Chapter 657: Born to Toil

Chapter 657: Chapter 14: Born to Toil

“First, a small goal: cultivate five billion points of Spiritual Power.”

With that thought settled, Su Zhou retrieved the Blade of Annihilation from his Personal Space. He got up and sat on a chair beside the hot spring, gazing at the Desire Power wafting from the longsword.

A faint golden radiance coiled around the black blade. This was the power of an entire world, the power from over a hundred years of countless people celebrating the Blade of Annihilation—the Divine Blade that had ended the Demon Dynasty and brought peace to the world.

In the Divine Wood World, the name Blade of Annihilation was far more renowned than any Divine Soldier on Earth. Its name had become synonymous with “Hero,” “Victory,” “Ending the Undying,” and “Divine Soldier.”

One could even say the Blade of Annihilation’s reputation surpassed that of the Kunlun Martial Saint, Su Zhou, or even the living legend, Zhou Buyi, the first chairman of the Tianzheng Alliance. After all, children might remember the name of a weapon, but they are unlikely to remember the names of national leaders.

Originally, because the Blade of Annihilation had traveled with Su Zhou throughout the Earth World, it couldn’t receive the Desire Power originating from the Divine Wood World and thus couldn’t undergo a complete Enhancement. But now, it had returned to the world that celebrated it, like a prodigal son returning home or a Dragon diving into the sea.

And so, endless Desire Power transformed into a golden radiance, coiling around the blade and becoming its strength for slaying enemies.

“Vanquishing evil, slaying the undying… Is this the power bestowed upon you by legend?”

Gazing at the blade, Su Zhou couldn’t help but laugh. “The Blade of Annihilation of the past could vanquish evil and slay the undying mainly because it housed the power of Celestial Thunder and earthfire. Oh, right, and it used High Monk Relics as a central core to channel the intent of Silent Extinction. In other words, it could indeed slay the undying, but only beings like the Undead and the Divine Wood Clan.”

“But now, this endless Desire Power can replace all other supernatural qualities and directly imbue the blade with these Attributes… This means that regardless of the source of their immortality, any monster with extremely high regeneration ability—anything nearly unkillable—will be countered by this blade. And when facing ‘Demon King’-type villains who threaten the masses, its power can multiply, achieving an unprecedented level of effectiveness.”

Setting aside its Tier, the scope of its special effect alone had expanded significantly. Su Zhou was very pleased.

Although the Blade of Annihilation’s power had yet to stabilize, it was already showing signs of evolution. Su Zhou stroked its black body, mulled it over for a moment, and then, without any warning, slashed his own arm.

Instantly, as Shao Qiming watched on with a stunned ‘What are you doing?!’ look in his eyes, Su Zhou’s blood dripped into the hot… no, into a small vial he had already prepared.

Waste his blood? What a joke! Where did the Spiritual Materials for the Protective Talismans he gave his parents come from? It was all sourced in-house!

As expected, the wound from the Blade of Annihilation didn’t heal as quickly as usual. Bluish-purple Spiritual Blood dripped slowly from the cut on his arm, solidifying into a Gemstone-like solid at the bottom of the vial.

This was a sign of how one’s fundamental life essence was elevated with Extraordinary advancement.

Having advanced to the Commander Tier, Su Zhou’s blood was already vastly different from that of an ordinary person. His internal temperature could soar past eight hundred degrees Celsius in combat and remained over eighty degrees in his normal state. His blood was a special Extraordinary substance, almost like Mercury, that would crystallize at temperatures below seventy degrees. Once processed, it could be used directly as a raw material for Arrays and Protective Talismans. Everyone who’d used it said it was great.

Although, so far, Su Zhou was the only one who had ever used it.

Turning his attention back to the wound, Su Zhou could feel a strand of Desire Power spontaneously transforming into a force that hindered his healing and prevented the wound from closing, fighting against his own power. This force wasn’t strong, but it was relentless and incredibly stubborn. Even when he dispersed it, it would just re-form at the wound, seemingly unquenchable.

Of course, due to the difference in their Tier, the power of the still-evolving Blade of Annihilation was completely purged by Su Zhou within ten seconds. However, he figured that once it ascended into a Commander Tier Divine Soldier, conservatively speaking, healing a wound it inflicted would take at least ten or twenty times longer! If it were any other Undying Species, they might have been completely annihilated by this power.

That might not sound like a long time—even twenty times longer was still less than five minutes—but in a fierce battle between two evenly matched Transcendents, being unable to heal a wound for five minutes was more than enough time for one side to build a decisive advantage.

“A single slash from this thing… if it had been that Demon Emperor back then, he probably would have been hacked to death and turned to ash on the spot. He wouldn’t even have had time to surrender… Not bad. I’m very satisfied!”

After subconsciously trashing the former Demon Emperor, Su Zhou shook his head and clicked his tongue. “That about does it. In a few days, once the Blade of Annihilation finishes its transformation, I’ll go have a chat with the Immortal Banyan Tree. Then, all my goals for this trip back to the Divine Wood World will be complete.”

Satisfied, he returned his weapon to his Personal Space. Su Zhou turned to Shao Qiming, looking rather smug. “So? What do you think of this world? A vacation here is way more comfortable than on Earth, right?”

“If you’re talking about the hot springs, they are indeed nice.”

