Chapter 425: Nine Sun Bloodwood (4)
Another month had passed, and not far from the now almost depleted pond, Rezen could be seen cultivating. He could sense that his realm was on the verge of reaching the third cycle.
This speed astonished even Rezen himself. His cultivation should have slowed down considerably now that he was in the Senior Mage Rank, but that was not the case.
Thanks to the abundant mana in the realm, as well as having enough Spirit Plants to aid his cultivation, his cultivation speed had not slowed down at all.
In another half month at most, he should be able to reach the third cycle.
However, Rezen’s cultivation was interrupted as he sensed a violent fluctuation of energy.
He opened his eyes and turned to look at the Nine Sun Bloodwood. Its aura was skyrocketing. It seemed to be attempting to break through to the second cycle of the Great Rank.
This plant-type magic beast had enough potential to reach the Noble Rank. A mere second cycle of the Great Rank shouldn’t have been enough to stump it, but Rezen judged that it would fail its breakthrough. In fact, he wanted it to fail.
At this moment, the Nine Sun Bloodwood looked truly miserable. Its pond was barely a foot deep, and multiple charred holes could be seen in its trunk.
Its golden glow had dimmed considerably, as if it were on the brink of death.
In fact, that was indeed the case. Cultivating recklessly had caused its vitality to deteriorate.
Although Rezen had helped delay its doom, he still couldn’t prevent the inevitable.
Now that the Nine Sun Bloodwood not only refused to stop cultivating to recuperate but even attempted to break through, there was a high chance that it would fail.
If it did fail, it would truly become half dead, and as if the universe wanted to prove Rezen’s judgment correct, the energy fluctuations became even more violent in the next second.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The trunk of the tree exploded once more, adding several more holes to those it already possessed.
From those holes, solar energy gushed out violently, and Rezen hurriedly waved his hand.
Several three-meter-tall iron walls emerged from his farm.
These were Iron Skin Walnuts, a type of plant-type magic beast renowned for its incredible defense. It was one of the Spirit Plants that Rezen had collected when he first arrived in this realm.
With his meager cultivation at the second cycle of the Senior Rank, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to survive the violent wave of energy on his own.
Fortunately, his farm could now grow seventh-cycle Spirit Plants, and they were barely able to withstand the impact.
Fortunately, the violent energy wasn’t directed specifically at Rezen. If it had been, even with his Spirit Plants protecting him, he might not have survived.
It took several minutes before the violent energy finally subsided. By then, all of Rezen’s defensive Spirit Plants had already perished.
Fortunately, he could grow as many of them as he wanted. Losing a few wouldn’t hurt him in the slightest.
Now that his life was no longer in danger, Rezen turned his attention back to the Nine Sun Bloodwood. The scent of burnt wood filled the air.
Just as he had expected, it had indeed failed its breakthrough, and it was only minutes away from death. Had it attempted the breakthrough while at its peak condition, it would have been severely injured at worst rather than being driven to the brink of death.
In fact, if it had been at its peak, the breakthrough probably wouldn’t have failed at all. Unfortunately, it had been too reckless, attempting to break through while already suffering from severe injuries.
This was the consequence of not knowing what was good for itself.
All the remaining pond water had evaporated from the intense heat. Its leaves had withered, many of its branches had broken, and its trunk was riddled with holes through which its life force continuously leaked.
If no miracle occurred, it would die within ten minutes at most. At this point, it didn’t even have enough energy left to condense a single fruit.
If it died, its bloodline would end with it.
Judging that the time was finally ripe, Rezen walked toward the Nine Sun Bloodwood. Now that the pond water was gone, he could approach it without obstruction.
He stopped directly in front of the tree.
At this point, the Nine Sun Bloodwood didn’t even have enough energy to resist a mere second-cycle Senior Mage. It could only watch Rezen approach.
However, despite Rezen having provided it with hundreds of thousands of Blood Fruits, it still didn’t believe that this human could prevent its death.
