Meng Hao was a bit confused. He felt no pain; rather, he was filled with the sensation that he had turned into that tree. Countless years passed, and he eventually became a Greenwood Tree.
As the years came and went, a white wolf, a colorful snake, and a tiny bat all made their homes beneath the tree. Years passed. Finally, one rainy evening, a person approached.
It was a middle-aged man carrying an umbrella. He came to a stop in front of the tree and looked at it.
“So, yet another being come to South Heaven to confirm their Dao. Body and spirit destroyed, but a seed of the soul left behind, striving to prove itself on South Heaven….
“Very well. Since we’re in the Western Desert of South Heaven, I will use the power of my League to bless you all with the ability to pass down totems. Just like the Demonic Dao Pill of the Southern Domain…. The path of an ancient Dao, Perennial Will.” The man sighed, lifted his hand up, and placed it on the tree. After a long time had passed, he turned and walked off into the distance.
As he did, countless shimmering strands emanated out from him. They were dim and faint, but each one seemed to be connected to his body. They circled out and disappeared into the air. These strands seemed to be nothing other than Karma threads.
“I am the Fifth Generation of my League, the Fifth Generation Demon Sealing Daoist Master. My Dao is different from that of the Ninth Mountain and Sea. With different Daos, accords cannot be reached. Whether they are right or wrong doesn’t matter. My Dao will exist forever!
“I shall face the Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas.” The man looked back and gazed at the Greenwood Tree. As he did, it seemed to Meng Hao almost as if he were looking directly at him. His mind suddenly began to buzz. The man continued, “To meet you before I depart… is fate. It seems our destinies shall become a point of enlightenment for one of my successors in the future.
“It’s not that the line of the League of Demon Sealers can’t be broken. If the younger generation can gain enlightenment, it will continue on. If not, then the Dao Tribulation of the Nine Mountains and Seas will arrive, and then the people will remember the will of the Demon Sealers.”
The buzzing in Meng Hao’s mind lasted for a long time. When it finally disappeared, everything that he had seen was fading.
He… was standing upon the palm of the Treant. The sky was filled with clouds as it had been before, and the air echoed with the chants of the Crow Scout Tribe members. Everything that he had just experienced seemed to have happened in only an instant. However, Meng Hao had experienced an eternity.
His eyes were filled with a blank expression. Tuning out everything around him, he stepped off of the Treant’s hand and then sat down cross-legged onto the altar. He closed his eyes.
A green glow gradually began to rise up from his body. Within the green glow, branches could be seen. They burrowed into the stone surface of the altar; Meng Hao almost looked as if he were becoming a Treant himself.
When the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members saw this, their hearts and minds began to shake, and they stared mutely. The Earth Priest and the Sky Priest began to pant, and their eyes filled with disbelief.
It was at this point that a beam of light approached from off in the distance. It transformed into an ancient old man. The ripples of his Cultivation base placed him at the mid Nascent Soul stage. The instant the old man appeared, his gaze fell upon Meng Hao, and his expression flickered.
After a long moment passed, the old man said, “Ancestor Greenwood is bestowing a totem….” The two Crow Scout Tribe High Priests looked at the man. Serious expressions filled their faces, and they nodded.
“Considering that he is receiving a totem from Ancestor Greenwood, cancel all investigations into him. It doesn’t matter where he is from, nor how much of what he has said is true or false. He is now an eternal vassal of the Crow Scout Tribe!”
Time passed by slowly. By the time Meng Hao’s eyes opened again, it was seven days later.
He saw that the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members had dispersed. It was evening, and not a single person was in sight. He was alone on the altar atop the mountain’s highest peak.
His eyes were filled with confusion. He looked down at his body and could see countless branches attached to it, spreading out in every direction, as if he was now a tree.