I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

One sentence, "It's so noisy," and the world fell silent.

The sounds of wind, thunder, and battle... all the noise came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn't silence; all sound had been swallowed up by that primordial will.

The twelve great demons stood frozen in place.

Their bodies were trembling, not from fear—fear at least implies the thought of struggling.

Their trembling is a purely physiological reaction, an instinctive submission of lower life forms to their superiors, where even their will is frozen.

In Yu Su's perception, the source of that aura had not actually arrived.

Or rather, what descended was merely a tiny projection of thought, like a speck of dust accidentally shaken off by a star in the heavens.

But even this single projection made the twelve great demons look up at the sky like ants.

Yu Su concealed the spiritual light around her, neither dodging nor avoiding it.

Of course, as a tree, he had no way to avoid it anyway.

His roots were still deeply embedded in the earth's veins, and the cracks on his trunk slowly healed in the spiritual light, his demeanor serene and almost indifferent.

Yu Su had a premonition.

When I ascended to the Mingling Realm and my will surged, I knew...

Hidden within this desolate wilderness is an indescribable mythical being!

He usually sleeps soundly and has no interest in the fighting of ants.

But when the spiritual light of the local veins soars into the sky and the fluctuations of spiritual energy stir up the wind and clouds.

He would very likely be woken up, like being disturbed by the buzzing of mosquitoes in his ear, and would casually swat them away—

Suddenly, it got dark.

It wasn't because of dark clouds obscuring the sun, or because night had fallen.

Something fell from the dome, so large that it blocked out the entire sky.

Yu Su's senses extended upwards, and then he "saw" it.

A mountain.

A real, complete mountain, rising from who-knows-where, is falling.

Its bottom also contains fractured rock layers;

Its mountainside is covered with ancient moss and giant trees that have grown for countless years;

Its peak is hidden above the clouds, making it impossible to see its entirety.

That mountain was both majestic and insignificant.

It was as if a pebble had been casually picked up from the ground by some deity and then tossed aside.

There was no aiming, no deliberate intent.

But the direction in which it fell precisely covered the entire Valley of the Divine Tree.

Yu Su did not struggle.

He is just a tree, with roots in the soil and branches reaching towards the sky.

When the mountain came down, he was buried.

This is a matter of course, just like leaves falling in the wind, just like streams flowing.

The great demons finally let out a sound—a mournful, desperate wail.

They struggled with all their might, their turbid energy surging wildly, trying to break free from the oppressive force and escape.

But they were helpless; they were just ants.

They could only watch helplessly as the mountain grew larger and closer in their pupils, its shadow swallowing the entire valley.

boom--

The sky collapsed and the earth cracked.

The mountain crashed to the ground, burying the entire Valley of the Divine Trees.

The moment the mountain collided with the earth, the shockwave swept in all directions, uprooting trees hundreds of miles away, changing the course of rivers, and causing mountains to collapse and rise again...

When the smoke and dust cleared, the landscape had been completely transformed.

The Valley of the Divine Tree has disappeared.

Those thatched huts, the bluestone altar, the inscriptions on animal hides—all traces of the Xia family were erased.

Instead, a majestic mountain peak has taken its place.

It stands tall on the earth, its rugged mountains and peaks piercing the clouds.

From a distance, it looks no different from the countless other mountains in this sea and mountains region.

No one knows where it came from, and no one knows what lies buried beneath it.

Mythology looks down upon us, and we are all but ants.

The news reached the four major branches seven days later.

Standing on the wall of the village in the eastern mountains, Xuan gazed in the direction of the Divine Tree Valley.

He saw the smoke and dust rising on the horizon and felt the earth tremble beneath his feet.

Then, the resonance of that will from the branch of the tree god, which was connected to him by blood, suddenly broke.

He knelt before the branch of the tree spirit. The lush green sapling still radiated spiritual light, still rooted in the earth's veins, and still growing vigorously.

But Xuan knew that the will of the tree god that it carried had already fallen silent.

It's like a lamp; the wick and oil are still there, but the fire has gone out.

"Father... Tree God..."

Xuan's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were dry.

He clenched his fists tightly, suppressing the surging grief inch by inch into his heart.

The totem warriors, who were fighting in all directions, suddenly discovered that the demon race had begun to retreat.

They sensed it too—the aura of the clan's powerful demon had vanished.

The demon race, by nature, felt no sorrow; instead, they instantly descended into internal strife, devouring each other.

This bloody war between humans and transvestites, which lasted for several years, came to an abrupt end in the face of a shocking turn of events.

News is constantly being transmitted from southern Xinjiang, the west, and the north.

The Xia clan is a large tribal group with a population of over 10,000 that has multiplied for nearly a century under the protection of the tree god.

Suddenly, they lost their totem, their leader, and their direction.

at a loss.

What's more terrifying than fear is confusion.

The leaders of the four divisions gathered together to discuss the future.

Xuan, Meng, Feng, Liang—Liang is Yan's son, who took over the heavy responsibility of the Western Branch after his father died in battle.

The once naive young generation has grown up without us even realizing it.

Although growth is often accompanied by loss.

"Does the Tree God's will... still exist?"

The wind was very soft, as if afraid of waking something.

Xuan shook his head.

"The branches still radiate light, but the tree spirit's consciousness... has fallen silent."

"Silence is not disappearance."

Liang's tone was calm and steady, much like his father's.

"The tree spirit once said that he was a tree."

"Trees shed their leaves, go dormant, remain silent in winter, and revive in spring."

No one responded.

No one knows whether the tree god can escape such a mythical catastrophe.

But people need faith to live.

"The branches are still there, the inspiration is still there, the earth's veins are still there."

"What the tree spirit gave us has not disappeared."

Xuan raised his head and glanced at everyone.

He stood up, walked to the lush green sapling, and reached out to touch the veins that seemed to shimmer with spiritual light.

"We can't go back to the Valley of the Divine Tree. That mountain... we can't move it."

"But we still have the Tree God's branch!"

"Branches can grow independently, take root in new earth, and continue the light."

Xuan's voice gradually became brighter.

"Are we leaving here?"

His brows furrowed slightly.

But he was immediately moved by Xuan's determined gaze.

"It's not leaving, it's an expedition."

"Now, the four major branches are all that the Xia family has."

"We must take our branches, find new land, and re-establish ourselves."

"And then?" Feng hesitated before asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Then, wait."

"Wait for the tree spirit to awaken."

"Or, we can wait until we are strong enough to move that mountain."

Xuan's voice was very soft.

No one spoke anymore.

They began packing their bags.

This time, it's not pioneering, it's migration.

The members of the four major tribes, carrying their packs and weapons, headed in their respective directions towards the more distant mountains and seas.

There is no tree spirit as a vessel, only four branches.

They still connect with the earth's veins, radiate spiritual energy, and continue to protect this land.

But that voice, that response, that will that would send down divine pronouncements in times of crisis—can no longer be heard.

……

No one... not even any living being knows.

Beneath that mythical mountain that suddenly appeared, a seed imbued with the spiritual essence of the earth's veins quietly sprouted.