Chapter 154

Returning to the oasis, Negril almost turned and ran upon seeing Galard gazing up at the World Tree.

In its mind, elves wouldn't even let a single seed of the World Tree escape—yet now they'd actually grown one? With an elf's temper, wouldn't they strangle them and dig up the World Tree?

Not far from Galard, the tall, pure-white unicorn stood facing off against Zihai, while Lightning, who dared to sass even Ange, now cowered behind Zihai like a cat spotting a mouse, trembling.

What happened? Ange tilted his head.

"Oo?" The little angel tilted her head and flared her wings open.

"Oo?" The little zombie also growled at Lightning, raising its hoe.

Lightning couldn't understand the "oo" language, but she clearly read their postures—she frantically shook her head and whispered: "No no no, that's my mom."

"Oo?" The little angel tilted her head: Mom? What's that?

"Oo?" The little zombie tilted its head: Mom? Beat her?

Lightning shook her head furiously—no matter what the two little ones said, shaking her head was the only safe response, lest the little angel blast her mother.

Galard had long sensed Ange and the others' arrival; she turned, placed a hand over her chest, and bowed: "Galard, greetings to Lord Ange, Lord of Knowledge."

Though Negril had met the Elf Queen only once, he'd communicated with her countless times via the teleportation array—he got straight to the point: "Your Majesty has come in person—what is it you need?"

"I'd like to buy ten more World Tree saplings from Lord Ange," Galard said directly.

"Huh? We don't…" Negril was about to launch into a triple denial when Galard lifted her gaze to glance at the World Tree.

Negril felt caught red-handed—denying he'd stolen a snack, yet crumbs still on his lips.

He sighed: "Why do you need so many saplings?"

"Quantity changes probability," Galard said, sounding wistful.

Such a rare, personalized expression from the Elf Queen—if a demon painter were here, he'd make a fortune; just capturing this moment of Galard could lure countless buyers.

Too bad, none here were proper "people"—they all ignored it.

Ange reached into the Palace of Rest, shoulders rising and falling as he kept planting vegetables; the little angel cautiously approached the giant unicorn, poking its thigh with a finger.

The giant unicorn glanced sideways at it, unbothered—this surprised Galard; she knew her mount's temperament too well: only the purest beings could approach it, or it would kick them with a hoof.

Negril rubbed his hands awkwardly: "Your Majesty, your request for saplings puts me in a difficult position—we have none left; they've all grown into full trees. Saplings and trees aren't priced the same—you'll have to pay more."

After haggling, Galard offered only eight hundred thousand magic crystals and refused to budge: "This is the maximum I can mobilize in the short term. More would require digging them up fresh—I won't have them until next year."

"You've got a mine at home—your tone's different. Eight hundred thousand it is. But our teleportation array is too small—we can only give you the stumps." Negril said.

If this had been half a year ago, Galard would have smashed Negril's head for suggesting to saw the World Tree.

Now? Based on the growth rate of the World Trees in elven territory, ordinary rough handling wouldn't harm them—removing some branches and leaves even accelerated growth.

Elves used to be too careful, which is why their World Trees never grew large. If a tree dies from rough treatment, does it deserve the name World Tree?

After reaching an agreement, Negril ordered men to dig up the trees. Actually, even if Galard hadn't come today, Negril would've found an opportunity soon to sell more World Trees to the elves—because the trees grew too fast.

The barren Abyss of Rest now held over a thousand World Trees. Normally, one World Tree per plane was enough to regulate its ecology—assuming it was sentient.

Though the ones in the Abyss of Rest weren't sentient, they still possessed the basic functions of a World Tree: regulating ecology, improving soil, sheltering flora and fauna.

One tree was enough for these functions—but now all thousand-plus trees had them, and they grew without limit. This drove Greenwood, the former demon valley slave who tended them, to despair: he couldn't bear to cut them down, yet as they grew larger, relocating them required ever greater distances.

