Chapter 467: Communication Between the Big Tree and Jier, Keen Perception

"It sounds like you've been here for a while?" Jier asked tentatively in the mental world.

The young man with green hair crossed his arms and paced back and forth at the edge of Jier's mental world. He spoke, "Isn't it you who wanted to come find me and communicate? What, have you finally realized that making a big tree speak in the real world is a very foolish thing?"

Jier's reply was unexpectedly beyond the expectations of Dashu Bi'ao: "That's not necessarily true. I once encountered a giant tree with limbs that could move in Kendall County of the Northwest Province. A big tree that can speak—that's not impossible, right? Especially an ancient big tree praised for its wisdom. I think it's quite normal that you can speak, isn't it?"

"Hmm..." Dashu Bi'ao pondered for a moment, then said, "So that's how it is. It seems that for me, a big tree known for wisdom, not speaking would have been failing your 'expectations,' is that it?"

Jier wanted to shrug, but at this moment, his mental world during meditation lacked an image of himself, making it impossible to perform the action. Fortunately, for some reason, Dashu Bi'ao could still perceive Jier's intention to shrug.

"I have 'talked' with your two friends. Although their behavior of following you in the real world while 'expecting' me to speak was very foolish, in reality, they only did so because they trusted you. And Warrior Jier, you only forced me to speak because you had seen a tree with limbs that could move and therefore assumed I must be able to speak."

Dashu Bi'ao turned around to face Jier: "It seems I am still not wise enough, failing to see the inner rationality of your actions from your foolish behavior."

Jier felt a bit awkward: "Are you mocking me? If you want to mock me, just say it directly; there's no need to be so careful with your phrasing."

Dashu Bi'ao seemed less angry than before. He stared fixedly at Jier, though it was unclear what he could see from Jier's mental world.

"Young Warrior of the Farming God, you are a bit too cautious. You actually treated the Prophecy Poem I gifted you out of kindness as some sort of scheme? Do you think I, this big tree, need your help, or the help of you people?"

"Isn't that the case?" Jier retorted: "If my reasoning is correct, the time you gave me the latter Prophecy Poem was roughly when the Sacred Artifact was lost. You knew who took that Sacred Artifact, but you didn't say it directly; instead, you used a roundabout way, using the method of a Prophecy Poem to inform me. Hmph, isn't this just a way to bestow a favor upon me, or to wait until I can't find the item or solve the Prophecy Poem, so I have to beg you and owe you a favor? Do you really need me to spell all this out clearly?"

Listening to Jier's blunt words, Dashu Bi'ao actually smiled. A strange look of amusement appeared on its face as it watched Jier, as if it were truly looking at a foolish idiot.

"Living a long time is sometimes really quite good, because one can see real, interesting scripts that no drama could ever perform. I am already looking forward to your future performance, young Warrior of the Farming God."

Dashu Bi'ao said with a hint of a smile: "I have nothing more to say to you. After meditation ends, remember to listen to your Priest companion; he will guide you to find the 'lost' Sacred Artifact. Oh, right, young man, when driving the Life Energy in your body, don't be so reckless. If you have a teacher, it is best to explore the enhancement of your human body with Life Energy under their guidance. Especially the head—be careful."

Jier was baffled. He still had many questions left unasked, such as Dashu Bi'ao's stance, why it had entered his dream before and left two Prophecy Poems—the latter was possible since it was right under its nose, but the former involved the Villagers of Changmai Village, who were far away. Was its talk of messengers in the Prophecy Poem nonsense, or was it true?

Furthermore, if Dashu Bi'ao knew most things in the vicinity and could easily enter human dreams, wouldn't all the humans in Big Tree Village be within its surveillance? How could privacy be guaranteed? Did no one care about this? Wasn't this a terrifying thing?

Who could guarantee the intentions of this big tree with high intelligence? Were its rumored good deeds truly its real side? Or was it a 'persona' it had deliberately crafted?

Although Dashu Bi'ao's image seemed decent during both meetings in his dreams and the mental world, Jier still did not hold goodwill toward this fellow, but rather a faint sense of vigilance.

Because if one looked deeply into it, Dashu Bi'ao's abilities were truly too terrifying. Especially since it was also very 'wise,' it could easily use words to achieve the vast majority of things it wanted.

Jier felt that this Dashu Bi'ao was far more terrifying than the spider-type Monster he had faced before, or the Northland Wolf King. This was not the immediate danger of facing a strong enemy, but a sense of crisis born from understanding the other party's capabilities and strength after deep reflection, realizing the gap between them.

