extending Fruits.

As for those cultivators who hadn’t made it to the end…

Some had died in the mouths of Eighth-Rank Exotic Beasts. Others were trapped on the paths, their fates unknown. Still more were perhaps still struggling.

But none of that mattered to Jiuyou.

His gaze cut through the crowd, locking onto the branches on the outer edge of the Heavenly Abyss Sacred Tree where the glow was weaker.

There, Life-Extending Fruits aged from decades to a century grew. They were exactly what he was after.

Jiuyou’s lips curled slightly upward. With a flicker of his form, he transformed into a streak of pitch-black light, racing toward the sacred tree.

The true struggle had only just begun.