Chapter 1 The Hibernation of the Divine Tree

The Panrong Undying Tree, located on the former territory of the Southern Heavenly Capital, was like an entire living mountain range.

Its mere existence blotted out the sun, and its every breath brought continuous rain within a thousand miles. Its undulating roots and hanging aerial roots resembled rolling hills and wooden pillars supporting the heavens, maintaining the cycle of this land while supporting the branches of the giant tree.

During the day, the Divine Tree absorbed all light, but at night, its leaves would become dazzling. The azure spiritual light replaced the sun, providing light for the numerous shrubs and plants beneath it—although there were no towering trees under the Divine Tree, the land still possessed a rich ecosystem, all maintained by the Divine Tree.

But now.

At the very top of this living mountain range.

From the peak of the Divine Tree, which towered higher than the clouds, the azure spiritual light gradually extinguished.

Like a dying flame, it dimmed from top to bottom.

At the Nanhe Tianguan Pass, the high-ranking members of the Hundred Families' Righteous Army, who had retreated here, far from the Divine Tree, and Su Zhou, surrounded by the crowd, stood atop the hundred-meter-high pass.

They silently gazed, watching the Divine Tree shed its azure veil under the silver starlight and moonlight. Countless lush, green leaves withered and yellowed within a few short hours, then fell.

It was late at night. After achieving a complete victory over the demonic army, the Hundred Families' Righteous Army did not waste time tracking down the scattered, fleeing soldiers who had fearfully entered the forest. Instead, at Su Zhou's suggestion, they converged and withdrew from the burning New Southern Heavenly Capital.

And as it turned out, his suggestion was reasonable—because the giant leaves of the Divine Tree, falling from hundreds or thousands of meters high, bombarded the ground like meteorites, leaving the entire city and the surrounding hills pockmarked.

"The Divine Tree will enter a period of hibernation."

Stepping forward, Su Zhou walked to the forefront amidst the Hundred Families' Righteous Army's incredibly complex gazes fixed on the Divine Tree. Standing on the battlements of the Nanjiang Tianguan Pass, he gazed at the Divine Tree, which was constantly shedding leaves, covering all traces of war and bones at the base of the tree, and stated bluntly, "The Divine Tree no longer possesses the power to grant immortality."

"Although I know it's hard to hear, and the ambitious among you may be disappointed—this is the truth. I have used Kunlun secret techniques to seal the power of the Panrong Undying Tree. It will not die, but it will also restrain most of its power and lie dormant."

"In other words, there will be no more Undying Roots, and no more Dragon Transformation Pills."

Su Zhou's words were calm and ordinary, like a neighbor chatting, but no one questioned or denied them.

When everyone saw Su Zhou standing unharmed before the shattered remains of the Demon Emperor, and the traces of battle at the top of the entire Heavenly Palace looked as if they had been struck by meteorites seven or eight times, the grandmaster-level martial artists present were all dumbfounded and speechless—this was a destructive force far beyond their imagination. Even if hundreds of martial artists fought each other at full strength, it would be impossible to cause such traces.

Moreover, they had originally thought that even if Su Zhou could kill the Demon Emperor, he would inevitably be seriously injured and in need of rescue.

For this reason, Zhou Buyi had even brought the Holy Water that Su Zhou had left over from rescuing wounded soldiers on Mount Taibai, thinking that it would at least allow Su Zhou to hold on until the subsequent healing pills arrived.

But he never expected that Su Zhou would not have a single injury, only his clothes were a little damaged.

"It's a Kunlun secret technique, I used a Kunlun secret technique!"

Su Zhou said this with a serious and earnest expression. He said he used a Kunlun secret technique to heal himself, so everyone could only believe it. In fact, many martial artists nodded seriously.

Especially Grandmaster Liu, who had stayed behind to hold off the rear, entangled with the Wood Centipede and Yangyan Light Cicada squads. He couldn't help but think: "According to Li Daoran and William, this Grandmaster Su, as the inheritor of the Kunlun Divine Tree, has a secret technique to devour the power of those favored by the Panrong Undying Tree. Before, he relied on this to become a grandmaster in a short time."

"Now, the Demon Emperor has been killed by him, and the Demon Emperor's power should also have been absorbed by him... In that case, is this Kunlun Dragon Descendant about to advance to the Xiantian realm?"

Many people had this guess, and this was why the high-ranking members of the Hundred Families' Righteous Army gathered, and vaguely took Su Zhou as their leader—as a hero who had beheaded the two enemy leaders, the National Teacher and the Demon Emperor, Su Zhou had the righteousness to become the leader of the Hundred Families Alliance... Unhappy, unwilling to relinquish power? Well, then it would depend on whose fist was bigger!

Naturally, Su Zhou's fist, which could kill a Xiantian expert, was bigger, but he clearly had no intention of seizing power.

"That's roughly the situation."

At this moment, Su Zhou was simply introducing the current situation of the Panrong Undying Tree to the Hundred Families, and telling everyone that the Divine Tree would remain dormant for nearly a thousand years, and that he was about to leave and return to the Kunlun Secret Realm.

"I am not an existence of this world. I came here this time only to eliminate the demonic dynasty, which used the power of the Divine Tree to wreak havoc on the world."

Of course, Su Zhou, who was speaking eloquently, was not lying—he was indeed not an existence of this world, so this sentence was completely true. If anyone was misled, it was all Yala's fault and had nothing to do with him: "I should be leaving—in about a few days. There's no need to try and keep me. I have no desire for worldly power. I believe that as long as you don't try to continue to use the power of the Divine Tree to cause chaos, our Kunlun inheritance will not appear."

Su Zhou was using the momentum of his current slaying of the Demon Emperor and the withering of the Divine Tree to establish his authority, intimidating everyone present not to harbor ulterior motives. If there were still evildoers who wanted to rely on the power of the Panrong Undying Tree, they would have to consider the possibility of the 'Kunlun Inheritor' reappearing and killing them.

He didn't know how long such intimidation would last or if it would be meaningful, but some things had to be done.

At this moment, Zhou Buyi, Li Daoran, and Wei Lie were all in the team.

Listening to Su Zhou's solemn words, half admonishing and half warning, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of unreality.

—Is it really over? The disaster brought by the Panrong Undying Tree... is it over just like that?

It clearly felt like it should have been a long war, a resistance that would last for more than a hundred years and require him to wait until his hair turned white to win... but it ended just like that?

As Zhou Buyi, who had always been regarded by the Hundred Families' Righteous Army as the next generation leader, the future Xiantian Martial Saint, he did feel that his mission had been taken away, and he was just a bystander.

Hero, hero... all the fame and glory surrounded Su Zhou at this time, making his figure incomparably tall, and every word seemed deafening.

"But is this really what I want?"

There was a little envy and jealousy in his heart, as human nature would have it, but after examining his thoughts, Zhou Buyi let out a long breath and then, with a smile, stared at Su Zhou, who was still elaborating on his opinions: "No, I don't want to be a hero at all."

Heroes and heroines are existences that only appear when the country is in danger and peace is broken—'Once a hero draws his sword, it is another ten years of tribulation for the common people.', although the situation described is not quite right, but the meaning is roughly the same.

In a peaceful and prosperous age, in a time when everyone is happy and carefree, there is no need for heroes.

"If possible, I hope that in the future world, there will be no need for heroes to appear, and I hope that everyone can live happily."

The martial artist with graying temples held the hilt of his sword, and he thought with a smile: "But, if there is a time when someone needs to step forward."

"I will definitely step forward as well, and not let Grandmaster Su take all the credit."