Star Gate

Chapter 539: Tree Spirit (III)

What palace?

His Imperial Majesty couldn’t enter it either... That was an unparalleled existence that they spoke of! What couldn’t the august personage do?

Li Hao looked at the castle in the distance. As the surroundings were lit up, he could make out a thing or two. Why did... this castle appear to be... a cat? This was mystifying. The tree seemed to be randomly planted outside the castle walls and not part of the defenses as one might expect.

What kind of place is this?

“What palace?” Li Hao asked as he looked at the dying little tree. “You seem to lack energy. Are you dying after that last eruption?”

Yes, he could sense that the sapling growing out of the big tree’s roots might be dying.

“Death...” came a mental ripple. The crystalline tree swayed, ready to collapse at any time. “Don’t... think... of... entering... the palace... Not... even... though... it’s... been... discarded...”

Li Hao could see the tree draw on more mysterious power stones hidden in the ground. The young man frowned. The tree seemed to be this place’s guard. A palace? A discarded palace? Whose palace was it?

Its defenses were still active after countless eons, a different situation from Battle Heaven. The latter was equipped with immense defensive abilities to begin with. Meanwhile, the ones in this perimeter...

Li Hao could tell that these defenses here had something to do with the dead tree. It seemed to have blown itself up before it died. Strictly speaking, this might be a space similar to the tree tunnel outside Battle Heaven.

Indeed, they might be inside a dead tree at the moment.

The sapling had sprouted from the big tree’s roots and grown up in this spot. It wasn’t a tree from the ancient civilization, but seemed to have inherited some memories. Had a tree been protecting this place all along? It used the last dregs of its power to give birth to a new tree that would continue to stand guard. Unfortunately, the sapling seemed about to die as well.

Li Hao grew ever more curious about the ancient civilization. Whether it was human or monster spirit, beings from that age nurture a peculiar faith. Take the tree in front of them, for example. It was about to die, but it continued to act according to its beliefs and carry out its duties.

Does this tree have Water of Life?

Tree spirits apparently produced Water of Life, but it seemed to be a condensation of endless energy. Judging from its condition, did this tree have any energy to absorb? The cache of stones here might be the last of its reserves. It would consume its life force to produce Water of Life in this state!

Therefore... there was probably no Water of Life here.

Li Hao was momentarily dejected. Granted, he might be even more depressed if this was a tree spirit that was capable of producing the treasure. That would mean it retained tremendous battle strength.

When it came to the beings of the ancient civilization, the young man didn’t actually seek to kill them. Every human and even monster spirit of that age nursed a special mentality and faith that one could not find in the modern day.

Li Hao didn’t sense such a spirit when he killed Black Armors because they were only lingering obsessions. There was no consciousness within them. Now that he’d found a tree that he could communicate with, he didn’t intend to kill it, even though it seemed unable to continue its offensive.

“I can stay away from the palace, but can you tell me who it belonged to?”

“Not a word!”

“......” Those words had certainly been spoken smoothly. “I want some Water of Life, do you have any?”

“......” There was no response, but Li Hao discovered that the tree pulled on the mysterious power stones at a faster rate. The remaining few had some energy to begin with, but were much dimmer now.

This looked like it was ready to make its final stand.

“I bear you no enmity.” Li Hao hastily backed away. “As a troop leader of the Battle Heaven Army, I have taken on some missions to save the city. General Pagoda is on the brink of death in the city and needs some Water of Life to recover. The city cannot be mobilized if he does not awaken...”

These words raised some interest from the little tree. It had wanted to kill the intruder, but now seemed to realize something. “Are... you really... a Battle Heaven troop leader? One... of... the eight guardian clan...”

“Of course!” Understanding dawned on Li Hao—the tree spirit hadn’t believed him before. “How else would I wear the silver armor? Also, do you recognize Stellaris?”

The young man waved the longsword around. The little tree paused for a long moment before saying haltingly, “Is... this... Stellaris? Forgive my... lack of recognition... My heritage... memories... show Stellaris... as not so... weak. It is... a sword that can... rip through... the firmament...”

Since it wasn’t a tree of that era, it could only rely on some heritage memories and truly failed to recognize Stellaris. The sword in Li Hao’s hand was too frail.

The young man could say nothing to that. It was a blow to his ego!

