Were it not for the search for the ancestors’ remains, they would never bear to let Qingdai go out and roam.
"Yes, this time I’ve returned, I plan to stay in Siluo City for a longer while... I’ve recovered all the remains of the ten Void Refinement ancestors. It was all thanks to Brother Lu helping me recover them."
"What! All the ancestors’ remains have been recovered!" Gu Luo was shocked, and the surprise was evident in his expression!
"Brother Lu?" Xu Luo was cautious by nature.
His old eyes squinted slightly, scrutinizing Ning Fan beside Qingdai with a hint of wariness.
The other four Divine Transformation Priests similarly examined Ning Fan closely, each with a serious expression.
These Spirit Severing cultivators could not sense Ning Fan’s aura at all!
Ning Fan’s aura was deep and restrained, without the slightest leakage. Clearly, his realm far exceeded their imagination!
Gu Luo also retracted his joy, observing Ning Fan with a note of caution, secretly transmitting to Xu Luo.
"This person is unfathomable, at the very least a Void Glimpse!"
"No, not just that... Even though he does not reveal his aura, the hidden force of his presence is more immense than that of young Qingdai... This person could very well be a Void Inquiry Stage old monster," Xu Luo analyzed.
"What! A Void Inquiry! If this person harbors ill intentions towards the Min Luo Race, we would be hard-pressed to resist!" Gu Luo was alarmed, and this time, his reaction was one of fear.
The subtle expressions on everyone’s faces were not lost on Ning Fan; he understood well that his arrival had shaken the Min Luo people.
"I am Lu Bei, here by the behest of an old friend to protect the Min Luo Race. Here is the token."
Ning Fan tapped the storage pouch and took out the black wooden token for the six priests to see.
In the instant they saw the black wooden token, the six Divine Transformation priests felt their demon blood boil, each of them showing expressions replete with unimaginable shock.
"Tree... Tree Emperor’s Command!"
They didn’t call it the black wooden token but referred to it as Tree Emperor’s Command because it was the token of the Min Luo Race’s Tree Emperor lineage!
This item had vanished without a trace with the disappearance of the last Tree Emperor of the Ming Luo Tree Clan, so how did it end up with Ning Fan!
"This item was entrusted to me by the last Tree Emperor of the Min Luo Race. He is not dead yet!"
Ning Fan’s voice was very, very low, not transmitted through sound but using divine skills, so that only Qingdai and the six priests could hear it. The Golden Core Guards could not!
His words, like a massive stone cast into a lake, immediately stirred great waves!
The six priests were astonished, and even Qingdai covered her small mouth, unable to conceal her shock.
Ning Fan had never told her where the black wooden token had come from, and now he revealed it!
The last Min Luo Tree Emperor, once thought lost, was not dead!
This news was too overwhelming, too puzzling, too hard to believe!
How many ten-thousands of years had passed since the last Tree Emperor disappeared? None could remember.
Who could possibly live through such an expanse of years, a being akin to an Immortal?
Why, after the disappearance of the last Tree Emperor, were no messages ever sent to the tribe?
Even Qingdai was somewhat doubtful of Ning Fan’s words.
But as Ning Fan activated the black wooden token and infused it with a trace of the Tree Emperor’s blood, causing everyone to feel the imposing pressure, no one doubted Ning Fan’s statement anymore!
The bloodline pressure was unmistakable. It was absolutely that of the Min Luo Race’s Tree Emperor!
Moreover, the blood aura was incredibly concentrated, sealed into the black wooden token less than a year ago, sealed recently!
This served as the strongest evidence that the last Min Luo Tree Emperor was still alive!
Since the last Tree Emperor was alive and entrusted the black wooden token to Ning Fan, the implication was clear...
Ning Fan was a person worthy of the Min Luo Race’s trust!
Ning Fan was the new Tree Emperor of this generation, appointed by the last Tree Emperor!
The transfer of the black wooden token signified the passing of the Tree Emperor title!
Gu Luo, Xu Luo, and the other six priests yearned to promptly kneel before Ning Fan and address him as Tree Emperor.
Only Ning Fan’s dissuasive gaze stopped them from doing so.
Ning Fan did not desire the outside world to know that he possessed the black wooden token, that he was the current Tree Emperor.
Should this news spread, who knew if old monsters from Tree World might trouble Ning Fan for the black wooden token or due to his identity as the Min Luo Tree Emperor.
"Brother Lu, let us enter the city and discuss matters slowly; this is not the place for such a conversation," Qingdai quietly suggested.
"Very well."
Ning Fan nodded, following Qingdai and the others into Siluo City.
However, the instant they entered the city, he turned back, casting a curious glance.
"An illusion, perhaps..." he murmured, shaking his head.
...
A million miles away, a giant Xiangfei Bamboo suddenly emitted a soft, wailing sound.
This wailing sound was incredibly light, yet it continued into the late night.
"Mu Luo is still alive, he is alive... I knew he wouldn’t die so easily."
"He still owes me a pot of wine, a promise; he won’t die so easily..."
Mu Luo was the name of the last Min Luo Tree Emperor...
This name once resonated throughout Tree World, but now, only a solitary Xiangfei Bamboo remembers it.
Because he still owes her a pot of wine, a promise.
In the hollow bamboo resides a soul, the soul takes root in the bamboo heart. The root of the soul, the heart of the bamboo—inseparable...
"If one day, I kill all foes, I would willingly resign the title of Tree Emperor, and take you to a deserted mountain unknown to others, to live in seclusion... At that time, above us will only be the moonlight, and by my side, besides a pot of water wine, there will only be you, never to part in this lifetime."
...
In the Rain Immortal World, within the Yue Country, amidst a desolate mountain.
Treant Ming Luo’s avatar sat outside a thatched cottage on a lonely pavilion, gazing up at the vast moonlight overhead, taking a solitary sip from a pot of water wine...
His expression bore no sadness, no melancholy, no expression, no smile.
In his heart, everything had withered, eroded by the passage of time, leaving nothing but the image of one woman, which remained indelible.
He had not forgotten that promise, and he was no longer the Mingluo Tree Emperor.
Only now, he could never return to Tree World...
And she must have long since turned to dust and passed on.
This promise, no longer manageable within this lifetime... In this lifetime, never to meet again...
"I’m sorry..." Treant Ming Luo closed his eyes, sighing beneath the moonlight, unheard by anyone.