stjorthotic Chapter 490 World Tree - Part 2
Chapter 490 World Tree - Part 2
Under Fu Xiaojian's orders, the caravan split into three teams. One team, led by Qian Duoduo, explored the detailed terrain and resources around the city.
A team led by Tashan improved the city's infrastructure.
A team led by Chen Pei went to explore the nearby city and also took the opportunity to clear out any strange occurrences in the surrounding area.
Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.
Even if the World Tree is not successfully planted in the end, they will certainly be able to accumulate relevant experience.
This will at least lay the groundwork for establishing a survival base next time.
Everything is unknown.
Everything is full of hope again.
The blood-red sun rises behind the eastern mountain ridge and sets behind the western mountains.
They repeat the cycle tirelessly.
On the seventh day of the convoy's stay in the basin, the ancient tree finally showed obvious changes.
The dark golden patterns that had been eroded by the disease had completely disappeared from the surface of the tree trunk, replaced by a warm, fluorescent green luster, as if someone had crushed starlight and kneaded it into the trunk bit by bit.
Yi Yi no longer needs to continuously output life energy.
She hovered in front of the ancient tree, her long hair swaying gently in the wind, her tired face clearly visible, but her eyes were surprisingly bright.
"Alright." Yi Yi's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.
Xu Si stood behind her without saying a word.
He saw it.
At the top cross-section of the ancient tree trunk, a tender green shoot is slowly and stubbornly peeking out.
It was a new sprout.
As fine as a hair, as small as a grain of rice, but in Xu Si's starry eyes, the life force surging within that new sprout was like a volcano about to erupt, fiery, surging, and unstoppable.
"Is this the World Tree?" Wanliuchun emerged from the black building, barefoot on the black soil, quietly examining the tiny new sprout.
"It's still early." Yi Yi shook her head.
"This is just a seed. To grow into a true World Tree, it needs time, nutrients, and also—"
She paused, then turned her head to look at Xu Si.
"What else do we need?"
"We still need that thing."
Yi Yi's gaze fell on Xu Si's spatial cloak.
Xu Si understood instantly.
He raised his hand and took out an item from his spatial cloak—filthy soil.
The dark, metallic soil lay quietly in his palm, its surface shimmering with eerie light patterns, like a fragment of earth compressed to its limit, still breathing.
"Use it now?"
"Um!"
"System, upgrade the Filthy Soil to the wondrous Breath Soil!"
[Purification Points -2500, Remaining Purification Points: 237800]
Estimated time: 3 minutes
Xu Si felt the weight in his palm changing, not becoming lighter or heavier, but rather beginning to wriggle and then flow.
It turns out that the real "breath soil" is actually like lead and mercury.
Upgrade complete
[A Marvelous Object: Breath of Earth]
[Ranking of Oddities: 4388]
【Characteristics: Endless life, fertile land, mother energy of all things】
[Description: A wondrous creation born from filthy soil and guided by spiritual energy. It can grow on its own, reproduce spontaneously, nurture life, and transform all barren land into fertile ground.]
Xu Si now knew why this guy's ranking was so low.
That's because this clump of life-giving soil was less than the size of an egg, and it shimmered with an amber-colored luster in his palm, flowing slowly.
Xu Si was losing confidence. Could this little bit of life-giving soil really grow? And what about the World Tree?
In his mind, the World Tree must be a towering tree. Judging from the little bit of life soil in front of him, it didn't seem like something that could grow a World Tree.
"Don't worry, this amount of soil is enough for the World Tree to grow roots!" Yi Yi said.
"Oh? As long as it works!"
Xu Si wasn't sure if Yi Yi was trying to comfort herself, but he was even considering spending more purification points to upgrade this strange item, so it wouldn't look so shabby.
Yi Yi didn't care.
And that small clump of fertile soil, drawn by the ancient tree's thirst, was directly led to the new bud above the trunk.
The moment the soil fell beneath the new shoot, the ancient tree trembled, a sensation felt even by those outside the barrier.
The tremor was not pain, but a kind of almost greedy desire.
The green sprout seemed even more vibrant now.
The changes in the ancient tree over the next few days completely exceeded Xu Si's expectations.
He had thought that the new sprout would gradually grow stronger and larger, but unexpectedly, it was the ancient tree that began to wither and shrink.
The newly sprouted bud showed no change whatsoever; apart from becoming even more vibrant, it remained only the size of a grain of rice.
Xu Si understood: the enormous ancient tree was becoming nourishment for that new bud.
This is not a metaphor, but a literal, naked sacrifice, and a voluntary sacrifice at that.
Eating oneself?
So creative?
Moreover, as time went on, the new sprout's feeding speed increased, while the soil remained unchanged throughout.
The dark trunk of that tree, which once required ten people to encircle, shrank by more than half in just a few days.
The tenth day has arrived.
The frequency of strange occurrences around the city has increased significantly. Before this, Su Su and Chen Pei had also led their team to kill many strange creatures.
But the increasing number of strange occurrences indicates that things are going bad.
Everyone in the convoy was on high alert, anticipating any changes that might occur in the very heart of the city.
Before that, all they could do was protect the city.
"Is this right?" Xu Si didn't know if the current situation was reasonable, so he could only ask Wan Liuchun.
Wanliuchun was also unaware that the World Tree was not something one could simply see at will.
The process of cultivating the World Tree exists only in legends.
Day 11
The devouring continued, and the tree trunk shrank at a visible rate.
To be honest, the current state of the ancient tree reminded Xu Si of beef jerky or chicken jerky.
"Yi-yi, are you alright?" Xu Si asked in his mind, though he actually wanted to ask about the progress.
However, as a guardian, Xu Si felt that he should still give him a certain amount of trust.
After all, it doesn't matter if you fail; you can always start over.
Of course, starting over is contingent on the ancient tree having a second chance, or the plague god sending a second ancient tree.
Xu Si felt that the hope was slim.
As Lu Xun once said, "A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit."
As a god, he couldn't afford to repeat the same mistake twice.
Who knows, the next one to descend might be the god himself.
"I'm fine." Yi Yi's voice was solemn, and Xu Si could tell from her words that this little girl was a bit precocious.
Because he sensed stubbornness in his voice.
However, she still offered an explanation.
"The World Tree no longer requires me to expend life energy. The rest is up to time."
The hardest step has been accomplished; now it's up to the World Tree to prove itself.
Day 15.
Level 5 anomalies have begun to appear outside the city.
"Sir, the frequency of strange activities in the vicinity is increasing. Should I take action to clear it out?"
"..."
Xu Si glanced at the convoy of people standing guard on the city wall and shook his head.
Perhaps they don't want to be flowers in a greenhouse.