Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 964 – The Ancestral Spirits of the Demi-human Race

Perhaps because of the vibrations underground or because the air in the cavern was moving too quickly, the dense web of roots on the walls and roof of the cave trembled continuously. Each tremble would cause a rock to drop down from the roof, breaking the seemingly solid surface of the swamp. A flame would shoot up and fall on the walls of the cave, where it would be quickly consumed by the roots.

This was an extremely simple and complete process, but it was also somewhat frightening. From a certain perspective, the Celestial Tree was snaring its prey.

The young man in the bamboo hat stood on a spot not far and not close to the swamp. He remained very cautious, not moving in the slightest.

After digesting the shock brought by the roots of the Celestial Tree, he placed his focus on an even deeper area. He noticed that cinnabar fruits about the size of fists were hanging from the roots. Just like the roots of the Celestial Tree, these fruits did not fear the intense heat brought by the magma, so they were probably very precious objects.

Then he heard a hiss from the deepest depths of the swamp, which was immediately followed by a similar sound from the walls and roof of the cavern. It was like an echo, or perhaps a special sound made by a special object in a special environment.

All of this underground cavern was scorching hot, whether it was the roots of the Celestial Tree, the cinnabar fruits hanging from them, or the black stone walls. Although there were no flames, it was easy to imagine that any sort of paper or leaf that fell within would almost instantly be burned into smoke.

And this was not even mentioning the source of the heat: the swamp of magma.

Based on the principle that ‘Yang cannot exist alone’, this environment of scorching heat should not have been able to persist for long and should have fallen apart on its own shortly after forming.

But the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees had been passed down through the Demi-human race for countless years.

His gaze fell on the black walls, gradually perceiving farther into their depths. Although he could not personally see it, he could sense the existence of a certain object.

The objects were very small in volume, but they were spread very finely around the entire cavern. These fragments were also extremely low in temperature, emanating a nigh unimaginable cold.

The hissing he had heard before was the sound made when these extremely cold fragments clashed against the scorching heat of the magma swamp.

What sort of object would be so cold as to resist the Wildfire of the Celestial Tree?

He quickly came to the answer.

Those fragments were probably crystals formed from the Deep Freeze Dragon Breath of the Black Frost Dragon tribe.

It was said that countless years ago, the Black Frost Dragons had performed an extremely important role in establishing the demi-human country. Even now, the entire Demi-human race still worshipped the Black Frost Dragons as gods. This was presumably the reason.

If the Black Frost Dragon tribe had not so generously, even altruistically, offered so many Deep Freeze Dragon Breath crystals, even if the demi-humans did obtain nine Celestial Tree seeds from their offering to the starry sky, they would have found it impossible to seal the Wildfire raging in the earth. Thus, the savage world of the ancient era would have never become the beautiful land of the demi-humans in the present.

After some time, the young man finally concluded his observations and took one step towards the swamp.

With just this simple step, the ground began to quake and the surrounding black walls began to twist and deform, flashing with countless bizarre rays of light. The roof of the cave was even more chaotic, the roots of the Celestial Tree seemingly coming to life, writhing and straightening like snakes in the strangest of sights.

The phenomena in this cave were naturally not because of his one step, but because a powerful existence had sensed his arrival.

As the earth quaked, more and more small stones dropped from the roof of the cave to ultimately fall into the blazing hot swamp.

Many holes were instantly punched into the congealed oil of the swamp, and several dozen gouts of flame shot out almost simultaneously.

The roots of the Celestial Tree could not consume all these flames in a short time, so the melting walls began to collapse even faster.

Countless stones fell like a torrential rain into the swamp, causing countless tongues of flame to shoot out.

The entire cavern was filled with pillars of flame that twisted and pierced through each other, a grandiose and beautiful sight.

The surface of the swamp had completely burst open, the searing magma revealing its true and terrifying appearance. It constantly roiled like syrup or blood, garish to the extreme.

This magma was the source of the Celestial Tree’s Wildfire, and an unimaginable heat and pressure spread from it.

Although the light smoke dropping down from the bamboo hat protected him, the young man still began to sweat. In a short time, his clothes were utterly soaked.

He took a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his brow. He remained very easygoing, seemingly unperturbed.

The terrifying heat unleashed by the roiling magma and the Qi of the Wildfire enveloped the entire cave. The countless pillars of fire seemed like some ancient ceremony.

In the pillars of fire and red light, a picture gradually began to appear, one that was constantly changing.

The young man’s expression became abnormally solemn. As he stared at those pictures in the fiery light, he did not even blink, even when his eyes began to ache with a piercing pain.

The first picture was a city, and then a high mountain, and then there was a plateau amidst the mountains.

And then there were countless creatures. Some of them were common, like elephants, lions, tigers and wolves. Others were the stuff of myths, like Dragons and Phoenixes. Soon after came cows and sheep, geese and horses.

The young man stared at these images, a surprised expression on his face. “What sort of star images are these?”

All these pictures finally dispersed into the Wildfire.

The roiling magma split open like the sea, transforming into a flat platform in the shape of a lotus.

An elder dressed in furs, his long hair draped behind him, appeared on the platform.

This elder was clearly not real, but some sort of mental projection.

The underground cavern was huge, several hundred zhang high, but this elder seemed to be tens of thousands of zhang high, encompassing the entire world.

The young man gazed at the old man within the Wildfire, his expression now unprecedentedly grave, his pitch-black eyes in a state of absolute vigilance.

The old man seemed like a real god, because from a certain perspective, he was a god.

He was an ancestral spirit of the Demi-human race.

……

……

Beneath the other Celestial Trees, an ancestral spirit of the Demi-human race also manifested.

Xuanyuan Po felt like his body had become abnormally heavy. Not daring to even think about resistance, he kneeled on the ground.

The other two demi-human experts were even more lacking in energy. They had kneeled much earlier, their bodies trembling as they teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

Xiaode was in better circumstances, but only barely.

His face was pale, his eyes closed as he silently prayed, hoping to be blessed by the ancestral spirit.

The young man in the bamboo hat did not kneel, only thoughtfully gazed in silence at the ancestral spirit’s image.

Suddenly the ancestral spirit opened its eyes.

Beneath the various Celestial Trees, the ancestral spirits opened their eyes.

A ray of light pierced through the boundary between the mental and physical, descending upon the bodies of Xiaode, Xuanyuan Po, and the other two demi-human experts.

The ray of light also fell on the young man in the bamboo hat.

The light made his face abnormally pale, but his eyes were bloodshot, because he was very excited, even somewhat crazy.

“It really is Sacred Light!”