Chapter 145: The Saluo Tree and the Magic Mirror
“What is that?”
Karl, standing on the magic flying carpet, lowered his head to look at the island on the sea, his eyes full of doubt.
“A perfect hexagon…”
“Can a natural island grow into this shape?”
The island below was low in the middle and high around the edges, forming a perfect hexagon, with a distance of over ten miles from the northernmost point to the southernmost.
The entire island was covered with trees, and in the very center stood a giant tree about three hundred meters tall.
A faint mist enveloped the island.
“A corrupted aura and vigorous vitality can actually blend together perfectly?”
Karl’s gaze flickered as he focused on the giant tree in the center of the island:
“Late stage, first-order!”
The sky-covering corrupted aura and the vast, boundless vitality all indicated its power.
Even,
Karl suspected that if this world didn’t have some kind of restriction, the giant tree’s rank would have long surpassed the first order.
Becoming a second-order, or even a third-order existence!
If it were refined into a blood elixir…
Karl’s heart pounded, his eyes slightly burning.
“Advance in a wedge formation!”
Aya’s voice echoed across the sea through a specially made amplification device, and several warships began to move accordingly.
The warships slowly approached the island, and the trees on the island seemed to sense the danger, their branches and leaves beginning to sway.
The mist enveloping the island also began to drift towards the warships.
According to Connie, this mist had the property of corrupting all living things, so it must not be touched.
If a person touches it,
they will die!
If a ship touches it,
it will rot!
“Turn the rudder!”
Aya, holding a telescope, watched the mist on the island, her expression unchanged as she gave her orders in an orderly manner:
“North thirty degrees, sail against the wind, accelerate!”
The fleet moved in formation, heading in the direction the sea breeze was blowing, leaving the mist from the island behind.
The ships could sail against the wind and even faster, but the mist clearly could not, and could only watch helplessly from behind.
“To the deck!”
Aya shouted:
“Prepare the heavy crossbows and fire oil, await my orders!”
“Yes!”
On the warships, cannons were extended, and heavy crossbows were moved onto the deck, causing the ships to tilt slightly.
“Ready!”
“Fire!”
“Boom!”
Accompanied by a series of loud bangs, smoke from the gunpowder explosions filled the air, and wooden barrels and iron cans filled with fire oil fell towards the island.
“Turn!”
“Advance one nautical mile, prepare for the second wave!”
Aya took a deep breath, glanced at Karl above, and a layer of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.
She wasn’t afraid, but rather heartbroken.
These things were all money.
A single wave cost at least hundreds of thousands of God’s Grace Coins, and it was estimated that only Karl could mobilize that much in the entire Rapid Flow City.
“Fire!”
Thousands of barrels of fire oil crashed into the dense forest, not causing much of a stir, and the trees on the island also became quiet.
They didn’t seem to understand the fleet’s actions.
Several hours later.
“Huff…”
Aya let out a long sigh, her expression hardening:
“Prepare!”
Giant crossbow bolts with flint tips were lifted by the crew and placed on the heavy crossbows.
Cannonballs were also loaded into the cannons.
Everything was ready.
“Fire!”
“Boom!”
Hundreds of crossbow bolts and cannonballs shot out from the fleet, drawing arcs in the sky, and landed on the island.
Then.
“Boom!”
Flames erupted.
The flint, upon contact with an object, turned into exploding flames, and the cannonballs were like fireballs falling from the sky.
The fire oil that had been thrown into the dense forest earlier was also ignited, and in the blink of an eye, flames rose in the dense forest.
“Continue!”
Aya waved her hand:
“Adjust the position…”
“Fire!”
“Bang!”
“Boom!”
Three waves in a row, and the area of the island near the coastline was completely engulfed in flames, with the raging fire spreading inwards.
“Whish, whish…”
Under the scorching heat of the flames, the trees on the island were like living beings trapped in a sea of fire, struggling desperately.
Countless branches and leaves waved wildly, trying to extinguish the flames.
