Five Hundred Years of Willow Heart

Chen Yuan naturally knew that the so-called Spirit of Vegetation was formed when plants underwent a metamorphosis, gaining sentience and a primitive consciousness; some would even actively attack creatures that drew near.

"If this is a Spirit of Vegetation, then I've hit the jackpot today..." Chen Yuan circled the large willow tree to observe it. "A willow-type Spirit of Vegetation, visually estimated at eighty centimeters in diameter and no more than twenty-five meters tall. It fits the criteria for a 'Millennium Willow Heart'."

Every Spirit of Vegetation is considered to contain the essence of heaven and earth, each possessing unique effects. The specific benefit of a Millennium Willow Heart is to increase cellular activity and enhance physical fitness.

Chen Yuan had a deep impression of the Millennium Willow Heart, primarily because Luo Feng had consumed one in the past, making it one of the important resources during Luo Feng's early stages.

"I remember when Luo Feng consumed the Willow Heart, his strength jumped directly from an Elementary War God to an Intermediate War God. This caused the 'Dark Golden Sphere' in his mind to fully release, catapulting him into becoming a peak War God-level Psychic Master."

"If I can consume this Millennium Willow Heart, my strength will surely see a massive leap as well!"

"Of course, that's assuming this really is a Millennium Willow Heart." Chen Yuan lowered his head, connected to the internet via the communication watch on his wrist, and logged into the Limit Home forum.

Searching for "Millennium Willow Heart," a wealth of information immediately appeared on the forum.

Thanks to the rise of the Earth Trio, treasures of the Spirit of Vegetation level were no longer hidden by the Limit Dojo under the will of Hong; the information was now published directly on the Limit Home forum.

"Willow Heart, a type of Spirit of Vegetation. A millennium-level Willow Heart tree trunk is 1 meter thick and over 30 meters tall. The essence contained within such a willow is the 'Millennium Willow Heart'..."

Chen Yuan carefully browsed the introduction on Limit Home. It even thoughtfully included pictures, allowing him to see at a glance that it was basically identical to the willow tree he had encountered.

However...

"The size is wrong." Chen Yuan compared the data from the forum with the willow tree beside him and concluded, "Judging by the size of this willow, the quality is less than a millennium. It should only produce a century-old... no, perhaps a five-hundred-year-old Willow Heart."

The forum did not mention specific data for Willow Hearts under a millennium, only stating simply: Willow Hearts of sub-millennium quality have limited effects on Martial Artists above the War God level and are more suitable for War General level Martial Artists.

Therefore, the age of this Willow Heart was purely Chen Yuan's guess. Whether it was five hundred years or eight hundred years, the effect of a sub-millennium Willow Heart didn't differ significantly.

"This is fine, too." Chen Yuan stared at the willow tree, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "The forum says that a willow tree capable of gestating a Millennium Willow Heart has attack power reaching the War God level, but the willow before me clearly hasn't reached that tier. Each branch's attack power is at most at the Elementary War General level."

Although it was only Elementary War General level, the tree had no fewer than a thousand branches. Once a creature approached, it would suffer the attacks of a thousand War Generals; even an Advanced War General couldn't withstand that.

"No wonder the Lion Mastiff Leader chose such a remote place as its territory. It had discovered the opportunity, but unfortunately, its strength wasn't enough to withstand the willow's attacks. The meat was right at its mouth, yet it couldn't eat it." Chen Yuan's eyes brightened. "In that case, I shall graciously accept this opportunity."

In Chen Yuan's view, although the willow tree before him was powerful, it had a fatal weakness—perhaps a common flaw of all Spirits of Vegetation: its main body could not move.

Indeed, its thousand willow branches were terrifyingly powerful, making it nearly invincible at the War General stage, but since it couldn't move, it meant it could be slowly worn down through a war of attrition.

The reason the Lion Mastiff Leader couldn't defeat the willow was that its body was too clumsy, making it easy to get trapped in the siege of the willow branches.

However, Chen Yuan was different. Relying on his footwork and speed, these willow branches couldn't trap him at all. He could stand at the edge of the willow's attack range, slowly severing all the branches until they were all chopped off!

Thinking it, he did it. Chen Yuan moved his feet lightly, and with a flash, he entered the willow's attack range. Immediately, a dozen willow branches struck from all directions, and the subsequent branches quickly moved toward him.

Chen Yuan's footwork was elegant, weaving flexibly through the dense branches. The cold light of the long sword in his hand flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he had severed four or five branches.

