Chapter 521: Floating City

A blinding white light flooded his vision, a vast expanse of white stretching before him.

By the time his vision cleared, Pei Ze found himself standing in a forest.

He looked around. His eyes were met with countless beautiful, emerald-green trees, each towering over a hundred meters tall. They looked as if they had just been washed by a waterfall, exuding an air of crisp freshness.

Innumerable birds with rainbow-hued plumage perched and flew among the trees.

A faint, ethereal, dreamlike radiance shone upon the trees and birds, creating a scene of beauty far beyond ordinary imagination.

In the distance, a city lay nestled among the trees, partially hidden from view.

‘So this is the inside of the Tree of Truth?’

Pei Ze narrowed his eyes, surveying his surroundings for a moment. He then took a deep breath and immediately felt a sense of purity wash over him, cleansing him from the inside out.

Coming to his senses, he couldn’t help but marvel, “The Power of Rules is so dense here.”

‘The Power of Rules here is even stronger than in the Holy Land.’

Xi Nan smiled. “The Holy Land was originally a fragment that the Lord of the Star Realm, with his boundless power, cut from the Tree of Truth and later modified.”

“Besides, there are no restrictions here like in the Holy Land. You can stay for as long as you want. If it weren’t for the fact that Sixth-level Wizards can’t withstand the planar transit, this would be an excellent place to improve one’s understanding of the Rules.”

Pei Ze nodded in profound agreement.

‘If I could have entered the Tree of Truth back when I was still a Sixth-level Wizard,’ he thought, ‘I’m confident I could have achieved a breakthrough within a few years, even without a planar origin.’

Alas, that was just a pipe dream.

Even though he had been protected by the white orb of light on the way here, he still had to expend a considerable amount of power to resist the spatial turbulence.

A Sixth-level Wizard would have been torn to shreds in an instant.

Even if he’d had a Rule Origin Crystal back then, it would have been impossible to endure such a long planar transit.

“Let’s go. First, we’ll head into the city.”

Xi Nan led the way.

“The environment in the Tree of Truth is unique, so it’s best not to use your power carelessly.”

Pei Ze gave it a try. Sure enough, the moment he prepared to channel the Power of Rules, he felt an invisible repulsive force envelop him.

It gave him the distinct impression that if he persisted, this invisible force would grind him to dust.

Pei Ze had no desire to court death, so he immediately abandoned the idea of channeling the Power of Rules.

Before long, the two arrived before a majestic city.

The city was built amidst the forest. Rock, vines, and tree trunks intertwined to form the main body of its towering walls, giving it a primitive, untamed feel.

“This is Tree City, a hub between the Tree of Truth and other Multiverses. All trading and resupplying takes place here.”

There were no guards at the gate. Xi Nan led Pei Ze straight through, casually explaining the situation in Tree City as they walked.

“Fighting is strictly forbidden in Tree City. Violators face harsh penalties. The lightest is permanent expulsion from the Tree of Truth, while the most severe is immediate execution. This rule was established by the Truth Council.”

“The Truth Council?”

“It’s the joint organization that governs the Tree of Truth. Its members are all renowned and powerful beings from across the Multiverse, such as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of our Star Realm Alliance, the principal gods of the Pantheon, and several of the most ancient Demon Lords and Dukes of Hell.”

Pei Ze understood.

‘The beings Xi Nan mentioned are, without exception, apex powerhouses of the Multiverse. Some of them are even ninth-level entities.’

‘With rules set by beings like that, I imagine no one would dare to break them.’

And Pei Ze quickly saw evidence of this.

Passing through the gate, he was met with an incredibly spacious street, wide enough for more than a dozen carriages to travel side by side.

Beings of all shapes and sizes bustled back and forth along the street.

Robed Wizards, Divine Spirits with imposing auras, ferocious-looking Evil Demons, and holy, valiant beings from the Celestial Realm… Races that would likely fight to the death upon meeting anywhere else were now strolling harmoniously down the street, coexisting peacefully.

It was a truly bizarre scene.

Pei Ze clicked his tongue in amazement.

‘Only a mandatory rule backed by overwhelming force, combined with the unique environment of the Tree of Truth that restricts the Power of Rules, could create a situation like this.’

Lining both sides of the street were stone houses of varying heights.

Their doors were shut tight, looking like private residences.

“These stone houses are our residences within the Tree of Truth. The ones marked with an aura-imprint are already occupied, but you can choose any of the vacant ones for yourself.”

Xi Nan explained casually before leading Pei Ze across the long street and into a plaza.

The ground of the vast plaza was paved entirely with bluestone slabs, upon which were inscribed profound and complex runes that formed a giant Array.

An oval-shaped screen of light, more than ten meters tall, floated in mid-air above the Array, emanating a sense of spatial expansion.

“This is one of the Tree of Truth’s many portals to other Multiverses. This one leads to the Zerg Universe,” Xi Nan said.

“The Zerg Universe?”

Pei Ze’s expression flickered as he recalled the Alien Insect Race, the infamous scourge of the Multiverse.

As if guessing Pei Ze’s thoughts, Xi Nan said with a peculiar expression, “The Alien Insect Race originated from this very Zerg Universe.”

“Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Alien Insect Race chanced upon a way to travel to our Multiverse. From that point on, they grew uncontrollably, constantly devouring planes to expand their strength. Even to this day, we haven’t been able to completely eliminate this scourge.”

After a pause, a smile returned to Xi Nan’s face.

“However, in retaliation, we have also invaded the Zerg Universe and destroyed many of their hive-planes. You could say it’s a bit of give-and-take.”

“There are quite a few similar universal portals—twelve in total.”