“Sir, Elder, please just hear me out,” the Sacred Tree pleaded. “I truly don’t belong to anyone. At most, I vow to ignore those people henceforth, ensuring they never even catch sight of me. Wouldn’t that suffice?”

“Nonsense! Whether you see those people or not is none of my damn business. It boils down to this: I am taking a Sacred Tree with me today. If you cannot grant my wish, you lose all reason for existing. Those who comply with me shall live; those who defy me…” Heh, heh, heh. “Annihilated, souls scattered to the winds, facing eternal damnation. To hell with all of it!” Jun Moxie wore the swaggering, brazen face of a scoundrel who didn’t care who he offended.

“Understood, understood. I—I have—I truly have it! Elder, Elder, please… show mercy and grant me but a moment…”

The Sacred Tree began to stammer uncontrollably. If he hadn't remembered that this Elder disliked his eyes bulging out, both pupils might have shot out three Zhang in distance by now…

“A moment? What for? You’re finished already! Why waste any more time? I don’t have that much patience!” Jun Dashao put on an expression of confused impatience.

“Now, now, don’t be hasty, please allow me to explain,” the Sacred Tree said, his tone utterly subservient. As for the grievances and sheer annoyance brewing inside him—no need to mention it. It seemed that fellow, the Netherworld’s Premier Young Master, had handled him with such care when transplanting him back then. Not like this current brute of a man, who threatened total annihilation at the drop of a hat! I can’t believe this. What has happened to people these days? Have they forgotten basic courtliness?

The aggrieved tree turned away, and then those two immensely thick arms reappeared, offering forth two round, green objects.

“What in the blazes are these things? Spit it out! I’m genuinely impatient now!” Jun Moxie squinted sideways.

“Th-these are my life essences,” the Sacred Tree choked out, on the verge of tears. “Only with my full consent can these two life essences merge into one. Then, after being nourished by the essence blood of my main body, they might transform into the Seven-Colored Sapling Seed. From there, it can take root, sprout, and grow into a new Seven-Colored Sacred Tree.”

“But that requires a very, very long time…”

“Oh. I see now.” Jun Dashao waved a dismissive hand. “Then start cultivating them immediately, water them, and let them sprout right now. I’m in a hurry, so be quick about it.”

The Sacred Tree’s eyelids rolled back, displaying an expression of near faintness. “Um, hey, Elder… for these life essences to form a seed, I must sacrifice a full thousand years of my own growth power. Furthermore, I must extract one-third of my core essence… Th-this…” The Sacred Tree’s eyes darted about wildly, his voice becoming a rapid-fire machine gun as he kept glancing sidelong at the potent glow emanating from the mysterious left hand of the Elder before him…

“Stop with the endless chatter. I told you from the start I came to negotiate a trade. I won’t let you suffer such a one-sided loss. I will compensate you for the growth power you forfeit. I can even double the compensation, if necessary.”

Jun Moxie understood the tactic of hitting hard before offering a sweetener. If he pushed the fellow too far and forced a desperate fight, he wouldn’t gain anything either. And frankly, he realized he might truly be unable to commit absolute annihilation against something that had existed for over ten thousand years. “Really?”

In his extreme shock, the Sacred Tree’s eyes shot out uncontrollably. Simultaneously, he began calculating in his mind how much compensation he should demand. “Do you think I would lie to you?”

Jun Moxie raised his chin. “You need to understand, even if I paid you nothing at all right now, would you dare refuse to hasten the process? Since that’s the case, what use would it be for me to deceive you? Get to work promptly, and make haste!”

“That is true as well.” The Sacred Tree didn’t understand what ‘not even one cent’ meant, but he grasped the general meaning. The other party clearly had no need to trick him now. If there was no loss involved, he could happily proceed. If the Elder actually provided him with abundant life force, there might even be a profit to be made…

“Thank you, Elder, I shall begin at once.” The Sacred Tree bowed low, fawning obsequiously.

Then, under the Sacred Tree’s manipulation, the two life essences—one emitting a hazy green light, the other a murky, multicolored luminescence—slowly merged into one! Instantly, the green light flared brilliantly!

Next, the Sacred Tree panted, “Elder, please step over here.”

Jun Moxie followed a guiding root, took a slight turn, and found a massive pool ahead. It was filled with deep green water. The surface of the pool, however, was covered in a thick, seven-colored misty vapor…

The Sacred Tree boasted proudly, “Elder, look here. This is the life essence blood I mentioned earlier. Only after that seed has soaked here can it truly sprout and grow. If it doesn’t soak in my domain, even if it miraculously sprouts, it will wither quickly… Hahaha…”

The tree laughed smugly, directly dropping the newly cultivated seed into the pool. With a plop, it sank to the bottom, and bubbles immediately began rising to the surface—the seed was absorbing the Sacred Tree’s essence blood…

“Hmm, so this is your life essence blood? Is that all it’s good for?” Jun Dashao disliked this creature’s tendency to show off at every opportunity. He thought to himself that this little bit of tree sap was barely enough to nurture one small plant.

