CHAPTER 172: 130 DIVINE WOOD PUNISHES THE HEART

Du Yu reacted immediately, purely an instinctive move. Though he couldn’t be described as a battle-hardened warrior, his reflexes already faintly bore a hint of a warrior’s demeanor!

In a flash, the Heart Slaying Cannon in his left hand rapidly took shape, as he suddenly turned and pressed it toward the back: "Who...hmm?"

"Jingle~jingle~"

Du Yu’s hand was firmly grasped by another hand!

The opponent was extremely skillful, enveloping Du Yu’s hand back but not touching the Heart Slaying Cannon at all, leaving Du Yu’s hand unable to advance an inch under the absolute power.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, even the nearby Fire Phoenix Tree had no time to extend its branches.

In the pitch-black living room, Du Yu saw the delicate and beautiful face of the woman clearly, thanks to the light from outside the window.

"Qing...Master Qing?" Du Yu dumbly lifted his eyes, the Heart Slaying Cannon in his palm quietly dissipating.

He was no longer a beginner. When he first learned the Heart Slaying Cannon, he needed the Divine Tree to descend a deadwood branch to help him destroy the cannon. Now, he could retract it at will.

Yang Qingqing: "You look a bit troubled, eager to earn money?"

Du Yu opened his mouth, hesitated for a long while, but still didn’t respond.

"Not used to living at home?"

Du Yu hurriedly said, "I’m used to it, used to it. It’s very quiet here, the environment is great, I live very well."

Yang Qingqing silently watched Du Yu for a moment, seemingly realizing something. Her voice was soft, timely changing the topic: "The energy fluctuation of the Heart Slaying Cannon is not as large as I imagined."

"Hmm...yeah." Du Yu nodded, a little embarrassed, "I fed the Dust Spirit Deer clan just a few hours ago. Not much Fire Spiritual Qi left in my body...have you been home the whole time?"

He looked at the woman’s luxurious nightgown, his face unconsciously puzzled.

"Yes." Yang Qingqing released Du Yu’s hand, "Returned yesterday."

"Jingle~jingle~"

"Bell Bracelet!" Du Yu’s heart moved. He grabbed Master Qing’s retracted hand, pulling it in front of his face for a closer examination.

Yang Qingqing: "..."

Du Yu held Master Qing’s jade hand, slightly tilting it to examine the spiritual artifact that caused him endless hardship, under the light from outside the window.

Contrary to expectations, the Bell Bracelet was rusted despite a thorough cleaning, the rust stains were not removed.

Not knowing what metal it was made of, the Bell Bracelet was very thin, spirally intertwined, worn on the woman’s fair wrist.

The bells were small, arranged in groups of three, totaling eight groups, evenly encircling the bracelet. It was clear that the bracelet had many signs of being repaired after breaking.

"Master Qing actually found it!" The more Du Yu looked, the more delighted he was, raising his eyes toward the woman.

Only to find Master Qing’s expression somewhat peculiar?

The two stared at each other for a moment, then she looked at her hand again.

"Ah." It was only then Du Yu realized, hurriedly releasing his hand, "Um...uh, yeah."

Yang Qingqing felt a bit different inside, standing up straight slowly.

Looking at the flustered young man before her, her mood seemed to improve, and she didn’t pursue the matter.

She walked past Du Yu, heading towards the balcony: "How’s the Shadow Gu Tower?"

Du Yu turned, watching her back: "The Shadow Gu Tower knows the Twin Trees. The withered Divine Tree gifted me a Twin Fruit, which helped repair a lot of the tower."

"Oh?" Yang Qingqing was slightly surprised, Du Yu’s few words carried a significant amount of information.

"By the way, Master Qing. Do you know, there’s actually only one Twin Tree in this world."

"Hmm..." Yang Qingqing nodded, "The Shadow Gu Tower told you?"

"Yes." Seeing Master Qing’s reaction, Du Yu rose to respond, "Looks like Master Qing knew this secret long ago. When I first heard it, I was shocked.

All the Twin Trees in the world are merely branches of the Kunlun Divine Tree. It sounds truly unbelievable."

"There are more secrets unknown to us in this world."

As Du Yu approached her side, Yang Qingqing pointed out the window at the bright moon: "For instance, every full moon night marks the highest probability of the Celestial Treasure Race’s descent, and also the relative peace within the Bottomless Pit for the Celestial Treasure Race.

To this day, no one knows why."

Du Yu was quite curious, gazing at the not-so-round moon in the night sky, listening to the teacher’s sudden imparting of knowledge.

Why did she suddenly talk about the Celestial Treasure Race’s descent?

After thinking for a moment, Du Yu spoke: "Master Qing, since every Twin Tree is an avatar of the Kunlun Divine Tree, when will our Great Xia ever be stable?

Every time a Twin Tree is born, a Bottomless Pit will appear nearby."

Yang Qingqing gently nodded: "Twin Trees and Bottomless Pits, two realms looking at each other from afar, born together. It’s just that you got the causality of companionship wrong."

"What?"

"Every time a Bottomless Pit appears, a Twin Tree will spring up nearby to suppress the Celestial Treasure Race, whose bodies are infiltrated by Cold Qi, preventing them from invading the world."

Du Yu’s breath slightly stalled.

With thoughts spinning rapidly in his mind, recalling the Illusion Realm experience in the Shadow Gu Tower-Neon City, he opened his mouth and said: "I thought it was the Red-robed People planting the Twin Tree in Neon City’s Central Square, which is why a Bottomless Pit appeared outside the city.

