Upon entering the meditation room, the gnarled roots of the Golden Ancient Tree intertwined across the domed ceiling, and a pale golden glow flowed like liquid over the stone walls.
Gu La ran his fingertips over the wall engraved with spatial runes, feeling a resonance akin to temporal turbulence that stirred his mind slightly.
He could sense tremors emanating from deep within the earth's veins—energy resonances produced by over thirty overlapping protective arrays.
Gu La lightly tapped the crystal floor with his fingers. As ripples spread, he saw silvery soul beast bones floating and sinking in the depths of the waves.
This room had been sealed using special technology to preserve the remains of unique soul beasts. The bones encased in amber were all remnants of time-space attribute soul beasts.
A hundred-thousand-year Thorn Dragon Emperor, a hundred-thousand-year Time-Eater Worm, time-space solidified soul bones…
"Such extravagance! This is truly befitting of Shrek!"
If one room was this impressive, Gu La could only imagine what the other one hundred and eight rooms contained. This place represented seventy percent of Shrek Academy's foundation—and all of it was priceless.
"I thought Shrek Academy couldn't obtain time-based treasures, but who would've guessed they'd directly use soul beast bones and hundred-thousand-year soul bones as energy."
Gu La was thoroughly delighted. He summoned the ethereal figure of Celebi behind him, its emerald butterfly wings scattering phosphorescent powder like stardust.
He actively unleashed the power of time, resisting the overwhelming aura of the hundred-thousand-year time-space soul beasts while simultaneously drawing upon accumulated time-space energy to temper his soul rings, particularly the third and fourth ones.
Who wouldn't want to master time-space attributes if they could? But even for Gu La, relying on divine beasts and the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul, he could only grasp the surface of time-space power. Most of the time, he was merely going with the flow, hoping to gain some control.
Within the room, layers of time-space ripples overlapped, and soul power surged violently. Over thirty protective arrays activated, containing the energy fluctuations within the room.
After a long while, Gu La stabilized his state. Celebi's affinity for time-space attributes was extraordinary, rivaling true time-space divine beasts—but it excelled in functionality rather than offense.
As Gu La tempered his soul rings, aiming to push the bottleneck of the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul beyond the hundred-thousand-year mark, his spiritual world suddenly rippled with an ink-green hue. A stooped elder appeared, and behind him, the shadow of the Golden Ancient Tree actively extended its branches, weaving a near-withered cocoon of light around the elder.
The elder's beard hung straight to the ground, and his gentle voice spoke, "Greetings, esteemed Child of Nature of another world."
Gu La was momentarily taken aback but remained calm.
"Who are you? And how do you know I'm from another world?"
The elder nodded. "The destined Child of Nature of Douluo Planet belongs to someone else. You must hail from another planet."
Gu La was speechless. He had expected something more profound, but this was disappointingly imaginative. Then again, no ordinary person would guess he was from a parallel universe. Especially since his status as the Child of Nature was artificially cultivated by the plane's consciousness, there would naturally be a gap between him and the later-born plane spirit.
Without revealing his thoughts, Gu La asked, "The spirit of the Golden Ancient Tree, the life core of Douluo Continent—what do you seek from me?"
The elder stroked his beard, his smile bitter. "My dying body can no longer burden you further. I only hope you'll help replant the Seed of Life to revive the natural world of Douluo Planet."
With that, he explained his current situation: "The Sea God promised me that Douluo Planet would ascend to become a Super-Plane. In return, he placed the soul of his mother, the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, at the plane's core to undergo a leap in life essence…"
"The temptation of plane ascension was too great. At the time, I couldn't resist a God King's will and had no choice but to agree."
"Who could have foreseen that the Sea God's method of aiding the plane's ascension would involve luring the Abyss Plane? After five thousand years of invasions, I've been weakened to the brink of collapse, while the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin has begun to devour the core of the Golden Ancient Tree, gradually replacing me as the new plane core…"
"The Abyss Plane is merely nourishment, but I cannot endure any longer."