Having used Zhou Buyi’s name to book an entire hot spring resort for their vacation was certainly more comfortable than sharing a bath with a crowd. Shao Qiming answered honestly, “But when it comes to the food, I’m guessing that because the Demon Dynasty ran rampant at the end of the Anx Dynasty, a lot of culinary traditions were lost. There’s really not much delicious food in this world… Of course, there are a few unique styles of cuisine that you can’t find on Earth.”

“Azhou, next time you come, you could bring some cookbooks. Inter-world exchange doesn’t have to be all about Cultivation and technology. Exchanging folk crafts and skills can also lead to a huge improvement in the quality of life.”

Hearing this, Su Zhou’s eyes lit up. “Definitely next time, definitely!”

And just like that, Su Zhou had planned to continue his leisurely vacation in the Otherworld for a few more days to unwind.

But not even two days later, just as Su Zhou was wondering whether he should go check out this world’s Kunlun Mountain, his thoughts were interrupted by Shao Qiming, who had rushed over carrying research materials on the Cultivation of Divine Wood Power.

“What’s wrong?” Su Zhou was rather surprised. Shao Qiming had been quietly poring over Zhou Buyi’s Divine Wood Cultivation Method and his research on the Immortal Banyan Tree lately, so Su Zhou had made a point not to disturb him. He never expected the man to come looking for him. “Is something urgent?”

“It’s nothing to do with us, really, but for that old friend of yours native to this world, it’s a major issue.”

Shao Qiming’s reply was brief. “This world simply cannot sustain more than one Divine Wood.”

He slapped a Secret Draft with related Cultivation data onto the table in front of Su Zhou. Pointing to a series of notes on it, he began to explain his analysis. “You told me you made a pact with the Immortal Banyan Tree to get it to stop expanding across the surface. In reality, it just shifted its focus to its root system, taking over all the planet’s subterranean Spiritual Power. Because of that, over a hundred years later, the entire Divine Wood World has been influenced by its Essence Qi, becoming an environment dominated by Wood Qi.”

“In other words, in the Divine Wood World today, the entire planet is the ‘soil’ in which the Immortal Banyan Tree has put down its roots. When its root system is fully developed, it will burst forth from the ground and become a ‘Tree of Heaven and Earth’—a tree and a planet as one.”

At this, Shao Qiming’s expression filled with longing. He shook his head in wonder as he continued his analysis, “This Tree of Heaven and Earth could even be described as a Planet-level ‘Spaceship,’ able to move freely through Cosmic Space. And even a Divine Wood of that magnitude is but a Seed for the next stage! It will cast its Planet-level body into a Fixed Star, ‘take root’ within it, and grow into a ‘Dyson Sphere Tree’ that envelops the star, or even a true Fixed Star-level Giant Wood!”

“I know I’m getting a bit off track, but it’s all theoretically possible!”

“I’m well aware of that. I’d already considered all this before I made the pact with It.”

Su Zhou scratched his head, perplexed. “Aren’t all Divine Woods this ridiculous? Just look at the Peach Tree, Jianmu, the Nine Realms Tree, Fusang, and all the other Divine Woods on Earth. Every single one is controlled by Immortal Gods, their growth suppressed… and that’s not a bad thing. As far as I know, this process takes tens of thousands of years. The Fixed Star Wood stage would take hundreds of millions, if not billions. By then, humanity will probably have mastered interstellar travel and expanded beyond the Milky Way Galaxy.”

“The problem is, if a second Divine Wood appears in the territory of an existing one, it’s an extremely dangerous situation for the newcomer.”

Knowing that Su Zhou didn’t practice any Wood Element Technique and lacked a fundamental understanding of the subject, Shao Qiming could only continue to explain patiently. “And your friend, Zhou Buyi, being the second person in this world to cultivate Divine Wood Power, is essentially a second Divine Wood. But because he’s several hundred years behind the Immortal Banyan Tree’s development, he is fated to never reach his full potential in this world. In fact, the situation is even worse than that.”

“Sure, there’s no wind or rain under a great tree, so weeds, shrubs, and mushrooms can survive there. But because there’s no sunlight, and the great tree’s roots have stolen most of the nutrients, you will never find another, even slightly smaller, great tree growing beneath it.”

“As I studied Zhou Buyi’s Cultivation manual, I was amazed by his astonishing genius, but I also discovered something. If he continues to improve, he’ll inevitably alarm the Immortal Banyan Tree. No matter how gentle or indifferent the Immortal Banyan Tree may seem, that’s only its attitude toward insignificant beings that pose no threat. The competition between Divine Woods is a zero-sum game. The tree will, without a doubt, completely eradicate Zhou Buyi—this ‘Wood of Continuation’—before he has a chance to mature!”

“…So that’s how it is. It seems Zhou Buyi’s problems aren’t just limited to the Tianzheng Alliance, then.”

Hearing this, Su Zhou’s brow furrowed. He trusted Shao Qiming and wouldn’t ask a pointless question like, “Are you sure?”

“Sure enough. In the Divine Wood World, everything is inevitably tied to a Divine Wood,”

Exhaling, the young man stood and stretched his limbs. “All right, looks like I’ll have to cut my vacation short. I need to go find the Immortal Banyan Tree and Zhou Buyi to get the full story and start looking for a solution.”

“Sigh. I guess I was just born to be busy.”