Chapter 513: Former Universal Overlord: Ginseng Fruit Tree

The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man was easily captured alive by Qi Suian, who then took it to his laboratory for dissection.

During this time, the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man also tried tirelessly to get information out of Qi Suian.

Qi Suian simply ignored it. Through the dissection, he obtained some interesting data.

It turned out that this Heavenly Dao Wooden Man before him was, in fact, a wooden man.

Its structure was literal, possessing characteristics of both humans and trees.

Qi Suian decided to call it a “plant-person” in the most literal sense of the term.

Then, he grabbed a Spirit Master to experiment on. By balancing the mixed-blood genetics, he witnessed an interesting scene.

The Spirit Master transformed into another Heavenly Dao Wooden Man and was swiftly assimilated, becoming an incarnation of the Celestial Dao.

The two Heavenly Dao Wooden Men just stared blankly at each other.

“So, humans are actually a part of you, and you are also a part of humanity?” Qi Suian asked curiously.

In the genetic mix, if human genes were dominant, the result was a Spirit Master human.

If the mixed-blood ratio reached a balance, it would become a Heavenly Dao Wooden Man.

“So the question now is, what happens if your race’s genetic proportion becomes even higher?”

As Qi Suian spoke, he further adjusted the test subject’s genetic ratio, and the wooden man instantly turned into a piece of wood.

It was still alive, but it had become a completely non-sentient plant lifeform.

However, it wasn’t so straightforward. It seemed to have undergone atavistic regression, turning into one of the Tree-Born Demon clan, a former cosmic race.

The reason it had no self-awareness or intellect was the lack of a coordinating thought-network.

Coincidentally, the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man was able to act as a substitute. Under its control, the plant lifeform rapidly animated, becoming a loyal Warrior.

The downside was that it wasn’t loyal to Qi Suian, but to the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man. So Qi Suian swiftly chopped it into eighteen pieces and stuffed them into petri dishes.

“You don’t mind telling me about your people and what happened back then, do you?” Qi Suian said.

The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man glanced at Qi Suian, then at the plant-based Warrior in a pile of petri dishes, before finally speaking. “Of course I can, Outsider.”

“Our Ginseng Fruit Tree race…”

When Qi Suian heard that name, his eye twitched. “Hold on. What Ginseng Fruit Tree race? Don’t tell me the one who raises you is Zhen Yuanzi…”

It was certainly a bit unexpected. But then he remembered he’d already encountered the Spider God Atrek Nakaya from the Cthulhu Mythos and the Ancient Serpent Satan from the Bible. Now, meeting Zhen Yuanzi, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals from *Journey to the West*, didn’t seem so unacceptable.

They were all characters from myths and legends, anyway. The Spider God was the only one that felt a bit out of place, belonging more to science fiction.

“I do not know the origin of the Ginseng Fruit Tree race. It is not recorded in our civilizational heritage, nor do I know this Zhen Yuanzi you speak of.”

“On the contrary, I am quite curious as to why you would mention the name Zhen Yuanzi after hearing the words ‘Ginseng Fruit Tree’.” The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man asked in return.

“Let’s talk about that later.” Qi Suian breathed a sigh of relief. ‘It’s good that it doesn’t know.’ A moment ago, Qi Suian had almost recalled Fei.

He was afraid that after digging up the roots of this so-called Ginseng Fruit Tree race, he would get sucked into a Sleeve Universe.

Qi Suian was no Sun Wukong; he couldn’t just find Bodhisattva Guanyin to come and save a tree for him.

So he was muttering to himself, ‘I can’t keep digging into this. If I actually unearth a Wuzhuang Temple, then I’ll be in real trouble.’

‘If, by some chance, Zhen Yuanzi is just a sock puppet like Ancient Serpent Satan, with other identities, then I’m truly screwed.’

‘Look at all the identities Ancient Serpent Satan revealed back then—Ouroboros, Jörmungandr, Kukulkan. None of them were pushovers.’

‘Of course, the most terrifying possibility is that Zhen Yuanzi isn’t a sock puppet, which would mean it’s his true self.’

‘Following this pattern, am I going to have to go to the Primordial Chaos next?’ Qi Suian’s mind began to wander. ‘Someone like me who travels between worlds, nine times out of ten, ends up in the Primordial Chaos, trampling over all sorts of Saints and kicking the world’s heroes.’

‘But on second thought, given the circumstances, if I really did enter the so-called Primordial Chaos, it probably wouldn’t be an *Investiture of the Gods* scenario. It would be a mythological free-for-all.’

‘I might even see the Spider God, the Ancient Serpent, and the others again.’

‘I’d be hard-pressed to even qualify as cannon fodder.’

“Very well. Our Ginseng Fruit Tree race follows the heritage of our civilization to grow. We blossom once every three thousand years, bear fruit in the next three thousand, and take another three thousand for the fruit to ripen. It takes a short ten thousand years for one to be born.”

“In these ten thousand years, only thirty offspring are produced, not to mention…”

Listening to the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man, the twitch in Qi Suian’s eye became more pronounced. This setup wasn’t just familiar; it was basically copied and pasted from *Journey to the West* with a few words changed.

“Hold on a second.” Qi Suian couldn’t help but interrupt the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man again. “Are you sure that after I beat you up, you’re not going to run home and ask some Tree Planting Daoist wearing a purple and gold crown and a Wuyou Crane Robe to come beat me up?”

