The Golden Ancient Tree

Yet they had a premonition that if they remained here, they would certainly die.

"Master, do you not still require some time to recover?" Di Tian stepped forward and asked with great respect.

"Yes, that is correct, but I sense that the aura of the God Realm has vanished; time waits for no one." It was a voice that sounded both male and female. "I shall take on a human form to offset the injuries within my body, and at the same time, I wish to see why these humans have been able to develop so rapidly in such a short period."

The next moment, the silver giant dragon transformed into a petite young girl.

Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

Xu Yanli pretended to slowly wake up at the side.

"Where... where is this? I, what happened to me? I remember there was a red figure just a moment ago..." Xu Yanli coughed twice, his voice feigning weakness.

"You, you're awake? Are you alright?" Upon hearing the movement, Yan Shaozhe walked over and gently supported Xu Yanli's shoulders.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it's just that my soul power was exhausted," Xu Yanli said while coughing.

"You should rest here tonight; I have already secured the library pass for the inner courtyard for you," Yan Shaozhe said after a moment of hesitation, placing a token on the bedside. "However, could you keep today's events a secret?"

Xu Yanli nodded, then slowly lowered his head, appearing somewhat saddened from Yan Shaozhe's perspective.

"Student, student, please rest assured, I will compensate you for this matter. This pass was something I promised you previously, and furthermore, how about this: I will bring you here to the Golden Ancient Tree to cultivate for one day every week. How does that sound?" Yan Shaozhe said after a moment of thought.

Xu Yanli was stunned, not expecting the other party to offer such a high stake, even though it seemed to have little effect on him.

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Xu Yanli's mouth, then he slowly raised his head and said with a smile, "Then thank you, Dean Yan."

"Cultivate well. With your talent, you will be able to enter the inner courtyard sooner or later," Yan Shaozhe said, patting Xu Yanli's shoulder with a smile. "Enjoy the experience; cultivation here is truly comfortable."

Xu Yanli nodded, then watched Yan Shaozhe depart. He sat cross-legged and slowly began to sense the soul power in his surroundings.

Xu Yanli also felt a rich, dense force of life and light pouring into his body, which seemed to resonate slightly with his Sun Moon Holy Prayer Angel martial soul.

A small unicorn suddenly ran out from beside Xu Yanli, chirping "woo-ly, woo-ly" at him.

Xu Yanli slowly opened his eyes and stroked his little Soul Spirit. He could feel that his Soul Spirit seemed to be absorbing that life force, as if it were cultivating alongside him.

After patting its head, Xu Yanli closed his eyes once more to sense the surrounding life force. He had not expected that this time would actually lead to the Plane Life Core.

After Xu Yanli closed his eyes again, he arrived in a room filled with gold.

This place seemed to be saturated with the essence of life and light, but there was only gold here, with no other colors.

"Are you the Young Master?" an aged voice drifted over. "Are you the successor of the Goddess of Life?"

The aged voice seemed to explain further, as if fearing he might not understand.

Xu Yanli observed his surroundings, then looked at the somewhat aged back and said, "You are the Life Core, or rather, the soul of the Golden Ancient Tree?"

"Yes. Ever since I was transplanted here by the Sea God Tang San ten thousand years ago, I have been tasked with guarding Shrek Academy," the Golden Ancient Tree replied.

Then, as if realizing something, the Golden Ancient Tree said, "Young Master, please rest assured, I will always be loyal to the Goddess of Life, and I will always be loyal to you as well."

Xu Yanli was stunned for a moment before asking, "Will you truly be loyal to me?"

The Golden Ancient Tree remained silent for a moment, and then a dense surge of life force instantly poured into Xu Yanli's body.

To outsiders, it appeared as though the Golden Ancient Tree had suddenly erupted with golden radiance, flowing toward Xu Yanli.

Although it was only a small-scale convergence, these tiny golden light spots were the very source power of the Golden Ancient Tree.

"What is happening?" Xuan Zi put down the chicken leg in his hand and looked at Mu En beside him with a face full of confusion.

"It looks like a resonance of light. Not bad, not bad. Remember, cultivate this child well," Mu En's aged voice suddenly became exceptionally excited. "If in the future... no, that's not right, the Golden Ancient Tree seems to be..."

A look of disbelief appeared on Mu En's face. What was going on? What was the Golden Ancient Tree doing?

Why was it that when he had just felt a faint trace of killing intent toward Xu Yanli, he had sensed the Golden Ancient Tree's killing intent directed at him?

Xu Yanli felt the dense life force continuously pouring into his body, and a small angel mark slowly formed on the forehead of the Golden Ancient Tree's aged figure.

"I, the Golden Ancient Tree, am willing to serve you as my master today. Should I betray you, may my body and soul be extinguished," the Golden Ancient Tree said with extreme respect.

"Old one, please, rise quickly." Xu Yanli slowly opened his eyes and saw the humanoid consciousness of the Golden Ancient Tree kneeling on the ground, so he immediately helped him up.

There was no helping it; his remaining consciousness as a modern person made it impossible for him to accept an elderly person kneeling before him for so long.

Although people had knelt before him in the Sun Moon Empire, some of the people in the Sun Moon royal family had darker skin, so he hadn't felt much about it.

After Xu Yanli helped the Golden Ancient Tree up, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He smiled and said, "Rest assured, I won't ask you to do anything evil. I only hope that you can be obedient. If one day in the future Shrek Academy moves against me, I want you to stand on my side."

"Young Master, our plant race has always been loyal to the Goddess of Life, and furthermore, I am of the Golden Tree clan; we could be considered the High Priests of the Goddess of Life," the Golden Ancient Tree said.

"I believe you. However, from now on, I hope you can slowly reduce the life supply to the inner courtyard students so that they will be unable to absorb your life energy," Xu Yanli's eyes flashed with light.

"Yes," the Golden Ancient Tree said respectfully.

Xu Yanli waved his hand, "Very well, send me back now. I should come here to cultivate once every week; if there is anything, I will come to find you then."

The Golden Ancient Tree nodded and slowly sent Xu Yanli away from this core area.

Xu Yanli stroked his chin; the Golden Ancient Tree was truly an unexpected windfall.

If Shrek Academy lost the protection of the Golden Ancient Tree, then many things would become much easier to handle.

Without the Golden Ancient Tree, the defenses of Shrek Academy would be reduced by more than half, and on top of that, the Tang Buddha Ancestor was currently unable to contact the lower realm.