Chapter 156: The Old Photograph

Little Gold said, "Based on the flora and fauna DNA within the secret realm, it matches the surviving gene bank data of the Heavy Water World from over three hundred thousand years ago. The style of the architectural ruins matches as well. This secret realm was formed during the Great Annihilation period. The reason it has not been eroded by space-time and energy is due to the protection and confinement of a World Tree branch. The Heavenly Emperor took the World Tree branch away, so the unprotected secret realm will soon collapse."

Muxu's eyes were full of dizzy spirals: "We didn't find the main body of the World Tree, we only know the era of the secret realm—are these clues even useful?"

Little Gold puffed out its chest, its proud expression identical to that of the Heavenly Emperor: "Of course they are useful. This proves Sangsang's conjecture that the World Tree existed during the Great Annihilation period."

Little Gold continued, "It was equivalent to the destruction of a parallel plane of the macrocosm, yet the Heavy Water World—being the plane's convergence point—only suffered a mild impact. This caused a magnetic field shift that disabled all electronic products and destroyed most of its data, but the Heavy Water World itself did not suffer a cataclysmic disaster. Only a little less than half of its stellar sector was destroyed. The outside world didn't even monitor the location of this anomaly; it was only recorded in the Divine Temple's historical database that an energy surge occurred in the sector where the Heavy Water World was located during that time. Because the resulting damage was minor, only the major database kept a record of it."

Mountain seemed to grasp something: "You mean the World Tree protected the Heavy Water World, mitigated the danger level of the Great Annihilation, and kept it within a small scale?"

"That's what it means, and this secret realm didn't exist for no reason. According to the Heavenly Emperor, the place where he found the World Tree branch was in the courtyard of a hilltop villa. The withered branch was originally a lush, ten-meter-tall tree covered in white flowers, and it only turned into a withered branch after being dug up. Space and time were stagnant there, and everything was perfectly preserved. Although electronic instruments could no longer be used, there were flat photographs, diaries, and other items. Although those were also ruined, they were all recorded in his mind. Once back outside and connected to the internet, he can find the owner of the photographs based on the information inside."

At this moment, Sangsang and the Heavenly Emperor also finished cross-referencing and rejoined Mountain and Muxu. Sangsang plucked Little Gold from Muxu's head, placing it on her own shoulder, and casually condensed a piece of energy paper, using the Space-Time Myriad-Law Pen to sketch a flat portrait.

In the picture, a tall man is embracing a youth whose gender is ambiguous. One has a bright and cheerful smile, while the other's smile is sweet. Behind them stands a lush tree, identical to the tree formed by the withered World Tree branch seen by the Heavenly Emperor, except that it is not blooming, though flower buds yet to open can be vaguely seen among the leaves at the treetop.

"I suspect this person is the most mysterious Chancellor in history prior to the Great Annihilation. Although history has no portraits or photos of that mysterious Chancellor, his height, appearance, and temperament all match this figure." Sangsang handed the drawing paper to Mountain: "More importantly, historically, the Chancellor of the Great Annihilation era supposedly had an alien Treant friend who would turn into a tree when running a fever, and could grow large or small. This Treant is very likely the World Tree."

"Human forms can change at will, I can't tell." Muxu leaned his head against Mountain's arms to look together, his eyes sparkling: "The tree in the background has no aura, and just looking at its exterior, I can't be certain either. The World Tree can take any form; a small shrub by the road might just be their disguise. This tree looks like the healing-type sacred tree Silver Moon Laurel. Like our Reincarnation Tree, it's a third-generation World Tree with weak imperial genes, so it can't really be considered a World Tree anymore. He's a bit older than me, just reaching adulthood, and is in heat and blooming."

"Still, we cannot confirm that he is not the World Tree. At least that branch is, and ancient World Tree branches are related to the Silver Moon Laurel... In heat and blooming, you say?" Sangsang narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.

Little Gold said, "Sangsang, unofficial histories say the Treant was not only the Chancellor's friend, but also the Chancellor's lover. But back then, marriage only existed between the opposite sexes, and genderless Treants were not protected by marriage laws."

Sangsang nodded, looking at Mountain and Muxu: "They indeed don't look like mere friends. There is a sense that history is about to repeat itself."

Little Gold spoke with righteous conviction: "With you here, Sangsang, there won't be a tragedy!"

The Heavenly Emperor was out of the loop: "What tragedy?"

Little Gold made a sobbing sound effect: "The tragedy of parting through life and death. You die, and I guard your home and your grave until the end of time."

The Heavenly Emperor shivered: "Cowardly. If you die, you find a way to be resurrected. What's the use of guarding an empty house?"

Sangsang asked, "What if resurrection is impossible?"

The Heavenly Emperor raised an eyebrow: "If a person like Rocky could find a way to resurrect that-what's-her-name, then if I want to resurrect someone, even the Universe Will can't fight me for it."

"Mythology says the Chancellor sacrificed his soul to prevent the spread of the Great Annihilation." Sangsang stroked Little Gold on her shoulder: "If that's true, a sacrifice where one's soul is utterly scattered cannot be resurrected..."

The Heavenly Emperor tutted: "Unofficial histories and mythologies are unreliable, just like the books Little Gold recommends."

Little Gold was furious: "What do you mean the books I recommend are unreliable? I am the most reliable entity in the Heavenly Dao, even the mainframe praised my progress as fast! It's clearly just your own lack of comprehension!"

Sangsang raised her eyes, looking at the Heavenly Emperor with a half-smile: "Show me the book. Let me judge whether it's reliable or not."

The Heavenly Emperor hoisted the Annihilation Gun and turned around: "Ah, we've seen everything we need to see. This secret realm is no longer useful, and the main body of the World Tree isn't here. We should head out."

Sangsang hummed twice. Although she hadn't read the book recommended by Little Gold, judging from the Heavenly Emperor's recent behavior, she could deduce that what he was reading was definitely an improper, melodramatic romance story, and no doubt of the domineering CEO style.

The four of them exited the secret realm. Outside, the crowd was buzzing with noise. Over a hundred people were divided into groups of five, standing in orderly lines under the organization of the bodyguard captain.

"Her Highness has come out! The second group, get ready. I am giving you the space-time node; whether you can get in depends entirely on yourselves." The bodyguard captain finished speaking and turned to greet Sangsang: "Your Highness, let's go."

The people waiting below for a long time were not about to let them leave easily. A merman, human-shaped in his upper body and an octopus in his lower body, stepped forward.

"Wait a minute. No one except you knows what the situation inside the secret realm is. What if you took all the clues? I strongly suggest sharing the clues."

The bodyguard captain said coolly, "Upon the discovery of any new secret realm, the discoverer is entitled to intercept resources during the pioneering period. If you have a problem with that, the third group can go up."

The third group immediately squeezed forward: "That's right, who can blame us for being a step late? Even if the topsoil has been scraped away, we can surely still find some clues. Someone in our group has cultivated the Space-Time Law and will definitely make gains. Hurry up and make way."

Sangsang thought of the rapidly collapsing secret realm. Before she came out, it was already weathering away at a visible rate, and it could last at most another month or so.

"I swear by the God of Justice that on this trip to the secret realm, we only collected information and did not cause any destruction, nor did we harvest a large amount of items from the realm."

Sangsang swore in the name of a holy priest. Some people believed her, while others did not. Regardless of their reactions, she had the bodyguard captain activate the Tianhua Canopy to leave Island Number One.