Chapter 75

"The yield of the new grain variety in the Druid Spring Breeze Cup planting competition has exceeded a thousand catties per mu." The Black Warrior said excitedly. Of course, his excitement was fake, mainly to liven up the atmosphere.

Who would have thought that Ang tilted his head, and Nagris turned to look at Ang, showing no sign of excitement at all.

"What? Isn't this information about farming? A thousand catties per mu."

Nagris asked Ang for a handful of long-grain rice: "Our grain, planted in this desolate place, yields eight hundred catties per mu."

"Eight hundred? In this desolate place? Are you kidding? Can this desolate place even grow grain?" The Black Warrior almost jumped up.

Nagris slapped the Black Warrior on the head with his short hand: "Who are you calling a desolate place? Whose place are you calling desolate?"

Since guessing that the Resting Wind might be a plane defense set up by the King, Nagris no longer thought this plane was desolate.

The Black Warrior rubbed his head a few times and muttered something softly.

"What?" Nagris didn't hear clearly.

"Nothing, nothing, let's change the topic. The World Tree of the elves is sick, and they are looking for someone who can cure it. If successful, the elves will offer a World Tree seed." The Black Warrior racked his brains and thought of another one.

The little zombie and the angel skeleton were not interested in what they were talking about and walked out.

Nagris was quite interested, but in a sarcastic way: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, these elves are as stingy, arrogant, and self-righteous as ever. A World Tree seed? Who wants this thing? One fruit produces thousands of seeds, and it takes hundreds of years for them to sprout. Even if they sprout, they are hard to grow. If they really cared, why not offer a few months of spring water? Is there really someone who would be attracted by the name of the World Tree and take this reward?"

"Ah? Ah? It takes hundreds of years to sprout? Our boss... the old boss, sent people to try it before."

"Hehe, did you get cheated? Did they cure it? Did the elves really let you touch their precious World Tree? How did they verify your ability to cure it? Don't kill the tree, that would be a serious problem." Nagris's tone was full of schadenfreude.

"That's easy. The elves are desperate now, looking for people everywhere. As long as someone contacts them, they will immediately send a diseased branch. You don't need to go in person; just connect to their teleportation array, and you can receive one branch per array." The Black Warrior said while struggling to gather a bit of his form and started to set up the teleportation array.

It seemed he was about to demonstrate how to get a sample from the elves.

Seeing his struggle, Ang (slowly) provided a 'little' soul energy to him.

"Oh oh oh! Such powerful soul energy, I feel so strong!" The Black Warrior's soul suddenly emitted black smoke and quickly formed his original shape.

For Ang, who now consumes two thousand soul flames every day for farming, a 'little' soul energy was enough to burst the Black Warrior.

The Black Warrior looked at his hands in disbelief, then at Ang and Nagris, and said shakily: "I... I broke through."

"What? What broke through?" Nagris was taken aback by this statement.

"Yes, I broke through to the Count rank. I've been stuck at this bottleneck for over three hundred years. Just now, with the soul energy, I... I broke through." The Black Warrior said in a tone full of amazement.

"Oh, that breakthrough. Not surprising. You've been stuck at the bottleneck for three hundred years and have been severely injured. Breaking through with soul energy is normal. Consider yourself lucky." Nagris said nonchalantly.

The Black Warrior shook his head: "If it were that simple, it would be great. Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron, I've been stuck at the Viscount rank for three hundred years, suffering multiple near-death injuries, and never broke through. Boss, you are my lucky star."

The last sentence was directed at Ang, with a tone full of gratitude.

"Right, right, he is the bastard of the lucky god." Nagris agreed and then urged the Black Warrior: "Hurry up."

The teleportation array next to the reincarnation altar is fully functional, not only for teleportation but also as a beacon and can limit the size of the object being teleported, meaning anything larger than a certain size cannot be teleported.

This effectively prevents enemies from using the teleportation array to launch a surprise attack. If they force their way through, they might only get half of their body teleported...

