Magic plane.
This was a field Xu Yuan had not yet ventured into.
Among the many planes connected to the Demon Plane, it seemed there was no existence of a magic plane.
Since this Rex claimed to be from a magic plane, Xu Yuan didn't know what level that plane might be.
Xu Yuan didn't speculate too much but patiently waited for Rex to introduce himself.
"In my homeland, there are three sacred artifacts, which are the treasures of the three major races in our plane. Among them, something happened to the World Tree, the treasure of the natural elf race, which symbolized life. The ancient tree lost its vitality and began to wither, bringing turmoil to our entire plane."
Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
The World Tree sounded like something of the same type as the Golden Ancient Tree, connecting the ecology of an entire plane. In that case, by analogy, the Golden Ancient Tree could also be considered akin to a super divine artifact?
Of course, such a comparison would be somewhat hasty, as Xu Yuan couldn't determine the strength of that magic plane.
Judging from the divine consciousness of this young man, it was estimated to be quite strong. The Golden Ancient Tree probably couldn't compare to the World Tree Rex mentioned.
Regardless, the fact that sacred artifacts corresponded to super divine artifacts indicated that this World Tree was extraordinary. The power contained within this piece of dried wood was even comparable to the forces derived from the essences of the Destruction God and the Life God, so it must be more than just a simple fragment.
For an unfamiliar divine consciousness, Xu Yuan would gather information from him but wouldn't choose to fully trust him.
However, he had to admit that his information about this dried wood could only be framed by what this young man said.
Xu Yuan looked at the youth formed by divine consciousness, contemplating the difference in strength between himself and this young man.
Currently, this fellow only had divine consciousness left, and it was unknown how much power remained.
From his initial show of weakness and goodwill, it was likely that his powers were limited, or because he lacked replenishment, he didn't want to deplete his strength by conflicting with Xu Yuan.
Of course, it was also possible that he was feigning weakness with another plan in mind.
"As far as I know, super divine artifacts are weapons that even God Kings might not possess, capable of threatening God Kings. If the sacred artifacts in your realm correspond to super divine artifacts, how could they be easily damaged?"
The young man revealed a bitter smile.
"The other two sacred artifacts are naturally difficult to damage, but from its name, you should understand that the World Tree is a tree, like the one before us. Because it is the core of the plane, it possesses unfathomable power."
With the young man's explanation, Xu Yuan confirmed that the World Tree was indeed similar to the Golden Ancient Tree as he had thought.
Xu Yuan also noticed the number of sacred artifacts the young man mentioned.
Three!
Due to special circumstances, the Abyss only had one sacred artifact. The magic plane where this young man came from actually had three sacred artifacts, clearly indicating it was a plane capable of producing god-level beings. This young man was most likely a god-level mage from that plane.
"So, how did you end up in the Hell Plane?"
"I don't know either. When the Holy Tree, or the World Tree, was destroyed, I also fell in that great battle. A wisp of my divine consciousness merged into this fragment of the Holy Tree, allowing me to survive. I drifted in spatial turbulence for a long time and eventually landed in the Hell Plane."
Xu Yuan nodded.
In fact, he didn't really believe what the young man said.
The place where this young man appeared wasn't ordinary. Xu Yuan remembered Na'er saying that this piece of dried wood was found in the Land of Dead Bones, an extremely ancient battlefield in hell.
However, whether what the young man said was true or false, Xu Yuan didn't intend to expose him for now.
"Can you tell me the function of this piece of dried wood?"
"It's a fragment of the Holy Tree." The young man solemnly corrected Xu Yuan.
"Alright, so what is the function of this dried wood?"
The young man sighed helplessly and told Xu Yuan, "The Holy Tree in its lifetime was the Tree of Life, naturally governing the laws of life. It could use the power of life to baptize living beings, thereby increasing their chances of becoming gods."
"Increase the chances of becoming a god?" Xu Yuan's gaze sharpened.
"In my homeland, every ten years, the natural elf race holds a peak warrior battle. All peak mages below god-level can participate, and the final ten strongest peak mages are selected for a life baptism. I was fortunate enough to participate in the life baptism back then and thus ascended to become a god-level mage."
