Home Post 4069-chapter-77

4069-chapter-77

Chapter 77

With a loud “bang,” thatch scattered everywhere, and charred firewood sparks were strewn across the hall. A disheveled figure emerged from some hidden corner of the Haoyue Palace, hands on hips, shouting furiously toward the main hall above.

“What kind of number one palace in the demon realm is this? Not even a decent alchemy furnace!! You blacksmith! Don’t you feel guilty?”

On the rooftop, Hua Hong lazily chewed on a wild grass stem, glancing at the soot-covered Bai Shuo, who was cursing and grumbling, and let out an impatient “tch.”

“Whether I feel guilty or not, I don’t know. But as for you, alchemist, you don’t seem to feel guilty at all, do you?”

“Why should I feel guilty?”

“Not guilty? Alright, let me count for you. Since you arrived at our Haoyue Palace, you’ve already blown up eight side halls, burned 325 first-grade spiritual herbs, and wasted 1,234 spiritual woods…”

“Hey, hey, hold on! I’ve been working diligently, forgetting to eat and sleep, all to refine pills for our Haoyue Palace. I’ve already made 80 first-grade spiritual pills, filling up the storage room. What more do you want?” Bai Shuo’s eyes widened like a bull’s, her face full of pride.

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

“These are life-saving treasures! You just don’t appreciate their value!”

Hua Hong rolled her eyes, leaped down from the rooftop, and delivered a ruthless blow: “If a demigod is truly injured, even first-grade pills would be as useless as water to a cow. Ever heard of that? The stuff you refine is useless to the palace master.”

Bai Shuo was stunned, a flicker of emotion passing through her eyes.

She raised her chin, her fur bristling.

“Who said I was refining them for him? I’m doing it for the brothers of Haoyue Palace!”

“Then I’ll thank you on their behalf. Keep refining, take your time.”

Hua Hong yawned, waving her hand as she prepared to leave.

“Hey, wait.”

“What now?”

“Where’s the big demon? I haven’t seen him these past few days.”

Bai Shuo coughed dryly, looking up at the sky as she asked.

Hua Hong raised an eyebrow: “Took you long enough to ask. What? Missing the palace master?”

“Who’s missing him? He always has that cold face, like I owe him a room full of spiritual beads. I just noticed the spiritual herbs in the storage are gone, so I wanted to ask him for a few.”

“Oh…” Hua Hong chuckled mischievously.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m going back to refining pills.”

Bai Shuo turned to leave.

“The western border of the demon realm has traces of the Bodhi tree. The palace master went to find it!”

Hua Hong’s voice came from behind.

Bai Shuo paused, then immediately turned back.

The Bodhi tree? So the big demon is still searching for the Bodhi tree.

“Little Hua, why is your palace master searching the three realms for the Bodhi tree?”

Bai Shuo’s face was full of curiosity.

Ever since she first met Fan Yue, he had been tirelessly searching for the Bodhi tree.

But he’s a demon—what does he want with a divine tree?

Fan Yue is already a demigod.

Could the divine Bodhi tree enhance his divine power and help him ascend to godhood sooner?

“Are you stupid? That’s the palace master’s secret. How would I know? I want to live a few more years, so I dare not ask.”

Hua Hong shrugged, then leaned in with a playful grin.

“If you’re curious, go ask him yourself. You’re a nine-tailed fox, you won’t die…”

Hua Hong shook her head, then suddenly froze, slapping her own mouth.

“Why did I have to mention that stupid fox… Little Bai, I’m going on a trip. If that bastard asks, just tell him I’m dead!”

“Which bas—” Before Bai Shuo could finish, Hua Hong had already vanished into the horizon.

With a loud thud, a red, fluffy thing landed on the ground.

Bai Shuo looked down to see a small, adorable red fox, its tail held high, proudly strutting around before transforming into a young boy.

“Little Bai, how do I look? Handsome, right?”

Bai Shuo blinked, forcing a smile.

“Very handsome.”

“Where’s my Little Hua? It’s been three days and five hours since I last saw her. I miss her so much. Where is she?”

Mu Jiu, with his fox-like eyes, looked around eagerly.

“Oh, she said she’s dead.” Bai Shuo shrugged, speaking honestly.

“She said… she’s dead?” Mu Jiu’s eyes widened.

“Yep.”

Bai Shuo nodded.

“Did she say where she died?”

Bai Shuo quickly pointed in the direction Hua Hong had fled, quite accurately.

