I Am Overlord c1-962

by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu

  Hence, he naturally had to make good use of this environment. Compared to when he first comprehended the profundity of powers, he now held many advantages, such as his previous experiences, the Desolation mantra, and the Light of Wisdom. All these would help increase his comprehension speed, and he did not wish to waste these advantages.

  The profundity of powers was not something one could comprehend as one wished. To do that, he had to first gain a full understanding of wood. He absorbed the wood energy in his surroundings unceasingly as he slowly sensed the changes in the wood energy, studying the essence of wood.

  The power of wood represented life. There was a saying that even a dead tree carries a spring within it. That saying hinted at the essence of wood. Of course, the power of wood also had other properties, for wood was also tough and durable, gentle and flexible, and so on.

  One could say that these properties were common knowledge, but it wouldn't be easy to fully understand them.

  Using the Light of Wisdom, Xiang Shaoyun thought of a method to increase his comprehension speed—by utilizing the nature of the five main elements that naturally supported and countered each other.

  He had comprehended the profundity of water. Using the power of water, he nourished the burnt tree barks around him, injecting life into the bark once again, allowing him to observe the growth of wood.

  It was a pity that this was not a peaceful land. He would not be able to cultivate in peace. Not far from him, sounds of activity break out.

  Chapter 834: Intelligent Tiny Tree

  Without even looking, Xiang Shaoyun could sense that behind him was a greenhead lizard. The greenhead lizard was about seven meters long. Its green head was massive, and its entire body was green. It was perfectly camouflaged among the vegetation, making it hard to detect.

  This was most definitely an Emperor greenhead lizard. Its scales were extremely thick and could block blades. Its massive pair of eyes were focused on Xiang Shaoyun while its tongue flickered about, exuding a bloodthirsty aura.

  It slowly approached, and when it saw that Xiang Shaoyun did not react, it was confident that this human would be its next meal.

  Whoosh!

  Moving cautiously, the lizard shot out its tongue before it even arrived, trying to swallow Xiang Shaoyun with one attack. Right as the tongue was about to reach Xiang Shaoyun, he suddenly shifted away. Using the side of his palm, he chopped at the thick tongue.

  Using the palm as a blade, Xiang Shaoyun severed the tongue, causing the lizard to whine in pain. The lizard was infuriated and pounced at Xiang Shaoyun, moving nimbly and violently. It arrived before him in a flash.

  Instead of moving out of the way, Xiang Shaoyun met the advance with a punch. His fist shot out like a tyrannical dragon soaring out of the sea. The jaws of the lizard were smashed apart, and after several punches, the lizard was dead.

  Xiang Shaoyun thought that he would win some peace after killing the lizard, but it had actually attracted more trouble. Devil trees, devil vines, and others appeared to consume the lizard corpse. The scene of the plants devouring the lizard intrigued Xiang Shaoyun. Apart from that, some green poison bees also appeared, giving him a fright.

  These green poison bees had extremely sharp stingers. When they attacked together, they were akin to a volley of numerous arrows being launched. Furthermore, these bees were highly poisonous.

  Why is this damn place so dangerous? Xiang Shaoyun grumbled inwardly.

  He did not dare to waste any time thinking and directly killed the bees with his mighty combat prowess. But when Xiang Shaoyun fought the bees, the trees and vines worked together to attack him, trying to take him down.

  Protecting himself with his Goldplates and attacking with flame attacks, he was capable of both offense and defense. He waged war on these plants and bugs, causing absolute chaos in his surroundings.

  Even so, he wasn't having an easy time. The trees and vines seemed capable of growing endlessly, interfering and preventing him from unleashing any powerful attacks. The bees also seemed endless, as there was no end to them.

  Xiang Shaoyun quickly used the power of wind and lightning to crush everything around him into smithereens. Numerous bees were sent flying away, and the rain of lightning basted away the trees and vines. By the time he once again resolved the danger around him, his points had grown greatly.

  "Money, come out!" Xiang Shaoyun released Money.

