I Have A Divine Tree In My Heart

Coming from all directions, the light rays converged toward Lin Yao, complimenting his godlike, sacred temperament.

As the light rays converged, Lin Yao’s aura rose continuously. Almost instantaneously, his aura broke through from the martial artist to the warlord level and continued to advance… From beginner and intermediate martial artist, it advanced to peak warlord.

Reaching the peak was not the most terrifying thing. An oppressive aura that didn’t belong to the warlord was spreading to the surroundings with Lin Yao as the epicenter. That aura made Zhang Feng, Yan Yan, and the few people near him feel an impulse to kneel and worship. The body of Wu Sheng, whom Lin Yao had been watching like a hawk, turned so stiff that he couldn’t move. Feelings of repentance welled in his heart. Simultaneously, huge terror was mounting in his heart as well.

“This… What is this?”

Wu Sheng’s voice was filled with shock and disbelief. His expression had also become distorted due to Lin Yao’s aura change.

Lin Yao, who had used Angel’s Descent and was now shrouded in holy light, responded by curling the corners of his mouth into a faint smile.

“Honestly, I originally intended to use this as a trump card. I wasn’t planning to use this to deal with you. However, you’re too noisy. I shall widen your horizons and let you witness my strongest power… Don’t blame me for not warning you. Do your best to defend yourself.”

After he said this, Lin Yao raised one of his hands high. As he moved it, light gathered toward his palm from all directions. The huge amount of light converging in one place made Lin Yao’s raised right hand look like it was holding a sun.

“Scoundrel!”

Feelings of extreme regret appeared in Wu Sheng’s heart. He hadn’t expected his provocation for the sake of fame to cause such huge trouble. However, it was too late for him to regret it now.

He was indeed not a simple character. Despite his regret and indignation, he didn’t sit around and do nothing. After he hollered furiously, his aura rose and his eyes exuded a murderous glint. He then rushed toward Lin Yao like an asura[1].

“Kill!”

He was charging forward with commendable courage, but sometimes, courage wasn’t enough to deal with everything.

Wu Sheng, who had four potential warlords behind him, took only one step. By then, Lin Yao had already gathered all the holy light he needed.

“It’s going to be over soon.”

Following Lin Yao’s words, the dazzling ball of light shattered, and a huge, three-meter-long sunlight spear appeared in Lin Yao’s hands.

The long spear was oriental-looking, simple and beautiful, and exuded an indescribable, sacred aura. Just looking at the divine spear made Wu Sheng have an illusion that he would be judged.

The energy in the light spear made his heart palpitate even more.

‘If I’m shot, I will die!’

The tremor of death made his hands and feet turn cold. At that moment, Lin Yao had already taken a step forward. Like a Spartan throwing a spear, he had already moved his body into a standard throwing posture.

Bang! The sunlight spear turned into a beam of striking, golden light cannon and was thrown out by Lin Yao.

The light cannon was extremely fast. By the time Wu Sheng saw it, the light cannon had already hit him. He didn’t even have a chance to react.

Affected by that light cannon, his clothing instantly vaporized and disappeared, and his skin was charred and turned red. Even the long knife in his hand, which was shrouded in vital energy, quickly melted away.

“Ah…”

Wu Sheng let out a miserable scream. During this process, Wu Sheng’s defence, which used his blood, aura, and vital energy, had little effect. His body melted down at a speed visible to the naked eye. The energy and heat of the light cannon were too strong.

Fortunately, a golden bulwark appeared on Wu Sheng’s body at the eleventh hour. The authorities of the competition had taken action. After all, this was an arena competition, not a life-and-death duel.

The golden bulwark was very powerful when it came to defending one’s body from harm. The golden light cannon couldn’t melt down things for a while. Despite this, the light cannon pushed and shoved Wu Sheng repeatedly. At the same time, the loud booms of explosions were heard from each spot that came into contact with the light cannon.

Boom!

After a series of explosions, Wu Sheng was pushed off the arena. The teammates behind him were not in a good state either. The violent explosions of the light cannon had also affected them. Although they were not directly hit by the light cannon, they didn’t have the golden bulwark on them either. Amid the booms and explosions, all of them were sent flying, and their bodies were also badly burned.

With one blow, Wu Sheng was left half-dead, and the remaining four people were seriously injured. This terrifying scene had stunned everyone completely.

All of a sudden, there was silence at the venue.

Some time later, a faint, weak voice was heard.

“What exactly happened just now?”

“It’s really terrifying.”

“Damn it! Who the hell did that scoundrel Wu Sheng provoke?”

