Chapter Forty-Four: The Thirty-Foot Bodhi Tree

It seemed that even the Xuanwu Stone could not withstand such karma. It began to tremble violently, fissuring like a spiderweb before coming to a halt.

First place: Nine-Star Bloodline.

Only a few characters were engraved, with no mention of Xu Xing’s name.

From the cracks in the inscription, a mysterious radiance burst forth, as if a tenacious seedling breaking through its shell.

With the rising sun dissolving the mist, the radiance mingled with the hazy sunlight, so pure that it illuminated the entire Eight Trigrams Arena.

“What?”

“Xu Xing can regenerate his spiritual root again? Didn’t the clan already send people to completely destroy his cultivation? Nine-Star Bloodline? That’s nothing but the blood of the condemned, unworthy of mention.”

Back then, Li Chunyi had begged the clan, and the Li family had spared no effort to remove Little Phoenix’s spiritual root.

And now? Was this a phoenix’s rebirth?

Li Chunyi stood very close to Xu Xing, and the aura that burst from Xu Xing made him involuntarily lower his head.

Such a phenomenon left him utterly stunned.

The force emanating from Xu Xing made it difficult for him to breathe, forcing him to gasp for air.

Li Chunyi’s eyes were vacant, filled with despair.

After a long while, his gaze hardened, a glint flashing through his eyes as he watched Xu Xing in meditation. From his storage pouch, he took out three black beads.

Then, glancing back at Mo Yi, he handed the three beads over.

Mo Yi’s expression turned grave. “Must I act for you in such matters?”

Mo Yi glared fiercely at Li Chunyi, making him tremble slightly.

Li Chunyi turned away, feigning nonchalance, hiding the three black beads between his fingers, ready to launch them.

The three black beads shot out, leaving afterimages as they sped through the air.

“No!”

Ziyan leapt forward. Seeing the beads fly, she didn’t hesitate for an instant, standing resolutely between Xu Xing and the danger.

The beads buried themselves in Ziyan’s body, releasing bursts of black mist that seeped through her entire being. Wisps of dark energy began to seep from her.

Blood gushed from her mouth, as if staining the very sky red.

In an instant, her youthful features began to wither, her lustrous hair turning ashen, her once radiant skin growing wrinkled and cracked.

The blazing sun melted the clouds left by the aged elder, and sunlight poured through to shine upon Ziyan.

“Ziyan, what are you doing? Do you want to die?”

Li Chunyi screamed, pale as a ghost, as he looked at Ziyan lying in a pool of blood.

He knew all too well what he had just done.

Within the academy’s rules, harming a fellow disciple was an offense punishable by severe penalties.

This was why Li Chunyi had never dared to harm Ziyan before. Even if he had the nerve, he would have chosen a place out of sight. But now, with so many watching, how could he possibly clear his name?

Ziyan, breathing weakly in the spreading blood, looked at Xu Xing, whose face was tense in meditation.

She managed a faint smile.

It was a sweet, gentle smile.

She collapsed softly, the blood she coughed up outshone even the setting sun.

Sunlight scattered through the clouds, falling just in front of Ziyan, enveloping her in its glow.

Countless onlookers witnessed this tragedy, cursing Li Chunyi, but none dared step forward.

All because of the youth standing behind Li Chunyi.

At that moment, an elder in purple robes appeared quietly at Ziyan’s side, casting a fierce glare at Li Chunyi.

When he saw Mo Yi, he shook his head and said,

“Li Chunyi, if you dare go any further, you will be expelled from Beihai Academy. Do you understand? And you, Mo Yi, do not go too far. You are both new students—reign in your sharpness.”

The elder picked up the blood-soaked Ziyan. Glancing back at Xu Xing lost in meditation, he sighed softly.

With that, he infused Ziyan with a surge of purple spirit, forming a hazy membrane that enveloped her.

Without warning, the elder and Ziyan vanished from sight.

“Master Mo, you must protect me now. I have staked my future on this,” Li Chunyi whispered, swallowing hard as he looked at Mo Yi.

“Don’t worry. Don’t you know what kind of person I am? Since the elder has spoken, let’s see what kind of person my sister is so attached to. If all else fails, just reveal this person’s stain.”

Mo Yi curled his lips in a smile.

An uproar broke out in the arena.

Li Chunyi became a rat crossing the street—everyone spat upon him. Some even gnashed their teeth:

“This despicable villain can only use such underhanded tricks to block that youth. If the youth awakens, he will surely destroy him.”

“This time, Li Chunyi has met his match—there’ll be a good show. Pity the youth’s strength is still too low.”

“Do you think Mo Yi and Xu Xing will spark conflict?”

The crowd’s murmurs ebbed, and the roar of the sea faded away.

