Chapter 182

Under normal circumstances, this seed probably won't have sprouted by the time I'm buried.

However, since so many resources have already been invested, let's go all the way and use up the last drop of [Rain God's Tear].

Thinking of this, Shen Xing suppressed her heartache and dripped her tears onto the soil.

"Buzz..."

The golden light flashed and disappeared in an instant.

This time, there was silence for almost half a minute; the entire ancient tree seemed to have fallen asleep, completely still.

Just when Shen Xing thought that the tear had no magical effect, the ground suddenly began to shake.

"Boom... boom boom..."

The dull thud seemed to come from deep underground, causing the ground beneath their feet and the nearby city walls to tremble slightly.

Under Shen Xing's shocked gaze, the entire tree began to grow rapidly.

From its original height of just over twenty meters, it rapidly grew to twenty-five meters, thirty meters...

It sprinted for nearly forty meters before slowly coming to a stop.

At this moment, an ancient tree with a trunk diameter of nearly two meters stands in the south of the territory, its dense canopy resembling a giant, open canopy.

The bark remained that unremarkable grayish-brown, looking no different from any other large tree.

But Shen Xing could sense a powerful, sacred force awakening deep within the tree trunk!

[Ding! You have successfully become Golden Ancient Tree Seed, accelerating its growth cycle by 300 years!]

[The Golden Ancient Tree has passed its sapling stage and officially entered its growth period. Activate the Ancient Tree Blessing: Golden Child]

"Finally... we succeeded!"

Shen Xing was extremely excited; he almost thought that his three Rain God's Tear were going to go to waste.

After all, before this, no one knew how many years the Golden Ancient Tree would take to grow, and no one on the forum had ever planted one.

If we consider a timeframe of thousands or even tens of thousands of years, his resources are simply insufficient.

Fortunately, perseverance pays off, and this Golden Ancient Tree has finally begun to demonstrate its power!

"Let me see what kind of abilities this ancient tree, which took three drops of my Rain God's Tear to enter its growth stage, truly possesses!"

Shen Xing took a deep breath and then opened the ancient tree's panel.

[Golden Ancient Tree]

[Quality: Epic (Under Development)]

[Tree age: 300 years (growing period)]

[Ability: Golden Law (Not Activated)]

[Ancient Tree Blessing: Golden Child Lv1 (All members of the territory gain +5% to all attributes, +10 to potential)]

(Note: For every 100 years the tree ages, the Golden Child's talent level will increase by 1 level, and all attributes will be increased by 5%, with an additional +2 to aptitude, up to a maximum of 10 levels.)

"It's an ability that increases the attributes and aptitude of everyone! That's amazing!"

Shen Xing was overjoyed.

The sheer power of the initial 5% boost to all attributes is self-evident.

Just for this reason alone, the investment of 3 drops of [Rain God's Tear] is completely worthwhile.

After all, if it's used directly on a unit, it can only increase the attributes of three people by 15%!

This ability boosts the attributes of everyone, benefiting hundreds of troops in the territory, and even the slave laborers.

The total added value is on a completely different scale.

As for the subsequent +10 aptitude bonus, that's an incredibly powerful improvement.

As mentioned earlier, [aptitude] is a hidden attribute, but it affects every individual and even every living being.

In the Land of Mist, all creatures are born with different attributes.

For those types of soldiers, the higher their initial aptitude, the easier it is for them to awaken intelligence and the higher the probability of them learning skills.

Among them, Hellscream and Gorehowl are the most typical examples.

They were recruited along with the other orcs, but were much more intelligent.

The same applies to other troop types; those with higher potential have higher intelligence and are more worth training.

"There's a player on the forum who specializes in researching these hidden attributes."

"Besides [aptitude], there are also [luck], [charm], [critical hit rate], [critical hit damage], and so on..."

"Among these, qualifications are the easiest to access and quantify, so there is the most reference data, and a detailed table has even been compiled."

Shen Xing recalled the information from the forum and continued to think back.

According to this player, the stats can be roughly divided into several tiers.

"Points from 1 to 10 represent Common aptitude, and most initial units, slaves, and laborers fall into this category."

"10-30 is considered excellent. Some special unit types, such as werewolves, human archers, and half-dragons, fall within this range."