Theoretically, if the Ancestral Wind ceased, and all the wastelands of the Abyss of Rest were cultivated, they could support hundreds of millions of beings. The idea of transplanting World Trees to arable land and turning them all into fertile fields was sound—but the Abyss of Rest simply didn't have enough people.

Especially as the trees grew larger, their volume increased, demanding more manpower and resources to transplant.

Most importantly, there wasn't enough life force.

World Trees needed no water, no soil, no fertilizer—they needed only other plants thriving. In Ange's words: life force.

A few thousand in Wraith City, a few thousand in Demon Valley, tens of thousands in Ice City—totaling no more than fifty thousand people. Even if they strained to grow crops, the life force they produced couldn't match a single grassland on the Material Plane—yet it had to feed over a thousand World Trees.

So once they reached ten meters tall, the World Trees stopped growing, standing there malnourished. Clearing some would give others more space and life force. Since the elves wanted them, it was perfect.

The towering trees, dug up and cut into stumps, hadn't yet been transported—during this tedious wait, the giant unicorn suddenly roared at Lightning: "Come back with me."

Lightning instinctively shrank her neck, then straightened it defiantly: "No!"

"Will you come back or not? Come here."

"No!" Lightning shrank further behind Zihai—everyone could see her fear and guilt.

"Will you come over or not? I'll beat you!"

"No!" No matter what the giant unicorn said, Lightning just stuck her neck out, hiding behind Zihai, saying only "No"—her once insolent mouth, which dared to mock Ange, now could only say "No."

Finally, the giant unicorn, exhausted, roared: "If you don't come back with me today, don't come back at all!"

"Fine! I won't!" Lightning shouted back.

The giant unicorn turned and stormed off. The outcome left many sighing in regret.

"Beat her! Hit her! You're her mother—why aren't you beating her to death?" Lu Se groaned, stomping his foot.

"Beat her! Slap her face! Kick her butt! Oh, just yelling?" Negril sighed.

"That's it? That's it? Should we get Mom a whip?" Lisa suggested.

"Don't be like that—it's not a horse, it's a unicorn. Here, whip." Philin handed over a whip.

Before Lisa could take it, the Grand Witch passed by, hands behind his back, gazing at the sky, striding casually past the giant unicorn—his whip accidentally fell to the ground.

"... hen did the unicorn ever offend the Grand Witch?"

"... don't know. This damn horse—Grand Witch's so gentle, always babysitting others—did it ever anger him too?"

"Beat her." Many silently urged.

But the giant unicorn didn't oblige. Instead, it walked to Ange, knelt on its front knees, then touched its horn to Ange's forehead.

With such a massive horn thrust forward, Ange instinctively reached for his scythe—Negril quickly stopped him: "The unicorn's highest honor—using its purest horn to touch the purest one."

Ange carefully touched his forehead to it, then quickly pulled back: "Sharp."

Galard's hand behind her back clenched tightly; her slender frame trembled as she forcibly stifled her laughter. Rare indeed—her own mount had been rejected.

The giant unicorn didn't seem to care—or perhaps it didn't mind being rejected by Ange, because: "Thank you for protecting my child. All of you possess the purest souls. Lightning's child, walk beside you."

As the giant unicorn spoke, a cluster of lightning coalesced from its horn, drifting slowly toward Ange: "I hope you will continue to protect it. The Blessing of Lightning's Child is upon you."

"This is the unicorn's blessing—immunity to most negative states. Too bad you can't use it," Negril lamented.

"Huh? Can't use it? Why?" The giant unicorn was stunned.

Its unicorn blessing was a permanent, practical boon—many creatures coveted it. On the black market, people paid unimaginable prices to capture unicorns just for this blessing—how could someone not use it?

Negril spread his hands: "Because the one standing before you is a deity—naturally immune to most negative states. No, two deities."

As he spoke, Negril puffed out his chest, tapping his tiny claws.