“His Excellency One Sword. He’s so dashing.”

People’s voices gradually reverberated. Then, the clamor became louder and louder, and soon, the entire stadium was shrouded in noise and chaos.

The earlier scene had stupefied everyone, and they all had countless things to say.

Besides the audience, the rich and powerful locals in the VIP room were also affected. One by one, they stood up in shock and watched the scene with open mouths and wide eyes.

The rich and powerful locals were much more knowledgeable than the ordinary audience. This was precisely the reason they knew what had happened earlier.

“Hey, did I see wrong? Was that their thing?”

“How can Student Lin Yao possibly have their thing?”

“Perhaps Student Lin Yao is part of their bloodline?”

“Don’t tell me he’s a spy?”

“How could he be a spy? They would be crazy to send… such a genius to us. Besides, if he was really a spy, Student Lin Yao wouldn’t have exposed himself that easily.”

“That means he has awakened it. I remember that this is a bloodline ability. If it can be passed down… Tsk…”

More than one person thought of this, and everyone soon looked at one another with hostility.

The mistress of the Yan Family and Qin Heshun bore the greatest hostility for everyone surrounding them.

“There are no wings and no halo. Even if it’s true… it’s a defective product not worth everyone’s effort.”

The person speaking was the mistress of the Yan Family, who used to be known for her calmness in the past. However, this time, the corners of the mouths of all the heads of the wealthy families present were twitching.

‘Scoundrel. You already sent your daughter to his doorstep. Of course you don’t want us to provoke the crowd!’

However, all the people present were sly old foxes that would not express their thoughts aloud. Instead, they pretended to agree with the words of the mistress of the Yan Family and said, “Indeed, it’s not worth it. This is something that belongs there. We have better ones in China.”

“Yes, we don’t need to care about this… By the way, I have something to attend to, so I need to get a move on.”

“Same here.”

“Wait for me.”

Within a very short time, most of the VIP rooms near the stadium were empty. They were all so anxious that they skipped the next few matches.

Where did they go and what did they do? One would be able to guess upon seeing the sullen faces of the mistress of the Yan Family and Qin Heshun.

While the rich and powerful locals in the VIP room went to great lengths because of Lin Yao, the clamor in the stadium was extraordinary. Soon, most people and netizens turned their attention to the commentary stage. There, E Longsheng had a look of sympathy on his face as he glanced at Mr. Zhang, who was there as a guest.

“Buddy, I understand the pain you’re going through. I’ve been through this before. Student Lin Yao is a demon. Don’t use our mortal way of thinking to speculate about him.”

These words gave Mr. Zhang some psychological comfort. However, before his expression could convey his gratitude about meeting a confidant, it became dazed in an instant.

“Poor thing, poor thing. How are you going to eat this table?”

“Ha ha ha. The weather is excellent today.”

“Hurry up, eat the table.”

“Didn’t you say you’d eat it if he pulled off an instant kill?”

“Ha ha ha ha! I’m dying of laughter. You actually didn’t believe in His Excellency One Sword. You even said you’d eat the table if he pulled off an instant defeat. You must be dumbfounded now (in a whisper: I didn’t believe One Sword would win either).”

“His Excellency One Sword rules (Same here. I didn’t expect One Sword to win).”

This was a one-shot instant kill of a warlord who had come with four potential warlords. The scene had caused an uproar among the audience. In addition, everyone yearned for Lin Yao’s godly look while he had been complimented by the bright light.

After this match, one could predict that his fame would skyrocket. Some people even speculated whether Lin Yao’s strength had reached the silver warlord level.

Lin Yao wasn’t concerned about the clamor. He disengaged from the posture of Angel’s Descent as soon as he sensed that he’d won.

As the power of the angel departed from his body, a weak feeling engulfed Lin Yao’s body and mind.

‘How I wish I was that strong all the time.’

This was Lin Yao’s fantasy. Unfortunately, it was just in his imagination. Angel’s Descent was considered a form of godly summons. This kind of ability could improve one’s strength tremendously, but the consumption of energy also exceeded one’s imagination. First of all, there was the physical stress.

Lin Yao had suddenly gained a really powerful force, but his body was only at the potential warlord level and could barely endure this.

Fortunately, besides the body of an Iron Person, Lin Yao also possessed the Armored Body Of Light. The power of light had forcibly protected Lin Yao’s body.

In addition to the physical body, there was also the huge consumption of energy.

