From the spirit world

A giant tree towered into the sky, its canopy spanning several miles wide, almost covering the entire hilltop. In front of the giant tree was a small pool of water, clear enough to see the bottom.

In front of the trunk, which was a hundred zhang in diameter, stood a stone platform. It was clearly chiseled by human hands; there was no need to guess that it was an altar built by the ancestors of the village.

Looking at that giant tree, Long Chen felt a powerful aura of life and an incredibly vast natural force. It was as if this great tree contained the will of the entire natural world, which was deeply shocking.

"Is this your Forest God?" Long Chen asked.

"Yes, this is our Tree God. Come and pay your respects to the Tree God with me; it is your savior," Xiaohua said, then devoutly knelt down and began to kowtow.

Long Chen looked at the great tree. It was this tree that had saved him. If he had not been supplied with Medicinal Pills while unconscious, his energy would have invisibly drained away, leading to his death. Paying respects to his savior was reasonable.

Just as Long Chen was about to bow, a gentle voice reached him, making one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

"Your Excellency, there is no need for this. I cannot accept it."

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the altar. It was the figure of a woman in white clothes and a white skirt, her black hair cascading down to her waist, giving her an ethereal, fairy-like appearance. However, her features were blurred, making it impossible to see her clearly.

"Forest God."

Xiaohua, kneeling on the ground, looked at the woman in shock. She had heard the Forest God's voice transmissions before but had never seen it manifest.

Let alone her, the entire village had a Legacy spanning several hundred years, and no one had ever seen the Forest God manifest.

Yet, as soon as Long Chen arrived, before he even bowed, it had manifested its figure and even claimed it could not accept his bow. For a moment, Xiaohua was confused. Could it be that even a god could not accept a bow from Long Chen?

Long Chen looked at the figure before him, his heart filled with shock. He knew this figure was not a physical human body, but a manifestation of Soul Power.

This was something that could only be achieved when Soul Power reached an extreme. Long Chen prided himself on his strong Soul Power, but compared to the Forest God, it was like a small stream compared to a vast ocean. For the first time, he felt his own insignificance.

"Are you the Forest God?" Long Chen asked tentatively.

The woman smiled slightly. Without answering Long Chen, she glanced at Xiaohua kneeling on the ground and said softly, "You should sleep for a while."

Xiaohua immediately slumped to the ground, her breathing becoming even, as she fell into a deep sleep.

Long Chen was shocked. What a powerful technique! Without needing to mobilize Soul Power, just a single thought could hypnotize someone.

Seeing that Xiaohua was asleep, the woman said to Long Chen, "Our conversation is not suitable for her to hear, so I had to let her sleep for a while."

"I am not some god; that is just what they call me. In truth, I do not belong to this world."

"You do not belong to this world?" Long Chen was greatly astonished.

"I come from the distant Spirit Realm. It is still very far away for you now, but I know that with Your Excellency's talent, it won't be long before you find out," the woman said.

The woman's words made Long Chen's heart tremble wildly. He knew this Forest God was absolutely terrifying, but after mentioning the Spirit Realm, she stopped speaking, clearly not wanting to say too much.

The Spirit Realm was an unfamiliar term to Long Chen, but upon hearing it, he actually felt a sense of familiarity—a mysterious and profound feeling.

Seeing that the woman was unwilling to continue, Long Chen did not press the matter. He cupped his fists and said, "For Your Excellency's life-saving grace, Long Chen will keep it deeply in his heart."

"Your Excellency is too polite. Actually, you don't need to thank me; you should thank those villagers. According to our agreement, no matter what needs they have, I must fulfill them."

"Likewise, since I have given, I also need to take back the reward that belongs to me. This is the agreement; you do not need to thank me," the woman shook her head and said.

"May I ask, why did you make an agreement with ordinary people?" Long Chen asked.

This was a topic Long Chen had been suppressing in his heart for a long time. It was like an elephant making an agreement with a group of ants; it did not make sense.

The woman was silent for a moment before saying, "Because I need their help."

"Their help?" Long Chen was puzzled. How could an existence powerful to such a terrifying degree need the help of a group of Mortals?

"I said I do not belong to this world. I was swept out by a space-time rift created during a war. Originally, I should have died."

"Although I was lucky enough to survive, my body suffered severe injuries. After a long period of recuperation, my body is gradually healing."

"However, if I want to return to my world, I need to perform a blood sacrifice. I need to accumulate enough flesh and blood energy to open a space channel and return to my original world."

"You might be wondering why I don't hunt creatures myself, but instead borrow their hands," the woman said.

Long Chen nodded. This was indeed the part he didn't understand. It was completely redundant and unnecessary.

"That is because we, the Spirit Race, have our own constraints. We cannot kill living things for our own needs, so we cannot kill with our own hands."

"Why is that?"

