Chapter 290: It, the New God of Life

"It's… really burning?" Ma Disi muttered, dazed.

He'd calculated that the elves wouldn't cut down the tree, but he never expected another bizarre figure to suddenly appear and burn it outright—the original intent had been to chop it, but a barrage of explosive fireballs swept over and ignited it.

Could the Tree of Life burn so easily? If it could, it would have been burned countless times in the past ninety thousand years.

Yet the Tree of Life didn't stop it—on the contrary, it seemed to accelerate the burning. A trunk several kilometers in diameter, if truly ablaze, would take at least ten days or more to burn down to its core.

Yet in less than half a day, the Tree of Life had already become a towering bonfire.

The elves didn't stop it—indeed, their queen stood on this creature's side, blocking his attacks. Not even the vines could touch him, and the mantis insects sent out were slaughtered at the front lines.

And his greatest asset—the insect swarm—couldn't even get close to the enemy; they inexplicably collapsed around him, and the few that broke through were reduced to powder by the enemy's soul shock.

What's happening to this world? What's wrong with the elves? Your god is being burned alive!

Ma Disi screamed inwardly—he had to scream, for the Tree of Life was burning, and Ma Disi, parasitized within it, burned even hotter; the vines clinging to his surface had already been charred away, forcing him to retreat deep into the Tree's interior and root system.

Whether or not it heard his cries, the elves gathered around, shouting to put out the fire, even sternly ordering Ange to stop.

Ange did stop—and quickly pulled out his arsenal: dozens of titans, over a dozen undead magi, legions of sword saints and angelic warriors—clearly preparing for battle.

Then he stomped his foot—The Sovereign Arrives—and all the skeletons, reduced to bare bones by the insects nearby, rose to their feet.

No one knew how many animals lived in the forest, but their total number certainly exceeded the elves'. They hadn't escaped—they'd nearly all become food for the insects, leaving only their bones behind.

These skeletons outnumbered the elves present—and so, the elves were now surrounded.

Yet the elves still pressed forward, organizing to charge and fight; they could not accept their god burning before them.

The voice of the Tree of Life suddenly sounded: "Ange, bring out the sapling."

Ange blinked, pulled out the sapling, and placed it atop his head. He hadn't wanted to bring it out—it was too dangerous—but this was the Tree of Life's request; he'd just be careful.

The moment the sapling emerged, it saw the blazing bonfire and panicked, waving its leaves and sending out frantic signals: Grow—hard—grow—hard—

"Thank you, little one. I feel your vitality," the Tree of Life said slowly, its voice clearly filled with amusement.

The sapling stood frozen, leaves raised—this blazing torch could speak.

Then the Tree of Life's voice echoed in every elf's heart: "From this day forth, it shall be the new God of Life."

For most elves, this was the first time they'd ever heard the Tree of Life's voice—but none doubted its truth, for the feeling it carried was identical to the breeze that brushed past them as children, playing among the treetops.

The elves exchanged glances, and involuntarily lowered their weapons; they could not raise their weapons against their god.

Thus, Ange stood with the sapling atop his head, and the elves dared not move again—how could they fight? Ma Disi's last hope shattered.

"Madman! Madman! I'm done with you! Burn it! Burn this stupid tree! I'll find another host!" Ma Disi's furious voice rang out.

A god who had lived ninety thousand years—willing to burn himself to death just to take down a single enemy?

Faced with such madness, Ma Disi had no other plan—he had to flee.

As the parasitic vine roots detached from the Tree of Life and burrowed deep into the earth, Ange suddenly pulled out He Mo Er.

He Mo Er blinked, eyes vacant, glancing around, confused—he didn't know why Ange had suddenly pulled him out.

"Clear the insects," Ange said.

"Oh," He Mo Er understood. He curled his body, two scales on his back bulged open, revealing the cicada membranes beneath. As the membranes vibrated at high speed, a hissing, ultra-high-frequency sound spread outward.

After a dozen heartbeats, the earth surged. Countless insects crawled or flew out of the soil, rushing toward He Mo Er.

"Sssss, so many insects? Damn it! So many insects—even if we burned this place to ash, we might not clean them all up. If even a few survive, they'll breed again in no time. Annoying!" Nai Ge Li Si cried in relief.

Seeing the dense swarm of crawling insects, the elves' scalps prickled—could this forest even be saved? If even a few insects remained, would they crawl out at night and devour them?

He Mo Er kept emitting his call, drawing up the insects, then opened his mouth wide, swallowing each one whole as it approached.