This Dashu Bi'ao seemed to have seen through everything. The various masks people wore for communication seemed easily seen through by it. Physical barriers could not stop it from easily peeking into the human mental world and soul. In its eyes, everyone seemed to be stark naked.

This made Jier feel very uncomfortable, as he had too many secrets.

And this Dashu Bi'ao presented an appearance of having seen through him completely, yet not caring much about it. It not only knew everyone's secrets and true appearance but also didn't care about these things at all.

A sense of arrogance hidden behind it made Jier quite unhappy.

But how could Jier have imagined that he was projecting human thoughts onto a big tree? This was also a form of invisible arrogance he himself could not perceive.

Human society, human thoughts, human desires, human actions—these things were seen and observed by Dashu Bi'ao, but never taken to heart, because they had no meaning to it.

If not for the instinctive need of a sentient being to communicate with other sentient beings, it could have remained completely motionless, standing as a big tree, receiving nourishment from the earth, rain and dew from the sky, sunlight containing energy, swaying its branches with the wind, silently watching the mortals around it be born, grow, age, die, and replace each other generation after generation. It witnessed the founding and expansion of human villages, or their transformation into larger towns that stood for a long time, or their reduction to ashes in some turmoil.

Jier wanted to say something more, but Dashu Bi'ao's image gradually faded in his mental world. The young man with green hair even walked away laughing, which made Jier somewhat unhappy, as he felt the big tree was laughing at him.

Although he felt unhappy, Jier still followed the other party's advice. He wasn't stupid; the head was so important, so naturally, he wouldn't experiment so easily without any safeguards.

Therefore, Jier released his control over the Life Energy in his body, letting it slowly spread throughout his body with the flow of blood, strengthening his body gradually over time in a slow but effective way.

During this process, a small amount of Life Energy also entered various organs in his head with the blood, slowly enhancing his vision, hearing, sense of smell, sense of taste, and his intuition as a sixth sense, and even slightly improving Jier's ability to perceive energy as a human.

Of course, Jier was not a Mage, nor was he a Monster or Magic Beast; he did not have energy control abilities. The various other energies in his body, at the end of the day, were not things humans were born with.

Various Divine Powers were themselves a type of controllable power created by gods combining the spiritual Faith of believers, meant for the gods themselves and their Priests to use.

And the Magic Beast Magic sealed within Jier was merely sealed in his body. If not for the seal, Jier would have long ago had his body melted by this powerful magic, or exploded uncontrollably into a massive magic bomb that would have destroyed himself and everything around him.

And the Life Energy in his body, at its root, was not a natural life force that humans originally possessed. It was a type of artificially controlled power that the ancient Magic Emperor had forced into the bloodlines of all humans by borrowing from the life research of elves. Essentially, it was a means to transform the vast number of ordinary humans who were useless to the Magic Empire into controlled Mage guards capable of participating in high-intensity combat, thereby expanding the high-level combat power of the Magic Empire.

It was just that with the collapse of the Magic Empire, the Knights, who were originally tools, gradually relied on their own strength and numbers to gain power and status, becoming an important political force and the main violent force in human society.

As for the original Mages, they regressed from being the absolute ruling power of society during the Magic Empire period to being one part of the various forces in human society, forming a tripartite balance of power with the Church backed by gods and the Knight Orders gathered by Knights. The Nobles became a lubricant and mediator between these three forces, together constituting the prosperity and stability of human society.

Jier gradually withdrew his previously shielded perceptions. Immediately, the rustling of the wind and grass around him was heard by his ears; the breathing and heartbeat of every person nearby were carefully heard by him; the sound of insects crawling in the grass sounded so loud.

The chirping of the fledglings in the bird's nest on the roof of the nearby Church even became so sharp and terrifying.

It was the same for his vision. As Jier opened his eyes, everything around him was so vivid and the colors were extremely rich. Every blade of grass and insect seemed to be draped in a bright, illusory cloak. These changing colors made Jier's brain ache, and tears flowed from his eyes involuntarily.

Fortunately, Jier did not look up at the sky, otherwise, the intense light would inevitably have damaged his vision. And if he had seen the vast, boundless sky before his vision was adjusted, his small human mind would inevitably have been swallowed by that huge, deep sky.

His nose was the same; all kinds of smells rushed into Jier's nasal cavity at once, then were distinguished one by one by his nose, and then all at once sent various fragrances and stenches into his brain, confusing his mind.

