Chapter 188: Bountiful Harvest

In the golden hall, maidservants presented Osiris with fragrant grape wine.

The wine emitted a rich amber glow in the large crystal goblet, Osiris leisurely leaned back on his throne, sipping the wine while humming a little tune.

Wu Tie sat cross-legged in the hall, his body golden and glittering, as the Harvest Tree, flashing with multicolored gem light, slowly sank from the top of his head into his body.

Golden roots and stems gently moved through Wu Tie's meridians, then turned into golden particles that merged with his body.

The hundred-zhang-tall Harvest Tree emitted a rich divine light; as it slowly entered Wu Tie's body, every pore on his body opened, and strands of sparkling heaven-and-earth spiritual energy continually flowed toward him.

Wu Tie's body suddenly became filled with a strange attraction to heaven-and-earth spiritual energy.

If Wu Tie's previous attraction to heaven-and-earth spiritual energy was one, after just a small portion of the Harvest Tree's roots and stems entered his body, his attraction had already reached one hundred.

At this moment his cultivation speed was a hundred times what it had been before.

What's more terrifying is that, previously, when Wu Tie absorbed heaven-and-earth spiritual energy into his body, a small portion would always exit with his breath and movement, carrying out some impurities and returning to the world between heaven and earth.

But the Harvest Tree… completely locked all heaven-and-earth spiritual energy inside Wu Tie's body, not a trace leaking out.

Wu Tie's entire body shone with golden light.

With soul power to look inward, each of Wu Tie's cells became a golden little sun; fine golden mist continually rose from their surfaces, intertwining and turning into strands of pure mana that continually flowed into his glabella.

The phantom of the Heavenlock Pagoda appeared behind Wu Tie.

Within the two spiral light bands, countless fine light strands intertwined, forming thirty-three radiant layers of the Heavenlock Pagoda.

Strands of golden mana continually rose from Wu Tie's glabella, winding toward the first layer of the Heavenlock Pagoda.

Golden mana rapidly spread along each fine light strand, gradually eroding and analyzing the heavenly mysteries on the strands; each strand visibly peeled away and dissolved into countless tiny points of light that merged into Wu Tie's body.

The aura emanating from Wu Tie gradually grew stronger; whenever a light strand dissolved, a thick golden torrent as thick as a water jar would surely pour into his glabella, instantly boosting his mana cultivation by a great leap.

"I am a disgraceful deserter..." Osiris took a sip of wine, sighed: "But... using that guy's words, though it's a bit harsh... I, Osiris, am after all a man."

"Although you forced me to be a deserter... you forced me to leave the battlefield..." Osiris's expression turned grim.

Sorrow, anger, deep regret, and profound loneliness perfectly merged on his face, giving rise to an inexplicable strong sense of tragic indignation.

"Live on, Osiris... carry our share, live on... tell our names to future generations... let our names not be washed away by the river of time... let future people remember our names, remember..."

"Remember that there once was a group of fools who, for them, resisted, fought, gave their all... and died."

"What a lofty excuse—you died with glory, while I have always carried the deserter's black pot, living on and on... what nonsense excuses, Osiris! You wield the power of death, so you can live a very long time..."

"Is this a reason?"

"Your deathly power can make those you protect and objects nearly eternal... that's also not a reason."

"My friends, my brothers... I sleep in a coffin, yet I cannot rest peacefully... I miss you... do you know?"

Two lines of clear tears streamed from Osiris's eye corners, falling to the ground and turning into thumb-sized black crystals. Osiris set down his wine cup, covered his face with both hands, and wept silently; on his pale face, both eye sockets became flushed red, red...

"My brothers, I miss you... you can die heroically like warriors, while I can only survive like a maggot."

"But someone has come, someone has come... they have come; I will follow your orders and let them carry our seeds back."

"I hope they... perhaps it will be difficult, but I can only hope they can manage it."

"This little fellow has obviously gained some people's approval; he is reliable... so I gave him the Harvest Tree."