As another Insect God, he naturally exerted dominion over insects. If Ma Disi were still here, he might interfere—but now that Ma Disi had fled, every insect nearby obeyed He Mo Er's commands alone.

Ma Disi was stunned—Insect God? How could there be another Insect God?

"No! I can't let it destroy all the eggs! At least leave me one or two—otherwise I'll have to start breeding from scratch!" Ma Disi, buried deep underground, had no choice but to dig back toward the surface.

Insects had lineages; each insect master bred different strains—some reproduced fast, others fought fiercely, some flew, some crawled. If an entire lineage died out, recreating the same insects became nearly impossible.

Every insect master kept several reliable strains stored away, expanding their numbers only when needed.

But as he crawled and crawled, reaching the root zone of the Tree of Life, attempting to re-parasitize it, a voice of utter disbelief echoed in his mind: "You think I'm easy to bully, do you?"

Ma Disi was horrified—his body lost control, violently dragged upward by immense force, forcibly yanked from the earth.

The Tree of Life was the most dominant entity in this plane. It had survived for ninety thousand years, protecting the entire elf forest.

Last time, a god-body grown from its seed had fled into the forest—and it had simply swatted it dead. To it, ordinary gods were no stronger than ordinary mortals.

Yet all things in the world are born of mutual dependence and restraint. It had once been careless, allowing Ma Disi to parasitize it. It couldn't eliminate Ma Disi because they had become one—any force applied to Ma Disi affected the Tree of Life as well.

It could not destroy Ma Disi in parasitic form, because it could not destroy itself.

But Ange said nothing—he simply cut down the tree. And he didn't fake it—he burned the trunk into a blazing torch, leaving only the root system underground.

Under these conditions, parasitism had lost all meaning. When Ma Disi broke free from the parasitic state, the Tree of Life regained its freedom.

Breaking free was easy. Before, it had been careless, allowing itself to be secretly parasitized. Now, with vigilance restored, he still thought he could re-parasitize? Did he think the Tree of Life was weak?

The Tree of Life was speechless. It simply yanked him from the deep earth.

There he hung, suspended in midair, all vines retracted into a single tangled ball.

The parasite was out. Now they could extinguish the fire—after all, cutting the tree had only been to catch the insects.

Once, there was a bird that loved to hunt insects in trees infested with worms. After eating the insects, the tree stopped growing them and could regenerate.

But sometimes, if the bird pecked too hard, the tree died before the insects were gone. Ange was no such bird—he only wanted to save the Tree of Life. If he couldn't save it, he'd at least cut down the insects.

"Extinguish the fire!" Ange shouted.

Igniting it had been hard. Extinguishing it would be harder.

La Mo swung his staff, chanting rapidly: "Spirits slumbering in the deep earth, earth spirits in slumber, heed my call—arise!"

The ground trembled. Clumps of soil, wrapped in black smoke, rose up, forming mud wraiths that writhed toward the Tree of Life and slapped against its trunk.

Where the mud covered, the flames instantly suffocated, unable to reignite.

Not just La Mo—over a dozen Night Watchers chanted continuously. Mud wraiths surged forward, one after another, covering thousands of square meters of the burning trunk.

But soon, La Mo and the other undead mages despaired. Though thousands of square meters seemed vast, to a tree several kilometers in diameter, it was a mere speck.

"This won't work," La Mo said. "If the tree burns completely, the mud won't even cover a tenth of it."

"We'll do it!" Aisiduoliya declared. "Elf mages—gather!"

"Yes!" Hundreds of elf mages assembled. Meanwhile, more elves lined the perimeter, following Aisiduoliya's command, summoning elemental forces.

Elves lived too long. Even the weakest elf—elf archers or hunters—could master basic magic over their thousand-year lifespans.

These low-level spells were useless on their own—but their innate spiritual energy could manipulate elements. With enough elves working together, they could draw vast quantities of elements from afar.

Casting required elements as the foundation. Without elements, no matter how strong one's spiritual energy, higher-level magic meant nothing.

With the elves' massive assistance, water elements rapidly grew denser—humidity so high, you could squeeze water from the air.

Hundreds of elf mages, led by Aisiduoliya, chanted loudly.

Water elements condensed into raindrops, pouring down onto the bonfire-like Tree of Life, hissing into clouds of white steam.

The steam rose, condensed again in the air, and fell once more as rain.

This cycle repeated endlessly—water continuously circulated between the sky and the bonfire, carrying away immense heat, generating vast quantities of steam, and sealing off as much air as possible.