The three-meter-long sunlight spear was extremely powerful, but its consumption was also huge. Fortunately, after Angel’s Descent, Lin Yao’s compatibility with light had improved tremendously. This could be seen through the changes in the Lord of Light.

Before Angel’s Descent, the Lord of Light hypostasis had been able to have an effect within a radius of 50 meters. After turning into an angel, although Lin Yao didn’t transform into the Lord of Light, his hypostasis was still at the level of the Lord of Light. The scope of influence had reached a radius of one kilometer.

The hit was horrifying, as it had converged the light energy within a radius of one kilometer into one hand.

Finally, there was the exhaustion of will. Carrying the angel hypostasis was a huge oppression for Lin Yao’s will.

In fact, Lin Yao felt that this form of oppression was the strongest. Within a short time, Lin Yao’s mind felt slightly dizzy due to him forcibly carrying the higher hypostasis.

Body (physical body), heart (spirit), and aura (energy) had to be combined before one could be considered a powerhouse. Angel’s Descent had forcibly elevated Lin Yao’s intrinsic nature from that of a martial artist to that of the lowest-level silver warlord. This kind of advancement might seem terrifying, but so was its energy consumption.

Fortunately, the angel in Lin Yao’s consciousness was just a holy infant. If it had been an angel with a halo and wings, Lin Yao might have unleashed a stronger force after its descent. In that case, he might also have died the moment he unleashed the stronger force. It was akin to Might Duy[2], who had opened all Eight Gates and died afterward.

As Lin Yao had only made one move after turning into an angel, his body was not badly affected. He could also tolerate the energy consumption due to the storage of the Sun God Pattern. However, his mind felt slightly sluggish. This also made him understand something. According to its introduction, Angel’s Descent could only be used once every seven days, but this was based on the extreme state. If the possession time was less than three seconds during the use, Lin Yao would recover in two or three days.

With this thought in mind, Lin Yao exited the arena. However, he frowned just after taking two steps. A group of reporters rushed toward him madly with various microphones, and livestream cameras were aimed at Lin Yao.

‘The drawbacks of fame.’

After he sighed slightly, Lin Yao’s entire body became blurry, and his figure disappeared without a trace in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

“Ah, what is this?”

“What kind of ability is this?”

“Invisibility. It’s optical invisibility. We can see because our eyes receive light. One Sword has light talent and can become completely invisible.”

“How I wish I had this ability.”

“What are you doing up there? Don’t you know that suicide is a crime?”

“That’s right. Bring me along if you want to do that. Otherwise, I’ll report you to the authorities.”

…

After ignoring the moronic audience and distancing himself from the light, the invisible Lin Yao quickly walked out of the venue. He didn’t even give a damn about the next match.

He wanted the Tree of Heaven Punishment to take in the spirit essence of the feathered snake so that he could get another trump card.

Lin Yao’s departure didn’t decrease the clamor in the stadium. The shock and surprise he had caused the audience today was too huge. The livestreams on the Internet also let more people know about him. Because of his fame and popularity, his family members had also been affected.

The high school system in Ninghai City was such that the city would recruit all geniuses, whereas the rest of the high schools would recruit based on their location.

Lin Yao’s younger siblings were obviously not geniuses. They stayed in the area of No. 4 High School and were thus studying in the junior high school and primary school affiliated with No. 4 High School.

At that moment, in the respective classrooms they were in, 50 to 60 students, led by their teacher, were not watching anything else but the livestream of Lin Yao’s match.

Being a martial artist could strengthen one’s body and increase one’s lifespan. Regardless of what one’s future career was, martial arts training was necessary. When one reached a certain cultivation level, one could also move bricks faster than others.

Therefore, in order to keep up the enthusiasm these young people felt for martial arts, they often gathered to watch a match.

After all, there was nothing more attractive than showing off in an arena and winning a trophy while being praised and cheered on by thousands of people. This could evoke enthusiasm in children.

Many people knew that Lin Yao, Lin Ye, and Lin Xiaodie were siblings. When Lin Yao went onstage, a group of people surrounded Lin Ye and Lin Xiaodie and started talking.

When the guest commentator, Mr. Zhang, said that Lin Yao’s situation was not good, Lin Xiaodie’s face turned pale. She didn’t have a very strong differentiation ability and thus believed whatever the commentator said.

“Brother.”

“It’s okay, Xiaodie. Your brother is already very formidable.”

“Here, take this candy. I’ll like your brother even if he fails.”

Many people were consoling her. Because of Lin Yao’s performance during this period, his sister, Lin Xiaodie, had also become a celebrity. No one in the class dared to bully her, and she’d even gotten herself a group of playmates. At the moment, these people were consoling her.

