The sunlight was blindingly bright. The shade of the canopy was no more. Towering city had already vanished, leaving behind a ground riddled with holes.
Countless daemons, otherfolk, and barbarians rushed around in a panic. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, probably no one could have imagined that so many creatures and species actually lived in the sea of trees.
All Li Qingshan did was gaze into the north. He said in thought, “Si Long.”
Madam Vine collapsed on her knees as tears rolled down her face, kicking up the dust. Suddenly, she rose to her feet again. Her eyes were filled with hatred as she flew towards the Dragon province.
With a flash of white, Xiao An blocked her. “He’s still not dead yet!”
Madam Vine gazed at the Fruit of Wisdom in her hand. Extending her hands, she sensed the sliver of a familiar aura hidden deep within the pit. Only then did she gradually calm down, showing sorrow and tenderness.
“P- please give the pit to me!”
“Alright.”
Xiao An immediately ate the Fruit of Wisdom. The new Fruit of Wisdom had been condensed from the Great Banyan Tree King’s ten thousand years of experience and comprehension with cultivation. The information it contained was extraordinarily tremendous. Having obtained all of that suddenly, she basically felt like she had achieved enlightenment. She was incapable of digesting it all without spending a good moment.
She placed the pit in madam Vine’s hand. Madam Vine closed her arms around it firmly as her tears began to flow again.
“We can’t stay here. We need to plant the seed quickly too. Let’s go to the South sea!”
Li Qingshan could vaguely sense a pair of eyes watching him. He had been a god of a world before, so he understood that the Mist province had already fallen under Si Long’s control.
Gu Yanying said, “You’re not going to the Frost province?”
Li Qingshan said, “The Frost Province cauldron is gone, but with what Si Long is capable of, merging with the Frost province is only a matter of time. That place is not suited for plant growth either. The climate of the South sea is a little more appropriate.”
Gu Yanying smiled. “Yeah, and you have an old sweetheart there, that Merfolk Queen.”
Li Qingshan glanced at her in a strange manner. After such a great upheaval, even he had not thought of that.
Gu Yanying shifted her gaze, looking at the sky.
Li Qingshan jokingly said, “Yeah, I need to go and find that old sweetheart of mine!”
In the depths of the boundless ocean, on a lush island, a place far from the nine provinces, madam Vine planted the seed solemnly.
Under her eager gaze, a tender shoot sprouted from the soil and grew rapidly, turning into a tree in the blink of an eye. It obviously could not be compared to Towering city, nor could it rival any of his previous cuttings, but it clearly possessed the Great Banyan Tree King’s aura.
Like the passing of seasons, it took root and budded, blooming and fruiting. Another cycle passed by.
The face of a child appeared on the bark, possessing gentle and delicate facial features. “Ah, I’m alive again!”
Li Qingshan was taken aback. He found this quite strange, exchanging glances with Gu Yanying.
“It’s fantastic! It’s fantastic!” The child smiled. The branches waved around like he was cheering with joy.
“Great Banyan Tree King?”
“Ah, Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan, right? I remember that name.” The child thought about it seriously. “Yeah, we’re good friends. You’ve helped me a lot.” Everything he remembered seemed to be limited to some blurred concepts.
Li Qingshan was surprised. “Don’t tell me you forgot about everything!”
Madam Vine shuddered and widened her eyes.
“I can still remember some things vaguely. Si Long, that despicable, shameless bastard screwed me over!” The child fumed, but there was not a lot of hatred. Instead, he was filled with a sense of innocence. Then he said helplessly, “I can’t help it. A seed can’t contain that many memories. I still have to remember a lot of things regarding cultivation, so I just skipped over the other things carelessly!”
Li Qingshan was speechless. He understood that the thousands of great banyan trees did not only form the reserve of the Great Banyan Tree King’s power, but also the foundation to his wisdom. Now that they had all been destroyed, with merely a single seed left, most of his memories had been lost too.
“D- do you still remember me?” Madam Vine walked over and asked nervously.
The child stared at madam Vine with furrowed brows. For a moment, he said nothing.
“I- I’m…”
Madam Vine wanted to explain. She had a thousand things to say, yet she actually had no idea where to start. The little things accumulated over the several thousand years they had spent together had formed a great ocean a long time ago, but now, just how much of it remained? She felt extremely saddened, even more than when he had killed her back then.
The child murmured, “Strange, strange. It’s so clear.” The memories regarding her basically took up half of all the space, even more than the memories for cultivation, as a part of the memories were for the overall situation of the nine provinces and the complicated interpersonal relationships too.
That was very important to cultivation too. The Great Banyan Tree King had once shown great generosity to all. He had so many Daemon Kings and otherfolk kings under his lead. Even the slightest assistance they gave him would be endlessly beneficial to him. The kings of the Giant Lumberfolk had even come along with him, expressing that they remained loyal to him and would protect his safety. Many Daemon Kings had come along too, almost all of them.
However, these memories were also blurred and vague. Even when combined, they could not match his memories of the golden-haired woman right before him. An overwhelming majority were insignificant details and pointless day-to-day conversations, yet they were all extraordinarily clear, without a single part missing.
The child suddenly blanked out as if he had remembered something. He said in shame, “I let you down. I’m a fool. Please forgive me!” He was so sad that he basically seemed like he was about to cry.
Everyone was taken aback. Li Qingshan scratched his head. The Great Banyan Tree King had actually called himself a fool. Was there anything more bizarre than that in the world? Even that great schemer Si Long had admitted his wisdom was unrivaled in the world.
And even if the Great Banyan Tree King had let madam Vine down, that was all because madam Vine insisted on getting in the way of his path. No matter how ashamed he felt, he would make the same choice even if he chose a hundred times, yet now, he actually showed so much regret. It was far too bizarre!
Madam Vine lunged over in surprise and joy, embracing the tree firmly. “I forgive you!”
“Sigh, it’s too tight! Alright then, what can I do about the fact that you’re a vine?” the child said helplessly. His delicate face was filled with gentleness as if he had become much more mature all of a sudden. She who had occupied almost half of his memories had already become the most important existence to his new life.
“He’s chosen a new path,” Xiao An suddenly said.
“Is he trying to make up for his past mistakes?” Gu Yanying also sighed.
The two of them looked at Li Qingshan at the same time. Li Qingshan said, “Oi, what’re you looking at me for?”
However, it made him wonder whether he could bring himself to kill them if they tried to block his path. Of course, a question like that was as boring and pointless as who would you save first if your mother and wife fell into the water at the same time.
However, if there was no such thing as the Nine Provinces, it would be a great joy of his life to spend the rest of his life with them. As soon as this thought appeared, it ran out of control. The faces flashed across his face, either charming, quiet, or gentle. That was bound to be a great harem.
He shook his head and discarded these thoughts, raising his hand and tapping the bark.
“Alright then, now that’s called gals before pals! I don’t need to count on you to provide me with any useful advice now anyway!”
The child suddenly became solemn. “Qingshan, leave the nine provinces!”
In Li Qingshan’s eyes, the child’s face vaguely overlapped with the Great Banyan Tree King’s face of the past, like a solemn warning.
Was he just supposed to… leave like this?