When the young man spoke later, it was clear that pride and self-satisfaction were evident.
Xu Yuan nodded slightly.
"So, what is the use of this dried wood?"
"It's a fragment of the Holy Tree!" The young man, annoyed, corrected again. "The fragment of the Holy Tree still possesses the great power of life, but because of my presence, its life force has been providing me with vitality, gradually diminishing. Additionally, because I ended up on a battlefield filled with death energy, this fragment of the Holy Tree underwent a mutation. I'm not entirely sure of its effects anymore."
"Are you sure you don't know?" Xu Yuan's voice turned slightly cold.
This was the young man's last lifeline; he couldn't possibly be unaware of its uses.
"Although you give me a dangerous feeling, I was once a super god-level mage in my previous life, so I'm not afraid of you." The young man paused for a moment and then spoke, "I have sincerity and no intention of conflict with you. If you need to borrow the fragment of the Holy Tree, I can yield, but this fragment is my current hope for survival."
As he spoke, the young man looked at Xu Yuan, then seemingly past him towards the Golden Ancient Tree behind Xu Yuan.
"Do you want to reside in the Golden Ancient Tree?"
"The Golden Ancient Tree? Is that what you call the Tree of Life in your plane? Yes, my situation has stabilized, but I am like a rootless floating weed, needing to find something vibrant to parasitize. The Golden Ancient Tree is sufficient as my dwelling place."
"Is it enough to stabilize your situation?" Xu Yuan asked.
"No, besides that, you need to promise me that if there's an opportunity, you'll send me back to my homeland."
With these words from the young man, Xu Yuan felt somewhat reassured.
Having demands made things easier to discuss.
"I don't even know where your homeland is."
"The Sacred Heart Plane. If your reach is broad enough, you should be able to learn of the existence of the Sacred Heart Plane as long as it involves my Sacred Heart Star Domain."
"Oh?"
Xu Yuan finally learned the name of the plane from the young man.
Sacred Heart Plane?
From the young man's words, Xu Yuan could roughly deduce that the Sacred Heart Plane was already interconnected with the universe, highly renowned, and a representative force of a star domain.
"Our side hasn't developed technology for navigating the universe yet. I estimate we won't be able to go to your Sacred Heart Plane."
"I can sense that your plane's laws are very rich and complete. This level of law placed in any plane in the universe would be sufficient to promote the evolution of the plane." The young man said, "Regardless, your plane has the potential to reach god-level, and I've already waited for too long. I can wait for your plane to evolve."
"As for the development of space exploration technology, I can also offer assistance."
"I won't trouble you too much, just need your cooperation. In this process, we can collaborate for mutual benefit."
Rex's words were very sincere.
After some thought, Xu Yuan agreed to the other party's conditions.
"Alright, if needed, we will seek your cooperation. As for your homeland, if we can reach it, we will also help you return home. Of course, your dwelling place cannot be the Golden Ancient Tree, but there."
The young man followed the direction of Xu Yuan's finger and saw a huge vortex.
"The Seven Saints Abyss, the place of life and death cycles, might suit you well."
Saying this, Xu Yuan performed a space shift.
Yes, a shift.
Not only himself, but also the dried wood in his hand, Na'er, and the young man were all shifted to the outside of the vortex.
The young man's body swayed slightly, whether due to the instability of his form caused by the shift or emotional fluctuations.
He took a deep breath and looked deeply at Xu Yuan.
This plane that hadn't yet ascended to god-level indeed held great secrets. It could produce such talents—still not at god-level but able to casually perform space-shifting techniques.
"Let's go inside."
Xu Yuan, holding the main body of the dried wood, went in first.
Na'er followed closely behind.
The young man hesitated for a moment but also walked in.
There was no way around it. Xu Yuan had already gone in with the dried wood, so he had no choice but to follow.
Upon entering the Seven Saints Abyss, the young man immediately felt different.
"This is a demi-plane?"
Laws…
A flash of surprise passed through the young man's eyes.
"The laws of this plane are primarily based on life? But this can't sustain my divine consciousness."
"No, it's life and death."
Xu Yuan corrected the young man's words.
Upon hearing this, the young man carefully sensed and indeed felt a sense of extinction above the life laws.
