Chapter 327: The World Tree's Transformation |
Upon hearing this, Long Xuan sighed inwardly. This man truly lived up to the name Shui Wuqing, [TL: Wuqing meaning ruthless] for he had even killed his own father—truly ruthless.
However, Shui Wuqing possessed Two-Origin Heavy Water, making him nearly impossible to kill. Such a figure was entirely beyond Long Xuan's ability to handle.
Even if Shui Wuqing couldn't fully control the Two-Origin Heavy Water, being forced into a corner could lead him to recklessly unleash its power, dragging anyone down with him. How could Long Xuan dare provoke such a terrifying existence?
Instead of contemplating how to kill him, it would be far wiser to think about how to find a new body for Shui Lao.
From the current perspective, helping Shui Lao find a vessel seemed much easier than attempting to eliminate Shui Wuqing.
But the premise was that Shui Lao truly kept his word. Long Xuan had no interest in wasting his efforts in vain.
After pondering for a moment, Long Xuan finally said, “Are you serious? If I accomplish even one of the two tasks for you, you will give me the One-Origin Heavy Water?”
“Why don’t I believe it?”
“That’s a power capable of making you invincible among those at your level. There are so many treasures you could offer, but you’re only willing to give away the Heavenly Water. I suspect you never intended to part with it in the first place. That’s why you’re being so generous, right?”
Shui Lao put on a bitter smile and replied, “It seems you’ve misunderstood me. It’s not that I’m generous. I’d happily give you a cheaper treasure if I had one.”
“But aside from the One-Origin Heavy Water, I have nothing else—not even a single piece of clothing.”
“The only treasure I possess is the One-Origin Heavy Water, so it’s the only thing I can offer you.”
“You must understand that for Gu cultivators, all their treasures are integrated into their physical bodies. Once the body is destroyed, their wealth is often lost as well.”
“When my body was destroyed in the chaos of battle, I was lucky to escape with my life. How could I have cared about those other treasures?”
“Only the water seed of the One-Origin Heavy Water was carried within my soul, making it the sole treasure I brought out.”
Despite hearing this explanation, Long Xuan’s skepticism remained.
Perhaps Shui Lao genuinely only had the Heavenly Water, but that didn’t mean he would fulfill his promise and hand it over after the task was completed.
Long Xuan knew little about Shui Lao’s character.
After another moment of thought, Long Xuan finally said, “Given my current level, it’s impossible for me to kill Shui Wuqing. So I’ll choose the second task—to help you find a suitable vessel.”
“I hope you’ll honor your word.”
Of course, Long Xuan wasn’t fully committed to this decision, nor was he ready to help Shui Lao find a body just yet.
He only said this to stabilize Shui Lao and ensure his own safety.
If he outright refused to assist Shui Lao, there was no telling how Shui Lao might react. It was even possible he’d lash out in anger and prevent Long Xuan from leaving. Who could say how strong this mysterious soul truly was?
As for obtaining the Heavenly Water, Long Xuan planned to consider it further after returning. There was no need to rush this matter. His immediate priority was breaking through to the Spiritual Sea Stage and refining the Tribulation Gu.
Plotting for the Heavenly Water could wait until after he became a Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivator.
Hearing Long Xuan agree to find him a vessel, Shui Lao smiled.
Although it was uncertain whether Long Xuan could complete the task, at least there was hope.
“Rest assured, I, Shui Wuque, have always kept my word. If you can find me a vessel, the One-Origin Heavy Water will be yours. Should I go back on my promise, may the heavens strike me with thunder!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a bolt of lightning struck his water-formed body.
Long Xuan couldn’t help but twitch the corners of his mouth.
...
After leaving the Heavenly Water Lake, Long Xuan didn’t waste time lingering. He found a place far from any lakes and began the process of refining the Tribulation Gu.
The terrain of the Thunder Swamp was home to many mysterious creatures, so Long Xuan used the Five-Element Reversal Grand Formation to secure an area, ensuring he wouldn’t be disturbed during the process.
