The tree heart space was just a monotonous darkness.
As soon as Saul entered, he felt dampness and oppression.
As if he had been buried alive deep in underground soil.
But the gentle touch brought by the Inverted Tree seed quickly relieved his discomfort.
If Saul could completely devour the tree seed instead of simply carrying it on his body, he might even come to like this dark and quiet feeling.
Unfortunately, the tree seed was prepared for Little Algae.
After adapting to this place, Saul looked up ahead and saw Bethstana, who only had half a face that was still human.
That is, the expressionless wizard Beth he had once seen in the deanâs office at Bayton Academy.
The current Beth was still expressionless, except she had no other body parts besides that expressionless face.
Her body had completely transformed into tree branches and had grown many, many densely packed tiny rootlets that were dizzying to look at.
Some of these rootlets hung high, others drooped straight down.
These rootlets and branches clustered around Bethstanaâs head at the center.
âWizard Saul, when you came to Caugust City back then, Bayton Academy received you warmly and provided you with much help. Yet now you repay me like this!â
Bethstanaâs voice showed no fluctuation, but her words were already full of anger.
Saul sneered coldly. âStop pretending, Wizard Bethstana. If I had been subdued by Dean Pond in the outside world, you would probably have been very happy to use me as nourishment to maintain your spirit body, wouldnât you?â
Saul looked Bethstana up and down, left and right, then suddenly shook his head.
âActually, I originally came here wanting to make a deal with you. But now it seems you donât even have the basic qualifications to make a deal.â
Saul directly abandoned Bethstana and flew to the unconscious Shayaâs side.
At this moment, Shaya was holding the tooth of the bone monster Saul had brought back from the Chaos Realm. He had already been contaminated by the radiation from it, and his spirit body was beginning to transform into an evil spirit.
Saul took the tooth from Shayaâs fingertips, pressed it back into his left palm, and sealed the pollution on it.
Then his right hand transformed into a tentacle again, directly slapping Shayaâs face, while his left hand made a light cut, actually separating Shayaâs head and body directly.
After the separation of head and body, Shayaâs body completely mutated within a breath, becoming a sphere with an uneven surface.
Except for the color, it really did resemble the moon somewhat.
But this moon quickly began to deform, with its surface rising and falling, finally growing spike after spike.
A perfectly good moon had actually donned a hedgehogâs skin.
Saul quickly discovered characteristics like âsharpnessâ and âharmâ on this unconscious evil spirit mass.
If ordinary people or wizard apprentices accidentally touched this evil spirit, unhealable wounds would appear on their bodies, causing them to bleed painfully until death.
However, before Saul, who was already third-rank, this evil spirit formed from part of Shayaâs mutated spirit body wasnât impressive enough.
Saul transferred Shayaâs head to his left hand, then the tentacle his right hand had become instantly expanded, becoming enormously large. Like an octopus extending all its tentacles and opening its mouth wide, it directly swallowed the spiked ball.
Sharpness and harm had no effect at allâthe tentacle directly absorbed it like jelly.
After devouring it, the spirit body and pollution were separated within the tentacle.
The spirit body was spat out again, while the pollution was retained at the tentacleâs tip, finally torn off by Saul and stored in isolation.
Saul reattached the clean spirit body to Shayaâs neck.
However, the clean spirit body was like chewed cakeâno longer in its original exquisite form.
The spirit body part of Shayaâs body had become a mass of chaotic soft mud.
Saul pinched it a couple of times and found it hard to restore to its original shape, so he decided to let Shaya handle it himself later.
After receiving Saulâs treatment, Shayaâs stagnant consciousness finally began to operate.
When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he found unbelievable was Bethstana behind Saul.
âHow did you do it? You actually completely separated the pollution from the spirit body?â
Saul dragged Shaya closer to Bethstana while secretly being alert for her final resistance.
âI deal with the dead quite a bit and have seen many souls. For instance, I can now see that your sacrifice didnât achieve the expected results.â
The closer Saul got to Bethstana, the more he could see that her condition wasnât normal.
Bethstana blinked once, and her eyelashes stuck up messily like withered branches.
âYes, it was exactly that tooth you gave Shaya.â
Bethstanaâs voice remained without waves, even though she was discussing her own demise.
âI originally thought I hadnât come into contact with the pollution on that tooth and was still mocking Shayaâs mutual destruction as too reckless. I never imagined that the truly foolish one was myself.â
âFrom the moment this tooth was exposed to the outside, it began secretly emitting pollution that I couldnât detect or resist!â
Her face tilted up slightly, as if wanting to look at the sky, but there was only darkness overhead and rootlets swaying constantly due to her movement.
âI sacrificed everyone in the city, but every time I absorbed a spirit body, the pollution on me would worsen. I can already feel its pollution pervading my rootlets and branches. The abundant spirit body power only makes me feel extremely weak, as if Iâve lost all strength.â
Saul freed one hand to support his chin. âYouâre being so detailedâare you stalling for time?â
Bethstanaâs eyes suddenly widened, looking at Saul in disbelief.
âNo need to praise me.â Saul waved his hand.
âHeheheâŠâ Bethstana, who had shown no emotional fluctuation, suddenly began laughing loudly. âSo what if you discovered it? Iâve already sealed the tree heart space. Even if youâre third-rank, you canât break open the cage Iâve formed with my life! Since I canât resurrect, then you should all die here to keep me company!â
The tree heart space suddenly brightened, as if instantly switching from night to day.
Around Saul, as far as the eye could see, there were countless, endless tree branches and roots.
Somehow, they had already filled the entire tree heart space, forming a cage with no visible boundaries.
âOnly spirit bodies can enter the tree heart space. Your body is still outside. No matter how powerful you are, a body that has lost its soul can be slowly worn down by the Inverted Tree. Afterward, youâll be trapped here forever, slowly dissipating bit by bit after I die!â
Bethstana seemed to have given up on resurrection, putting all her strength into confining Saul in the tree heart spaceâs imprisonment.
Saul tried to sense his body, but the densely packed branches and rootlets made the entire space seem disconnected from the world.
Saulâs face showed no panic. After thinking for a moment, he actually continued approaching Beth with Shaya.
The distance between them gradually shortenedâten meters, five meters⊠one meter.
Finally, Saul only needed to raise his hand to touch Bethâs face.
That remaining piece of facial skin.
âActually, I still have a way to survive.â Saul really did raise his hand, his fingertip almost touching her nose.
âThat is to replace you, become the core of the Inverted Tree, establish a connection with it, and turn it into my locator. Equivalent to becoming another you.â
A trace of panic flashed across Bethstanaâs face.
However, before she could refute anything, she saw Saul suddenly lower his head and couldnât help laughing.
âHehe, hehehe, hahahaâŠâ
âWhat are you laughing at?â
âIâm laughing⊠your acting is really terrible!â Saul instantly restrained his laughter. âActually, your real purpose in sealing the tree heart space is to make me voluntarily replace you as the Inverted Treeâs core, right?â
Bethstana was stunned, opened her mouth, but didnât know what to say.
Saul tilted his head. âWhether you want me to also suffer what youâve suffered, or simply hope that after you die from pollution, I can replace you and let the Inverted Tree continue living⊠oh, your eyes tell me itâs the latterâŠâ
âIf thatâs the case, then itâs even easier to handle.â Saulâs right fingertip suddenly became a gray semi-transparent tentacle. âIâll give you a second path. Shall we make a deal?â
(End of Chapter)
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