As they were comforting her, Lin Yao’s aura suddenly changed drastically, and his entire body exuded radiance. His light cannon then destroyed Wu Sheng with one blow. This splendorous, dashing scene instantly attracted the attention of the little girls, whose eyes were shining with admiration.

Xiaodie’s worries also eased up. Then, she received more warmth and affection. There were a lot of snacks on her table, although they came with a huge pile of pink love letters for her brother.

Lin Ye was given the same treatment.

“Elder Brother… Sigh… Forget it.”

At the same time, apart from the two young kids, Lin Yao’s parents were also affected. Unlike their children, who were worshipped on the school campus, they were in society and thus received more substantial benefits.

“Boss, I don’t have many financial problems now. I really don’t need to be promoted… I don’t need a salary increase either. This will do, this will do.”

“I am not busy at work. I am already very comfortable. You don’t need to give me more things.”

After rejecting the consolation of a group of higher-ups, Lin Yao’s parents, who were being served like big shots at the company, also felt somewhat helpless.

“Sigh… Look at this treatment. Someone who’s unaware might have thought we own this company.”

“Alright, don’t say that. We have a better life now. We have a villa, our work is more relaxed, and we don’t need to worry about Xiaoye and Xiaodie’s training either. This is all thanks to Ah Yao. Although we are not of much help to Ah Yao, we can’t cause him trouble. Don’t accept anything that’s inappropriate.”

“You can say that again. I am the one who gave birth to this good son. You can just freeload off this good fortune.”

“Yes, yes. You gave birth to him. You’re the only one who gave birth to him.”

Although the benefits at work would make one happy, as parents, they were happier about the success of their children. At the same time, they dared not accept too many things for fear of causing Lin Yao trouble.

What the two of them didn’t know was that their complaints were about to become real.

The company they worked for was considered a public-private joint venture. Recently, the company’s top executives had injected a lot of capital, and someone had recruited many outsiders for senior management roles. Amongst these investors, the Yan Family and the Qin Family had injected the majority of the funds.

Now, most of the private shares were in the hands of the Yan Family and the Qin Family. Yan Yu’er and Qin Xue were both throwing in money to compete for the position of the company’s president.

Although they were assistants, the two of them also had their own businesses.

…

Lin Yao hadn’t heard much about his family’s situation, but he knew something. As long as he didn’t fall from grace and acted in line with the national strategy, his family’s situation would only become increasingly better. In China, most of the power was centralized, and the country could suppress anything.

Lin Yao, who was invisible, took a car to the research institute. His car had also been changed. There were two cars—a luxury car and a nanny car. The decor and inside of the cars were very comfortable. As an assistant, Qin Xue had been following Lin Yao and taking care of his daily needs.

“Are you used to the work yet? I hope you have not fallen behind in your studies.”

“No, all is well. My cousin has helped me find many teachers.”

“If you need any help, please tell me.”

“I’m fine, Ah Yao. You have to be careful too…”

Although Lin Yao didn’t like Qin Xue as much as his predecessor, he knew she was a kind and gentle girl after interacting with her for some time. It felt good to have such a girl take care of him. The two of them talked on the way to the research institute.

Yan Yu’er was also present. Unlike Qin Xue, due to her family background and Qin Ya’s guidance, she was following the path of Qin Ya. She was now a council member of the Lin Yao Foundation and was involved in its management.

Money was also flowing into the account of the foundation. There was a total of about 140 million yuan. Now, Qin Ya was focusing most of her attention on recruitment, looking for orphans in need, participating in post-disaster reconstruction, building primary schools, recruiting construction organizations, and negotiating with the government, especially the last part. Lin Yao was helping a lot of people. While so many things were going on, they had to report to the government. Otherwise, one might be suspected of having other motives. Qin Ya was the one doing all of this. Although Yan Yuer was an assistant, she was mainly learning at this stage.

All of this was very cumbersome, and Lin Yao could really sense the important role Qin Ya played. Management was not an easy task. If Lin Yao were to do it alone, he would definitely get dizzy from work and would have no time to practice.

Of course, Lin Yao himself was also under pressure. He had borrowed all that money after all.

Yes, Lin Yao owed a total of 140 million yuan.

It was not compulsory for him to return this money, as other people were willing to invest without repayment. However, Lin Yao found it the most difficult to repay a favor. Although borrowing money was also a form of favor, it was better than accepting money directly.

Lin Yao had no choice but to borrow money on a large scale. He had to be the one helping in order to increase his energy value.

