Chapter 266: Lost Advanced Civilization (13)

A secret chamber equipped with a phase‑binding formation.

"Your Majesty, I think you'd better let me go back; there's no need to clash head‑on with De Rui Tan!"

Duola, though she had given up resisting, still did not cease urging.

Wah—~~

A set of Weilan‑style winter clothing was tossed onto the bed: "Put it on."

Luosen's expression remained calm, as if utterly unmoved.

Moon‑god Duola ignored the garments, arguing with a face full of anxiety.

"Luosen, De Rui Tan's power far exceeds your imagination; the various combat races forged from the life‑tree branches possess inconceivable war might!"

Pat—~~

A thick stack of white paper was flung onto the desk opposite the bed.

"Write down all the spell knowledge you know, especially the Elves' life spells."

Duola, as if she hadn't heard, kept speaking to herself.

"Useless. A life spell without the seed of life is like your firearms without bullets—completely ineffective."

"Mortal, even though you are an emperor of a nation, even though you wield worldly might, you are far too arrogant!"

"Do you know the golden tree seed?"

"The golden dragon that grows from the golden tree seed flies several times faster than sound. A single wingbeat can raise a gale that blows your aircraft down from the sky!"

"Do you know the Great War Tree?"

"The War Tree expands its magical domain; it not only repels attacks from legendary spells, but also swiftly converts hundreds of kilometers of surrounding land into a war zone."

"Not to mention De Rui Tan already possesses an abnormally powerful soul, at least ten times stronger than it was five thousand years ago!"

Wah—~~~

Luosen, with one hand, clutched Moon‑god Duola's throat and pushed her backward, forcing her to retreat onto the bed where she collapsed uncontrollably.

Luosen immediately pinned her down, easily suppressing her struggle, then leaned forward to stare into the bright blue eyes of the Truth‑Lord's favored child, eyes etched with silver patterns.

"Ms. Duola, everything you said, I already know."

"But the times have changed."

"The many war weapons I've developed are not ultimately to contend with mortal nations, but to slay gods and demons!"

"I must tell you, the war weapons I'm showing now are only a small fraction of all the war weapons."

"When needed, I can even summon the sun to the mortal realm, erasing everything you speak of!"

He can produce a fission bomb, which opens the prerequisite for creating a fusion bomb.

Crafting a fusion bomb is then merely a matter of time.

That thing truly is a sun of the mortal world.

"You— you are arrogant!"

Duola's face was filled with shock.

"You, a mortal, what right do you have to summon the sun? Do you know how great the true sun truly is?"

Luosen laughed heartily, yet gave no reply.

He raised his hand, removed Moon‑god Duola's legendary archmage hat, stood and stepped back to the wall, examining it closely.

"Needless to say, this should have 'grown' from a tree, right?"

Because the hat is seamless, it exudes the perfect style of a life‑engineered artifact unique to the Elves.

Luosen could tell at a glance that he couldn't produce such a thing.

Duola still tried to persuade, but Luosen waved her off: "Answer my question, madam."

Duola had no choice but to force down her anxiety: "Yes, yes, De Rui Tan personally controls it, it grew from the life‑tree, and the entire empire has only this one."

"Hmm~~ impressive..."

Luosen spun the hat in his hand, pointed at the white paper on the desk: "Do as I say and quickly write down your spell knowledge."

"Especially all the knowledge needed to forge this soul hat."

"What if I refuse to write?"

Luosen chuckled: "If you write it, I will verify it's fine."

"I will not only let you go back, I will continue to cooperate with you, continuing the infiltration plan."

"But the infiltrator is not me personally, but the lower‑tier Elf puppet I forged. Don't hastily refute me."

"I know that Legendary 12‑rank masters possess incredible acuity; you have already clearly shown me that. Yet, as far as I know, De Rui Tan's legendary strength is below 13, whereas you have reached 14."

"Moreover, he is in Huan Wai Xu Kong, while you are inside the magical ring. As long as you are willing to help, you can definitely help me evade De Rui Tan's perception, right?"

Duola pressed her lips: "That's right, but if discovered, I will die."

"So, you're afraid of death?"

"Of course I'm afraid of death."

"I can live for a very long time; I also possess a soul and body far more perfect than mortal ones. My life is far more precious than yours!"

"Those words are truly hateful, yet in a way they're not wrong."

Luosen smiled: "Then let's work together, strive to keep things from being exposed, but if they are, I will do my best to rescue you."

"Finally, I must remind you, you have no choice."

Duola lay flat on the bed, eyes vacant as she stared at the ceiling, her face full of helplessness: "Yes, I have no choice."