Now, all eyes turned to Xu Xing, and everyone was filled with wonder.

Suddenly, a tiny sapling sprouted from Xu Xing’s crown, slowly budding, its color a deep blue.

“Is that a water spiritual root? Look at that little seedling atop his head—it’s so small, yet its potential surpasses those colossal spiritual root trees!”

“This one is truly extraordinary. The Xuanwu Stone shows only the Nine Stars, not his name—how odd, yet how powerful!”

“Luckily, this youth only has a water spiritual root. If he had all five, it would be unimaginable!”

Inside Xu Xing’s mind, the weak water receded, and he found himself in a vast desert stretching beyond sight.

In the heart of the desert, a torch hung beneath the bright moon, its smoke curling straight into the heavens.

The ground trembled beneath his feet. Xu Xing looked down to see a sapling breaking through the barren soil.

The rising tide of whispers made Li Chunyi uneasy, and he raised his voice:

“This Xu Xing—he is the remnant of the condemned clan, deserving of death! Even the Great Shu Dynasty would not tolerate him!”

“His accomplice is Ziyan, who infiltrated Beihai Academy to shield him. Do you understand what this means? This is harboring a criminal!”

Li Chunyi decided to expose Xu Xing’s secret outright. He hadn’t wanted to escalate things, but after what he had done, there was no way to cover it up.

Better to fan the flames and shift all the blame onto Xu Xing.

“What?!”

“His name is Xu Xing? Wasn’t he the one from Zhuoding Academy who took forbidden medicine?”

“My heavens, a descendant of the condemned! How is this possible?”

“Regardless, he is not to be defiled. Have you forgotten our roots? Our ancestors were once enlightened by the condemned clan!”

Everyone was shocked. It had been so long since a descendant of the condemned appeared.

But instead of hatred, the crowd seemed to favor Xu Xing.

After all, the appearance of a descendant of the condemned clan always heralded storm and change.

The aged elder floating above opened his eyes.

An overwhelming pressure swept out, forcing everyone—except those in deep meditation—to kneel.

“Silence!”

The arena fell utterly still. Every breath could be heard.

The sapling atop Xu Xing’s head began to grow, sprouting a single green leaf.

That leaf pulsed with wild spiritual energy, like a frenzied beast roaring in the wind, shaking everyone to their core.

Atop the sprout, a single drop of water hovered, which the sapling absorbed, causing it to grow furiously.

One zhang. Two zhang. Three zhang.

When it reached three zhang, it stopped. Everyone wondered, what was happening?

If Xu Xing truly was a descendant of the condemned, why did his spiritual root tree stop growing at three zhang?

A tree of three zhang was a Bodhi tree.

Beneath the Bodhi tree, all was cool and silent. It was as if a yellow bee had flown into the shade.

A slender flower stem stood tall and unmoving in the breeze.

The wind brought a fragrance that seeped into one’s soul.

In that moment, every restless heart grew still, falling into a strange, peaceful state.

Then, five leaves fell from the Bodhi tree.

They were scarlet, cerulean, luminous green, crimson gold, and dusky orange.

The leaves intertwined, spinning upward in a graceful spiral that danced across the sky.

With a resounding bang, the five leaves exploded, like fireworks blossoming in the night, painting everyone’s eyes with rainbow hues.

The leaves scattered, dissolving into streaks of radiant light, drifting down like snowflakes.

The arena trembled violently.

“What’s happening? Why does it feel like the ground is sinking? What’s going on?”

Someone shouted in alarm.

With a thunderous boom, the arena sank three feet.

“Is it because of Xu Xing? But his spiritual root tree is only three zhang tall—how could this be?”

When all eyes turned to Xu Xing, they were stunned.

Xu Xing’s entire body was bathed in radiant light, utterly sacred and untainted.

Azure holy water, pure yang gold, blazing fire, steadfast brown earth, and vitality-infused wood wrapped around him.

Seeing Xu Xing radiating such power, Li Chunyi trembled uncontrollably, his eyes rolling white as he gasped, “Could it be…he’s truly awakened?”

Mo Yi, for his part, watched Xu Xing with keen interest, licking his lips.

With a gentle breath, Xu Xing slowly opened his eyes, his spiritual root tree of three zhang withdrawing.

He gazed in confusion at the blood still pooled ahead of him.

“Xu Xing, your senior sister was harmed by that villain Li Chunyi!” someone shouted, a familiar voice.

Looking up, Xu Xing recognized Hang Ri.

Under the azure sky, the sun’s rays grew ever more piercing.

“Everyone look! This is the descendant of the condemned clan!”

Li Chunyi shouted desperately, veins bulging on his face.

All eyes in the arena turned to Xu Xing.

But their gaze was not hostile—rather, it was filled with hope.