The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

After some time recuperating at home, Fang Hao adjusted his condition to peak form. Once ready, he took out the red orb that Fang Ting had given him.

"Huuuh…"

With ample preparation, he stepped through the Twin Gate once more, returning to the ruin left by the Emperor-level cultivator in the Immortal Realm's Ancient Battlefield.

The sky-piercing tree—ten thousand feet tall—still loomed where he had left it. Beneath it, the elite cultivators from various factions still hung, bound alive.

Those who had been captured early were already on the brink of death—only the faintest glimmer of consciousness remained. Their life essence had nearly been drained dry.

As for Yun Chenglai and Fairy Qingyu, who had been captured more recently, their states were better—only slightly weakened. They were fully conscious, able to feel every bit of their essence being slowly and painfully siphoned away.

Their despair and helplessness were beyond words.

When Fang Hao suddenly reappeared, those who still had awareness immediately widened their eyes in shock.

"What's going on? How did he just pop out of nowhere?!"

"Wait—I remember him. He's the one who vanished suddenly before. We thought he used some escape technique, but it turns out he was just hiding his presence."

"Heh… whatever. The tree can grab a few more while it's at it. At least we'll have company on the road to the underworld."

Some among them had already become mentally twisted.

When Yun Chenglai and Fairy Qingyu saw Fang Hao again, their pupils contracted in disbelief.

"He hasn't been captured?!"

"Damn that bastard! If we hadn't chased him, we wouldn't have ended up in this cursed place, dying like this in endless torment!"

"Hurry, you demonic tree—catch him! As long as he ends up like us, I can die in peace!!"

Being caught was torture enough, but if the one who had caused their downfall walked away unscathed, it was ten times worse. They burned to see him suffer the same fate.

As soon as Fang Hao appeared, the demonic tree sensed him.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Thick branches, like flying serpents, shot toward him from all directions.

Fang Hao calmly lifted the red orb and flung it into the air.

"Moonlight Slash!"

But this slash wasn't aimed at the tree or the branches coming at him. Instead, it struck the red orb itself.

Without even checking the outcome, Fang Hao stepped through the Twin Gate again, instantly vanishing back to the Fang Family.

The terrifying strike struck the orb directly.

BOOM!!

The orb, which contained the unrefined lifetime cultivation of over a hundred Saint King-level experts, erupted. That power, sealed in a violently compressed state, now had nowhere to go—and burst outward with apocalyptic force.

"BOOOOOM!!"

The shockwave sounded like heaven itself had collapsed.

Under that blast, everything was destroyed like paper before a storm.

The cultivators hanging under the tree opened their eyes wide—this was the last scene their fading consciousness would ever see.

The tree had been able to dominate Saint-level cultivators with ease. But the concentrated force of over a hundred Saint Kings? It had no chance.

The sky-piercing tree, towering like a mountain, was reduced to ash in moments.

The captured cultivators, too, were disintegrated in the blast.

Even more, the sentient plants and spirit trees in the surrounding area wilted in an instant, collapsing into lifeless husks.

A massive crater appeared in the earth—so deep and wide it could swallow an entire imperial capital.

The world fell into a deadly silence.

Half a cup of tea later, Fang Hao reappeared. His divine sense swept across the area, confirming that nothing remained. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"If this hadn't worked, there really would've been no other way."

Just then, he noticed two surviving objects amidst the destruction. With a wave of his hand, he brought them before him.

To remain completely unscathed in the face of such catastrophic power—these items were anything but ordinary.

One was a vibrant green tree branch, thumb-thick and three feet long, pulsing with life energy.

After a close inspection, Fang Hao's heart surged with excitement.

"This must be some kind of world-class treasure… It's even better than the materials used to forge Saint weapons. It might even be suitable for refining an Emperor weapon!"

He carefully sealed the branch in a specialized brocade box.

Then he turned to examine the second item.

At first glance, it looked like a fruit—white tinged with gold, slightly larger than his fist. It emitted a rich, enticing fragrance and held a spiritual potency far beyond any Saint-grade pill.

But the more Fang Hao examined it, the stranger he felt.

Upon closer inspection, the fruit vaguely resembled an unformed fetus.

Fang Hao sent his divine sense into it repeatedly—and eventually made a discovery.

Inside the fruit's "head" was a faint remnant of a divine soul.

Fang Hao immediately recalled what Fang Ting had told him about the Wanshan Emperor, and his mind raced.

"Could it be... this divine soul belongs to the ruin's owner? Did he plant that demonic tree here to absorb cultivators' essence and use it to nurture this fruit—so that when it ripened, he could use it to rebuild his body and reincarnate?!"

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

This fruit was the counterpart to the red orb.

The red orb couldn't be used by anyone below the Emperor Realm (except perhaps a demonic cultivator), and was too wild for even Emperor-level beings to absorb safely.

But this fruit, while also an extraordinary treasure, was different.

It could be used to refine pills or be consumed directly, and its medicinal potency was far beyond any known Saint pill.

It might not benefit Emperor-level beings much—but for anyone below that level, it would be a priceless treasure.

Both items, in their own ways, were beyond value.

Fang Hao stored the fruit the same way he did the tree branch, then returned home, pacing in thought.

"This tree branch could be used to refine an Emperor weapon… but our clan doesn't have any smiths capable of that yet. Nor do we have any legacy techniques for forging such items. It'll have to be stored for now."

As for the fruit—its origin was difficult to explain. Even if he gave it to Fang Chu, they wouldn't know how to properly refine it.

In that case… why not just eat it himself?