Chapter 1092 - 888: 18 Million Points (2)

He used his Spiritual Power to carefully scan inside and outside the cave. After confirming there were no threats, he set up a warning Witch Array Text at the entrance, then sat cross-legged against the rock wall, entering the Light God Court.

The surface of the Spring of Life had expanded several laps, the water glowing with a gentle pale golden ripple under the reflection of the Fluorescent Ore.

At the center of the spring, the World Tree Seedling had already grown to the height of his knees. Three slender branches extended from its thin stem, each branch laden with thumb-sized young green leaves, with extremely fine pale golden light threads flowing through the veins.

The seedling’s roots dug deep into the soil beneath the spring, covering the entire spring bottom with a pale golden root network.

Wherever the root network passed, the soil became more fertile and stable. Small plant shoots had already sprouted at the edge of the root network, their tender leaves unfolding under the soft halo of the Divine Court.

The concentration of Life Energy permeating the air was several times higher than before, with every breath feeling like waves of Life Force warmed by the tide flowing into his lungs, circulating through his blood vessels and Magic Circulation throughout his body.

The spatial boundary of the entire Divine Court was continuously expanding outwards, expanding from over ten thousand square kilometers to nearly twenty thousand square kilometers. The newly emerged land was covered with dense grass and low shrubs, exuding vibrant green under the soft halo of the Divine Court.

After confirming the state of the World Tree, the Duke exited the Light God Court. The World Tree indeed had a feast this time.

Such Wise Stone Ore Veins were simply the perfect nourishment for the World Tree.

The Duke raised his left hand, activating the Divine Revelation Mark’s leaderboard.

A translucent light screen silently unfolded before his eyes, and his score had jumped to a level that even made him raise an eyebrow.

Over eighteen million points.

The second-place score was merely several hundred thousand, not even a fraction of his score.

Looking further down, the five Demigod Level scores hovered around several hundred thousand.

The Duke gazed at that string of numbers for a while, roughly estimating in his mind.

After searching the Count’s Treasure Vault in the first layer, he gathered Wise Stone, War Statues, and three Royal Treasures, which altogether amounted to only several hundred thousand points.

However, this time in the second layer, after plundering Wise Stone Ore in the mining area, he nurtured the World Tree Seedling from three leaves to knee-high, and his score jumped directly to over eighteen million.

Now he could proceed directly to the third layer, but he saw no rush.

Anyway, no one had obtained the key to the third layer yet, so he could continue plundering more Wise Stone Ore Veins in the second layer.

The World Tree needed an enormous amount of resources to continue growing, and this seedling, now only knee-high, still had an exceedingly long way to go before becoming a true World Tree.

These Wise Stone Ore Veins were just too suitable for him, and he planned to stay a while longer in the second layer, aiming to plunder more mining areas to store enough Life Energy for future growth of the World Tree.

The growth of the World Tree also brought an unexpected gain for the Duke, so he immersed his consciousness into his Spiritual Sea and glanced at the Skill Tree.

The six Rule Branches of Elemental Rules at the top of the Skill Tree’s canopy had also made progress during this period, with each advancing a bit further.

[Fire Rules: LV2 (1412/20000)]

[Rule of Darkness: LV2 (1891/20000)]

[Rule of Light: LV2 (1756/20000)]

[Earth Rules: LV2 (2933/20000)]

[Wind Rules: LV2 (1234/20000)]

[Rule of Water: LV2 (1212/20000)]

These six branches stabilized at the LV2 level after advancing to Level 3 Middle Stage, and since then, each made further progress under the continuous battles and resource scouring in the Elderlands. The fastest progress was in the frequently used Earth Rules.

However, at that moment, his gaze did not linger long on these six branches.

Next to the six elemental branches, the entirely verdant Life Rule Branch had grown to the same robust thickness as the Earth Rules branch.