Abundant sap seeped out from inside the trees, and even thick water vapor was drawn from the ground by the giant tree and rushed towards the flames.
But,
it was useless!
“Sizzle…”
The sound of scorching was incessant, and trees fell in the flames, making loud cracking sounds.
The giant tree’s actions weren’t necessarily wrong.
But the sap and water within the trees had a limit, and once they were dried out by the flames, the trees that had lost their moisture became the best kindling.
Moreover, Aya had chosen an excellent position to start the fire, and with the help of the wind, the flames on the island grew larger and larger.
“Boom!”
The island trembled.
The giant tree in the center seemed to be letting out a desperate roar, and trees began to rush towards the flames.
They moved slowly, but they were determined.
“Useless.”
Karl, standing on the magic flying carpet, gently shook his head:
“After all, it’s an inanimate object, and even though it’s late-stage first-order, the inability to move is its fatal flaw.”
“Hmm?”
“It was trying to create a vacuum zone without any combustibles, this thing actually has some intelligence.”
From the center of the island, some trees rushed towards the flames, while others slowly retreated.
In this way.
A vacuum zone of a hundred meters would be created, and the flames would have no way to continue expanding.
“Too bad!”
Karl shook his head:
“There’s still me.”
He tapped his foot, and the magic flying carpet carried him into the sky above the island, and then he crushed a rune.
Chain Fireball!
Three fireballs the size of a meter fell from the sky, landing in the dense forest and exploding, igniting a large area.
Compared to ordinary flames, the wizard’s flames were more difficult to extinguish, like a viscous liquid, burning continuously.
Moreover,
Karl had more than one rune.
Chain Fireball!
Chain Fireball!
***
Six runes in a row directly interrupted the giant tree’s plan, and Karl did not intend to end it there, but instead, with a solemn expression, took out a different rune.
Late-stage first-order—Chain Fireball!
“Boom!”
“Rumble…”
Six huge fireballs fell from the sky, like fallen suns, plunging into the dense forest.
Instantly.
The raging fire was even more difficult to suppress.
“Whish, whish…”
The branches and leaves trembled violently, as if lamenting some kind of sorrow.
One by one, the trees perished in the flames, and the towering giant tree in the center could only sway its body weakly.
The frantically drawn water vapor turned into sparse raindrops falling on the island, doing little to extinguish the flames.
“Crack!”
“Bang!”
The branches burned in the flames, making crisp cracking sounds.
The giant tree in the center of the island also began to show scorch marks under the high temperature and scorching flames.
“Ready!”
Aya put away the telescope, raised her right hand, preparing to give the trees on the island one last wave of attacks.
“Wait.”
Karl suddenly spoke, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes, and then he controlled the magic flying carpet to land on the island.
At this time, the trees on the outer edge of the island had already been burned to ashes, and only a few roots buried deep in the ground had been spared.
Sadness!
Desolation!
Unwillingness!
***
“It’s alive?”
Karl’s face showed contemplation as he reached out and pulled out a root with little vitality from the ruins, his five fingers transforming into tentacles and piercing into it.
He had not yet completed the construction of the first-circle spell Life Whisper, but he had mastered the zero-circle plant perception.
Instantly.
A faint thought appeared in his mind.
“Don’t kill me!”
“I…”
“Don’t want to die!”
…………
The once lush green island was now a charred black, with only a trace of green remaining in the center of the island.
The giant tree over three hundred meters tall had already broken, and the charred trees had turned into charcoal, scattered nearby.
On the remaining ten-meter-tall trunk, there were scorch marks everywhere, and the few green shoots that had regrown were its last struggle.
“I don’t want to die!”
The green shoots trembled, letting out a mournful plea:
“Please, don’t kill me, I am the only Saluo tree left in this world, please spare my life.”
“Why should I let you go?” Karl paced in the field, sensing the faint vitality before him:
“Don’t talk about mercy, redemption…”
“I don’t know how many people died on this island, you probably didn’t think of being soft-hearted when you devoured them.”
