Chapter 749: The World Tree
"An apple tree?"
"No, that's not right. How could an apple tree grow aerial roots? Isn't that something only banyan trees have?"
"And look, the tree is entirely floating in the air. How strange. How can it absorb nutrients and water like this...?"
Those who had never witnessed the Green Wizard King unfurl his true form were, at this moment, struck by a profound shock that reverberated deep within their souls.
The sky, as far as the eye could see, was completely obscured by the tree's canopy. The colossal tree hung like a verdant net, appearing as if it sought to ensnare the Execution Star Net within its palm.
It was also like an boundless barrier, blocking the three True Immortals who had come to invade.
Among the giant tree's twisted branches, countless aerial roots, delving deep into the void, interspersed. They danced around like tentacles.
Although they hadn't grasped anything at the moment, it felt as if they were always ready to devour someone.
Even though green, symbolizing life, was everywhere, it offered not a single hint of warmth.
If someone with excellent eyesight were to look up from the ground, they might even occasionally spot one or two solitary fruits hanging on the tree.
They looked a bit like apples, but their surfaces were covered with golden patterns, one after another.
"A Golden Apple!" Wind Elf Sera was precisely the kind of person with excellent eyesight. "They say eating one gives you a chance to become an Immortal."
"You still believe those stories...?"
For decades, a certain urban legend had circulated within the Federation. The legend claimed that if one could find a Golden Apple tree seed, and cultivate it, then obtain a ripe Golden Apple and consume it, one would have the chance to ascend to Immortality in a single step.
"The books also said that truly ripe Golden Apples would possess nine golden patterns, but the Golden Apples found on the market at most only had two or three patterns..."
Golden Apple tree seeds and saplings weren't difficult to find. Ever since the Apple Tree Demon Ying Huo self-detonated that year, scattering its remnants across the entire world, within a few years, a new species of spirit tree emerged on Earth—the Golden Apple.
This special spirit fruit had the benefit of sharpening one's senses and doubling one's thought activity in a short time, and was quite popular among the populace. Unfortunately, it was quite difficult to cultivate, which kept its price consistently high.
The quality of Golden Apples was graded by the golden patterns on their skin, with one pattern being the lowest quality. The more patterns, the better the effect on mental enhancement.
In legend, the Golden Apple's ultimate form had nine patterns, and consuming it would instantly enlighten one, allowing for ascension to Immortality in broad daylight. But this was merely a legend.
No evidence of a nine-pattern Golden Apple existing had ever been found; most people believed it didn't exist at all, being merely a fantasy.
However, a single legend was enough. The mere words "ascend to Immortality" were enough to entice countless cultivators to strive and experiment for it, cultivating higher-grade Golden Apples and pushing them to greater heights.
Unfortunately, after decades of effort, the Federation could only manage to cultivate Golden Apples with a maximum of seven patterns.
While their effects were indeed countless times stronger than those with one or two patterns, and even Six-tier cultivators could experience noticeable effects, they were still immeasurably far from the daytime ascension to Immortality described in the legends.
"As expected of a True Immortal's tree, it's actually covered in seven-pattern Golden Apples..." Sera once again used her exceedingly sharp eyesight and managed to discern the Golden Apples' grade.
"Stop dreaming. That's not something we can get our hands on." Mira was similarly astonished by the True Immortal tree's grand display, but quickly quelled the ripple of greed that had arisen in her mind.
...
"So the one I had back then is now what they call a nine-pattern Golden Apple?" After hearing their words, Bai Mo recalled over a hundred years ago, when he completely refined the first generation Ying Huo into a Golden Apple.
That Golden Apple indeed possessed the ability to lead to ascension in a single step. However, it was more likely to cause qi deviation and trap one forever in a world of their own fantasy, unable to return.
Because the nine-pattern Golden Apple would make one's imagination incredibly powerful, beyond comprehension.
If you imagined having just eaten lunch, the heaven-defying imagination granted by the Golden Apple would make you remember the taste of every bite, every detail of each spoonful of rice scooped into your mouth, but in reality, you wouldn't have eaten anything.
False details would be mentally fabricated to feel as real as if they had truly occurred.
People generate a multitude of thoughts every moment. Once affected by the Golden Apple, if all these thoughts were to be completed with exhaustive detail, it would be like suddenly gaining countless exceptionally clear memories, making it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Films watched would instantly transform into one's own life experiences.
...
Comparing it to the Federation's current mainstream cultivation process, Bai Mo quickly understood why they couldn't produce nine-pattern Golden Apples.
It was simply a matter of input.
The Ying Huo tree demon of that year, in an era where Heavenly-grade spirit materials were not yet scarce, absorbed countless top-grade spirit material essences, and then devoured millions of residents from the capital of Maysuo to be born.
Neither of these two conditions was easily achievable anymore.
Today, with Heavenly-grade spirit materials almost becoming a legend, to gather an equivalent amount of spirit materials would require at least a hundred times the cost compared to back then.
And then, the blood sacrifice of a million living souls? Such an anti-human evil artifact. Given the moral bottom line of those good people at the Federation's Agricultural Research Institute, it would never even cross their minds.
Yes, people had always believed that the Golden Apple tree was merely a harmless spirit plant, and that the elevation of the Golden Apple's grade could be fully achieved using the knowledge of spiritual botany...
They never expected that the original creator was actually an evil entity born from blood sacrifice, and their research direction was fundamentally misguided.
...
"Imperial Guard, all units, activate flight mode!"
At the commander's command, all Imperial Guard soldiers in A-grade power armor activated the flight devices on their armor's backs. Nearly two hundred thousand densely packed individuals ascended en masse, flying into the forest of sky-obscuring giant trees.
At the same time, deep within the giant tree formed by the Green Wizard King, one light portal after another suddenly appeared. Large numbers of fully armed wood elves emerged from the light portals, and then vanished into the giant tree's forest, like drops of water disappearing into a desert.
"So his true designation is World Tree."
"World Tree?"
Mira felt a flicker of doubt when she heard the pendant on her chest utter those three words.
"This tree connects three worlds."
"Its true roots are anchored in two other spatial layers, which is why it can float freely in the air."
"Chief, how do you know everything?" Sera, ever the familiar one, asked, casting a curious gaze at the Warden who had only ever existed as a voice.
"Primarily cultivating the Earth Immortal path. Wood elves are the vessel race for his consciousness..." The voice from within the pendant paid no heed to the curious Sera, and simply continued its analysis.
The Earth Immortal path is a path of embodying a race, gradually evolving into a high-level collective consciousness life form. For Ying Huo, who had once experienced becoming a collective consciousness, choosing the Earth Immortal path was entirely normal; it was like returning to his old profession.
P.S.: Haven't promoted a book in a while, so let me promote one: "The Druid Does As He Pleases". The author is also someone I've nurtured to their third book....
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