CHAPTER 85 - WISDOM TREE’S REWARD

With a swift motion, Han Wu sliced off the green tongue and used his powerful dragon wings to steady himself in the air. He looked around to find himself completely enveloped by the strange, thick white mist. Beneath him, the seemingly endless horde of zombies continued its relentless march.

“I should fly back the way I came and head straight for town,” he decided.

Han Wu turned around and flew in the opposite direction, trying to retrace his steps back towards the town. However, after flying consistently for three solid minutes, he was bewildered to find that he was still trapped within the strange white mist. Below him, the zombies continued their aimless march.

“Wait, did I perhaps fly in the wrong direction?” he wondered, completely confused.

He altered his flight path right away, but he was still stuck in the same weird mist. He then flew around in various random directions for a full thirty minutes and still couldn’t escape. Han Wu realized with a sinking feeling that he was totally lost.

“Ha! Vessel, haven’t you figured it out yet? You’re trapped!” the Origin of Mutation said with a sneer in his mind.

Remembering he had no access to his divine realm, Han Wu felt utterly stumped.

“Do you have a way to escape this place?” he asked, his voice laced with frustration.

The Origin of Mutation let out a condescending chuckle. “Oh, please! Vessel, as the Divine River Civilization’s first series Supergene soldier, this is nothing to me. Just give me one Divine Essence, and I’ll make absolutely sure you escape without any problems!”

Han Wu’s brow furrowed in displeasure. Ever since it had upgraded, the Origin of Mutation had become incredibly greedy, constantly demanding Divine Essence without any hesitation.

Divine Essence are precious and rare resources! It’s not like I have them growing in my backyard.

Han Wu’s face hardened into a scowl. “I don’t have any! You want to risk both our lives just for that?”

“Hehe, then you’re on your own, buddy. But as your Supergene, I’ll give you one tip for free. Don’t try to wait for daylight. Time froze the moment you entered this mist.”

Han Wu’s frown deepened. If the Origin of Mutation’s words were true, then the only way to escape this place was to give it the Divine Essence. He paused for a few moments, weighing his options, before ultimately relenting.

“Alright,” he said reluctantly. “But you’ll have to wait until I get my hands on a Divine Essence next time. Now, just tell me the way out of here!”

“Good choice, my vessel. The way out is quite simple. Just fly straight up.”

Han Wu sighed in exasperation but followed the instruction, flying directly upwards. After only a minute of ascent, he reached the end of the mysterious mist. He approached the border, but his path was immediately obstructed by an invisible barrier. He swiftly drew his sword and executed the powerful combo he typically used to easily defeat Rank 5 zombies, aiming to shatter the invisible barrier. Yet, despite the power of his attack, he only succeeded in creating a minor crack in its surface.

Undeterred, Han Wu continued his assault on the invisible barrier. Thanks to the Death Lily and Golden Dragon Grass integrated into his body, his stamina had increased significantly. He struck the barrier ten more times with all his might until it finally cracked completely and shattered into pieces.

Suddenly, the world around Han Wu shifted dramatically. The thick white mist and the relentless zombies were gone. Standing before him was a single, gigantic tree. The massive, ancient-looking tree had thick green vines that grew from its branches, swaying gently as if dancing in the breeze.

Han Wu was completely stunned, his mind struggling to comprehend what he was seeing. Just as he began to consider how to find his way out, a slow, wizened voice echoed around him.

“Outlander, I welcome you into my world.”

Han Wu instinctively knew that the ancient tree was talking to him and that it had somehow recognized that he was not a native of this civilization.

He felt a sudden wave of anxiety wash over him. This major class was designed to simulate a foreign civilization for the students to hone their survival abilities. Being exposed as an outsider would undoubtedly lead to execution by the natives.

Han Wu was well aware that not every civilization was benevolent or welcoming. In fact, the first and most crucial rule of surviving in a foreign civilization was to never, under any circumstances, trust its inhabitants.

“Outlander, be not afraid. I assure you, I have no intention of harming you,” the ancient tree’s voice echoed calmly.

