Chapter 424: Nine Sun Bloodwood (3)
After three days, the sixth-cycle Blood Fruits finally matured, and Rezen didn’t waste any time.
The amount of pond water he had received from the Nine Sun Bloodwood far exceeded the value of the Blood Fruits he had given so far. If he didn’t repay the tree in time, it might instead turn against him and use his own blood and flesh to sustain itself.
As such, as soon as the Blood Fruits matured and were ready to be harvested, Rezen immediately harvested them.
With a wave of his hand, the Blood Fruits, which possessed significantly greater potency than the previous batches he had sacrificed, fell into the shallow pond.
As soon as the fruits touched the water, they immediately dissolved into pure energy that the Nine Sun Bloodwood could use to cultivate.
Although they were still far from enough, they were sustainable. Thanks to the pond water, the farm grew to ten times its previous size, and the quality of the Spirit Plants that could be cultivated also increased.
Of course, there was still a vast gap between the sixth cycle of the Senior Rank and the Great Rank. As such, aside from helping stabilize the Nine Sun Bloodwood’s condition a little, the Blood Fruits were far from enough to sustain its cultivation.
Rezen could at most delay the demise of the Nine Sun Bloodwood. If it wanted to survive while also maintaining the ability to cultivate nonstop, it would have to give Rezen even more benefits.
However, Rezen knew that now was not the right time. If he dared to ask for more resources, not only would the tree be unwilling, but it might even lose all the goodwill it had toward him and turn hostile.
"Heh... I can stabilize your injuries a little, but this is merely prolonging your life for a while. Once you continue to sense the approach of death, wouldn’t you willingly hand over not only the pond water but also your leaves, branches, and even fruits?"
The pond water was merely one type of treasure that the Nine Sun Bloodwood could provide. If that were all it had to offer, Noble Mages wouldn’t covet this treasure.
The talent of the Nine Sun Bloodwood was another major factor. As long as it was supplied with enough flesh and blood to sustain itself, it was only a matter of time before it reached the Noble Rank.
Of course, the number of living beings that needed to be sacrificed for that was astonishing. But to Noble Mages, all beings below the fourth rank were ants. They could kill millions or even billions if they wished.
There was no shortage of backward, low-level realms in the universe. It was only a matter of discovering them.
Aside from its talent, every part of the Nine Sun Bloodwood’s body was also a treasure.
Even the most ordinary leaf, if consumed, could increase a mage’s talent and purify a magic beast’s bloodline.
Its primary attribute was Sun, and it also possessed Blood as a secondary attribute.
Its Sun attribute could "burn away" the impurities within other living beings, achieving the effect of enhancing their talents. Its Blood attribute also increased talent, albeit through a different method, such as purifying one’s bloodline.
That was merely the effect of its leaves. The tree also had branches that could be used in both alchemy and artifact refining.
As for its fruits, they were extremely rare. Generally, the Nine Sun Bloodwood would only bear fruit when it sensed the approach of death.
Producing fruits consumed a tremendous amount of its energy, and as stingy as it was, it wouldn’t bear fruit unless it absolutely had to.
If not for the instinct to preserve its race, which was engraved into all living beings, it wouldn’t even produce fruits that had the chance to grow into new Nine Sun Bloodwoods.
If it submitted to Rezen, then once Rezen and the farm reached the Noble Rank, would he really be afraid of not being able to sustain it?
With enough resources, the Nine Sun Bloodwood could bear an unlimited number of fruits, each of which could grow into a new Nine Sun Bloodwood. In time, wouldn’t Rezen have an army of Noble Rank Nine Sun Bloodwoods?
Of course, that was still a matter for the future, and Rezen could only take one step at a time.
Aside from planting and harvesting the Blood Fruits, he spent all of his time cultivating.
Time passed once more, and it had been another month since Rezen’s farm recovered to the sixth cycle.
During this month, the trunk of the Nine Sun Bloodwood exploded three more times. Its condition had become even more dangerous.
Although the Blood Fruits could stabilize its condition a little, their quality was far from enough to sustain its life. They could only temporarily delay its death.
If the tree slowed down its cultivation, its life wouldn’t be threatened. Unfortunately, it was too greedy and refused to stop absorbing the power of the sun.
Today, Rezen dumped another batch of Blood Fruits into the pond, but the quantity was lower than in the previous batches.
"Please don’t blame me. Producing Blood Fruits is really difficult. If only I had more of your pond water and even your leaves..."
As usual, Rezen once again spoke of his "hardships." Of course, he was merely bluffing.
The production rate of his farm hadn’t decreased. In fact, it had even increased slightly. However, why should he dump all the Blood Fruits at once?
The closer the Nine Sun Bloodwood came to death, the more willing it would become to give Rezen what he wanted.
It might be greedy and stingy, but it still valued its own life. Aside from recklessly absorbing solar power regardless of the consequences, as long as there were enough benefits and sufficient incentive, the tree would gladly sacrifice its pond water, leaves, and branches if it meant it could continue living.
At first, Rezen thought that the Nine Sun Bloodwood would continue to ignore him, but to his surprise, it didn’t.
Around a thousand leaves suddenly detached from its branches and floated before Rezen. The pond water also surged as if inviting him to collect it.
It seemed that, upon sensing the approach of death, the tree had no choice but to compromise. It bent the knee earlier than Rezen had expected.
Thinking about it, however, slowly sensing death approaching was actually far crueler and more mentally taxing than a swift death.
Imagine a man being stabbed in the middle of nowhere. He could sense death slowly approaching, but the process was stretched over hours, days, or even months. How could his mental state possibly remain intact in such a situation?
It was no wonder the tree had compromised.
No matter what, this was good news for Rezen, and he happily accepted the pond water and the leaves, all of which entered his farm.
His own cultivation was important, but his cultivation speed could never outpace the improvement speed of his farm.
It would take him years to reach the Great Mage Rank, but his farm could easily reach that level as long as there were enough resources available.
When the farm reached the Great Mage Rank, couldn’t Rezen plant defensive or offensive Spirit Plants that possessed the power of a Great Mage? When that happened, wouldn’t it be equivalent to him possessing the combat power of a Great Mage?
Even though Rezen wanted to reach the Noble Rank as quickly as possible and verify whether Ivy had told him the truth—that he would gain greater control over the farm at that point—his safety still had to be guaranteed.
As such, the farm had to be improved first.
Thanks to the abundant energy contained within the pond water and the thousand leaves, the farm’s level directly broke through from the sixth level to the seventh level.
"Thank you for the leaves and the pond water. It will still take some time before I can provide you with higher-quality Blood Fruits. For now, these are all I’ve managed to produce," Rezen said before dumping the Blood Fruits he had hoarded by deliberately reducing the number of fruits he had offered the tree each time.
There were tens of thousands of Blood Fruits. They were still far from enough, but they further delayed the tree’s death.
Looking at the pond, which was now only one foot deep, Rezen knew that the day he fully obtained this tree had drawn even closer.
At this point, he could no longer ask it for more pond water. As such, his eyes landed on the remaining tens of thousands of leaves. The next time he extorted resources from the tree, he could only take its leaves and branches.
Sensing Rezen’s gaze, the Nine Sun Bloodwood suddenly felt a bad premonition. However, because this human had repeatedly provided fruits that genuinely eased its condition, its simple intelligence didn’t think that this human harbored any ill intentions.
It didn’t understand why it suddenly felt such a bad premonition, so it simply ignored it. Although it was still on the brink of death, it stubbornly continued absorbing solar power. It could sense that a breakthrough to the second cycle was approaching, making it even more impatient.