“What’s wrong with that?!”

“Why do you think it’s so limited?”

The Sacred Tree felt his authority questioned. Had it been anyone else, he might have wrapped himself up and become fertilizer by now. But against this person, he dared not act out. He suppressed the urge to explode in anger and said resentfully, “Elder! My life essence blood is the paramount treasure under heaven! Any living being—human, beast, or plant—no matter how severely injured, just needs to soak in it for half an hour to be restored to perfect condition! Even if a soul is completely annihilated, as long as the corpse remains, soaking it here will cause the scattered soul to reassemble, allowing it to live again! Oh, yes! This essence blood is what your human world calls the ‘Heavenly Root Water’! Do you know of the legendary ‘Heavenly Root Water’?”

As he spoke, the Sacred Tree gazed at Jun Moxie with an air of haughty disdain, thinking: Now that should shock you, brat! Do you realize how extraordinary I am?

“Heavenly Root Water? What’s that? Is it truly that powerful?” Jun Dashao deliberately displayed an expression of shock, his mouth falling wide open. Yet, inwardly, he mused: If it’s really this miraculous, I wonder if it can heal Qianxun’s injuries?

“Hahahaha…” The Sacred Tree laughed contentedly. He felt a sensation of ‘finally vindicated,’ and the relief was indescribable. Boy, although you can threaten me, the treasures I possess are things you couldn't even dream of. Thinking this, he felt even more pleased, deliberately frowning and sighing dramatically. “What a pity you don’t have a grievously injured companion, especially one near complete soul annihilation. Otherwise, I would let… well, I would let you see the wonders of this essence blood. It’s legendary… legend—”

He stopped halfway, startled by a glare from Jun Moxie, suddenly realizing that this person before him was not to be trifled with; he was his master now. “As for a companion suffering from soul annihilation…” The Sacred Tree thought this idea utterly absurd! Who would carry around such a person? A casualty whose soul was destroyed was practically just a corpse, wasn’t it? And who would wander around carrying a corpse? Therefore, the Sacred Tree felt it was harmless to mention; this brat would take the sapling seed and leave shortly anyway. Even if he didn’t pay compensation, it wouldn’t matter to the tree, since cultivating the seed hardly cost him anything… The immediate priority is to placate this fellow and get rid of him. Once he’s gone, this place will be mine again…

“Really?” Jun Moxie looked even more surprised.

“Of course, it’s real,” the Sacred Tree replied proudly. But then, the one left gaping in shock was immediately himself. “Since it’s so magical, then please help heal her injuries.”

Strike while the iron is hot. Jun Dashao, almost without hesitation, summoned Snake King Qianxun’s body from the Hongjun Pagoda and carefully laid her on the ground…

“Th-this… Huh… Ah?!”

The Sacred Tree, who had been laughing triumphantly, suddenly froze with shock. The smile hadn't even faded from his face before it twisted into an expression of utter misery…

Both massive eyeballs popped out with a thud, hitting the ground once more. At this moment, the Sacred Tree wished desperately to slap his own face! Damn it all… I’m such an idiot! My mouth is so damn cheap! Why did I boast about all this? I should have just smoothly fooled him and sent him away, and nothing would have happened. With the Sacred Tree’s vision, he could naturally see that the woman before him was indeed teetering on the brink of soul fragmentation! She had not a shred of life force left—and this perfectly matched what he had just described!

He could save her, but… if he were to save her, what price would he have to pay? The Sacred Tree truly wished to cry tears of blood. Never mind how difficult it was just now to cultivate the sapling seed—that cost him barely any essence blood, nothing to fret over. But to heal an injury involving complete soul annihilation… how much would that cost him? To be blunt, healing such an injury once might require more essence blood than cultivating a thousand sapling seeds combined!

Watching the essence blood he had painstakingly accumulated over ten thousand years, the Sacred Tree felt like smashing his head against a wall. If he brought this woman back to life, at least half of this entire pool of life essence blood would be depleted!

Half! Half of it!

The Sacred Tree’s face contorted in agony as he let out a mournful howl towards the sky. “At this moment, I truly feel life is meaningless…” Heavens, strike me down with lightning now! No—better strike down this despicable, shameless bastard first, and then strike me!

“How about it? Heh heh, I know the Sacred Tree has always kept his word.” Jun Moxie looked at the Sacred Tree, who was contemplating self-destruction, with a look of shallow admiration, saying very humbly.

“Wuu… Wuuuu… Wuuuuuuu…” The Sacred Tree burst into unrestrained sobs…

His cry was so tragic, like a maiden who had just won a beauty pageant and was basking in glory, only to be immediately defiled… And seemingly not just once… Jun Dashao never expected this Sacred Tree, who had lived for over ten millennia, to actually weep, and to weep so astonishingly, so transcendentally! He was momentarily dumbfounded. Damn it, who has ever seen a tree cry? I have! Today I’ve truly seen the impossible!