Chapter 2544: Development and Construction (4)

The ground undulated.

The earth around the Eternal Tree seemed to come alive.

The next moment, the soil all around the sapling heaved upward.

Hundreds of large and small pink-purple python-like tendrils suddenly burst forth, bloody mud flying everywhere.

"Holy—! What is that?"

Zhao Chi was stunned.

There are still pythons in the territory?

And hundreds of them?

So many?

Could it be that planting the Eternal Tree right on top of a snake nest killed it?

That can't be right.

How could there possibly be a snake nest in the territory?

Are they invading magical beasts?

No, those aren't pythons!

Those are... tree roots??

The roots of the Eternal Tree underground!

Who would have thought—the sapling above ground was only that tiny bit, yet the roots beneath were this numerous, this vast and tangled?

It's completely out of proportion.

Like an iceberg, only one-tenth is exposed on the surface.

But for this sapling, what's showing above ground should only be one-hundredth.

No wonder the Eternal Tree grows so slowly.

Turns out most of its growth happens underground, in the root system.

And those roots are pink-purple—clearly the result of absorbing Zhao Chi's blood.

So... it really was his own blood being too nutritious that burned the sapling to death??

But if the sapling died, why are these roots still so active?

They're even stronger at digging than the rat-men.

The next second, those roots all burrowed back into the soil.

The blood left on the ground's surface had been completely drained dry!

Those roots came out to absorb the blood in the surface soil??

So is my blood actually useful or not?

Is that tree actually dead or not?

A string of questions filled Zhao Chi's mind.

At that moment, the fallen sapling split completely open, as if cleaved vertically.

From the cracked root, a pink new sprout slowly grew out.

"My lord! Look quickly!"

Qi Yue excitedly pointed at the pink sprout.

Zhao Chi saw it too: "Let's go, we'll go take a look."

Zhao Chi couldn't contain his excitement and rushed over.

The once-level muddy ground was now a complete mess.

Tree roots poked out of the earth everywhere, though only parts of roots.

In the middle of all these roots, that pink sapling grew visibly, growing and growing...

Taller than Qi Yue... taller than Zhao Chi... past two meters...

Finally, it stopped at around two and a half meters tall.

But its entire body was blood-pink.

This color was formed by tender green mixing with the red of blood.

It looked very eerie.

Pink is neither good nor bad—it's just a color; it depends on where it appears.

If it's between Qi Yue's chest and thighs, then of course it's the most fitting and beloved color.

But if it's on a tree, it really is a bit ugly.

Zhao Chi still preferred a big green tree.

But this new pink sapling was clearly more robust.

Not only was it taller than before, its thickness had visibly increased as well.

It had gone from arm-thick to as thick as Qi Yue's thigh.

Qi Yue asked, "My lord, why do I feel like this tree has regrown? It felt like it wasn't growing well, so it grew a better one? Look, how sturdy it is."

Zhao Chi scratched his head.

He didn't know either.

But judging by the look of it, it really did seem to have regrown.

Perhaps a normal Eternal Tree looks just like that one before?

And after being irrigated with blood, the great tree turned into this?

This is a bit too exaggeratedly thick.

An ordinary two-meter-tall sapling would at most be like that earlier — about the thickness of an arm.

But now it's as thick as a thigh…

Practically the fatso among trees.

But no matter what, as long as it's alive, that's good.

Zhao Chi's ash-gray heart came alive once more.

This is good.

A notification appeared from the system.