"This is related to the secret arts that our Spirit Race practices. If we kill creatures ourselves, when we absorb their flesh and blood, we will also absorb the creature's resentment. For us, that is an incurable poison," the woman in white explained.

Although Long Chen was a bit confused by the woman in white's words, he could feel that she was not lying to him.

From the pure aura of life emanating from her, he seemed to realize something and finally understood a little why she would cooperate with Xiaohua's ancestors.

"Your Excellency is a cultivator with limitless potential. Regarding your injured Meridians this time, I not only repaired them but also widened them. At the same time, I used my own Origin energy to increase the resilience of your Meridians, so your medical fees were a bit expensive," the woman in white said.

Long Chen was startled. After waking up, he had felt that his body had undergone some changes, but he hadn't noticed exactly where.

Now, after the woman in white mentioned it, he hurriedly looked inward and couldn't help but be overjoyed. His Meridians had actually been widened by more than double.

Most importantly, the Meridians, which were originally like glass tubes, had become like elastic rubber tubes. This allowed them to withstand greater Spiritual Qi impacts without shattering.

This was a huge, heaven-sent surprise. If he were to face Ying Hou now, his Meridians definitely would not crack. Back then, he would have absolutely been able to kill Ying Hou.

"Thank you so much," Long Chen said sincerely. Remembering his anger when he first heard about the sacrifice, he couldn't help but feel a wave of shame.

He had judged a noble heart with his own petty mind. He had really taken a huge advantage this time, and his heart was filled with gratitude for this woman.

The woman in white shook her head and said, "We of the Spirit Race only keep our agreements, so you don't need to thank me."

Long Chen laughed, "I want to ask a question. What if you cured me, and I just walked away? What would you do?"

The woman in white's body stirred slightly, as if she were smiling. She shook her head and said, "You wouldn't. We of the Spirit Race are extremely sensitive to others' thoughts. If you were an evil person, I would have sensed it immediately and would absolutely not have treated you."

"Besides, even if you left, someone else would complete the task for you. However, if you truly left, I would waive the previous debt, and the prior agreement would be void."

"Wouldn't you be at a loss then?" Long Chen laughed.

"I suppose so, but it doesn't matter. This is the code of our Spirit Race; every agreement is based on the premise that we give first," the woman in white said.

"Just like the ancestors in the village?" Long Chen suddenly remembered the story Xiaohua had told.

"Yes, this is our habit."

This is a good habit, but if you were in a world like the Imperial Capital, you would definitely suffer huge losses, Long Chen secretly sighed.

This was a form of sincerity, an agreement of heart-to-heart exchange, which was more effective than any written contract. The most solid agreement was an agreement of the heart.

Unconsciously, Long Chen developed a deep respect for this woman in white from the Spirit Realm. This was a kind of unpolluted, innocent heart.

"By the way, how much Demonic Beast flesh and blood do you need here?" After speaking, Long Chen took out the corpse of the Violent Bear and threw it on the ground.

Suddenly, countless roots grew from the ground and pierced into the Violent Bear's corpse. In less than a breath's time, the Violent Bear was drained dry; even its bones disappeared, leaving only some long fur.

After absorbing the Violent Bear's corpse, Long Chen actually felt that the giant tree's vitality had become richer, and its leaves seemed much more vibrant.

"To treat your injuries, I damaged my Origin. I need ten first-rank Demonic Beasts and one second-rank Demonic Beast to restore my Origin," the woman replied.

"Then wouldn't you have gained nothing?" Long Chen was somewhat surprised.

The woman in white said indifferently, "The same as before: every agreement is based on the premise that we, the Spirit Race, give first."

"Understood. However, I, Long Chen, do not like owing others. Having received such a great favor from Your Excellency this time, I will remember it," Long Chen nodded and said.

Long Chen did not like owing favors. He would repay those who had helped him tenfold. Just like Fatty Yu and the others; at the beginning, they only provided some gold coins, but Long Chen had always remembered this kindness.

Now that his Meridians had been widened, the benefits for his future cultivation and the execution of combat techniques were unimaginably large. This was truly a massive favor.

After figuring out the matter regarding the Forest God, Long Chen gently woke up Xiaohua, left the Tree God's area, and returned to the village.

Just after returning to the village, Xiaohua excitedly gestured to everyone, showing off the wild boar she had hunted, and recounted how Long Chen had easily killed the Violent Bear and how the Forest God had manifested. Everyone listened with wide eyes.

What shocked them the most was the Forest God's manifestation. After hearing it, the entire village knelt on the ground, kowtowing from afar in the direction of the Forest God.

Because of the agreement between Long Chen and the Forest God, the Forest God waived the villagers' debt. That evening, everyone had a big feast of wild boar meat.

After the happiness, Xiaohua began to show the spatial ring to everyone and distributed the weapons inside one by one, plunging the whole village into extreme excitement.

After dinner, Long Chen disappeared into the night alone. There was one thing he had to do.