"Those fellows... they're not good people... but perhaps villains can live longer? Using them as seed carriers is perfect... even if they are killed, at least the seeds have already spread."

Osiris lowered his hands, wiped his face dry, lifted his wine cup, and took a big gulp.

The Harvest Tree had already entered more than half of Wu Tie's body; his attraction to heaven-and-earth spiritual energy had risen from a previous one hundred to one thousand, even two thousand or three thousand.

Heaven-and-earth spiritual energy turned into sparkling cocoons that completely enveloped Wu Tie.

The cocoon's volume grew ever larger, as continual torrents of spiritual energy poured into Wu Tie's body; the golden light at his glabella grew denser and brighter. Behind him, phantoms of various giants, mountains, flying dragons, and black tortoises continually flickered.

"Hmm, you've comprehended some bodily combat divine abilities?" Osiris nodded slightly: "Indeed, bodily combat divine abilities—thick-skinned and sturdy—are excellent for preserving life."

Grabbing his head with his hand, Osiris muttered lowly: "But you mustn't tell outsiders that you obtained my Harvest Tree; it would bring you disaster, and your current cultivation is truly not impressive."

"Then, little fellow, let me give you something that looks decent but won't provoke overly strong covetousness." Osiris pondered for a moment, glancing at the koi coiled around Wu Tie's waist.

"A crude, shoddy trinket..." Osiris smirked and shook his head.

After pondering a while, he waved toward outside the hall, and a statue of a black eagle-headed man nearly a thousand zhang tall walked in.

Osiris pointed with his hand, and the splendid golden armor set—cast entirely of gold, inlaid with large chunks of blue-green gems forming perfect geometric patterns, with a pair of golden great wings on its back—flew off the eagle-headed statue.

This armor set is simple, covering only the front chest and back, plus a short skirt armor. Yet the pair of golden wings behind it are enormously wide; curling forward, they can completely envelop a person.

"This armor set is not bad," Osiris laughed brightly, "but it's merely a set of armor..."

With a wave, the armor flew onto Wu Tie's body; Osiris frowned, looking at the radiant golden armor, and shook his head: "Frankly, it's too eye-catching... as a deserter, staying low-key, low-key is how you live longer."

Osiris smiled, then with a flick of his right hand he sliced open his left wrist without changing expression; a stream of black, crystal-clear plasma like melted black crystal flew from his body and splashed onto the armor.

The golden armor instantly turned completely black, even those blue-green gems becoming pitch black.

The black armor became even lighter and thinner; the pair of large wings behind it turned extremely filmy, nearly merging with the air. A faint black mist wrapped around the armor, making it unnoticeable, and moreover generating a strange field that instinctively causes people to overlook its presence.

Osiris waved his hand, and the colossal eagle-headed statue strode out of the hall with heavy steps.

"A set of armor... well, you brat have such brute strength that once you move, those boots will surely break." Osiris nodded, then, following the same method, summoned a giant minotaur statue from before the hall doors and removed the golden boots from its feet.

Following the same method, the golden boots were turned black; Osiris waved his hand, and this oddly styled high-top boot also went onto Wu Tie's feet. Meanwhile, Wu Tie's original python-skin boots silently crumbled to dust.

"Enough, can't have more..." Osiris said lowly: "To possess a jade is to invite crime—these four words reveal how terrible human nature can be. This little bit is enough. A set of armor for preserving life, a pair of boots for fleeing—there's no better combination."

Osiris sighed contentedly, then, without knowing where, casually pulled out a harp, lightly plucked its strings, and played a light, cheerful tune.

The Harvest Tree had almost completely entered Wu Tie's body.

In every acupoint across Wu Tie's body, lights of various gemstones flashed.

His body frantically devoured heaven-and-earth spiritual energy from outside; behind him, the Heavenlock Pagoda emitted dazzling light, and almost every second, on its first layer, two, three, or even four light strands would silently disintegrate.

