Chapter 1526 - 456: [Come With Me]_3

Chapter 1526: Chapter 456: [Come With Me]_3

The Mayor held both military and financial power and had been entrenched in Gusanka for many years.

Yet, the True God Religion easily overthrew and replaced him, selling him to other warlords.

But the Sacrificial Priest remained in the shadows, controlling everything. It’s imaginable that if not for the intervention of Chen Yan, the passing Immortal...

The Sacrificial Priest and his True God Religion could continue to hide in the shadows, enjoying their wealth and power.

Even the future ruler of Gusanka would merely be basking in fleeting glory on stage.

If the sacrifical priest was displeased, he could simply collude with other warlords and replace the current ruler again.

Even if he encountered a tough adversary, he could just lie low for a few years.

Religion, once birthed and spread, is historically difficult to eradicate.

This current Sacrificial Priest, if not for encountering Chen Yan, could have ruled this region as an underground emperor until his natural death!

Moreover, with his self-cultivation, a few decent spells, and the ability to hide using arrays,

it could be said that secular forces would find it hard to capture or kill him.

Additionally, as a cultivator, having received the Stone Tree’s blessings, his body was also robust, granting him a longer lifespan than ordinary people!

Chen Yan, after "seeing" all the historical encounters with the Stone Tree, roughly figured out a pattern.

Every mortal whose body was transformed by the Stone Tree from the modification of Primordial Qi would become a significantly powerful physical being, with individual combat power skyrocketing, extending their lifespan to at least a hundred years (barring incidents that could lead to death).

Chen Yan took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and drew his awareness back from the "environment" the Stone Tree had crafted for him.

He re-examined the underground cavern and the Stone Tree before him.

"The dried corpses here, was it the king of that ancient kingdom?"

The Stone Tree’s consciousness responded.

Moments later, Chen Yan understood the Stone Tree’s meaning.

In that ancient kingdom, to preserve the paramount secret of the gift from the True God, it was established early on that upon a king’s death, he wouldn’t be buried, wouldn’t have any burial items, nor leave any written records.

Instead, the king would enter the cavern before death, take a prepared secret potion, then pose in a kneeling position towards the Stone Tree, and pass away peacefully.

They acted this way because their ancestors had also unearthed the secret of the True God of the Stone Tree from the tombs of ancient tribe leaders.

This was how they obtained the True God then, so to eternally monopolize the True God, they established this rule.

After grasping the Stone Tree’s intent, Chen Yan remained silent for a while.

At that moment, the Stone Tree transmitted an idea.

"What do you wish to gain from me?"

Chen Yan chuckled and pondered for a moment: "It seems I don’t know either."

"You are different from them." The Stone Tree’s thought was calm.

"How am I different?"

"You seem to be my..." The Stone Tree hesitated for a few seconds, as though searching for the right words, and finally, after a few seconds, transmitted an idea: "...You seem to be my kin."

Kin?

Chen Yan’s eyes brightened.

Of course, kin.

You are the World-Origin Object of this world.

And I am the Heavenly Dao’s sole favored one.

As the only entity in this world capable of communicating with this world’s Heavenly Dao, naturally, this World-Origin Object would feel close to me.

Chen Yan pondered: "Do you want to come with me?"

"Go with you?"

"Yes, to see the outside world, the outside world is actually vast."

Chen Yan coaxed softly: "Since you gained awareness, you’ve always stayed in one place, how many millions of years has it been?"

"About several dozen million, or perhaps... billions?" the Stone Tree replied serenely, "Too long, I haven’t counted."

"The outside world is fascinating," Chen Yan smiled, "Staying in one place always, hmm... perhaps you use divine thought to sense the world above ground, but that just covers the local area; in distant places, you wouldn’t see, right?"

"...I’m not interested."

Chen Yan: "..."

The Stone Tree’s response was stable: "I know what this world is like."

This statement might bewilder others, but Chen Yan understood it immediately!

