Comprehension Ability: Creating and teaching the Dao in various worlds

Chapter 365: Chapter 18: Three Hundred Years Later! The Demon Ancestral Tree? No, It is the World Tree That Shelters All Beings (Please Subscribe)

Three hundred years, for the world itself, is not a very long time.

Yet for the creatures within the world, it could be considered an eternity.

Especially for ordinary humans, three centuries probably span several generations.

In Tianqing World, these three hundred years were indeed marked by earth-shaking changes.

Firstly, there was the widespread adoption of the Martial Tao Cultivation System; the original cultivation systems of Tianqing World had high barriers to entry, and the major powers colluded to maintain a de facto monopoly.

This meant that people at the bottom had no way to advance, living out their entire lives without access to the higher paths.

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It was just three or four hundred years ago that the Martial Tao Cultivation System began to spread.

Compared to the original cultivation systems of the world, the threshold to start practicing the Martial Tao was so low it was almost laughable.

As long as one was human, they were qualified to practice the Martial Tao.

Of course, the specific level to which one might cultivate depended on the individual.

But at least everyone had a chance.

Secondly, over the past three hundred years, the greatest change in Tianqing World

was that ancient tree which had grown to an unknown height, towering like a pillar reaching the heavens.

This ancient tree was the sacred tree of Tianqing World. Every year, the world’s most powerful beings would come in person to worship beneath the tree.

As for other creatures in Tianqing World… by rights, the area tens of thousands of miles around such a sacred tree should be forbidden to the idle and the irrelevant.

But the sacred tree was merciful and did not mind the approach of ant-like creatures toward It.

And a few thousand miles away from the sacred tree,

a group of people had come to this place, observing the sacred tree from a distance.

At such a distance, anything should appear incredibly small.

Yet as these people watched the sacred tree, they still felt it was majestic and awe-inspiring, almost too grand to look upon directly.

“This is the sacred tree, which allowed Tianqing World to end the world-shattering war hundreds of years ago, with its mighty power,” said the middle-aged man at the front, apparently in the role of ‘mentor,’ to the dozen or so youths following him.

“I’ve heard about that too,”

“The sacred tree is so great,”

The other youths nodded one after another, their expressions filled with admiration and longing.

“But…”

At this moment, a young man hesitated before finally mustering the courage to say, “I’ve heard some people say that the sacred tree has a great connection to the instigator of the war hundreds of years ago—the Demon Ancestral Tree…”

After speaking, the young man cautiously glanced at his mentor.

In fact, this kind of talk was not uncommon in Tianqing World.

Three hundred years was not enough to erase everything; during the invasion of the Foreign Evil Gods, countless cultivators of the Tianqing World rushed to the battlefield.

Many cultivators still alive today clearly remember the image of the Ancestral Demon Tree, and the tree that all beings now worship bears some resemblance to that Demon Ancestral Tree.

“The Demon Ancestral Tree? Nonsense!”

The middle-aged man was angry. He had heard such claims before, but always sneered at them.

“I ask you all, what was the purpose of the Foreign Evil God’s invasion of our Tianqing World?” he said, looking at the other youths and asking in a serious tone.

“The Foreign Evil God wanted to destroy our world,”

“Right, the Foreign Evil God was too evil. It wanted to consume everything, including us,”

“Thankfully the Foreign Evil God was defeated, otherwise, we would have been doomed…”

This time, the response from the youths was surprisingly unanimous.

“Given that, if the sacred tree was truly related to the Foreign Evil God, then would we still have time to stand here talking?”

The middle-aged man spoke forcefully, “I don’t care how some people choose to defame the sacred tree, but you, at least, ought to have your own judgment.”

“If not for the sacred tree, would those in high places have opened up their resources to us?”

“If not for the sacred tree, would there ever have been a spread of the Martial Tao Cultivation System, and how many of you here would have had the chance to embark on the path of cultivation?”

“If not for the sacred tree, would Tianqing World have been so peaceful and stable these past few hundred years, without a hint of upheaval?”

…

The more the middle-aged man spoke, the more passionate he became, having relatives who lived through that era hundreds of years ago.

As a child, he would listen to the elders gossip about the chaos of Tianqing World before the Evil God Battlefield erupted, with major forces waging endless wars.

The high and mighty Tianqing Sect looked down upon all creatures, possessing the power to resolve conflicts but unwilling to do so, hiding behind the noble-sounding principle of ‘governing by doing nothing’?

The middle-aged man’s words plunged the youths into deep thought.

Indeed.

These words made sense.

If the sacred tree was truly related to the Demon Ancestral Tree,

then shouldn’t Tianqing World now, if not destroyed by the sacred tree, at least be enslaved by it? Would youths like them even have the privilege to approach here to observe the sacred tree itself?

This was completely contrary to the description of the Demon Ancestral Tree.

Though young, the youths knew that the Martial Tao Cultivation System they practiced originated from the sacred tree.

It was under the orders of the sacred tree that those in high places actively propagated the Martial Tao.

And thus they were qualified to cultivate the Martial Tao.

The current Tianqing World, under the will of the sacred tree, flourished; even the most ordinary people had the capability to survive.

And all beings had the possibility to pursue a better life.

How could such a sacred tree possibly have any relation to the cruel and ferocious Demon Ancestral Tree?

“I don’t care why those people are so desperate to question the sacred tree, or what benefit they derive from doing so,”

The middle-aged man took a deep breath and continued, “But it’s ridiculous to equate the sacred tree with the Demon Ancestral Tree.”

“How could the sacred tree possibly be the Demon Ancestral Tree? It is the World Tree that shelters all of us,”