When the remaining hundreds of branches came crashing down like a tidal wave, Chen Yuan knew when to stop. He retreated calmly, instantly exiting the willow's attack range.

The willow seemed enraged, frantically waving all its branches in place, but it was all in vain; it couldn't reach Chen Yuan standing in the distance. After a while, the branches gradually returned to calm.

Thus, Chen Yuan repeated his tactic, entering the attack range again. Each time, he managed to sever several branches. Although the willow was extremely furious, it was helpless, forced to watch as its branches grew fewer and fewer.

Time passed quietly. About an hour and a half later, Chen Yuan severed the willow's last branch. Looking at the bare trunk, he nodded with satisfaction.

Next was to obtain the Willow Heart. Chen Yuan swung his long sword, hacking fiercely at the trunk. Thud, thud, thud. The blade struck again and again, wood chips flying everywhere, and a huge notch was soon carved into the trunk.

A flash of joy crossed Chen Yuan's eyes. He pressed his advantage, swinging with even more force, even utilizing double the power output.

At the same time, he secretly rejoiced: "It's fortunate I have this heirloom A6-Grade Battle Sword, capable of piercing the defense of an Advanced War General. If I had used a lower-grade sword, I don't know how long I would have been hacking away..."

With his strength comparable to an Elementary War General, combined with a Grade 6 weapon, cutting the tree was already this laborious. If he had used a Grade 3 or 4 weapon, the difficulty would be imaginable; he probably wouldn't even be able to break the defense.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan possessed all the necessary conditions. Hard work pays off; two hours later, the willow tree finally collapsed with a crash, wood fragments scattering.

Chen Yuan had sharp eyes and immediately spotted a soul-stirring green glint among the debris. He lunged forward, grabbed it, and wished he could refine it instantly.

It was a pity he couldn't refine it just yet.

Opening his palm, what appeared before him was a bright green crystal, about the size of a chicken egg. It was perfectly round, with liquid rippling inside—that was the essence of the Willow Heart.

"Willow Heart..." Chen Yuan felt that even just holding the crystal shell of the Willow Heart sent waves of coolness seeping into his skin, making him feel refreshed and invigorated.

After sensing the aura of the Willow Heart for a moment, Chen Yuan put it away and turned to leave. He needed a quiet place to consume it.

Ten minutes later, in the basement of an abandoned villa within the county town, Chen Yuan took out the Willow Heart again by the faint light of his communication watch.

"Both the original story and the forum mentioned that the way to consume a Willow Heart is to break the shell and drink the liquid inside." Chen Yuan didn't use his battle sword; instead, he pulled a dagger from his backpack. This was something he had specifically bought for cutting up monster materials, also an A6-Grade, which had cost him a full 300,000.

Chen Yuan held the Willow Heart crystal in one hand and the dagger in the other, stabbing fiercely at the Willow Heart. Once, twice.

The shell of the Willow Heart was truly hard; Chen Yuan stabbed twice without it breaking. With the third stab, a crisp sound rang out, and the crystal finally shattered, the green liquid inside flowing out.

Chen Yuan quickly brought the crystal to his mouth and drank it in one gulp. Although the green crystal wasn't small, there wasn't much liquid inside, at most twenty or thirty milliliters.

The liquid flowed down his esophagus into his body. Immediately, a cool and comfortable sensation permeated his entire being, and even his soul trembled slightly.

"So comfortable." Chen Yuan wore an expression of pure enjoyment. The coolness surged throughout his body, as if his entire frame were being massaged by countless gentle little hands.

Inside Chen Yuan's body, the essence contained in the Willow Heart—that surging, endless vitality—fused into every part of his body almost instantly. This vital energy caused the cells in Chen Yuan's muscles and bones to undergo astonishing changes, as if a sapling were growing into a towering tree.

Metamorphosis!

There was no other word to describe this feeling. Chen Yuan only felt his cells leaping forward, his genes perfecting, and even his tendons, bones, and flesh restructuring.

On the system panel, the data in the "Strength" column was climbing rapidly!

4712... 5863... 7545... 9688... 11370... 12896... 13980...

As time passed, the increase in strength gradually slowed, finally settling at 14728.63 kilograms before it stopped.

In just two short hours, Chen Yuan had jumped from the level of a newly advanced High-Level Warrior directly to the peak of an Elementary War General, just under 1300 kilograms shy of the 16000 kilograms required for an Intermediate War General!