“It seems you do, in fact, know the origins of my race.”

“But rest assured, I indeed cannot ask him for help.” The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man’s expression also grew strange. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’re more familiar with my origins than I am?’

“In that case… wait, do you have any Daoist Children at your home named Qingfeng Mingyue?” Qi Suian asked another question.

Qingfeng Mingyue were just Daoist Children in Wuzhuang Temple, but that was because the people addressing them were either the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, Marshal Tianpeng, or, failing that, the Curtain-Raising General.

If those two Daoist Children were to leave Wuzhuang Temple, would they be ordinary figures?

Coupled with the fact that the Ginseng Fruit Tree race’s backstory was just too similar, Qi Suian was getting a little scared.

“No.” The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man answered Qi Suian’s question honestly.

“Good. You can continue.” Qi Suian remained extremely vigilant inside.

The Heavenly Dao Wooden Man then continued its story.

Basically, through tireless development, they left their planet’s surface and came to dominate the universe.

Then they encountered the invasion of the Spirit Master humans. In the beginning, the Ginseng Fruit Tree race certainly had the advantage.

After all, it was their home turf. But the Spirit Master humans, fighting for their own survival, were completely fearless in the face of death. No matter how great the sacrifices, they ultimately established a foothold in their universe.

Then, using that as a foundation, they rapidly opened new fronts and secured victories with the help of the Five Elements Spiritual Treasures.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree race had immense bodies and formidable strength, but they were few in number and had an extremely low birth rate.

Their advantage over the Spirit Master humans was eroded bit by bit, until the very last Ginseng Fruit Tree directly activated its ability to share its fate with the universe.

This ultimately led to an irreversible clash and transformation for both races.

The result is that both races have been barely surviving ever since.

The Spirit Master humans were left with only five habitable planets, their Extraordinary powers were greatly diminished, and the might of the Five Elements Spiritual Treasures was utterly destroyed.

The last Ginseng Fruit Tree, due to the changes in universal parameters and the mixing of a large amount of human genes, ended up in a state that was neither human nor tree.

Furthermore, their civilization was annihilated, and their technology was completely destroyed and rendered useless.

They tried to redevelop their biotechnology, but failed due to the altered universal parameters.

Even the Ginseng Fruit Tree that called itself the Celestial Dao lost its original reproductive abilities and could no longer produce a new generation.

“You tell a convincing story.” After hearing the tale, Qi Suian didn’t think it was lying.

The description didn’t glorify the Ginseng Fruit Tree race, nor did it belittle the Spirit Master humans. It seemed to be narrated from a third-party perspective.

Qi Suian even suspected that by now, the Celestial Dao had almost forgotten the war of the past. It might have even gradually abandoned its own identity as a Ginseng Fruit Tree.

It was the only Ginseng Fruit Tree left now. So much time had passed that any lingering obsessions should have mostly faded away.

Time dilutes all things.

“But what is your goal?” Qi Suian asked, confused.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree race’s technology was all but scrapped, and the Five Elements Spiritual Treasures had become useless trinkets.

“The universe has been left riddled with holes because of that great war. I’m sure you have seen it.”

“I want to restore everything, to let life flourish once more,” the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man stated its goal calmly.

After hearing this, Qi Suian fell silent for a moment before speaking. “With just the handful of resources from five planets and those powerless Five Elements Spiritual Treasures?”

“Don’t you think that’s just a drop in the bucket?”

He didn’t understand the other’s plan or technology, but he understood energy.

This universe was not small by any means. Its plan was simply impossible.

“It is indeed a drop in the bucket. But it is enough.”

“I only need one seed, and then I can wait for it to take root and sprout.”

“Sooner or later, the universe will be restored.”

“Furthermore, according to the calculations of the Celestial Pavilion, the entire universe was severely damaged after that war. Over the years, not only has it not recovered, but the damage has actually worsened.”

“This seed can not only bring life back to the universe, but also repair its damage.”

“I imagine that you, an Outsider, entered through one of these damaged points in the universe,” the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man said.

Hearing this, Qi Suian nodded. “That’s right.”

This was obviously a lie. In reality, he had just smashed his way in.

But to deal with the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man, he went along with it.

The other party had already come up with a reason for him. Why would he go looking for trouble for himself?

However, in his mind, Qi Suian was weighing the pros and cons.

‘First, I can be certain of one thing. Whether I devour this universe or wipe out the Ginseng Fruit Tree race, I don’t have to worry about Zhen Yuanzi.’

‘The Ginseng Fruit Tree race is definitely related to Zhen Yuanzi, but he might not care.’

‘Otherwise, Zhen Yuanzi would have intervened back when the Spirit Master humans invaded, or when only a single seedling of the Ginseng Fruit Tree remained, or when this universe was critically damaged by that life-linking ability.’

‘So, either he doesn’t care, or he’s long forgotten. Either way, it’s good news for me.’

‘I don’t have to worry about being held accountable later.’

As for this being merely Qi Suian’s speculation with no actual evidence, that was true.

But if he shrank back in fear just because of this knowledge, wouldn’t he become hesitant and indecisive every time he encountered something in the future?

In the end, that would only make him wishy-washy.