Ancient Tree of Knowledge, a new ability for the Dark Elves. (5400)

Chapter 542: Tree of Knowledge, New Abilities of the Dark Elves (5400)

"Renice, let's discuss something," Cao Xing said.

The archer's eyes held a look of doubt, but she still respectfully said, "Lord, please speak."

"Do you think, if I want all the elves in that forest to surrender and come to live in our territory, what is the probability?"

Hearing this, Renice was stunned for a moment, then replied, "The probability is very low. These elves are naturally arrogant and extremely xenophobic, and basically do not communicate with the outside world."

"Otherwise, they wouldn't have stayed in such a secluded and dangerous place for tens of thousands of years."

"Wanting to make them surrender is probably as difficult as ascending to heaven—"

Cao Xing nodded slightly; he also knew this was a bit difficult.

However, Lord Cao didn't want to give up this rare race.

After all, up until now, he had only seen a corpse of the Elf Clan, and hadn't seen a single real elf yet.

Therefore, he also wanted to know what kind of abilities these Ancient Elves actually possessed.

So he said, "How about this, you take this letter first, and then try to contact this elf tribe."

"Tell them that the current situation of the elf tribe is not safe, and they need a more stable dwelling place."

"And in my territory, not only can we provide them with shelter, but there is also the sacred Tree of Knowledge."

"Of course, if they act particularly tough and would rather die than submit, then forget it."

Renice took the letter from Cao Xing's hand, then solemnly said, "I understand. I will go and contact them, and then find a way to make the elves of this tribe submit."

Her tone carried a certain determination.

Clearly, even if those elves disagreed, Renice would use various means to make them agree.

Cao Xing nodded slightly, then summoned an adult griffin over.

"Swish~!"

The huge griffin flew over quickly and landed beside Renice.

Although the Silver Hand Knights took away most of the griffins, a few still remained in the territory for emergencies.

Renice gave a light leap and jumped onto the griffin's back.

Under Cao Xing's gaze, she quickly flew up into the high sky.

Compared to her last outing, her strength had improved significantly once again.

Presumably, even in that dangerous jungle, she would be able to come and go freely.

At this moment, Braum, who was standing to the side, suddenly asked, "Lord, is there anything you need me to do?"

Seeing that Assam and Renice both had tasks, he also wanted to contribute to the territory.

Cao Xing smiled, "There is nothing that needs you to do. If you're really bored, you can go outside the territory to patrol."

"Alright, I'll go right now!"

The big guy hoisted his shield and walked excitedly out of the territory.

Cao Xing continued to walk leisurely in the territory, while thinking in his heart about what to do next.

Currently, people had been sent to explore and contact the Tyrant Set tomb chamber and the Ancient Elf tribe.

But he still had many things to do.

For example, going to the Diersha Highlands, finding the dragon nest within it, and seeing if he could tame a young dragon.

And the inheritance place of that Legendary mage also required people to be led there for exploration.

Then there was heading to the Orchid Kingdom to find Rosie of Chuanhai Castle, as well as the ruins mentioned by the city lord of Lake Doron City.

And besides these ruins, Cao Xing also remembered that Jess, a merchant of the Woodpecker Chamber of Commerce, had once said.

Near the Orchid Kingdom, there was also a large ruin that gathered a large number of gold-panners and mercenaries. Moreover, there was also the largest-scale black market among the surrounding kingdoms.

There might be quite a few good things inside.

And most crucially, Cao Xing also discovered that the ancient ruins mentioned by the city lord of Lake Doron City last time, which contained the place of the Champion Colosseum, were also near the Orchid Kingdom.

In other words, there were actually two large ruins there!

"It seems that it is necessary to make a trip to the Orchid Kingdom."

Just as he was thinking about these things, two crisp voices suddenly sounded behind him.

"Lord, please wait for us."

Hearing the call, Cao Xing gradually turned around.

At a glance, he saw two graceful figures.

They were none other than the beautiful twin sisters of the Tree Spirit Race.

Today, they wore a set of plain-colored dresses, their beautiful hair tied up and naturally draped over their shoulders,

and each had a fresh flower inserted at their temples.

They looked extremely beautiful.

A gentle smile appeared on Cao Xing's face, and then he asked, "Juliette, Nive, is there anything?"

The twin sisters nodded gently, and then said, "There's good news, Lord."

"After half a month of growth, the Tree of Knowledge in our territory has successfully grown～!"

