Chapter 916: Ascending to Mahayana, great dao divine tree Seed

Whoosh!

A massive tornado raged within the roiling tribulation qi, instantly causing the endless power of the Five Elements to falter.

Under the churning of the gale, the tribulation qi, which had originally been rotating clockwise, gradually fell into chaos and began to flow in a counter-clockwise direction.

In an instant, raging flames were extinguished by great floods, thorns were severed by sharp blades, and thick earth blocked torrents… The previously unstoppable Five Elements tribulation qi rapidly dissipated and disintegrated, transforming into incomparably pure spiritual energy that surged toward the one Undergoing Tribulation.

Under the infusion of this energy, Qi Yuan's battered Physical Body rapidly recovered to its original state, once again radiating with intense vitality.

At the same time, his cultivation level climbed steadily, quickly breaking through the limits of the Tribulation Crossing Realm and advancing toward the Mahayana Realm with unstoppable force.

Finally!

After absorbing the last wisp of tribulation qi, Qi Yuan completely finished his transformation. His aura was as vast as the sea and unfathomably deep, with faint rhythms of the Dao lingering around his body—this was the phenomenon possessed only by a Mahayana Cultivator!

Mahayana Realm!

In a short span of time, he had successively completed the leaps from the Hedao Realm to the Tribulation Crossing Realm, and from the Tribulation Crossing Realm to the Mahayana Realm. Such speed of advancement was simply unprecedented!

Perhaps because of the great dao divine tree, this Breakthrough of Qi Yuan's was absolutely flawless, not even consuming any Heavenly Dao Qi.

And since Qi Yuan already carried a wisp of Heavenly Dao Qi on him, it meant that he would not need to find the last fragment of the creation cauldron to complete the path of the heavenly dao and perfectly Ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Upon reaching the Mahayana Realm, a Cultivator was already nearing the limits of the Lower Realm; they only needed to survive the Boundless Ascension Tribulation to Ascend and achieve Immortal Ascension!

Feeling the unprecedented power within his body, Qi Yuan was not overly excited. Instead, he looked calmly at the great dao divine tree before him and said in a deep voice:

"Senior, I have arrived."

Although Qi Yuan had some complaints about the great dao divine tree increasing the intensity of the trial the moment they met, he had to admit that after passing this test, he had received an extraordinary reward.

Of course, the danger involved was self-evident. If he hadn't come up with a solution in time, he would likely have already been reduced to ashes under the super-doubled Dao Tribulation.

He did not believe the great dao divine tree would step in to save him at the last moment; after all, in the eyes of such an existence, all living things were merely humble ants.

Seemingly having received Qi Yuan's words, the great dao divine tree gently vibrated its branches, and an ancient, grand voice emanated from the tree:

"stranger, I invited you here because I wish to hear your Dao."

stranger?

Hearing the great dao divine tree's address for him, Qi Yuan was startled and immediately realized that the great dao divine tree had seen through his Origin.

However… for the dignified great dao divine tree to actually want to hear a small character like him, who wasn't even an Immortal, expound on the Dao—wasn't that just too absurd?

After a brief moment of astonishment, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him, and an epiphany formed in his mind.

That's right!

It was after he recited a certain passage that he caught the attention of the great dao divine tree. That passage did not exist in this world before; it came from a certain Daoist scripture on Earth!

Although that Daoist scripture was known to almost everyone on Earth, to the great dao divine tree of this space-time, it was equivalent to a very novel concept.

As the saying goes, the foreign monk knows how to chant the scriptures; what truly interested the great dao divine tree was that piece of Daoist scripture!

Realizing this, the tension in Qi Yuan's heart dissipated significantly. Since the great dao divine tree needed him to expound on the Dao, wouldn't it be reasonable to ask for a few seeds as payment afterward?

Although the act of plagiarism wasn't very honorable, the atmosphere had been built up to this point; some acts of pretension were unavoidable, otherwise, this trial would be truly difficult to pass…

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan steadied himself, organized his thoughts slightly, and then said with a calm and indifferent expression:

"In that case, this Junior will respectfully comply…"

After the exposition on the Dao concluded, the scene once again fell into silence. The great dao divine tree remained silent, seemingly pondering something.

Seeing this, Qi Yuan stood with his hands down, eyes focused on his nose and his heart focused on his breathing, with no intention of disturbing it.

After a long while, the voice of the great dao divine tree sounded again:

"stranger, your Dao is very unique. It contains many interesting ideas that make me feel as though I have benefited greatly."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully:

"Senior, you flatter me. This Daoist scripture was written by a sage of the past; this Junior is merely reciting it."

Based on the great dao divine tree's evaluation, it clearly recognized the value of his exposition on the Dao. Next, it should pay the reward; it couldn't just let him work for free, right?

Seemingly sensing this person's thoughts, the great dao divine tree shook its towering and magnificent branches and said indifferently:

"Having listened to your exposition on the Dao, I should provide some compensation. How about this… as payment, I will allow you to pluck a leaf from my branches."

"As the great dao divine tree, every leaf of mine records the mysteries of the Dao. As long as you can fully comprehend one, you can easily master a rule of the Dao."

Hearing this, Qi Yuan couldn't help but be moved. The leaves on the great dao divine tree were definitely treasures that countless Cultivators dreamed of. If he could obtain one, it would be equivalent to obtaining a Cultivation Technique that pointed directly to the Origin of the Dao, and one with annotations at that.

But the problem was, what the Immortal Emperor wanted was a seed of the great dao divine tree. If he took a leaf out, he probably wouldn't have a good ending.

Immortal Emperor Donghua had gone to such great lengths to send him in; it was obviously unlikely that he would accept the mission failing…

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan's eyelids twitched, and he had to bite the bullet and request:

"To be honest, this Junior was entrusted by someone to request a tree seed. I ask that Senior grant this."

At this point, he could only tell the truth. In front of such an existence, lying would often only be counterproductive.

At the same time, the great dao divine tree seemed very surprised by this request. After a moment of silence, it finally spoke:

"Very well. Since He has made up His mind, I have no reason to refuse."

As the words fell, the trunk of the great dao divine tree trembled gently, and then a golden seed drifted down, hovering before Qi Yuan's eyes.

This seed was covered all over with countless mysterious and indescribable patterns. Just by looking at it, Qi Yuan felt as if his head were about to explode, as if he were staring directly at all the rules and order of the world.

He dared not look any longer, and enduring the headache, he tucked the tree seed into his bosom and prepared to take his leave.

However, before he could speak, he heard the great dao divine tree say:

"As compensation, you may obtain a branch from me and draw the power of the Dao from it. But remember, you must never bring the branch back to the world you originated from, otherwise, it will inevitably trigger a catastrophe…"

Huh???

Hearing this, Qi Yuan's eyes widened, and he was completely stunned.

What was going on?

Without needing to think, he knew that a branch from the great dao divine tree was definitely worth far more than a leaf.

He had already obtained the tree seed from the other party, yet the great dao divine tree had forcibly increased the reward—wasn't that just too generous?!

Could it be… that his act of requesting the tree seed was actually helping the great dao divine tree?

At this moment, his mind fell into a state of chaos; he felt as if his brain wasn't working well enough…