It was the same in his mouth. Because he hadn't brushed his teeth or cleaned his mouth properly after waking up in the morning, the tastes of various residues on his teeth and tongue were distinguished by his tongue and sent to his brain through his nerves all at once.

His body was also extremely sensitive. The movement and pressure of every single hair were clearly perceived by him. The armor he wore felt redundant and heavy for the first time, not to mention the clothes worn under the armor. He even felt his own skin was quite troublesome, wishing he could peel it off to eliminate the countless sensations transmitted by his skin.

At the same time, even if Jier was facing the wall of the Church courtyard, he could clearly perceive through intuition who was paying attention to him at this moment.

Not only that, Jier even knew without turning his head that behind him, there was a powerful existence with a strong presence, just quietly watching him.

No, not just watching him, but simultaneously watching everyone in the entire Big Tree Village, and even far beyond the scope of the entire Big Tree Village.

Only then did he 'intuitively' perceive the 'power' of Dashu Bi'ao. Although it could not move as a big tree and was very afraid of fire, and a child could make it difficult, in terms of the soul, it was far more powerful than everyone in Big Tree Village combined at this moment.

Fortunately, this clear and even excessive sensory information was quickly adjusted and balanced by his body.

His hearing immediately adjusted to a level where it was sufficient; all kinds of noise faded away. It wasn't that he couldn't hear them, but that his brain naturally didn't care about them.

His vision also adjusted quickly; all things were no longer so bright and dazzling, but became dim and monotonous, more easily accepted by a human.

His nose also adjusted; fragrances and stenches were no longer carefully smelled by him, and only the scent of the main objects close to his body became prominent. Oh, it was the scent of green grass from the grass in the courtyard remaining in his nasal cavity, soothing his spirit.

His tongue also became obedient, no longer sending all kinds of unimportant taste information to his brain at once; only a faint astringent taste remained in his mouth.

The sense of touch on his skin was no longer sharp; the ability to perceive every single hair immediately disappeared, and the friction between his clothes and his body was no longer clear. The armor he wore also felt insignificant in weight as he subconsciously controlled his body.

And his sixth sense, his intuition, also slowly became dull. The gazes of the people around him were no longer clear, and Dashu Bi'ao behind him no longer made him feel so terrifying.

But Jier understood that it wasn't that the other party was no longer terrifying, but that his intuition, which was gradually returning to a normal state, simply couldn't perceive it.

He stood up nimbly, turned around, and looked at the motionless big tree.

The other party swayed its countless green leaves with the warm morning breeze, just like the green hair it had in the mental world.

The rustling sound made by the swaying leaves also seemed to no longer contain the same emotions as before, becoming peaceful again, and there was even a peculiar feeling of waiting to watch a good show.

Jier's gaze swept in turn from Dashu Bi'ao, to Priest Feilina who was looking over while sitting on a stone chair, to Xueya Site who had a satisfied smile on his face, and finally to Priest Bata'er who was looking at him with slight excitement.

"How is it? It seems everyone has already communicated with this Mr. Big Tree?" Jier asked.

His voice was quite loud when he first spoke, but Jier immediately adjusted it, conversing with the group in a normal volume.

"Heh, it's an interesting fellow. It turned into a horse and kept asking me if I was an idiot; of course I'm not, haha. But it also did one extra good deed, for which I am quite grateful." Xueya Site was the first to answer, a smile on his face, hands on his hips, looking entirely happy and satisfied.

"Warrior Jier, I spoke with it during Prayer, and I feel our previous actions were somewhat inconsiderate. The Prophecy Poem may not be a utilitarian means or tool, but merely a small kindness casually bestowed upon us dull-witted people by a Sage full of goodwill. Regarding the Prophecy Poem, it might be a key to helping us find the lost Sacred Artifact! If possible, Jier, could you please try to recall the detailed content of that Prophecy Poem about the Sacred Artifact again?"

Bata'er Jiaoshi said this while moving closer to Jier, his eyes meeting Jier's with sincerity.

Jier couldn't handle it, so he had to pinch his nose and nod slightly: "I also communicated with it for a while. I don't really like it, but when I think about it carefully, it seems it truly has no need to steal the Sacred Artifact. It told me to pay attention to the Prophecy Poem; hmph, it seems to be waiting to see me make a fool of myself. Where would I have any jokes that would make people laugh? How strange."

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