The Soul Tree

Xu Le gazed at the tree before him, then looked around. He discovered that this was the only spot with any light in the darkness.

And the source of that light was the tree in front of him.

The tree itself glowed with an eerie blue radiance.

It looked a little like a willow, and was about the same size, with branches drooping down one by one, dotted with leaves.

Unlike a willow, though, Xu Le could see fruit dangling from those branches.

As he studied the patterns and shapes of the fruit, Xu Le's eyes flickered slightly.

He reined in his emotions and took a deep breath.

"Phew. Don't be such a loser, great writer!"

After composing himself, Xu Le moved a little closer. Once he was close enough, his eyes turned blue as well.

A sensation like a mental connection arose in his mind.

For a moment, Xu Le felt as though he was the tree.

Or rather, that the tree was part of his body.

Curious, Xu Le slowly raised his right hand.

At the same time, a branch of the blue tree rose as well.

It was as though it was moving in sync with Xu Le's right hand.

Xu Le tentatively moved his arm in a circle, and the branch followed, tracing a circle of its own.

The result made Xu Le even more excited.

Perhaps...

No, there was still one last step.

Xu Le lowered his hand and slowly closed his eyes, maintaining that state of concentration.

In this dream space, that state was harder to attain than under normal circumstances.

The strangest thing was that he seemed to have trouble mustering strong emotions here.

Even positive feelings like excitement and happiness quickly faded.

It was as though, in this dream world, he always calmed down involuntarily.

"Relax. Don't be nervous. There's no one else here. This is my own dream. I should... be the master of this place."

After some self-suggestion, that burning sensation finally appeared.

But now, "burning" no longer seemed the right word. It felt more like a warm current.

Like the warmth flowing through his body after strenuous exercise.

Opening his eyes again, Xu Le looked toward the treetop.

[Guyinduo Soul Tree]

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it again after a while.

Xu Le's excitement lasted only an instant before his emotions became as still as an ancient well.

He extended his right hand, guiding the branch he could control toward a black fruit on the tree.

At a gentle touch, the fruit seemed to squirm slightly before his eyes, like a bashful child.

This time, Xu Le neither hesitated nor waited.

He wrapped the branch around the black fruit, forcibly pulled it free, and brought it before him.

[Guyinduo Fruit of Fear]

"It really is Guyinduo. A Fear Fruit, huh? Then what about the other fruit?"

Puzzled, Xu Le controlled the branch again and took stock of the remaining fruit.

There were three kinds of fruit here: black, red, and pink.

The black ones were Fear Fruits. Including the one in his hand, there were three and a half in total. The half was one that had not yet ripened.

The red fruit was called [Guyinduo Fruit of Anger].

After identifying these two types, Xu Le turned to the pink fruit, which was the most plentiful. There were sixteen of them.

Filled with anticipation, Xu Le touched a fruit with the branch.

[Guyinduo Fruit of Lust]

Xu Le: ?

He fell silent for a few seconds, then tried another.

[Guyinduo Fruit of Lust]

Xu Le: ...

He tried several more. Lust, lust, lust!

All right. All sixteen pink fruits were fruits of lust.

Xu Le fell silent again. Only when the floating, distorted text disappeared did he slowly look up, a peculiar look in his eyes.

"A kindred spirit?"

Though he had not figured out why there were so many fruits of lust here,

Xu Le suspected that these fruits might be connected to this body's experiences.

He did not know whether this place could connect to reality, but the sheer number of Guyinduo fruits still made Xu Le's mouth curve up slightly.

Yet his smile soon faded away of its own accord.

He was a little surprised. The things before him... were genuine treasures. Why couldn't he feel happy?

"Am I not happy enough because I know this is a dream?"

Xu Le shook his head. He was certain he was happy, but how could he put it?

It was as though that feeling of happiness had suddenly been drawn out of him.

As Xu Le puzzled over this, an idea suddenly sprang into his mind.

"Wait. Could this be what the Golden Toad wants? If these things are real..."

Xu Le gazed at the fruit in his hand. By now, he had a rough idea of what the Golden Toad wanted.

"It wants Guyinduo fruit? It disparages Gundo Relics while wanting Guyinduo fruit for itself. Even gods say one thing and mean another!"

The moment Xu Le finished speaking, a long tongue descended from the sky.

In this world, Xu Le's senses were exceptionally clear, without that mosaic-like, pixelated effect.

So he was certain that the tongue descending from the sky was a toad's curling tongue!

Nine golden rings were embedded in it.

The tongue touched the ground and began groping around, as though unable to sense its surroundings.

Xu Le watched the tongue curiously.

"Has the Golden Toad come looking for the tribute I promised earlier?"

Seeing that it was about to touch a Fear Fruit, Xu Le hurriedly controlled the branch and offered it a fruit of lust.

Once the tongue curled around the fruit, it quickly withdrew, as though it had found something satisfactory.

Xu Le looked over his remaining Guyinduo fruit and muttered to himself.

"In that case, this tribute business seems pretty simple."

Looking at the fruit, Xu Le recalled the parts of the original owner's memories concerning Guyinduo fruit.

There was too little information. All he knew was that these things were extremely valuable to supernatural beings.

But there was no information at all on how to use them.

He only knew that Guyinduo fruit could be eaten, but each person could eat just one.

Warlocks had a way to consume multiple Guyinduo fruits, but the original owner, an ordinary person, currently had no information about that.

Until he found a method, Xu Le could not eat the fruit here, because he had already eaten a Guyinduo fruit.

It was the reason the original owner and Old Zhou had tried to kill each other.

That fruit had been covered in unusual patterns, with a multicolored exterior, and after he ate it, everything around him had become distorted.

Xu Le did not know whether his ability to distort his vision and perceive information came from that multicolored Guyinduo fruit.

But one thing was certain: that fruit was far more advanced than the ones in this dream.

"Forget it!"

If he had no answer, he would give up for now. The things were here with him; they weren't going anywhere.

After returning the black Fear Fruit to its original place, Xu Le felt waves of intense fatigue wash over him.

His eyelids were like heavy floodgates, ready to fall at any moment.

Xu Le held out for a while, but the exhaustion soon overwhelmed him.

When he closed his eyes, the world of the tree faded away with them.