ninety thousand miles

Chapter 720 Tianzhu
After reaching the foot of the Heavenly Pillar, Li Chuan closed his eyes and felt the rich light of the Heavenly Pillar enveloping him.

The light illuminated his entire body. His internal organs, blood vessels, bones…everything was bathed in light. His heart beat steadily. His blood flowed with each heartbeat. The light flowing over him gradually seeped into his skin, and his blood began to circulate throughout his body.

He opened his eyes slightly, stretched out his right hand, and placed his palm on the pillar. The edges of his palm emitted layers of orange light.

He was connected to the Heavenly Pillar.

Raindrops and rays of light intertwined around him. In the damp rain, he listened to his own heartbeat and breathing, focusing his mind. The celestial pillar opened layer by layer in his eyes, constantly disintegrating, until countless points and lines filled his vision, constantly piecing together different structures, and endlessly rotating.

He thrust his right hand forward with a sudden movement, then swam into the ocean of dots and lines.

The orange light lifted him upwards.

Dots and lines leaped and danced around him, moving like fish. At that moment, he looked out of the beam of light.

They were standing very close together.

Standing at the very front were Wen Guying and Luo Xueli. Zhu Qingyun stood slightly behind and to the side of Luo Xueli, holding Gong Er in his arms and with Bian San perched on his shoulder. Lao Xiaokai was talking to Jiang Bai with his head down, occasionally glancing up at Tianzhu. Beside them were Yu Chen, Goose Master, Aunt Liu, and others…

The spring water gurgled and flowed.

In the distant wilderness, something straightened up in the darkness and moved toward the direction of the Heavenly Pillar.

Li Chuan closed his eyes again, casting aside all distracting thoughts, letting the orange light completely envelop him. He continued upwards. Dots and lines formed different patterns, shimmering with light as he ascended. A small light blade appeared between his fingers, deftly gliding between the dots and lines, causing some patterns to dissipate. He looked up; not far away was the patched-up hole. There, the light began to swirl, forming vortices. Different patterns rose and fell, dissipated, and reformed within the vortices…

He was drawn into the vortex. The light enveloping him tightened and squeezed his flesh, bones, and internal organs as the vortex spun. The light blade moved slowly and steadily, each stroke seemingly untying a knot, loosening the light a little more. He continued to slash until the vortex dissipated, rippling outwards.

Then he arrived at the location of the hollow.

Thirty thousand years ago, Chi Lin planted a spiritual embryo within the Heavenly Pillar. The embryo took root within the pillar and grew under its radiant light. Once fully formed, its tendrils will spread throughout all the spiritual veins of the world, causing the scattered veins to converge back towards the Heavenly Pillar. After that, a unique individual with the power to alter "facts" will be born.

In another life, Tian Su killed the alien and retrieved the Butterfly Spirit. But it was too late. The spiritual veins of the entire world had been parasitized by the tentacles of the Spirit Embryo. In this life, the Spirit Embryo saw its "end" the moment it came of age.

It didn't want that "end point"—the array formed by the eleven ferry crossings began to operate, draining the spiritual energy from the spiritual veins. One by one, the spiritual veins dried up, and the whole world began to perish. All life, whether animals or humans, cultivators or immortals, was decaying, rotting, and disappearing.

Weng Xian, Mo Ling, and Chi Lin, using the power they gained from sacrificing the world, finally broke free from the shackles of the Heart Abyss after giving up everything, broke through the barrier of the boundary, reached the Nine Thousand Miles High, and returned to that beam of light.

After that, all things perished, and the world, in its utter decay, sank into the abyss of the heart.

The abyss of the heart began to shrink. The mist rapidly condensed, collapsing layer by layer until everything returned to its original point. Everything returned to the abyss of the heart, returned to silence.

The spirit embryo was also among them.

It didn't want to reach that destination. So it was given the chance to be a mortal.

Li Chuan didn't really like being an ordinary mortal. Most of his friends knew some magic, enough to take on ten people at once, but he was always too weak to lift a finger or carry anything heavy, his combat strength was less than a chicken's, and he would cough so hard he looked like he was going to die from time to time. If he was active for half a month, he would have to lie in bed for three months. He just wanted to live longer, and live a more leisurely life.

However, someone like Chang Xiao is no longer an ordinary person; perhaps he can ascend to immortality in the future, who knows?

However, that will take time.

This dilapidated world may last for thousands of years.

But he didn't.

This is Li Chuan's second time climbing Tianzhu.

Thinking about it, he drew another snowflake-shaped pattern, and the light spots disappeared between his fingers.

He dug the Butterfly Spirit out of Chang Xiao's chest. Afterwards, the spirit embryo's soul and functions completely separated. Shortly after obtaining the Butterfly Spirit, he also acquired the key. The full moon and the divine tree were now in his hands.

He had seen that door. He had almost been tricked into opening it.

Li Chuan took out the Butterfly Spirit, held it in both hands, and closed them together. The light of the full moon poured down from between his fingers, covering his body and flowing in the light of the Heavenly Pillar.

surge.

A surging pattern appeared in the center of the full moon, and the moon's light began to surge.

parasitic.

The parasitic patterns repeatedly appeared and spread in the surging light.

The light of the full moon intertwined with the orange light of the celestial pillar that permeated his body, then transformed into countless fine threads that spread throughout the pillar. The divine tree began to grow, its roots entwining around his hands, rapidly growing and expanding in the light of the full moon. It grew very deep and very tall. After an unknown amount of time, when it had grown to its deepest and highest point, Li Chuan finally opened his eyes again.

At this moment, the butterfly spirit parasitized his body, and he became a parasite within the Heavenly Pillar. He replaced Chang Xiao, becoming that spiritual embryo, and merged with the Heavenly Pillar. He raised his head and looked upwards. He felt that he could reach there. With a thought, the branches and leaves of the divine tree within the Heavenly Pillar closed up, turning into a light, golden leaf that carried him upwards until he reached the highest point of the Heavenly Pillar.

As he drifted, Li Chuan heard many sounds.

A chaotic, heavy thud, the sound of footsteps pounding the ground. A dry, crisp sound, the sound of the sky cracking open. Many people are coming. Friends and enemies.

(End of this chapter)