Could it be, instead, that the Bottomless Pit appeared first, and the Red-robed People then planted the Twin Tree nearby?

"Aren’t the red-robed people supposed to be the evil ones? Are they really humanity’s guardians? But their methods are so ruthless..."

"Accompanying, Du Yu, accompanying." Yang Qingqing emphasized a term, "In most cases, the bottomless pit appears first, followed by the twin trees. But there are exceptions.

You think these are two demon spirit realms, but in reality, both the twin trees and the bottomless pit are sentient. You’ve seen the twin trees; you know they have thoughts, characteristics, and their own way of handling things.

If you wish, you can regard the twin trees as a divine being ruling over Great Xia."

Yang Qingqing patiently explained the world’s mysteries to Du Yu, unaware of what her true intentions might be.

She continued, "Similarly, you can also consider the bottomless pit as the divine being of another world.

The two have been fighting on this land for hundreds, even thousands of years, yet neither has prevailed.

So, wherever there are twin trees, the bottomless pit will soon follow, never allowing the twin trees to grow peacefully."

Du Yu absorbed the secrets of the bottomless-pit twin trees and gently responded, "Hmm."

Yang Qingqing sighed lightly, "In Great Xia’s territory, for centuries, the top-tier battles, the supreme struggle, have never been about the apocalyptic war or survival contest between humans and beasts.

It is on a higher level, a showdown between the twin trees’ civilization and the bottomless pit’s civilization."

Du Yu: "This..."

"Heh." Yang Qingqing shook her head with a smile, "While we sit here chatting, countless twin trees and countless bottomless pits continue trying to destroy one another; they are forever locked in battle, never pausing."

Du Yu pressed his lips together, "So, people say the twin trees are Great Xia’s only totem, because we all live under the civilization they established."

Yang Qingqing stepped forward, approaching the window, overlooking the residential homes below, watching the warm lights within: "Pray that the twin trees continue to reign supreme, holding fast to this land.

That is why our world is so stable, why Great Xia is so prosperous. Just recently, however, the coldness in the major Twin Tree Realms has been increasing."

Du Yu: "Do you mean the bottomless pit is turning from weakness to strength?"

"Perhaps, who can say." Yang Qingqing shook her head, slightly helpless, "After losing spiritual qi, no powerful Spirit Masters have emerged, and no one can explore the bottom of the bottomless pit.

For hundreds of years, humans have known very little about the state of the underground. In the images provided by your Shadow Gu Tower, those black-robed people truly existed in history.

They were all powerful Spirit Masters who entered the bottomless pit under the special protection of spiritual qi, and once guarded the otherworldly seals underground.

They have always aided the twin trees, protecting Great Xia’s legitimate civilization."

Du Yu felt heavy-hearted, as he viewed the beautiful night scene outside the window, it seemed like looking into another world.

This elegant Xishu Garden seemed to become an illusory bubble atop ruins.

"Divine Wood Pavilion."

Du Yu: "What?"

Yang Qingqing: "The name of the black-robed people’s organization, Divine Wood Pavilion."

The woman turned to look at Du Yu, speaking softly, "The Shadow Gu Tower recounted a nearly 9-hour-long story to me; through these precious messages, we cross-referenced ancient texts and found some verification."

Du Yu nodded, "Divine Wood Pavilion."

Yang Qingqing: "When Divine Wood Pavilion was established is unknown. But we speculate its history is quite long, possibly formed with the birth of the twin trees.

The Divine Wood Pavilion believes in the twin trees, all are their devout followers, and they select capable people from within the organization to help the twin trees suppress the demons and evil beneath the earth."

Du Yu: "And what about the red-robed people?"

Yang Qingqing: "Heart Slaying Garden."

"Heart Slaying Institute?"

"This organization was established later, around the early to mid-4th century."

Du Yu’s mind was stirred and he spoke, "After the demise of the Divine Tree of Spirits?"

"Yes." Yang Qingqing nodded satisfactorily, "When spiritual qi was gradually dwindling, and Spirit Masters were declining, this group finally emerged onto the historical stage.

Don’t forget, the 3rd century was a time of darkness and chaos due to the fierce battles between humans and beasts. Entering the 4th century, with the Divine Tree’s fall, the scales of victory began to tilt.

The Heart Slaying Garden was born at this junction.

Perhaps dissatisfied with the ruling class of the time, or discontent with the old era, or maybe weary of prolonged warfare...

Whatever the reason, this group of red-robed people raised their slaughterous blades against their own kind, beginning to massacre Spirit Masters, attempting to accelerate the downfall of the Spirit Race."

Du Yu: "Then why do the red-robed people plant twin trees? Why revive the withered Divine Tree of Spirits?"

Yang Qingqing: "Don’t forget, the red-robed people of Heart Slaying Garden are also Spirit Masters, who also need the replenishment of spiritual qi.

And in the grand era of ’spiritual qi fading,’ even a living Divine Tree of Spirits will gradually wither.

The people of Heart Slaying Garden use the powerful Spirit Masters as fertilizer for the trees, cultivating proper twin trees, replenishing their own spiritual qi in a short time, and then they can depart safely."

Du Yu calmed his mind, speaking softly, "Sustaining through war."

"Hmm?" Yang Qingqing raised an eyebrow slightly, what a precise description—sustaining through war!

Du Yu softly said, "Now, with spiritual qi so scarce within the heavens and earth, these two organizations must have already perished, right?"

Yang Qingqing lifted her hand, looking at the rusted bell bracelet on her wrist, her expression slightly complex; she murmured softly, "Perhaps."

...

There’s more at eight o’clock.