Chapter 195: Wind Ancient Tree, Clues to the Ancient Tree of Knowledge

"Very well, let's go over and take a look at the Ancient Trees of War now," Cao Xing said.

The pair of Tree Spirit sisters nodded slightly, then led him to the edge of the territory's walls.

From afar, Cao Xing saw that three lush, ancient trees, standing over a dozen meters tall, had appeared ahead.

The ancient trees had gnarled and vigorous branches, covered in the wrinkles of time, with dense and thick foliage.

The brown trunks were over a meter in diameter and perfectly straight; the full canopy of green leaves resembled a large, open umbrella of green velvet, swaying gently whenever the wind blew.

Like all ancient trees, there was an aged human face growing on the trunk of this tree as well.

At this moment, Sarah was standing under the ancient trees, gazing at them.

Upon seeing Cao Xing approach, the Dark Elf bowed slightly to him.

"Sarah, why are you here?"

Sarah replied, "Lord, I have come to see the guardians of our Dark Elf tribe, the Ancient Trees of War."

Hearing this, Cao Xing realized, "So the Dark Elves have such a connection with these ancient trees."

At this moment, the three Ancient Trees of War let out a weathered voice.

"We also didn't expect to be able to take root again in this place, and to encounter a Dark Elf…"

"Miss Sarah, how is the Darkmoon Woodland? And what was the outcome of that invasion war?"

Sarah shook her head and said, "I don't know what happened after that invasion war either."

"Back then, on the eve of the invasion war, I died while on a mission, and then I was sealed within the Summoning Space, only recently re-emerging…"

The three Ancient Trees of War looked enlightened, "It seems we have experienced a bit more than you."

Sarah asked, "What happened after I was sealed? Did we lose the war?"

The Ancient Trees of War gently shook their canopies, "We don't know how the war ended either."

"We only saw the invaders' army crashing down from the sky, destroying the Darkmoon Woodland along the way."

"A large number of Ancient Trees of War, tree of life, and Wind Ancient Trees were burned to ashes one after another."

"And the Dark Elves, who were also resisting at the cost of their lives."

"Later, our trunks were ignited in battle, flames swallowed us, and at the final moment of our lives, we turned into seeds and slept for who knows how many years…"

"Then, I don't know what happened, but we actually arrived at the Western Continent."

Cao Xing listened to their conversation, deep in thought.

Another invasion war?

It seems Hilda also died in an invasion war previously.

I wonder if it's the same war they are talking about?

Cao Xing decided to call them all together later to ask about this war.

At this moment, the three ancient trees looked at Cao Xing and said respectfully.

"Thank you, Lord, for granting us a second chance at rebirth."

"We will be like the stars in the sky, guarding your territory day and night."

Cao Xing nodded, "Welcome, guardians from ancient times."

Then, he also took a look at the attributes of these ancient trees.

[Ancient Tree of War: Gunata]

[Race: Ancient Tree]

[Level: 15, 0/50000 (Tier 2 Elite)]

[HP: 7498/7498]

[Attack: 414~453]

[Armor: 133~147]

[Max Attack Range: 2000 meters]

[Skills: War Form (The Ancient Tree of War pulls itself from the soil, switching to slow movement mode; armor increases by 100%, attack method becomes melee, and it gains a knock-up effect)

Rooted Mode (The Ancient Tree of War re-roots itself into the soil; attack becomes a long-range fruit throw)

Root Pierce (Depending on the combat mode, this skill has different effects; in melee mode, it bursts out 10~20 root tendrils, dealing 120% piercing damage to surrounding enemies.

In Rooted Mode, it releases 3~5 root tendrils, entangling enemies within 1000 meters for 1~4 seconds; Cooldown: 100 seconds)]

[Talent: Vibrant Life (HP +30%)]

[Talent: Recovery (After the Ancient Tree of War is destroyed, it will turn into a seed and recover after several years)]

[Status: Blessed by the Pale Tree]

…After checking the attributes.

Cao Xing thought with satisfaction, "Not bad. Although 15th-level elite monsters aren't of much use to me, the skills of these ancient trees make them very good defensive units."