“A hundred miles southeast, there’s a peach grove. She’s got some wine hidden there.”

“Got it! You’re the best, buddy!”

Mu Jiu affectionately patted Bai Shuo’s shoulder, then without hesitation, pulled out a handful of items and stuffed them into her hands.

“Ten top-grade spiritual herbs, for you. See you later!”

Before he finished speaking, the red fox whipped up a gust of wind and dashed off toward the southeast.

With the two troublemakers gone, the area outside the hall fell silent.

Bai Shuo glanced at the empty hall, recalling Hua Hong’s words.

The spiritual herbs in her hand suddenly didn’t seem so appealing.

She casually stuffed them into her storage bag, clumsily climbed onto the rooftop, plucked a leaf to shield herself from the sun, and began to laze around, mimicking Hua Hong.

The extreme north was bitterly cold.

Even with the sun hanging in the sky, it was quiet and freezing, much like the palace hidden in the northernmost part of the three realms.

Bai Shuo had never imagined that the most mysterious Haoyue Palace in the three realms would be such a peaceful and tranquil place.

Even a small sect like Piaomiao from the East Sea had inner and outer disciples, with plenty of island guards.

But Haoyue Palace, apart from a blacksmith who basked in the sun all day, the silent Cangshan, a noisy fat wood pig, and a few shy maids, had almost no living creatures.

Oh, wait, there was also that demigod who always glared at her and mocked her relentlessly.

“Mumu is still the best… so cute and simple…”

Bai Shuo muttered this, but her increasingly rosy and plump face told a different story.

She glanced down at the golden-glowing palace beneath her, lovingly stroking the glazed tiles on the rooftop.

“This place isn’t bad either… quite luxurious…”

Life in Nanhai City was good, but it was too poor.

Every day was a struggle to make ends meet, and even eating a chicken had to be done secretly.

It was truly miserable.

Unlike Haoyue Palace, a paradise with endless treasures and spiritual materials…

Wait, it’s only been a year, and the spiritual herbs on the western mountain have already been stripped bare.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to search the eastern mountain… Bai Shuo counted on her fingers, then paused.

It had already been so long since she joined Haoyue Palace.

That widely watched and sigh-inducing Wutong Martial Banquet was already a year ago.

The structure of the three realms had also quietly changed after the Wutong Martial Banquet.

At the banquet, the masters of Haoyue and Cold Spring Palaces had humiliated the immortal clan.

Jinyao personally intervened, setting up a divine seal in the South Sea, claiming the hundred-mile paradise at the border of the two realms for the immortal realm, dividing it among the four immortal sect leaders injured by Zhen Yu.

This decision reignited the conflict between the two realms, which had been peaceful for a century.

Under the pretext that the immortal realm had violated the agreement between the two clans by seizing the hundred-mile paradise, Zhen Yu attacked the South Sea three times, determined to reclaim it.

Leading Cold Spring Palace’s demon generals was Chong Zhao, who had risen to prominence in the demon realm over the past year, known for his cruelty and formidable power.

A year ago, at Wutong Phoenix Island, Chong Zhao had shattered immortal bones and severed immortal meridians, leaving him with only a breath of life.

In the three battles of the South Sea, Chong Zhao reappeared, now at the peak of the Demon Lord level.

Over a hundred disciples from the four major immortal sects fell to his hands, his brutal methods and terrifying demonic power shocking the three realms.

In a thousand years, the three realms had never seen such a monstrous and fearsome prodigy.

The demon realm revered martial prowess, and though Chong Zhao was reviled by the immortals, he became a figure many demons admired and sought to befriend, even being mentioned alongside Hua Hong, Cangshan, and Fu Ling.

As the sun set, night fell earlier in the extreme north than anywhere else.

Bai Shuo moved the leaf aside and sighed.

On the day Chong Zhao shattered his immortal bones and severed his meridians, she knew she could no longer protect the boy she had grown up with.

The three realms were vast, and she was but a tiny duckweed, only able to refine pills, bicker, and bask in the sun with the blacksmith in Haoyue Palace.

It wasn’t so bad, Bai Shuo even thought that if life could continue like this, it would be quite nice.

But just now, the blacksmith said… first-grade spiritual pills are useless to him?

The big demon is already a demigod.

He’s searching everywhere for the Bodhi tree, surely to transcend the divine tribulation sooner.

But throughout history, how many have successfully transcended the divine tribulation?

What if he can’t withstand it…

Bai Shuo suddenly sat up, leaped down from the rooftop with a “whoosh,” and headed straight for a certain place.

