Chapter 646: Either the Tree Spirit's Memory Is Flawed, or the Shen Family Was Never Destroyed at All!

Elder Woodheart's speech slowed to a measured pace, every word striking like the mallet of a judge sealing a contract.

"This old one can give you a promise. Greenwood Court can serve as your foothold. You may reside in the guest quarters and freely take materials from the outskirts to research your formations. As long as you do not actively stir up trouble, Greenwood Court will shield you from harm."

Su Ming gave a slight bow, a sharp gleam flashing deep within his eyes.

A safe zone. Secured.

"But there are boundaries." Elder Woodheart's voice turned suddenly cold. "First, you may not leave the protective range of Greenwood Court's formations, nor may you privately contact any spirit race faction outside. Second, you must not set foot half a step into the core root vein region of Greenwood Court."

"In exchange..." A note of unyielding firmness seeped through Elder Woodheart's words. "You will use your human Formation Master skills to assist the spirit races in maintaining, inspecting, and repairing Greenwood Court's increasingly declining formation system. If you discover any infiltration by the Dark Current Sect, you must report it immediately."

Su Ming drew a deep breath.

This was precisely the result he had most wanted from this high-stakes gamble.

A relatively absolute safe base, a legitimate "formation consultant" identity, and a legal position from which he could openly study Greenwood Court's formations and thereby continuously obtain core intelligence from the spirit realm!

"This junior accepts the charge." Su Ming folded his hands and solemnly performed a grand bow.

The deal was struck.

By all conventions, this meeting should have ended there.

But just as Su Ming prepared to straighten up and withdraw...

The emerald orb of light suspended in midair suddenly emitted a faint trembling hum. In that sound, there was no longer the majesty of a ruler, no longer the oppressive pressure of a ten-thousand-year mighty being. Only a profound weariness and decrepitude that seeped into the very marrow of one's bones remained.

"Young one of the human race..."

Elder Woodheart spoke one final sentence.

This time, his words were not broadcast in all directions but slipped directly into Su Ming's ear like a wisp of autumn wind.

"The life-devouring fungal filaments you discovered beneath the spiritual spring... are merely the tip of the iceberg. The Dark Current Sect's infiltration of my Greenwood Court runs far deeper than what you have seen."

Su Ming jerked his head up, a flicker of shock passing through his eyes.

"This old one is old." There was a desolate helplessness in Elder Woodheart's voice. "My root veins are buried deep in this land, yet I can only watch helplessly as my own foundation is devoured bit by bit. I am too massive, and in turn, I have lost my acuity. I can feel the pain, but I cannot even make out what those enemies hiding in the shadows look like."

The emerald glow dimmed to its extreme in that moment, as if it might extinguish at any second.

"If you truly are a Formation Master... do not merely look at the few springs before your eyes."

"Use your own eyes to see clearly for this old one... the truth beneath this great earth. If you can help this old one resolve these matters, this old one will give you what you desire."

The orb ceased its trembling and reverted fully to that steady, deathly pulse from before.

"Withdraw."

The order of dismissal was given.

Su Ming said nothing further. He merely cast one deep look at that emerald heart suspended in the void, then slowly retreated from the great hall.

Only after walking out of that long and oppressive root channel and seeing once again the layered arboreal city within the Banyan did Su Ming halt his steps.

He tilted his head back, gazing at the massive branches above that were stacked layer upon layer, radiating a faint emerald glow.

The echo of Elder Woodheart's final words still rang in his ears.

That had not been a command from a superior to an inferior.

It had been more like an entrustment.

An old tree spirit who had stood watch in solitude upon this land for ten thousand years, facing the erosion of his proud foundation by unknown venomous pests, yet powerless to strike back because of his own immense size, had actually placed his final shred of hope upon an outsider who had been known for less than two days and whose identity was not even fully explained.

What bitter irony. What desolate tragedy.

Su Ming rubbed his rough sleeve.

He was not moved to hot-blooded fervor.

As a steadfast practitioner of the Way of Survival, he would never make promises beyond his capabilities because of momentary emotional impulse or a few mournful last words. Investigate the Dark Current Sect's background? That would be no different from declaring open war against the most dangerous force in the entire spirit realm.

"I only do what benefits my survival." Su Ming silently told himself.

Yet he carved Elder Woodheart's words, along with that weary sigh, word for word into the deepest recesses of his Consciousness Sea.

Because he knew very well that as long as this great tree of Greenwood Court did not fall, he could continue to lie low safely in the spirit realm and search for a way home. But once this great tree was hollowed out by the Dark Current Sect, this outsider hanging from its branches would be shattered into pieces along with it.

"Brother Ye, let's head back." Su Ming turned to look at Ye Qing, who was still trembling, a faint curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

From this moment on, he finally had a true foothold of his own in the spirit realm.

...

Half an hour later.

Su Ming returned to his tree hollow guest room, "protected" by heavy guards.

The moment the door closed, before Su Ming could even sit down...

"WOOOM!"

The surface of the Xuantian ring abruptly erupted with a blinding flash of deep blue light.

Lin Yu's Soul Body shot out of the ring as if his tail were on fire, careening wildly around the cramped space of the tree hollow like a headless fly, stirring up gusts of chilling yin wind.

"Ten thousand years! Damn it, ten thousand years!"

Lin Yu simply could not suppress the shock within him. His ethereal hands clawed uselessly at the air, his words firing off like a string of firecrackers.

Su Ming walked to the wooden table, poured himself a cup of cold water, and tossed it back in one gulp. The icy liquid slid down his throat, forcibly suppressing the surging waves churning in his own heart as well.

"Master, please calm down first." Su Ming set down the cup, his gaze frighteningly steady. "If Elder Woodheart was not lying, then the Shen family was destroyed ten thousand years ago. Why would Elder Hao Yuan deceive you?"

"Deceive me?" Lin Yu suddenly halted midair, the light of his Soul Body flickering violently.

"Disciple... you are thinking about this too simply." Lin Yu drifted slowly before Su Ming, staring into his eyes. "If Hao Yuan merely wanted to cover up a lie, he could easily have fabricated some small family that was wiped out a thousand years ago. Why would he borrow the name of a legendary family from ten thousand years past? And the nostalgic look on his face when he mentioned Star River Venerable... that absolutely was not an act!"

Su Ming's pupils constricted slightly.

"Your meaning is..."

"What this old man means is..." Lin Yu's voice sank to its lowest point. "Either this old tree's memory is flawed... or the Shen family was never destroyed at all ten thousand years ago!" This sent a cold sweat breaking out across Lin Yu's nonexistent form. If the Shen family of ten thousand years ago had not been destroyed, could the Shen family of a thousand years ago likewise be recuperating somewhere in hiding? And how would the Shen family treat him, this fraud parading around under the lingering prestige of the Shen name? These speculations stirred within Lin Yu an urgent desire to grow stronger.

The tree hollow fell into a deathly silence.

"That's not all." Lin Yu drifted back onto the tabletop, pointing at Su Ming's nose. "Do you think that old tree spirit's final words to you were merely a complaint?"

Su Ming frowned slightly. "He's using my hands to investigate the Dark Current Sect."

"Wrong!" Lin Yu let out a cold snort. "He was testing you! He suspects that whatever the Dark Current Sect is doing underground was never the work of the spirit races at all! He cannot see his enemy clearly because that enemy's methods may surpass the very understanding of the spirit races!"

Lin Yu's gaze locked onto Su Ming. "Disciple, we have been dragged into the inner affairs of the spirit races. From this moment on, we must find a way out of the spirit realm as quickly as possible!"