“No! I didn’t!” The green shoots swayed:
“I spent most of my time sleeping, reducing consumption, devouring humans… I don’t remember very clearly.”
“Is that so?” Karl stopped:
“Do you think I believe that?”
The reason he was willing to stop was only because he was curious about the intelligent life form that was not human that he had encountered for the first time.
It was definitely not because of any pity, and even less so-called sympathy.
“I didn’t lie to you.” The green shoots’ voice was weak:
“How can you let me go?”
“Don’t sound so pitiful.” Karl lowered his head, looking at the ground covered in ashes, his voice indifferent:
“Many roots underground have not been burned to death, although your strength has greatly diminished, you still have a chance to resist.”
“You can try.”
“Whish, whish…”
The ground shook, as if countless earthworms were wriggling beneath, and the green shoots seemed to be struggling.
It did indeed still have the ability to fight to the death.
But…
The other party dared to land on the island and pointed out its hidden methods, how many chances did it have left?
Moreover,
There were still several warships at sea, even if it killed the person in front of it, how could it avoid the warships’ attacks?
“Human.”
The green shoots drooped, its voice weak:
“I beg for your forgiveness.”
“I can forgive you.” Karl’s eyes flickered, and a mark formed by mental power floated into the air:
“But you need to put this into your life core.”
“This is…” The green shoots trembled:
“A soul mark!”
“Hmm?” Karl raised an eyebrow:
“You know about it?”
Like blood elixirs, soul marks came from the wizardry book ‘Mother of All Spirits’, and there were people in this world who recognized it?
Wait a minute!
Karl narrowed his eyes.
Saluo tree?
This name seemed to have appeared in the wizard’s compendium of magic plants, a special kind of magic plant.
Could it be…
That the two worlds had some kind of connection?
“I don’t know.” The green shoots swayed, its voice blank:
“We existences like this are supposed to inherit a portion of our ancestors’ memories, but because of this world, most of my memories are blank, and only when I see certain things do the memories automatically surface.”
“In my memory, the soul mark comes from a terrifying existence, it enslaves many lives…”
At the end, its voice was already filled with fear.
“You don’t have to accept it.”
Karl raised his left hand, and a first-order rune quietly floated:
“Two choices, choose one.”
A soul mark,
or death!
The green shoots froze on the spot, and at this moment, even the sea breeze seemed to carry a trace of desolation and a strong sense of unwillingness.
After a long while.
Its voice was full of sorrow:
“I choose the soul mark.”
“Very good!”
Karl’s face showed a smile.
He had been refining the soul mark with his mental power for some time, but he had never successfully controlled a different species.
***
This time, encountering an intelligent life form gave him a chance to succeed.
As the green shoots opened its life core, the soul mark merged into it, and soon after, a strange feeling rose in Karl’s heart.
The soul mark,
was complete!
Everything went very smoothly.
However, if it had not been able to open its life core, he estimated that he would have had to give up on this method.
‘The soul mark means control!’
‘Controlling the life or death of other beings, under the suppression of the soul mark, the existence that has been implanted with the soul mark cannot even have the thought of resistance.’
‘This kind of control…’
‘Calling it control is more like enslavement!’
‘Forced enslavement!’
“But it’s not without a price, if the mental power isn’t strong enough, it’s estimated that you’ll suffer a backlash from the soul mark.”
Karl’s gaze flickered, and he also felt that his mental sea was bearing a certain pressure from the soul mark.
Enslaving a late-stage first-order existence was not easy for him in his current state.
Especially a Saluo tree with the potential to become second-order or third-order, it occupied a large portion of his mental power.
Next, it would depend on how much benefit this late-stage first-order ‘plant’ could bring him.
Karl calmed himself down and asked:
“Do you have a name?”
“No.” The green shoots swayed:
“Saluo tree is the name of our kind.”
“Master.”
