GDK 435 – Tree of Souls
“Father, come with me!” After flying out from the Dead Sea, Little Skeleton transmitted a message to Han Shuo.
Without waiting for Han Shuo to react, the Bone Devil which Han Shuo was riding on moved when it received the message. It made a circle with Han Shuo on top of it before flying towards Little Skeleton’s location.
“Whoosh”
Little Skeleton landed on Bone Devil’s body. After Little Skeleton got onto Bone Devil, it flew straight down towards the sea. Within the blink of an eye, it had fallen into the Dead Sea, continuing its downward path.
The skeletal body which Han Shuo forged by solidifying the aura of death was extremely tough and durable, but Little Skeleton and Bone Devil’s skeletal bodies were even better than that of Han Shuo. They were not afraid of being corroded by the corrosive seawater. It was just that their rate of sinking to the abyss of the Dead Sea was slightly slower due to buoyancy.
Down in the depths of the Dead Sea, It was all dark and pitch-black. Using their eyesight was basically useless down there. Both Han Shuo and Little Skeleton used their senses to feel their way forward. Also, Han Shuo’s consciousness was exceptionally strong. Even though he came to the netherworld from another plane of existence, his consciousness could still clearly map the surrounding scenes.
At this depth under the ocean, there weren’t many undeads that existed. The deathly still Dead Sea also didn’t host many unique plants. Other than the pitch-black seawater, there was nothing that especially caught Han Shuo’s attention.
“Where are we going?” Han Shuo asked Little Skeleton.
“In the depths of the Dead Sea grows a very special plant. The reason I wanted to conquer the eastern Dead Sea, other than dealing with Tumoja, is to get my hands on that plant,” Little Skeleton replied.
When Little Skeleton explained so, Han Shuo’s curiosity immediately peaked. He no longer thought of the netherworld as a desolate, cold, and barren world. Ever since he experienced the benefits of consuming the serene luster gem and the black resolute crystal, Han Shuo realized that the netherworld was also a miraculous place.
Under this deadly seawater of the Dead Sea, Han Shuo did not sense the presence of a single plant. Little Skeleton explained that the reason he constantly aimed Tumoja in his crosshair, was actually to obtain a unique plant in the Dead Sea. That itself tells Han Shuo that this plant in the Dead Sea must be extremely rare and precious, otherwise Little Skeleton would never be willing to spend such considerable cost.
“What plant is it? What’s so special about it?” Han Shuo immediately questioned.
“Pop! Pop!”
All of a sudden, strange sounds arrived from a distance. Han Shuo’s consciousness could clearly sense that many undead creatures were rushing towards them. Although these creatures’ presence were much weaker in comparison to Tumoja, it is still higher than those low ranking Dead Sea creatures that fought in the battle just then.
Little Skeleton did not immediately reply Han Shuo’s question. Obviously, he too had discovered the rapidly approaching undeads. The originally dim Purple Demon Eye of the Little Skeleton, suddenly exploded with brilliant purple light rays. A kind of sinister and bewitching bizarre energy suddenly emanated from the center of Little Skeleton.
“I have killed Tumoja. You all will acknowledge allegiance to me, or vanish forever like Tumoja. Your choice!” Little Skeleton’s powerful message was so commanding, it fused with the current, and it traversed far and wide into the distance.
At that moment, Han Shuo found that the approaching Dead Sea creatures, all looked like creatures which mutated from certain fishes found in the Profound Continent. There were some telltale features of the undeads on these creatures’ bodies like bony outgrowths, while having fish scales-like body structure. They looked very peculiar.
It was obvious that the powerful message which Little Skeleton transmitted caused an enormous impact on those strange looking Dead Sea creatures. Those undead creatures which were charging with great momentum, suddenly stopped heading towards Little Skeleton when the message was broadcasted, and they began communicating with each other.
“You all have no choice. Without Tumoja, you don’t pose any threat to me. Immediately surrender, and pledge your allegiance to me. Otherwise your only path will be disappearing forever!” Little Skeleton pressured them.
“We are willing to serve you!” Without letting Little Skeleton wait for too long, those Dead Sea creatures yielded to his might. One by one, they sweared to serve and acknowledged allegiance to Little Skeleton. For as long as the soul brands from Little Skeleton exists, they will never betray him.
This was a common phenomenon in the netherworld. Once the boss was eliminated, the victor would usually be able to assimilate the forces of it’s opponent. It’s proper and to be expected as a matter of course for low level undead creatures serve the high level ones; there’s no such thing as loyalty or betrayal in the netherworld.
“Very good. Take me to the Tree of Souls you are guarding!” Little Skeleton transmitted.
“Master, please come with us!” those Dead Sea creatures respectfully turned around and lead Little Skeleton and Han Shuo to an even deeper area under the sea.
