Not even Bai Zemin himself was sure of his own thoughts; that's how crazy the idea that he had just come up with was.

If even he himself wasn't sure what he had in mind then it was only natural to think that others would look at him as if they were looking at a lunatic if he said it aloud. Not to mention that Bai Zemin had no intention of putting into words the theory he had just thought of.

The biggest problem of all was that even though he knew in his heart that such a thing was extremely unlikely if not impossible, Bai Zemin could not get the thought out of his head after connecting the various points that so far seemed to have no connection to each other over and over again.

"Zemin?"

"Are you okay?"

The voices of Lilith and Wu Yijun brought Bai Zemin back to the real world.

"I- I'm fine." He lied without blinking.

Surprisingly, while Wu Yijun nodded without much thought as she was too happy and while Lilith looked at him doubtfully for a moment before finally nodding, Shangguan Bing Xue who was sitting in front of him stared at him over her shoulder with narrowed eyes.

'Could it be that Bing Xue's instinct is as high as mine? Or maybe she paid more attention to my expressions compared to Lilith so she can tell when I'm lying or not?' Bai Zemin sweated as he secretly thought.

"Alright, since that's the case then Yijun, you can have this fragment of the World Tree Heart." Bai Zemin extended his right hand back to his left shoulder level as he looked at the radiant face of the beauty behind him, "Try to establish a connection with this treasure first, and if you manage to make some sort of bond then don't hesitate and form a contract immediately."

"I..." Wu Yijun stared at the small broken star-shaped object with a hesitant expression on her beautiful baby face.

It would be a lie to say that she didn't want the World Tree Heart fragment since even without touching it she could feel a strong natural attraction to it. However, she did not take it immediately unlike what any other soul evolver would have done in her place.

Seeing this, Bai Zemin could not help but feel a warm wave slowly flooding his chest and when he looked at her his eyes could not help but automatically soften.

How could he not understand what she was thinking after all they had been through together? Although the time Bai Zemin and Wu Yijun had spent together might not be comparable to the time he shared with Shangguan Bing Xue, it was still enough when one took into account that each of those moments was fraught with danger or hardship.

Wu Yijun was a very proud and arrogant woman beneath her natural gentleness. However, what woman in her place would not be proud? Wu Yijun was beautiful, talented, intelligent, diligent, loyal, sweet, filial... However, only Bai Zemin, who was her chosen man, knew the truth.

Shangguan Bing Xue was the kind of woman who needed to be strong to feel worthy of her partner. She would definitely do her best to become even a little more powerful to be closer to that person.

Lilith was a bit similar to Shangguan Bing Xue but she went more with the flow of things. Bai Zemin was not so sure since he was currently much weaker than her in general terms.

On the other hand, Wu Yijun was very different. She was willing to sacrifice her personal strength and give up on heaven-sent opportunities in order to let the man she love become stronger in her place. Therefore, she would rather let Bai Zemin have the fragment of the World Tree Heart.

"Silly girl, you are still hesitating?" Bai Zemin turned his upper center of gravity without moving his lower body so that he could look at her better. He took her small hand with his free hand and gently placed the World Tree Heart fragment in her palm, "None of us here have plant-like skills except you. Try at least, and if this treasure accepts you as its owner then that is your destiny."Under Bai Zemin's insistence and after giving her best friend a deep glance, Wu Yijun finally nodded resolutely. He was already so strong and Shangguan Bing Xue could keep up with him on the battlefield; even Feng Tian Wu seemed to show signs of being a potential future rival... Compared to the two of them, Wu Yijun felt that she still had a long way to go.

She had to work hard! Wu Yijun not only wanted to be his best political and strategic support but also wanted to be his backup on the battlefield!

Seeing Wu Yijun's focused appearance with her eyes closed and the faint glow of the World Tree Heart fragment in her hands, Bai Zemin exchanged glances with Lilith and Shangguan Bing Xue.

"Looks like Yijun overcame the first obstacle quite easily," Shangguan Bing Xue commented pretending to be calm.

"It's really surprising, though." Bai Zemin sighed in amazement.

"There's nothing to be surprised about." Lilith didn't seem too surprised unlike the two of them, "Little Sister Yijun not only has a baby face but her heart is also very pure like that of a newborn. I think the purity that the World Tree Heart fragment talks about in its records is another form of purity that has nothing to do with lust, murderous intent, or the like."

After thinking for a moment, Shangguan Bing Xue nodded as if realizing something after hearing Lilith's words.

"If the World Tree or Tree of Life really does exist and it turns out to be at least one-tenth as powerful as the legend says then it would be a calamity if someone with the slightest of evil intentions gets control of it."

"That's right." Lilith looked at Wu Yijun's deep-focus face gently and said softly, "Little Sister Yijun has no greed for power in her heart, that's why she managed to get the first approval so easily."

While Bai Zemin exchanged thoughts and theories with Lilith and Shangguan Bing Xue, Fire Sorrow silently observed Wu Yijun as the latter tried to assimilate the fragment of the World Tree Heart.

In fact, Bai Zemin was not the most puzzled regarding why Lilith would reject the fragment of the World Tree Heart... The most perplexed was Fire Sorrow.