Having accepted the soul mark, the Saluo tree, knowing that it had no ability to resist, took the initiative to show goodwill, its branches and leaves swaying:
“Under this island, there are some treasures that humans can use, and some broken ancient weapons.”
“Weapons?” Karl lowered his head:
“Was this place once a battlefield?”
“No.” The Saluo tree conveyed its thoughts:
“It was an arena.”
Hmm?
Karl raised an eyebrow, and then it suddenly dawned on him.
The middle of this island was sunken, and the surrounding area was high, the sunken area was vast, and the high area was in the shape of steps.
Wasn’t that the shape of an arena?
“The gods of this world would have their guardians fight here to amuse them.”
“The winner would receive a reward from the gods, while the loser would lose their life.”
The Saluo tree said:
“Every guardian of a god was proud to obtain the final victory on behalf of their god.”
?
Karl remembered that he was also a guardian.
In ancient times, when the gods were still around, the guardians were merely tools they used for amusement?
After thinking about it, he asked:
“Are the guardians you’re talking about from the mortal realm or the holy realm?”
There was a big difference between the two, the guardians of the mortal realm were just Holy Knights, while the holy realm was where the gods resided.
“It’s the holy realm.”
The Saluo tree said:
“The arena would record the exciting battles with recording stones, and the people who fought here were all second-order and third-order existences.”
Third-order!
They definitely couldn’t be in the mortal realm.
The gods actually had third-order beings duel to amuse themselves, how bored must these ‘gods’ have been.
Karl stood in the ruins, looking around.
In a daze.
He seemed to see the gods sitting in the stands of the arena, each with an excited expression as they watched the guardians fighting fiercely in the arena.
These guardians of the gods, from birth, had the responsibility of protecting their gods as their mission, desperately cultivating and becoming stronger.
They went through layers of selection in the mortal realm and entered the holy sanctuary.
They defeated many opponents in the holy sanctuary and arrived in the divine realm.
Under the teachings of the gods, they learned the guardians’ techniques, and they were fighting so desperately, was it just to one day die in the arena to amuse some beings?
“Gods…”
Karl sighed softly: “How ridiculous!”
“A long lifespan will make everything new become repetitive and boring, so the gods will naturally try everything to find amusement.” The Saluo tree swayed its leaves:
“Master.”
“This arena originally belonged to the divine realm, but it fell from the divine realm during the war of the gods, and I, who was still a sapling at the time, also fell on the island, taking root and sprouting until now.”
“Hmm…” Karl thought for a moment, then asked:
“Since the divine realm had third-order guardians, then there should be a method for legendary knights to cultivate, do you know about it?”
“This…” The Saluo tree hesitated for a moment:
“Master, I cannot cultivate the methods of cultivation that humans use, even if they were passed down by the gods.”
“Moreover, this is an arena, not a training ground, and the things in the recording stones are not complete, I remember now…”
“There is a method called Sacred Breath, which seems to be a reward given by the gods to the winners who first entered the arena, although it cannot allow first-order beings to advance, it can increase the strength of the guardians.”
Karl’s eyes lit up.
“But there is one problem.”
The Saluo tree added:
“Sacred Breath is a method for guardians to cultivate, and it can only be cultivated if one has cultivated the guardians’ techniques.”
To prove its reliability, it had already abandoned its ‘tree pride’ and was doing everything it could to gain Karl’s trust.
The guardians’ techniques?
The Giant Spirit Breathing Technique was one!
A smile appeared on Karl’s face.
*
*
*
Battle aura originates from life force.
The stronger the life force, the stronger the battle aura.
Once a legendary knight is advanced, because the essence of life is improved, the battle aura will also undergo a fundamental change.
And Sacred Breath,
was to enhance it again on this basis.
“To fuse one’s battle will with the physical body and battle aura, thereby achieving a qualitative change.”
“Powerful guardians, their battle aura often possesses the ability to break magic, restrain various mystical methods, and their defense is even more terrifying, even if they are struck by weapons forged by the gods, they may still not be penetrated.”
