Chapter 880: Another Branch
Outside, the stench of blood lingered on the lawn of the Yalige Manor. Zhou Huai opened his eyes and looked down at the "Sacred Relic Map" on the ground. A faint green light flowed across the surface of the scroll, and the vast life laws within were locked away by an invisible barrier.
Not far away, Eliza knelt on the ground, clutching the hem of her clothes and watching Zhou Huai nervously.
She didn't know what the man had been doing with his eyes closed, but she felt the air around her growing increasingly oppressive.
"Breaking the seal, is that it?"
Zhou Huai murmured. In terms of the foundation of higher-dimensional laws, he was inferior to Mr. Duan, who had devoured the Sea God. But when it came to destroying formations and seals, he possessed the most professional tools.
"Buzz—!"
Zhou Huai reached into the void with his right hand, causing space to tremble and tear apart. A heavy chain, radiating a dark golden light and covered with array patterns, emerged from the crack.
The ultimate artifact of the Seventh World—the Netherworld Chain—is designed to counter all high-dimensional formations and energy seals.
The Nether Chains manifested, unleashing their oppressive power. Gravity in the manor surged, crushing the weeds that had just been nourished by the laws of life flattened them to the ground.
Eliza was deathly pale, struggling to breathe under the weight. She stared at the dark gold chain, a chill running down her spine.
"What...what level of weapon is that?!"
Born into the Yalig family, she had seen many top-tier equipment, but the aura of this chain made her instinctively tremble.
Zhou Huai ignored Eliza, flicked his wrist, and sent the Absolute Sea Nether Chain straight towards the "Sacred Relic Map" on the ground.
"Smash it!"
The chains instantly wrapped around the scroll. The moment they touched it, the seal on the scroll's surface burst forth with a burst of silver-gray light, attempting to break the chains.
Two higher-dimensional forces collided.
"Sizzle sizzle—!"
Amidst the scraping sound, tiny black cracks were torn open in the space.
The seal left by Leonardo da Vinci could not withstand the ultimate artifact that specifically countered seals. The dark gold array patterns on the Nether Chains shone brightly, unleashing a torrent of annihilation power.
"Snap! Snap!"
The silver-gray seal barrier on the surface of the scroll is covered with a network of cracks.
Then, with a "bang," the seal shattered and dissipated into silver specks of light.
The seal has been broken.
Eliza stood there, stunned. The outer shell of the sacred relic, which even generations of powerful members of the family had been unable to damage, was shattered by a single chain.
The moment the seal shattered.
"boom!"
An extremely powerful and pure law of life burst forth from the painting like a flood breaking through a dam!
Two dazzling beams of light shot into the sky from the painting, swirling and intertwining in mid-air before landing steadily on the lawn in front of Zhou Huai.
The light gradually faded, transforming into two figures.
One of them was naturally Zhou Huai's clone Rahil, who had just infiltrated the painting.
But another figure made Zhou Huai's pupils shrink sharply.
It was a woman.
She wore a light green, flowing gown, the hem of which swayed gently in the breeze, as if woven from the purest life energy.
The woman's skin was as white as snow, crystal clear, and seemed as delicate as if it could be broken with a touch. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, without the slightest flaw, and her eyes and brows exuded an ethereal, sacred, and inviolable aura.
She was stunningly beautiful and possessed unparalleled elegance.
But none of this was what shocked Zhou Huai.
What truly shook Zhou Huai was the woman's features, her expression, and even the gentle and graceful temperament she exuded with every smile and frown.
It bore an astonishing resemblance to his mother, who had tragically died under a curse while protecting him, as he remembered her!
It's seven or eight tenths as similar!
If it weren't for the subtle differences in age and temperament, Zhou Huai would almost have thought that his mother had come back to life and was standing in front of him.
After the woman came out, she did not immediately pay attention to her surroundings.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath of the blood-tinged air in the manor, and then stretched out a huge yawn without any regard for her image, outlining a breathtakingly beautiful figure.
