“So, are you alive, or are you dead now?”
Chu Lingwei sneered and retorted, their trip to the Phoenix clan's sacred tree was nothing more than a desire to live, and he had now achieved his wish.
“Better to be dead than alive.”
The old man’s voice was filled with sorrow. If not for the Phoenix clan's sacred tree, he would have perished by now.
“At least, your objective has been achieved.”
Chu Lingwei stared at the person before her. Perhaps with him leading the way, everyone would believe that their Phoenix clan's sacred tree could truly help them break through the greatest barrier to the Dominator realm, or at the very least, keep them alive indefinitely.
The Leng family ancestor lowered his head, not replying.
Indeed, at least he was still alive when he should have perished.
Seeing that the Leng family ancestor remained silent, Chu Lingwei shifted her gaze to their Phoenix clan's sacred tree.
This large tree looked as if it was centuries old. Its enormous branches sported thousands upon thousands of smaller boughs, reaching towards the sky.
The branches were already close to decay, devoid of any spiritual energy, and even more so of life. This was a clear sign that it was about to wither.
Chu Lingwei could not sense the slightest connection to it. The sacred tree was once again facing withering.
This… could this be the reason her senior brother brought her here?
“This sacred tree will soon wither.”
The old man from the Leng family raised his head, his eyes filled with pity. “It has no hope of revival anymore, not even if your entire clan bleeds dry.”
“Why?”
This was their Phoenix clan's sacred tree. How did he know?
“A curse.”
The elder from the Leng family softly uttered these two words, then turned around, resuming his original movements.
“A curse from the gods?”
Chu Lingwei blurted out. She had heard of curses in many places and felt no surprise.
As her words left her lips, Chu Lingwei felt the Leng family ancestor’s body tremble slightly, indicating she had spoken correctly.
Chu Lingwei turned her head and looked at her senior brother, who had been standing beside her all along. His gaze was calm, simply watching the sacred tree before him, as if the conversation between her and the Leng family ancestor had nothing to do with him.
“Senior brother, what is his name?”
“Leng Wangsheng.”
The Leng family ancestor had not heard his name mentioned in a long time. He sighed softly, “Wangsheng is already dead.”
“Leng Wangsheng, how did you and your clan surround and annihilate the Phoenix clan back then?”
Chu Lingwei strode two steps forward to Leng Wangsheng, looking at his eyes, which lacked any brightness. “Besides your Leng family, who else was involved?”
Leng Wangsheng had kept his eyes half-closed. Upon hearing Chu Lingwei’s voice, his breathing became heavier. “I do not know.”
“How do you not know?”
Chu Lingwei’s Ice Jade Frost Sword was already at the tip of Leng Wangsheng’s brow. “Are you unwilling to say, or dare not to say?”
“I truly do not know.”
Leng Wangsheng’s body remained still, his voice like a thin, cold rain. “Back then, I emerged from seclusion, and the Phoenix clan had already been annihilated.”
“So, you mean to say that the annihilation of the Phoenix clan had nothing to do with you?” Chu Lingwei burst into laughter upon hearing this explanation. It was the most amusing excuse she had ever heard.
“Every word I speak is the truth.” Leng Wangsheng looked at the sacred tree before him. “After they brought back the sacred tree, they ordered me to guard it.”
Chu Lingwei remained silent. She did not believe a single word he said. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, her sword imbued with killing intent. Everyone in the Leng family deserved to die.
“The sacred tree has been in the Leng family for less than a hundred years. All the Leng family members who went to surround and annihilate the Phoenix clan have perished.”
Leng Wangsheng’s voice was filled with a sigh. For this tree, their Leng family had destroyed their thousand-year foundation. This was their fate.
Chu Lingwei’s brows furrowed. His words implied that all the Leng family members who participated in the annihilation of the Phoenix clan had perished within a hundred years.
“What I say is true, you can ask him.”
The ‘him’ Leng Wangsheng referred to was Leng Xingzhi.
Chu Lingwei looked at her senior brother for confirmation.
Leng Xingzhi nodded gently. All the Leng family members who had entered the Phoenix clan’s territory had perished within a hundred years, without a single survivor.
“Even so, a thousand innocent lives of the Phoenix clan were unjustly lost. Your Leng family should pay a price.” Chu Lingwei let out a cold哼. “I give you two choices: either tell me who else conspired with you to surround and annihilate the Phoenix clan, or I will kill all your Leng family descendants, making you taste the suffering our Phoenix clan citizens endured.”
Chu Lingwei’s every word carried killing intent. She would definitely avenge her fallen Phoenix clan.
“I truly do not know, but…”
Leng Wangsheng knew that this day would eventually come. “But, I know, that person has never left. He has always been around the sacred tree, never departing.”
“Who is this person you speak of?” Chu Lingwei applied more pressure, and blood from Leng Wangsheng’s brow flowed down his face, dripping onto the ground and seeping into the soil.
“I do not know.”
Upon hearing this answer, Chu Lingwei became furious. Ignorance, ignorance. Only the dead knew nothing.
“Weiwei, he cannot die yet.”
Leng Xingzhi saw Chu Lingwei’s killing intent flare up and quickly stopped her, leading her away from Leng Wangsheng. “If he dies, the sacred tree will surely wither.”
“Why?”
“His life has long been connected to the sacred tree.” Leng Xingzhi led Chu Lingwei away from the place and onto a patch of auspicious clouds on the mountaintop.
“Senior brother, how much do you actually know about the Phoenix clan?”
Chu Lingwei had always hesitated to ask her senior brother this question. She knew he had unspoken difficulties and didn’t want to trouble him.
However, at this point, she desperately wanted to know what had happened to the Phoenix clan back then.
“Weiwei, you all do not understand the sacred tree.”
Leng Xingzhi sighed, stood up, and gazed at the continuously floating auspicious clouds in the distance. “The sacred tree does not belong to your Phoenix clan. Your Phoenix clan merely guards its eternal life.”
Chu Lingwei was confused. Her mother had told her that the sacred tree was connected to the lives of their Phoenix clan cultivators.
“Then it is…”
“The sacred tree belongs to the God Realm.” Leng Xingzhi turned his head and stared into Chu Lingwei’s eyes. “Only the God Realm can truly revive the sacred tree.”
“There really are gods in this world.”
Chu Lingwei had heard legends of gods more than once. Her heart sank.
“Of course, there are.”
Leng Xingzhi reached out and gently caressed Chu Lingwei’s cheek. “Ten thousand years ago, when cultivators of humanity, demons, beasts, and ghosts successfully passed their tribulations, they would ascend to the God Realm.”
“In other words, the God Realm is a higher realm?”
If Dominator realm great experts broke through the final barrier and ascended to the God Realm, this interpretation seemed most fitting.
“Yes.”
Leng Xingzhi nodded. “The God Realm is far more cruel than the cultivation world.”
“You…”
Chu Lingwei looked at Leng Xingzhi. His identity was already obvious, wasn’t it?
“I am not.”
Leng Xingzhi smiled and shook his head. “I am not a god.”
“Then you are…”
Chu Lingwei was shocked. She had thought that her senior brother’s cultivation could surpass all cultivators here, so he must not be an ordinary spiritual cultivator.