"They not only have a range exceeding that of Intermediate Elemental Arrow Towers, but also control skills and different defensive modes."

"It won't be the case that they have no way to fight back once enemies get close."

"And most importantly, these ancient trees can also receive various status buffs."

"In other words, as long as I apply a round of buffs to these Ancient Trees of War, their strength will undergo a transformation!"

At this moment, Cao Xing suddenly had a whim.

"After entering melee mode, although the Ancient Trees of War are very strong, their movement speed becomes very slow."

"But if they are buffed with Hilda's Queens Will, could they run extremely fast?"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing decided to give it a try.

He called over Hilda, Ilena, Liu Muxue, Blot, and others.

Then he looked at the three Ancient Trees of War.

"Guardians from ancient times, please receive the blessings we are about to bestow upon you."

After speaking, Cao Xing had everyone apply a whole bunch of buffs onto the Ancient Trees of War.

They clearly felt their aura surging significantly.

Even on their calm, weathered faces, there were intense fluctuations!

They looked at Cao Xing with shocked eyes, and then at Sarah.

"Miss Sarah, it seems you have arrived at an incredible territory…"

Sarah pursed her lips and nodded slightly.

She completely agreed with the Ancient Trees of War's words.

And the three ancient trees looked at Cao Xing again, "Lord, your power is truly astonishing!"

"Under your blessings, we feel as if we have been reborn!"

Cao Xing nodded, "Yes, as long as our territory continues to develop, you will receive even more powerful blessings in the future."

"Now, stand up from the ground and try out your new status."

Hearing this, the three ancient trees responded in unison.

"As you command, Lord!"

Then, they began to stand up from the soil.

Rumble!

The surrounding soil began to bulge.

White tree roots emerged from the soil one by one.

Then, those roots began to gather, gradually taking the shape of two feet.

However, within their feet, there seemed to be bursts of red energy.

Cao Xing chuckled, "Gunata, run a few steps and let me see."

The Ancient Tree of War whose name was called swayed its canopy gently, then strode with its legs and began to run on the ground.

Thump! Thump, thump!

Heavy footsteps resounded.

In no time, this large tree had run one or two hundred meters away.

A speed of about seven or eight kilometers per hour.

Although this speed was still a bit slow compared to Cao Xing and the others.

But compared to the massive body of the Ancient Tree of War, it appeared to be swift as flying!

Moreover, this scene made Cao Xing unable to help but chuckle.

After all, the sight of a large tree sprinting through the territory was truly amusing.

The other two ancient trees also looked at Gunata with surprise.

"My god, it runs as fast as a rabbit!"

"Is this really a speed that we Ancient Trees of War can possess?"

Soon, Gunata, who had run out, ran back.

"It's hard to imagine, under Lord's blessings, we even have the power of the wind!"

Cao Xing also nodded with satisfaction.

In this way, the defensive area of the three Ancient Trees of War could change at any time.

There was no need to stay fixed in one position like before.

Equivalent to mobile arrow towers, they were still very strong.

Cao Xing encouraged them for a while, then prepared to take his people and leave.

At this time, the three ancient trees were whispering to each other in the back.

Gunata said, "You all saw it, right? This Lord's blessings are beyond our imagination."

"If we are in his territory, our Ancient Tree race should be able to get a very good space to grow."

"So I think we should tell this Lord about that matter. What is your opinion?"

The other two ancient trees pondered for a moment, then replied.

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

The three ancient trees unanimously agreed.

At this time, Gunata looked at Cao Xing's back and slowly said, "Lord, there is something we need to report to you."

Hearing this, Cao Xing stopped and looked at them with confusion.

"What is it?"

Gunata said, "When we were sleeping, we vaguely sensed in our consciousness that there were a few more sleeping guardian seeds around us."

"They are the seeds of the Wind Ancient Tree and the Ancient Tree of Knowledge…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing asked with confusion, "Wind Ancient Tree and Ancient Tree of Knowledge?"

"Yes."

