Ancient Tree of Life Upgrade

In a forest on Spirit Island—

"First squad, ready!" Archer Captain Ina stared sternly at the pack of magical beasts before her, her left hand slightly raised and her eyes fixed on the beasts not far away.

"Fire!" Ina swung her left hand sharply, and a rain of arrows instantly shot forth. The beasts that had been resting were jolted awake by the sudden attack. Quite a few were wounded by the arrows, while some unlucky ones had arrows pierce their heads and died on the spot.

"Second squad, continuous fire!" Archer Captain Ina's voice rang out again. Unlike the Ina who seemed so thin-skinned before Huang Long, this was the true Archer Captain Ina—a cold-blooded woman with boundless passion hidden within her.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Wave after wave of arrows flew out. Before long, the archers' arrows had killed most of the magical beasts on the field. Only a few lucky ones barely escaped disaster as they fled for their lives.

"Clean up these magical beast corpses, then we'll head to the other locations!" Ina said coldly, her face utterly expressionless.

P.S. On this continent, magical beasts did not possess so-called crystal cores. The most precious things on this continent were the soul stones of the undead. As the saying went, extremes reversed; although the undead possessed immensely powerful death energy, the source of their strength was a soul stone containing life energy within their brains.

In truth, if Archer Captain Ina, a level-seven expert, had truly wanted to kill these magical beasts, she could have slaughtered them all without suffering so much as a scratch, though it would have taken some effort. But Ina did not do so, because she understood her master Huang Long's intentions. He wanted her to familiarize herself with training troops, so that when she fought separately from Huang Long in the future, she would not be left scrambling. That way, Huang Long would have no worries behind him.

"Hey, Yudian, why are you always so annoying? Why do you keep pestering me?" The Great Golden Roc looked displeasedly at Demon Hunter Yudian, his face full of impatience. To be honest, although the Great Golden Roc was wary of Demon Hunter Yudian's strength, it believed it had rendered the elves an enormous favor. Therefore, in its eyes, aside from the elven clan leader who controlled the Moon Well water and was worth currying favor with, everyone else ought to show it respect upon meeting it.

Yet for some reason, this Yudian before it showed not the slightest respect. Not only that, he constantly made things difficult for it. Even when it merely wanted to see the elven clan leader Huang Long and ask for some Moon Well water, Yudian obstructed it so relentlessly. This was simply intolerable!

"The clan leader is resting. Please do not disturb him!" Demon Hunter Yudian said elegantly, his expression calm yet carrying an unquestionable firmness.

In Yudian's heart, his thoughts toward the Great Golden Roc were exactly the same as Huang Long's: he was merely using it. The difference was that Demon Hunter Yudian wanted to cast it aside completely once it had served its purpose, while Huang Long intended to squeeze even more value out of it after using it. Each approach had its advantages and disadvantages.

"You!" The Great Golden Roc flew into a rage upon hearing Demon Hunter Yudian's words.

"Yudian, the Great Golden Roc is an honored guest. Treat him well. Lucy, bring Brother Great Golden Roc the Moon Well water Ina prepared!" A hearty laugh rang out from the crown of the Ancient Tree of Life. It was Huang Long.

"Rustle!" Light footsteps sounded, and a young elven woman appeared before the Great Golden Roc, holding a cup of Moon Well water and offering it to him.

The Night Elf named Lucy smiled and handed the cup to the Great Golden Roc. Her cheeks bloomed like flowers as she said, "Honored guest, this is the Moon Well water my master asked me to deliver to you. My master is cultivating and cannot receive visitors, so I hope you will forgive him."

The Great Golden Roc was delighted upon hearing this, and its face brightened considerably. In truth, it had come to ask for more Moon Well water. Now that its goal had been achieved, whether it saw Huang Long or not was unnecessary.

"Miss, you're much more sensible than that girl from before. Whenever she sees me, it's as though she's seen her nemesis. Work hard. If you follow Clan Leader Huang Long, you'll surely have a bright future."

Seeing Lucy treat it with such respect, the Great Golden Roc became rather smug.

"Then I'll have to hope Lord Great Golden Roc will offer me more guidance in the future," Lucy said slowly with a smile.

"Haha, girl, I like you very much. Don't worry, I'll look after you from now on. No one will dare bully you! Clan Leader Huang Long, this old roc will be taking his leave first!" As soon as it finished speaking, the Great Golden Roc spread its wings and soared into the sky.

"No need to see you off!" Huang Long's voice abruptly rang out.

"Haha, I'm off!" With that, it soon disappeared from sight.

Demon Hunter Yudian silently faced Lucy, his face devoid of expression. He merely turned and left shortly afterward.

"Lord Yudian, it was the master who told me to say that," Lucy said with a smile.

"Oh." Demon Hunter Yudian responded, then fell silent again and sat cross-legged nearby.

Lucy felt she had made a fool of herself, so she stopped bothering Demon Hunter Yudian and returned to her training grounds, focusing on practicing her archery.

Huang Long had also witnessed Lucy's performance from within the tree hollow. An inexplicable look flashed across his face. Though he was somewhat uncomfortable with Lucy's act, he was still satisfied with the result, so he said nothing more. Although Huang Long also knew that Demon Hunter Yudian, who had always preferred to act openly and honestly, was somewhat displeased, he could never bring himself to blame a subordinate who had done nothing wrong for the sake of another subordinate. Such obvious favoritism was something Huang Long could not do. Moreover, Huang Long firmly believed that Demon Hunter Yudian would never resent him because of this.

Turning his attention back, Huang Long looked toward the status panel. The gold production displayed there continued to rise.

Eighty thousand, eighty-one thousand, eighty-two thousand... ninety thousand, ninety-one thousand, ninety-two thousand,

Ninety-nine thousand,

One hundred thousand...

At that moment, Huang Long, who had remained silent all this while, finally laughed.

"Ancient Tree of Life, upgrade!" Huang Long softly gave the command. As the order was issued, the entire Ancient Tree of Life began to undergo tremendous changes in appearance.

After waiting painstakingly for five hours, the Ancient Tree of Life had finally upgraded.