The "what this world is like" from the Stone Tree wasn’t about knowing the outer world or understanding the level of human civilization outside.

Rather, it deeply understands the world’s essence.

It is a part of the World-Origin Object, accurately speaking, a part of this world’s origin.

All the rules of this world, all the operational modes, Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, Heavenly Dao...

It knows everything clearly.

As for humanity’s civilization that relies on this world, it’s merely an external attachment.

It is a part of the world, a part of the Heavenly Dao, and doesn’t need to know what the attached external entities are like.

Chen Yan felt a bit conflicted inside.

The World-Origin Object was right in front of him!

He definitely didn’t want to miss it or let this guy go.

But if the other party resisted—there’s no way he could forcibly take it, right?

Regardless of whether he wanted to or not, the question was, could he even contend with it?

Even if this Stone Tree seemed mild and peaceful, and was relatively friendly to humans, generally responding to those who worshipped it with blessings and reciprocation.

It could be said it answered every plea.

But... if he used force, defying its will... could he even win?

Chen Yan didn’t know, but he had no desire to try!

He had witnessed firsthand how the World-Origin Object of a Domain Realm, Beautiful Glow, at the Celestial Demon Yin Yang Joyful Sect’s pond, effortlessly killed the cultivators who intruded on its territory.

It truly didn’t require any effort.

In theory, the stature of a World-Origin Object is even higher than that of a Saint!

As Chen Yan was internally struggling with finding a way to persuade the other, the Stone Tree spoke.

"I can go with you."

"...Ah?"

"Not because I have an interest in the external world, but because you are the only one I’ve seen with the same nature, you carry an aura I like."

Chen Yan was overjoyed!

"However, you have to promise me one thing," the Stone Tree requested a favor.

Chen Yan hurriedly responded: "Go ahead!"

"Stop irrigating me with human blood." The Stone Tree’s tone finally showed a little emotion, and that emotion was a touch of dissatisfaction: "When there’s too much of it, I can’t help but want to sleep."

"...Why didn’t you speak up to those who worshipped you before, to the kings or the sacrificial priests?"

"Because they always assumed I liked that stuff. Every time they didn’t get a response from me, they thought it was because I wasn’t getting enough blood, so they brought more instead.

Later..."

At this point, dissatisfaction increased in the Stone Tree’s tone again: "The priest who listened to me continued to irrigate me with blood anyway.

Because, whenever I dozed off, I would release a lot of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi—more Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi accelerated the father and son’s cultivation."

Chen Yan was startled to learn that the blood sacrifice by the priest had this rationale.

"Since you don’t like it, why didn’t you resist?"

"...They were the only ones who could talk to me." The Stone Tree actually sighed, "You don’t understand, being buried underground for hundreds, even thousands of years, feels like."

So... was this so-called True God actually being held hostage by its own priest?

Chen Yan chuckled to himself.

Taking away the Stone Tree wasn’t a simple task.

Chen Yan began using his spell to cut around the ground by the Stone Tree, slicing down over three meters deep, finally reaching the roots at the base of the Stone Tree, which were even broader than the branches above ground.

Thus, beneath the Stone Tree, Chen Yan carved out a stone block over three meters deep and five to six meters in diameter.

Indeed, this thing really was growing out of stone.

Moreover, this wasn’t just any stone.

It must have existed since the birth of the world.

This thing was extremely hard!

Without a doubt, Chen Yan determined that this object was much harder than the so-called hardest substance in this world—diamond!

During the cut, Chen Yan consumed vast amounts of Primordial Qi, using his spell, and employed multiple spells under the rumble of Primordial Qi, to complete the cutting.

When done, his entire outfit was drenched, his complexion pale, and his Primordial Qi severely depleted.

Looking at the stone, together with the roots of the Stone Tree excavated, Chen Yan didn’t know how to name or define the object, but nonetheless, he had dug it out.

After receiving affirmation from the Stone Tree, Chen Yan placed it into the Storage Jade Pendant.