Chapter 0986: The World Tree Transforms Again

“A supreme Dao artifact!”
“One hundred top-tier spiritual veins!”
At the issuance of the Heavenly Mandate, powerful warriors from the three thousand great worlds, along with countless billions of demons, gods, ghosts, immortals, and Buddhas, went wild with excitement.
Although these supreme Dao artifacts were not on par with sacred artifacts, each one still possessed earth-shattering power.
One hundred top-tier spiritual veins were equivalent to ten thousand king-tier ones and one million first-tier spiritual veins!
With such an astonishing reward, surely no one except saints would remain unmoved—even the twelve epochal semi-saints were no exception.
Instantly, countless powerful warriors across the three thousand great worlds began frantically searching for Huang Long’s whereabouts.
Unaware of the chaos outside, Huang Long sat in meditation within the void of the Sacred Cauldron, continuously absorbing the life force, essence, and Dao principles emanating from Chi Rong. At this moment, the spirit of the Sacred Cauldron, Ding Sheng, joined forces with Huang Long to fully activate the Sacred Cauldron Formation.
Chi Rong’s life force, essence, and Dao principles kept flowing out endlessly, making Huang Long’s aura increasingly formidable.
When Huang Long fully refined Chi Rong’s divine body, as expected, he reached the peak of the middle stage of ten epochs.
Next, Huang Long refined the vice leader of the Star-Destroying Sect.
Time passed. Ten thousand years vanished in the Sacred Cauldron in the blink of an eye. Ten thousand years, then twenty thousand.
By the time Huang Long fully refined the vice leader of the Star-Destroying Sect and surpassed the peak of the middle stage of ten epochs to reach the late stage, he began refining the sect’s leader.
As Huang Long’s strength grew, Huang Yi and the others also made continuous breakthroughs. The nineteen members of Huang Yi’s group each reached the fifth epoch.
As for those subordinates who had previously stagnated at the peak of the late stage of Divine King, through years of consuming divine pills and precious herbs, many of them triggered the Destruction Calamity and broke through to become semi-saints, powerful beings of an epoch.
Though it was just one epoch, combined, they formed a formidable force.
“Huh!” After fully refining the sect leader of the Star-Destroying Sect, Huang Long opened his eyes, his gaze blazing intensely, causing the surrounding space to tremble.
“The peak of the late stage of ten epochs!” Huang Long sensed the immense power within his body.
Just one more step, and he would reach eleven epochs!
Above ten epochs, with each breakthrough, his strength would double.
However, Huang Long also knew that breaking through to eleven epochs was even harder than progressing from the peak of the late stage of nine epochs to the tenth epoch! Thus, he didn’t rush to devour Jun Xuan’s divine body but instead prepared and accumulated strength.
First, Huang Long took out the dozen or so fragments of the World Tree he had obtained from the Xuanhai Divine Palace. A total of sixteen fragments!

Sixteen fragments of the World Tree floated around the Yellow Dragon like towering mountains. Then, the Yellow Dragon summoned the World Tree from the Sea of Souls. “As long as I devour these fragments, the World Tree will transform, and its power will surge. That way, I’ll have a greater chance of breaking through to the eleventh era!” The Yellow Dragon’s eyes sparkled. Immediately, it activated the World Tree, with its white jade roots reaching out toward the smallest fragment. Among these sixteen fragments, the smallest one covered an area of over three thousand li square. The white jade roots of the World Tree enveloped it, with milky-white light flickering continuously, as streams of energy flowed from them into the World Tree. That fragment gradually shrank. As it was devoured, the World Tree’s emerald glow grew stronger, its roots lengthened, and its trunk continued to thicken and rise. By the time the fragment was completely consumed, the tree’s diameter exceeded a hundred li, and its height approached two hundred and thirty thousand zhang. The World Tree’s emitted spiritual energy became even purer and denser. Previously, it took three hundred thousand years to create a royal-grade spiritual vein, but now it only took two hundred and fifty to sixty thousand years. After devouring the smallest fragment, the World Tree then consumed the second. The third! The fourth! … As it continued to devour fragments, the World Tree transformed and grew to an astonishing extent. By the time it had consumed all fifteen fragments, leaving only the largest one, its diameter had reached five hundred li, and its height was five hundred thousand zhang! With each breath of the World Tree, streams of spiritual energy poured forth from it—hundreds of times denser than before! Now, with the spiritual energy emitted by the World Tree, a royal-grade spiritual vein could be created in ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! If it were a million years, there would be a hundred; a hundred million years, then ten thousand! And yet, the largest fragment remained undevoured! The Yellow Dragon turned its head toward that largest fragment, covering an area of over twenty thousand li, its eyes burning with desire. It immediately activated the World Tree’s roots to envelop the final fragment. Visible green rays flowed continuously from the roots into the tree. The World Tree emitted cracking sounds like “bang! bang! bang!”, and under the Yellow Dragon’s astonished gaze, its trunk began to shed its bark! Yes, shedding its bark! Layers of bark fell off the tree trunk, one after another. Each layer hit the ground with a resonant clang, like divine iron. “Ding dang!” “Boom, rumble!”

Finally, the bark of the World Tree on the ground below piled up like a mountain range. The trunk of the World Tree, free from its bark, shone with an otherworldly brilliance, emitting a powerful aura. Even Huang Long, standing in front of it, felt the pressure! This pressure was as if it came from a sage who had achieved enlightenment, from the very laws of heaven! Once another layer of bark fell off, the last fragment of the World Tree was completely absorbed by it. The trunk grew even larger, reaching a diameter of six hundred li and a height of over six hundred thousand zhang. From afar, all that could be seen were the branches and leaves of the World Tree, blocking out the sky. Suddenly, Huang Long took off into the air, shouted loudly, his palm glowing with golden light as he slammed it against the trunk of the World Tree. With a loud “bang,” Huang Long was sent flying back. The World Tree, standing firm between heaven and earth, remained unmoved; Huang Long’s attack was as insignificant as a mosquito bite. Huang Long was both shocked and delighted. He had cultivated the Supreme Transformation Technique, and his attacks were now on par with those of strong warriors from the middle stages of eleven eras. Yet, he still couldn’t shake the World Tree even slightly—proof of its immense strength and durability! “Good, haha! Once I break through to the eleventh era, even strong warriors from the early stages of the twelfth era would likely be severely injured or even killed if struck by this World Tree!” Huang Long thought with joy. Moreover, the World Tree, now free of its bark, absorbed even purer spiritual energy, surpassing even king-grade levels and reaching supreme-grade status. According to Huang Long’s estimate, a supreme-grade spiritual vein could be formed in just a hundred thousand years! “It’s time to refine the Junxuan Divine Body and break through to the eleventh era!” After a while, Huang Long calmed his excitement and spoke to himself.