After all, even after sacrificing its pond water and leaves, Rezen had only been able to delay the worsening of its injuries. Much less now that it was already on the brink of death.
Contrary to its expectations, however, Rezen placed his hand on its trunk before speaking.
"You are dying. If this continues, you won’t survive for more than ten minutes. I couldn’t save you with my Blood Fruits because their potency isn’t enough."
"But I still have one way to save you. Whether I do so depends entirely on you. If you agree, you will forever be bound to me. If not, then I’m sorry, but I cannot help you."
Although the Nine Sun Bloodwood couldn’t truly understand human language, it could understand Rezen’s intentions.
He was asking it to submit if it wanted to survive.
The choices before it were simple: death or submission.
For some people, the choice might have been easy. But for a Nine Sun Bloodwood whose potential reached the Noble Rank, it was an incredibly difficult decision.
It was a treasure of heaven and earth, a darling of the universe. With enough sacrifices, it could easily reach the Noble Rank.
Countless living beings desperately longed to reach that realm, only to fail despite dedicating their entire lives to cultivation.
Others had to struggle and fight over even the smallest scraps of resources and still had no hope of ever reaching the Noble Rank.
For the Nine Sun Bloodwood, however, it was merely a matter of whether enough sacrifices were available.
Knowing that it wouldn’t be so easy to make the tree submit, Rezen spoke once more.
"If you submit to me, not only can I save your life, but there will definitely come a day when I can let you cultivate as much as you want. With your help, we can produce more Blood Fruits of even higher quality."
"If you have enough Blood Fruits, would you still be afraid of cultivating? With enough Blood Fruits, you would never have to worry about running out of vitality. By then, couldn’t you absorb solar power without stopping?"
Rezen’s words were like the whispers of a devil, especially that final sentence.
The Nine Sun Bloodwood was obsessed with the power of the sun. The thought of being able to absorb solar power endlessly without suffering any negative consequences was simply too tempting.
After struggling for a moment, it used the last of its remaining strength to move one of its branches in affirmation.
Seeing that, Rezen knew that he had succeeded.
"Ivy."
The Spirit Plants that Rezen grew inside his farm could be controlled by him at will. However, Spirit Plants that grew outside the farm were different.
His farm was his greatest means of survival. Naturally, he couldn’t allow a Great Rank being to enter it without any precautions.
Fortunately, it seemed that his golden finger had also begun to grow anxious about his progress.
Back in the Savage Beast Realm, it could only be used to grow Spirit Plants, gather fortune aura, and provide him with information.
Now, however, his golden finger would also help him subdue a Great Rank Nine Sun Bloodwood.
Rezen could sense a faint urgency from the farm, as if it wanted him to become stronger within a shorter period of time. As for the reason behind that urgency, he still didn’t know. For now, he could only focus on the task before him.
A ray of light suddenly flew out from Rezen’s forehead. It entered the trunk of the Nine Sun Bloodwood and went straight to its soul.
Upon its soul, a mark was branded that would prevent it from ever betraying Rezen, no matter how powerful it became in the future.
Afterward, the projection of the farm appeared above Rezen and absorbed the Nine Sun Bloodwood.
Inside the farm, the tree reappeared, and its injuries immediately began stabilizing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, in exchange, the farm itself shrank slightly.
Fortunately, after expanding to more than ten kilometers in diameter, it had continued growing even further. Although it shrank somewhat, it still remained over the ten-kilometer mark.
With this, the Nine Sun Bloodwood was finally secured.
With the soul mark branded into it, Rezen now possessed complete control over the tree.
This was equivalent to gaining a Great Rank combatant under his command, something that would undoubtedly increase his chances of survival.
Not only that, but as the Nine Sun Bloodwood cultivated, it would eventually recreate its pond and once again become lush with leaves and branches.
When that time came, not only would the tree help elevate the farm’s level, but Rezen’s cultivation speed would also skyrocket.
Not to mention reaching the third cycle—even the fourth cycle would no longer be far away.