Gunata replied, "The Wind Ancient Tree possesses more powerful strength than us Ancient Trees of War, while the Ancient Tree of Knowledge can allow Dark Elves to gain different abilities."

Cao Xing was immediately interested.

"You mean there are a few more seeds where you were sleeping before?"

The three ancient trees nodded. "Yes, after we turned into seeds, we slept for who knows how many years."

"And when I regained consciousness, I discovered we were in roughly the same area."

"Later, one day, our seeds—these ancient war trees—were suddenly picked up by some entity."

"But the seeds of the Wind Ancient Tree and the Knowledge Ancient Tree remained there…"

Cao Xing asked: "Then do you know the specific location?"

The three ancient trees shook their crowns one after another. "When we were sleeping as seeds, we only had a tiny bit of perception of the outside world."

"We aren't clear on the specific location."

After hearing this, Cao Xing's thoughts were already racing.

Although these ancient trees didn't know the specific location, Cao Xing had a clue.

They said they were suddenly picked up one day.

This person who picked them up must be his neighbor, Yao Yiming.

Because these three ancient war tree seeds were obtained by Cao Xing from him.

And Yao Yiming had previously told him that he only found a few seeds, and he had even planted two of them to death.

This meant the other party should know where they were found.

"Alright, I understand. I will keep an eye out for the whereabouts of the other ancient tree seeds."

Hearing this, smiles appeared on the weathered faces of the three ancient trees, and they thanked him one after another.

"Thank you, kind Lord."

After leaving the place where the ancient trees were located, a smile appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

"I didn't expect these ancient trees to provide me with such useful information."

"Now, let me ask Yao Yiming directly and see if I can get any valuable clues."

Thus, Cao Xing found Yao Yiming's name through the regional channel and sent a private message.

"Hello, this is Cao Xing. There is something I would like to talk to you about."

After waiting for a moment, Yao Yiming replied immediately.

"Great Lord Cao Xing, you are too polite. Just tell me whatever it is. You are the savior of our whole family; I guarantee I will do my best to complete it!"

Cao Xing laughed: "It's nothing important. I just want to know where you got those ancient war tree seeds you gave me last time."

Hearing this, the person on the other side pondered for a moment and replied: "Great Lord Cao Xing, actually, this place is a secret area we discovered."

"It's just a few kilometers away from my territory."

"It seems to be a sunken ancient battlefield. There are many rusted weapons, armor, and the like buried deep in the soil, but most of them are unusable."

"However, sometimes I can still dig up one or two useful things. Just two days ago, I dug up a green greatsword that was level 40!"

"For us, that's a treasure trove. My sister and I often go there to treasure hunt!"

Yao Yiming's tone was filled with excitement.

"By the way, I'll send you the coordinates."

After saying that, he sent the coordinates directly.

Cao Xing was stunned.

He asked suspiciously: "You're just telling me about such an important place so easily?"

After all, just listening to Yao Yiming's description, one could imagine how great the opportunities were in that place.

A vast ancient battlefield where many strong warriors died, along with many weapons, armor, etc.

Just as Yao Yiming said, he casually picked up a high-level green piece of equipment, and had previously picked up the ancient war tree seeds.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely treat this place as their forbidden ground.

Yet he told Cao Xing so simply.

Yao Yiming said embarrassedly: "It's nothing. After all, Great Lord Cao Xing is our savior!"

"Besides, that place is actually quite dangerous. There are corpse monsters and undead creatures inside. The further you go in, the higher the level of the monsters."

"My sister and I only dared to wander around the outside before. Great Lord Cao Xing, you must be careful if you go there."

Hearing this, Cao Xing was silent for a moment before saying: "Alright, I understand. Thank you for the information."

"You are too polite, Great Lord Cao Xing. If there's nothing else, I'll go get busy."

"Okay."

After ending the private chat with Yao Yiming, Cao Xing was thoughtful.

He glanced at the coordinates sent by the other party and found that it was indeed not far from his territory, only a dozen kilometers away.

If what the other party said was true, the value of this information was quite significant.

