Fifty-eight million li.
The number jumped there, and the Inner World suddenly stirred.
It was not collapsing, nor had it stalled. Instead, a muffled thud came from deep within the World Tree, as if something had been struck.
Chen Yan's consciousness sank, and he swiftly locked on to the source of that disturbance.
The World Tree's roots were rapidly splitting. A golden branch root broke away from the main root system and, with an extremely purposeful bearing, drove straight toward the deepest reaches underground.
Buried there was the Dragon Spirit's Life Casket.
The instant the golden branch root touched the rhombus crystal, the spatial patterns on the crystal's surface lit up, as if an invisible line had been drawn between the two.
Chen Yan observed quietly and did not interfere rashly.
A moment later, he understood.
The World Tree was absorbing the aura of spatial origin that leaked from the Life Casket—energy that had originally drifted away for nothing was now being taken in by the World Tree's roots without a single wisp escaping.
The Life Casket was not losing out either.
After absorbing the aura of spatial origin, the World Tree immediately fed back an equivalent amount of world origin power. The Life Casket's texture was quietly changing, the spatial patterns on its outer shell carving themselves deeper and deeper, while the fluctuations radiating from the entire crystal grew heavier and heavier.
This was quite a profitable deal. Neither side lost out.
Chen Yan had not guided it deliberately; the World Tree had found this point of balance on its own.
He thought about it and found the matter rather interesting.
The Dragon Spirit could revive after dying. Revival relied on the Life Casket, and the Life Casket was hidden inside the Inner World.
Now that the World Tree