Unlike Bai Zemin who had simply seen Lilith using the power of some sea plants, Fire Sorrow knew better than anyone that Lilith could use the purest force of nature to heal her wounds. This meant that she had great affinity, probably the best of all, with green life.

Fire Sorrow was confused because, even if in the end Lilith was rejected by the World Tree Heart fragment because she did not have a heart free of greed, she should have at least tried... Unless she had something to hide which is why she preferred to leave the seat free to Wu Yijun.

'But what could be so important as to turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this?' Fire Sorrow racked her brain trying to think but failed to come up with anything specific except a stronger confirmation of the fact that Lilith was an extremely mysterious being despite her young age.

"By the way, are you really okay?" Shangguan Bing Xue asked in a worried voice.

"Mm?"

Seeing that Bai Zemin didn't understand, she stared at him with her big blue eyes and stated, "I am talking about your clash with that Saint of the Absolute or whatever..."

"Ah..." Bai Zemin's eyes flashed with sudden understanding. His lips curved slightly into a mysterious smile as he slowly said, "Actually, Saint of the Absolute Felix is really powerful just as expected... But, I found out his weakness in our previous match.""Oh?" Shangguan Bing Xue's lips pursed into a slight smile as she said in a mischievous voice, "So?"

"If it comes to speed, Saint of the Absolute definitely surpasses me by a wide margin... I'm afraid his Agility is at least 2000 or even 3000 points higher than mine, which can be translated as a colossal gap." Bai Zemin replied slowly and calmly as he recalled the very brief battle he had with Saint of the Absolute in Russia. "But when it comes to sheer power, he is only at the level of a normal level 300 soul evolver at best. Bing Xue, even you can probably fight against him when it comes to Strength regardless of the fact that Strength is your weakest stat."

Lilith couldn't help but shake her head and let out an amused chuckle, "You little scoundrel, having you as an enemy really is a nightmare."

Being a Sixth Order soul evolver, how could Lilith not understand the magnitude and limitations behind the strength of Saint of the Absolute? But she did not expect that Bai Zemin could manage to discover so much in such a short time and with such a great precision!

Bai Zemin smiled slightly in response and continued, "At that moment I attacked using the most powerful attack I could draw, 'Rumbling the Heavens, Shaking the Earth'. Although it was impossible to get the most out of this skill since I was in no condition to fight an enemy other than the Mana Eater Tree at that time, it was still enough to force Saint of the Absolute to retreat more than 300 meters and hurt his right hand. On the other hand, he could only push me back 80 meters at best."

"I still remember the expression of shock on that guy's face." Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head and couldn't help but smile again, "At first I thought that maybe you got some internal injury since I couldn't believe that someone capable of fighting the Mana Eater Tree on equal footing would only have so little power, but now I see that I was worried for nothing."

Seeing Bai Zemin shrugging his shoulders, Lilith warned him in a serious voice for fear that he would become too careless, "Zemin, while it's true that this Saint of the Absolute is weaker than you in a head-on confrontation, you'll have to find a way to counter his speed or at least defend against it. With the Agility of that guy he could easily inflict serious wounds on you while you would have difficulty for your attacks to reach him successfully."

Bai Zemin looked at her affectionately and said in a gentle voice, "I am aware of that, but thank you for reminding me, Lilith. I know you care about me."

"It's good for you to know that." Lilith nodded with a satisfied smile before turning into a gust of wind, and leaving her scent of roses behind, she disappeared.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, and after about two days of slowly but surely taking in the fragment of the World Tree Heart, Wu Yijun woke up from that state of extreme concentration into which she had fallen into previously.

"I... I think I saw the World Tree when the World Tree Heart fragment was attached to my soul."

Forget Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue, even Lilith and Fire Sorrow did not expect to hear such words coming out of Wu Yijun's mouth as soon as she opened her eyes.action

Even before Bai Zemin could ask any questions, Fire Sorrow appeared flying close to them as she stared at Wu Yijun with wide eyes in shock.

"You... What did you say? Did you really see the World Tree?... How can this be possible... Isn't the Tree of Life just a legend? I remember that the Goddess of Nature back then spent more than half of her life searching for traces of the Tree of Life but in the end she was not only unsuccessful but ended up dying mysteriously!"

Wu Yijun hesitated for a moment as the information she had was something she planned to share only with Bai Zemin, but when she saw him nod slightly, Wu Yijun finally decided to tell only a part of what she saw in that dreamlike condition.

"Big Sister Fire Sorrow, the Goddess of Nature actually managed to find the World Tree."

"What?!" Fire Sorrow stopped in the sky completely in shock. She quickly woke up as she saw Little Snow rushing away like lightning, and as she caught up to the big white dog, she stared at Wu Yijun waiting for her to continue.

Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue had yet to leave Earth so they were like newborns in Fire Sorrow's eyes... Even Lilith was a small baby as far as she was concerned when it came to universal knowledge.

Only she, who had lived millions of years, knew the true strength of the World Tree. Precisely because of this, Fire Sorrow thought that the legends of the World Tree were just that, legends.

This girl, Wu Yijun, has already managed to obtain the recognition of a part of the World Tree's Heart... If the World Tree really existed, wouldn't she end up becoming invincible?

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