“What are heritage memories?” he asked softly.

“Are you... so ignorant??” The little tree shook with suspicion.

“It has been countless ages since the New Martial calendar,” Li Hao explained with resignation. “Seas have changed into mulberry fields and mulberry fields into seas. No heritages survive, just bits and pieces of information. Therefore, it’s very normal that I don’t know anything. The current Battle Heaven City also sleeps in an inactive state. Its systems are not able to operate properly and we have long lost the capability to peruse more information.”

The little tree was so silent that it seemed to be dead. It was so silent for so long that Li Hao suspected it really had died. He wanted to approach for a look when another ripple came from the tree.

“Strong monster spirits leave behind memories of deep impression in their bloodline or life marks... These pass on through generation after generation... When both bloodline and life marks are activated... these memories are absorbed... Such as heritage memories...”

“What about humans?” Li Hao asked curiously. I have a powerful bloodline too!

“Humans... cannot,” the little tree answered. “Humans concentrate their might on themselves. Their descendants... only possess powerful bloodlines... Monster spirits... are incomplete from birth. Some power is lost... our bloodlines...”

“Do you need help? I can tell you’re almost out of energy,” Li Hao looked on thoughtfully.

“No... need!” Perhaps the sapling was still wary of Li Hao, but the young man did feel that the tree was sinking into the shadows of death. It’d consumed the last of the mysterious power stones. Without further replenishment, it would set foot on the path of death.

“No one will be guarding this place if you die,” Li Hao said thoughtfully. “The palace will be mine. You can continue protecting it only if you’re still alive. You might be the first living existence of the ancient civilization that I’ve come across...”

“Ancient civilization?”

“The New Martial era.”

“I am not... of New Martial... Father was lonely as... he protected the palace for thirty thousand years... He had no progeny. I was born only after he died...”

Li Hao’s eyes widened with amazement. How many years total was that?? The big tree alone had stood guard for thirty thousand years, giving birth to the sapling after that terrifying time span. And how long had the sapling been alive for? Did these terrifying experiences measure time in thousands of years? What level of strength was the dead tree to live for so long?

“No matter what, you count as one of the ancients,” Li Hao quickly answered. “Ancient tree, do you need help?”

“A reward without deserving it... Showing attention for no reason... is not... good.”

“That’s not it, I just want to partner with you,” Li Hao explained sincerely. “According to what I know, tree monster spirits... Ahem, ancient trees can produce Water of Life at a certain level of strength, so long as they have sufficient energy. The Water of Life is incredibly useful when it comes to healing injuries, cultivation, and prolonging life. I’m thinking that I can supply you with energy so that you grow stronger and can protect this palace. All you need to do is give me some Water of Life in return. Don’t you think that’s a very fair trade?”

“The royal city mode?”

“......” Li Hao blinked. What city mode?

“My memories tell me... that a lot of people... did this in the past. My forebears chose... to join the camp of a powerhouse... or partner with them to build a city. We absorb energy to shelter the city and provide life essence. Human powerhouses protected my ancestors in return...”

Was this how they did it in the ancient civilization? That seemed to be the case! There was General Pagoda in Battle Heaven, as well as a dozen tree spirits that were still or dead.

Li Hao took another look at the castle in the distance. He was very interested in it, but perhaps this tree was worth more than the castle. A living creature was always more valuable than a dead object. There might be a lot of treasures in the castle, but he might not be able to digest them. A tree spirit with some memories of the ancient civilization might be of more help to him. This was an entity he could communicate and partner with.

While he could communicate with those in Battle Heaven, they were all dead and their memories incomplete. They wouldn’t easily tell Li Hao anything.

The young man had wanted to explore the ruins, but now he turned his attention to the tree.

“That’s right, that kind of mode. I’ll supply you energy and you coalesce Water of Life for me. This is a mutually beneficial relationship that ensures you can continue to protect the palace. It’ll be gone after you die. Even if I don’t go inside, others will.”

The little tree sank into deep thought. This was a feasible plan, particularly as the person in front of him was part of the eight guardian families and a troop leader of Battle Heaven. Otherwise, the human was so weak that he wasn’t qualified to partner with the tree. His qualifications put him over the line.

But could such a weak person help it? Well... the one that’d come last time was even weaker. Perhaps this one counted as strong enough.