CHAPTER 127: CULTIVATING THE WORLD TREE

"All the Earth and Wood Element Qi are getting pulled in by the little seed!"

Xu Tao commented, explaining the current situation briefly.

Within seconds, almost all of the True Heavenly Qi from the soil was sapped, leaving it as nothing more than normal, "healthy" soil. That alone was a surprise, but... it didn’t end there.

The ground started to bulge, as if something was rising from below. Xu Tao, sensing danger, quickly jumped away, landing a few meters beyond the planter’s edge.

"Pui...!"

Even Pepe could feel that something was about to happen, and stuck close to Xu Tao’s leg, hiding.

The next moment—

WHOOOSH!

—the earth exploded, and from within it, a small sapling rose. It started out only as tall as Pepe but grew rapidly, like it was on steroids, becoming a full-sized tree within a few seconds.

It wasn’t a kind of tree that Xu Tao had ever seen before.

It looked similar to a weeping willow, but with golden leaves hanging on its thick, drooping branches. Not only that, but as soon as it stabilized at a regular tree’s size, it began releasing faint traces of True Qi as golden motes shimmering in the air like drifting pollen.

Right then, a ring echoed in his ears, announcing a new notification.

[You have planted the Small World Tree Seed and it germinated successfully!]

[As long as the Small World Tree is alive, the land surrounding it—equivalent to 1,000 times the tree’s height in radius—will remain verdant and fertile.]

[The Small World Tree nourishes every creation. It will release 100 drops of True Qi every day.]

[

New Quest Generated: Nurture the World Tree!

Quest Details:

Allow the Small World Tree to get rid of the "Small" in its name! Let the tree reach a height of 1,000 meters (current: 5 meters)

Quest Rewards:

Wave Delay Ticket (100 hours)

]

"This...!" In a single glance, Xu Tao realized what this represented. "This is a fortuitous opportunity!"

He didn’t dare delay and sent a wisp of his consciousness to seven people: the five disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect, Yifa, who was being taught by Xu Tao, and finally, Wu Zetian, who was just summoned.

"What’s the emergency?!"

The first to arrive was the most powerful among them, Wu Zetian.

Despite coming in a rush, her posture was as gallant as ever. Her sharp eyes scanned the surroundings as her divine sense swept through the entire land thrice in a single breath.

"There’s no emergency," Xu Tao explained calmly. "It’s just that I wanted to share this opportunity with everyone, so I called you all here."

"Opportunity...?" Zetian raised a brow before her gaze landed on the large tree beside him. "This tree... it’s releasing True Qi! I see... So my Emperor wanted to help everyone cultivate..."

Zetian nodded to herself, convinced—and touched—by this selfless offer. Xu Tao had every right to monopolize the True Qi, but instead, he wanted to share it with everyone!

"Master!"

Before their talk could continue, six more figures arrived, completing the list.

Although they were initially on high alert, after Xu Tao explained the situation, they all sighed in relief and grew excited at the fortuitous event. With his words, everyone sat around the Small World Tree and began cultivating.

Of course, with differences in their levels and cultivation technique mastery, their absorption speeds varied. Roughly, Zetian absorbed about half of the traces of True Qi, with a quarter going to Yifa and Wenwen, and the remaining quarter equally split among the last four men.

Xu Tao simply watched and didn’t bother joining the tug-of-war. After all, if he got serious, no one else—not even Zetian—would get a whiff of the True Qi!

"Alright," he nodded, walking a short distance away. "I guess it’s time to continue with what I was doing."

Right—despite getting sidetracked, his original purpose was to summon a new comrade. With finesse, he pulled up the main menu and navigated to the Gacha tab almost immediately. After tapping the last banner available, Xu Tao took a deep breath before pressing the x10 Roll.

But unlike usual, where he would pray to get the banner character faster, this time—

"Don’t give me the UR!"

—he prayed the opposite.

The more times he had to roll, the higher the chance of getting new items. After seeing the power of the Revolver—the weapon he had previously dismissed as trash—he now found new purpose in the gacha: to give him a solid opportunity to arm everyone with better items!

Each "failed" roll brought a smile to Xu Tao’s lips as he collected the items into his ring. After getting three SR items in a row, he was starting to feel his luck rise.

"T-The God Tree?!"

But in his periphery, he noticed a few figures approaching. A group led by the blonde king and playboy—Arthur.

Both the Elves and Dark Elves with him quickly saw the Small World Tree and rushed closer, falling to their knees and bowing toward it.

"This is a miracle!" they said. "The God Tree has reappeared!"

"..."

Seeing people bow to a tree wasn’t strange in Xu Tao’s eyes. In the cultivation world, it wasn’t unusual to encounter one or two objects that had attained enlightenment and cultivated into spirits. Tree Spirits were among the most common, as trees existed almost everywhere.

What he found strange was that there was no need to bow to the tree right now. Although it was releasing True Qi like rainfall, the tree itself had yet to form a consciousness or bear a "spirit."

’Well, it must be related to their religion or beliefs, so I guess I don’t have the right to say anything about their actions.’ He shrugged casually, minding his own business.

While he rolled for more loot, it was Arthur who asked the question Xu Tao had been thinking.

"This tree... is it special to you girls?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. "It does look majestic, with golden leaves and all that, but... in the end, isn’t it just a tree?"

"It’s not just any tree, but the God Tree!"

The leader of the dark elf girls, Irithel, growled back. "The God Tree is said to be the source of our race. We were created to protect and manage the God Tree!"

"Right!" another one, an elf, nodded. "We Elves were tasked with the sacred duty of taking care of and protecting it during the day, while the Dark Elves take charge at night!"

"I-I see... Seems like I’ve been rude. I apologize." Arthur waved his hand, apologizing quickly. "As an apology, please ask one thing of me, and I’ll provide it."

"Then, how about another round~?"

"Let’s do it here, and have the God Tree bless our acts!"

"Just a k-kiss is fine for me, Arthur..."

The girls answered variably, but they were all mostly saying the same thing. Xu Tao, listening to this from the side, could only shake his head.

"You’re way too popular, Arthur..." he muttered.

However, watching his expression, Xu Tao could sense hesitation in him—a rare sight coming from the usually confident man.

"Sorry, but... I still have to practice after this," Arthur said, shaking his head. "If it’s tonight instead, then I’ll gladly accede."

Despite his answer sounding like a simple excuse—or even flirtation—Xu Tao could tell that the first part of his words was his true focus.

To practice.

To gain even a little more strength.

To finally graduate from being deadweight.