["Are you leaving?"], Upon hearing Asher's words, World Tree asked reluctantly.
Before Asher could respond, World Tree continued.
["Can you take me with you?"]
Asher: "..."
Although...
Why didn't he feel the slightest bit surprised?
Or rather, from the moment World Tree started treating him like its own child, Asher had already expected this day to come.
Reasonable.
Completely reasonable.
Moreover... "I really do want to take you with me," Asher said sincerely.
Such a big tree.
Such a big tree that also looked incredibly awesome.
To say Asher wasn't tempted at all would definitely be a lie.
Even if he suddenly gained another pair of parents, Asher still very much wanted to take this tree with him.
Unfortunately—
Asher looked around at the completely empty surroundings.
Obviously.
Trying to take this tree away was almost impossible.
Just look, even trying to give away a wreath formed from its own condensed power had been extremely difficult for World Tree.
Such a big tree?
Forget it.
Asher chose to give up.
["No, I have a way."]
Looking at Asher's sincere expression about wanting to take it away, World Tree excitedly waved its branches and leaves.
The rustling sound was constant.
Like World Tree's joyful mood.
Happy.
Extremely happy.
It wished it could leave with its baby right now.
As for why the baby wanted to take it away?
Does it matter?
No!
That's not important at all.
As a tree, what World Tree was best at was only hearing the parts it wanted to hear.
Unwanted information?
Just pretend it didn't exist.
Asher, who could see through World Tree's thoughts, stayed silent.
Asher thought about it but didn't say anything.
As long as World Tree was happy.
"So how do you plan to leave with me?", Asher hadn't forgotten the panel full of stats he'd seen before about World Tree.
And judging from the evolution path, it wasn't hard to tell World Tree's evolutionary direction was towards a mythical creature.
But for some unknown reason, the evolution failed.
Asher suddenly remembered, 'I have seen something about World Tree being able to evolve again?'
'Kind of magical.'
Asher was about to open the panel and take another look.
Before he could act, he heard World Tree speak.
["I have a cluster of Phoenix Flame,"] World Tree suddenly said.
Asher: "Huh?"
'Phoenix Flame?'
Though it was his first time hearing about it in this world, Asher instantly associated it with the most famous trait of phoenix fire—
["Nirvana."]
Sure enough, World Tree slowly uttered those two words.
Asher: "..."
Asher's head started pounding.
"You... You finally became this powerful, and you're really willing to go through Nirvana and start over?"
Asher asked sincerely.
Indeed.
Judging from the panel, World Tree's evolution direction had been wrong.
World Tree, World Tree.
Just that word "pseudo" made the name full of helplessness.
It had indeed evolved in the direction of "World Tree."
And wanted to become the real World Tree.
Obviously.
That wasn't an easy task.
It had failed.
But it was still a Tier-9 Beast.
One could say it stood at the pinnacle of the world's Transcendents.
Mythical creatures... Not to mention Asher hadn't even heard of them.
Even the traces of discovered mythical creatures were merely their corpses.
Under such circumstances, even without starting over, World Tree already had life and time beyond what any human or Transcendent could imagine.
'Is starting over really a good idea?'
["I've thought about this for a long time."]
Faced with Asher's question, World Tree didn't pause even a second before answering.
["Around the time I was about to break through from Tier-8 to Tier-9, I realized my evolution had failed."]
World Tree's words surprised Asher a little.
'Huh?'
'Can Transcendents feel the failure of their evolution?'
'Is this something all Transcendents can do, or is World Tree unique?'
Asher's thoughts drifted.
World Tree didn't notice.
It continued speaking.
["I thought about this question back then—whether to continue evolving, or start over."]
["I pondered for a long time."]
["A very long time."]
World Tree's voice felt more like a soul-level dialogue.
But Asher still heard deep exhaustion and hesitation in its tone.
After thinking it through, Asher understood.
World Tree was a Transcendent that had existed for who knows how many years.
And it had grown in a place like the void.
