The second talent: Super Absorption.
There was no need to say much about this talent. Its effects were immediate. The vitality and size that had shown no movement for half a day showed faint signs of growth within just a few minutes after he obtained it.
Although this growth rate was far inferior to Gamia's, Su Heng could still accept it.
The final talent, Root and Stem Activation, gave the Willow Template a certain degree of self-defense.
Su Heng currently planned to develop the willow tree in a support-oriented direction, but that did not mean its individual combat strength did not need to be improved.
The second template did not need to be as absurdly powerful as Gamia, but it still had to reach a fairly high standard.
Moreover, to Su Heng's surprise, the power brought by Root and Stem Activation was not small.
When he tried concentrating his strength into the longest Willow Branch, then lashed it hard through the air.
Crack!
The air at its tip instantly exploded.
A sharp, crisp sound echoed through the empty valley.
Without anything to compare it to, Su Heng found it difficult to judge exactly how powerful the Willow Branch was.
But judging by that piercing screech as it cut through the air, the power of that strike was definitely not small...
It was strange, when he thought about it.
Su Heng was clearly a willow tree now, yet he still had rather well-developed hearing organs.
Thinking of the Red Moon that had appeared in the sky, the various bizarre mutated creatures, and the scientific studies that had once proven music could affect plant growth—
He suddenly felt that this seemed quite reasonable.
The willow tree was currently just over three meters tall, still far from fully grown.
Body Doubling, rapid growth, and other talents had only just begun to take effect. One could imagine that once the Willow Template grew dozens of meters tall—
The power caused by hundreds or thousands of Willow Branches swinging together would definitely not be underestimated.
"Looking at it this way, the willow tree's combat power isn't actually weak. It's just that Gamia is far too abnormal as a point of comparison... And no matter how strong its attack power is, if it can't move flexibly, it will ultimately just be a living target."
There was no helping it.
As a tree that was practically unable to move, no matter how strong its combat power was, some shortcomings were simply too fatal.
"Chirp chirp chirp..."
As Su Heng planned out the willow tree's future, a burst of urgent birdsong came from the canopy.
There was a crude bird's nest there, built on the willow tree before his consciousness had descended into it. Inside were six plump little chicks whose feathers had not fully grown out yet.
These birds had black heads, white feathers, yellow rings around their eyes, and faint brown streaks along their bodies.
Thanks to Su Heng's old fondness for programs like Animal World—
He recognized them. They should be peregrine falcons, fierce medium-sized carnivorous birds.
Compared with other birds of prey that could be called overlords of the sky, adult peregrine falcons, whose body length did not even exceed half a meter, could only be considered petite.
But as creatures at the top of the food chain as well, peregrine falcons were more deadly to certain ground animals than other large predators.
Peregrine falcons were the fastest birds in the world.
During a dive, their top speed could exceed three hundred kilometers per hour, while their acceleration could reach twenty-five times the force of gravity.
By comparison, even the best pilots in human society, flying the most advanced fighter jets, could only reach nine times the force of gravity.
One could imagine just how deadly these fierce birds would be once they reached adulthood.
The parents of these little fellows had left last night and never returned.
For nearly an entire day, this nest of peregrine falcons had not eaten anything. No wonder they were crying out in hunger.
"Perfect. I can test the Life Enlightenment talent."
Seeing the little fellows, Su Heng immediately thought of the willow tree's core talent, Life Enlightenment.
Life Enlightenment was not without cost. Each use required a certain amount of vitality, and the larger the creature, the more vitality enlightenment consumed.
The largest of the chicks in the nest was only about the size of an adult's fist.
Moreover, these chicks had lived beside the willow tree from before they were born until now, and they naturally felt a certain affection for the second template.
They could not have been more suitable for testing the effects of the enlightenment talent.
Whoosh!
A tender, graceful Willow Branch, shrouded in a hazy pale green glow, gently descended onto the forehead of one of the chicks.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
The largest of the six chicks began flapping its wings continuously.
Bursts of urgent, piercing cries came from its pale yellow beak.
Before long, its body began to grow larger. The light brown feathers on its body started falling away, replaced by new gray feathers with white vertical streaks across its breast, making it look quite beautiful.
After roughly ten minutes, the peregrine falcon's mutation came to an end.
By then, its body length had already approached thirty centimeters. Compared to an ordinary adult peregrine falcon, it was only slightly smaller.
This use of Life Enlightenment had cost Su Heng around 0.05 vitality.
That amount of vitality naturally meant nothing to the willow tree, but for a peregrine falcon with an average weight of only six or seven hundred grams, it was enough to let it leap directly from infancy to near adulthood.
Compared with ordinary peregrine falcons, the awakened peregrine falcon had also undergone slight changes in appearance.
The most eye-catching feature was its beak, which glinted with a cold, hard sheen beneath the sunlight. Its dark golden beak looked more like metal than the ordinary bone structure of a living creature.
During the enlightenment process, the peregrine falcon had been nourished by the willow tree's vitality.
It was in excellent condition now and no longer screeched incessantly like its siblings.
The thirty-centimeter bird hopped out of the nest, landed on a willow branch, and gently rubbed its head against another branch.
Its affection was obvious.
Besides that, the status panel of this Mutated Peregrine Falcon could actually appear before Su Heng as well.
Peregrine Falcon Status: Healthy Life Level: 1 Vitality: 0.12 Talent: Sturdy (Common Quality: The beak becomes tougher and is less easily destroyed)
Because of its small size, the peregrine falcon's vitality was not particularly strong, and the talent it obtained was also quite ordinary. It merely strengthened the hardness of its beak.
Even among common-quality talents, such a single-effect talent could not be considered strong.
However, when the Sturdy talent was combined with the peregrine falcon's naturally terrifying speed, the results it could produce were not to be underestimated.
"Go!"
After thinking for a moment, Su Heng lifted a branch and lightly waved it toward a tall poplar tree not far away in the valley.
Whoosh!
The peregrine falcon's speed erupted abruptly. It was so fast it could barely be seen, shooting out like an arrow released from a bow.
Almost at the same moment.
A dull boom sounded in the distance.
A hole that pierced straight through the poplar tree suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The peregrine falcon then circled back, landed on the willow tree's branch, and chirped noisily.
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