The Book Soul Chronicles: Godslayer

Before Yu Bingwen could think it over, the woman in front of him continued, "I know you have many questions, but time is of the essence, so I can only tell you what I know."

“I am Jia Ruo, the chieftain of the Shenmu tribe. The tree you just saw is the tree of life that our tribe protects.”

“But a thousand years ago, a powerful outsider broke into our territory, intending to steal the Tree of Life. My entire clan and I fought back with all our might, but we were still no match for him.”

"At the last moment, I had no choice but to sacrifice my entire clan, using our clan's secret technique to break the life force of the Tree of Life into five parts and send them out."

“My ancestors foresaw that disaster long ago, and also calculated a variable that might offer a glimmer of hope. They instructed me to wait here for a destined person to bring it back here, and you are that destined person.”

"Although I don't know who is controlling all of this, I know he is very strong, so you must be extremely careful."

As Yu Bingwen listened and processed everything, his expression turned serious as he earnestly asked, "May I ask, senior, are you truly certain that I am the one you have been waiting for all this time?"

The woman replied, "I sensed its aura within your Dao essence, which is why I gave you this fragment of the Mountain and Sea Divine Stone."

"Mountain and Sea Divine Stone? And my Dao essence? I haven't established my Dao yet, nor do I have a Dao foundation, so how could I have Dao essence?"

The woman in front of him smiled slightly and said, "You have not yet established your Dao, but you have the Divine Tree Seed. This Divine Tree Seed is the most powerful of the five parts after the Tree of Life was broken down, and it contains your Dao essence."

"The two have already merged into one. Once your foundation is established, the divine tree seed will sprout and grow as your strength increases until the five are united, the Tree of Life will be revived, and my mission will be complete."

"As for this Mountain and Sea Divine Stone, I don't know much about it. I only know that it was a treasure of my clan. Later, something happened, and it was stolen. Only this fragment was left, which allows me to survive in this world and wait for your return."

Yu Bingwen nodded, then asked, "What is the purpose of this Tree of Life? Why are you willing to protect it all this time? And how can I find the other four parts?"

"The Tree of Life provides intelligence to all things in this world. Without intelligence, these things can no longer evolve or develop sentience. The path to immortality for many species will be cut off, and when the path to immortality is cut off, the species will perish. A single hair can affect the whole body, and eventually the entire world will become so weak that it will have no power to fight back, as if it were being raised and could only be slaughtered by others."

"Our Shenmu clan's innate mission is to protect the Tree of Life. Our power comes from it, and it can bestow upon us an endless source of life force and long lifespan. Therefore, even after we die, we will become its nourishment and give back to it. It is no longer just a tree, but our faith and our sustenance."

"As for the remaining four parts, I don't know what form they take in the world, but they are one. You don't need to search for them. You have a natural affinity that will draw you closer to each other. You will become each other's best friends. I hope you can find out the truth and successfully save this world."

Yu Bingwen nodded. Although he still had some doubts, he knew that Jia Ruo had already told him everything he knew. Even if she didn't, it was probably because the time wasn't right. After all, there was nothing he could do now.

Suddenly, Yu Bingwen thought of something and asked, "Then what about the butterflies outside?"

Jia Ruo's expression turned slightly cold before he explained the reason: "After I broke the Tree of Life into five parts, I randomly teleported them out. I was destined to die anyway, but unexpectedly, this fragment of the Mountain and Sea Divine Stone saved me and brought me here."

"It was enshrined by the Tree of Life for a long time, and over time, it became filled with the power of life, nourishing my soul and keeping my body from decaying. Eventually, I recovered."

"But before I could even search for the Tree of Life scattered throughout the world, I encountered Li Minghan. He wanted to turn me into a puppet, but the aura of life force was too strong, and my soul was also nourished to be incredibly powerful. He had no way to do it and could only temporarily try to imprison my soul in my body in order to control me by controlling my body."

"The me you see outside is someone he controls, and my name isn't even Die'er. He renamed me Die Nu! He kept me by his side to do things for him!"