"Their initial intelligence was stronger, enabling them to execute some more complex instructions."

"30-50 is Excellent; this level of aptitude is beyond what initial unit types can achieve."

"Only by selecting some soldiers with good initial aptitude and then gradually training and enhancing their potential can this level be reached."

"Generally speaking, soldiers with this level of qualifications have the potential to become heroes."

"Then there's the 50-80 range; soldiers or civilians at this level often possess extremely high levels of expertise in certain areas."

"You can call him a genius, you can call him Master, truly one in a million."

"As for those above 80, they fall into the category of prodigies; there are probably only a handful in the entire world."

At this point in his analysis, Shen Xing suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "So it seems that the [Golden Child] blessing is truly heaven-defying!"

After all, it can increase the aptitude of all members of the territory by 10 points.

Even a newly recruited orc can be upgraded from Common to excellent.

Most importantly, this blessing effect can be increased as the tree ages, up to a maximum of level 10, for a total increase of 28 points!

What does this mean?

This means that any slave laborer he randomly recruits could possess at least 30 points of aptitude, making them potential heroes!

At that time, anyone he randomly picks in his territory will be Excellent talent, someone other territories would dream of.

A true gathering of talent, where everyone is a dragon among men!

"However, achieving this will not be so easy."

Shen Xing murmured softly, "We need to add another 900 years to the tree's age, which means we need to create nine more treasures like the Rain God's Tear."

"And this time, Leina defeated the Rain God Avatar, achieving a Legendary Rank feat, but she only received three drops."

"One can imagine how difficult it is to obtain a treasure of this caliber."

But regardless, this improvement is already quite significant.

"As expected of the Golden Ancient Tree, the most mysterious of the three ancient trees, its power is indeed earth-shattering."

"Moreover, this is only a small part of its power after it entered its growth stage."

"If it is allowed to fully mature, the entire territory will likely undergo a complete transformation because of it."

Shen Xing thought with anticipation.

As for why this Golden Ancient Tree looks so Common, no different from any other large tree...

Shen Xing speculated that this might be a way for the Golden Ancient Tree to protect itself.

Ancient trees in their juvenile and growth stages are completely incapable of fighting; if they are discovered by others, they will suffer greatly.

Therefore, they hide their appearance until they truly grow into towering trees, at which point they reveal their original magnificent appearance.

Of course, this is also a good thing for Shen Xing.

After all, if other lords knew that there was a legendary Golden Ancient Tree in their territory, it might cause unnecessary trouble.

"Clap clap!"

Shen Xing clapped his hands and said with satisfaction, "Very good, I've finished checking the rewards from the Rain God Illusory Realm."

"Next, let's do something more important."

That is, breaking through to the Tier Two!

After all, he had already reached the peak of level 9 a few days ago, and the Lord's Heart was ready.

Once the challenge ends, you can advance to the next level.

"According to the system description, I need to come to the Bonfire and absorb the power of this Lord's Heart."

"Then, by connecting consciousness with the Bonfire and merging the lord's will with the territory, one can step into the realm of the Transcendent."

With that in mind, Shen Xing pushed his wheelchair and headed towards the center of the territory.

The level 2 Great Bonfire is still being upgraded and is enveloped in a white light.

He parked the wheelchair about a meter away from the Bonfire, and a red light flashed on his right hand.

A crystal-clear [Lord's Heart], with red liquid flowing inside, appeared in the palm of his hand.

"Snap!"

With a forceful twist of his fingers, the crystal shattered instantly, spewing out a thick red mist.

"Suck!"

Shen Xing took a deep breath, like a whale inhaling water, absorbing the entire mass of red mist into his body.

In an instant, an extremely Chill and chilling energy erupted from his chest, spreading to his limbs and bones.

It felt as if I had fallen into an ice cellar, and my body became incredibly stiff.

Just then, a wisp of orange flame emerged from the roaring Bonfire.

It arrived swiftly, like a serpent, and quickly spread throughout the body.

Shen Xing looked like she was on fire.

Strangely, the flame wasn't scorching hot; instead, it gave people a very comfortable and warm feeling.

It was as if it was neutralizing the Chill, yin energy within the body.

He closed his eyes and began to let the two forces merge within his body, enjoying the strange sensation of being cold inside and hot outside.

One minute...