Chapter 1183: Sunflower Forefather “Splashh—” A series of splashes came about. All of the blown away ancestors fell into the ocean. This scene was too shocking. The experts here couldn’t regain their composure. Both Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord were slack-jawed from fear. This was simply a legendary tale! In this split second, they suddenly thought about the possibility that their ancestral tree might be controlled by Li Qiye! However, that would be preposterous. Even their own ancestors couldn’t control the vine, let alone an outsider. If this was indeed the case, then the only plausible explanation was that Li Qiye did have a demonic art. “Anyone else want to stand in my way?” Vine branches from the ancestral tree began to merge behind Li Qiye. The experts here were aghast, to say the least. They had never seen such a demonic art before. It was beyond their imagination. Eventually, the experts glanced at each other. They continued to slowly converge on Li Qiye to the point of not even letting a single drop of water through. Naturally, they were quite afraid. Even their ancestors were blown to the horizon like flies, and they were not as strong as them. However, letting Li Qiye go or retreating weren’t options they could take. They deemed him too great of a threat to let him leave alive today. Li Qiye smiled at these experts: “A bit idiotic, but still quite unyielding. Daring to come despite knowing the disparity...” “Vine Controller!” A loud explosion came from a cave along with a voice. Although this voice was very quiet, everyone could hear it clearly. An old man emerged from the forbidden ground. To be exact, it was a sunflower tree. It was much taller than an adult. Moreover, the sunflowers on the tree were blossoming to great sizes. There was an old man’s face on the sunflower in the center. He came out of the forbidden ground without exuding any blood energy. However, he gave the feeling that a simple flip of his palm could cause the world to collapse. “An ancestral form!” Teng Jiwen murmured after seeing the shape of this sunflower. The ancestral form was a method of obtaining atavism for treants. Many within this race would cultivate a human form and become powerful existences. However, this was not to say that a humanoid form was more powerful. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. A humanoid treant was not as powerful as an ancestral form treant because this atavistic form allowed them to control the strongest origin power. However, despite the great benefits, there was a fatal weakness to the ancestral form. There was no way to pass down their bloodline if they were to keep this form, regardless of how powerful and heaven-defying they might be. Eventually, their legacy would end. Only those with a flesh and blood body could reproduce and spread their bloodline to future descendants. Because of this, the majority of the treants would cultivate into a human form. Very few were willing to maintain the ancestral form. After all, everyone wanted to pass down their legacy. Being strong was meaningless if it meant that one would lose the ability to reproduce and pass down their legacy! The citadel lord came back from his shock and murmured after seeing this sunflower: “Sunflower Forefather!” An expert was ecstatic and muttered: “It is the forefather, our forefather has come into being!” So it turned out that this large sunflower was the Sunflower Forefather. He was the most powerful and oldest ancestor of the citadel. His appearance was a rare sight. Even the citadel lord had only seen him once in his life, and this was at a very young age. At this moment, this forefather couldn’t believe it either. He stared intensely at Li Qiye and the vine branches behind him while feeling that this was a dream. As the forefather came closer, the experts surrounding Li Qiye all made way. In fact, they could finally breathe easy. No one would be able to oppose the forefather, not even Li Qiye’s demonic art, even if it was stronger. The forefather was not very confident as he asked Li Qiye: “You, can you really manipulate it? Are you a Vine Controller?” He glanced at the sunflower and smirked: “Old man, try me and see. I’ll be happy to display this majestic and invincible power.” Teng Jiwen panicked after hearing Li Qiye’s response. For millions of years, no one had dared to be disrespectful towards the forefather. The Sunflower Forefather’s eyes began to flash like blossoming starlight. In a split second, he whisked his arm and isolated space as if he wanted to banish Li Qiye. “Bang!” But before the banishment could take effect, the nearby space shattered. With another bang, the forefather was pushed back into the huge vine tree. Vine branches then came together to form a hand of god that coiled around the forefather’s neck. His entire body was propped up against the vine tree, instantly suppressing him. “No way!” The citadel lord and everyone else were aghast. It was not an exaggeration to say that they nearly pissed their pants in terror! Even their invincible Sunflower Forefather was suppressed, so how could they not pale from fear? All the experts felt despair, there was no one left to oppose Li Qiye outside of their ancestral vine. In spite of this, they still mustered together to try and stop Li Qiye once more. They must face him despite knowing that they were not his match. In just a moment, both Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord felt suffocated. In their minds, no one should be able to stop the forefather in present times, yet he was rendered motionless — this was too terrorizing. The forefather being pushed against the vine tree raised both of his hands and quickly said: “Wait, I bear no malice, it was just a test.” Li Qiye glanced at him, then the branches in the form of the godhand loosened to let him go. It turned back into vine branches that hovered behind Li Qiye. “You really are a Vine Controller...” The shocked Sunflower Forefather couldn’t believe it despite having confirmed it. He finally took a deep breath and asked while staring at Li Qiye: “Is your bloodline from our citadel?” Li Qiye laughed in response: “Old man, you are overthinking things. My bloodline is the purest of the human lineage. I am not a descendant of your ancestral vine and definitely have nothing to do with your citadel.” “How inconceivable.” The forefather carefully looked at Li Qiye and confirmed that he indeed didn’t have even a hint of the citadel’s bloodline. He continued: “Outside of the only biological son of the treefather, no one else has appeared in all these generations that can communicate with the treefather. No one aside from its son has been able to become a Vine Controller, yet an outsider like you can control the vines!” Here, his eyes flashed with a revelation: “Could it be that the ancestral vine has chosen you to become the Vine Controller of our citadel...” “Your imagination is too much.” With a grin, Li Qiye waved his sleeve to interrupt the forefather: “I am not your divine guardian or a Vine Controller, I’m only someone who is teaching a lesson to this group of foolish descendants in the vine’s stead.” Li Qiye naturally wasn’t a so-called Vine Controller. He used the Myriad Age Tree to communicate with the ancestral vine. Although the vine itself had no sentience, its instinct was still there and allowed Li Qiye to use its power. The forefather said with excitement: “Regardless, you can still control everything here, so you are a Vine Controller. Only those with the permission of the ancestral vine would be able to use its power.” “You are speaking too much nonsense, but one thing is indeed true.” Li Qiye smiled: “I can indeed control the power of the ancestral vine!”