Chapter 1056: Trap

Anyone who stays in Hongyuan City for a while knows that the Sacred Domain Bodhi Tree is crucial to the royal Yu family—it can be said to be the foundation of the nation. Not to mention borrowing it, even taking a look is difficult.

Now that Zhang Xuan casually took out a whole tree, it's no wonder everyone's thoughts ran wild.

"Of course not, I grew it myself..." Zhang Xuan shook his head with a wry smile, not expecting everyone's imaginations to run so far.

This tree was naturally not the royal one, but one cultivated from a Bodhi fruit, always planted in the hive. At this moment, he simply used great force to extract it.

Hearing that it wasn't stolen, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as this would not cause conflict between the Master Teacher Academy and local forces.

"Let me try it and see if it works..."

After the surprise, everyone was filled with excitement, and Master Wu stepped forward.

The soul-force treasure being able to withstand the black annihilation dust was just speculation; whether it would actually succeed was unknown.

Having said that, he took the Bodhi tree from Zhang Xuan, surged his true energy, and held it up with his palm. The massive trunk floated above his head, and soul power from his brow poured into it along the roots, causing the tree to emit a crystal-clear, warm radiance.

The Bodhi tree not only nourishes the soul, but when soul power is infused into it, it can also unleash different powers.

He stepped toward the dust.

The black sandstorm howled fiercely. Master Wu, under the Bodhi tree's cover, entered it, and the warm light immediately blocked the former outside. As Luo Ruoxi had said, this soul-force treasure was indeed remarkably effective against the current formation.

"Great!"

"It seems the Otherworldly族 knew about this barrier in advance and prepared soul-type treasures, which is why they walked straight through the dust."

"With this, we can easily pass through too..."

Seeing the success, everyone's eyes lit up.

Zhang Xuan also nodded, only now realizing the truth.

No wonder You Xu, following the orders of the Otherworldly族, had gone to great lengths, risking discovery, to poison the royal Sacred Domain Bodhi tree. He had always wondered why they would go to such trouble, but now he understood... it was to prevent problems before they arose.

If the Bodhi tree died, even if many master teachers knew about the black annihilation dust, they would have no way to deal with it and could only sigh in despair.

But no matter how much they calculated, they probably never dreamed that Zhang Xuan would not only successfully revive the Bodhi tree but also obtain its fruit and cultivate it successfully.

Unintentionally helping the royal family, it played a key role here.

As he was marveling, he saw Master Wu, who had entered the dust, come out again.

At this moment, he was not as excited as the others; his face was still somewhat pale. He placed the Bodhi tree on the ground, looked over, and smiled bitterly: "Injecting soul power into the Bodhi tree can indeed block the sandstorm, and the coverage is enough for all of us to enter simultaneously... but the consumption of soul power is too great. With my current strength, I can only go about a hundred meters before it's depleted..."

"A hundred meters?"

Everyone frowned.

The black annihilation dust in front covered several kilometers. If they could only go a hundred meters, they would still not reach the end.

Master Wu was a Saint Domain Four-realm expert, with the strongest soul among them. If he could only go that far, the others would be even worse...

Could it be that they had finally found a soul treasure and a way to deal with the black annihilation dust, only to be stopped again due to insufficient soul power?

"Let me try..." Zhang Xuan grabbed the Bodhi tree with his hand, placed it above everyone, and a surging soul power emerged from his brow.

After sensing the consumption, he smiled faintly: "Everyone stay close under the tree, don't leave its range..."

With that, he walked first into the dust.

The others exchanged glances, and seeing his confidence, did not hesitate to follow closely.

Once inside, they immediately felt the black sandstorm sweeping in, as if to devour life, hitting the light cast by the Bodhi tree with a crackling sound.

Feeling that the dust indeed could not attack them, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes shining.

Soul power is formless and intangible; under normal circumstances, its defense is much weaker than true energy. Yet it could withstand the wind and sand here—truly, one thing subdues another, and many things cannot be explained by common sense.

"Teacher Luo knows far too much... Is she really just a six-star master teacher?"

As he walked, Zhang Xuan secretly glanced at the girl not far away.

Whether it was recognizing the spatial formation or knowing that a soul-force treasure could block the dust, Master Wu and President Han were unaware, but she could say it at once—her breadth of knowledge was astonishing.

"Is this the strength of a saint clan descendant? If they have such depth, then Yuan Tao returning to his clan is indeed the best choice..." he mused.

When Yuan Tao returned to the Yuan family, he had felt some reluctance, but now it seemed it was the best decision, allowing him to quickly activate his bloodline and surge in strength.

