I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

Deep within the fissure in the earth, darkness was thick.

Xuan carried the totem pole at the front, his spiritual light flickering on his body, casting a blurry halo around the rock wall several feet in the distance.

The path beneath our feet grew narrower and narrower, and the deeper we went, the stronger the illusory fragrance became.

The purplish-black mist clung to the skin, trying to penetrate into the bone marrow through every pore.

From the cracks in the rock walls on both sides, monstrous puppets parasitized by the Worry-Free Grass would occasionally leap out and ferociously pounce on the silent team.

The older generation of travelers had long since turned fighting into an instinct as natural as breathing; with the activation of their spiritual power, they easily slashed their minions into the abyss.

However, the real enemy is not these twisted monsters.

Rather, it is time.

They are old after all.

The brilliance began to fade from the back of the line.

The first to fall was an elder from the Southeast Province.

He suddenly stopped moving as he erected the totem pole, leaning his body slowly against the newly erected pole with a slight smile on his lips.

Someone reached out to check his neck and found that his heart had stopped beating.

He lived his entire life in a dream world—without pain, even with contentment.

No one stayed.

He took it from his hand, planted the totem pole firmly, and then moved it downwards.

When the twentieth pillar was erected, the team was five people short again.

Some people were corrupted by the illusory fragrance and fell silently into the darkness;

Some were dragged into the rift by the henchmen, leaving no last sound.

Xuan didn't turn around to count, afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to walk anymore.

His inspiration was almost extinguished, and his consciousness began to blur.

In a daze, he seemed to see the Valley of the Divine Tree, and Hong beckoning from ahead...

He bit his tongue and continued forward.

Xuan finally realized he had reached the bottom floor when his feet touched solid ground.

"The last one!"

This totem pole is special; its base was specially forged into a sharp cone shape, allowing it to be driven directly into the deepest part of the earth's veins.

Xuan was already struggling to straighten his back, and his old buddies behind him were in no better shape.

Suddenly, the spiritual light had dimmed to the point of being almost invisible, and Feng's lips had turned purple, a sign that his blood vessels were stagnant after his spiritual energy was depleted.

The fragrance reached its peak at this moment.

Sounds even emerged from the purplish-black mist—

Someone is calling their names, children are laughing, and the tree spirit's branches are rustling in the wind...

Xuan channeled his spiritual power, piercing his eardrums and isolating his five senses from the illusion.

The spiritual light burned its last within the body, concentrating all energy in the legs and arms to support the aged body as it continued forward.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Temperature began to rise underfoot.

That was the last warmth from the earth.

The oasis is not dead yet.

He is waiting.

Xuan picked up the totem pole, and the veterans behind him also gathered around, working together to control the direction.

"boom--"

The conical base of the totem pole pierced through the rock strata.

For a moment, the whole world fell silent.

Then, the earth began to throb.

The earth's veins have awakened.

The earth's power, suppressed for decades by the evil energy of the Devourer, began to flow again under the pull of the totem pole array.

Warm earth energy surged up from the depths, climbing upwards along the spiritual patterns on the twenty-three stone pillars.

Twenty-three golden beams of light simultaneously illuminated the depths of the earth.

The spiritual light intertwined into a net, crushing the purplish-black illusory fragrance inch by inch, turning it into nothingness.

Golden light from the tree spirit poured down from the tops of the twenty-three totem poles, illuminating every inch of the rock face and every piece of rubble with exquisite detail.

The older generation of travelers leaned against the totem poles, their spiritual energy completely exhausted, and their bodies on the verge of collapse.

But they still refused to give up.

Xuan mustered his strength and lifted his eyelids.

He saw it in the light.

On the fissure path illuminated by spiritual light, some people are bravely charging forward.

Their inspiration, like shooting stars, streaked across the darkness in the radiant spiritual realm.

Xuan Tai recognized the two figures walking at the front.

Qi. The Grand Commander of the Xia Kingdom, the successor he personally helped to that position.

At this moment, Qi held a fallen leaf from the tree god in his hand, its veins radiating brilliant golden light under the stimulation of the spiritual field.

He rushed to Xuan and pressed the leaf against the old man's chest without hesitation.

Pure spiritual energy surged from the leaves, like warm spring water, seeping into Xuan's parched meridians.

The cracked skin began to heal, and the dim pupils regained their glimmer of light.

The fallen leaf slowly rotated in the spiritual light, and the primordial spiritual energy in its veins acted like an invisible needle and thread, stitching together Xuan's collapsing body.

Xuan's chest heaved slightly, then he slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at Qi, at that face etched with the wrinkles of time yet still resolute, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"You're here?"

"They're here!"

Qi's voice trembled slightly.

But his hand was steady, remaining pressed on Xuan's chest until the light of the fallen leaf completely dimmed before he slowly withdrew it.

The expeditionary force has also surged into the bottom of the fissure.

Qi and Yu led their men towards the elderly travelers who had collapsed on the ground.

Some people fed the injured person water, some transferred spiritual energy to them, and some carried the injured person to the totem pole with the strongest spiritual light.

He slumped against a pillar, and was helped up by two young travelers, still muttering, "I'm fine."

Feng could no longer stand and sat cross-legged on the ground, while several pharmacists surrounded her, treating the wounds on her legs that had been torn open by the claws and fangs...

The embers have not yet died out, but a new fire has already been lit.

Xuan leaned against the stone pillar and slowly stood up.

He dusted himself off, his gaze sweeping over the busy figures before settling on something further away.

Next to the expeditionary travelers, there was another group lined up.

His skin was ashen, his pupils were cold and unfathomable, and he was so quiet that he could barely breathe.

They stood in the corner illuminated by the light, neither vying nor competing, like a group of silent shadows.

The Abyss Clan.

Li stood at the very front of the group, his mask removed, revealing his pale, youthful face.

The snow-white pupils reflected the golden light, yet remained untouched by any warmth.

He slightly turned his body, took half a step back, and made room for him.

A burly figure stepped out from the Abyss Clan's ranks.

He was a head taller than the surrounding Yuan Clan members, and his shoulders and back were as broad as a wall.

A dark, abyssal power condensed on his body, forming a solid, armor-like substance that exuded a suffocating sense of oppression as it shimmered with a ghostly light.

That aura was even stronger than that of Qi, the Grand Commander of the Xia Kingdom.

But at this moment, the strongest member of the Abyss Clan was slowly withdrawing the eerie light emanating from his body.

The dark, abyssal power receded like the tide, peeling away layer by layer from the surface of the body to reveal the grayish-white skin beneath.

A pale-faced middle-aged man revealed his true appearance, and his features still vaguely resembled those of his younger self.

The man walked through the golden light curtain and approached the totem pole, standing in front of the white-haired old man.

He slowly bent down and knelt on one knee.

"Father."

"Haven't seen you for decades..."

"Are you still in good health?"