“Father, under this eastern part of the Dead Sea, there’s an unusual plant called Tree of Souls. It produces fruits called Pearl of Souls. Consuming it will make us possess wisdom. For Little Earth, Little Gold, and the others, it can make them evolve faster. However, wisdom will only develop on high level creatures, and only high level creatures could digest those experiences which increases one’s wisdom. For creatures like zombie warrior and hate warrior, the Pearl of Souls would had no effect on them even if they consumed it,“ Little Skeleton explained to Han Shuo.
“Plant that could raise one’s wisdom. What was going on?” Han Shuo asked immediately as shock rose in his heart.
It seems that Little Skeleton wasn’t able to answer this question very clearly. After Han Shuo asked the question, Little Skeleton’s Purple Demon Eye flickers for a while before he replied, “I’m not sure either, as I’ve never seen a Pearl of Souls. I’ve only learned about them from hearsays. As for the specific details, we’ll find out after we go there and take a look.”
Han Shuo was extremely curious, but after hearing what was said, he didn’t follow up with further questions. He continued to focus on getting a glimpse of the surroundings with his consciousness, while silently guessing how the Pearl of Souls could increase an undead’s wisdom.
After a short while, the group of undead creatures leading Little Skeleton and Han Shuo arrived at a region with dense black, ink-like water. All sorts of chaotic energy of souls abruptly shot out everywhere and in all directions. The disorder firmly grasped on Han Shuo’s consciousness.
Han Shuo was startled. It was the first time that his consciousness had met with such energy. The restrictive power it has on his consciousness made Han Shuo felt extremely unwell. However, as Han Shuo had trained proficiently in Demonic Magic for many years, he had learned some insights on the use of his consciousness. Suddenly, his consciousness severed all connections with the surrounding like a sharp knife.
Those energies which flooded into Han Shuo’s mind were immediately purged or cut off. Not a single bit of soul energy could affect Han Shuo. When he turned his head to the side, he saw that Little Skeleton and Bone Devil too were staring blankly at their place. They seemed to be frozen by the energy of the souls.
By means of his connection with Little Skeleton, a ripple of thought suddenly charged toward Little Skeleton. After the thought from Han Shuo’s consciousness entered into the dazing Little Skeleton, he immediately responded, and his Purple Demon Eye shone brightly. That blank state of mind was swept clean. Then, through his connection with the Bone Devil, Little Skeleton too injected his energy into the Bone Devil.
After being woken by Little Skeleton, the Bone Devil’s enormous body shook slightly, and it immediately broadcasted its thought.
“Master, these newcomers didn’t warn you about the situation here. It seems that they were harboring malicious intents!” while Bone Devil roared with rage, it flew towards a Dead Sea creature not far from it. Before the Dead Sea creature could react, Bone Devil had chewed it into powder.
“Master, please forgive us. We thought that if you could kill Tumoja, it must be very easy for you avoid the energy surrounding the Tree of Souls. We are very sorry that we did not remind you in advance.” Those Dead Sea creatures were utterly horrified, and hurriedly apologized to Little Skeleton.
“Fine, pardon them. Humph, I believe you guys wanted to test out my strength huh! I will let it pass this time. If anything like this happen again, I will let none of you continue to exist in this netherworld,” Little Skeleton said.
Following Little Skeleton’s command, the Bone Devil stopped its vigorous pursue. The Dead Sea creature did not fight back but constantly begged for forgiveness. At that moment, the ink-like black sea water suddenly disappeared. The scene of a big tree made of some brown branches intertwined together appeared, its roots buried deep under a field of rocks, with ten something fist-sized oval-shaped gray fruits hanging on this unique big tree entered their mind.
One could vaguely see that the seawater surrounding the big tree is grey in color. Spirit energy which looked like segments of memories flooded all around the huge tree in an chaotic manner. It looked as if wisps of them floated into the center of the big tree. Perhaps it was one of the nutrients that the tree needed.
“Around the Tree of Souls were some floating energy of memories which the Dead Sea adsorbs. The Tree of Souls condenses those emotions and memories into itself, and then forms the Pearl of Souls. These Pearl of Souls can be directly consumed. It will make some dumb high-ranking undead creatures obtain great wisdom.” The Dead Sea creatures explained to Little Skeleton.
“Father, these are the Pearl of Souls. It is said that it could increase one’s wisdom. You should try it!” Little Skeleton explained to Han Shuo.
With great curiosity, Han Shuo walked towards the Tree of Souls, and plucked a Pearl of Souls and dropped it into his consciousness. He then used the energy of his consciousness to smash and remove the hard shell of the fruit.
All of a sudden, all sorts of messy, chaotic emotions, along with some memories and realizations, suddenly rushed deep into Han Shuo’s mind. The Pearl of Souls was filled with great amounts of experiences. Nobody knows if it came from netherworld creatures. Among these experiences, many were unexplainable by Han Shuo, with some portion of it containing novel ideas Han Shuo never heard before.
While Han Shuo’s mind was still in a big mess, suddenly, a flash of memories about exercising control over one’s desires and unrestrained indulgence jumped into his mind. Han Shuo, who was distressed about the hard to breakthrough Carnal realm, fell into a foolishly paralyzed state, as though he was receiving enlightenment.