Chapter 553 (1/2)

In order to save time, Hao Ren divided the elven teams into two to conduct excavation work at the Volcano of Dusk and the Giant Tree of Life. Although the situation in the Volcano of Dusk was complicated, the survey data was detailed, so he did not have to worry about it too much. He decided to personally supervise the excavation at the Giant Tree of Life.

Of course, the main reason for that was because he heard about the place having a spectacular scenery. He decided to snap some photos and post them in the inspector’s forum…

On the Holletta side, people were amazed by the teams that Hao Ren brought in. They were no nonsense individuals and got to work straight away without blinking an eye. So, they also organized themselves quickly and followed the excavation teams. The portal was rendered useless this time, as the size of the elven excavators had exceeded the limit of what could be teleported by current technology. Fortunately, the speed of the elven flying crafts was not slow. It would only take them a couple dozen minutes to cross the entire territory of Holletta.

After ascertaining the coordinates, the elven aerial excavation team immediately ascended to the air and headed towards its destination. Meanwhile, Hao Ren followed Marshal Ophra to the Giant Tree of Life through the portal. The other team that was heading to the Volcano of Dusk was under the command of the pope.

It was obviously much faster travelling via the portal. When Hao Ren arrived at the edge of the Giant Tree of Life, the excavation team was still on its way. This gave everyone a little time to enjoy the surrounding scenery.

The Giant Tree of Life was located in a vibrant and vast mountainous area. The whole area was surrounded by gentle mountains, forming a low-lying basin which was covered with green forest. The Disciples of Glory had a base there. It was an old monastery located on a nearby hill. The building was as old as the churches in the other two sealed lands, and inconspicuous in appearance. It was one of the oldest and most sacred facilities in the world.

The portal array near the Giant Tree of Life was directly situated next to the monastery: the Royal Knights did not have a garrison there, and the entire Giant Tree of Life was under the sole responsibility of the Disciples of Glory. The king had only set up a few knights there for show. They simply lived in the monastery.

Compared to the desolate condition of Dragonspine Ridge and the harsh environment of the Volcano of Dusk, the area around the Giant Tree of Life was as lively and pleasant as it got. No one could have linked this place to the terrible ancient legends just by looking at it from the outside. It was probably because of this that Holletta’s surveillance of the Giant Tree of Life was laxer than the other two places, which had Royal Knights and Church Knights stationed at all times. Hao Ren and the rest stood in front of the monastery as they gazed at the surrounding mountains and forest. They felt relaxed. Y’lisabet quickly climbed up to her dad’s shoulder and shouted at the distant mountains. “Big mountains!”

The demon princess was as innocent as one could get—but only when she was not a demolition monster.

Seeing the spectacular scenery around them, Lily could not help but run around the hills before she came back down with a handful of stones in her hand. “Mr. Landlord, which one looks better?”

Hao Ren randomly picked one and coaxed her away. He curiously gazed at the mountains and the dome-shaped peaks in the center of the basin (it looked like a volcano and was particularly eye-catching). However, he could not find the so-called Giant Tree of Life. “Ophra, where’s that tree you talked about?”

Ophra lifted her finger and pointed at the center of the basin. “That’s it—that’s all that remains of it.”

Hao Ren was startled. He realized that she was referring to the strange peak in the center of the basin!

“What the heck…” Before Hao Ren could say anything, Lily, who was playing with the stones, exclaimed, “That’s huge!”

Hao Ren focused his eyes and finally saw some clues from the strange peaks: the “mountain’s body” appeared to be too smooth, and the upper part appeared to be too even and uniform, to the extent that it was not like a normal mountain. Additionally, there was a large amount of winding ridges in the surrounding wilderness. At first he thought that those tectonic uplifts were mountains, but now he realized that they were actually the giant tree’s roots!

They were the remains of the Giant Tree of Life, which had been dead for over 10,000 years. The tree’s upper body had long crumbled and decayed, thus forming the soil and rock in the basin. The remaining stump had turned black and it was overgrown with vegetation, dense forests and shrubs, blending into the surrounding mountains.

Hao Ren inhaled and asked, “This is the tree?”

Before his voice trailed off, Lil Pea poked her head out from under his collar. Seeing the wooden forest, her eyes popped out of her head. “I can eat for a long time! I can eat for a long time! Daddy, I can eat for a long time…”

At this moment, a Hollettan army official was standing next to Hao Ren. The officer saw Lil Pea and was stunned. “What is that?” he asked.

But he glanced at Hao Ren, and quickly toned down his impoliteness. His face took a serious turn as he hemmed. “Oh, I apologize. I’ve forgotten that you are a different from us, Hollettan people can’t perform Shadow Clone…”

Hao Ren had no chance to explain…