"Senior, the Chief Steward has ordered that if you emerge from seclusion, you are to report to her immediately." The Lingxiao Pavilion disciple said.
Chief Steward...
A woman's face flashed through Fang Tianci's mind. If he remembered correctly, this Chief Steward had been standing beside the Dao Lord back then, clearly someone the Dao Lord held in high regard.
He didn't dare to be negligent, gesturing with his hand. "Lead the way."
Before long, inside the great hall, Fang Tianci met the woman called Hua Qingsi, the Chief Steward of Lingxiao Pavilion. Her cultivation was no low thing—she too was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator like himself. However, she had evidently advanced to the Sixth Order some years ago, and her foundation was deep and her aura restrained.
Fang Tianci bowed. "Greetings, Chief Steward."
Hua Qingsi returned the bow with a smile, then warmly inquired about the details of Fang Tianci's seclusion. Upon learning that his cultivation had fully stabilized, she let out a sigh of relief.
Over the past few years, Open Heaven cultivators emerging from the Void World had been finishing their seclusions one after a time. Every one of them had been brought to meet her, then dispatched by her to various Great Domain battlefields.
After all, this was a task Yang Kai had personally assigned, and she intended to carry it out with meticulous precision.
That said, she recognized that these Open Heaven cultivators from the Void Dao Academy had little understanding of the outside world's situation. So Hua Qingsi had prepared a dossier of intelligence specifically for them, handing it out before each departed for battle.
"The Palace Master previously decreed that once you have stabilized your cultivation, you are to set out immediately for the Great Domain battlefields to gain experience. This contains basic information on each of the battlefields. Take a look—if there's anywhere you'd like to go, feel free to tell me." As she spoke, she handed over a jade slip.
She did have the authority to assign postings, but she also tried her best to consider the preferences of people like Fang Tianci. Yang Kai's orders were for them to fight and gain experience, with no specific destination mandated, so this didn't count as overstepping her authority.
Fang Tianci thanked her and accepted the jade slip, immersing his divine sense within. After a thorough review, he quickly gained a basic understanding of the Three Thousand Worlds and the current situation of the human race. He was secretly alarmed. Even while cultivating in the Void Dao Academy, Senior Brother Liu Jingshan had mentioned that the world of the Dao Lord was at war with the Ink Clan—and the Ink Clan seemed to be extraordinarily powerful.
But he had never imagined that in this great world, the human race's situation could be so dire.
A sense of urgency welled up inside him. The human race could now only hold fast at thirteen Great Domain battlefields. If these thirteen battlefields fell, then across this vast cosmos and boundless universe, where would the human race have left to stand?
Yet he also read that under the Dao Lord's pressure, the Ink Clan had voluntarily sued for peace with the human race several years ago, greatly easing the burden on humanity. He felt a fresh wave of admiration—the Dao Lord was truly the Dao Lord, capable of what no ordinary person could achieve.
The human race had many Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators, but only one among them was like the Dao Lord.
He couldn't help but feel a flicker of shared pride, silently resolving that when he ventured out in the future, he absolutely must not tarnish the Dao Lord's reputation. After all, they were born from the Dao Lord's Small Universe—they were different from other human Open Heaven cultivators.
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go?" Hua Qingsi saw him set down the jade slip and asked gently.
Fang Tianci said, "I'll leave it entirely to the Chief Steward's arrangements."
He had no particular preference for where to go. It felt the same everywhere—it would just be fighting and battling the Ink Clan. Two thousand years of solid cultivation had given him the confidence that even if he encountered a Lord, he'd have a chance to escape. This wasn't blind arrogance but genuine self-assurance. Though he had never fought the Ink Clan before, his Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivation was not quite the same as an ordinary Sixth-Order's.
"However, before that, this disciple wishes to pay his respects to the Dao Lord. I have some questions I'd like to ask the Dao Lord."
"You mean the Palace Master..." Hua Qingsi's expression turned troubled. She already knew that Yang Kai had returned to the Star Boundary and established a cave abode on the World Tree to recuperate from his injuries. It wouldn't be convenient to disturb him at a time like this. After a moment's thought, she said, "If there's something you want to know, I can tell you."
Fang Tianci shook his head, somewhat apologetically. "This matter can only be explained to the Dao Lord in person."
Hua Qingsi hesitated for a moment. Seeing how earnest he was, she knew it must be something important. Rising to her feet, she said, "Come with me. But I can't guarantee whether you'll be able to see the Palace Master."
If the Palace Master truly was in the midst of healing, she might not agree to meet.
"Thank you, Chief Steward."
The two walked out of the great hall and soared into the sky.
Moments later, Fang Tianci stared, dazed, at the towering giant tree that pierced the clouds at the edge of his vision.
In truth, ten years ago, after he had advanced to the Open Heaven Realm and followed Hua Qingsi back to the Star Boundary, he had already seen this enormous tree. But at the time, he had been immersed in the elation of his breakthrough and hadn't asked many questions. Only now did he ask, "Chief Steward, what kind of tree is that?"
Hua Qingsi smiled. "That is the subsidiary sapling of the World Tree."
She then recounted the origins of the subsidiary sapling in detail. As Fang Tianci listened, his expression shifted through a range of emotions, and he instinctively reached down to press a hand against his stomach.
He had originally assumed that such a massive tree was simply very old and had grown to a considerable size. Only now did he understand that this was the very foundation of the human race's present existence. It was precisely because of this tree that the Star Boundary could continually birth all manner of prodigies, giving today's humanity the hope to resist the Ink Clan.
Without this tree, the human race's future would be nothing but darkness.
And this enormous tree was merely a subsidiary sapling. Just how magnificent and grand must the true World Tree be?
"What about that one?" Fang Tianci glanced at another great tree beside the subsidiary sapling.
It was somewhat smaller than the subsidiary sapling, without as vast a canopy. But there was no denying that it too was a colossal tree reaching into the heavens. From a distance, it gave an impression of being simultaneously real and unreal, elusive and indefinable—as if it existed within this world, and yet also as if it did not.