Lin Mo jumped a huge step backward in fright, and the shovel in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
A tender green shoot had broken through the damp soil.
In the few dozen seconds he had spent turning around to speak, the shoot had already grown wildly to nearly a meter tall!
And it was still growing upward at a speed that utterly defied the laws of physics and everything anyone knew about plants!
Its emerald stem kept rising and thickening, and tender green leaves unfurled from it.
Every leaf gave off specks of light, as though countless fireflies were dancing among its veins.
An indescribably fresh fragrance spread through the air. Just one breath of it made all the fatigue in their bodies feel swept away.
If this wasn't the World Tree, what was?!
"Hea... heavens..."
The usually composed Qian Zhenhua muttered to himself, his eyes behind his glasses filled with a shock that overturned his worldview. He had completely forgotten that he was a staunch materialist scientist.
"Record it! Quick! Record all the data!"
Liu Chengen was the first to react, roaring wildly at the researchers behind him.
He practically sprawled over a vital signs monitor, his eyes shining as he muttered incessantly.
"Growth rate: 3.2 centimeters per second... no, 3.5 centimeters! It's still accelerating!"
"The energy reading... it's off the charts! The instrument's maxed out!"
"Switch to a higher-range probe! What are you little brats standing around for?!"
The researchers snapped out of their daze and frantically operated the instruments around them, their keyboards clattering.
Probes from various sensors cautiously approached the sapling that was working a miracle.
Under everyone's fervent gaze, the World Tree sapling surged onward, soon passing two meters in height.
Its branches and leaves grew ever lusher, and the glow