"So that's it," Ye Yunfei stared at the tree with interest.
Although it was merely a branch that had broken off from the Chaos World Tree, it was still astonishingly significant.
The Chaos World Tree was, after all, a legendary type of sacred tree!
Even Heavenly Emperors were incapable of obtaining one.
"Given your current state, you might very well grow into a true Chaos World Tree someday," Ye Yunfei appraised the tree and commented.
"It's not impossible. But it would require an immensely long stretch of time for even a sliver of that possibility to arise," the tree answered.
"Kid, has the Heavenly Dao Tower fallen into your hands?" the tree asked.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"Being able to obtain the Heavenly Dao Tower is a form of fate. However, I warn you, don't get any ideas about me, or else I won't be polite," the tree stated.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you," Ye Yunfei laughed.
He understood why the tree was so wary of him—it feared he might make a move against it. After all, the Chaos World Tree was a genuine legendary sacred tree; even a single broken-off branch was an immeasurably precious treasure!
Its medicinal value was likely even higher than that of a Half-Deity medicine!
Few martial artists in the world could resist such temptation.
In truth, Ye Yunfei himself was somewhat tempted to seize this tree. If he used it as material to help Ye Tianpeng rebuild his Dantian and meridians, Ye Tianpeng's future martial cultivation talent would be unimaginable. It might not even be inferior to Ye Yunfei's own Chaos Divine Meridian!
But Ye Yunfei knew that with his current strength, he definitely couldn't subdue this tree; he might even get killed in retaliation! Furthermore, this tree before him was undoubtedly a sentient being, with its own thoughts and feelings. Without any enmity between them, Ye Yunfei couldn't bring himself to do it.
"That's for the best. Although you can absorb the Guhuang Great Emperor's energy, I'm not afraid of you," the tree said.
"Was Guhuang Great Emperor truly a Heavenly Emperor? As far as I know, within the Three Thousand Realms, there are only four great Heavenly Emperors. I've never heard of a Guhuang Heavenly Emperor," Ye Yunfei asked curiously.
"Guhuang Great Emperor was certainly a Heavenly Emperor. And who told you there are only four Heavenly Emperors in the world? Kid, haven't you heard that nine Heavenly Emperors can exist simultaneously in the world?" the tree retorted.
"I've heard that saying before. So, aside from the four great Heavenly Emperors, there are five others?" Ye Yunfei was deeply shocked.
"According to the laws of fortune and fate, nine Heavenly Emperors can indeed exist in the same era. But I don't know the specific circumstances. I only know that Guhuang Great Emperor was a genuine Heavenly Emperor. I followed him for a long time; I know that very well. As for other Heavenly Emperors, I'm not familiar with them, so don't ask me," the tree replied.
"Alright then," Ye Yunfei didn't press further.
"It seems there really are many secrets in this world that I'm unaware of," Ye Yunfei sighed inwardly.
"Has Guhuang Great Emperor fallen? Is this Heavenly Dao Tower a treasure he left behind?" Ye Yunfei asked another question.
"The Heavenly Dao Tower was indeed left behind by Guhuang Great Emperor. And it's highly likely that he has fallen," the tree fell silent for a moment before nodding.
"You're not sure?" Ye Yunfei was taken aback.
"Yes. Before Guhuang Great Emperor undertook his Deity Ascension Tribulation, he placed me here. After that, I never saw him again. I believe he most likely failed his tribulation and perished," the tree said.
"I see. But who told you that failing a Deity Ascension Tribulation inevitably leads to death?" Ye Yunfei pointed out.
"I assumed it. Otherwise, why hasn't he come back to retrieve the Heavenly Dao Tower after all this time? Furthermore, over these years, I've never been able to sense Guhuang Great Emperor's presence. He's probably fallen. That's why I erected this tomb for him," the tree explained.
"So that's the case," Ye Yunfei nodded in understanding.
"This Heavenly Dao Tower has a total of nine layers. This is the first layer; there are eight more above. What is contained in each of them?" Ye Yunfei asked with some curiosity.
"I don't know either. If you want to find out, you can only break the seals and go up to see for yourself. Oh, and bring me along when you do," the tree answered.
"Fine," Ye Yunfei could only nod.
Given Ye Yunfei's current level of Soul Power, he was simply incapable of breaking the second layer's seal.
"Kid, you obtaining the Heavenly Dao Tower is fate. If you can break all the seals on the eight layers above, you might receive Guhuang Great Emperor's legacy. Work hard," the tree said.
Its attitude toward Ye Yunfei had become noticeably friendlier.
"Senior, I'd like to discuss something with you..." Ye Yunfei began.
"No need to call me 'Senior.' Guhuang Great Emperor called me Little Hun. You can just call me Hun Lao. Kid, you look like you're up to no good. Still thinking of scheming against me?" The tree watched Ye Yunfei with a guarded gaze.
"Hear me out first. My father needs to rebuild his Dantian and meridians. Could I borrow some of your essence sap from you? Of course, I won't take it for nothing; I can offer compensation," Ye Yunfei said.
