“Ancient Dao; Tenacious Desire to Seal the Heavens; Benefaction for All in the Mountains; Dao Tribulation Must Come to the Nine Mountains and Seas; My Fate is the Aeon!

“Ancient Dao; Study Demons of Myriad Variations; Tread not the Path of Immortals; Face the Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas; My Dao is Eternal; The Ma.s.ses Have Erred but My Dao is True; My Fate is the Aeon!

The ancient voice reverberated in Meng Hao’s mind like thunder, booming and echoing. Meng Hao’s eyes glittered and he took in a deep breath. He looked at the enormous Treant hand extended in front of him, and then his eyes filled with determination. He strode forward, directly onto the creature’s palm.

As soon as he stepped onto the hand, the Treant lifted its head up toward the sky and roared. The roar shook Heaven and Earth, causing the clouds which filled the sky to scatter and disperse. Blue sky appeared overhead, along with a vortex, where another world was visible.

Simultaneously, the Treant closed its hand in a way that did not hurt Meng Hao in the slightest. Next its body turned into a green beam of light that shot up into the sky. In the blink of an eye, it had entered the vortex. Its body began to expand. Meng Hao watched on as the gigantic Treant grew larger and larger. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a ma.s.sive tree of Heaven and Earth.

The instant the tree appeared, Meng Hao’s mind filled with a rumbling sound. His consciousness seemed to expand; Time flowed and the Heavens shattered. The stars rushed toward him.

As he looked up, he saw that the sky was no longer the sky, but rather stars. Down below, he could see the vast lands of the Western Desert. However, they were not split from the Southern Domain. On the other side of the azure Milky Way Sea, the Eastern Lands were quaking, and a great tempest roiled between them and the Northern Reaches.

These were the lands of Planet South Heaven, a scene from who knew how many years ago.

The vast lands below were not flat, but rather, spherical, a planet.

The echoing, archaic voice of the Treant suddenly filled his mind.

“This is… Planet South Heaven!

“Adjacent to the Ninth Mountain and Sea are four eternal planets. South Heaven. East Victory. North Reed. West Felicity. According to primordial will, they orbit eternally around the Ninth Mountain….

“As for me, I come from an island in the Ninth Sea called Lightgreen. I am Master of the Greenwood from Lightgreen Island!”

Meng Hao took a deep breath. As the Treant spoke, he saw the lands below shrinking into the form of a planet. At the same time, off in the starry distance, he saw….

An immeasurably immense, endlessly tall mountain!!

The size of this mountain vastly exceeded that of Planet South Heaven. It was like the difference between a giant and a bug! The instant Meng Hao saw it, his mind began to reel. It felt as if his consciousness were being ripped apart. Roaring filled his heart and mind.

Although he didn’t completely understand the Ninth Mountain and Sea, or Planet South Heaven, he wasn’t completely ignorant. At this moment, though, he was actually looking at… the majesty of the Ninth Mountain!

He gazed up at the Ninth Mountain, as well as the four planets that circled around it, including Plant South Heaven. On either side of the Ninth Mountain, stretching out seemingly forever into the stars, were… two enormous seas!

Perhaps these seas weren’t made of seawater, but great waves were visible cras.h.i.+ng on their surface, waves that seemed large enough to crush even the planets.

This scene caused Meng Hao’s mind and heart to tremble with unprecedented intensity.

At the same time, he saw a green beam of light flying out from within one of the seas. Inside the green beam, he saw an enormous green tree that seemed capable of fighting against the Heavens themselves.

The tree shot out from the great sea, crossing through the firmament toward South Heaven. However, as it neared, a rumbling sound could be heard in Meng Hao’s mind. Suddenly, an enormous face appeared upon Planet South Heaven.

The face bore the semblance of an old man with his eyes closed. It was as if Planet South Heaven was his body, whereas his head was illusory, and superimposed upon the planet. Suddenly, his mouth opened, and he said something to the incoming green tree. Meng Hao wasn’t quite able to make out exactly what he said.

As soon as the word left his mouth, the Greenwood Tree within the beam of light began to crumble apart and disintegrate. The resulting fragments began to fall down toward Planet South Heaven.

Most of the pieces were transformed into ash as they neared. But one small piece survived. It shot through Meng Hao, causing his body to shatter. It then fused with him and they both fell down into the Western Desert. Next, a root appeared.

Meng Hao was a bit confused. He felt no pain; rather, he was filled with the sensation that he had turned into that tree. Countless years pa.s.sed, and he eventually became a Greenwood Tree.

As the years came and went, a white wolf, a colorful snake, and a tiny bat all made their homes beneath the tree. Years pa.s.sed. Finally, one rainy evening, a person approached.

It was a middle-aged man carrying an umbrella. He came to a stop in front of the tree and looked at it.

“So, yet another being come to South Heaven to confirm their Dao. Body and spirit destroyed, but a seed of the soul left behind, striving to prove itself on South Heaven….

“Very well. Since we’re in the Western Desert of South Heaven, I will use the power of my League to bless you all with the ability to pa.s.s down totems. Just like the Demonic Dao Pill of the Southern Domain…. The path of an ancient Dao, my fate is the Aeon.” The man sighed, lifted his hand up, and placed it on the tree. After a long time had pa.s.sed, he turned and walked off into the distance.

As he did, countless s.h.i.+mmering strands emanated out from him. They were dim and faint, but each one seemed to be connected to his body. They circled out and disappeared into the air. These strands seemed to be nothing other than Karma threads.