After setting up the formation, Long Xuan and his clone began pouring out all the lightning-attributed spirit insects—an astounding total of one million. The process of releasing the insects took an incredibly long time, requiring countless insect-rearing bags.
Among them, one lightning-shaped spirit insect stood out.
This insect had no physical body and existed entirely in the form of lightning. Its lightning-shaped body could morph into any shape, but its bright, crystalline eyes remained distinct no matter how it changed.
Once released, the lightning-formed insect darted around chaotically, even attempting to escape into the sky.
However, with the Five-Element Reversal Grand Formation in place, it had no way out. No matter where it tried to flee, it collided with the barrier, unable to escape.
At this moment, the formation acted like a refining vessel. As a material for the Tribulation Gu, the insect had no chance of escaping the refining process.
This chaotic lightning insect was none other than the renowned Tribulation Insect, ranked thirty-sixth on the Peak Spirit Insect List—an exceedingly rare existence.
When the last spirit insect was finally poured out, the refinement site began to show obvious progress.
Long Xuan was stunned. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he looked at the progress.
What kind of incredible luck was this? Successfully forming the Gu in one go—this was unprecedented!
A smile of excitement spread across Long Xuan’s face.
Inside the barrier, the million spirit insects had begun devouring each other. The lightning-formed insect wreaked havoc among the swarm, frantically consuming the lightning elements within the other insects.
This lightning-formed insect seemed to have no vulnerabilities. Any attack passed harmlessly through its body, incapable of harming it.
In this chaotic battle, it was invincible, destined to consume every other insect.
After watching for a while, Long Xuan finally turned and left.
He didn’t go far from the Thunder Swamp. At a distance where the thunder’s roar could no longer be heard, he carved out a cave to use as a retreat.
Within the cave rested the Heaven-Devouring Toad, which Long Xuan instructed to enter hibernation and remain still. Meanwhile, he retreated into its belly.
His next step was to refine the Earth Spirit Pill and break through to the Spiritual Sea Stage as quickly as possible.
He only had one Earth Spirit Fruit, and he wasn’t sure how many pills a single batch could produce.
If only one pill was created, would it be enough to ensure his breakthrough?
Even if only one pill were produced, it wouldn’t matter. With the Repair Gu, he could cut the Earth Spirit Pill into ten pieces and have the Gu repair it into ten complete pills.
When the time comes, even Di Xin's share will be available.
Thinking of Di Xin, Long Xuan recalled the pile of rare spiritual herbs he had swindled from her. A smile curled on his lips—it was time to transplant those rare spiritual herbs into his herb garden.
However, the floating island he currently occupied was already full. The terrain of the island was wildly varied, including even a lake, and the flat plains were not extensive.
Adding to the challenge, he had heavenly-grade and earth-grade spiritual herbs, as well as the divine tree to cultivate. Due to the required spacing between these plants, the gaps couldn’t be used for other herbs, making it highly space-consuming.
As of now, the herb planting space on this floating island was no longer sufficient.
Long Xuan realized he had no choice but to seek a third floating island.
After some thought, he approached the World Tree.
He had planted the World Tree long ago, and under the rapid growth stimulation of his Medicinal Gu, it had already grown into a towering tree.
Among all the spiritual herbs in his garden, the World Tree was undoubtedly the largest.
His Medicinal Gu, Heavenly Dream Dragon Silkworm, and even the rabbit had made the tree their home, lying on its branches fast asleep.
Standing beside the World Tree, Long Xuan looked up at the large fruits hanging from its branches, his thoughts wandering.
The seeds of the World Tree contained their own worlds, with each seed harboring an immense space.
It seemed that these seeds were the cores of the fruits hanging on the tree.
Currently, there were 36 fruits on the tree, each of a different color. The red fruits radiated fiery energy, abundant with fire-element energy, while the white fruits emitted cold energy, brimming with ice-element energy.