In fact, the majority of the work was done by Qin Ya. If Lin Yao had not “invested” the money, the good deeds would be considered the work of others and would have nothing to do with Lin Yao.

He didn’t want to do this and was not prepared to owe too many favors either. Therefore, he could only borrow a lot of money.

‘I’ll need to advance to the gold level before I can repay all this money. Fortunately, as long as I keep performing well, people will be willing to lend me more money. Besides, it is still possible to make money when I’m at the lower level.’

Lin Yao, who was not strong enough, could only earn money from his fans.

‘After I clinch the championship, Qin Ya should be able to negotiate with a good dojo for me.’

As he pondered this, Lin Yao headed toward the research institute, where Qin Ya was already waiting for him.

When she saw Lin Yao coming over, Qin Ya’s eyes also changed slightly. Although she was in the research institute, she was still very concerned about the affairs of Lin Yao, the trump card she was about to launch. She had also seen Lin Yao’s outburst in the arena.

When the light rays had surged into Lin Yao and his entire body had turned godly and saint-like, Qin Ya had also been dumbfounded.

“This feeling… He has an angel!”

Qin Ya hadn’t expected Lin Yao’s abilities to be related to angels.

However, unlike other people, she quickly came back to her senses after the shock and began pondering the merits and demerits of having an angel.

‘The demerit is that the country will suspect he is a spy. However, this should be fine. Student Lin Yao didn’t hide this at all, and both his heart and mind are with China. This is easy to confirm with a test.

‘The other difficulty is that he might be poached by western countries. This is not a big deal either. As a descendant of China, he doesn’t need to care about them.’

With this thought in mind, Qin Ya felt more relaxed and soon thought of the merits of Lin Yao having an angel.

‘Angels are very good-looking. According to the west, angels are considered a representation of the holy spirit. As long as he transforms into Angel’s Descent, Student Lin Yao will instantly garner a huge fan base. However, he doesn’t have wings or a halo.’

With this thought in mind, Qin Ya simply asked Lin Yao when the latter arrived, “Can your angel grow?”

“Yes, what we are doing now is making it grow.”

Qin Ya understood what he meant very quickly.

“I’ll speed up the progress on the other side.”

“That’s for the best… Where’s the feathered serpent spirit essence?”

“Here it is.”

After taking out a box protected by many passwords, Qin Ya handed it to Lin Yao.

Upon opening it by following Qin Ya’s instructions, Lin Yao found a dark blue crystal in the box. A small snake seemed to be sleeping in the center of the crystal.

After receiving the crystal, Lin Yao’s Tree of Heaven Punishment in his Sea of Consciousness transmitted a wave of longing. However, he didn’t immediately absorb it. Instead, he asked about something else.

“Is it true that the opportunity to apply for diamond resources can be used in exchange for the feathered serpent spirit essence? I remember that this is a gold-level item.”

“Yes. Although we can’t trade for a complete carcass of a feathered serpent, Professor Li only has the spirit essence, blood, and scales. He doesn’t even have the bones. Besides, this spirit essence is only a remnant soul.” After pausing for a moment, she said, “In fact, Professor Li didn’t expect anything in return. I’m the one who forced him to accept something.”

“Okay. However, it is good that this is a remnant soul. I can’t absorb something of a higher level.”

After finding an empty room and opening all the windows to let sunlight in, Lin Yao began to absorb the power of the feathered serpent spirit essence.

The absorption process was very smooth. As Lin Yao lifted the restrictions, a strong suction force came from the Tree of Heaven Punishment. The crystal outside the feathered serpent spirit essence shattered, and the spirit essence entered Lin Yao’s Sea of Consciousness directly.

When it first entered the Sea of Consciousness, the feathered serpent spirit essence had an impulse to create chaos. However, it soon felt the aura of the Tree of Heaven Punishment. Attracted by the Tree of Heaven Punishment, it flew directly onto the tree and fell into a deep slumber. Thunder and lightning appeared on the tree, nourishing the soul of the feathered snake and also establishing a connection with it.

It was different from the angel spirit essence. At the time, the angel had already been dead for tens of thousands of years and had only had its origins left. Its will had already disappeared. Therefore, Lin Yao had only been able to bring his own consciousness into it.

However, this time, the will of the feathered serpent still existed, so Lin Yao had two options.

[1] An asura in Buddhism is a demigod or titan of the Kāmadhātu.

[2] Might Duy is a character in Naruto, a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. He trains himself in the Eight Gates technique, which has a common side effect of weakening the user for a prolonged period of time.