“I am the Fifth Generation of my League, the Fifth Generation Demon Sealing Daoist Master. My Dao is different from that of the Ninth Mountain and Sea. With different Daos, accords cannot be reached. Whether they are right or wrong doesn’t matter. My Dao will exist forever!

“I shall face the Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas.” The man looked back and gazed at the Greenwood Tree. As he did, it seemed to Meng Hao almost as if he were looking directly at him. His mind suddenly began to buzz. The man continued, “To meet you before I depart… is fate. It seems our destinies shall become a point of enlightenment for one of my successors in the future.

“It’s not that the line of the League of Demon Sealers can’t be broken. If the younger generation can gain enlightenment, it will continue on. If not, then the Dao Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas will arrive, and then the people will remember the will of the Demon Sealers.”

The buzzing in Meng Hao’s mind lasted for a long time. When it finally disappeared, everything that he had seen was fading.

He… was standing upon the palm of the Treant. The sky was filled with clouds as it had been before, and the air echoed with the chants of the Crow Scout Tribe members. Everything that he had just experienced seemed to have happened in only an instant. However, Meng Hao had experienced an eternity.

His eyes were filled with a blank expression. Tuning out everything around him, he stepped off of the Treant’s hand and then sat down cross-legged onto the altar. He closed his eyes.

A green glow gradually began to rise up from his body. Within the green glow, branches could be seen. They burrowed into the stone surface of the altar; Meng Hao almost looked as if he were becoming a Treant himself.

When the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members saw this, their hearts and minds began to shake, and they stared mutely. The Earth Priest and the Sky Priest began to pant, and their eyes filled with disbelief.

It was at this point that a beam of light approached from off in the distance. It transformed into an ancient old man. The ripples of his Cultivation base placed him at the mid Nascent Soul stage. The instant the old man appeared, his gaze fell upon Meng Hao, and his expression flickered.

After a long moment pa.s.sed, the old man said, “Ancestor Greenwood is bestowing a totem….” The two Crow Scout Tribe High Priests looked at the man. Serious expressions filled their faces, and they nodded.

“Considering that he is receiving a totem from Ancestor Greenwood, cancel all investigations into him. It doesn’t matter where he is from, nor how much of what he has said is true or false. He is now an eternal va.s.sal of the Crow Scout Tribe!”

Time pa.s.sed by slowly. By the time Meng Hao’s eyes opened again, it was seven days later.

He saw that the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members had dispersed. It was evening, and not a single person was in sight. He was alone on the altar atop the mountain’s highest peak.

His eyes were filled with confusion. He looked down at his body and could see countless branches attached to it, spreading out in every direction, as if he was now a tree.

After a long moment, he took a deep breath. The tree branches slowly retracted, fusing back into his body. Eventually, he rose to his feet.

His expression was one of calm as he looked up into the sky and let out an absentminded sigh.

“There are 3,000 Daos. The Dao of Alchemy. The path of Demons. Totems. Various techniques and methods. All are great Daos. Be it totems or Demon sealing, even the Celestial talisman that made the Black Lands….

“It’s like the three pages of secret arts I acquired. The first is regarding catalyzing and the concocting of medicinal pills. The second, the crafting of Time treasures. The third, the Dragoneer arts, which can transform Demons. All three connect to each other on various levels, but in reality, they all stem from the same source!

“They all have something to do with the sealing of Demons!” Meng Hao’s eyes shone with a strange light. As he gained enlightenment, he realized that it didn’t matter if you were talking about the Southern Domain or the Western Desert, when it came to Heaven and Earth, it was all about Immortals and Demons!

If one wanted a clear example of Immortals, there could be none better than the supercilious Ji Clan of Planet South Heaven. If one wanted a good example of Demons… the best would be the mysterious and multifarious Demon Sealers!

“The unusual thing is, Demons are characterized by their multifariousness…. Therefore, in the great lands of South Heaven, they are represented by the Dao of alchemy in the Southern Domain. They are the talismanic symbols in the Black Lands, and totems in the Western Desert. Certainly the Eastern Lands and the Northern Reaches have their own Demon variations.

“In the end, all are Demons!

“They are different from Immortals. Immortals have their dignity, but Demons have their variations. With Immortals there is only one path, any of the other myriad paths are Demonic!” Meng Hao’s mind buzzed as if lightning were striking around inside as he suddenly received this unprecedented enlightenment.

His thoughts having reached this point, although his body was on this mountain peak in the Crow Scout Tribe, his consciousness expanded out, soaring up to the highest Heavens. The thoughts which had begun to circulate in his mind when he first entered the Black Lands, suddenly coalesced into a single conclusion.

“Everything has to do with the Qi of the Nine Mountains and Seas. Immortals call this Qi the Essence. However, the League of Demon Sealers calls it Demonic Qi. In that case… perhaps the Ninth Mountain and Sea is in actuality an indescribably powerful, ma.s.sive Demon of the Heavens!” Meng Hao’s eyes glittered brightly.

“If the Ninth Mountain and Sea are collectively a Demon, then its Qi would fill the planets which surround the Mountain. Regardless of the Ji Clan or some other powerful experts, all such Immortals would desire to acquire the Essence of the Ninth Mountain and Sea, and thus become its Lord.

“On the other side of the coin, Demon Sealing is just another path of cultivation, and has nothing to do with acquiring the Qi of the Ninth Mountain and Sea. If it’s a Demon, it can be sealed or approved based on my whim!”

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This chapter was sponsored by Patryk Czajczyński, Brett Flowers, Chester Moon, and Stefa.n.u.s Hendra