It wasn’t hard to deduce that the world within a white fruit would be an icy domain, while that of a red fruit would be a scorching realm.
Every fruit was uniquely shaped, and the worlds they contained were just as varied.
However, the World Tree, being a divine tree, had an exceptionally long growth cycle. None of the fruits were fully ripe yet.
The fruits matured at different rates, likely due to the varying strengths of the worlds they harbored. Some worlds were more potent and took longer to form.
At present, among the 36 fruits, only one had reached 100% maturity, while others hadn’t even reached 1%. It was hard to imagine such disparity among fruits growing on the same tree.
Long Xuan was particularly curious about the fruit that hadn’t even reached 1% maturity—what kind of terrifying world would it eventually produce?
The one fruit that had reached full maturity caught his attention. Long Xuan hurried over and gently plucked the ripe fruit, holding it in his hands with great care.
This fruit was green, teeming with wood-element energy.
A world born from a wood-element fruit would undoubtedly be ideal for the growth of spiritual herbs, making it perfect as a mobile herbal garden.
Long Xuan smiled faintly.
He carefully removed the flesh of the green fruit and stored it in a jade box for safekeeping.
The flesh of the World Tree’s fruit was undoubtedly a treasure with great potential, though he had yet to determine its specific use. He decided to study it later.
However, as soon as he removed the flesh, before he could explore the world within the seed, the seed began to float in his hand.
It seemed that the Heaven Devouring World Toad was controlling the seed, so Long Xuan didn’t interfere, allowing it to drift into the air.
The World Tree seed flew a considerable distance beyond the island. After a moment, cracks rapidly spread across its surface, covering it with intricate fissures.
“Boom!”
With a loud explosion, the seed shattered, and a massive floating island materialized out of thin air, not far from Bee Island.
Delighted, Long Xuan hurried over.
Although the seed had flown quite far initially, the new island was enormous, and its proximity to the original floating island was less than 100 meters—almost a collision.
Long Xuan was already considering building a suspension bridge between the two islands for easier travel.
Once more floating islands appeared, bridges could connect all of them.
Jumping onto the new wood-element island, Long Xuan immediately felt an overwhelming surge of wood-element energy envelop him.
The energy here was far denser than anywhere else, and he was confident that Gu cultivators specializing in wood-element energy would experience rapid breakthroughs training here.
On this land rich with wood-element energy, Long Xuan believed planting spiritual herbs would significantly speed up their growth.
Accelerating herb growth seemed to be the special ability of this wood-element island.
Each world within the seeds of the World Tree possessed a unique power.
If the wood-element fruit’s ability was to boost spiritual herb growth, then the first World Tree seed he had obtained seemed to be an insect-element fruit, enhancing the growth of spirit insects.
This was something he had only discovered accidentally after a long time. Initially, he hadn’t realized that the World Tree seed could accelerate the growth of spirit insects.
However, this ability was limited to spirit insects and did not affect Gu insects, spirit beasts, or humans.
Long Xuan speculated that the World Tree must also produce a Gu-element fruit to accelerate Gu insect growth and a beast-element fruit for spirit beast growth.
As for the World Tree seed he had used as a material for refining Gu, it seemed to have been a preservation fruit. The world it contained could keep items stored within from decaying indefinitely.
Using such a miraculous seed for refining Gu might have been a waste, but it didn’t matter. Among the fruits currently on the World Tree, there would certainly be another preservation fruit, and he only needed to wait patiently.
Satisfied after surveying the wood-element island, Long Xuan nodded in approval.
This island was much larger than the insect-element island, with flatter terrain, making it an ideal place for planting medicinal herbs.
He then commanded his clones to begin cultivating the wood-element island, planting all the rare spiritual herbs he had tricked from Di Xin.
These herbs, freshly uprooted from Di Xin’s garden, could easily survive after transplantation.
Long Xuan decided that this floating island would only house the most valuable rare spiritual herbs. Ordinary herbs that could be bought with spirit stones wouldn’t be planted here.