This tree had broken off from the Chaos World Tree and undoubtedly contained extremely precious tree sap essence. It would be the perfect material for Ye Tianpeng's reconstruction.
"I can give you five drops at most. And only this once," the tree declared.
Then, five drops of glowing green tree sap flew out from its trunk and landed in front of Ye Yunfei.
"Thank you, Hun Lao!" Ye Yunfei was overjoyed.
He could sense that these five drops of sap contained an astonishingly rich life energy!
"Ah, Hun Lao, do you need any wood-element energy pills? If you do, I can refine some for you later," Ye Yunfei said as he carefully retrieved a jade vial and stored the five drops of sap inside.
Ye Yunfei understood that he could now proceed with rebuilding his father's Dantian and meridians!
"Kid, you know alchemy?" Hun Lao asked.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei replied immediately, taking out an alchemy cauldron and a batch of wood-element medicinal herbs. He refined several types of wood-element pills on the spot and presented them to Hun Lao.
"Kid, your alchemy skills are incredible! Such mastery might not quite match Guhuang Great Emperor's, but it's not far off! Good, kid, refine more pills for me from now on! Whenever I'm in a good mood, I might give you some more of my sap essence," Hun Lao excitedly consumed all the pills Ye Yunfei had refined.
"Then I thank Hun Lao in advance," Ye Yunfei smiled.
The sap essence from this tree was incomparably precious. If used to cultivate the Greenwood Emperor Body, it would definitely be incredibly effective.
Following this, Ye Yunfei emerged from the Heavenly Dao Tower.
"So, the Heavenly Dao Tower was left behind by a Heavenly Emperor. No wonder there are legends in this cosmos stating that whoever obtains it might dominate it. That possibility certainly exists," Ye Yunfei murmured to himself.
Heavenly Emperors stood at the pinnacle of the world. Anything they casually left behind was a priceless treasure to ordinary people.
However, Ye Yunfei was different. Although he was once a Heavenly Emperor, he couldn't bring anything with him—only a remnant soul remained. Of course, there was also his thousand years of cultivation experience, which was his greatest asset!
"I need to let the Heavenly Dao Tower leak some aura to divert attention," Ye Yunfei thought.
He flashed out of the Phantom Tower, left his spaceship, and arrived at a patch of starry space nearby.
Ye Yunfei reached out his hand, and the Heavenly Dao Tower appeared in his palm.
"Kid, what are you trying to do?" Hun Lao's voice immediately transmitted into Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea.
Since Ye Yunfei had broken the first layer's seal, Hun Lao could now perceive events occurring outside.
Ye Yunfei briefly explained his intention.
"I see. This is easy to handle," Hun Lao laughed.
The next moment, streams of profound law radiance bloomed from the first layer of the Heavenly Dao Tower, illuminating the surrounding expanse of starry space.
"With this, any creature in this cosmos who knows a bit about deduction arts should be able to deduce that the Heavenly Dao Tower is at this location," Hun Lao said with a chuckle.
"In fact, all along, it was I who actively released my aura so that creatures in this cosmos had a chance to deduce the tower's existence."
"You actively released your aura? Why?" Ye Yunfei was puzzled.
"I was worried that in case Guhuang Great Emperor hasn't fallen and wanted to come back to find the Heavenly Dao Tower, he wouldn't be able to locate it. Actually, it's redundant. If Guhuang Great Emperor hasn't perished, no matter where the Heavenly Dao Tower is, with his divine abilities, he would find it," Hun Lao's tone carried a hint of sorrow.
Clearly, he missed Guhuang Great Emperor quite a bit.
"So that's why!" Ye Yunfei realized.
No wonder so many people could easily deduce the Heavenly Dao Tower's whereabouts—it was because this tree was actively releasing its aura!
"Master, where should we go next?" At this moment, Hu Miao suddenly sent a mental voice transmission to Ye Yunfei.
"We'll return to the Xuanhuang Star Domain first," Ye Yunfei considered for a moment and answered.
After their family reunion, Miao Ziqiong had mentioned several times that she missed the city of Yuanyue back on the Tianxuan Continent. Therefore, Ye Yunfei planned to take his mother to visit the Tianxuan Continent.
After all, the Tianxuan Continent held memories of a happy and unforgettable time for his parents! At the same time—
"Okay," Hu Miao replied.
Thus, Hu Miao personally piloted the spacecraft, heading back in the direction of the Xuanhuang Star Domain.
At the same time...
"I've deduced the location of the Heavenly Dao Tower!"
"The Heavenly Dao Tower is indeed within the Tianluo Star Sea! But it's not in the Xuanhuang Star Domain; it's in another star region!"
...
At this moment, countless deduction masters across the cosmos suddenly pinpointed the location of the Heavenly Dao Tower!
Consequently, group after group of forces continuously converged towards the patch of starry space where Ye Yunfei had just extracted the Heavenly Dao Tower.
Meanwhile, Ye Yunfei's spacecraft had already quietly departed.