For World Tree—
Time must be the most imperceptible existence.
A long time… really was a very long time.
["So long that my power had reached advanced Tier-9, and I still hadn't made a decision."]
["I tried creating my own bloodline species."]
["Tried breaking through via that method."]
As for the result—
No need to say it.
Not even worth saying.
Naturally, it failed.
At this, Asher sighed and said nothing.
["Your appearance made me decide."]
World Tree suddenly changed topics.
Asher: "?"
["But I can't guarantee how much power I'll retain after Nirvana."]
["I might have to start completely from scratch."]
["Even so, are you still willing to take me away?"]
World Tree asked very seriously.
Asher was speechless.
'Alright, alright, alright!'
He was supposed to be the one asking World Tree.
Out of kindness, trying to get World Tree to really think about it.
Didn't expect the question to boomerang back onto himself.
Asher, understanding World Tree's true hidden intentions, felt both helpless and amused.
"You...", Asher held his forehead with one hand.
Taking a deep breath, he then noticed that the rustling sound from earlier had stopped at some point.
World Tree must be really nervous too.
"What I have to say is— I don't think I'm your bloodline, your offspring, your descendant," Asher said seriously.
"What you're sensing as intimacy and familiarity is a result of my innate skill."
"Innate skill, you get it, right?"
Asher waved his hands around, trying to help World Tree understand.
"If you want to leave with me, that's fine."
"But if you want to be my dad, no way."
That was Asher's bottom line.
He wasn't going to randomly gain a father out of nowhere.
A good son, that he could still reluctantly accept.
After all, he already had four good sons, one more wasn't much.
["How do you know your innate skill didn't originate from me?"], World Tree, now understanding Asher's meaning, perked up.
It shook its branches again, its voice lighter and more cheerful.
"My ability isn't just ordinary affinity."
["Have you seen any other human with innate skills as strong as yours?"]
World Tree's words stumped Asher.
Asher: "..."
He originally just wanted World Tree to face reality.
Didn't expect...
Crap.
He actually felt a tiny bit convinced by World Tree.
Just a tiny bit.
Really, just a bit!
He absolutely refused to acknowledge anything about reproductive isolation or whatever.
No one was going to be his dad.
World Tree: 'Eh hey~'
'Aren't I clever!'
'Sounds pretty convincing, right?'
Asher's face twisted for a moment, then returned to normal.
Ahem.
His current body was that of his parallel world self.
And the father of his parallel world self had nothing to do with him, right?
A bit of a tongue twister.
But Asher convinced himself quite well.
Exactly.
Even if World Tree really had a connection with this body, it had absolutely nothing to do with his soul!
Whether it was [Affinity] or the evolved [Rightful Power] innate skill, they were both awakened by his parallel world self.
His own innate skill was [Eye of Insight].
"Alright, let's skip this topic," Asher cut off World Tree's attempt to keep debating.
"Simply put, if you want to leave with me, fine."
"Want to be my dad? No way."
"Make your decision."
Like kicking a ball, Asher tossed the choice back to World Tree.
World Tree shook its branches a bit more forcefully.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Countless leaves fell like a downpour.
So many they instantly buried Asher.
Asher: *asphyxiation*
Thankfully, there was space between the leaves, so Asher was just buried, not suffocated.
He felt streams of energy, gentle as spring rain, continuously seeping into his body.
Strengthening him bit by bit.
Fixing small flaws in his body.
The fatigue from staying up late last night was completely gone.
His body felt light and powerful.
Asher struggled inside the leaf mountain.
Struggled and struggled, suddenly, a wave of scorching heat surged into the air.
Even the little crow in Asher's spiritual beast space was startled, nearly triggered to leap out.
But Asher quickly realized—
'Nirvana!'
'World Tree has already begun its Nirvana!'
Asher really wanted to witness the spectacular scene of World Tree's Nirvana with his own eyes.
Unfortunately, just the leaves World Tree dropped were enough to take him forever to dig through.
