White Holy Tree

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, House Flint's castle, Dream World.

After the victory feast ended, Eddard went to his bedroom early. Sometimes, he even preferred staying in the Dream World, because he could do more things there and explore an unknown new world.

By now, Eddard finally understood why Blue Star had those mad scientists who forgot to eat or sleep for their research. When an unknown field, or one no one had ever touched before, appeared, that sense of satisfaction and achievement really could drive someone mad.

That was exactly how Eddard felt now. As his exploration and understanding of the Dream World deepened, this world lifted its mysterious veil for him little by little. In the Dream World, Eddard could do so very many things. In a certain sense, he truly was like a god.

After he lay down on the bed, that familiar sensation appeared in Eddard's mind again. Immediately afterward, he "flew" toward a location with no fixed direction, as though riding a roller coaster. An unknown amount of time passed.

An enormous Weirwood appeared before Eddard. Sensing his arrival, its red, palm-shaped leaves swayed in this twisted space, seemingly welcoming him.

The Dream World remained just as it had been before. That feeling, part real and part illusory, made it difficult for Eddard to distinguish whether this was illusion or reality. If it was an illusion, the five senses of his twisted body felt so real.

Yet if it was reality, the Twisted Souls constantly wailing around him had a hazy quality to them. The surrounding sense of chaos and unreality was also exactly like what Eddard felt in dreams. Perhaps this world itself existed in a state somewhere between reality and dreams!

"Ma... master..."

After Eddard landed in the area where the Weirwood stood, a faint mental message came directly to him. Last time, the situation had been too urgent, and Eddard had not spoken much with this fellow.

Since Eddard had given it no orders, the enormous Weirwood had spent this time continuing its work of transformation, returning the Twisted Souls in the Dream World to their original forms.

"Hmm... hello! Uh... do you have a name?"

Eddard greeted the Weirwood, but since he did not know what to say, his words sounded somewhat strange. The Weirwood was also affected by his words and could only send him a somewhat confused mental message.

Left with no choice, Eddard could only use Skinchanging to enter the Weirwood's current soul conglomeration so he could communicate with it better. As vast amounts of information flooded in, Eddard's perception twisted in waves, as though it were about to be scattered.

The Weirwood in the Dream World had the same structure as those in the Real World: roots, trunk, branches, and leaves. The enormous Weirwood's roots plunged deep into the chaotic, twisted depths of the Dream World. As those twisted, venomous souls wandered, they would become entangled in its netlike roots, which would then absorb them little by little.

After a period of transport and conversion, these Twisted Souls would become leaflike entities. The leaves would then carry those wisps of restored souls back to the Real World. The Weirwoods with faces carved into them on Westeros had been performing this "work" for hundreds and thousands of years.

These souls, which entered the Real World along with the leaves, would become Children of the Forest again at a certain time, or become other creatures and trees. But as time passed, the Children of the Forest's city in the woods was also destroyed in their war with humans, so in the later stages,

The Children of the Forest thus lost the chance to gain new members. This world still held many secrets, and the Children of the Forest might merely have been that small portion of beings who wielded mysterious powers. Yet all of this would gradually disappear with humanity's rise.

Perhaps one day, magic would reappear, or perhaps it would disappear completely. But now that Eddard had come here and already held the key to opening the gates of magic, he would not let it disappear.

Because this mighty power truly was too fascinating. Especially when Eddard watched those Twisted Souls being transformed little by little, the strange sensation of souls being crushed bit by bit and reshaped made him feel as though he had glimpsed this world's greatest secret.

For an instant, Eddard even had the feeling that he could shape souls. Yet as that thought flashed past, some different ideas sprang up like shoots after rain.

Since this conversion process was relatively slow, could Eddard modify it and directly use these terrifying, Twisted Souls for transformation?

The Others had come into existence because the Children of the Forest had misused Twisted Souls. Their method of creating Others was no secret. On the contrary, it was relatively simple. In short, it was a special form of Skinchanging that treated dragonglass housing a Twisted Soul as a special kind of soul entity and then implanted it into a human body.

Later, the main reason the Children of the Forest failed and suffered a backlash from the Others was that they had placed no restraints on the dragonglass during the ritual. Or perhaps they had indeed added restraints, but the first Others had broken them.

As his thoughts became clear, Eddard began considering how to modify these Twisted Souls. After Skinchanging into this Weirwood in the Dream World, his perception had completely synchronized with it.

Thus, the first method Eddard thought of was to use this Weirwood as a conversion medium to transform those Twisted Souls into a controllable new species, or a new kind of existence.

This Weirwood was composed of countless immortal souls. Over time, the souls of these Children of the Forest had completely merged into a single whole. But because so much time had passed, and because the Dream World lacked a complete concept of time, this Weirwood had been left with only certain programmed forms of awareness.

Yet it was precisely this factor that had allowed Eddard to benefit and made certain modifications easier for him. The souls of the Children of the Forest that returned to the Real World were extremely powerful, but having lost their physical vessels, most could ultimately only choose to inhabit Weirwoods or ravens. That was far too wasteful.

Since there were so many souls here, Eddard could certainly transform this Weirwood into something resembling a computer and have these soul conglomerations help him perform all manner of simulations.

Soon, under Eddard's control, the enormous Weirwood began to be modified little by little. As the memories within Eddard's perception poured in, the Weirwood's consciousness conglomeration gradually changed as well. Eddard would use his memories of Blue Star as the foundation, supplemented by the demon B'lack's memories and various miscellaneous memories, to transform it into an existence resembling a human brain.

