Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire-Chapter 960 527: Symbiotic Era, World Born of Trees_2

Swoosh~ Swoosh~
After defeating the Elf Clan, the Azure Dragon returned to the tree and, upon hearing the request of this elf, looked on with curiosity, its crimson dragon eyes reflecting the slightly weathered yet handsome face of the legendary Wood Elf.
"The Mother Tree of our tribe has entrusted everything to you. From now on, we will also worship you as we did the Mother Tree..."
The Great Elder could see that the seemingly fallen Life Tree before him possessed greed far beyond that of the Abyss Demons. So, just after being planted, it began to relentlessly extract the vitality of their tribe's Mother Tree.
But their Mother Tree was not an easy target to be taken advantage of. The immense spirituality it had accumulated over thousands of years was enough for it to develop a certain self-awareness. Although it did not possess complete logical thinking, it was still quite easy for it to resist the siphoning by a mere sapling.
If their Mother Tree could be so easily damaged, how could it have protected and supported them until now? Yet, the Mother Tree did not resist; instead, it opened itself entirely, allowing the Evil Tree that had taken root on this land to take everything from her.
Upon hearing the request of the old elf before him, the newly born Tree Spirit still gazed at him. He could feel the power within this seemingly frail body of the elf, a power enough to destroy him, yet the old elf was holding back.
The Red-eyed Green Dragon understood why the other was restraining himself. He slightly turned his head, gazing at the back, where the increasingly withered Mother Tree, under his extraction, continued to deliver the spirituality accumulated over thousands of years, which had not been exhausted by the magic tide, to him steadily.
At this point, it wasn't he who was extracting anymore, but it was the other party who was actively giving, and although his foundation could perfectly accept it, what's being transmitted was not just spirituality, vitality, and nourishment, but also the history experienced by this Mother Tree over the past millennia.
In simple terms, the Mother Tree handed all its memories over to the Azure Dragon. This was a kind of legacy, but also a form of binding and restraint.
Nevertheless, the Blood Origin Green Dragon Tree, which had received the Mother Tree's memories, was indeed affected by these memories but did not protect the legacy of the Elf Tribe in the gentle catastrophic manner the Mother Tree desired.
Ah~
A piercing scream broke out—a sound from an elf, hanging upside down amid the trees, whose magic power was being continuously drained. He had originally fainted but now couldn't help letting out cries of unbearable pain, shouting hoarsely.
For he was indeed suffering inhuman torment; the aerial roots that initially only bound his feet had, by now, sprouted countless fine roots, drilling into his flesh, growing wantonly within his muscles and bones, merging with his flesh.
"Stop."
The Great Elder, who initially was merely waiting and observing without the intention to intervene, could no longer sit idly by when seeing his kin being tortured so. Although he speculated what this evil tree intended to do, he couldn't contain himself any longer.
He was the Great Elder and the village chief; at this moment, so many of his kin were watching him, and if he were to turn a blind eye to the harm done to them, doing nothing to intervene, what face would he have?
Swoosh~
With just a strike of the Qi Blade, the elf hanging among the trees, screaming, was set free. At the same time, the other elves hanging among the trees were likewise rescued.
Legendary Sword Saint
The Great Elder, who looked rather gentle, like a Spellcaster, was actually in a Close Combat Profession. At such a close distance, if he wished, he could instantly destroy the seemingly evil Demon Tree before him. Yet he did not do so; instead, he carefully bowed his head to inspect his kin whose body was invaded by a multitude of wooden tendrils and roots.
Visible to the naked eye, alongside these foreign objects surging, some extremely horrifying bulges occasionally appeared beneath the skin of this unlucky elf.
When this Legendary Sword Saint tore open his kin's skin, attempting to pull these wooden roots out, an extremely eerie scene immediately appeared. From the freshly cut skin gushed out a mass of wooden tendrils, intertwining with each other. Before the blood could flow, the wound had already healed.
"This is..."
Such incredible healing ability immediately shocked the Great Elder. He looked up at the Azure Dragon, entwined in the tree canopy, watching him, and instantly understood what this dragon was doing.
This eerie scene was also noticed by many other elves. Although it seemed extremely bizarre, exuding an evil aura, the extraordinary self-healing capability couldn't be faked.
Thus, upon realizing that it was their tribe's Mother Tree, which voluntarily sacrificed itself to nurture this evil tree blessed by the Elf Gods, the once restless Elf Tribe calmed down significantly. They then began to observe and test their kin parasitized by numerous wooden tendrils.
In testing, it was found that this elf, uncertain if he should be considered unfortunate or fortunate, retained the most basic cognition. His will and thoughts were not altered or influenced in any way; he remained himself, with no change from his past self.
The only change occurred in his body. In a normal state, he appeared no different from an ordinary elf. However, once injured, or upon entering a combustion or attack state, the wooden tendrils hidden within his muscles and bones would activate.
Not only would this elevate his self-healing ability to a level surpassing the current realm, but it could also enhance his explosive power across tiers in an extremely short time.
In short, aside from being visually unappealing, elves parasitized by wooden tendrils had achieved leaps in both survival ability and combat prowess.
More importantly, elves parasitized by wooden tendrils no longer had to worry about the corruption and pollution of the Abyss; rather, they could absorb these seemingly filthy forces to recover and heal, even using them for cultivation.
For elves struggling to survive on the demon-ravaged wastelands, paying such a small price for such an enormous enhancement was simply a godsend.
No guidance was needed; when faced with the choice between staying to combat the harsh environment or embarking on a path of exile, becoming a wandering tribe, the elves chose the former.
The road to saving their homeland lay before them. Although this road appeared somewhat dire, it was still a viable option, especially given the unprecedented enhancements they would receive, adapting more smoothly to a world of decay and degeneration than even the demons.
"Is this how you protect us?"
Watching the young elves line up to receive the "blessing" and "protection" of the new Mother Tree, the Great Elder stood beneath the entirely withered old tree, gazing at the evil tree which had already formed a mini-forest, a complex expression in his eyes.
Not all elves could accept such an aberrant symbiosis; some elves suspected that the Elf God bestowing such blessings was an Evil God in disguise. Though there was no evidence, their suspicion wasn't unfounded.
But the Great Elder, along with a significant number of elves, chose to accept this gift that clearly demanded a price. They truly had no other choice, and according to the divine oracle, the nature of this evil tree, in fact, aligned with that of the Black Devouring Dragon, a legend everyone had heard before.
The outer evil was merely to better devour magical creatures. Once it achieved the ultimate transformation, it could become an existence far surpassing the divine entities of the Heaven.
Given this, what could possibly not be accepted? Moreover, the seemingly aberrant tree had also been recognized by the Mother Tree and, after replacing her, had truly been protecting them. At the very least, the pollution on the land of the original Mother Tree had largely been purified, allowing them now to plant some ornamental plants.