Chapter Thirty: The World Tree

When the two of them set out again, their speed was much faster. Having been delayed here and there, the sun was already hanging low among the treetops, draping the entire rainforest in a golden hue. Though the rain had been heavy the previous night, it had now almost entirely evaporated. Following Ling Mo’s lead, Katherine darted swiftly through the forest, fully feeling the exhilaration that came with her recent advancement.

In the past, running at near-maximum speed would exhaust her after just a few hundred meters, forcing her to stop and catch her breath. Now, however, after running alongside Ling Mo for several kilometers, she still felt she could go on. Energy was steadily and resolutely integrating into her body, improving her constitution. She almost had the illusion that even if she went back to fight that ferocious bear, she might not lose!

Of course, she knew this was just an illusion. Her attack power hadn't changed at all—her strikes could barely pierce the thick hide of the bear, and even if the beast stood still, it would take her a while to make an impact. But against other agile fourth-rank magical beasts, she could now rely on dexterity and endurance to hold her own.

As she was assessing her new strength, Katherine’s increasingly acute hearing picked up a chorus of beastly roars ahead. She tensed up, growing more anxious the farther she went, for the cacophony was overwhelming in its volume and chaos.

She could distinguish the roar of tigers, the calls of deer, the song of hoopoes, the trumpeting of elephants, the howls of howler monkeys—a veritable symphony of the wild, each sound blending into a primal orchestra. It made one wonder if a massive melee of magical beasts was unfolding ahead—and Ling Mo was heading straight for the source of the commotion!

They drew closer, and the roars became so clear they might as well have been right beside them. Katherine quietly adjusted her stance, drew the dagger Ling Mo had given her, and prepared for combat. But Ling Mo casually swept aside a great tree blocking their path, uprooting it in one go. Suddenly, the forest opened up, and the sight before Katherine made her eyes go wide, the dagger slipping from her hand.

Before them, less than a square kilometer of flat land spread out, utterly devoid of trees or grass, yet packed so tightly with magical beasts that their numbers defied counting. Gazing out, she saw not only large magical beasts like cloud-striped tigers, armored elephants, explosive porcupines, and single-blade dwarf bulls, but also many small herbivores—bubble rabbits, wind turtles, spectacled monkeys, scarlet-backed deer—all mixed in together, pressed body to body with not an inch to spare. Yet, bizarrely, there was no sign of aggression among them.

From first- to fifth-rank magical beasts, all were crammed together. Katherine even saw a young calf shuffle its hindquarters, pushing over a razor-leopard beside it. The leopard merely grumbled in its throat and got up without complaint, gaze fixed eagerly on the very center of the clearing.

All these myriad magical beasts formed concentric circles, rumps facing outward, necks craned toward the middle. Even when Ling Mo had sent a great tree flying with a single blow, none of the beasts turned to look, not even for a second.

Truly, it was a rare and remarkable sight. Curiosity piqued, Katherine sought an unobstructed vantage point and, thanks to her enhanced eyesight, finally saw the center of the clearing. There, a mound of earth, like a small hill, bulged upward and trembled rhythmically, as though something beneath was struggling to break through.

Already the number of beasts was astonishing, yet more continued to arrive. Birds, finding no space to land, perched atop other beasts—an owl stood on the back of a cloud-striped tiger, its sharp talons drawing blood, yet the tiger didn’t even glance back. All the beasts seemed to lower themselves in reverence, and in their eyes Katherine glimpsed… something like devotion.

Unable to make sense of it, Katherine couldn’t help but ask, “Master, what are they doing? Are they worshipping something?”

“They are waiting,” Ling Mo replied. “Waiting for the World Tree to sprout—or more precisely, for a branch of the World Tree to emerge.”

“The World Tree?!” Katherine was utterly unprepared for such an answer. It took her a full ten seconds to recover from the shock, stammering as she pointed at the center, “Here? A place like this? Isn’t the World Tree supposed to be impossible to find?!”

“The World Tree cannot be found, yet it is everywhere,” Ling Mo replied with an enigmatic smile. He understood her shock; though the Magical Beast Rainforest was one of the continent’s eight great forbidden lands, the unorganized magical beasts alone could not withstand the ever-growing armies of human mages. The rainforest’s location was too critical—spanning over a million square kilometers, crossing thirty-five countries, it seriously hindered continental transport and modernization.

Yet, thanks to the World Tree, any who entered the rainforest—whether human mages or magical devices—were mysteriously suppressed. The deeper one ventured toward the core, the stronger the suppression. It was said that even a Saint Magus would be weaker than a seventh-rank magical beast at the heart of the forest, and all magical devices would fail completely. Thus, plans to develop the rainforest had been indefinitely shelved.

The Northern Mage Alliance (known as NMA) had even offered an incredible reward: if anyone could find the World Tree or solve the magic suppression, they would support that person’s every wish—even to found a nation and crown themselves emperor. Yet, after a hundred and seventy years, the World Tree remained elusive. Everyone knew it was here in the rainforest, but no one could find it.

And now, Ling Mo was solemnly telling her that inside this gently swelling mound, the World Tree was about to be born.

“This live stream is off the charts!”

“Never thought I’d witness the birth of the World Tree! Why do I feel like crying from the sheer emotion?!”

“It’s like being part of history itself!”

“Why is everyone so worked up? Just because the streamer says it’s the World Tree, you have to believe him? If he claimed to be your father, would you buy that too?”

“Exactly. How many people over the last century have boasted about finding the World Tree, only to be proven fakes?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling… this stream might not last much longer.”

“If that’s the World Tree, I’ll eat shit live on camera—and do it while squatting!”

“If that’s the World Tree, I’ll eat shit like it’s French bread!”

“I’ve screenshotted all of you!”

“If you can’t manage it, I’ll do it for you!”

“…”

As the chat erupted into a frenzy, Ling Mo turned Katherine’s head toward the mound, encouraging her to watch intently. With a note of excitement, he said, “Keep your eyes open. Soon, you’ll understand why humanity has never been able to find the World Tree.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the mound began to stir. Its trembling ceased, and all was still—yet atop the mound, a slender green seedling suddenly stood, as if it had always belonged there. Katherine swore she hadn’t blinked once, yet she never saw the moment it appeared.

With the emergence of the seedling, the surroundings darkened. At first, Katherine thought clouds had blocked the sun, but glancing upward, she saw no trace of clouds. The dimness came because the seedling seemed to forge a mystical connection with the setting sun—every thread of light twisted toward it, so that from afar, it looked as if the sun shone only on this single sprout.

All the magical beasts fell silent. In the hush, the seedling began to grow at a frenzied rate—taller, thicker, rising five meters in ten seconds. A canopy of broad leaves unfurled, covering a vast area.

But this was only the beginning. In thirty seconds, the World Tree had grown as thick as three people could encircle, and soared twenty meters into the air. Blossoms of every color began to bloom across the dense branches, each unique in hue, size, and shape. Even as it flowered, the trunk kept surging skyward, reaching a hundred meters within a minute, towering over all surrounding trees.

Soon, the flowers withered, and the crown began to collapse inward, twisting and shrinking, while at its very center, a giant fruit was forming.

As the canopy fully withered and only the bare trunk remained, the fruit ripened at last, then exploded in midair—a wave of pure, colorless energy sweeping out in all directions. Katherine felt something pass through her body, yet she could not say what it was. She sensed the world itself had changed in some subtle, indescribable way.

Dazed, she looked up, only to find that the towering trunk had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. If the place where the World Tree had grown was not now marked by a deep crater, Katherine would have believed she had imagined everything she had just witnessed.