  Money had been spending all his time digesting the dragon bone recently. His strength had reached a terrifying level, and Xiang Shaoyun did not wish for Money to keep slacking. Thus, he was planning to let Money temper himself here.

  Money was somewhat unwilling to leave, but he had no choice but to obey and keep watch for Xiang Shaoyun.

  "Vicious One, Two, and Three, come out as well," Xiang Shaoyun released the three birds after some thought.

  Even though the three beasts were only late-stage Demon Kings and were probably too weak to survive, Xiang Shaoyun still wished to give them more combat experience. With Money as the leader, the four stood guard while Xiang Shaoyun sank into cultivation once again.

  With his cultivation method, he continued absorbing the wood energy around him, rapidly increasing his understanding of the power of wood. At this time, changes started happening to the tiny tree in his astral cosmos sea. It was seemingly trying to communicate that it wanted to come out.

  Xiang Shaoyun had not imagined that the tiny tree would actually have intelligence. The tiny tree started shining brightly, exuding strands of pure energy throughout the astral cosmos sea, giving him a soothing and comfortable sensation.

  Xiang Shaoyun had known that the tiny tree was special, but he had never expected it to be this unique. After a slight hesitation, he released the tiny tree and said, "I hope you don't disappoint me."

  After it was released, the tiny tree started rapidly absorbing the wood energy in the area. A massive amount of wood energy converged around it at a speed that gave even Xiang Shaoyun a shock.

  He was a late-stage Emperor who could rapidly absorb energy, but when compared to this tiny tree, his speed was still nothing. Perhaps not even a Sovereign could absorb energy faster.

  Soon, the tiny tree started glowing again, creating ripples of green radiance that enveloped the area around it.

  Beside the tiny tree, Xiang Shaoyun could sense a concentration of exceedingly pure wood energy around him. The purity of the newly gathered wood energy was much higher than what he had gathered. It was almost completely pure.

  After absorbing the wood energy, the tiny tree's branches and leaves started slowly changing. Evidently, it was growing healthily.

  "Good fellow. If I can meditate on the energy here for a while, comprehending the profundity of wood won't be anything difficult," said Xiang Shaoyun in excitement.

  Just as he was about to sit down cross-legged, he found many plants approaching them, including numerous old devil trees. They had tough trunks and branches, showcasing their age. They seemed rather interested in the tiny tree as their branches reached over toward the tiny tree.

  When Xiang Shaoyun was about to stop them, he sensed the energy around the tiny tree shifting into a powerful defensive barrier, stopping the devil trees' approach.

  "This little fellow can't be a young devil tree, right?" Xiang Shaoyun wondered.

  Alas, although the tiny tree wasn't weak, its defensive barrier was destroyed after the old devil trees personally acted. As a response, the tiny tree quickly hid behind Xiang Shaoyun, rendering him speechless. Now was not the time for him to think. He had to first deal with these old devil trees. He took out his saber and swung at the old tree branches.

  Cling! Clank!

  To his surprise, the saber actually failed to sever the branches. Instead, a series of sharp clanking sounds rang out. He finally realized that things might be getting troublesome.

  Chapter 835: Divine Tree of Life

  The old devil trees had extremely tough branches. Furthermore, their
branches were extending at a rapid speed and instantly surrounded the tiny tree. Some other branches started swinging at Xiang Shaoyun heavily.

  During the moment of crisis, Money roared and spat out a large clump of lightning energy, bombarding the branches. However, even he failed to push the branches away.

  The interruption bought Xiang Shaoyun a tiny respite. No longer daring to hold back, he used saber intent and human saber unity, bombarding the devil trees with boundless lightning attacks.

  Xiang Shaoyun had never gotten the chance to fight at full power since reaching sixth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm. These old devil trees had probably reached the strength of a Sovereign. He had to try his best against them.

  In the past, he was only able to attract about 100 bolts of lightning. Now, he was able to attract hundreds of lightning bolts, creating an ocean of lightning that wreaked havoc among the devil trees.

