Chapter 537: Jianmu

"Jianmu?"

Lu Yang’s eyes suddenly widened as he stared at the wooden protective talisman in utter disbelief.

"Isn't that the true form of the Immortal of Years?"

The common people did not recognize immortal artifacts and often attached the title of "Immortal" to many rare objects; for instance, they frequently referred to a minor medicinal king as an "immortal grass," a peerless sword as an "immortal sword," and incomprehensible Daoist magic as "immortal techniques."

But in reality, whether it was a minor medicinal king or a peerless sword, they were both far from reaching the level of the "Immortal."

Jianmu was different; this absolutely deserved to be called an immortal artifact, undisputedly so.

"This Immortal said this thing looked familiar; this is definitely a part of the Immortal of Years, just a bit small, otherwise this Immortal would have recognized it immediately!"

When it came to familiarity with the Immortal of Years in this world, none could compare to the Immortal Immortal.

With a strange expression on his face, Lu Yang asked again, "Then how did this small piece of Jianmu come about? Did the Immortal of Years scrape it off the skin of his feet?"

The body of an immortal was indestructible; who could cut a piece of wood from the Immortal of Years?

The Immortal Immortal cast a look of disgust at Lu Yang, "How could that be? An immortal possesses a flawless body, so how could they have something like foot skin like a mortal?"

"Then this small piece of Jianmu..."

"It might have been blasted off by this Immortal."

Lu Yang: "..."

"It is also hard to say if it was beaten out by Ying Tianxian and the others; after all, before the Immortal of Years became an immortal, he said he would definitely become an immortal and that none of you could, which provoked public anger, and after becoming an immortal, Ying Tianxian and the others frequently ambushed him in the dark."

"However, this piece of wood is too small, and I cannot distinguish exactly who beat it out."

"If I remember correctly, didn't the Immortal of Years only say those words to you alone at that time, Immortal? It was you who passed the word to Ying Tianxian and the others."

With a grand wave of her hand, the Immortal Immortal instructed Lu Yang, "The results are about the same, do not fuss over so much, you should learn more from this Immortal in this regard."

"Also, ask this little slip of a girl if she has more Jianmu."

To be able to give Lu Yang a small piece of Jianmu indicated that Shangguan Yu still had more Jianmu here.

"Sister Shangguan, may I ask what this object is? Why have I never seen it before?" Lu Yang inquired politely.

"You haven't seen it, right? This object is only a small piece; the larger one is right beneath the wood vein, a charred giant log, and the vibrant vitality of the wood vein is all thanks to that section of giant log; when the patriarch of our sect surveyed and found that section of giant log beneath the wood vein, he was truly startled."

"The vibrant vitality of the giant log can sustain the wood vein for a hundred thousand years without decaying, which shows the power of this giant log."

"The patriarch also discovered this point; the vitality contained within the giant log is powerful to an unimaginable degree, already surpassing the scope of what the cultivation world can comprehend, and none of the spiritual trees recorded in ancient books match this point."

"Therefore, the patriarch made a bold guess that this thing is nothing else but a part of the Wood Immortal’s body!"

The current cultivation world did not know the title of the Immortal of Years, only knowing that he was transformed from a tree, so they habitually referred to him as the Wood Immortal.

"The Wood Immortal?!" Everyone cried out in surprise, and even Bai Ming was no exception; he had never heard of this matter, much less known that the vitality of the wood vein was actually caused by a section of a giant log.

"Sister Shangguan."

"Sister Shangguan."

As soon as they heard that what was in Lu Yang’s hand was part of the legendary Wood Immortal, everyone called out "Sister Shangguan" one after another, and even Bai Ming shouted it as well.

"Calling me only now, it's too late." Shangguan Yu turned her head away to prevent them from seeing her smile.

Then she turned back again and said solemnly, "You must call it a few more times."

The rising and falling cries of "Sister Shangguan" made Shangguan Yu beam with joy.

"Come, come, come, one piece for each person, it can bless you with safety, Little Bai Ming, you have one too."