“Then why did you drag me here?”

“That’s because I need your help to save this world.”

Han Wu was even more bewildered. “You want me to help you fight the zombies?”

The tree corrected him. “No, Outlander. What I need you to do is to chase away those despicable town residents.”

Realizing he was about to learn something important about Zombie Town, Han Wu sat down. “Please elaborate.”

With a sorrowful sigh, the tree began to recount the events that had transpired. It explained that it was a Wisdom Tree and had served as the protector of this Secret Realm for ten thousand long years.

The tree explained that special plants were unique beings that gained intelligence after being tutored by its Wisdom Fruit. They had lived harmoniously for thousands of years until another outlander found his way into the Secret Realm and seized it for himself.

The outlander had sent their own race into the Secret Realm to gather the seeds of the special plants to be sold for profit. The Wisdom Tree was forced to watch as its descendants were caught and sold off by the outlander, and it vowed to do everything within its power to stop this injustice.

However, the WIsdom Tree knew it lacked the power to defeat the outlander on its own, so it sought out and made a desperate plea to the God of Death. It offered its eternal worship in exchange for the power to avenge its descendants. The God of Death accepted this bargain and granted the Wisdom Tree the terrifying ability to turn corpses into zombies.

That pact marked the beginning of the war between the zombies and the humans. For millennia, the humans had relentlessly been pursued and slaughtered by relentless zombie hordes, eventually forcing the survivors to retreat into the last remaining stronghold.

Believing victory was in its grasp, the Wisdom Tree launched a full-scale assault thirty years ago. The war was brutal and intense, and the humans suffered severe losses.

At the most critical moment in the war, an extremely powerful human suddenly appeared. This individual had somehow managed to cultivate a large amount of Rank 4 Fire Dragon Grass. Wielding its incredible power, the human fought valiantly and gave the town a chance to temporarily recuperate.

After many years had passed, the Wisdom Tree came to the conclusion that the powerful human was most likely an outlander, as they possessed a power entirely foreign to the native residents of this world.

Today, the Wisdom Tree launched yet another massive attack on the town and happened to notice Han Wu lurking nearby. When he unleashed his Sacrifice skill, it easily infiltrated the Wisdom Tree’s domain, immediately revealing that this was the power of an outlander. Realizing this, the Wisdom Tree found a way to pull Han Wu into its domain, which explained the strange turn of events.

Han Wu scratched the back of his neck. “So, you want me to turn against the town and side with you instead?”

“Outlander, if you help me, I’ll reward you with rare resources!”

“And what exactly do you mean by rare resources?” he asked, then made a daring guess, considering the tree’s identity. “Are we talking about something along the lines of ten tonnes of Wisdom Fruits?”

He made such a guess because he knew the Wisdom Fruit was unique to the Wisdom Tree—nothing else could produce it.

The Wisdom Tree shook its massive branches. “I don’t have many Wisdom Fruits right now. However, if you can drive away those wretched townspeople, I’d be willing to give you ten of them.”

Han Wu maintained a calm expression, but inwardly, he was ecstatic. Ten Wisdom Fruits were equivalent to ten Divine Essence! That was a massive amount of money in his book.

“I can also give you three corpses. They appear to be of divine origin. They perished thousands of years ago, yet their physical bodies somehow remain perfectly preserved.”

Han Wu rubbed his hands greedily, his mind already deeply enticed by the potential rewards he might receive.

However, Han Wu wasn’’t about to agree so readily. Even if he could somehow drive away the town residents, a major worry lingered in his mind: what if his actions drew the ire of the God who had first found this place?

The Basic Secret Realm Zombie Town belonged to Imperial College, and the God responsible for overseeing it was most likely part of the higher echelons of the College. Han Wu certainly didn’t want to antagonize such a colossal superpower for such a relatively small reward.

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t think...” Han Wu began, preparing to turn down the offer. However, before he could finish, the Wisdom Tree said, “If you help me, I’ll personally recommend you to the glorious Death God Palace!”

At these words, Han Wu’s eyes gleamed with newfound interest.