"Oh? It grew out so fast?"

Cao Xing was very interested in this ancient tree.

After all, according to the introduction on the seed, this kind of ancient tree could even teach elves and dark elves some special abilities.

"Take me over to take a look."

"Okay, please follow us."

Little Nive and Juliette took Cao Xing's hands again, leading him forward.

Then, they came to the buffer zone on the outer periphery of the territory.

There was a small woods here, growing more than a hundred ancient trees.

When there were no battles usually, these ancient trees would gather together. Looking over, Cao Xing saw that besides those War Ancient Trees and Wind Ancient Trees, there was indeed an extra special ancient tree here.

It had dark brown bark, a trunk nearly two meters thick, and a height of about fifteen meters.

And on its canopy, there hung clusters of strangely shaped emerald-green fruits.

"Rustle——rustle——"

A breeze brushed past, making a pleasant sound.

Upon sensing Cao Xing's arrival, human faces appeared on the trunks of those ancient trees.

Including that special ancient tree among them, a human face also appeared on it, gazing at Cao Xing.

The War Ancient Tree took the lead to say, "It's the Lord."

"Elder Cimo, this is the master of this territory we told you about; he possesses magical abilities."

Hearing this, the fruit-bearing Tree of Knowledge spoke, "Hello, master of this sacred territory."

Cao Xing chuckled and said, "Hello, I am the lord Cao Xing."

The expression on this ancient tree's face was filled with piety.

"My name is Cimo, and it is an honor to grow in this sacred territory."

"The Ancient Tree race will contribute its own strength to this territory."

Cao Xing also smiled and nodded.

He felt very satisfied with these ancient trees.

Then his gaze swept over its attributes.

[Tree of Knowledge: Cimo]

[Quality: Epic]

[Level: None]

[Vitality: 2 million / 2 million (Pale Tree bonus)]

[Armor: 3000 ~ 3000]

[Attack Power: None]

[Special Ability: Fruit of Knowledge (Every 10 years, the Tree of Knowledge will grow a batch of fruits. Elves / Dark Elves can ingest the fruits to have a probability of activating some special talents and skills.)]

[Remaining Fruit Quantity: 105]

Cao Xing wondered in his heart, "Can special abilities only be comprehended by ingesting the fruits?"

"There are 105 fruits here, in other words, it can allow 105 elves to eat them?"

"Then what abilities will be awakened?"

Cao Xing decided to ask it.

"Elder, are the abilities comprehended by eating these fruits of yours fixed? Or are they different for every elf?"

"Rustle——rustle——"

The branches and leaves on the head of the Tree of Knowledge fluttered in the wind, and then replied, "They are not fixed, divine Lord."

"Every elf only has the ability to ingest the Fruit of Knowledge once in their lifetime. These fruits contain the crystallization of wisdom of many powerhouses of the Elf Clan, as well as their abilities."

"You might obtain a memory, you might obtain a powerful battle skill, or you might awaken a certain talent…"

"In short, it still depends on the elf's comprehension ability."

Cao Xing nodded in realization.

Looking at the fruits hanging on this Tree of Knowledge, he suddenly had the idea of testing it out.

So, Cao Xing shouted out.

"Sarah."

Hearing the voice, a shadow silently appeared beside Cao Xing.

No one even knew when she came over; this was the power of an Eighth-Order Dominator-class assassin.

The gaze of the Tree of Knowledge locked onto Sarah at a glance, and then praised, "What a powerful Dark Elf."

"This territory is indeed as incredible as the clansmen said."

And Sarah also watched this Tree of Knowledge with a look of curiosity.

Cao Xing said, "Elder, Sarah is the most powerful assassin in my territory, and also a Dark Elf. Can she obtain new abilities by eating your fruits?"

The Tree of Knowledge quickly replied, "Of course she can."

"However, as I said before, the abilities awakened after every elf ingests the Fruit of Knowledge are not fixed."

"There is a high probability of some minor skills or magic-type talents, which may not be of much help to this powerful Dark Elf. You need to mentally prepare yourself."

Cao Xing chuckled and said, "No matter, let Sarah try first."

"Good."

So, this Tree of Knowledge separated a branch, specially selected the largest fruit on the canopy,

and took it down.

Then it handed it to Sarah's front.

This Dark Elf slowly stretched out her hand to take it, with a look of emotion in her eyes.