Shangguan Yu produced five small wooden plaques and distributed them to everyone.

"Bless with safety?" Lu Yang remembered that when Meng Jingzhou suffered from karmic backlash, the Immortal Immortal said the Immortal of Years had the function of expelling evil and could avert Meng Jingzhou’s karmic backlash.

If the body of the Immortal of Years was truly useful and could bless with safety, then why did Qiu Jin'an still go to the governor of Huangzhou to borrow the power of the national destiny?

He entered his mental space, just about to ask the Immortal Immortal, when he saw the Immortal Immortal make a decision and unfold her immortal sense.

Originally, the Immortal Immortal had been wondering if doing this would offend the Five Elements Sect, but hearing Shangguan Yu’s reminder, she also thought of the same thing as Lu Yang, neglecting whether it was offensive or not.

She immediately unfolded her immortal sense to scan the wood vein, and as expected, she discovered the section of giant log Shangguan Yu had spoken of.

The giant log was unimaginably massive, penetrating the entire wood vein; though Lu Yang and the others could visit the five veins at will and arrived just by walking casually, they were walking near the intersection of the five veins, where the distance was greatly shortened.

In reality, the area of the Five Elements Sect was only slightly smaller than that of the Dao Seeking Sect, occupying a full eighty thousand li, and the five veins were the main body of the Five Elements Sect; one could imagine how vast the wood vein was, and what kind of length the giant log that could penetrate the wood vein must possess.

But compared to the heaven-reaching Jianmu in the Immortal Immortal’s memory, this piece of giant log was still much shorter, even described as dwarfed.

The Immortal Immortal condensed the appearance of the giant log she saw within the mental space.

The giant log was charred black all over, bearing fire wounds and lightning burns, with several layers of its old bark having sloughed off, and there was even a single attack that pierced straight through the heart of the tree.

"What is going on here?" Lu Yang was startled; even an outsider like him could feel to what extent this giant log had suffered attacks, which could be described as tragic.

The Immortal Immortal fell silent for a while before she spoke slowly, no longer in her previous laughing and playing manner, "The Immortal of Years suffered an attack, and the person who struck used the most common methods of attack to cover up their identity."

"At first, I thought that when I self-detonated, the Immortal of Years employed methods like 'withered wood encountering spring' or 'the golden cicada shedding its skin' to leave behind an avatar while his true self fled, but this is wrong; Ying Tianxian said not to leave avatars to the world, as for the world, this is a blessing, but it could also be the root of disaster, so an avatar of the Immortal of Years should not appear here."

"Now seeing this section of Jianmu, I am certain that this is the true form of the Immortal of Years, and a large part of it has already turned into nothingness!"

The Immortal Immortal did not remember that there had ever been a battle of such magnitude while she was still alive.

This was a battle of the level of an immortal's demise.

"After this Immortal died, the Immortal of Years once engaged in a great war, and the opponent was extremely powerful."

The Immortal of Years was in charge of the Dao Fruit of Years, capable of observing the past, foreseeing the future, and restoring his body to an uninjured state; under such circumstances, he was still beaten into this state, which was enough to show the power and terror of the opponent.

Lu Yang’s heart trembled upon hearing this, "The Immortal of Years... passed away?"

The Immortal Immortal shook her head slowly, "It is impossible to be certain; the vitality of an immortal is more powerful than you imagine, and even if they lose their true form, they can still survive, but with the Immortal of Years like this, I fear that even if he is still alive, having lost his true form, he cannot be much better off."

"The Immortal of Years is different from this Immortal; with the Immortal Dao Fruit, this Immortal can casually create a true form to house an immortal soul, but the Immortal of Years cannot; the body of an immortal is of vital importance to an immortal, and it is very difficult to find anything in the world that can replace or reshape an immortal body."

The true form of the Immortal of Years had been beaten into such a state, with his life or death unknown; how could one speak of blessing and praying for safety?

The second update is at eleven o'clock