Evolution Begins With A Big Tree

Chapter 1121, The Burden of Karma

Translator:  Ashish

Translation Checker: Silvain

“You’re courting death!” Yu Zi Yu lashed out as wraith ignited from the depths of his Soul.

At the same time, his Spiritual Energy surged with even more intensity, pouring even a greater torrent of power into the Divine Lightning Tree.

“Explode!”  With Yu Zi Yu’s resolute yet furious shout, the Divine Lightning Tree trembled slightly.

Then, under the astonished gazes of the Nether God and the Shadow Lord, the lightning surrounding the Divine Lightning Tree began to pulse, expanding and contracting rhythmically.

“What’s this?” The Nether God instinctively cried out, as he instinctively retreated.

However, before he could get too far…

*Boooom…* A deafening explosion shook Heaven, accompanied by an endless tide of lightning, rising like a nuclear blast and engulfing the Nether God’s entire being.

“Aaahh! No… No…!”

Vaguely, the Nether God’s anguished and heart-wrenching screams could be heard coming from the boundless radiance of lightning.

The next moment, countless spectating powerhouses watched in horror as a skeletal figure slowly dragged itself out of the lightning storm.

“The Demon Court’s Supreme Lord… is this ruthless?” Voices filled with shock and disbelief resounded. Everyone was momentarily stunned.

Even Shadow Lord was dumbfounded.

[Self-detonation? Just like that? What kind of madness is this!? He just blew up a Divine Tree… a Divine Tree!]

While confusion filled the faces of everyone, no one seemed to notice that amidst this endless lightning, the purest essence of the Divine Lightning Tree was slowly flowing toward Yu Zi Yu.

Bit by bit, it merged into his True Body—the Immortal Tree.

This was the very essence of the Divine Lightning Tree.

And now, through this self-destruction, its essence had been released and was fusing into Yu Zi Yu’s main body.

How was Yu Zi Yu attempting to reach the Seventh Order? Wasn’t it precisely by merging the Five Divine Trees into one?

Thus, in truth, what seemed like madness was actually a meticulously crafted scheme.

Without anyone letting even an inkling of it, Yu Zi Yu, amidst this increasingly heated battle, had begun fusing the essence of the remaining three Divine Trees into himself.

“I will kill you… I will definitely kill you!” A voice filled with unrelenting hatred roared through the void, while, from the relentless surge of lightning, a charred figure with only bones remaining staggered forward.

It was none other than the Nether God. However, looking at his miserable state, countless eyes shrank to pinpoints in shock.

Even with the protection of his Imperial Artifact, the Netherworld Divine Armor, his flesh had still been obliterated by the lightning.

All that remained was a skeleton shrouded in eerie black light and his ominously glowing red armor.

Netherborns paid particular emphasis on their Souls, the loss of flesh was not concerning for them.

However, the pain that assaulted his very Soul left the Nether God howling in agony.

Lightning was the ultimate nemesis of the Netherborns.

And now, after experiencing the Divine Lightning Tree’s self-destruction at point-blank range, even he was struggling to withstand it.

Despite the Netherworld Divine Armor’s protection, he had suffered a devastating blow.

Even so, it was far from over, for the next moment, his consciousness began to blur. All his hatred and fury fueled the awakening of the Demonic Spirit within him.

*Booooom, booooom…* As the Demonic Spirit grew stronger and stronger, a fearsome aura spread across the vast Starry Sky.

“Kill…” With a guttural growl, the Nether God, with his broken body barely holding together, charged at Yu Zi Yu like a mad beast.

Meanwhile, seeing his wretched state, the Shadow Lord and the King of Lightning exchanged glances.

They had no choice.

Today, either Yu Zi Yu died, or they died.

There was no room for hesitation.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” With one furious roar after another, three majestic yet fiendish figures charged forth with relentless ferocity.

On the other side, Yu Zi Yu, instead of retreating, also charged toward them, launching himself into battle.

Simply because, at this moment, as the essence of the Divine Lightning Tree fused into him, he had caught the whiff of a true breakthrough.

His body was growing robust and stronger, bit by bit.

Though the growth was slow, it was undeniable.

After all, Yu Zi Yu’s body had already reached the Peak of the Sixth Order, a Realm where further advancement of the body was nearly impossible.

However, now, it was strengthening, albeit slight, but it was still growing.

“Hahaha!” A surge of exhilaration filled Yu Zi Yu’s heart, and his battle intent soared.

“Fight! Fight! Let’s have a battle to our heart’s content!”

There was no way to express the thrill in his heart—Except through battle.

*Boooom, boooom, boooom…* One deafening explosion after another shook the vast Starry Sky.

…

In the distance, the spectating powerhouses retreated again and again.

That fearsome battlefield was no longer a place they could interfere with.

At this moment, the safest place was none other than the habitable planets.

Now, as Heavenly Tribulation gathered in the Starry Sky, even the likes of Nether God, Shadow Lord, and King of Lightning—despite their arrogance—were not foolish enough to commit planetary genocide under such celestial judgment.

Thus, no matter how intense the battle became, they would not actively target habitable planets.

A single such planet could hold hundreds of billions of lives, or even trillions.

If such a world were to be destroyed in their struggle, the Karmic Retribution would instantly descend upon them.

At that point, let alone seizing opportunities, just dealing with the Karmic Energy lingering around them would be enough to drag them down a realm.

And so, over time, an unspoken rule had formed beneath the vast cosmos—The stronger one was, the less they interfered with the battlefields of Lower Tier Transcendents.

For instance, Tier-6s and Tier-5s rarely get involved in large-scale battlefields of Tier-3s or Tier-4s.

Of course, there had been exceptions, like when the Demon Court unleashed the Annihilation Pulse, erasing billions of Centaurs in an instant.

However, that was because the Annihilation Pulse had been fueled by the collective power of countless Demon Court powerhouses.

A single entity could never endure such an overwhelming karma. However, a million powerhouses together could distribute the burden.

This was why, despite the emergence of unrivaled galactic titans, wars were still waged through legions and armies rather than singular combat.

The strong were constrained by the strong, and battle between armies remained the dominant theme of cosmic battles.

Of course, there were always the lunatics, those who, when backed into a corner or driven to madness, would disregard the karmic retribution entirely.

And such madmen, once they appeared, would never be tolerated by the myriad races.

After all, Tier-1s and Tier-2s may be weak, but they were the foundation of every race.

And this time, even if Yu Zi Yu were to defeat all three of his foes, he would not personally exterminate their entire races.

Instead, he would dispatch his subordinates to slowly consume them piece by piece.

As for him? All he needed to do was take out the remaining powerhouses who dared resist.

At that time, the only ones truly worthy of Yu Zi Yu personally taking action would be the Tier-6 Overlords of the three races.

In the absence of Tier-6 Overlords, these three races would stand no chance against the might of Yu Zi Yu’s forces.

…

Author Notes: The Concept of Karmic Retribution

Karma or Karmic Energy is an invisible force of restraint, similar to the torment of vengeful spirits, yet far more terrifying.

It serves as a natural law, limiting the slaughter of the weak by the strong.

After all, without such a mechanism, wouldn’t the most terrifying powerhouses slaughter planets at will, erasing entire civilizations as they pleased?

That would be impossible.

If such unchecked chaos were allowed, even the most basic cosmic order would collapse, and progress itself would cease to exist.

A single temperamental apex being could, on a whim, eradicate half the cosmos.