“The key is battle will…”
Karl held a recording stone in his hand, his eyes flickering back and forth.
Inside the recording stone, several second-order guardians were engaged in a fierce battle.
The arena clearly had some kind of barrier that restricted their destructive power, but it still made Karl’s heart tremble.
One of the guardians was wearing golden armor and wielding a long spear, and with a single thrust of the spear, he seemed to be able to pierce through space.
Another guardian was bare-chested, and a battle aura-infused flood dragon revolved around his body, roaring at his opponent.
The remaining few were not as strong as these two, but each had their own methods.
Their battles were not as dazzling or exquisite as those of wizards, but were instead a b*oody battle between knights.
Power!
Speed!
Technique!
Karl had no doubt that with that terrifying explosive power, a second-order Addison could be easily torn apart by them.
And these were just second-order guardians…
“Too bad!”
“The recording stone was damaged, and too much time has passed, there’s not much left to see.”
“Also…”
“What exactly is battle will?”
Karl frowned.
If he couldn’t comprehend battle will, he wouldn’t be able to cultivate Sacred Breath, and he wouldn’t be able to advance his battle aura.
The divine domain fragment could add points and had absolute rationality, but it couldn’t help him comprehend this ethereal battle will.
“Slaughter!”
“Comprehend my own path of the knight from battle, this doesn’t fit my personality, but it’s not like there isn’t a way.”
“Once I’ve mastered Sacred Breath, I should be able to go to Pirate Island.”
He hadn’t forgotten that Pirate Island, Tortuga, was said to have countless treasures collected by pirates.
There were at least a few dozen Great God’s Grace Coins on the island.
He couldn’t miss it no matter what!
…………
Because of the discovery of the mineral vein and the existence of a suspected demi-plane, the Leipzig Market had also become restless.
Even people from other markets had rushed over.
Karl paced, arriving at the ‘Golden Broom Magic Cabin’ run by the Nelson family.
“Wizard Enid!”
In a corner of the shop, Enid, who was weaving a magic cloak, raised her head at the sound, a smile appearing on her face:
“Karl, why do you have time to come here today?”
“I had a few questions about the flight technique that I couldn’t figure out, and I just ended up here.” Karl said with a smile:
“Are you making an invisibility cloak?”
“Yes.”
Enid put down what she was doing:
“The buyer requested that fire-resistant materials be added, you know, there are a lot of people going to that mineral vein recently.”
“Even Bern went.”
“Is that so?” Karl was stunned:
“I thought he was just talking about it, I didn’t expect him to actually go.”
“He left yesterday.” Enid sighed:
“I advised him not to be impulsive, but he wanted to take a chance, and at the very least, he could accumulate some resources for his grandson.”
Wizard Bern’s grandson had wizard talent, and was currently an intermediate wizard apprentice, but the possibility of him becoming a formal wizard in the future was not high.
It was probably because of this that Bern, who was already old, would go out.
“Forget it.”
Waving her hand, Enid said:
“Let’s not talk about him, you said that you have some questions about the flight technique that you couldn’t figure out, what are they? It just so happens that I’m free and can help you answer them.”
“It’s like this.” Karl composed himself and brought up his questions about the flight technique one by one.
The Thunder Wings he was cultivating also belonged to the category of flight techniques, and these questions were interconnected.
“So that’s how it is.”
Not long after.
Karl’s face showed understanding:
“Speaking of the mineral vein, it is said that it has been confirmed to have a demi-plane, that involves existences above the third-order.”
“Yes.” Enid nodded:
“But the better the things, the greater the danger.”
“That’s right.” Karl agreed and asked:
“Wizard Enid, I just advanced to become a wizard, and I’m not familiar with the fighting methods between wizards, is there any way to improve my fighting experience?”
“That…” Enid hesitated for a moment and said:
“There is, but it’s quite dangerous.”