She opened her eyes, which were as clear as autumn water, and a long-lost, radiant smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"call--"
"The air outside is much fresher."
The woman's voice was ethereal and melodious, carrying a hint of languor as she finally regained her freedom.
Eliza, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded. She stared blankly at this stunningly beautiful woman who seemed to have stepped out of a myth, feeling the life force emanating from her that made her want to worship her, and even forgot to breathe.
Zhou Huai suppressed the flutter in his heart caused by the similar appearance, retrieved the Netherworld Chain from the void, and stared intently at the woman, getting straight to the point.
"Did you sense it?"
"Where is your true form, the Origin Tree, now?"
Zhou Huai's tone carried a barely perceptible urgency. This was his core objective in infiltrating the Free Federation: once he found the main body, he could follow the clues to find his mother's whereabouts.
Upon hearing this, the woman rolled her eyes at Zhou Huai and said irritably, "Don't rush me. I've been sleeping in that lousy painting for hundreds of years. I just came out, and it takes time for me to receive the signal."
After saying that, the woman's smile faded, and her expression became serious.
She slowly closed her eyes, a faint green aura emanating from her body. An invisible wave of life force emanated from her, rapidly spreading outwards in all directions, even into higher dimensions.
Zhou Huai waited quietly to the side.
A moment later, the halo around the woman dimmed, and she opened her eyes, shaking her head helplessly.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you," the woman sighed. "Right now, I can no longer sense the existence of my true self."
"Can't sense it?"
Zhou Huai frowned.
How could he not sense it? The Heavenly Dao went to great lengths to lead him to the Free Federation, obtain the "Sacred Relic Map," and release the tree branch, only to have the clues broken? This doesn't align with the Heavenly Dao system's underlying operational logic.
The woman looked at Zhou Huai and nodded seriously: "Strictly speaking, it's not that the original body disappeared, but rather that all the law fluctuations emitted by the original body were completely shielded by an extremely high-dimensional power."
“Or rather...” the woman’s eyes turned wary, “my true form may very well be inside that Mr. Duan.”
"In this world, only someone like him who has mastered the laws of transcendence could so thoroughly sever the connection between me and my original self that originates from the source."
Zhou Huai suddenly realized.
The Origin Tree is an indispensable part of Mr. Duan's god-making plan. With Mr. Duan's current ability to absorb the Sea God's essence and complete his higher-dimensional godhood, compressing the Origin Tree and carrying it with him is a piece of cake.
If that were the case, Zhou Huai's face darkened.
He had originally thought that by sensing the tree branches, he could find the secret headquarters of the Dawn Guild and secretly rescue his mother, bypassing Mr. Duan. Now it seemed that if the Origin Tree was with Mr. Duan, he would have to confront the Transcendent One at his peak if he wanted to save his mother.
With his current strength at the half-step transcendence stage, his chances of winning against Mr. Shangduan are extremely low.
Zhou Huai took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
No. The Heavenly Dao System wouldn't act without reason; there must be a reason for guiding him to find the tree branch.
There must be some things that have been overlooked.
Zhou Huai stared at the woman in front of him and pressed, "Besides your true form, can you sense anything else?"
"Any fluctuations related to the Tree of Origin are acceptable!"
Seeing his serious expression, the woman closed her eyes again to sense his presence.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and nodded: "Okay."
"Although I can't sense the main body, I also sensed another tree branch that looks like me while I was searching."
The woman raised her hand and pointed northeast.
"It's about two thousand kilometers away from here."
Zhou Huai was stunned.
Another branch? Did Heaven go to such lengths to lure him here just to find branch after branch?
Just then, looking at the woman's face, which resembled his mother's by seven or eight points, a thought flashed through Zhou Huai's mind.
Similar appearance... Share the same aura...
Could it be that his mother was not the original form of the Origin Tree at all?!
She...she was also a tree branch?