With every single tree and root rotten, it was the same as stepping on lime, leaving deep imprints into the ground.
Of the entire orchard, no place had any trace of life. Everything was dead, the trees and weeds alike.
“Is this Queen Mother of the West’s Peach Garden? What in blazes happened here? Where are the peaches granting eternal life?”
Ye Xiaolu flitted left and dashed right, leaving no rotten wood unturned.
Li Mo picked up a dead branch and turned to dust the minute he added a bit of pressure.
“Lifeless.”
This was unlike the Dao Comprehending Tea tree Yang Hongying gave him. That one was at least in suspended animation, needing but time to recover. While the trees here had no trace of life in them, as dead as a rock. Even Verdant Tree Art was powerless here.
Du Fei watched the trees in the orchard dully.
“Three thousand years to bloom, three thousand to bear fruit. I always thought it to be a mere legend. Who would’ve dreamed it is all real…”
Li Mo said, “It’s still too early to tell. But at some point, this place was indeed the Heavenly Court.”
Southern Heavenly Gate, the floating Heavenly Palace, and Peach Garden, every single place was in ruins. There’s no question about it, this place was the legendary Heavenly Court.
“Lil’ Mo, lil’ Mo!”
As Li Mo was lamenting the loss of a legend, Ye Xiaolu held something that got her to run over in excitement.
Li Mo’s face was serious, “If you say lil’ Mo one more time I will throw you in the dalmatian plushie!”
“Oh, don’t be like that. This is my way of showing affection. Now look at this and tell me what it is.”
Ye Xiaolu gave him a black something.
“This is a peach stone.” Li Mo knew it at a glance.
“Stone? Is it dead or not?” Ye Xiaolu was excited.
“Deader than dead. The inside is rotten.”
“$%#@!”
Ye Xiaolu cursed and started running around and flipping dead branches.
“Look, what is that?”
Du Fei pointed.
Not far was a time-space rupture.
“Bro Mo, that’s a time-space rupture!” Du Fei cried.
Li Mo’s step brought him right in front of it.
Li Mo was a hundred times more excited than Du Fei. The latter only knew that time-space ruptures connected to a different world. What Li Mo didn’t tell him was that the time-space rupture appeared because of the Staff of Origin.
The appearance of a time-space rupture here was a testament to an origin fragment being around!
Li Mo had fought six hundred years in his past life only to end at the hands of a sneak attack and reborn. He never could completely restore the Staff of Origin and hence unable to use its real power.
“Bro Mo, this is the Heavenly Court. And now there’s a time-space rupture here! I-I just don’t dare to imagine what it may hold.”
Du Fei wiped his brow.
“No matter what, I am going in.” Li Mo held the Staff of Origin as he went in.
“You guys stay here and wait for me.”
Du Fei shouted, “Bro Mo, I’m coming with. I have three immortal items and should be enough to be of some help.”
“No, even an idiot can tell a time-space rupture in this place is extremely dangerous. The enemy is in a whole nother league that not even your three immortal items can protect you.”
Li Mo took a deep breath and made the Staff of Origin wrap him in white before going in.
Ye Xiaolu was covered from head to toe in dirt, “What are you standing around for? Are you going to let lil’ Mo screw us of all the good stuff?”
“Roar~”
The panda was irked as he wrote in the air, ‘One more word out of you and I’ll screw you over.’
“That’s not what I mean. What I’m trying to say is that we can’t just sit around doing nothing. Come on, let’s search the place. With how big this garden is, it’s impossible to not find a good peach stone.”
“Knock yourself out.”
Du Fei stood on guard before the time-space rupture with a frown.
“Sister Lu, I’ll help you.” Su Qingyi flew over.
Whitey lifted her sublime hand and frowned slightly.
After going through Southern Heavenly Gate, her demon qi had sharply declined. The most she could do was keep her human form.
She was very much worried about jade pipa and the nine-headed pheasant’s fate.
‘Maybe demon qi won’t fall that quickly if they hadn’t gone through the Southern Heavenly Gate.’
Li Mo had entered paradise.
There were rows of peach trees with lush crowns and dangling peaches.
The faint aroma would entice anyone to take a bite.
Li Mo picked up a peach the size of a football and closed his eyes at the wonderful taste.
The taste of an immortal fruit was out of this word.
Li Mo took a deep breath and felt his cultivation improving.
Li Mo didn’t pick any other peach and walked forward. He was under the cover of origin power. In this time-space rupture, it was the same as being invisible and invincible. Nothing could phase him, nor harm him.
However, this wouldn’t last forever, five hours tops. Not to mention it could be used only every half a year.
Li Mo arrived at a scene that got him ecstatic.
Among the trees, he found seven fairies. Despite wearing, red, white, blue, black, violet, yellow, and green clothes, they each had a crown of flowers. Yet they all seemed to maintain a constant posture, be it frowning, gesticulating, afraid, or even angry.
This scene was far too familiar.
In Journey to the West, Great Sage the Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, was ordered to watch over the Peach Garden. He, instead, ate the peaches and the seven fairies who tried to stop him were frozen in place by the monkey.
Li Mo walked over and touched the Red Fairy, pulled the Green Fairy’s arm, pinched the Blue Fairy’s cheeks, patted the Green Fairy’s tushie, but none budged an inch.
“I see, I see!”
Li Mo waved and he was back in the real world.
Ye Xiaolu and Su Qingyi were still going on a treasure hunt. Du Fei was holding his palms in prayer. Madam Ning was standing behind him woodenly. Whitey already had fox ears and tails in the open, a moment from returning to her original form.
Du Fei asked, “Bro Mo, what’s inside?”
“Safe. We can all go in.”
Ye Xiaolu and Su Qingyi marched over.
Hum~
The gang made a queue as they got inside the Peach Garden from the time-space rupture.
“Holy cow!”
Ye Xiaolu’s eyes sparkled and grabbed a head-sized peach before gorging herself with it…