The small teleportation array in Ice City is like this. The only concern is someone like the Black Warrior, who can curl up and then stretch out after teleporting.

However, when curled up, the Black Warrior is at his most vulnerable. If the enemy is prepared, it's not a surprise attack but a delivery of food.

Seeing the Black Warrior voluntarily limit the teleportation volume, Nagris was reassured. This guy had no ulterior motives.

He had dedicated his soul, making him one with Ang. If Ang had problems, he would be in trouble too, so it was unlikely he would have bad intentions. Nagris was just habitually cautious.

Operating the teleportation array, the Black Warrior explained: "The elves have announced the location of a teleportation array. As long as someone contacts them, they will send a diseased branch."

"The diseased branch of the World Tree should be valuable, right? Aren't they afraid of fraud? People without the ability to cure it might still try to get a branch." Nagris was surprised.

"What fraud? How many people have teleportation arrays these days? If they have a teleportation array, they probably have the ability to cure. What if they do? And what can they do with a diseased branch? Grind it into powder and soak it in water?" The Black Warrior said dismissively.

That's true. Owning a teleportation array is already a natural screening condition. If you have a teleportation array, you probably have the ability.

The Black Warrior activated the communication function of the teleportation array, spoke a few words to the other side, and the other side checked the array, finding it not on the registration list. Without a word, they sent a half-meter-long, arm-thick branch, even paying the teleportation fee themselves.

"Is it that simple?" Nagris held the branch, finding it hard to believe. The World Tree, the god of the elves, and its branch was so easily obtained, even with free shipping.

But upon closer inspection, the branch's condition was indeed poor. As the God of Knowledge, Nagris had seen a healthy World Tree and even tasted its fruit, a basin-sized fruit with countless seeds and yellow pulp, tasting very good and having a certain life-extending effect.

A brass dragon has a ten-thousand-year lifespan, and Nagris lived to be 10,002 years old, the extra two years probably due to the fruit.

Although the effect was not significant, the taste was excellent. However, one fruit contains a lot of seeds, which are World Tree seeds. Offering only one seed for curing the World Tree is like cheating children.

It would be better to give more branches. If this branch were healthy and could survive through cuttings, it would grow faster than seeds.

"The farming information, you pass, Ang..." Nagris turned to look, but Ang was nowhere to be seen. The little skeleton had already run off somewhere.

...

Not far away, Ang found the topic they were discussing incomprehensible and ran outside.

Seeing him come out, the angel skeleton flew over, showing the soles of his feet, which had been burned by hot rocks. The soles were charred and fragrant...

The little zombie was much smarter, staying far away from anything that emitted heat.

A few holy lights cured the soles, and Ang growled at the angel, who then flew back to the valley with his head hanging low.

The bottom of the Great Rift was a river of scorching lava, flowing to an unseen end. The banks were steep slopes, with the temperature decreasing as you went up.

There were many holes on the slopes, constantly emitting black smoke. The substances in the smoke would cool and solidify, accumulating into small mounds of soil over time.

By digging some soil from outside and mixing it with the accumulated volcanic ash, you get very fertile planting soil. The constant heat from the lava river creates a distinct climate, allowing for two crop seasons and the cultivation of some cash crops or vegetables, making the area very fertile.

The entire Great Rift is unknown in length, but the Demon Valley, with its five thousand inhabitants, can only use a short section. Ang found a hole still emitting smoke and transferred the accumulated ash and soil inside the Palace of Rest.

Calculating by the ratio of one soul crystal to one hundred pounds, Ang transferred 200,000 pounds of volcanic ash soil using 2,000 soul crystals.

This amount sounds large, but it's only 100 tons. Spread over 3,000 mu of land, each mu gets only 66 pounds. However, as fertilizer mixed into the soil, this ratio might be appropriate, but it's not yet known.

Ang had already started preparing a control group, selecting ten mu of land to find the right ratio before transferring enough.

However, the amount of soul flames was decreasing. Nagris said this was the faith fatigue period, and without new stimuli or new believers, the decline would continue.

