Everyone followed Yi Beidou's gaze, a look of bewilderment flashing in their eyes.
The Cyan Wood Divine Locust Tree?
This ancient, unusual tree did indeed have something miraculous about it. But for ordinary people, its effect was merely a magnetic field that slightly calmed the mind and improved blood circulation. Beyond that, its primary importance to the Cyan Wood Heart Intent Sect was symbolic.
As for the old tree becoming a spirit or a demon, that was simply impossible. At least, in the nearly two hundred years the Cyan Wood Heart Intent Sect had watched over it, they had never noticed anything unusual.
"Is this old Cyan Wood Locust Tree what you were looking for?"
Mu Huaidong asked Yi Beidou, his expression puzzled.
"Locust Wood is a tree that connects to the spiritual. In many legends, it is said that Locust Wood harbors the yin and benefits ghosts. This isn't baseless speculation. All things have a Spirit. It stands on this spot, with no ears to hear, no eyes to see, and no mouth to speak, yet it can record a will that transcends the mundane."
Yi Beidou spoke slowly as he began walking toward the large locust tree in the center of the training ground. As he passed through the crowd, people automatically parted to make way for him, none daring to stand in his path.
The physical body is not the only vessel for the spirit and will.
A single word, a painting, a statue, a mottled and rusted sword, a blood-stained Jade Pendant—any of these can become a vessel carrying a piece of spirit and history.
If one can resonate with it, it is like opening a book of poems and epics, reading through the vicissitudes of time and the splendors of ages past.
However, due to various factors—such as the weight of the spirit contained within the object and the limitations of the human mind and soul—few can truly achieve this.
A thousand-year-old fingerprint on a Terracotta Warrior might move someone to tears, their spirit seemingly traveling back a millennium to dance with the artisan who made it, as if they were witnessing history firsthand. Yet, others might just find it an eyesore.
If there was an imprint left by a Saint Expert of Body Ascension, combined with the unique nature of Yi Beidou's own mind, he could achieve the incredible.
His enlightened perception would allow for a Synesthesia connecting the ancient and the modern.
Yi Beidou had arrived before the old locust tree. He slowly reached out and placed his palm on the thick trunk.
At that moment, his spirit became intensely focused. Through his palm, he connected with the old locust tree, creating a strange resonance.
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE!!
The old locust tree's trunk trembled slightly, its leaves rustling.
Yi Beidou's mind seemed to cross a century of time and space. He saw a piece of history that had once unfolded—the potent spirit of a being who had achieved Body Ascension, branded into the locust tree.
Yi Beidou saw a tall man dressed in a cyan Martial Arts Uniform. His face was young, looking to be in his early thirties at most. His eyes were like two balls of raging fire, and his back was ramrod straight, like a cosmic pillar connecting the heavens and the earth.
This man was standing before the old locust tree, gently stroking its trunk.
"Old friend, I have a premonition that after this parting, we may never see each other again. Who would have thought that a tiny Island Country, a mere speck of land, could have so many who have achieved Body Ascension? In the end, it is the Great Trend of nations, forged by the era."
"The Island Country may be small, but with its industrial revolution, ironclad ships, and powerful cannons, their resources are abundant. Everyone can eat their fill. With modern ways of thinking, no one is a slave or a servant. But my Divine Land, as vast as it is, how many people here can afford meat at every meal? A pity. I am but a common man who only knows how to practice martial arts, not the great affairs of the nation."
"But as a Martial Artist, how can I shrink back in this time of national crisis? Even if my body and soul are annihilated, I must make those villains understand our will. This land birthed me and raised me. How can I sit by and watch it fall into the hands of outsiders?"
"Old friend, they say Locust Wood harbors Spirit. Today, I will entrust my will of Ascension to you. Even if I die, perhaps my will can be passed down to future generations, so that our legacy will not be broken."
BOOM!!
The next moment, an intense will surged forth, shaking Yi Beidou's mind. It took him back to the moment of the man's Ascension, when his spirit was at its most potent.
A century ago, the nation was in peril. Foreign enemies invaded, and the Divine Land fell.
Han Province became a front line of the war. Cannon fire was everywhere, and the people's lives were plunged into misery. Wherever the enemy went, they burned, killed, pillaged, and raped. In addition to the overt war, they also issued orders to eliminate all the experts of the Donghua Martial Arts Realm and seize the secret teachings of the Donghua Martial Arts Dao.