Luosen gazed at her, feeling as if she were a snow lotus drifting on a lake, an urge to forcibly seize joy rose within him, yet reason told him she was the First Apostle of the Truth‑Lord, and acting recklessly would probably backfire.

In short, the valley may harbor soul‑poison so potent that he cannot endure.

Thus, he could only wisely suppress the impulse.

After a while, Duola finally accepted the fact.

She sat up, put on the clothes Luosen gave her, and said: "Give me paper and pen. One set isn't enough; I need three sets. I want to write all three sets together—hurry up and finish them for me."

"Because I must return within three days."

Luosen immediately prepared everything for her, then reminded: "Don't write randomly; I'll keep watching you closely. I can easily spot your mistakes, because I possess the artifact that discerns truth."

Duola began writing quickly: "You might have some special ability, but I don't believe you have an artifact."

She had already recovered from the initial shock, thinking Luosen was probably lying to her, just as she had previously deceived the other party by claiming to be a witch.

Luosen also stopped speaking, sat beside her, carefully watched what she wrote, and quickly recorded it into Laifu's database.

Duola wrote extremely fast, three lines in parallel, and in less than an hour she had written down all the knowledge of the Legendary Archmage's Hat.

Luosen watched silently, then quickly calculated and analyzed based on known knowledge, and drew a rough conclusion: "The amplification limit is probably Legendary +8.92, right?"

Duola glanced at him, her eyes showing clear surprise: "Exactly, it's 8.92."

Luosen gestured for her to continue writing.

But he thought to himself: "If it's 8.92, then with my current Legendary 3.1 level, I could rise to 12.02, which would be mid‑high level."

"But based on Moon Goddess Duola's Legendary 8 foundation this month, that would be 16.92, already reaching an astonishing level."

Thus he said: "Looks like I need to figure out how to forge a hat of perfect quality."

"This is hard; even the Lord of Truth tried for a hundred years and only managed to make a +6 hat."

"His artifact isn't up to the task; my artifact is stronger than his."

Duola again felt half‑believing, half‑doubting, after all boasting is useless—one must produce an actual creation.

But Luosen fell silent again, so she could only suppress her curiosity and keep writing.

What she wrote next was the content of Life Magic.

Luosen looked at her seriously; about three hours later he suddenly spoke again: "You actually have already mastered most of the uses of the Life Tree Branch, right?"

Duola's pen trembled slightly in her hand: "Yes."

"The greatness of this artifact lies in its ability to unleash a force that completely transforms the essence of life, right?"

"Exactly."

"Can both soul and body be changed?"

"Both can be changed, and they can be altered with extremely fine precision."

"Truly worthy of being an artifact, but do you know where this thing comes from?"

"De Rui Tan picked it up."

"Where did he pick it up?"

"I'm not sure, because he never explicitly said. But in casual talk he mentioned the phrase "Lost High Civilization," so I think he picked it up from there."

"Moreover, I think that in the last 5,000 years he might have returned to that place."

"How advanced do you think the Lost High Civilization is?" This phrase made Luosen's heart tremble slightly—not only surprised, but also giving him a sense of the vicissitudes of a vanished civilization.

This is normal—people age, nations age, and civilizations naturally do as well.

To age is naturally to die.

He couldn't help but think: "I don't know how long my Natural Empire will last."

Who knows? Let it be.

On the other side, Duola's pen paused: "It probably far surpasses all known worlds, reaching a height beyond comprehension, possibly even exceeding Legendary 19."

"And the Life Tree Branch is one of its creations."

Luosen immediately became very interested, but it was obvious that only De Rui Tan knew the location of this lost advanced civilization, so mere interest was useless; he also needed to figure out how to get the exact address from De Rui Tan.

This is not easy to handle, and it can't be done in a short time.

Thus, he calmed his mind and continued reading.

As he kept reading, he remarked, "The golden tree seed is really quite strong."

According to Duola's description, the golden tree seed can cultivate various combat races.

Moreover, regardless of race, their base strength is Legendary 7; depending on talent, they can reach as high as Legendary 14, and even their lowest mana scale is ten thousand times that of a mortal.

"It's not just a bit strong; it's extremely strong—strong enough that De Rui Tan himself is a little afraid, so he dares not use it much."

"That's indeed frightening."

This is practically a void demon god capable of entering the mortal realm.

The creation is stronger than oneself, yet one doesn't understand the principle of the life tree branch; if mishandled it could backfire, making anyone feel uneasy.

He continued reading, and as he read he exclaimed, "Oh, the life tree is actually grown this way—how a bit cruel."

Duola said resentfully, "Imprisoning a soul in an eternal cage, turning it into an eternal slave—not just a bit cruel, but very cruel!"

