A chuckle rang out.
Not loud. Not piercing. But in this vile hollow beneath the world—where the roots of the Ephemera Tree whispered secrets older than memory—it sounded like a bell tolling through time.
Elder Mingshi froze.
So did every other Hollow Eye disciple in the chamber. Their expressions twisted in alarm, their Immortal senses flaring in panic. No one—no one—could enter this place without the Eye’s permission. And yet...
A pressure more refined than sword Qi, more inscrutable than Dao intent, descended upon them like velvet nightfall.
From the air, space folded.
And a veiled woman emerged from nothingness.
Her form was cloaked in robes of starlight and nightshade, hiding her true form. Her presence as ethereal as moonlight reflected in still water. Where she stepped, the very floor of the sanctum bent ever so slightly, as if in awe of her existence.
Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed before recognition bloomed.
"Saintess," he said with a smirk. "So you were watching."
The Saintess gave a soft laugh, neither mocking nor approving.
"I was," she replied, her voice both gentle and powerful. "It was... amusing."
Lin Mu crossed his arms. "And here I thought you were busy cultivating. I didn’t think to disturb you like this."
"This was a special occasion," she said, her tone light as a breeze. "It’s not often one gets to watch a pig try to dress up as a dragon."
She turned then, her eyes—hidden behind the gossamer veil—locking onto Elder Mingshi.
The atmosphere chilled.
Elder Mingshi, who had once spoken with serene confidence, suddenly felt like a child beneath a storm. He tried to bow, to offer respect, but the Saintess’s next words froze his soul.
"To think mere dregs of the Taowu Imperial Order would dare to tempt one of my own with a trashy Celestial Treasure."
Silence.
Lin Mu raised an eyebrow.
Taowu?
Celestial Treasure?
His mind turned over the words, a piece of the puzzle clicking into place. The strange strength of the ghosts. The broken truth of the sect. The flawed temptation.
’So... the tree wasn’t just waiting for a vessel.’
It was bait.
Mingshi and the rest of the sect were stunned. Their lips moved, but no sound emerged. They understood the Saintess’s rebuke—and yet, they didn’t.
"Taowu..." Mingshi muttered, "that... that was..."
"Your origin," she said, her voice like a blade wrapped in silk. "A name you discarded to flee retribution. To flee your karma."
She sighed.
"You have fallen so far, you don’t even know your own name anymore. Words are wasted on hollow husks."
Then, her gaze returned to Lin Mu, as if brushing away a forgettable distraction.
He straightened.
"So," Lin Mu said quietly, "is it time?"
She nodded. "It is."
The moment she spoke, Lin Mu’s body lit up.
The air shuddered.
BOOM.
The Dominating Gravity Dao Embryo surged forth like a celestial tide. The laws of force and pressure twisted around him, forming a vortex of pure dominance. Heaven and earth responded to the intent. The air cracked. Stone screamed. The monolith shattered.
Lin Mu lifted a hand.
And pointed down.
"Heaven Crushing Descent."
The world bowed.
A planetary force descended without form or mercy, invisible and absolute. Gravity collapsed upon itself a hundredfold. Stone caved in like wet paper. The earth moaned as if in agony. Every Hollow Eye Sect cultivator—Mingshi included—was slammed into the ground, bones crushed, bodies ruptured.
The entire chamber began to implode.
Walls buckled.
Pillars snapped.
The massive cavern, hollow for untold millennia, could no longer endure the weight of Lin Mu’s wrath. The very root-web of the Ephemera Tree began to disintegrate, breaking like dry twigs under the pressure of a world’s weight.
And yet—
In the center of destruction, a bubble of stillness remained.
A perfect sphere of silver force—gravity reversed and stabilized. Within it, Lin Mu stood tall, his robes fluttering from the sheer turbulence of power, and beside him, the Saintess remained untouched, veiled and calm.
Her gaze never left him.
"You could crush mountains with ease now," she whispered, her voice carrying a hint of approval.
"I only crush what deserves to be buried," Lin Mu said.
The cave imploded.
The root chamber collapsed into ruin, and with a flex of thought, Lin Mu’s Phase technique activated. Space rippled, time stilled—
—and in the next instant, the world above greeted them.
He emerged into the twilight of the surface.
The valley was still blanketed in mists. The phantom haze swirled around like a restless sea.
But now, the Eye beneath had shut.
The Tree had been denied its vessel.
And the weight of Lin Mu’s will still lingered in the air.
The Saintess floated beside him, veil rustling gently in the wind.
"I didn’t expect you to encounter these dregs here," she said.
"You know of them, Saintess?" Lin Mu asked.
"I do," the Saintess replied.
"What were they talking about? About me having a chance of being a Celestial?" Lin Mu questioned.
"You already know of the different ways of being a Celestial, right?" she asked.
"Indeed." Lin Mu nodded.
"The Ephemera Tree is a Celestial Tree whose fruit can allow one to bee a Nurtured Celestial," the Saintess answered.
"No wonder..." Lin Mu finally found all the pieces fitting. "What about that story they showed me?" he asked.
"It might be true. But it’s not the only one," the Saintess replied.
"Oh?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
"The Ephemera Tree grows from regrets, sorrows, and more. The Ephemera Sect is just one of the powers that learned of its power and began to worship it. There were many such trees in the past.
But most of them are gone now. I didn’t expect the remnant of one such tree to be on this world," she explained.
"Is it gone now that I destroyed it here?" Lin Mu asked.
"No. What you destroyed were just some remnant roots. The real body of the tree is probably someplace else," the Saintess said, her gaze looking into the distance, as if transcending reality.
A moment later, she furrowed her brows.
"And it’s quite well hidden," she mented.
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