"What you see now is that when I was recuperating at the Mountain and Sea Divine Stone, I was a little more cautious and left behind a wisp of my primordial spirit. It is precisely because of this that I felt an unexpected surprise when I confirmed your identity! And I tried to find a way to give it to you as soon as possible."

Yu Bingwen said, "I see!"

"But who exactly is Li Minghan? How could he be so powerful that he could keep you trapped by his side?"

Jia Ruo said, "I don't know who he is. I only know that he is very strong and crazy. However, he seems to be incomplete. He only has the darkness and obsession of a human being, as if he lacks emotional cognition and rational judgment. It's as if he is missing half, half darkness and half light, and he only has darkness."

"It's more like he was forcibly ripped off by some powerful being, and for some unknown reason, he became an independent entity. So I don't know the specifics either!"

As Jia Ruo spoke, Yu Bingwen's face grew darker and darker, because Li Minghan was truly despicable. It wasn't until Die Nu gave him the fragments of the divine stone that Li Minghan's painting array not only tricked and disgusted him, satisfying his perverse desires, but most importantly, it allowed him to hear people's thoughts.

So, after all that scheming and plotting, he ended up being laughed at. He had put on a show all this time just to wait for my Uncle Qingwu and to amuse himself.

He didn't know that, even though his master wasn't with him, he was still protected twice in places he couldn't see. Otherwise, he would be a puppet by now.

Yu Bingwen's face grew increasingly grim as he thought about it. It was his ignorance and shortsightedness that had led to this situation. He needed to grow up quickly, as he bore the responsibility for the common people and was also facing an unknown and powerful enemy.

All of this terrified him. He had suddenly gone from being the future leader of a sect to the savior of this world, especially since it was a forced sale with no choice whatsoever. Anyone would panic in that situation!

However, this is not the root cause of his panic; the unknown is.

Yu Bingwen didn't know who the manipulator was, nor who his enemies were. The only thing he knew was that they were very strong.

He didn't know who his partners would be, or what their style of doing would be. Yu Bingwen wasn't worried about them not cooperating with him, since they, like him, had no other choice.

What will become of him? What will become of the sect? All of this remains unknown. As the future successor of the sect, this is his greatest worry; if he fails, no one will escape the consequences.

Even if I don't fail, I will face unknown and powerful enemies, and sooner or later the sect will be implicated because of me. Even if I can protect myself, what will happen to so many fellow disciples?

Yu Bingwen became increasingly worried, feeling the burden on his shoulders growing heavier and heavier.

"Sigh! Oh well! Let's just take it one step at a time! If it's a calamity, we can't escape it!" Yu Bingwen sighed inwardly.

Yu Bingwen knew that his real test had arrived. He began to review his experience in his mind, looking for any questions he might have. Now that there was a master in front of him, why not ask him if he had the chance?

He thought about it briefly and, sure enough, some questions came to mind.

After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Senior, you just said that the Tree of Life provides wisdom to all things, so why does it also provide you with life force? Now that it has become like this, does it have any impact on all things?"

Jia Ruo had been waiting for Yu Bingwen. She thought it would take him a long time to process all the information, but to her surprise, he accepted everything in just a short while, sorted out the situation, and raised questions.

Jia Ruo was immediately satisfied and explained, "What provides powerful life force is the heart of the earth. Every world has a core that provides sufficient life force for that world, allowing all things to appear and enabling that world to function."

"The Tree of Life provides wisdom, enabling all things to constantly evolve and adapt to this world. Through this continuous evolution and elimination, the limited life force is provided to the stronger, more adaptable, and more needy species. In the end, everything will head towards death and then return to the heart of the earth, becoming new life force to provide to the world it inhabits. In the process of elimination and evolution, the laws of this world are born to restrain unreasonable evolution and maintain the stability of this world. Only in this way can a world be basically considered complete."

"The Tree of Life cannot provide so much wisdom for free. It needs a very strong life force to maintain and support itself so that it can stably provide wisdom to this world and keep this world running. Therefore, it absorbs life force and stores it for future needs."