Cao Xing thought to himself: "This Yao Yiming is not bad. When I go to that place to take a look, if it is as he said, I can give his territory some help."

With Cao Xing's current strength, a little help from him could make other Survivors' strength skyrocket.

"But for now, let's prepare to go fishing first."

"I hope that this time, I can catch the legendary King Salmon and win that legendary weapon in one fell swoop, haha!"

Cao Xing thought happily.

Of course, he knew he was just daydreaming; after all, legendary weapons were not so easy to obtain.

However, even if he couldn't catch the King Salmon, catching a Golden Salmon would be good too.

And he still had a large amount of [Secret Pet Ration] in his backpack.

Both green grade and blue grade were available.

Last time, a few green-grade rations caught a few Silver Salmon.

So this time, the harvest from fishing should be quite good.

A smile appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

However—

There was still a problem.

That was, to go fishing, he needed a fishing rod.

And he didn't have one.

An ordinary [Fishing Rod] could naturally be crafted easily.

However, this time he wasn't going to catch those ordinary fish, but those magical creatures!

Those Silver Salmon were incredibly strong in the water and could easily snap your fishing rod.

The fishing rod in the hands of the Champion Fighter he met last time was clearly very precious.

When the Silver Salmon struggled wildly in the water, his strong, calloused hands held the rod steadily, and the tension and release were very rhythmic.

No matter how the salmon struggled, it didn't snap the fishing line.

Therefore, an ordinary fishing rod probably couldn't catch such magical creatures.

However, just because Cao Xing didn't have one didn't mean the [Market] didn't have one.

After all, there were tens of thousands of people in the entire District 174, and he would always encounter some strange things.

Thus, he opened the [Market] and entered the word [Fishing Rod].

Dozens of messages appeared immediately.

[Consignment Info: Bamboo Fishing Rod (White)]

[Required Items: Food, Wood, Stone]

[Consignor: Chen Zhe]

[Seller's Note: Ordinary fishing rod, will sell for money!]

[Consignment Info: Karubang's Old Fishing Rod (Green)]

[Required Items: Frost Mage Skill Book, Warm Clothes]

[Consignor: He Sisi]

[Seller's Note: Used by a girl, 99% new fishing rod. Buy the rod and get a pair of my worn socks as a gift~]

[Consignment Info: Red-Veined Wood Fishing Rod (Blue)]

[Required Items: Recruitment Scroll, Weapon, Skill Book]

[Consignor: Wang Yunbao]

[Seller's Note: Excellent quality fishing rod. There are only a few in the entire trading channel. If interested, poke me to discuss details!]

After reading these consignment messages, a look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Sure enough, just as expected, fishing rods are also divided into grades."

"It's just that I don't know what effects different fishing rods have."

Cao Xing glanced at the attributes.

[Bamboo Fishing Rod (White)]

[Quality: Ordinary]

[Durability: 37/50]

[Fishing Range: Ordinary fish (Pufferfish, Sucker fish, Nailfish, etc.)]

[Maximum Bearing Capacity: Within 100KG]

[Special Effect: None]

[Karubang's Old Fishing Rod (Green)]

[Quality: Fine]

[Durability: 42/100]

[Fishing Range: Ordinary fish, Green-grade magical creature fish (Bluefin Trevally, Yellow Croaker, White Sea Bream, etc…)]

[Maximum Bearing Capacity: Within 200KG]

[Special Effect: None]

[Red-Veined Wood Fishing Rod (Blue)]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Durability: 138/150]

[Fishing Range: Ordinary fish, Excellent-grade magical creatures (Red Salmon, Cherry Carp, Cherry Salmon, etc…)]

[Maximum Bearing Capacity: Within 500KG]

[Special Effect: Red-Vein Blessing (When using this fishing rod to fish, strength is increased by an additional 30 points)]

After reading the attributes of these consigned items, a look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"So that's how it is. Magical creatures are also divided into grades. The higher the grade, the stronger the power, and they possess more magical effects."

"And blue-grade fishing rods can at most catch magical creatures like Red Salmon."

"If you want to catch higher-grade magical creatures, you need a higher-level fishing rod."