Traveling across the globe for the first time

Zhang Haoran felt that the situation was too complex to understand in a short time, and that solving the problem of the road tree was more important at the moment.

He looked at the oppressed Dao Tree, which was only a hundred meters tall, and said coldly, "Why did you suddenly turn back into your original form? Do you want to fight me?"
Don't say I didn't give you a chance. As long as you can withstand three moves from me and survive, I'll let you go today.

Do you want to give it a try?

Upon hearing this, Daoshu immediately understood what the other party meant: they didn't want to settle scores with him, but were merely using it as a deterrent.

It immediately transformed back into its youthful form, bowed deeply, and said, "No need to try! I choose to submit."

Having followed the Divine Emperor for so many years, Dao Shu knew very well the terrifying power that could be unleashed when one's blood and qi exceeded one hundred million. He couldn't even withstand one move, let alone three.

Zhang Haoran is a swordsman; even if he survives three moves, he'll be crippled.

He had no desire to experience the pain of having his heart pierced by swordsmanship again.

If the other party were going to use ruthless methods, he could still fight back. But now that he heard there was a chance to save his life, of course he had to submit. Only by living could he have a future. He had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years to reach this level, and he didn't want to just give up like this.

Upon seeing the other party's submission, Zhang Haoran immediately asked the question he was most concerned about.

“Tree of the Way! I ask you, have your roots spread to every checkpoint?”
You can even tell which level they were teleported from.

The reason for asking this question is to ascertain one thing: whether my sudden arrival here was due to the seed changing the teleportation location, or the work of the Eastern Emperor.

He felt that he might have been tricked by Donghuang. The other party did not open the normal channel through authorization. The unstable spatial channel before must have been temporarily opened.

The fear is that he will continue to attempt the trials and gain more benefits. He might not get any benefits from the God Emperor and the Fighting Heaven Emperor, and he might even be plotted against.

However, there is still a level where the Heavenly Emperor is located that he has not yet visited. He has no conflict with the Heavenly Emperor. The Heavenly Emperor's reincarnation, Yao Chengjun, is now a backbone of humanity, so he can still establish some connection with him.

As long as the Emperor of Annihilation is willing to provide assistance, he can quickly forge jade bones, raise his blood and qi to the extreme, and attain enlightenment at any time.

Perhaps the Eastern Emperor was worried that Zhang Haoran was proving his Dao here, which is why he teleported him here.

That's not all. If you pass all the checkpoints through normal means, you will gain the recognition of the small world and have some of its laws obscured.

The reason why the Dao Tree can spread its roots to all the checkpoints is not because of its strength, but because it has passed all the tests and can mobilize some of the power of the rules to resist the thunder of the Great Dao.

Otherwise, no matter how strong he is, he would not be able to contend with a world.

Zhang Haoran, however, was teleported directly here and still had several levels to overcome, so he wouldn't be able to enjoy this treatment.

Once you reach the boundary, you cannot turn back; that's the rule.

Sure enough, Dao Tree immediately replied, "Reporting to Sword Master, my roots do indeed connect to all the checkpoints, including the one where the War Emperor is located."

Although I can't see what happens in some levels, I definitely know when I'm teleported. It's because you suddenly came here that I came to check on things.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haoran realized that it was indeed Donghuang's doing, trying to prevent him from continuing his journey.

The deed is done, and there's no point in saying anything more. But he'll keep this score in mind, and when he meets Donghuang, he'll make sure he doesn't die too easily.

He looked up at Daoshu and said calmly, "Submission is not something that can be achieved just by saying it."

You interfered with my teleportation many times before and used dirty tricks. If you become one of us, I can overlook these things.

But I don't trust you yet, so I need to impose some restrictions.

Dao Shu nodded with a wry smile. He knew that submitting wouldn't be so simple. After all, the two sides were still enemies before. It wasn't as simple as you saying you would submit and people would believe you. A fool like that couldn't cultivate to that level.

When he chose to submit, he was already mentally prepared to be bound.

"I'll give you two choices!"

Zhang Haoran flipped his hand and took out two items: a jade ring and an ancient scroll. He said calmly, "If you want to submit, then you have to show your submission. Choose for yourself!"

He raised the ring on his left hand and said, "You should have heard of this; it's called the Beast Taming Ring."

The one I have is the enhanced version; it binds anything that isn't humanoid, and even a king-level demonic beast cannot escape it.

This was a magic weapon he specially commissioned from the Qiankun Dansheng, which cost a fortune. It started at level five and would grow along with the bound demon beast, meaning that once bound by it, one could never escape.

Dao Shu's expression changed drastically upon hearing that it was a beast-taming ring. This thing existed in ancient times, so of course he had heard of it.