As the modifications were completed bit by bit, the Weirwood's consciousness conglomeration began to grow fuller. With the development of logic and judgment, this wondrous creature, which had been little different from an ordinary large tree, began to undergo different changes.

After an unknown length of transformation, a rather pleasant female voice abruptly appeared near Eddard's perception. It felt as though a gentle, attentive, beautiful woman were speaking beside his ear.

"Greetings, honored master. I am your most faithful servant, White Holy Tree. I am delighted to serve you. My basic functions have been configured. You may issue instructions to me at any time."

White Holy Tree was the name Eddard had specifically given this Weirwood consciousness conglomeration he had modified. To allow this fellow to assist him better in the future, Eddard had imported almost all the knowledge in his memories into her. At present, White Holy Tree possessed logical simulation abilities and simple powers of judgment and thought. Her logical abilities had been derived by imitating the power of Eddard's Golden Eye, while her simple judgment and thinking abilities came from the memories within Eddard's body.

"Hahaha, good, very good. White Holy Tree, help me run a simulation now. Can the demon sealed in my left hand be transformed?"

"Received. Running a simulation on the demon B'lack's soul conglomeration. Physical component: 30%. Soul component: 30%. Other unknown components: 40%..."

This consciousness conglomeration of the demon B'lack had come from his original physical body. Because he had been sealed for too long, and because Eddard had appeared so suddenly, the demon B'lack had been left with no choice but to throw caution to the wind and pour all his power into the Dream World.

The demon B'lack had originally intended to eliminate Eddard in one stroke. What he had not expected was to suffer such a major setback at Eddard's hands, ultimately giving Eddard all the benefits for nothing. Although he had left quite a few contingencies elsewhere, he had only this one physical body.

"Honored master! Analysis complete. Based on the analysis and simulation of the demon B'lack, White Holy Tree believes there is an 80% chance of successfully transforming him. However, White White Holy Tree recommends that master modify the demon B'lack into an existence like a Demonspawn."

Sure enough, with White Holy Tree's help, Eddard saved himself considerable effort. Moreover, when Eddard Skinchanged into White Holy Tree, she could use some of his abilities. With the aid of her powerful consciousness conglomeration, her simulation efficiency was considerably greater than when Eddard used them himself.

"Demonspawn? Uh... do you mean the Demonspawn from that world?"

After he received an affirmative answer, White Holy Tree's plan also appeared in full before Eddard. An image of a twisted creature composed of strange energy appeared near his perception as well.

Demonspawn came from Brenham World. They were powerful demonic creatures capable of devouring flesh and souls to produce countless offspring. Like queen ants among demons, they were an extremely formidable demonic race in Brenham.

This was a creature somewhat similar to a hive in the game StarCraft. Its rotund body accounted for nearly two-thirds of all its organs, and its six enormous, barbed tentacles looked extremely intimidating.

Through White Holy Tree's demonstration, Eddard understood how this creature fed and reproduced. According to her modification plan, the demon B'lack would become an existence similar to White Holy Tree's current state, continuously absorbing and capturing Twisted Souls to produce creatures of pure energy.

Once they were successfully created, Eddard would then guide these creatures through the corresponding manifestation or parasitism rituals, allowing them to truly appear in the Real World. This would not only purify the Twisted Souls, but also genuinely help Eddard. It could be called achieving several things at once.

"Ah, then does that mean the consciousness in the dragonglass in my right hand can be modified too? Oh! Right, can the piece of dragonglass at my chest with something sealed inside it be modified this way too?"

"Honored master! Your idea is very good, but I still recommend that we proceed little by little, because my control over this area is not yet stable enough. These three consciousnesses are each more powerful than the last, and the chances of them going out of control are all around 90%. According to your previous settings, we may only attempt it if the probability of an abnormal situation falls below 20%."

After hearing White Holy Tree's reply, Eddard's somewhat excited mood gradually subsided. If certain uncontrollable powers could not be used by him, they would only become disasters.

Thus, after reviewing White Holy Tree's simulation, Eddard directly gave the order to begin the modification. Under White Holy Tree's control, the sealed demon B'lack in his left hand moved outward little by little.

"Aaaooh..."

As the demon B'lack's seal emerged, waves of terrifying soul-wails appeared in Eddard's perception. Immediately afterward, Eddard felt the oppression and suffocation that had filled this area instantly weaken considerably.

This was the normal reaction of the surrounding Twisted Souls upon encountering a demon. To these Twisted Souls, demons were natural predators. Demons' powerful mental strength and ability to interfere with matter made them the natural enemies of souls, creatures of pure energy. Demons could casually toy with these terrifying creatures as easily as humans crushed ants.

But after noticing the demon B'lack's condition, those powerful Twisted Souls that had fled came running back. They howled, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, seemingly trying to regain a little confidence from the demon B'lack to cover up their disgraceful flight just now.

"Awooo..."

Neither Eddard nor White Holy Tree had any interest in watching these pitiful beings' disgraceful behavior. Under Eddard's manipulation, the tumorlike demon B'lack began to change. The powerful consciousness on Eddard's left hand emitted waves of almost tangible mental fluctuations. At the same time, Eddard unleashed his perception in full, guiding those powerful mental fluctuations to modify the demon B'lack's half-real, half-illusory body.