Sarah said, ‒The Knowledge Ancient Tree used to grow deep within the Dark Night Abyss Valley, and only those powerful Dark Elves could consume it.‒

‒It is also the first time for me to consume the fruit of the Knowledge Ancient Tree.‒

As her words fell, she did not hesitate to shove the fruit into her mouth.

At this moment, Sarah only felt a massive amount of memories flood into her mind, impacting her senses.

Because the memories were too vast, she had to close her eyes and began to comprehend them with her heart.

Cao Xing, the group of ancient trees, and the Tree Spirit Race pair of sisters were all waiting quietly nearby, and they were also looking forward to what special ability Sarah would obtain.

As waves of shadow power diffused from Sarah's body, Cao Xing heard a sound resembling flowing sand.

‒Hmm? Sand?‒ Cao Xing's eyes carried a look of doubt.

A moment later, Sarah pulled all the shadow power back into her body, and a system prompt appeared.

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance consumed the fruit of knowledge and learned a special skill: Shadow Hourglass (Passive)]

[Shadow Hourglass (Passive): Every time an attack hits an enemy, it will make the hourglass run. After accumulating 30 instances of damage, you can activate the power of the hourglass to return your state and position to 5 seconds ago. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

(Note: After time reversion, the cooldown time of skills below Legendary can also be returned to five seconds ago.)

Cao Xing was slightly startled. ‒Good grief, returning one's state and position to five seconds ago? This is a bit overpowered!‒

You must know that restoring status is not just about recovering health points; it can also clear various negative statuses on the body, including control effects and so on.

In other words, even if you are heavily injured by a single blow, as long as you still have a breath left, you can use this hourglass's recovery ability to make yourself full of vigor again.

And the most critical thing is that this skill can also reset cooldown times.

It was equivalent to Sarah finishing a burst, just stacking the hourglass's count to full, then triggering a wave reset, followed by another round of burst.

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction. This passive skill could be said to be quite good.

Meanwhile, looking at the extra hourglass mark on the back of her hand, Sarah's eyes showed a pensive look.

‒The power of time? Incredible—‒

A soft smile appeared on the face of the Knowledge Ancient Tree on the side.

‒It seems that this Dark Elf lady has indeed activated a pretty good ability.‒

Cao Xing replied, ‒Indeed. Thank you for the fruit, Elder Cimo.‒

The Knowledge Ancient Tree: ‒You are too polite, Lord of the Holy Territory.‒

‒The fruit on my head grows once every ten years. Even if it is not given to the elves to consume, it will all wither in less than half a year.‒

Cao Xing suddenly nodded, ‒I see.‒

‒Then, everyone, please continue to rest.‒

‒Juliette, Nive, you two go get busy as well.‒

‒Yes, Lord.‒

This pair of Tree Spirit Race sisters left respectfully.

And under the watchful eyes of that group of ancient trees, Cao Xing also left this area.

At this moment, as he walked, he continued to sort through the harvest in his backpack.

‒The biggest improvements have already been digested, but there are still some resources left in my backpack.‒

‒Should I try to activate the advanced function of Balthazar's altar—?‒

‒It just so happens that the group of warriors under my command have been stuck at level 50 for a long time.‒

‒According to previous estimates, wanting to open the function from Tier 5 breaking through to Tier 6 requires 100 points of divine power value, and my Divine Power Shard is completely enough.‒

Thinking of this, Cao Xing directly took out this huge altar.

‒Clang!‒

The heavy red altar landed on the ground.

Then, Cao Xing glanced at the Divine Power Shard in his backpack.

After the second monster siege ended, he still had 9 left, plus the 3 given after the Uprooting 80% progress, and now it had reached 12.

Then there were the power beads. After 22 days of collection, the divine power value inside had accumulated to 22 points. Adding these up, it was approximately 144 points of divine power value in total.

There was still a long way to go before letting the Valkyrie open her second form.

According to Cao Xing's estimation, to open the altar's advanced function, at least 100 points of divine power value were needed.

And in his backpack, there were still two items that could increase the divine power value.

Except for that A-grade talent crystal, there was also the [Relic: Mark of Light].

Absorbing either of them could increase 100 points of divine power value.

After much deliberation, Cao Xing decided to use the talent crystal of the Seed of Light.