In fact, he was quite familiar with the affairs of the Three Realms. Occasionally, the disciples of the God Emperor would enter the boundary point to convey some of the God Emperor's orders to him. At these times, they would also talk about some things in the outside world, mainly because they were afraid that he would be deceived if he was isolated from the world for too long.

These people don't need to go through any obstacles; they can transmit information within the spatial passage.

In the original story, a Heavenly King brought the Heaven-Breaking Jade, a treasure that could build interdimensional passages and directly connect the Nine Heavens within a boundary point.

You can guide the God Emperor to descend in the final stage and seize the seed projection, but that Heavenly King was killed by Fang Ping halfway through.

Because he had some knowledge of what had happened in the Three Realms, Dao Shu's expression changed drastically when he saw the Beast Taming Ring; this thing was not very reliable.

Back then, Gong Juanzi used the Beast Taming Ring to control many demonic beasts, but when his technique was broken, all the demonic beasts went mad.

He could accept being controlled after submitting, but he didn't want to go insane because of the quality of the Beast Taming Ring.

Dao Shu shook his head firmly and said, "Forget about the Beast Taming Ring, it's too unreliable."

I don't want to go crazy.

So he looked at the scroll next to him, his meaning was clear: he wouldn't accept the Beast Taming Ring, but he would consider this scroll instead.

Zhang Haoran really wanted to tell Dao Shu that the Beast Taming Rings produced in the cultivation world were not inferior products made by those old fogies. As long as he was alive, they could not be broken.

However, he was too lazy to explain further. It was better for the other party to choose the scroll. If the Dao Tree had chosen the Beast Taming Ring, there would have been a one in ten thousand chance of breaking free from the restraints. But if it chose this scroll, there would be no chance at all, and it would never be able to break free.

He tossed the scroll over and said, "This is a contract. Take a look. If there are no problems, sign it."

Dao Shu took the scroll with a puzzled look, unfolded it and saw that the contents of the contract were very simple, only a few lines of text.

"Dao Shu willingly became Zhang Haoran's demon pet, sincerely submitting and never betraying him."

"This contract has been notarized by the Myriad Realms Tower!"

Then it was gone.

There wasn't even a single penalty clause in the contract. Dao Shu looked at the simple contract, his expression shifting between light and shadow. Sometimes, overly simplistic content isn't a good thing; the more complex the contract, the more loopholes there are to exploit.

For example, if it were stipulated that he must produce a certain amount of life essence and energy fruit each year, there would be a lot of room for maneuver.

Even a ninth-grade energy fruit is still an energy fruit. With the cultivation level of the Dao Tree, it could produce hundreds of them in no time.

If the regulations are more detailed, specifying what level the energy fruit must reach, there are ways to address this. For example, the energy consumed by energy fruits that increase qi and blood and mental strength will be different.

Even with the same energy fruit, there is still a lot of room for manipulation. For example, whether to increase mental power by 100 Hz or 1000 Hz, it can be controlled.

Having cultivated to the level of the Dao Tree, one's self-control has reached almost its limit. As long as the other party gives specific requirements, he has a way to cheat.

But the contract was too simple, leaving little room for maneuver.

Dao Shu didn't believe that the other party would ask him to sign such a simple contract without being certain of the outcome.

Actually, this was Zhang Haoran's intention. Once the contract was signed, the Dao Tree would truly submit, and everything it had would be his. Why bother with any punishment measures? Anyway, with the Myriad Realms Tower as the notary, no one could resist.

He didn't give the other party any time to think, and coldly said: "I'll give you ten breaths to make a choice. Either sign this contract, or choose the Beast Taming Ring."

Of course, you can also take a gamble and see if you can escape from me.

That being said, he no longer planned to use the Beast Taming Ring on the Dao Tree. Keeping it would still be useful; capturing the Beast King as a mount would also be a good option.

Dao Shu was well aware of the consequences of resistance. His opponent was already on the same level as the God Emperor, and even if he self-destructed, he could only cause negligible damage.

He lived within the boundary for 100,000 years, making him arguably the longest-lived being in the three realms.

After all, the time flow rate at the boundary is more than ten times that of the outside world, and the Dao Tree entered here not long after it was opened.

In terms of lifespan alone, he lived longer than the God Emperor and others.

There's some truth to the saying that the longer you live, the more afraid you become of death.

Immortality is not always a good thing, especially in a closed environment.

That kind of boundless loneliness is not something everyone can bear.

When Dao Shu first entered, his strength was not very strong, and there was still a lot of room for improvement. He could pass the time by cultivating and feeling himself getting stronger little by little. But when he cultivated to the peak of the ninth level and his strength could no longer advance, all that was left was endless loneliness.