Then he said, "This time upon his return, De Rui Tan has not only greatly increased his strength but also boosted his confidence considerably. I suspect he has grasped the use of the life tree branch more deeply, to the point of being able to fully control the golden race."

"In other words, there will be quite a number of Golden Warriors on the battlefield?"

"Exactly."

"About how many?"

"Over a thousand."

"Tsk tsk... really a bit scary."

"Is it just a bit? It's obviously very scary."

Having said that, Duola snorted, "Don't spout nonsense about summoning the sun to the mortal realm; I don't believe it at all."

Luosen shrugged and didn't argue: "When you go back, arrange to send a high-ranking Elf over; I want to study life magic."

"Don't worry, I won't torture him, nor will I kill him."

Duola fell silent, then said, "I'll send Xixi over."

Xixi, is that the girl who's not very bright?

Yes.

Why send her? Do you have a grudge against her?

Because her head isn't good, she's easy to deceive.

That's really a reason that leaves no room for argument.

While speaking, Duola kept writing, making several logical errors.

Luosen always corrected her immediately: 'Don't try to trick me; my Truth Divine Artifact isn't for show.'

Duola became somewhat doubtful: 'Do you really have a divine artifact?'

Indeed I do.

Where did you get it?

Given by a true witch.

So you're really the witch's apostle?

Not exactly an apostle; the witch doesn't take apostles—I just got lucky and received a gift.

Alright, that luck of yours is really something.

At that moment, Luosen saw some elf-related knowledge and was amazed: 'Elves actually grow from the World Tree? I thought they were born from bellies.'

They can both grow and be born.

Those that grow have pure bloodlines and are fast; since the soul is ready-made, they are adults upon birth.

Luosen's heart stirred: 'This is equivalent to a criminal released from the World Tree, right?'

Duola nodded: 'Yes.'

Luosen immediately became curious about the World Tree: 'If that's the case, wouldn't making the interior of the World Tree more comfortable and grand turn it into a paradise for souls?'

The Nature God Sect has always described the divine kingdom, but it's actually false, because they lack the ability to store souls on a large scale.

But now, seeing this, the World Tree's ability perfectly meets his needs.

It can not only store souls, but also let them reincarnate.

Duola shook her head: 'It's not just you who thinks this; the elves think so too, and De Rui Tan has tried, but couldn't manage it.'

Just because he can't doesn't mean I can't; I have a divine artifact that discerns truth.

That's also useless, because you don't have a World Tree branch.

That's truly lamentable.

Alright, you're right.

He continued asking: 'What about elves that are born?'

If they're born, it's more difficult; the pregnancy is long, ten years, and the bloodline is prone to mutation, but it's one way to create new souls.

One of them; what's the other?

You know it: using elf fruit to transmute mortal races.

Oh~~~

Soon, Duola began writing about elf fruit knowledge, and Luosen stopped talking, reading intently.

After writing and reading nonstop for two days, Duola had written out all the knowledge she knew.

I have to go back!

Alright, then go back.

Luosen readily agreed.

After all, she got nothing from him here, but when she returns, she'll be a time bomb beside the Lord of Truth.

My lower-elf clone will arrive soon; remember to look after me.

Also don't forget to send over the research samples of the upper elves.

He also wasn't worried about her going back on her word, because he had evidence of her betraying the elves, and besides, he'd only sent a clone—if it's lost, it's lost.

Sure. Give me back my hat. If I lose it, it'll be hard to explain.

Luosen felt a bit reluctant to give up this fun thing, but since what she said made sense, he returned it.

Duola put on the hat, took off her human clothing, and the instant she left the sealing magic array, her figure faded and vanished.

Luosen then took the large amount of knowledge Duola left behind, especially that concerning the World Tree branch, and formed a preliminary idea in his mind.

'There's something whose essence I don't know, but I know many of its characteristics—isn't that quantum mechanics?'

He couldn't grasp the power of the World Tree branch, just as mortals can't truly understand microscopic particles.

But with this life knowledge as a foundation, he could greatly understand, even predict, and even utilize the various modes of action of the life fruit.

'What would this be called? Life-force-ology?'

'But the data is still too scarce; my life-force-ology is incomplete, and I still need to go to the Holy Elf Empire to gather more firsthand information.'

That is the task of the lower-elf clone.

As for his main body, naturally it's about developing the Nature Empire's strength, preparing for a big battle with the elves.

'The various Golden Warriors bred from the Golden Tree Seed are still formidable. With current equipment and weapons, we can fight, but even if we win, the losses would be heavy.'

We must develop stronger war weapons.

What's the strongest? Of course, the sun.

A small sun isn't enough; we need a big sun.

When weapons aren't enough, we also need it as a power source.

(End of chapter)