Slowly, slowly, the great bonfire extinguished.

By then, it was the afternoon of the next day. Since Ange had arrived in the elf forest, forty hours had passed.

"What a long battle," Nai Ge Li Si sighed, staring at the Tree of Life—now a charred stick, half its trunk gone, its crown vanished entirely.

The elves lay scattered, exhausted. The mages especially—many had drained their mana and collapsed into sleep.

Gai La De, however, remained alert. Forty hours without sleep was nothing to a dragon hunter like her.

Yet as she gazed upon the devastated forest, her face darkened. Everyone could feel her sorrow.

For the elves, this was unquestionably a catastrophe. From above, within a hundred-kilometer radius centered on the World Tree, nearly all plants and animals had been devoured, leaving only barren earth.

Over thirty thousand elves had dwelled in this region. Now, only ten thousand remained. Where the others had gone—no one needed to ask.

Aside from the elves, almost no other life in this region survived. Shadow leopards, white deer, monkeys, birds, beasts, insects, fish—all reduced to piles of white bones.

Since the dawn of the elf race, no such devastating loss had ever occurred. In less than two days, over ten thousand elves had died. Gai La De's heart shattered.

"Your Majesty, please bear up," Nai Ge Li Si flapped his wings, offering feeble comfort.

Gai La De turned, forcing a smile, gathering her strength: "Thank you, Lord Nai Ge, and thank you, Lord Ange. We elves will forever remember your aid."

Nai Ge Li Si waved his hands hastily: "No need, no need. We came to save the old tree, not to help you."

Gai La De's forehead twitched with black veins—this remark made her want to punch this bronze dragon.

Nai Ge Li Si realized his bluntness and quickly added: "Also… we helped you a bit too."

Gai La De smiled awkwardly, unsure what to say. If he hadn't added that last line, she might've forgiven him. Now, she wanted to punch him even more.

"What are your plans? Under these conditions, you can't stay here. Do you have a place to relocate?"

Gai La De smiled gently, firmly: "Where the God of Life resides, that is the elves' homeland. We will rebuild it."

"Good. But the old tree won't recover anytime soon. Prepare for a long struggle. If you need help, say so—Ange can help a lot, right, An…" Nai Ge Li Si turned to speak—where was Ange?

"Damn it, that damn skeleton…!" A dread feeling rose in Nai Ge Li Si. He circled the Tree of Life, soon finding Ange—this guy was scattering seeds, with little angels and little zombies following behind, burying them in the soil.

"Damn it! At a time like this, you're still thinking about planting?" Nai Ge Li Si snapped.

Ange ignored him. He stamped his foot—and the sapling atop his head waved its leaves enthusiastically.

The newly planted seeds sprouted instantly, growing wildly.

Countless insects had been burned to ash, then scattered into the air, leaving a thick layer of insect ash on the ground.

The Tree of Life, reduced to a charred stump, had also left behind its own ash. Combined with the rain from extinguishing the fire, the earth was thoroughly soaked.

Within the Rapid Death Aura's range, countless plants grew like mad. Gai La De stood frozen, stunned, eyes wide, unable to believe what she saw.

On the charred half-stump of the Tree of Life, a crack suddenly split open—and a tiny green sprout emerged.

"I get it!" Nai Ge Li Si slapped his waist in excitement. "Vitality! Plant growth awakens the World Tree's vitality. Replant the forest, and the Tree of Life will recover!"

Geraud's eyes instantly lit up.

In the following days, all the elves in the forest were mobilized; they scattered to gather plants from other areas and transplanted them around the Tree of Life, restoring the surrounding vitality at the fastest possible speed.

Under the intense stimulation of the abundant plants, the charred Tree of Life sprouted countless tender buds, radiating vigorous life.

But gradually, the elves noticed that while the Tree of Life was recovering, the God of Life still seemed unwilling to acknowledge them; no matter how Kailandai'er called out to it, it gave no response—not even when young elves fell from its branches.

The only change was that it no longer drove the elves away, but allowed them to return and reside upon its trunk.

"Perhaps we should redefine the relationship between elves and the God of Life," Kailandai'er said solemnly.

In the Danhai Dimension, on Shazhou, Naigelisi sighed at the emerald tree core: "You really won't return to the Elf Forest? You really don't care about it anymore? If the elves find out I've taken you away, they'll come knocking on my door again."

A slow, leisurely voice came from within the tree core: "I won't go back. I want to change my environment and grow a bit."