Though Haoyue Palace was loosely guarded, no one dared to enter Fan Yue’s private chambers.

Bai Shuo slipped in like a fish, silent and familiar with the route.

The master was absent, and the chamber was pitch dark.

Bai Shuo pulled out a glazed lamp from somewhere, using its faint light to rummage through the room.

“Huh, where is it? It can’t be. The wood pig said there’s a restriction in this chamber, it can’t leave…”

After searching the entire chamber without finding what she was looking for, Bai Shuo pouted, then suddenly slapped her forehead and closed her eyes.

A faint spiritual aura entered her spiritual core.

She and the big demon had a blood soul contract.

Since there was a restriction set by the big demon here, perhaps she could sense where he had hidden it through the blood contract.

A spiritual light emanated from her forehead, slowly covering the entire inner chamber.

Sure enough, a rustling sound came from within the chamber.

Bai Shuo opened her eyes to see a silly donkey, wearing a miniature green coat, sneakily crouching in the center of the chamber.

Found it!

Bai Shuo was delighted and was about to shout out when she quickly covered her mouth.

She saw a bizarre seven-pointed star array glowing beneath the hooves of the silly wooden donkey.

Two of the stars in the array were lit, while the remaining five remained dim.

A faint spiritual energy emanated from the two lit stars, slowly flowing into the donkey’s hooves.

As the glowing points increased, a gleam of triumph flashed in Long Er Donkey’s eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“Are you stupid? Absorbing spiritual energy…”

Long Er Donkey blurted out, then suddenly realized what he had said.

His donkey eyes twitched, and he turned to face Bai Shuo, their eyes locking.

“You… you… how did you get here?”

“Me… me… none of your business.”

Bai Shuo narrowed her eyes, her gaze falling on the seven-pointed star array.

“Long Er, whose spiritual energy are you absorbing?”

The wooden donkey shifted his hooves, trying to cover the glowing stars.

His eyes darted around.

“What spiritual energy? I’m just wandering around for fun.”

“Who are you trying to fool? Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll go ask the blacksmith.”

Long Er Donkey panicked and quickly shouted, “Come back!”

Seeing Bai Shuo stop and stare at him intently, Long Er Donkey had no choice but to relent.

“You little brat, if you promise not to tell anyone, I’ll take you away from this godforsaken place. How about that?”

“Take me away?” Bai Shuo pouted.

“There’s good food and drink here. Why would I want to leave?”

“Don’t you want to see your childhood sweetheart? He’s quite famous in the demon realm now.”

Bai Shuo glanced sideways and clicked her tongue.

“Silly donkey, you’re locked up in this hall all day, yet you know everything. What does his fame have to do with me?”

“Cut the nonsense. I could tell back in the mortal realm that you two…”

The donkey winked mischievously.

“You were inseparable, like honey and oil. You’re definitely a pair. If you go to Cold Spring Palace, you’ll be the Third Palace Mistress of Cold Spring Palace. You could strut around the demon realm. Isn’t that better than being a pill-refining servant here?”

Bai Shuo’s eyes lit up, as if tempted.

“You really have a way to get me out of here?”

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the hall, as if a pair of burning eyes were watching them.

Bai Shuo shivered, goosebumps rising on her skin.

She looked around but saw no one.

“What are you looking at?” The donkey, guilty as a thief, also glanced around.

“Nothing. This place is just too cold.”

The donkey turned back and stomped his hoof confidently.

“Don’t worry. Since I promised you, I’ll definitely get you out.”

“I don’t believe you. Unless you tell me what this seven-pointed star array is.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Of course it is. The blacksmith said there’s a restriction set by the big demon in this hall, which keeps you locked in. If you can’t even escape this hall, how can you take me out of Haoyue Palace? A deal is a deal. There has to be give and take, right?”

Long Er Donkey hesitated, his donkey eyes uncertain.

Bai Shuo stood up and clapped her hands.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll just go outside and shout…”

As she spoke, she cleared her throat.

Just as she was about to push open the hall door, a frantic young voice called out from behind.

“It’s Fan Yue’s life-bound array!”

Bai Shuo paused and turned around.

“Life-bound array? What’s that?”

Seeing that the cat was out of the bag, the donkey stopped hiding.

“Aren’t you curious why Fan Yue, a demigod of the demon realm and the master of Haoyue Palace, is searching the three realms for the Bodhi tree?”

“What does that have to do with me? He’s just bored.”

