"World… forget me."
A blurry female voice echoed in the darkness. It sounded less like a warning to an outsider and more like a dying whisper.
"You… who are you?" The Golden Tree's roots extended into the darkness of the great tree's root system. The dark entities swarmed towards its roots like moths drawn to a bonfire.
The Golden Tree felt as if countless ants and insects instantly crawled all over its roots, constantly corroding its surface, trying to stain the gold within with their darkness.
However, their efforts were in vain. The Golden Tree's unchanging nature began to manifest. No matter how the dark entities wriggled, the Golden Tree's appearance remained unaltered.
Eternal gold could still emit a dazzling light amidst the forbidden knowledge.
Seeing no reaction from the great tree before it, the Golden Tree pressed further. This time, it wasn't merely extending its roots into the darkness.
Its roots sharpened, directly piercing the great tree's decaying surface.
Immediately, a familiar sensation transmitted through the roots to the Golden Tree. It was the feeling it had just experienced—the sensation of countless information flowing around it.
But this time, the feeling was more intense than in the pure white space. Even if the Golden Tree didn't actively absorb the flowing information, images still surged into its body through the turbulent information flow.
Before, the pure white space was like a calm ocean, where countless information was stored, tranquil and serene.
However, the information within the great tree was different; it was like a swift river, ceaselessly rushing within the great tree.
As the Golden Tree experienced this, something within its bloodline loosened. Then, it understood many things.
The pure white space was a transit station, and the great tree was the processor and storage for information.
The duty of this great tree bore some resemblance to the mission the Greater Will had bestowed upon the Golden Tree.
However, the Golden Tree managed a bit more.
The Golden Tree was the executor of the law. The law determined the rules of The Lands Between: what is life? What is death? What is grace? What is a curse?
The law would define them, and the purpose of the Golden Tree's existence was to operate this world according to the law.
Thus, after delving deep into this great tree, the shackles in the Golden Tree's bloodline were broken.
It sensed the enormous tree before it, processing countless information, and a tremor appeared in its heart.
A grand and irresistible voice began to echo within the Golden Tree.
"Replace this tree, and let the world's operation be executed by yourself!"
"Replace this tree, and let the world's operation be executed by yourself!"
"Replace what? Xiao Huang, I'm turning off this speaker for you."
Amidst the grand and emotionless command, Yu Jin's voice suddenly appeared. Subsequently, the voice from the depths of the bloodline stopped echoing.
"Seriously, why is this old geezer so inflexible? Without even a law, how can he run the world?"
Yu Jin's complaining voice came through. One could only say that the Golden Tree was indeed a creation of the Greater Will; the speaker from its bloodline perfectly mimicked the Greater Will's voice.
On the ground, an unknown distance from the great tree, Yu Jin was half-crouching on a branch of the Golden Tree. His palm pressed against the Golden Tree's slightly golden bark, seemingly sensing something.
"Haha, I finally found it!" Yu Jin's body paused. Through the Golden Tree's roots, he also saw the enormous tree buried deep underground, growing upside down.
If Yu Jin wasn't mistaken, it was most likely the Irminsul, no doubt about it.
"Found what?" Lisa looked at the half-crouching Yu Jin, asking somewhat impatiently.
Yu Jin had told her before about his purpose in planting the Golden Tree, and combined with the tremor from the ground and Yu Jin's current behavior, Lisa already had a guess.
"Hehe, Lisa, you guessed right." Yu Jin stood up from the ground, then clapped his hands and said, "The Irminsul has been found!"
"Phew! It wasn't in vain that I caused such a commotion; I finally found it!" Yu Jin said, pretending to wipe nonexistent sweat from his forehead.
"The Irminsul… found?" Lisa was a bit silent upon hearing this. She had stayed in Sumeru and knew the price Sumeru people paid to see the Irminsul.
Sumeru's Akademiya had the most complete knowledge on the entire continent because they could perceive the Irminsul through special methods.
Scholars would engrave knowledge from the Irminsul and then store it in the akasha terminal.
However, the cost was madness and a complete loss of ambition.
This was also why Lisa chose to leave the Akademiya. Looking around, most of Sumeru's so-called "Scholars" were merely copyists for the Irminsul, not to mention that such copying would lead to madness.
Lisa thought of the mad Scholars in the Akademiya. They would eventually be sent to Aaru Village to live out their remaining years in the yellow sands and barrenness.
She then looked at the jumping Yu Jin. The Irminsul seemed to have no effect on him.
"Truly… incomparable!" Lisa smiled, not knowing if she was laughing at herself or at the Akademiya.
But soon, she composed herself and asked Yu Jin, "What next? Don't tell me you caused such a big fuss just to see the Irminsul once."
"Next?" Yu Jin listened, stroked his chin, and then waved his hand, saying, "Of course, it's to cure it!"
"And it looks like the Irminsul is quite ill," Yu Jin added with a sigh.
This Irminsul was really resilient, enduring for so long despite being sick. If he didn't lack the means, Yu Jin would definitely give it a "Moving Teyvat" medal.
"The Irminsul? Can it get sick too?" Lumine asked curiously after hearing Yu Jin's sigh. Something like the Irminsul, which sounded incredibly important, could actually get sick?
"Before today, I didn't think the Irminsul could get sick, but now…" Lisa looked at Yu Jin, who was contemplating something, and continued, "I somewhat believe it. As for why it's sick, I'm afraid we'll have to ask the little dummy."
"Hmm… I think it looks like it's been corrupted by forbidden knowledge. The tree heart is so black, it's almost rotten."
Yu Jin lowered his head, his gaze piercing through countless obstacles, finally seeing the scene the Golden Tree saw.
The darkness was still diligently corroding the Golden Tree, and more forbidden knowledge surged from the tree heart, seemingly determined not to give up.
"Then we must save it quickly. The Irminsul should be very important, right?" Paimon said somewhat anxiously when he heard Yu Jin say that the Irminsul's heart was rotting.
The name Irminsul sounded like something very important. If left unattended, who knew what would happen.
Paimon still had so many delicious things he hadn't eaten yet!
"Yes, extremely important." Albedo also walked over at this moment.
"The Irminsul is the source of the ley lines; everything that once existed on the earth converges here. If something happens to it…" Albedo paused, seemingly trying to figure out how to phrase his words.
"What will happen? Albedo, tell me quickly!" Paimon felt a scratching sensation in his heart when he saw Albedo pause at such a crucial moment.
"Many Hilichurls will come out and beat Paimon!" Lisa interjected, saying it as if in jest.
"Wow! How scary!" Paimon immediately retreated behind Lumine. Although Hilichurls looked small and thin, they were fiercely brutal. If hit by one, Paimon's small body probably wouldn't be able to withstand it.
But Paimon quickly reacted. He looked at Lisa, who was smiling, and asked in surprise, "Lisa, why are you still smiling? The Irminsul is about to collapse from illness; shouldn't you be very anxious?"
"How should I put it? Oh, right, there's an old saying that goes, 'When the sky falls, the tallest one will hold it up.' Don't we have the tallest one right here?" Lisa's lips curved into a smile. For the first time, she felt this saying was so accurate.
Then she saw Yu Jin chugging something, and around him, a pile of scattered bottles and jars.
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