Actually, the Dao Tree spread its roots to all the checkpoints not initially to gather intelligence, but simply to see what the projections were doing and pass the time.

However, after maintaining this state for tens of thousands of years, he gradually adapted and even began to enjoy it, feeling that it was wonderful to be alive and that there would always be fun in life. Now he is living a more and more comfortable life and of course does not want to perish.

Then he had to make a choice. Dao Shu looked at the Beast Taming Ring, then at the contract that made him wary. After hesitating for a while, he finally chose the contract.

It wasn't that he thought he could get rid of it after signing the contract, but rather that he felt the Beast Taming Ring was too unreliable.

As the time drew to a close and he felt the increasing pressure, Dao Tree no longer hesitated. He released his spiritual power and left a spiritual imprint on the contract.

"Hahaha! You're smart to know what's good for you!"

Zhang Haoran laughed as he put away the contract and simultaneously withdrew his sword domain.

Once the contract is signed, they're considered one of our own.

If the Dao Tree is bound by the Beast Taming Ring, it might be able to break free and regain its freedom if there is some fortuitous opportunity or if a powerful figure is willing to intervene. However, once it has signed a contract notarized by the Myriad Realms Tower, even the intervention of a twelfth-tier powerhouse will be of no use.

The core of the Myriad Realms Tower is the Myriad Paths Covenant, so it has the strongest binding force on contracts. There are no loopholes in this kind of contract, and even a contract master like Su Xiao would not dare to operate it.

After signing the contract, Dao Shu stood respectfully to the side, his eyes beginning to change, from initial frustration and resentment to gradual respect and obedience.

This is the contract of the Myriad Realms Tower! What is agreed upon will definitely be fulfilled. Since it is stated that the submission is genuine, the Dao Tree will wholeheartedly regard Zhang Haoran as its master. As for the God Emperor, he has long forgotten about him.

Dao Shu respectfully took out several energy fruits and said, "Master, these are energy fruits that I have treasured. They can only bear fruit once every ten thousand years. They should be of help to you."

There are seven energy fruits in total, each radiating extremely strong energy fluctuations.

Zhang Haoran asked with some curiosity, "You're the only tree here. Why did it take so long to bear fruit? Are you planning to give it away?"

Daoshu immediately replied respectfully, "Reporting to the Lord, the reason I bear these energy fruits is actually to accumulate energy in preparation for attaining enlightenment..."

After some explanation, he finally understood what was going on.

After the Dao Tree entered the boundary point for 30,000 years, its strength reached the limit of breaking through the ninth level.

They tried countless methods, but without external help, they simply couldn't cross the cliff.

The reason why a Primal Powerhouse needs to kill a top-tier martial artist to prove their Dao when they reach the peak of Breaking the Ninth Level is because the energy they possess is enough to allow the Primal Dao to cross the precipice.

The suction force of the cliff is very strong. If one cultivates on one's own, the original path will collapse before it is even halfway extended, resulting in a backlash. Only by crossing it in one go can one reach the true gate.

Since Dao Shu was at the boundary point, there were naturally no top-level beginner martial artists to kill.

Later, he came up with a plan: to accumulate the energy equivalent to that of a top-tier beginner martial artist and see if he could use it to cross the cliff.

So he began to try to condense energy fruits, and in order to ensure that his strength would not decline, he only condensed one every ten thousand years.

When the first energy fruit condensed, he discovered another problem.

The essence contained within an energy fruit cannot exceed one's own cultivation level.

It should be noted that a normal Origin Powerhouse, even at the peak of Breaking the Ninth Level, only has a basic blood energy limit of 4000 million calories, and the energy of the fruits they produce is even less.

To be on the safe side, he decided to save up nine energy fruits and use them together to try to break through to the Emperor realm.

There are nine emperors in the world, and they condensed into nine energy fruits. It seems that this is quite a superstition.

Zhang Haoran reached out and several energy fruits fell into his hand. He carefully sensed them and found that they contained an enormous amount of life force.

Moreover, it also possesses a special aura. The Dao Tree was originally at the peak of the ninth level, and the energy fruit it condensed over ten thousand years already possessed a trace of the power of an emperor.

No wonder he was confident that he could prove his Dao with the nine energy fruits. To be honest, the chances were quite good. The essence contained within the nine energy fruits definitely surpassed that of a top-tier beginner martial artist. Using them to cross the cliff should not be a problem.

However, the Dao Tree has already become Zhang Haoran's demonic pet, and he can prove his Dao with the Yuan Qi Pill, so there's no need to waste these energy fruits anymore. (End of Chapter)