Exorcism

Not long after the boat left the shore, when I looked at the flames on the island, I could no longer see the majesty and majesty in the night. It was just an ordinary fire, not even as eye-catching as the self-propelled flat-bottomed boat under Mu Xingqiu's feet.

The boat sailed on the black sea, like a feather drifting with the waves, almost calm. The deep water was like a semi-solidified gel, quietly waiting to melt, as if it would swallow the boat and the people on it at any time. Down.

Mu Xingqiu stood alone on the boat, facing the island, looking at the lost magic flames and the many blank and frightened eyes. The flames in the hearts of the islanders were burning more and more. This was the power accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years. A spark can explode. Mu Xingqiu held such a spark in his hand, but he still didn't throw it out. He needed to know more truth.

Under the guidance of a warm feeling, his fingers slowly traced across the black bark. What he traced looked like words and patterns, but he didn't recognize any of them.

The "ancient god" in the fire clearly knows human language, so why does he have to play such riddles? Mu Xingqiu was confused and continued to move his fingers on the bark. When he was about to move to the end, he suddenly realized that this was actually a talisman and a spell that was about to take effect.

As the boat got further away from the island, the spell's confinement weakened. Mu Xingqiu was able to fly, but he still stayed on the boat, waiting for the spell on the bark of the tree and remaining vigilant.

The bark of the tree suddenly burned, and the flames quickly spread to Mu Xingqiu, then the boat, and then the sea... Mu Xingqiu was unmoved, knowing very well that this was just an illusion.

The islanders who stood on the pier and watched only saw a small boat carrying a Taoist priest gradually going away. Shen Da stood still as if he was holding back his urine and repeated the sentence quickly, "Oh, Ye Lin." Town, oh, my wife ran away..."

In front of Mu Xingqiu's eyes, the flames gradually disappeared. He saw a tree. It was not very tall. It was very similar to the fire tree on the island. It had a straight trunk, well-defined branches, and not many leaves. Each piece was green and full, and shiny. Light, crisp, and full of amazing vitality. The tree was growing, and soon it would surpass the tallest fire tree on the island - the fire tree was destroyed every five years. What Mu Xingqiu saw was what they would look like if they had the chance to grow up.

The tree is getting taller and taller, and its growth rate is also accelerating. It seems to be out of control, its shape is ever-changing, and it is no longer similar to the fire tree. The leaves are sometimes bigger and sometimes smaller, and the branches are sometimes more and sometimes less. But no matter how it changes, it is nothing like those real willows. Pines, cypresses and other trees are all different.

After dozens of changes, Mu Xingqiu finally recognized that this was the Nebula Tree on Wangshan Mountain. Nebula trees have no fixed shape, and each tree has its own characteristics. Mu Xingqiu saw it with his own eyes at Wangshan. When the tree seeds fell, he was convinced.

Nebula trees come in many different shapes, but their seeds are all the same.

The changes stopped, the seeds floated in groups, and the space was vast enough. They did not kill each other like they did in Wangshan, but politely gave way and flew as far away as possible.

Many animals came from everywhere, first looking at the tree seeds in horror, and then feverishly grabbing the tree seeds.

The tree species does not run away, but actively faces the devourer.

The animals that were the first to grab the tree seeds were deformed, with their hind legs erect and their hair reduced, becoming more and more like humans.

This is the birth of the demon clan, Mu Xingqiu thought.

Sure enough, in order to snatch more tree species, the newly born demons began to practice various techniques, which were vaguely consistent with the content of the demon lord's dharma. As the demons grew stronger, they monopolized the tree species in the air, treating them as their own exclusive food and preventing other animals from approaching.

The demons themselves are also dividing. The small group of demons that devour the most tree species have grown into fully human forms, while other weaker demons have retained some animal forms. They will become a new race in the future - the demon clan. .

The illusion is accelerating, and a hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. The demons are evolving. They once had a long civil war. In the end, all parties were exhausted, so they invented a method to allow the demons to communicate better, and even Become a whole.

Mu Xingqiu remembered this technique. He was accidentally controlled by this technique when he was fighting the Demon Mountain.

The demon clan as a whole still has thousands of forms. Although they can only bring out the power of the strongest when casting spells together, their strength still reaches its peak due to their exclusive use of tree species, and they can successfully conquer the demon clan that has multiplied and expanded. , fighting those huge alien beasts everywhere. Dragons, basalts, giant elephants... fell one after another until the species became extinct.

The demons' conquests have no end, and their fear of losing power has never disappeared. Their eyes finally turned to the tree: Instead of working hard to protect and monopolize the tree species, why not destroy the tree? Without trees, there would be no seeds. Without seeds, there would be no coveting and competition. You would never have to worry about the consequences of any oversight.

The idea of ​​the demons was figured out by Mu Xingqiu himself. He only saw the demons spinning around the tree and lost interest in the battle.

