Chapter 657 - 369: Opening the Chest (2)

However, Su Ze could shrink his body, or even undergo Liquefaction, as long as Mr. Ya had room for him.

The next moment, the "Void" effect ended. Su Ze rapidly shrank to the size of a fist, and Mr. Ya curled himself into a ball.

Thankfully, there wasn’t much in the chest, leaving enough space for Mr. Ya to fit inside.

However, this was also bad news. It meant the treasure was, at the very least, lacking in quantity. Now, they could only hope for quality.

Su Ze’s Spiritual Power instantly swept over the entire chest. The moment he saw everything inside, his face fell.

No eighth-rank wondrous items. None!

There were no wondrous items of any kind, no high-rank materials, no high-rank medicines—not a single valuable thing in sight!

Inside the chest were only a single seed and a notebook.

"Seeds again!" Su Ze wanted to curse.

Seeds were the most common thing he’d found in this Central Treasure Vault; even the Artifact Seed had been a seed.

’A chest so heavily guarded by the Mother Tree’s master, and it only contains a single seed.’

Though disappointed, Su Ze had no choice but to accept reality.

’Then again,’ he thought, ’for the Mother Tree’s master to have cherished this seed so much, it must be incredibly precious. At least more valuable than the Artifact Seed.’

Su Ze flipped through the notebook, hoping to find some clues. However, its contents were written entirely in the language of the Tree Spirit Race, a foreign tongue he had yet to master.

’It’s not a big deal, though. Once I’m out, I can just ask the Mother Tree or the Pope to translate it.’

Now, they just had to wait for Mr. Ya’s "Void" skill to cool down, and the two of them could leave.

...

After leaving the Central Treasure Vault, Su Ze returned to the underground base. He immediately summoned the Pope and Liou Wenxin, and also brought out the scepter that the Mother Tree had become.

Then, he took out the notebook, explained its origins, and asked them to begin translating.

It was a small task that the Pope could have easily handled alone; Su Ze had brought Liou Wenxin along purely for the experience.

The Pope began by reading through the notebook himself. As he read, he quickly became engrossed.

Liou Wenxin didn’t know the Tree Spirit Race’s language either, so she could only wait anxiously. The Mother Tree, on the other hand, did know the language. However, the notebook seemed to contain many technical terms she didn’t understand. Moreover, since the Mother Tree wasn’t considered a truly complete life form, she couldn’t quite grasp the value of its contents.

So, they all had to wait for the Pope to finish.

An hour later, the Pope closed the notebook. He didn’t seem to have returned to reality, however, closing his eyes as if lost in thought.

Seeing this, Su Ze cleared his throat, startling the Pope out of his contemplation.

The Pope snapped to his senses, just then remembering that Su Ze was waiting. He sighed.

"This evolutionist from the Tree Spirit Race was an absolute genius! To think of using genes from the Hui Race to cultivate plants... He extracted from the Hui Race’s genes..."

The Pope launched into a long-winded explanation, his speech peppered with a host of terms Su Ze couldn’t understand.

Liou Wenxin listened with rapt attention, but Su Ze was completely lost.

"Speak plainly!" he interrupted.

The Pope faltered for a second, then summarized, "He cultivated a type of Spiritual Plant capable of Pillage Evolution."

Now that, Su Ze understood. He couldn’t help but look shocked.

Even Liou Wenxin’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Pillage Evolution... That was an evolutionary path exclusive to Intelligent Races. All non-Intelligent Races—like aberrant beasts and Spiritual Plants—followed the path of "evolution through growth."

’And now he was being told a Spiritual Plant could also use Pillage Evolution?’

Although Su Ze couldn’t immediately grasp the full value of this research, the discovery itself completely upended his understanding of the world.

The Pope explained, "Actually, Pillage Evolution has always existed in plant-based lifeforms, but only among the Intelligent Races. The Hui Race I just mentioned is a prime example. But the Hui Race are an Intelligent Race with a plant-like form; they aren’t Spiritual Plants. There’s a fundamental difference."

This was the first time Su Ze had ever heard of such a thing. He had never even heard of this so-called Hui Race before.

Even now, there were still several hundred Intelligent Races in the universe. Although Su Ze had been studying the various races with the Pope, he hadn’t been at it for long, so there was still much he didn’t know.

"So what’s the deal with this Hui Race? Are they one of the Ten Thousand Races? One of the Intelligent Races separated out by the Supreme Creator God?"

The Pope nodded. "That’s right. The original Ten Thousand Races weren’t limited to beings of flesh and blood; they encompassed all kinds of lifeforms. Initially, there were dozens of plant-based Intelligent Races, not just the Hui Race. Now, however, the Hui Race is the sole survivor."

"It’s like the modern Beast Race. They may have the physical characteristics of beasts, but just like us Nian Race or the Human Race, they are born with high intelligence and follow the path of Pillage Evolution. You can’t treat them like aberrant beasts just because their bodies look similar."

"Even the current Dominator Race, the Pan Race, are rock-based lifeforms. The Spirit Race are elemental beings. None of them are flesh and blood, yet they are all Intelligent Races."

’So that’s how it is...’ Su Ze understood now. The Intelligent Races he had encountered so far—the Nian Race, the Bag Race, and the Tree Spirit Race—were all beings of flesh and blood with body structures similar to the Human Race. This had given him the preconceived notion that all Intelligent Races were the same.

’To think there were so many other strange and wonderful races out there.’

He suddenly recalled the Crystal Race he had seen within the Divine Dice. Come to think of it, the Crystal Race didn’t seem to be purely flesh and blood, as many parts of their bodies were crystalline.

But even so, the Mother Tree’s master’s research was nothing short of a miracle. It overturned eons of established universal knowledge by granting a Spiritual Plant the "privilege" of an Intelligent Race.