He also asked Ang if he wanted to perform some miracles to harvest faith, but miracles have a threshold and need to be more impressive each time, otherwise, the effect would diminish.

However, miracles are not as effective as wonders. Miracles are one-time, while wonders can continuously impress everyone's souls, providing sustained stimulation.

But the wonder is already being dug. The World Transit Station is a wonder, and the day it is fully restored will shock the hearts of everyone in the world.

Besides miracles and wonders, there is a more brutal method to harvest faith on a large scale: a holy war.

Initiating a faith war and involving everyone will make everyone's faith very firm and fervent.

Nagris mentioned three methods to increase faith soul flames, and Ang, after hearing them, tilted his head and said, "Troublesome," then ran off.

The next day, Ang did not use the most soul-flame-consuming Instant Death Halo to farm but instead reached into the Palace of Rest to till the land, seemingly trying to loosen the compacted fields.

At this moment, Nagris understood what Ang meant by "troublesome." He was farming for fun, not for output. If he had to do so much to use the Instant Death Halo, he wouldn't bother.

Thus, the number of soul flames remained at 1,500 to 2,000 per day, continuously decreasing. Occasionally, he needed to save up to use the Instant Death Halo once.

This made Nagris marvel at Ang's luck. Stopping the human collaborative farming process was the right move, otherwise, the soul flames would not be enough.

"Ang, look at this branch. Can you think of a way to save it?" Nagris flew over with the branch.

As the God of Knowledge, Nagris knew hundreds of ways to revive a withered branch, but he was the God of Knowledge, not the God of Plants. His knowledge came from those with rich planting knowledge, such as elves, druids, and human farmers.

He couldn't create new planting knowledge or have personal planting experience, so he didn't think the elves hadn't tried the methods he knew. They must have tried everything before seeking help.

Relying on his professional knowledge, Nagris felt that Ang, who had created four planting spells, was more reliable.

Ang took one look and shook his head: "Natural aging, life exhaustion, can't be cured."

"Ah? Natural aging? You mean the World Tree is about to die?" Nagris asked.

Ang nodded.

"The World Tree is dying? It said it could live for ten thousand years. How can it die so soon?" Nagris muttered, dazed.

During his journey to godhood, the World Tree had given him much guidance and told Nagris: "A god's lifespan is in the hearts of believers, my lifespan is in the rings, ten thousand years."

Now, hearing it was about to die, Nagris felt a sense of melancholy and loss. He had successfully ignited the divine fire, but his lifespan was not in the hearts of believers but in the hands of the Undying King, who had sealed him, theoretically granting him eternal life.

But the World Tree, which had once guided him, was about to die...

He sighed with melancholy, then saw Ang take out a large bottle of essence, about a liter, and inserted the branch into it, then activated the Instant Death Halo with a finger.

The part of the branch in the bottle quickly grew roots, and the nutrient solution visibly decreased. The once withered World Tree branch suddenly came to life, its skin turning green, sprouting leaves, and even flowering and fruiting.

Ang quickly cut off the excess buds, leaving only the main one, so all the nutrients concentrated on the main stem, growing a basin-sized fruit, after which the leaves quickly withered.

Ang interrupted the Instant Death Halo and immediately picked the fruit, regardless of whether it was ripe.

The branch continued to wither and turn black, eventually turning to ash and disappearing, leaving only the large fruit in Ang's hand.

Nagris stared at the fruit, identical to the one the World Tree had given him, only greener.

"Alright, now we don't need the elves' reward. We have seeds. The seeds inside the fruit are all World Tree seeds." Nagris said in a tone that was both amused and exasperated. This Ang always brings surprises (or shocks).

But the more shocking part came when Ang smashed the fruit, picked out all the seeds, and scattered some on the volcanic soil at his feet.

Nagris shouted in alarm: "What are you doing! Are you going to plant the World Tree like a vegetable!?"

Thank you to Panda for the coffee without sugar, Skull for wanting to lay a foundation, and Happy for the donations.