Chapter 540: Tree Spirit (IV)

“You... just need life essence?”

“Yes!”

“You... will not enter the palace?”

“Of course not!”

The little tree sank into deep thought. “If you are sincere... can you first supply me with some energy stones?”

“......”

Now that was a bad trade! Li Hao cursed to himself.

You want me to pay up before I get anything and the key is, you can continue fighting me once you absorb energy. The tree’s trying to trick me!

“I can, but I only have regular mysterious power stones...” The young man took out a stone common to this day and age.

The tree froze, stunned beyond belief, and said with difficulty after a while. “This is... a discarded energy stone... In my memories... not even dogs eat them... They can be used for cooking... but you want me... to use that... to collect life essence?”

“......” Li Hao blinked. “No way, they’re that bad?”

The little tree remained silent. It seemed to have lost all hope.

You might as well let me die! You can just kill me if you want me to coalesce life essence with this trash. Who spits out milk after eating trash? I’m not a cow!

Li Hao set his jaw and took out a stone from the Battle Heaven Army. “What about this one?”

“This...” responded the little tree after a while. “Is only the most basic cultivation stone. But it’s much better than the one before, this one I can absorb from...”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“How many pieces of this will it take for you to condense one drop of the Water of Life?”

“......” How many? The tree paused for a long moment. “One thousand pieces.”

“......” It was Li Hao’s turn to freeze. One of these was equal to ten modern stones, so the tree wanted ten thousand modern mysterious power stones to coalesce one drop of the Water of Life?!

You’re joking!!

“Do you think I’m ignorant?” he erupted. “General Pagoda gave me one drop after I offered thirty stones.” He briefly flashed a flask to the little tree. “Do you see that? General Pagoda’s fee is so low, but you want one thousand stones?!”

“That one... is stronger than me... and even... stronger than... my father. It is easier for him to condense... life energy. I am... not strong enough... and consume more energy... That expenditure decreases... when I grow stronger...”

Was that so?

“Even that one... needs more energy stones... than thirty... Perhaps... that was a gift... to you.”

Li Hao pondered its words. Hong Yitang had said that the spirit was fishing for more—it appeared that this really was the case. However, one thousand stones for one drop of water was too much. This partnership was suddenly up in the air. Should he just seize the castle? He couldn’t support the tree’s needs!

The little tree didn’t seem that much of an idiot as it suddenly said, “A living plant spirit can do more than collect life essence... It can also absorb and gather energy from the world to create a sacred land of cultivation... The Human King created one in his day... Training for one day there was the equivalent of a year in the outside world...

“If you are willing to supply sufficient energy... I can do the same for you... In the New Martial era, royal cities were the product of plant spirits and powerhouses... They created sacred lands of cultivation that attracted hundreds of millions of souls... They created the way of the human emperor... Of course, it ultimately failed...”

“Way of the human emperor?” Li Hao raised an eyebrow. “What is that?”

“I don’t know. If I did... I would be a peak powerhouse.”

Alright then, so what are you talking about it for?

So the tree spirit could assist with cultivation?

“Let me think about it,” Li Hao offered. “The main issue is that energy stones are too rare in our era. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to give you enough support. The one that I took out first, the one that you said was trash, is an ultimate treasure in our world!”

The little tree didn’t know what to say. An ultimate treasure? This was rocking its worldview. Had the outside world deteriorated to these levels?

Perhaps!

After all, while this person that’d barged in was weak, he was passable. however, he was using this kind of trash for cultivation and treated it as precious treasure. It was plain to see that people of this age were very poor.

“I can... recover some abilities through... absorbing a little... and then gather the energy of the four directions... There is still energy in this age... What I just absorbed was collected from a few decades ago...”

“Energy erupted through the land twenty years ago.” Inspiration struck Li Hao. “You absorbed some and condensed it into energy stones. Did you put them away for later use?”

“Pretty much... but the energy suddenly vanished and there was too little left in the void... I only absorbed that much... and have nothing left after today.”

Li Hao took a deep breath. All those mysterious power stones were just its reserves? Momentary, casual absorption was sufficient for the tree to create mysterious power stones?

My word!

Were all tree spirits this amazing?

The young man’s thoughts shifted. He had to trick the tree... no, he had to cordially coax it into a partnership!

......

In the underground palace.