By the time Asher finally clawed his way out of the leaf mountain, the massive starry sky tree in the void, wait, no, World Tree, was already gone.
Asher: "?"
'Where's the tree?'
'Where's that big-ass tree?'
"Here!"
A sharp, small voice came from below Asher.
He looked down.
Asher fell silent.
This really was...
A small, thin sapling, with a trunk only as thick as three fingers, only three little branches, and a few scattered leaves, appeared before him.
What made it even more ridiculous, the sapling's leaves didn't even look fresh.
They were slightly yellowed, and their edges curled as if scorched by high heat.
It swayed now and then.
Just watching made people nervous.
Afraid that if it swayed too hard, it might uproot itself.
"World Tree?"
"Yes!", The little sapling answered.
Asher still felt it was ridiculous.
Opened his innate skill to take a look.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Pet Beast: Pseudo·World Tree]
[Attribute: Wood]
[Type: High-Level Transcendent - Advanced+]
[Level: Tier-1]
[Skills: Sleep Powder, Poison Powder]
[Evolution Path: World Tree (Re-selected)]
[Bloodline Awakening: World Tree*]
[Awakening Degree: 99%][Locked*]
[Innate Skill: Life Link][Locked*]
[Life Link: Can grant any other Transcendent or lifeform the same life as itself. As long as World Tree lives, the link persists.]
[Innate Skill: Life Rewind][Locked*]
[Life Rewind: Can target any lifeform, reverting them to any past state, including all physical indicators.]
[Special Buff: Universal Affinity (maximum affinity toward all lifeforms)][Locked*]
[Special Buff: Beast Domination (Transcendents willing to submit)][Locked*]
[Special Buff: Void Stealth (cannot manifest in the real world)][Locked*]
[Special Buff: Phoenix Fire Tempering (due to Nirvana, a cluster of vigorous Phoenix Flame burns in your core, the flame unquenchable, impervious to all evil)]
[Special Buff: Flame Lock (Wood and fire incompatible. As your core is infected with Phoenix Flame, until the flame is extinguished, your bloodline and innate skills will be locked)]
[Baby... I've become the baby of my baby! Awooo! Baby's calling me!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher: "..."
'No way!'
'Things are this serious, and World Tree isn't even slightly concerned? Is there anything in its heart besides "baby"?'
———
The Alliance arrived quickly.
Asher and Iris were also safely escorted back to NY City.
Asher: "?"
"Wait," Looking at Iris who returned to NY City with him, Asher's gaze was clearly filled with confusion.
"Shouldn't you be at Bluewind?"
He knew full well how worried Principal Boyle had been about Iris.
Iris ditching school to follow him, what's that about?
"I already reported my safety to the principal on the way," Iris waved nonchalantly.
"Before, it was a special situation and he was worried for my safety."
"Now that I'm fine, and just want to come to NY City, of course the principal won't say no."
What Iris didn't say was, the reason the principal agreed was because she was coming to NY City.
As she spoke, Iris's gaze swept over Asher.
"Why are you looking at me like that?", Feeling a little creeped out by her stare, Asher rubbed his arm.
Iris: "I don't know if it's just me, but you seem... more handsome?"
"Wasn't I always handsome?", Asher hadn't yet realized the issue.
"No, it's different," Iris shook her head, "You were always good-looking before, but that was like human-level handsome."
"But now...—", Iris paused, searching for the right words.
"Yeah, now you're like that out-of-this-world, beyond the five elements kind of handsome."
She nodded firmly as if to confirm it, "Even your dark circles are gone, your skin's better than mine."
Asher: "..."
He froze for a moment. To say he didn't break out in a cold sweat would be a lie.
Asher had figured it out.
It was because, before World Tree used Phoenix Flame for Nirvana, the leaves, containing Tier-9 energy, had restructured his body.
Though it didn't instantly make him superhuman or give him Transcendent-level physical strength...
After all, a lot of energy is lost during conversion.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y