Each second, two, three, or even four golden pillars as thick as a water jar would boom into Wu Tie's glabella, and his aura grew stronger every second.

Each layer of the Heavenlock Pagoda can contain up to a hundred million light strands; at this rate, Wu Tie could break through one heavenly layer in roughly a year.

Osiris nodded satisfied: "Can't be too fast, can't be faster; steady progress is good... the Harvest Tree isn't merely for aiding cultivation; if it were only that, it would seem rather inept."

Having sighed contentedly, Osiris hooked a finger; with a "ding" the string resonated, rolling through the hall, and Wu Tie awoke from a near-epiphany blissful state.

"Lord Osiris." Wu Tie immediately saw the armor and boots he was wearing.

"Thank you, Lord Osiris." Wu Tie was also not polite, naturally clasping his fists in thanks to Osiris.

"No need to say more." Osiris set down the harp, casually picking up his wine cup and taking a sip: "Here, it's not convenient to receive guests, so I won't keep you. After you leave, don't come back to find me."

"As a qualified battlefield deserter, preserving my life is the most important thing. Since I've been discovered here, I must change locations; my tomb, this resting place, will be randomly transported to an extremely distant location."

Osiris shrugged his shoulders, saying indifferently: "Perhaps for a long time to come you won't see me… If luck is bad, maybe this parting will be eternal? Or you die, or I am dug out of my tomb by someone, then I am surely dead."

After sighing, Osiris took a sip of wine and said softly: "The wonder of the Harvest Tree, you will gradually come to understand, but you must be careful, do not let outsiders discover the abnormal changes around you. Be careful, be careful, be careful."

After another deep sigh, Osiris said leisurely: "That blond, blue-eyed pretty boy, stay away from him; although the prophetic art he inherited is merely a fragmented remnant, prophetic art is a most annoying ability…"

"He could even predict what color underwear you'll wear tomorrow and the day after… That's not good, all your secrets could be uncovered by him…" Osiris said calmly: "However, I've done a little something to his soul, he can't do anything to you… but he still has fellow disciples… stay away from him a bit, or…"

Osiris gave a strange laugh: "Or, upon seeing his fellow disciples, just send them to keep me company…"

Wu Tie was left speechless by Osiris's cold joke.

Osiris himself laughed happily for a while, then he gave Wu Tie a deep look, especially focusing on the spider-shaped pendant hanging from Wu Tie's chest, and sighed: "Here, I have no suitable body… really, sorry… the Desas I created are all lifeforms synthesized from my own flesh and blood…"

"However, you brat are lucky, I believe you…"

Osiris waved his hand, a huge force surged forth, and Wu Tie, spinning, flew into a black vortex.

In that instant, Wu Tie realized that Osiris had already discovered the existence of Old Tie.

But he also couldn't awaken Old Tie…

Obviously, they don't belong to the same power system; Wu Tie gave a somewhat helpless smile.

Suddenly a chill came over him, Wu Tie puff-puff spat out water, struggling to leap from the small lake and soar into the sky, his whole body drenched, hovering midair, looking around in a sorry state.

Lao Dao Feng and Doliya were already standing on the lake surface; seeing Wu Tie, Lao Dao Feng burst into a hearty laugh: "Gun Grandpa, you also came out? Hahaha, I never expected that on the path of the dead there would be such a great benefit… Hmm, what did you get?"

Wu Tie pointed at his armor and boots, angrily saying: "A set of armor, a pair of boots, damn it… What did you get?"

Lao Dao Feng and Doliya smiled enigmatically, not answering Wu Tie's question.

The next moment, a water column shot up into the sky, a master of the Blood Curved Blade Command Pool Realm broke through the lake surface and flew out.

The Command Pool Realm expert laughed heartily "haha", his whole body wearing a set of golden armor a hundred times more splendid than Wu Tie's, shining with pearl light and treasure aura, practically blinding to the eyes.

Lao Dao Feng's scrutinizing gaze also left Wu Tie and fell upon that Command Pool Realm expert.