The tree was already very tall, blocking out the sky and the sun, and its roots were intertwined. One night, a bolt of lightning in the sky struck an exposed root, and the root caught fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but the root turned into charcoal, separated from the main tree, and was thrown out as waste by the demons.

A thin demon slave held the tree root and walked out of the demon territory. He passed the garbage dump but did not stop, but kept walking forward. The tree root turned from black to red, but he refused to let go and instead hugged him tighter. , two monsters on the road saw this scene, followed him, stretched out their hands to help him hold the roots of the tree.

In a desert, tree roots were burning, and three monsters held hands and merged with the flames.

Orthodoxy was born.

Mu Xingqiu was surprised that the first three ancestors were actually three demons.

The Third Patriarch fled in panic, and finally fell into the hands of the demons.

The demons did not kill these three demons. Instead, they were very interested in the new method they created and allowed them to spread among the demons.

At that time, there was a huge gap in strength between the two sides. The demons regarded the Third Ancestor as a non-threatening plaything. Their eyes were still fixed on the tree, hesitating between destroying it or not and how to destroy it.

The Third Patriarch accepted the first batch of demon disciples. Unexpectedly, practicing inner elixir destroyed the tree species in these disciples' bodies. Some disciples refused to practice anymore, some disciples collapsed because of this, and some disciples never thought about it again after successfully condensing the elixir. Access to seeds.

The demons finally realized the danger, and the Third Patriarch took his disciples to escape early. At this time, the inner elixir of the Third Patriarch was already quite powerful, enough to fight against a small number of demons, but they still fled to the most remote places and hid for thousands of years.

The Dao Demon War has begun. The Third Patriarch and his disciples are few in number, but they are all powerful. However, the Demons always underestimate the enemy. They have decided to destroy the tree and are concentrating on studying the method of destruction. They do not pay enough attention to the dangers from the outside world. , the troops sent were defeated one after another. The small number of demons and the large number of armed demons were no match for Taoism.

The final decisive battle took place under the tree. The tree had grown to several thousand feet high, and its crown covered hundreds of miles in radius.

The war lasted for seven days, and the blood of Taoist priests, demons, and monsters soaked the entire land, but the demons still had the absolute upper hand. As long as the strongest ones in the battle were still there, the demons would not weaken no matter how many casualties they had or their strength. , not to mention the assistance of the demon soldiers, but one of the Dao Tong died one less, and the strength also decreased by one point.

At the most critical moment, the Nebula Tree, which had never directly intervened in any affairs, suddenly exerted its strength. The endless blood gave it enough strength to finally launch a fatal blow.

The Nebula Tree sucked out the seeds from the demons' bodies - they had long been called demon seeds.

Taoism turned defeat into victory, and the demon clan fled, leaving only a weak body of the demon clan.

The Taoist tradition that had just won the victory inherited the demon clan's legacy. They obtained their initial power from a burning tree root. The tragic victory reminded them that the Taoist tradition's strength was far from enough. There was only one way to gain more power: Taoist priests. Together they cast spells to light up the Nebula Tree...

The illusion suddenly changed at this point. The burning tree stretched out a twig and presented it to Mu Xingqiu.

How did the Burning Nebula Tree get moved to an island? Where did the large number of nebula trees in Wangshan come from? Why can't the seeds create demons anymore and can only form Ice Kui? How did Taoism develop step by step since then? Are those demons who lost their seeds the human beings today?

Mu Xingqiu had many doubts, which all happened after the Nebula Tree was burned, and the illusion could not provide an explanation.

The illusion disappeared. Mu Xingqiu looked down and saw that a thin branch, no more than three inches long, actually grew out of the charred bark of the tree, with two teardrop-like leaves on top.

"Why me?" This is Mu Xingqiu's biggest doubt. He is not the only mind-reading disciple in the past, and he is not the strongest in Taoism. Even after experiencing so many things, he does not regard Taoism as an sworn enemy. The Taoist fire is still his belief. The most important thing is, why does Nebula Tree think that he will not betray like the demons and Taoists?

Are all the illusions shown by the Nebula Tree real? Is it true that the Taoist priests burned the Nebula Tree that once helped them just to gain more power?

As the truth unfolds bit by bit, it becomes increasingly elusive.

"The origin of Dao Fire." Mu Xingqiu recalled some words said by Fangfang Soul. He saw the origin, but he was not excited at all.

There was a soft bang, and the boat docked. The night was still dark, and the illusion only existed for less than half an hour.

Mu Xingqiu raised his head and saw a crow flying overhead, seeming to laugh hoarsely at him. He turned around and saw that the shore was filled with fully armed soldiers. Behind the soldiers, stood a wooden The Fire Tree King stood on the platform, holding a black wooden sword in one hand and a mirror in the other.

There was also a woman kneeling on the platform.

The black wooden sword was placed on the woman's neck, and the Fire Tree King said: "You think I know nothing, and you think you can easily take away everything from me."

The blade of the sword suddenly turned red, and just as the woman screamed, her head fell to the ground.

"Hand over the bark, it belongs to me." The Fire Tree King ordered.