  The more he fought, the more vigorous he seemed. He created such a big ruckus that some other disciples not far away also sensed him.

  These disciples were all the prodigies of the Dragon Phoenix Academy. All of them were currently surrounded by dangers. Thus, they naturally wished to locate their friends and work together to earn more points. Of course, if they encountered those they disliked, they would act unhesitatingly to eliminate them and reduce their competition.

  There were many beings capable of threatening the disciples in the primary-grade Dragon Phoenix Battleground, but those capable of posing any threat to the likes of Xiang Shaoyun were few.

  Xiang Shaoyun's rampage destroyed even the roots of the devil trees surrounding him, leaving only a few old devil trees that had relied on their massive trunks to survive. Even so, they weren't in good condition.

  They no longer bothered him and tried escaping, but the tiny tree suddenly went on the offensive. Several tiny branches extended and shot toward several directions, directly piercing the old devil trees' branches.

  Xiang Shaoyun did not know what the tiny tree was trying to do, but he soon saw the old devil trees withering. His eyes twitched as he noticed that the tiny tree looked even lusher than before. However, the tiny tree still remained at the same height.

  It came as a complete surprise to him that the tiny tree could absorb the old devil trees' strength in this manner. His suspicions that it was a tiny devil tree intensified.

  He soon stopped caring upon sensing the tiny tree's unique life force, which was an extremely pure power of origin. When he sensed it, it improved his comprehension of the profundity of wood. He had a feeling that by staying beside the tiny tree and sensing its changes, comprehending the profundity of wood would pose him no trouble whatsoever.

  Unfortunately, before he could even enter meditation, some new disturbances arrived. This time, it was several Dragon Phoenix Academy disciples who had appeared near him.

  When he discovered that they weren't Overlord Legion members, he warned, "Don't look for trouble."

  He made his attitude very clear as he did not wish to be disturbed. After some hesitation, the disciples decided to leave as they did not dare to approach him. They were very clear they weren't Xiang Shaoyun's match. If he wasn't strong, how would he dare to go against the likes of Yu Ziyang and Huang Tianji?

  After they left, Xiang Shaoyun hesitated for a bit before walking away in a random direction. He did not want to stay as he believed that there was definitely a much safer and peaceful area here where he could focus on comprehending the profundity of wood.

  After roaming about for two days with the tiny tree, he finally found a quiet place to hole up temporarily.

  The place he found was the territory of a powerful demonic beast. He had killed the demonic beast, and after cleaning up its cave, he used the cave as his temporary cultivation spot.

  He kept the tiny tree planted beside him while Money and the three birds guarded the cave entrance. He started observing the tiny tree, observing its every change. While doing so, he also sensed the properties of wood. Numerous inspirations rose in his mind as he started increasing his comprehension of the power of wood.

  As for the tiny tree, it crazily absorbed the energy around it, creating a convergence of highly pure wood energy that greatly benefited Xiang Shaoyun. While greedily absorbing the pure wood energy, he deeply immersed himself in the true meaning of wood.

  After an unknown amount of time, he saw the tiny tree shining with a radiant glow that looked incredibly mystical and holy. His eyes widened as he gasped, "I-Is this the divine tree of life?"

  The divine tree of life was one of the most mystical trees in existence. A single leaf from this tree could revive the dead, while a single piece of its roots could increase one's lifespan and preserve one's youth by thousands of years. In the legends, if one could refine one such tree into one's body, one would obtain an immortal body. This was definitely a divine tree that everyone yearned for.

  From the powerful life force the tree was emanating and the holy radiance it was glowing with, Xiang Shaoyun guessed that this tiny tree was a divine tree of life. Of course, he still wasn't fully confident he was right.

  Regardless, his eyes were still instantly filled with excitement. He would reap endless benefits by keeping such a tree by his side. He considered fully refining the tiny tree, but he decided to forget that thought for now.

  He was still young, with his body at its peak. If he continued his rapid advancement, he could reach the Heaven Battling Realm or higher. At that time, he would have a much longer lifespan, and there would be no need to waste using this tree for himself.