The elder's withered fingers lightly tapped the void, projecting an image of Douluo Planet's core.
Gu La saw deep purple abyssal energy being injected into the Blue Silver Emperor's body through the roots of the Golden Ancient Tree. The impurities were absorbed and resolved by the "old" plane core, but the energy drain had left the core riddled with spider-web cracks.
The elder's aged appearance symbolized the impending "death" of the plane core. As the plane core, his rank equaled that of a second-tier god—he should not perish unless the plane itself was destroyed.
---
Tang San, the Sea God, had devised a plan to allow Ah Yin to inherit the position of the plane core without significantly harming Douluo Planet's energy. It was indeed a masterful strategy.
Gu La took a deep breath. Whether as Celebi, the Forest God, or the Child of Nature, he felt a deep sorrow welling up inside him. He gazed at the elder and asked, "What do you need me to do?"
The elder shook his head. "It's too late for me to turn things around. Unless a life-attribute God King sacrifices themselves, I cannot stand against the now-mature Blue Silver Emperor."
He retrieved a jade-green, ethereal seed and guided it toward Gu La. "This is Douluo Planet's Seed of Nature. After resolving the Abyss invasion, I hope you'll assist in reviving nature on the new Douluo Planet."
Gu La solemnly nodded. He knew the plane core had already accepted its fate. Yet, as the plane core, it would not harm Douluo Planet in retaliation against the Sea God.
"I will."
The elder sensed Gu La's sincerity and nodded with relief. "As thanks, let me lend you my strength!"
The Golden Ancient Tree radiated dazzling brilliance, gathering vast amounts of spiritual energy and channeling it into Gu La's body. Among it was the essence of the Golden Ancient Tree—the very substance its spirit soul lacked most. It greedily absorbed the tree's essence.
In less than ten seconds, the Golden Ancient Tree successfully broke through from ninety-nine thousand years to a hundred thousand years.
Four crimson rings rose beneath Gu La's feet, each shimmering with emerald-like patterns.
When green-gold flames began to burn along the edges of the soul rings, they perfectly resonated with the fine streams of energy coursing over their surfaces. The soul rings transformed into a pure green-gold hue, matching his hair—noble yet natural.
The plant-type ferocious beasts within the soul rings emerged, bowing slightly to the elder before transforming into their true forms to cultivate amidst the energy tides.
The elder stared at the immortal herbs in astonishment, then seemed lost in thought.
He raised a finger, sending a mental thought into the immortal herbs.
"Would you be willing to merge with it?"
The immortal herbs were startled at first, then joyfully nodded repeatedly.
In the next instant, seven immortal herbs offered themselves as sacrifices. Seven golden pillars of light shot skyward but were effortlessly contained within the room by the elder, leaving no trace of their presence.
The Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul swayed amidst the energy tide, its essence continuously growing stronger.
The immortal herbs hadn't sacrificed themselves to Gu La but to the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul—or rather, they formed a symbiotic relationship with it, becoming a multi-soul entity.
Within the cocoon, the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul stretched its branches. On the underside of each newly grown golden leaf was imprinted the essence runes of the immortal herbs.
"In this way, you'll only need to cultivate this single spirit soul in the future to obtain the most suitable soul rings for yourself. As for the physical bodies of these immortal herbs, I'll help you refine them into their essence. You can choose one herb's consciousness to integrate into your first martial soul as a spirit soul."
After the elder's explanation, Gu La fully understood the plane core's operation.
Ordinary spirit souls, even those of a hundred thousand years, could provide at most five soul rings. If the bloodline of the soul beast was ordinary, it might not even offer suitable soul skills.
However, the Golden Ancient Tree, as a subordinate of the World Tree, inherently possessed the ability to evolve myriad plants. By fusing with the essences of seven distinct immortal herbs, its potential to evolve soul skills would be greatly enhanced.
Moreover, the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul could continue to provide spirit souls for him until he achieved godhood!
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)