‒Although this talent crystal is very powerful, as long as it is fused, it is almost immune to most light-element damage.‒

‒But this thing has a fatal drawback, which is that after fusing the talent, one will be controlled by the God of Light.‒

‒Therefore, let's just absorb this talent crystal directly now.‒

Thus, he directly took the crystal out of his backpack.

[Whether to consume 'talent crystal (A-grade)' to replenish divine power for the altar?]

‒Yes.‒

The next moment, the glowing crystal in Cao Xing's hand shattered instantly, and then turned into specks of starlight falling onto the altar.

At the same time, from this red altar, a soaring red light erupted!

‒Hum!‒

When the red pillar of light dissipated, a system prompt appeared:

[Unlock successful, the altar's new function has been opened.]

A smile appeared on Cao Xing's face.

‒Haha, it's done!‒

Just as expected, 100 points of divine power were enough to open the altar's advanced function.

Not only that, with the injection of divine power, the Balthazar statue on this altar seemed to appear a bit more majestic.

With an excited mood, he quickly glanced at the altar's attributes.

[Balthazar's Divine Warrior Altar (Orange): Special Building]

[Quality: Epic]

[Item Effect: You can submit certain offerings to obtain ancient blessings, making subordinate warriors who have reached max level undergo class advancement.]

[Details of Offerings Required for Advancement]

[Tier 2 breakthrough to Tier 3: Same as before (Remaining usage times: 4623 / 5000)]

[Tier 3 breakthrough to Tier 4: Same as before (Remaining usage times: 1934 / 2500)]

[Tier 4 breakthrough to Tier 5: Same as before (Remaining usage times: 767 / 2000)]

[Tier 5 breakthrough to Tier 6: crowns * 1 million, food * 10000, mithril * 2000, master-level elemental crystal * 10 (Remaining usage times: 2000 / 2000)]

‒Damn—After opening this new stage, the materials required for breakthrough have increased by four to five times!‒

‒Just to let a warrior break through to Tier 6 requires 1 million crowns. For these thousand-plus warriors, that would be over a billion?‒

‒Holy shit!‒

After arriving at this figure, Cao Xing felt extremely shocked.

Fortunately, only the quantities of crowns and mithril increased by four to five times.

The quantity of food only increased by double.

But thinking about it, it was normal; after all, this is a bitter cold world, and obtaining food is extremely difficult.

Even crops can only be grown in greenhouses, and the yield won't be high anywhere.

After all, even a territory as large as Cao Xing's cannot achieve self-sufficiency right now.

Cao Xing thought to himself, ‒As for food, calculated based on 1300 people, that means 13 million units are needed, about more than 2 million kilograms.‒

‒This time Hilda and Bjorn raided a large number of strongholds, plus there are still over a hundred thousand kilograms of grain left in my territory, the quantity should be enough.‒

‒As for the subsequent mithril and master-level elemental crystal, we can think of a way on the trading channel.‒

‒What is lacking quite a bit at present should be crowns—‒

This time it will consume over a billion crowns, and even on Fizz Walker's side, he cannot gather that much for him.

After all, last time he already helped Cao Xing gather 300 million crowns.

Cao Xing thought to himself, ‒It seems we can only wait for Bjorn and the others to return, then tally up the resource quantity, and see how much is specifically lacking.‒

‒If all else fails, we can only borrow some from the Old King.‒

‒After all, this time I helped him a big favor; borrowing some money shouldn't be refused, I suppose.‒

Meanwhile.

Hilda and the others were advancing at high speed in the air, and the airship gradually crossed the border, entering the territory of the Ice Crystal Kingdom.

Getting closer and closer to the territory.

And the subsequent impact caused by Cao Xing uniting with the Old King to wipe out the Church of Light this time was still spreading.

In that mysterious hall, fourteen stone chairs floated in mid-air.

Among them, that mysterious entity sitting in the main seat asked in a deep tone.

‒You mean? Over 80% of the strongholds of the Church of Light were wiped out by the Old King joining forces with that Otherworld Lord?‒

‒Including that Seed of Light being killed as well?‒

Beside him, another Watcher elder solemnly replied, ‒Yes, great leader!‒

‒This is the result investigated by our Eighth Elder.‒

‒Even the Watchers we sent out to protect the Seed of Light were killed!‒

‒All the church members of the Church of Light inside the strongholds were killed, and the resources inside were looted clean.‒

On the main seat, the leader kept silent with a gloomy expression that grew increasingly grim.

The entire grand hall was shrouded in an oppressive atmosphere!