"As for my decision to dismantle the Tree of Life, it was a last resort. However, as the Tree of Life is dispersed, its ability to provide intelligence to this world will become weaker and weaker. Even if it is not ultimately taken away by that person, this world will still become unbalanced and eventually collapse and perish."

"When the Tree of Life was still intact, it was the golden age of this world. I have never been outside and do not know the current situation, but I hope you can see the next golden age."

"Descendants, you don't have much time left!"

Yu Bingwen understood. To be honest, the current situation was very bad, especially after the great battle two hundred years ago. The situation had become even worse, with spiritual energy becoming increasingly scarce, probably less than 40% of what it was during the golden age. If this continued, this world would soon collapse.

Suddenly, Jia Ruo's urgent voice rang out, "Time is running out! You don't need to be afraid or worry too much. Just do your best in the present moment. If we can't save it, then it's fate, and none of us can change it!"

"However, whether you can save this world or not, I hope you can live on, just so we can see the outside world. In this life, I have been trapped in this noble cage because of responsibility. I want to go out and see the world!" Jia Ruo's figure began to slowly disappear in the sad voice! A tear rolled down her fair cheek.

"Go! Cultivate the Great Path of All Living Beings, and you will surely become extraordinary! First, you must have yourself, then you will have all living beings!"

Jia Ruo pushed Yu Bingwen's consciousness out, and his figure completely disappeared, leaving only his final advice echoing in the space and in Yu Bingwen's mind.

Yu Bingwen withdrew his divine sense, tightly gripping the fragment of the Mountain and Sea Divine Stone in his hand. He felt a mix of emotions and didn't know how to describe this unfamiliar feeling.

But he also knew that now was not the time to worry about these things; there were more pressing issues waiting for him to resolve.

"Squeak~~~"

The door opened, and Yu Bingwen knew who it was.

He thought to himself, "Speak of the devil, and he appears! I'd like to see what other tricks you have up your sleeve!"

The newcomer stood in front of Yu Bingwen without saying a word, and stared at him intently.

His gaze was too intense, and it carried a strong sense of ill intent, as if he wanted to glue his eyes to him. Yu Bingwen felt uncomfortable all over from being stared at, and wished he could escape from there immediately.

Yu Bingwen could no longer bear it. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and looked at the person who had come in. He wanted to see what this person was up to.

Yu Bingwen looked at the newcomer speechlessly, as if to say, "Go on."

Seeing his expression, Yan Zhi understood what he meant, and then boldly looked at him.

They stared at each other for a moment, then fell silent.

Li Minghan felt this was rather boring, so he thought of something fun, and a sly glint flashed in his eyes.

At this moment, Yan Zhi suddenly blushed, a pink blush spreading rapidly and clearly visible on his fair skin, leaving Yu Bingwen completely stunned.

He was internally complaining, "No, everyone's staring at each other perfectly fine, what's he doing? Is he putting on a one-second face-changing act?"

Unexpectedly, Yan Zhi's next sentence completely shocked Yu Bingwen.

"Brother Li, why are you staring at Yan Zhi like that? Is Yan Zhi really that pretty?"

As she spoke, she affectedly held up a handkerchief to cover her face, revealing her eyes as she secretly glanced at Yu Bingwen.

"Why is this guy acting up again? He's quite narcissistic. Although, you know, his face is quite handsome without makeup, with an androgynous beauty, but you can't use beauty to commit crimes! He might randomly scare a passerby to death, like myself."

Yu Bingwen's lips twitched. He came to his senses and was about to lose his temper. He wanted to slap this shameless lunatic to death in the next second.

But he held back; he wanted to see what this madman would come up with this time.

“Young Master Yan is indeed exceptionally talented and handsome. When I first saw such a peerless face, I was naturally stunned,” Yu Bingwen replied.

Yu Bingwen was thinking, "Come on! Let's hurt each other! Let's see who's more shameless!"

Yu Bingwen was so angry he almost laughed. He finally understood that this guy was shameless, crazy, and ruthless.

I'm afraid only my own Martial Aunt Qingwu can control him. Anyway, I'm practically her disciple, having inherited her true teachings. So what if I have no shame? I'll just let it go!

Losing face is better than losing your life! He'll just play along.