Chapter 251: He

Everyone turned their gaze toward Ang, who had been staring blankly and silent until he noticed their eyes on him, then silently pulled his fingers into his chest and covered them with his other hand.

He had been listening the whole time, of course—he heard everything they were saying—but when it came to the little wraith, he pretended not to hear.

His reaction filled Negrilis with deep satisfaction; this foolish skull wasn't truly dumb—he only revealed things he didn't care about; when it came to things he cared for, he played the fool.

Though Ang pretended ignorance, the little wraith was genuinely clueless—it popped its head out, bewildered by the commotion, and was immediately spotted by Luna.

"Whitey!" Luna cried out in delight, moving instantly to rush over.

Xiamala tensed and lunged to pin her down.

The little wraith panicked, clutching Ang's finger tightly, then turned toward the sound.

Flames erupted violently atop Ang's skull, his gaze locking onto Luna.

Just as everything threatened to spiral out of control, Luna suddenly stopped, staring at the little wraith in confusion: "Isn't this Whitey?"

She halted, but Xiamala couldn't stop her momentum—she crashed into Luna, sending her stumbling.

The situation had been razor-thin; without doubt, if Luna had rushed forward recklessly, Ang wouldn't have held back—he'd have unleashed Dragon God Form or Locke's transformation on her. Could Luna, at less than a fifth of her full strength, have survived? That was the question.

Even if she hadn't rushed forward, if the little wraith truly was hers, Ang would never return it—what then? Co-parent the wraith and become in-laws?

It was best if it wasn't hers—Negrilis quickly asked: "Really not your pet?"

Luna hesitated for a long moment, then shook her head: "Not Whitey—the aura is completely different. Where did you find it? Holy light wraiths are extremely rare—I thought Whitey was unique, but the Gods of Light despise wraiths; they killed it while I wasn't looking."

Negrilis frowned: "You don't despise them? Wraiths—undead beings—even holy light wraiths are still wraiths. Why keep one?"

"Because it's cute," Luna said as if it were obvious. "Look at it—so dumb and clumsy, so adorable. Are all holy light wraiths this cute? I'd love to raise another."

As she spoke, Luna pointed at the little wraith, and Xiamala nodded in agreement beside her.

Negrilis and Anthony exchanged glances, unable to comprehend their logic—just because it was cute, they were willing to risk angering the Gods of Light?

"This thing belongs to Ang—you can forget about it. Let's talk about something else—like how much we should charge you for bringing you back to life," Negrilis said.

Now it was Luna and Xiamala's turn to stare at each other: "You… you want money? I don't have any."

"That's not right," Negrilis chuckled. "We went through all this trouble to resurrect you, and now you won't pay? No money's fine—you can work for us instead."

After accepting Negrilis's task, Luna reluctantly followed Xiamala away.

Turning back, Negrilis hesitated and asked Anthony: "Just let her go? No binding contract at all? Aren't you afraid she'll come back to hassle you later?"

Apparently, Anthony had been the one cooking up the scheme behind the scenes—Negrilis was merely the mouthpiece.

"Not afraid," Anthony smiled like an old farmer who'd just slipped a snake into a rabbit hole. "A fallen six-winged archangel? Her biggest headache won't be me."

…

In the Palace of Rest, at the edge of the farm, a single bone hand hovered aimlessly above a rectangular depression.

Inside the pit, a field of illusion-cultivated crops had ripened; on the control platform, a newly sprouted World Tree sapling rested within a magical array, undergoing comprehensive, multi-layered, 360-degree scanning.

This was the most effective method for the illusion array to record crop data—any real-world crop could be accurately recorded and simulated.

Of course, a single example couldn't form complete growth data—sufficient samples for comparison were needed to extract the most authentic data; here, "authentic" meant the crop could grow identically in both the simulation array and the real world.

No druid had ever thought to record the World Tree, because in their understanding, there was only one World Tree—insufficient samples.

The only one in this world who could provide enough samples was Ang.

After the array finished scanning the sapling, Ang replaced it with a larger one—from seed to sprout, three-day-old, ten-day-old, one-month-old, six-month-old, all the way to three-year-old—Ang scanned each stage once.

Once the array obtained the complete growth data of the World Tree, simulation began: in the center of the pit, a World Tree slowly grew, expanding over time.

Since this wasn't a combat simulation, there was no time limit—the World Tree kept growing, growing, until over a hundred years later, it became a colossal tree with a crown spanning tens of kilometers.

But Ang noticed a problem: the illusion array treated the World Tree as an ordinary plant, requiring water, sunlight, air, and suitable temperature to grow.

Yet the World Tree's growth did not accelerate nearby crops, nor did nearby crops' growth accelerate its own.

This contradicted the World Tree's true nature—the array couldn't simulate this trait.

Forget it—pull it out. Replace it with elf beans, plant some divine wood, soul moss, and upgrade beans—almost every crop Ang could grow, he scanned into the illusion array.

"Stop playing, Ang—come catch it!" Negrilis called from afar, annoyed.

Reluctantly, Ang withdrew his hand from the space—his cultivation had advanced: instead of farming vegetables on the farm, his Transcendent Hand now cultivated inside the simulation array.

Pulling his hand free, Ang sprinted toward Negrilis's direction, and soon spotted the target—a large cat tiptoeing stealthily.

Seeing Ang charge, the cat shot out of its hiding ditch in a flash, launching into full-speed sprint mode, darting wildly away.

"Aow!"

"Aow!"

"Watch the lightning!"

The little angel, the little zombie, and the lightning bolt each burst forth from different directions, blocking its escape routes.

The cat let out a "Aow!" and lunged forward, aiming straight for the little angel—but before it could touch, its body vanished into thin air, reappearing dozens of meters behind the angel.

The dimension beast's dimension blink.

But before it could land, a bone hand pierced through space, gripping its neck fur precisely, lifting it into the air—everyone rushed over.

The little angel snatched it into her arms, squeezing its neck until its tongue lolled out.

"Where do you think you're running? You can even use dimension blink—you've recovered enough, right? Big Cat, it's time we head to the Slumbering Lands. Don't try to stall again, or I'll steal all your elf beans."

"If Du Luo hasn't died, he's probably in the Slumbering Lands—he'd know where the Sovereign went."