The pale golden light threads flowing on the branch surface were now several times denser than before, with each thread forming a complete Life Rules vein, extending from the base of the branch to the tip, and then looping back to the base, forming an endless cycle.

The marking on the Skill Tree was clearly reflected in his consciousness.

[Life Rules: LV2 (10234/20000)].

Halfway through LV2, Level 3 Middle Stage.

This number had surpassed the proficiency of all his six Elemental Rules, leaving the previously leading Earth Rules far behind.

The Duke took a deep breath, feeling the steady and powerful pulse of Life Rules in his Spiritual Sea.

This was the feedback from the World Tree, which directly fed back to him a deeper level of Rule Enlightenment after its growth.

Each time he placed Wise Stone Ore into the Divine Court, while the World Tree Seedling absorbed Life Energy, it would, through the Slave Contract, pass onto him a highly pure insight into Life Rules.

This insight was unlike knowledge infusion; rather, it connected him with the World Tree Seedling in that moment, allowing him to feel the emergence, growth, unfolding, and flourishing of life from the perspective of a tree.

This level of enlightenment far exceeded anything he could attain from a Key of Rules or meditative labor, directly pushing his Life Rules from Level 3 Initial Stage to beyond half of Level 3 Middle Stage.

After reaching Level 3 Middle Stage in Life Rules, his control over his own Life Force ascended another level.

Now, even regrowing a limb would take just a few breaths.

And if he managed to push the Life Rules up another level, he might attempt the Seven-Color Fusion for the first time.

As an Advanced Rule, Life Rules naturally had greater stability and harmonizing capability within the fusion framework; the higher its level, the greater the success rate of Seven-Color Fusion.

After completing his recovery in the cave, the Duke once again cloaked himself in the World Tree’s aura, stealthily moving towards the mining area.

This time, he did not traverse the underground rock formations but instead flew low over the surface of the Gobi Desert, skimming past the wind-eroded rock pillars and scattered rock piles, suppressing his presence to the lowest level, like an ordinary breath of night wind in the wilderness.

With the disguise of the World Tree’s aura and the keen perception of Life Rules for surrounding Life Force flows, he had the confidence to approach the core of the mining area without alarming the Level 4 powerhouses.

When he returned to the vicinity of the collapsed ore vein, the sight before his eyes made his brow slightly raise.

At the edge of the collapsed zone stood five individuals, all Level 4 Life.

He could clearly sense the heavy Rule oppression they emitted. Although the five had restrained their respective auras to an extremely controlled state, the Rule fluctuations naturally exuded from the Divine Status within each Level 4 powerhouse remained starkly discernible in the Duke’s perception.

Standing at the far edge of the collapsed zone was Byron, with his arms crossed against his chest, that square face full of horizontal flesh still carrying a repressed anger.

Beside him stood a robust elder with gray hair and a beard, wearing the same Black Stone Tribe Battle Armor as Kao, with his left arm wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, yet his stance was as upright as a pine.

Judging from the Earth Rules aura emanating from the elder, the Duke surmised that he must be Kao’s father, the Clan Leader of the Black Stone Tribe.

Not long ago, these two were fighting to the death back in the settlement. Now, they stood side by side at the same abyss’s edge, merely a few feet apart.

The other three Level 4 powerhouses wore the attire of various tribes. One had two short-handled warhammers hanging at the waist, their heads retaining faintly warm dark red energy remnants.

Another was tall and slender, a giant Longbow slung across his back, highly disproportionate to his physique.

The last one was cloaked in a dark gray cloak, their face hidden in the hood’s shadow, with their aura being the most obscure among the five.

"I sent someone to investigate." Byron’s heavy voice first broke the silence, "The entire main ore vein, from the shallow mining passage to the deep mining pocket, has been completely emptied. Only gray-white tailings remain on the rock wall, not leaving even a fingernail-sized piece of ore. To achieve such a degree certainly involves some special means. Initially, I suspected one of your three factions was backstabbing."