Bai Shuo pretended to be uninterested, but her ears perked up.

“Bored? Ha! Such a big secret. Not to mention a little loose immortal like you, even the high immortals of the Heavenly Palace and Zhen Yu probably don’t know.”

The donkey snorted arrogantly, kicking his hooves.

“Stop bragging. You’re just a little donkey demon. If they don’t know, how would you?”

Bai Shuo sneered.

“Who said I’m a donkey demon! You’re the donkey demon!”

If wood could blush, the donkey’s face would be steaming with anger.

“I’m also a Bodhi tree! If I could devour Fan Yue, this seven-pointed star array would be my life-bound array!”

The hall fell silent.

The donkey quickly covered his mouth, and Bai Shuo leaned in, staring at him.

“What did you say…?”

The donkey waved his hooves frantically.

“No, no, I didn’t say anything…”

“You said… if you could devour him, this would also be your life-bound array…”

Bai Shuo narrowed her eyes and blurted out, “The big demon’s true form is a Bodhi tree?!”

The donkey hung its head.

It had wanted to trick Bai Shuo into keeping its secret, but instead, it had spilled everything in just a few words.

Seeing the donkey’s foolish expression, Bai Shuo knew she had guessed correctly.

But more questions arose.

The Bodhi tree is a divine tree.

If Fan Yue’s true form is a divine tree, why did he cultivate demonic energy and become a demon?

Since the Bodhi tree gained sentience, Fan Yue should have already become a god.

But why, when she first met him, was he only at the peak of demon lord level?

And… how many pieces of the Bodhi tree are there?

Why did the divine tree split and scatter across the three realms?

The silly donkey must know the reason.

Bai Shuo stopped guessing and asked directly.

“Eight pieces.”

Seeing that the secret was out, the donkey decided to be honest.

“When I woke up, I was in the mortal realm’s Muxiao Mountain. Although the Bodhi tree is a divine tree, without sentience, it cannot become a god. The divine tribulation is hard to overcome. I think my original body failed to transcend the tribulation, which is why it split into eight pieces and scattered across the three realms. Since I woke up, I’ve been able to sense Fan Yue’s location, but I can’t sense the other six Bodhi trees.”

The donkey struggled to stroke his chin with his hoof.

“I think only Bodhi trees that have gained sentience can sense each other. The one on Fire Ice Island didn’t have sentience, so your Piaomiao’s old Taoist priest refined it. As for why Fan Yue cultivated demonic energy, I don’t know.”

So that’s how it is.

The divine tree split, and each piece is just a fragment of the original body.

But for some reason, Fan Yue became the most powerful one.

Bai Shuo looked down at the two glowing stars in the array, lost in thought.

This star array was set up by Fan Yue.

The remaining seven stars must correspond to the seven split Bodhi trees.

He retrieved one from Fire Ice Island, and this silly donkey hasn’t been refined by the big demon yet.

So when did he retrieve the other Bodhi tree?

As Bai Shuo pondered, she glanced at the donkey and narrowed her eyes.

“You were hiding here, absorbing the spiritual energy from these two Bodhi stars? Are you trying to…”

“Exactly.”

The donkey puffed up with pride.

“The master of Haoyue Palace is so capable. The Bodhi trees scattered across the three realms will inevitably fall into his hands. Every time he retrieves one, the power of this star array grows stronger. But he doesn’t know that I secretly formed a blood contract with the array using my soul. I’ve already absorbed most of the spiritual energy here. Once the seven stars are lit and the divine tree is reunited, I will become a god…”

The donkey raised his front hooves, full of ambition, as if the three realms were within his grasp.

Suddenly, his donkey eyes widened, and his whole body trembled.

He fell silent.

Bai Shuo felt a chill down her spine.

Following the donkey’s gaze, she saw a sparse moonlight falling through the hall’s roof.

On the throne not far away, someone had appeared without her noticing.

The man’s black robes fluttered, almost blending into the dim hall.

He raised his hand lazily and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the entire hall was illuminated by glazed lamps, and the third star in the seven-pointed array lit up.

“You… you… you…”

The donkey’s mouth trembled, unable to form a complete sentence.

The man looked at Long Er Donkey, a slight smile on his lips.

“Go on, why did you stop? Such grand ambitions. I was quite enjoying the story.”

“Ahhh! A ghost! I’m dead!”

In the inner hall, the silly donkey let out a wail, his eyes rolling back as he pretended to be dead.

Verified by MonsterInsights