The Cyan Wood Heart Intent Sect had a legacy of over a hundred years at that time and had a considerable reputation in Han Province. As the Sect Leader, Feng Hua Chuan led his disciples in clandestine resistance, assassinating enemy soldiers and seizing supplies, becoming a thorn in the enemy's side.
Da Wu City fell. A great number of civilians fled to the mountains, but over ten thousand were captured by the enemy. The enemy sent men to broadcast messages into the mountains day and night, demanding that Feng Hua Chuan come to a meeting in Da Wu City in three days, or else all ten thousand-plus captives would be buried alive.
Feng Hua Chuan ignored the pleas of the Sect Leaders from the Six Yang Qi and Five Fire Refining Truth sects, insisting on going.
"This mere body of flesh and blood, in exchange for ten thousand lives... it's worth it!"
"Even if it's a trap, I must go! Otherwise, if over ten thousand people die because of me, how could my heart be at peace? How could I face the teachings I've dedicated my life to?"
Outside Da Wu City, Feng Hua Chuan went to the meeting alone. What the enemy commander had prepared for him was a mountain of dry firewood.
"I am a man of my word. You will sit here. The entire time until you collapse in the flames will be their chance to escape. The moment time is up, I will immediately order my men to recapture them. Let's see just how capable you are."
The enemy commander pointed at the large group of raggedly dressed commoners behind him and spoke to Feng Hua Chuan with a mocking tone.
"Everyone, go now! Do not hesitate! If you have the chance in the future, avenge me."
Feng Hua Chuan's expression was calm as he stepped onto the pyre and sat down cross-legged.
FWOOSH!!
The flames erupted. Ten thousand people fled, weeping.
To be burned alive by raging flames... how could the pain possibly be described in words?
Clothes incinerated, skin charred, smoke searing the internal organs—it was the ultimate torture on earth.
But Feng Hua Chuan remained as still as a mountain, fully circulating his Seed of Rebirth to stimulate his own life force.
Every extra moment he endured gave those ten thousand people another moment to escape.
In that intense pain, in that crisis between life and death, in that enlightenment of great relinquishment, great sacrifice, and great courage, Feng Hua Chuan grasped the great Dao.
The Cyan Wood Heart Intent was born from observing the form and intent of the old Cyan Wood Locust Tree. It focused on condensing one's Qi and blood to form a seed in the Dantian, all to imitate plants for the sake of health and Longevity.
However, if one were to become a plant, what use is Longevity?
Wood grows through stillness; man lives through movement.
Only the most fervent heart and the most furious fire could allow that true human seed in the Dantian to break through the soil, take root, and sprout.
CRACK!!
Feng Hua Chuan felt a crisp crack from within his Dantian. The Cyan Wood Heart Intent's Seed of Rebirth had actually broken through the soil within his Dantian, giving rise to a glittering, golden, spiral-shaped "sapling."
'The raging fire burns my body, but great courage ignites my will. Only thus can a Golden Lotus bloom from within the inferno!'
This was merely a spiritual vision, but for the body, that crisp crack symbolized the shattering of life's shackles—a sign that the human body had surpassed its original physical limits.
The fire died down, leaving only a charred body sitting cross-legged. Just as the enemy soldiers were about to approach and inspect it, they suddenly heard a crisp crack.
The charred husk exploded, and Feng Hua Chuan leaped up. His eyes blazed like fire, his will was like an ancient tree, and his body stood ramrod straight, a pillar between heaven and earth.
Yi Beidou had sensed the entire process of how a Saint Expert of the Cyan Wood Heart Intent broke through the limits of the flesh to achieve Ascension.
Body Ascension was no trivial matter. Every person who achieved it was a legend, their experiences an epic poem.
This was what he had truly been searching for.
'Scorched by fire, the heart-seed breaks through, and a Golden Lotus is born!'
For a moment, even Yi Beidou felt his heart surge with emotion.
"Today, I have received your will. I shall pass on the Dao to your descendants in your stead and repay this debt!"
Yi Beidou's gaze was like a torch as he looked at the members of the Cyan Wood Heart Intent Sect.
"All of you, watch closely. This is the True Intent of Ascension from your sect's Saint Expert of Body Ascension!"