The giant unicorn eyed it skeptically: It had heard Galard call it the Lord of Knowledge—but in this age, are gods this weak?

Then the giant unicorn grew troubled: "I want to thank you, but your blessing is useless to you, and I have nothing else—I have no money."

"No thanks needed, no thanks needed—Lightning's actually quite obedient, helped us a lot," Negril hastily praised Lightning against his conscience.

"Huh? Really? Not that good, you say?" The giant unicorn, like any proud mother hearing praise for her child, beamed.

"Of course. Lightning runs incredibly fast—on several occasions, she carried me to the scene in time. Very impressive." Negril swallowed the "us," fearing the giant unicorn would learn Lightning was ridden by everyone and go berserk.

"Hehe, you flatter too much. She runs fast, never stumbles—even her horn has grown back. I'll teach her properly later." The giant unicorn beamed.

"Don't let the blessing aura float there—come on, seal it into wooden plaques. The effect weakens, but we can make several. Conveniently, we have World Tree here." Negril carved a section of World Tree core into three wooden plaques, had Ange precisely carve magic arrays onto them, and forcibly sealed the unicorn's blessing inside.

These unicorn blessing wooden charms retained about eighty percent of the original effect.

The giant unicorn, flattered into a daze, released three blessings in succession—nearly drained itself dry—until Galard swiftly grabbed it.

Well, one blessing couldn't be given, but three were finally delivered. Negril was satisfied: the three charms were useless to Ange, but the little zombie, the little angel, and himself could use them.

Galard pulled the giant unicorn far away, preventing it from speaking further to Negril—lest it lose all its fur.

Only after the World Tree stumps were dug up and teleported to the elven forest, and Galard confirmed receipt, did she eagerly drag the giant unicorn away.

Before leaving, the giant unicorn approached Lightning, pressing its horn against her half-missing stump: "You've grown. If you won't come back with me, take care of yourself. The beings around Ange, except the Bronze Dragon, all possess the purest souls—they will be your best companions."

"????" Negril's mind filled with question marks—why not including "me"?

Experience flowed through the horn into Lightning's mind, instantly granting her understanding of a new technique.

Lightning sneered: "I know. No need to tell me—since they haven't killed me yet, they must be good-natured. You take care too."

The giant unicorn carried Galard into the sky, vanishing from sight. As soon as they disappeared, Lightning let out a long sigh, relaxing completely.

Negril flew over: "Quick, quick, don't play dead—show us what your mom taught you!"

"What else? The aerial technique. She never taught me before—my horn was broken." Lightning waved her broken horn.

Now, three-quarters of it had regrown; only the sharpest tip remained, but it no longer hindered her from using unicorn abilities like Thunder Power.

"Come on, show us." Negril said, patting the little angel, who immediately climbed on. The little zombie climbed on. Ange climbed on. Negril plopped down too.

"Do you have any conscience? I just learned this—I'm not skilled yet! You'll all get thrown off and die!" Lightning grumbled, then kicked off, accelerating slowly on the ground, then sprinting, finally running across the air.

Riding a horse felt nothing like riding a dragon. Lightning was slender, with no wings blocking the view—turn your head any way, and you saw earth and sky.

It felt as if sky and earth were one continuous plane—this immersive perspective thrilled the little angel and little zombie into roaring.

Roaring all the way, Lightning got excited too—her aerial speed far surpassed ground sprinting. Before they knew it, they'd traveled hundreds of kilometers. Far ahead, a red hue sharply contrasted the desert's yellow.

"Huh? Is that red soil? How did we end up at Darkface City?" Negril exclaimed. Only the Darkface City region had red soil and sandstone in the desert.

Even without mentioning Darkface City, Ange had forgotten—he'd planned to go there himself to kill Hemoelthos, had Galard not shown up.

Ange pointed: "Down."

But before Lightning could turn, Ange suddenly looked up—above, in the clouds, several dark shapes hurtled downward, and behind them, a larger shadow prepared to burst from the clouds.