  If he allowed the divine tree of life to be independent, it could continue growing and would provide him with even more benefits. The lightning liquid and emperor-grade spring water weren't even comparable to a single leaf in terms of healing power.

  Xiang Shaoyun tossed all that to the back of his mind and continued focusing on studying the energy around the divine tree. Soon, he entered a miraculous state of meditation.

  His current sensation couldn't be expressed with words. It was as if he was observing the growth process of all living beings, watching how life force accumulated bit by bit into a lifeline, watching how life distributed itself in a life form's body, granting life to that life form, allowing that life form to mature and grow.

  Time passed, and the wood energy in Xiang Shaoyun's body became denser and denser. The energy lingered around his body instead of entering his star. The energy permeated his flesh and meridians, transforming into a sort of life force that increased his body's vigor.

  The power of wood represented the power of life. That was something many understood, but few could truly comprehend the meaning behind it. Finally, Xiang Shaoyun succeeded in comprehending the profundity of wood. His comprehension of all nine powers had thus been completed.

  He planned to continue deepening his comprehension, but he suddenly heard Money's shout coming from outside the cave. He was forced to end his meditation session.

  Chapter 836: Profundity of Wood

  Xiang Shaoyun had been fully focused on comprehending the profundity of wood, so he had not noticed anything that was happening outside the cave. If it wasn't for Money's warning shout, he wouldn't have noticed anything.

  He kept the tiny tree away and left the cave. He saw about a dozen people ganging up on Money. The three birds were completely looked down upon, but the three were also seriously injured to the point they could barely move. If it wasn't for Money protecting them, they would have died by now.

  Looking at those people, Xiang Shaoyun found that he did not know any of them. Without any hesitation, he charged out and yelled, "You're courting death! You dare to harm my brothers?"

  Without wasting any time speaking nonsense with them, Xiang Shaoyun rushed them with a quick footwork and blasted them with his merciless punches. They had just seen that the newcomer was Xiang Shaoyun and couldn't even react before three of them were sent flying.

  "It's Xiang Shaoyun! Stop! We're members of Crushing S
ky!" one of them cried out in alarm.

  "I don't care who you are. You dare harm my brothers, so you will die," said Xiang Shaoyun. He continued attacking and sent two more people flying away while spitting blood.

  "Leave, the leader will avenge us!" shouted the leader.

  They started fleeing in a disorderly fashion. Those failing to escape were forced to crush their protective jades and leave the battleground entirely. If they reacted any slower, Xiang Shaoyun might have directly killed them.

  Xiang Shaoyun intended to give chase, but after some hesitation, he decided against it. He wasn't afraid of Zhan Wushuang since he also looked forward to fighting Zhan Wushuang. He was already a sixth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. With his combat prowess, he could surpass any Emperor. Coupled with the might of his Nether Soul Domain, he did not fear Zhan Wushuang.

  He did not give chase because Money's injuries weren't too serious and the three birds needed urgent care. There was no point wasting time chasing after those people. When he took a look at the three birds' injuries, he found that their injuries were rather heavy, further infuriating him.

  He said, "Regardless of whether the Crushing Sky people did this intentionally, I won't spare them."

  Xiang Shaoyun was about to feed them some spring water when he recalled that he had already comprehended the profundity of wood. It was time to put it to the test. He placed both his palms on Vicious One's wound and started gathering the wood energy around them. With the profundity of wood, he started applying the wood energy to Vicious One's wound.

  Vicious One felt much better, and soon, his wound started closing up.

  "Sure enough, the power of wood represents life and works well in healing. However, it is somewhat weak in terms of attack," muttered Xiang Shaoyun.

  Very few people could use the power of wood to heal others. Most could only use it to hasten their own recovery. To do what Xiang Shaoyun just did, one needed to comprehend the profundity of wood. Otherwise, one wouldn't be able to do it even if one was highly skilled at manipulating the power of wood.