Chapter 179: Tree Seed

It was just a simple pit, the kind that could bury half a child.

Xu Xiao asked doubtfully, "Can this thing really have a special reaction with the *yu jian*?"

Xu Xiao took out the *yu jian* given to him by the dean, feeling both surprised and skeptical.

To his astonishment, the *yu jian* in his hand began to tremble gently, and the already abundant *ling qi* from Tianxuan Men seemed to be drawn toward it, gathering rapidly in the area.

Then, it was all absorbed by Xu Xiao...

Xu Xiao: "......"

His sensitive constitution had mostly healed from the constant stimulation over the past two days, so now, regardless of the situation, his passive absorption of *ling qi* was operating at full capacity.

As the *yu jian* trembled more and more violently, as if it might explode at any moment, Xu Xiao quickly sealed his pores to barely halt the influx of *ling qi*.

Finally, the *yu jian* got its share, drinking it in as if starving.

It seemed like it needed a massive amount of *ling qi* to complete its transformation.

Xu Xiao thought this as he began blowing gently on the *yu jian* in his hand.

"Huff."

In that instant, *ling qi* hundreds of times denser than before surged into the *yu jian*, causing it to fall silent like a stopped heartbeat before suddenly bursting apart.

Xu Xiao: ? ? ?

Had he overdone it?

In a panic, he saw that after the *yu jian* shattered, it didn't vanish completely but instead ejected something that looked like a tree seed.

The seed fell from the sky, as if about to leap into the pit and take root.

Xu Xiao swiftly caught it mid-air.

"A seed?"

As he watched the sky shatter like a broken mirror, Xu Xiao pondered.

To support this collapsing small world, could this seed be something like the legendary "world tree"?

That would be a divine artifact!

His heart burned with excitement as he gripped the seed, which kept trying to slip into the pit, but it couldn't escape the restraints of his *zongshi* body.

"Anyway, since I couldn't get the other town boundary treasures, then this seed..."

"Keep it for myself?"

Xu Xiao was tempted, and in that moment, he felt like two little figures—one representing justice and the other evil—were duking it out in his mind.

Justice: Greed knows no bounds; don't do evil, no matter how small.

Evil: Look out for yourself, or heaven and earth will destroy you!

Justice: If it's not mine, I won't take even a single bit.

Evil: Take what? Get lost!

Justice: Done.

After less than half a second of hesitation, Xu Xiao had his answer. Just as he was about to pocket it, a urging voice came from behind:

"Mama..."

Xu Xiao shuddered, awkwardly scratching his head: "What's the rush? I was just about to plant it!"

It seemed this unlucky kid knew how important this thing was, or maybe it just wanted to fill in this dark pit that had trapped it for who knows how long.

But that call successfully awakened Xu Xiao's conscience.

One shouldn't covet unrighteous gains!

He sighed and, without further delay, tossed the seed into the pit.

The moment the seed hit the soil, it burst open, sending thick roots shooting out like giant serpents, instantly weaving a tangled network.

Xu Xiao quickly leaped into the air, as a massive tree erupted from below, surging past the hundreds-of-meters-deep pit and reaching toward the light of the sky.

It didn't stop there—it kept growing upward, as if aiming to pierce the clouds and uphold this shattered world.

Whirling *ling qi* converged from all directions, and even with Xu Xiao at full power, he couldn't absorb it all.

He could only steal away a tiny fraction, maybe one or two percent.

Xu Xiao was stunned.

What kind of tree was this?

After drawing in the essence of heaven and earth, it transformed from a mere seed into a towering giant in just seconds—this was truly towering!

Its massive trunk filled the entire black arena, like a mountain appearing out of nowhere, impossible to cross.

Its height shot far beyond the range of Xu Xiao's perception, vanishing into the unknown.

Xu Xiao regretted it deeply.

This was the real divine artifact! How could he have just handed it over? If he'd known, he might have used those other town boundary treasures to stabilize the small world instead, then swapped out this seed...

Buzz—

In the instant the giant tree pierced the heavens, the shattering of the world seemed to slow, and as the ancient tree continued to grow, the damage was gradually repaired.

"Success?"

Xu Xiao felt thrilled. He'd personally planted a seed and seen it become a full tree in seconds—this sense of accomplishment was overwhelming.

"Mama..."

The puppet child behind him also tilted its head up at the sky, murmuring.

At the array gate.

The group that had been waiting saw the massive tree suddenly rise in the distance, leaving even the previously pessimistic trio, who had been crouching on the ground, in shock.

"Success?"

"Xu Xiao actually succeeded—we're not going to die?"

Mu Zixi stared at the ancient tree, nearly drooling.

She regretted not following him. Such immense vitality—stealing a bite would have been worth it.

"Xu Xiao..."

She recalled Zhou Tian Shen, that tall guy who once said in the Ling Cang Ge that following the champion means you'd always have meat to eat...

She hadn't believed it then, but now, she couldn't agree more!

In the inner courtyard, in the council hall.

A crowd of anxious eyes turned simultaneously to the "Twelve Zhu Ling Lian Pan" in Zhao Xi Dong's hand, as it had stopped trembling.

The disk, once covered in cracks, now glowed with a fresh azure light and was steadily repairing itself.

"Tianxuan Men is recovering!" Zhao Xi Dong exclaimed excitedly.

Qiao Qian Zhi was equally delighted, as the recovery of the *ling pan* meant he wouldn't have to fix Tianxuan Men's great array anymore, saving him a lot of effort.

He looked at Ye Xiao Tian and said, "Since Tianxuan Men is restoring itself, should we continue with the final day?"

Tianxuan Men didn't open easily, and letting those kids stay inside an extra day would be beneficial.

After all, he'd scolded most of them in the outer courtyard and watched them grow up. Even if spies had slipped in, they couldn't let the bigger picture suffer for minor issues.

But Ye Xiao Tian shook his head.

"I get what you mean, but Tianxuan Men's small world has just gone through a collapse. Even though it's recovering now, the space is still unstable."

"The risk for those inside is too high. We have to get them out immediately."

Qiao Qian Zhi sighed. He knew the space was unstable, but since even Ye Xiao Tian couldn't stabilize it, there was no choice.

He pulled out the array token, intending to reopen Tianxuan Men.

Ye Xiao Tian stopped him.

"Let me handle it!"

"Opening a space passage reliant on the great array at this moment still carries some risk. Since the world inside is recovering, I'll directly connect the two world passages and bring everyone out at once."

Qiao Qian Zhi nodded.

"That works. It cuts down on the back-and-forth, reducing potential accidents."

Their conversation wasn't loud, but it wasn't hushed either. Their casual discussion left the veiled woman nearby utterly stunned.

"Connect world passages with just his own power?" Yu Zhi Wen said in surprise.

Jiang Bian Yan nodded gravely. "If it's Ye Xiao Tian, it's entirely possible. After all, he's one of the rare few on the continent with space attribute power..."

Then, the two watched as the short, white-haired daoist child thrust his hands into the void, forming two passages under his control.

"Amazing..."

Jiang Bian Yan glanced at the astonished woman beside her and said, "Space power is incredibly hard to comprehend—I'm sure even you haven't seen much of it."

"This is a rare chance to observe world power up close. Treat it as an opportunity and sense it well!"

"After all, this guy, like you, comes from the Zhong Yu..."