Two humans and a tree were communicating. Liu Long couldn’t fully understand them—he wouldn’t be able to at all if they did so purely verbally. Thankfully, they talked with the mind, so he could sense a thing or two through mind intent.

After a while, Li Hao looked hesitantly at the palace in the distance.

“Senior Tree,” he suddenly brought up. “A mutually beneficial partnership is what I desire to see, but I’m uncertain whether my efforts will be in proportion with my gains. The times are different from what they were. Therefore, I have a groundless request that I wonder if the senior will agree to?”

“What is it?”

“Senior says that you can collect energy to craft a sacred land for cultivation. What does that look like? I have a few more energy stones on hand. Could you provide a small demonstration after absorbing them?

“Of course, senior might grow incredibly strong after absorbing so much. You might expel us or even kill us. So as a precaution... let me be petty before being a gentleman. I will control the number of stones I supply. If the senior can provide a proportional benefit, I naturally hope for us to work together.”

It would take a lot to maintain the tree and judging from its condition, mysterious power stones might be the most basic materials it wanted. It considered modern stones trash, but those were treasures to Li Hao! They were priceless to everyone.

If he paid a high price and didn’t gain much for it, then there was no need to cooperate with the tree. It would die naturally without replenishment of energy even if he didn’t kill it himself. Li Hao might think of the ancient civilization with a touch of reverence, but that didn’t mean he would help others at his own expense.

If his counterpart wouldn’t bring him any benefits, then he wouldn’t invest too much. As for the palace...

Okay, I’ll stay out of it when you’re alive, but all bets are off when you’re dead.

The tree spirit seemed to be considering something as well. “That can be done... plant spirits and humans... monster spirits... have always coexisted through mutual benefit... Supply me with some energy stones... and I will show you the benefits...”

Li Hao made up his mind and decisively took out one hundred mysterious power stones. They weren’t the ones that he’d received from the army, but the ordinary ones that he used in cultivation. After several raids, he possessed almost three thousand pieces. The ones from the army were worth ten each—he only had roughly twenty pieces left.

Those he was loath to part with. Stellaris produced greater sword energy when he fed them to it, so they couldn’t be wasted.

The little tree wouldn’t normally want to bother with this kind of trash, but any energy it could obtain now was good. One hundred pieces possessed sufficient energy to make the distaste worthwhile.

Li Hao didn’t say anything after tossing them over. He had no choice but to offer so many at once. These ancient existences were gluttons; one hundred pieces seemed nothing but a fleck of poop to them. Anything less might insult them.

The tree’s roots snaked out and stabbed into the stones on the ground, instantly draining them. It was too little for the tree spirit. Such an amount was a drop in the bucket, what a pity that it hadn’t had time to absorb much when energy erupted in the past. The province’s energy had more or less faded away afterwards, so it couldn’t add to its stores.

This tree spirit wasn’t the only one absorbing energy within Silver Moon. Entities within Battle Heaven also partook, making the revitalized energy in the world hardly enough. There was nothing left for Silver Moon human denizens.

The little tree mulled over something after absorbing the energy, eventually emanating a faint, unique energy. It was very weak and Li Hao subconsciously wanted to reject it when it neared the young man. He quickly realized something, however, and absorbed some.

It gave him a peculiar feeling similar to the Water of Life. Or rather, when he first entered the bathing pool in Battle Heaven City. It was a comfortable feeling of being nurtured.

Liu Long absorbed some as well and moaned. “What a strange energy...” he transmitted to Li Hao.

The young man inclined his head. Perhaps this was what made the tree spirit special.

“I am partially destroyed,” came the little tree’s ripples. “I can only exude some life force. This energy can enhance cultivation, extend lifespans, and heal injuries. That is all secondary...”

Li Hao cocked his ear. That was secondary? Then what was primary?

“I can also emanate a trace of the core origin of ancient dao if you cultivate near me. That will help your cultivation too.”

“The core origin of ancient dao?” Li Hao was baffled. What was that?

The little tree seemed stunned by his ignorance and took a while to gather its thoughts. “The core origin... of martial dao... is the base nature of martial dao. I am also quite curious. You people are very strong, but also very weak. But your mental ripples from earlier is also a manifestation of the core origin.

“It is the fundamental force of martial dao. The ferocious tiger you displayed before is a type of dao, but there seems to be some difference. It’s very strange, you are different from the New Martial cultivators of my memories.” It didn’t know how to explain either.