This should be death.
Just, it was very one-sided.
However, the two laws were intertwined very harmoniously, so calling it life and death was not wrong.
"From life to death, from death to life, both will align with the laws of this plane. Since you can intuitively perceive the existence of the laws, perhaps you can try to use the laws to stabilize your state?"
The young man remained silent, not speaking.
He was already trying.
After a long while, the young man opened his eyes and nodded.
"Yes, this place suits me very well."
Compared to the Golden Ancient Tree, which was similar in nature to the Holy Tree, this demi-plane suited him better.
"There are some elders of mine inside. I hope you don't disturb them."
"Agreed. I will reduce my consumption by sleeping and won't interfere with the normal operation here."
"Then can you tell me the function of this dried wood?" Xu Yuan waved the dried wood in his hand.
"It's a fragment of the Holy Tree." Rex weakly corrected again.
Realizing that he couldn't change Xu Yuan's terminology, he forced a bitter smile and stopped fussing, explaining to Xu Yuan, "Because of the death energy from that battlefield, the sacred artifact fragment mutated. Its life energy reversed into death energy, which became dense but still nurtured vitality. The remaining life force within the sacred artifact fragment was compressed to the extreme, existing only in the essence of the fragment.
Originally, the sacred artifact fragment contained little life force, insufficient to maintain my state. However, after the mutation, the death energy became its power source, absorbing the battlefield's death energy and converting it into those rare threads of life force, sustaining my existence."
The loss of life force and the infiltration of external battlefield death energy caused this sacred artifact fragment to spontaneously form a protective mechanism, leaving only a trace of life essence while the rest actively absorbed death energy, transforming into a shape that could absorb death energy to strengthen the last bit of essence.
"According to my guess, this sacred artifact fragment is currently in a special nurturing state. If it can be awakened, emerging from this half-life, half-death state, it might become another World Tree."
Xu Yuan's eyes flickered.
Indeed, this dried wood was not a simple fragment.
It was definitely an important part of Rex's sacred artifact, the World Tree.
Only this self-protection mechanism and the current ability to potentially become a new World Tree were not achievable by ordinary fragments.
"How to awaken it?"
"Strengthen its life force."
"So simple?"
"Where's the simplicity?" The young man bitterly smiled and said, "Although I previously consumed too much of the life force from the fragment to sustain my survival, almost all the death energy from that vast battlefield in the Hell Plane was absorbed, yet the life force within this World Tree fragment is still so scarce."
"Of course, directly feeding death energy would result in significant losses during the conversion. Therefore, I suggest directly feeding it life force. A massive amount of life energy, if it can break the internal balance of life and death, might have a chance to awaken its instinct."
Xu Yuan suddenly understood.
So that's how it is.
Although he now knew the function of this dried wood, he didn't plan to attempt it for now.
Who knew if Rex harbored malicious intent.
Feeding life energy sounded easy, but according to Rex, this thing had the potential to become a new World Tree. And a World Tree was the core of a plane, requiring immense energy.
Xu Yuan didn't have that much life energy to feed this thing.
Even if he were to feed it, he could only use death energy. There was still quite a bit of death energy in the Underworld.
Of course, Xu Yuan wouldn't create large-scale wars to generate death energy just to feed this thing.
Since Rex had said that the efficiency of death energy conversion was low, if Xu Yuan really wanted to awaken this thing, he would definitely fill it with life energy. Using death energy was just a preliminary test.
"Alright, I understand the function of this dried wood. Next, I have some other curiosities."
"Oh?" Rex showed a questioning expression.
What else was curious?
"I haven't seen magic yet. I want to witness the power of the magic plane." Xu Yuan smiled.
Rex frowned.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying we'll fight. I just want to see magic. You don't need to exert full force; you can just demonstrate basic magic."
"This should be another price." Rex's brows relaxed, and then he naturally said to Xu Yuan, "Our previous deal was limited to me yielding the fragment of the Holy Tree, and you finding a dwelling place for me. Subsequent cooperation involves you helping me return home, and I assisting you in developing the technology needed for space exploration."
"So, now you want to see my magic, and what do I get in return?"
Such a mercenary tone.
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