“Oh!” Karl’s spirits lifted:
“Tell me about it.”
…………
Nelson was a wizard from the Andrew family, responsible for managing the family business, selling various magic items.
This day.
A burly man wearing a black robe came to the shop.
“I want a Nef’s Magic Mirror.”
The man’s voice was deep:
“The highest grade one!”
“Customer.” Before the people below could greet him, Nelson had already quickly gotten up and actively welcomed him:
“Nef’s Magic Mirror is a unique illusion magic item of our Andrew family, are you sure you want the highest grade one?”
“Hmm?” The man tilted his head, his eyes deep under the black robe:
“Do you doubt that I can’t afford it?”
“No!” Nelson’s face turned pale, as a mid-stage first-order wizard, he actually felt a sense of fear when facing the other party, and he quickly said:
“Because it’s mental power that enters the magic mirror, and once you are injured in the illusion, your main body will also be injured, and some people have even died in the illusion because of it.”
“Especially the highest grade one, it’s very easy to hurt yourself.”
“It’s okay.” The man’s voice was muffled:
“I know what I’m doing.”
“Yes, yes.” Nelson gave an awkward smile and gestured for someone to bring the magic mirror, while explaining:
“Nightmare wizards can use people’s memories to weave illusions, and the stronger they are, the more realistic the illusions they create.”
“Our family had a late-stage first-order wizard named Nef, who developed a Nef’s Magic Mirror based on the magic mirror, which can create various powerful magical creatures or opponents inside for others to practice wizardry.”
“This highest grade one can be used by mid━ and late-stage first-order wizards to practice, and only requires magic stones. This is the only one we have in our shop, and the price is… five thousand magic stones.”
Five thousand magic stones!
The price of an inherited magic item!
The man’s breathing seemed to pause for a moment, then he threw over a bag that was half the height of a person.
“Take a look at the things inside.”
“This…” Nelson’s eyes flickered, and he stepped forward:
“Yes.”
Analysis Technique!
A wizardry aura enveloped the bag, and the composition of the things inside was revealed to his senses, causing his expression to change slightly.
“Bone powder that can cause hallucinations, but what kind of magical creature is this…”
Some of the powder looked like that of a white moth, but there were also some differences, but it was true that it could cause hallucinations and was a wizardry material.
“Will you take it?”
“I will!” Nelson immediately nodded:
“Of course, but these are worth at most two thousand magic stones.”
“Thump!”
The table shook.
Another bag filled with unknown bone powder was thrown in front of him, causing Nelson’s expression to change slightly.
“Will this exchange for your Nef’s Magic Mirror? There shouldn’t be a problem now, right?”
“This…” Nelson’s eyes flickered:
“No problem!”
Two bags of bone powder were still a bit short of five thousand magic stones, but he had already decided to make this deal.
Not long after.
Watching the man in the black robe leave, a young wizard apprentice came over:
“Grand Uncle, we’ve never seen the bone powder that this person took out before, and there’s so much of it, he must have discovered a place that no one knows about, maybe even an unknown species, should we…”
“What are you thinking about?” Nelson looked at him coldly:
“To be able to use a Nef’s Magic Mirror of this quality, his cultivation is at least mid-stage wizard, or even a late-stage grand wizard.”
“With no second-circle wizards around, provoking him would be like courting death!”
“Yes.” The young wizard apprentice looked embarrassed and lowered his head in agreement.
Nelson snorted coldly.
There was something he didn’t say.
When facing the man in the black robe just now, he felt a palpitation, which was the oppressive feeling of a suspected second-circle wizard’s Aura of Fear.
Second-circle wizardry!
Even if he went, it would probably be like courting death.
Although the shop would occasionally do some underhanded business, they had to keep their eyes open, otherwise, they wouldn’t even know how they died.
“Don’t overthink it, just focus on doing business, thinking about those unnecessary things might harm you.”
“Yes.”
The young wizard apprentice agreed:
“I understand.”
Please collect!!!