The vitality of the Heaven Dao Tree was no longer enough to sustain its vast spiritual form, and it turned into a piece of wood that fell to the ground. The inherited Heaven Dao will and the power of rules gradually peeled away from it.
Before losing consciousness, it heard a question.
"Why? Because you yourself are not a good person… Oh no, a good tree." That voice was extremely cold, carrying a hint of casual contempt, "Didn't you ever suspect where that rich vitality came from? Don't you find your story and your actions contradictory?"
Bai Shengyi picked up the piece of wood on the ground, and the fire spirit energy from her palm surged out, removing all the demonic obstructions within the wood. The wood then transformed into a piece of jade with a frosted texture.
The Heart of the Divine Wood was now in hand.
"The so-called Heart of the Divine Wood never refers to the heart of the divine wood, nor its vitality, nor that damn Wood God's blessing. It actually refers to the very essence of the Heaven Dao Tree."
Bai Shengyi couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Actually, at first, I really wanted to save you."
After all, she always knew that she was just an outsider. Even if she wanted to change everything in Lurong, she couldn't act rashly. The best way was for Lurong to undergo internal reform and change itself.
"But your story, instead, exposed your true nature."
From the moment the Heaven Dao Tree began to tell its story, Bai Shengyi remained skeptical of everything.
A spiritual light flashed across the Heart of the Divine Wood, and everything the Heaven Dao Tree had experienced reappeared in Bai Shengyi's mind.
Tens of thousands of years of time, the passing years, impacted Bai Shengyi's head, causing immense dizziness.
Bai Shengyi immediately realized that she could not bear such a massive amount of memory. She quickly sealed some of it, only examining the Heaven Dao Tree's memories from the past few hundred years.
Only the first half of the Heaven Dao Tree's story was true.
It had indeed reached an agreement with cultivators, where cultivators would provide it with rich vitality. However, in reality, it wasn't the cultivators who approached it, but rather it actively chose the cultivators, specifically the Grand Divine Master of the Divine Temple, Cheng Yuzhi.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, for some unknown reason, a black thread grew within the Heaven Dao Tree. This black thread was incredibly strange and insidious, its origin unknown, but it could constantly reproduce within the Heaven Dao Tree.
The Heaven Dao Tree fought against it for thousands of years but could not remove it. Instead, it found its vitality constantly draining, and even its control over Lurong was gradually weakening.
More and more branches turned into withered leaves, scattered on the ground, layer upon layer, day after day, year after year, turning into decaying rotten wood.
Thus, over this long period, the Heaven Dao Tree developed a wicked thought: If it could replenish its vitality, would it be able to return to its former state?
The Heaven Dao itself should not have selfish desires or vain thoughts, but how could any spiritual being with sentience not have selfish desires and vain thoughts?
Unwilling to perish, the Heaven Dao Tree meticulously selected Cheng Yuzhi, who was then the Holy Son of the Divine Temple, and step by step assisted Cheng Yuzhi in becoming the Grand Divine Master. In the first year of his succession, it manifested a celestial phenomenon of ice and snow, and then Cheng Yuzhi issued a divine oracle: by annually holding the Winter Moon Festival to worship the Wood God, the winter snow would melt, spring would bring warmth and blooming flowers, and Lurong would be eternally peaceful.
Thus, the Winter Moon Festival became a tradition, passed down year after year, and Cheng Yuzhi became the Heaven Dao Tree's spokesperson in the outside world.
Bai Shengyi made a grab in the air, and caught a handful of black threads.
"These demonic obstructions, they are so much like the threads of a thousand soul insects."
She calmly raised her hand, and a fierce flame erupted from her fingertips, burning throughout this small world.
The folded space was unstable due to the limitations of the formation. However, Bai Shengyi discovered that the formation in this space should have been constructed later, simply to facilitate travel between this place and the Central Divine Temple. Upon closer inspection, this should be an independent space.
"You took the Heart of the Divine Wood, won't that affect the newly born Heaven Dao Tree?" the Sui Xing Divine Fire asked curiously.
As a spiritual being, although it was born with chaotic energy and had a connection to the natural world, it did not understand the power of rules.
It could only sense that a peculiar and intimidating aura was gradually generating within the new Heaven Dao Tree.
Bai Shengyi affirmed, "It won't."
Although she didn't know if it was due to the Samsara Brush or the changes in her wood and fire dual-elemental spiritual energy, she could sense that the Heaven Dao Tree she had cultivated had completely become a new and independent spiritual entity. Now, it was even absorbing the power of rules and the will of the Heaven Dao from the original Heaven Dao Tree.
In other words, a new Heaven Dao had replaced the original Heaven Dao.
"Rustle..."
The leaves swayed, emitting clear sounds, as if echoing Bai Shengyi's words.
Bai Shengyi touched the leaves, and her spiritual energy, flowing through the new Heaven Dao Tree, spread throughout the entire independent space, burning all the black threads within...
A month passed quickly. As Bai Shengyi continued burning, she could no longer persist. She closed her eyes and fainted beside the vigorous branches.
A mass of black mist suddenly floated out from within her body and clung tightly to the tree trunk, devouring all the remaining black threads.
...
"Huh? I've already burned everything clean?"
When Bai Shengyi woke up, her spiritual energy was abundant, and the Heaven Dao Tree was lush and vibrant, standing tall and majestic.
She checked the space and found no more black threads. She touched the leaves of the Heaven Dao Tree, saying, "I'm leaving now. In the future, don't be like your predecessor. Be a good Heaven Dao."
The leaves rustled again, and a mass of deep green light emerged from the tree and flew towards Bai Shengyi. Bai Shengyi saw that it was rich vitality!
She smiled and waved her hand, sending all the vitality back into the Heaven Dao Tree, "Thank you! But I really don't need it."
She only needed the Heart of the Divine Wood.
...
When Bai Shengyi emerged from the space, the power of time rules automatically disappeared.
Cheng Yuzhi, who had been trying to break through the time restraint, was the first to notice the change. Without hesitation, he formed his hands into claws and ferociously swiped at Bai Shengyi.
However, Bai Shengyi kicked him directly to the ground.
Bai Shengyi, without any politeness, stepped on his back and said coldly, "I won't kill you. Someone else will."
Cheng Yuzhi didn't understand Bai Shengyi's words at first. It wasn't until he saw his hair turn white, his bones become brittle, his teeth fall out, and he looked like a dying old man, being beaten half to death by a group of female slaves he once disdained, that he finally understood. But he couldn't even utter a plea for mercy.
"Cheng Yuzhi is dead." The West Divine Master found Bai Shengyi and asked, "Are you willing to become the Grand Divine Master of the Divine Temple?"
The East Divine Master was a fraud by Cheng Yuzhi, the North Divine Master was killed by Cheng Yuzhi, the South Divine Master was scared witless, and the West Divine Master had no choice but to nervously ask Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi was not surprised by Cheng Yuzhi's death.
She just wondered, "Didn't I say that I don't manage the affairs of the Divine Temple? You handle it yourselves."
The West Divine Master awkwardly yet respectfully replied, "But you are the most suitable..."
Seeing Bai Shengyi's indifferent expression, he suddenly understood and quickly changed his wording, "Or do you have any suggestions for the position of Grand Divine Master?"