Chương 1538: 1536. Roots run deep

His divine sense expanded through the cave, traveling toward the exit leading to the innermost palace of the Silk River Sect, where the sect leader resided. Only the current head could know of his existence before he attained the next realm. To inquire about what was happening above, he intended to contact the Sect leader, his great-great-great-grand disciple. But even before he could do so, a sudden change in his surroundings forced him to redirect his focus.

There was a small splash from dust and tiny rocks falling into the pond. On the ceiling of the cave, a tiny root had suddenly broken through the bedrock. His divine sense focused on the tiny intruder. This was abnormal. How could the root of a plant reach this deep, even through solid rock? As he observed the little thing, it actually began twitching and growing further, as if it were alive with a consciousness! As he watched the thing, it actually stretched further down, aiming for his pond! This insolence!

With a wave of his hand, he released a mere fraction of his power, and the rood was burned to dust by an invisible wave of energy. Now, he was convinced something was going on out there. He didn't believe two abnormal coincidences could happen in such a short time frame. His divine consciousness, now driven by a sudden sense of urgency, sped down the secret passage and entered the halls of the sect leader, but it was vacant. Where was his great-great-great-grand disciple?

He should have long since returned from this punitive mission to the savage lands he had informed him about before he went into closed-door cultivation. Although he had lost his sense of time, that should have been months ago, maybe years. He should have already returned. A rustle in the back of his cave caught his attention. He gasped. Turning around, he found two new roots had appeared. They were closer to the floor and had already crept up to his pool. One of them was already dipped into the Earth Spirit Water!

"Insolent creature!" he exclaimed, enraged. With a wave of his hand, he turned the two new ones to dust, just like the first. However, before he could turn his attention back to the sect, the room was flooded with roots. They were no longer one or two... With dust and debris falling from the ceiling into the clear water, bundles of roots tore through the ceiling and walls! He had never seen such an audacious plant! It had gotten a taste of his Spirit Water and was here for more!

With a thought, power roused around him, driven by the intent to wipe out this annoyance. Raging winds of energy blew through the root bundles, reaching for his cultivation resource. He squinted. He expected the bundles to disintegrate just like before; instead, he felt a portion of the energy vanish, while only the thinner roots were stopped. Resolutely, he brought an Infinite Gourd from his Cosmos Bag. An elegant wave of his hand took control of the Earth Spirit Water and manipulated it like a tamed beast.

The clear liquid jumped out of the pool, directly into the gourd. It escaped from the imminent grasp of the thicker roots and vanished into the gourd. The whole pool easily fit into the tiny bottle, and he quickly sealed it. Before he eradicated the pesky thing, it was safer to secure his treasures first. He didn't want to risk polluting or losing some of the Earth Spirit Water when he used more power to destroy the steadily increasing number of roots, tunneling through the surrounding rock.

There was also the unwillingness to let the roots steal from him, but he wouldn't admit that. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Controlling the power of Heaven and Earth, he weaved energy into a technique and blasted it forward. The clear power attacked the roots and disintegrated them, but it didn't stop there. It would travel along the roots and erase the existence that was so desperately trying to steal from him.

His Palm of Extinction tore through the forest of roots like a scythe, eating away at the floral fiend and then… it grew weaker and simply vanished barely a couple of arm's lengths away from him.

"What the--?" he whispered silently, when he witnessed his skill actually fail. It was not his imagination when he noticed that some of the energy of his attack vanished. The same phenomenon had happened again. He squinted at the thicket of roots that was now filling the small cave with the empty pond where he had just sat. A foreboding feeling settled in his stomach when a certain idea formed in his mind.

Expanding his divine consciousness, he vanished from the small cave and directly appeared in the quarters of the sect leader. From there, his sense expanded across the whole sect. His heart dropped when his hunch was confirmed. The sect was in chaos, bodies littered the streets and courtyards, bizarre monsters roamed the surrounding streets, and then… A cold dread came to him when his mortal sight found what he was looking for. The source of the roots. The heavens were covered by a cloud of green.

Rising from the valley at the center of the peaks, where the spirit vein was flowing, a gargantuan tree had risen from the ground. Its massive crown touched all peaks, and the vines falling from it touched upon the sect. Swaying slightly in the wind made it seem almost peaceful, if it wasn't for the scenes he witnessed with his divine consciousness. Whether it was a beast, disciple, or corpse, none escaped the roots and vines running rampant in the sect. Bodies were pulled underground and ripped into the air.

Some of the weird creatures and disciples easily reached the Golden Core Realm, but they couldn't defend against a couple of vines binding and strangling them. The initial shock quickly vanished at the sight of his sect's disciples being slaughtered and sucked dry, until they were only husks. The perfectly controlled energy, kept in balance to elongate his life, now ran rampant as he released his self-imposed limiter.

"How dare you!" his voice echoed through the sect valley, reaching the ears of every disciple that was still alive. The release of energy could be felt all over the sect, and his might exploded forward, wiping away the residence he stood in.

"The Sect Ancestor!"

"The old Ancestors appeared!" the survivors exclaimed in surprise and cheer. Many had already lost hope, but the resurgence of the sect's old monster gave them new hope. If it were the old ancestor, he was sure to take care of that demonic tree; they were sure. The skies above the sect were illuminated by heavenly grace, and the ancestor weaved his power. Above the tree in the sky formed a translucent Palm, rivaling the size of its crown. The true form of the Palm of Extinction.

An attack that would annihilate any matter in its path! Legends still spoke of the crater it created when the ancestor erased a rivaling sect from the face of the land! It annihilated everything in its path and created a huge crater... It dawned on the few survivors that they were really at the ancestors' mercy here. If he didn't stop his own skill in time, he would simply annihilate their own sect...

All their hopes and worries had no meaning, as they couldn't stop the palm from striking down with a thundering roar! The palm and the crown collided, and the lush green leaves turned into a rain of gray dust. Everyone's hearts raced, watching the spectacle as the palm of power wiped the terrifying tree out of existence. Only one heart grew colder as he watched the spectacle.

The palm managed to erase the leaves, the branches, the boughs, but by the time it reached the gargantuan trunk, it had already lost essence and grown translucent. The ancestor watched in trepidation as his most powerful skill constantly lost power in a struggle with a weed! At this point, it looked like the palm of an idiot who slapped a sharpened stake. By the time it hit the ground, it was just the ghost of a palm and turned into a strong gust blowing through the sect.

"Ancestor stopped in time!"

"We are saved!" the survivors cheered. Things went much too fast for any of the ordinary disciples to see what was truly happening. All they experienced was the legendary technique of their sect's ancestor slapping the tree, turning it into a dead pole, and turning into a strong gust that didn't harm the sect at all. They didn't know that the ancestor had struck with everything he had, and little to no regard for their lives or the sect...