With the Bodhi tree illuminating them, everyone no longer worried. However, after walking for a while, they noticed something amiss and looked at the young man controlling the tree ahead, filled with shock.

They had already walked at least three hundred meters, and this guy showed no sign of fatigue, even seeming a bit distracted... his mental focus not fully engaged... Was his soul power really that abundant?

Master Wu, in particular, was dumbfounded.

He had personally experienced the terror of the sandstorm; even exhausting his soul power, he couldn't go far. This Dean Zhang, covering everyone with greater consumption, had walked three hundred meters without feeling tired...

A Saint Ascendant actually had stronger soul power than a Saint Domain Four-realm expert—it was hard for him to believe.

"This guy is a freak..."

He smiled bitterly.

Such a formidable person, and he had previously thought he was just a Saint Ascendant and didn't want to bring him along... Now thinking about it, it was truly embarrassing.

Fortunately, he came; otherwise, they probably wouldn't have even passed the first barrier, let alone reached this point.

"I can last a hundred meters. Even if he is naturally strong in soul power and can last five hundred meters, that should be his limit..."

Walking further, Master Wu planned to take over when the young man couldn't hold on, but after five hundred meters, the other still remained calm, his eyes still somewhat distracted, as if the consumption over such a distance was equally insignificant to him.

600 meters!

800 meters!

1000 meters!

Before long, they had walked a full 5000 meters. Over such a distance, Zhang Xuan ahead maintained the same expression, seemingly unconcerned about soul power consumption, and even seemed to be walking more easily.

"He... isn't he cultivating while walking?"

Master Wu felt his jaw nearly drop.

The consumption he couldn't endure was nothing to the other, and he could even continue cultivating... What kind of monster was this?

"Forget it, comparing myself to him will only get me crushed..." Knowing he couldn't compete with this guy, Master Wu felt a bit better.

With Zhang Xuan's inexhaustible soul power support, the group soon saw the end of the black annihilation dust. It was a palace like a celestial palace, magnificent and resplendent, suspended before a huge waterfall, giving a feeling of being in a fairyland.

"How was this done?" Feng Xun's eyes widened in disbelief.

Only when cultivators reach the Saint Domain level can they transcend the earth's gravity and soar through the sky. Yet a palace here was suspended, giving a dreamlike feeling... How much power would that require?

Wasn't that too exaggerated?

"It should be a spatial technique. It looks like it's floating in the sky, but it's actually another form..."

After a moment, President Han said.

Everyone nodded.

Involving higher-level formations, their knowledge and insight were completely inadequate to understand.

"This should be the deepest part of the ruins. Let's go take a look..."

Wu Tianqiong laughed.

Having gone through one barrier after another in these ruins, they should now be nearing the end.

"Good!" Everyone's spirits lifted, and they flew straight toward the celestial palace.

Before long, a huge heavenly gate appeared before them, with ethereal mists swirling, giving a dreamlike feeling. Stepping inside, they immediately felt the dense spiritual energy.

"Why do I feel something strange about this place?"

Landing on the ground, Zhang Xuan frowned.

This place looked ethereal and misty, but for some reason, it gave him a very eerie feeling.

"Eerie? Teacher Zhang, you must be wrong this time..."

With a laugh, Master Wu was about to continue when the ground suddenly shook violently. The celestial palace that had been shrouded in mist instantly seemed to turn into a hellish battlefield, and a murderous aura surged toward them.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

A dense baleful aura, like a violent storm, followed by sword beams like a heavenly net, sealed off and crushed everything around.

"Damn, it's a trap formation of the Otherworldly族!"

Master Wu's pupils contracted as he shouted.

Only the Otherworldly族 had such dense baleful aura, unleashing killing moves intent on their deaths!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

As soon as he spoke, three war masters at the Saint Ascendant level were struck by the sword beams and exploded into pieces on the spot. Even Feng Xun's arm was cut by a sword beam, blood gushing out.

"Defend!"

The formation changed too quickly for everyone to react. Seeing someone injured and even dead, President Han's veins bulged on his forehead as he roared.

"Yes!"

At this point, everyone realized they had fallen into a trap. They surged their true energy and drew their weapons.

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

Regardless, the group was composed of master teachers and war masters. Although caught off guard at first, once they reacted, they immediately displayed astonishing combat power.

Their aura roiled, and the sword beams shooting from all directions were blocked outside and dissipated around them.

"To catch up so quickly, you're not bad. But this is your burial place..."

At that moment, a sinister voice sounded.

"It's Redleaf King..."

Then, in Zhang Xuan's ear, came the terrified voice of Purpleleaf King.