Chapter 879: Tree Branches
Zhou Huai looked down at the "Sacred Relics Picture" unfolded on the ground. The ancient tree on the scroll was shimmering with a faint green light, and Rahil's figure had completely merged into the painting, turning into a tiny green dot of light.
"Could this painting depict another world?"
He was slightly surprised. It was not uncommon for high-dimensional artifacts to form their own space, but paintings that could perfectly operate the laws of life and even shield the mental power of a half-step transcendent being were rare.
Since mental energy cannot penetrate, let's switch to the perspective of the clone.
Zhou Huai closed his eyes and concentrated, transferring his main consciousness into Rahil's body.
Buzz—!
After a slight dizziness, my vision suddenly cleared.
When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by a vibrant and real world.
The sky was a pale green, and the air was filled with an almost liquefied aura of life force. Zhou Huai sensed the instinctive pleasure emanating from this World Tree avatar with just a breath.
The emerald green grass beneath my feet shimmered with a soft light, and the dewdrops on the blades of grass held immense vitality. In the distance, the mountains were shrouded in a pale green mist, and vaguely, strange beasts, formed purely from life energy, could be seen running about.
At the very center of the world stands a colossal tree.
Zhou Huai looked up. The tree trunk was as thick as a mountain, its dark brown bark covered with deep, regular patterns that shimmered with green light. The canopy stretched outwards, almost completely covering the sky and earth.
Standing before this giant tree, Zhou Huai sensed a surge of life energy, like a tidal wave.
That feeling of connection and familiarity, that sense of shared blood, is absolutely true.
"This sacred tree is indeed related to my mother."
Zhou Huai opened his eyes. After many twists and turns infiltrating the Free Federation, he had finally touched upon the most crucial clue.
Just then, a woman's voice suddenly came from inside the giant tree.
The voice was ethereal and otherworldly, echoing from all directions, carrying a sense of holiness and a hint of doubt.
Who is it?
"I sensed a familiar presence."
As soon as he finished speaking, the law patterns on the tree trunk shone brightly. Countless emerald green light spots fell from the leaves and gathered in mid-air to form a giant eye of light, looking down at Zhou Huai.
Zhou Huai met that gaze and asked in return, "Do you know me?"
The giant tree remained silent.
The Eye of Light narrowed slightly as it examined the elven man before it, whose entire body radiated a pure life force.
A moment later, the giant tree let out a soft laugh, tinged with a hint of mockery.
"Why do you think I know you?" the woman's voice rang out again.
Zhou Huai continued, "What is your relationship with the Origin Tree?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the air in the world depicted in the painting seemed to freeze.
The falling green specks of light suddenly stopped, and the Eye of Light flickered violently.
The giant tree fell into an even longer silence, and the laws of life around it even showed signs of disorder.
After a long while, the giant tree's voice came again, its tone calm.
"What other relationship could it be?"
"I am the Origin Tree."
Zhou Huai narrowed his eyes: "Do you think this joke is funny?"
If what we see before us is truly the original form of the Origin Sacred Tree, why would Mr. Duan go to such lengths to find it? And why would his mother be trapped? Although this tree is rich in the laws of life, its foundation is clearly insufficient compared to the true Origin Sacred Tree.
Faced with the doubts, the giant tree bluntly replied, "Why would I joke with you?"
It paused, and the sound became distant.
"To be precise, I am a small branch on the Tree of Origin."
You can think of it as a small tree branch.
Small twig?
Zhou Huai was slightly taken aback. Hearing this word from the mouth of a giant tree that blocked out the sky felt somewhat incongruous.
"Yes."
The giant tree continued, "That happened over a hundred years ago."
"At that time, in order to break free from Mr. Duan's control, our main body secretly split into countless small branches, and I was one of them."
Upon hearing "Mr. Duan," Zhou Huai's gaze sharpened.
The giant tree's voice carried a mixture of relief and helplessness: "Back then, I was just a tiny seedling, having just escaped."
"He was captured by a painter named Leonardo da Vinci."
"da Vinci?"
"right."
The giant tree's voice softened, "But later, he and I became close friends who could talk about anything."
"To prevent Mr. Duan from catching me again, Leonardo da Vinci sealed me inside this painting."
"This is why I have been sleeping in the painting forever."
The giant tree's luminous eye looked at Zhou Huai once more.
"It was your appearance that awakened me."
Do you know why I told you so much?
"Why?"
"Because I can feel my presence on you."
"It made me feel very welcome."
Zhou Huai understood. No wonder the other person had an aura similar to his mother's; it turned out he was a descendant of his mother. As her biological son, the bloodline imprint deep within his soul naturally shared the same origin.
The giant tree's eye of light flickered slightly: "I have answered your question. Now is it your turn to answer mine?"
Zhou Huai asked calmly, "What do you want to ask?"
The giant tree's voice became somewhat urgent: "I am isolated from the world in the painting and have lost contact with my original self."
What exactly is the situation outside?
Zhou Huai's expression turned solemn, and he said truthfully, "It's a pity that the original form of the Origin Sacred Tree is probably still under Mr. Duan's control."
"My goal this time is also to rescue the Origin Tree, but I don't know its exact location yet."
The world in the painting fell silent once again.
The countless green dots of light hovered in the sky, and the strange beasts formed from life energy also stopped and looked uneasily at the giant tree.
The giant tree remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking: "If that's the case, perhaps I can help you."
The world depicted in the painting is lush and verdant.
Zhou Huai was not surprised when he heard what the giant tree said and saw that the other party readily agreed.
Since it is guided by the Heavenly Dao System, it is only natural to introduce an NPC who can drive the main storyline at this point.
Tiandao practically fed him himself, fearing he might mess up his plan to fight against Mr. Duan.
Zhou Huai looked at the enormous eye of light and asked, "In that case, how can I help you leave this place?"
The giant tree's voice came from all directions: "It's very simple. The essence of this painting is an independent space. Back then, Leonardo da Vinci set up a sealing law on the outermost layer of the scroll to protect me."
"All you need to do is break the seal in this painting from the outside with a sufficiently strong external force."
"Once the seal is broken, I will naturally be able to break free."
Zhou Huai didn't delay any longer.
"wait for me."
The main consciousness was withdrawn from Rahil's body and returned to its original form.