Chapter 642 - 2: Sapling in the Desert

When Han Zhan woke up again, it was already evening.

The Contracted Spirit Girls knew he hadn’t been sleeping well recently, so they didn’t wake him up.

Even Li Lingzhen, who was usually the most restless, obediently hugged her computer and returned to her room, typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Having drawn much inspiration and essence from Han Zhan, she needed to digest and absorb it properly, writing fervently to do justice to her supportive readers!

"Awake?" Shang Siteng was the first to appear at the door.

She must have just returned from the Great Xia Research Institute, her neat professional attire accentuating her taller figure.

"Yeah." Han Zhan awoke from his daze, gently nodding his head.

Seeing his expression, a trace of worry flickered in Shang Siteng’s eyes.

"Did you have a nightmare again? Or was it those inexplicable voices?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to see Second Brother?" Shang Siteng continued to ask.

"Him? When did Second Brother become capable of treating illnesses?" Han Zhan was somewhat surprised.

"I mean divination, let Second Brother do a reading to see whether it’s good or bad."

Shang Siteng’s words intrigued Han Zhan slightly, but ultimately, he shook his head.

Forget it, let’s not disturb Second Brother. Moreover, if it truly involves the [World Tree], it’s hard to ensure that Second Brother won’t suffer any backlash from it.

"What do you plan to do then?"

"If it goes on like this, it won’t do. You are the leader of Great Xia; what will happen if something really goes wrong with you?"

"Or maybe try Lingzhen; she’s the Shennong Cauldron, using Creation of Living Beings..."

Shang Siteng was about to say more when Han Zhan gently patted her head.

"Don’t trouble yourself."

"I don’t have any problems right now, and if we really need to use Creation of Living Beings, wouldn’t I be able to do it myself?"

Before Han Zhan and Shang Siteng’s conversation could end, Xia Youwei hurriedly ran in from outside.

"Did you guys see the Celestial Net forum?" she asked quickly.

Celestial Net forum?

Han Zhan and Shang Siteng exchanged puzzled glances.

Seeing their reactions, Xia Youwei knew they hadn’t seen it and quickly continued:

"Fourth Brother discovered a sapling while exploring the uninhabited desert region south of the Imperial lands!"

"Just now, one minute ago!"

"Fourth Brother even specially tagged Ah Zhan at the bottom of that forum thread."

Just a sapling, and it caused such a fuss?

Perplexed, Han Zhan connected to the Celestial Net Chip and opened the Celestial Net forum.

Sure enough, the post Xia Youwei mentioned was pinned at the top of the forum.

Now, the post even had special highlights from the forum admin, with tags like "NEW!", "BOOM!", "HOT!" in its suffix, making it hard to miss.

The view count for the post was also very high; in less than ten minutes, it had been clicked by tens of thousands.

"Since when did Fourth Brother have such influence?" Han Zhan said, amazed by the scene.

"It’s not surprising," Shang Siteng said. "With Blue Star now unified under Great Xia, the other war zones have completely calmed down. At first, during the first month, they consoled themselves with peace and rehabilitation, but it’s already been two months, and they don’t know how much longer it’ll be."

"Shen Zheqi’s Fourth War Zone is different; there are still many relics on Blue Star to explore."

To boost people’s happiness and alleviate anxiety, Celestial Net AI Bob, following Nuannuan’s suggestion, granted Shen Zheqi real-time broadcasting privileges.

In Nuannuan’s world, such activities are known as ’outdoor adventure livestreams.’

Due to outdoor adventure livestreaming, Shen Zheqi’s popularity surged past others, ranking fourth, just below Han Zhan, Lin Jingxuan, and Wei Qing.

"Let me see what’s so significant that he would go to such lengths to tag me specially."

Saying this, Han Zhan clicked on the post.

Just as described, there was a photo of an endless sandy desert in the post.

In the video capture of Shen Zheqi’s livestream, he naturally began explaining the purpose of their Fourth War Zone’s mission and the relics they aimed to explore and uncover.

The familiar opening line and formulaic traces were very evident.

Then, with a shift in perspective, Shen Zheqi rotated his Celestial Net camera to focus on the only sapling discovered in the desert.

"Isn’t this tree too small? It’s only as big as a fingernail!"

As expected of a brother, Shen Zheqi echoed Han Zhan’s thoughts in the video.

A fingernail-sized sapling in the endless desert—if it weren’t for Shen Zheqi’s keen eye, it might have gone unnoticed.

"Let’s try pouring some water on it."

"Saplings need water to grow; maybe once it’s nourished, it could become a towering tree!"

Shen Zheqi talked to himself while pouring a bottle of water over the sapling.

The pouring of clear water successfully changed the color of the surrounding sand to a deeper hue.

In the blink of an eye, the changed color of the sand reverted to its original dry state, as if nothing had happened.

"Did that sapling absorb all the surrounding water?" Han Zhan keenly observed this scene in the video and spoke up.

"Yes," Xia Youwei nodded lightly, "keep watching."

Watch what?

What else could there be to see?

Could a single bottle of water possibly make the sapling grow into a towering tree?

Nobody would think so, nor would anyone believe it.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

A horn’s desolate and mournful sound suddenly echoed across the desert.

With the appearance of the sound, suddenly, the sandy ground under Shen Zheqi’s feet vanished into thin air.

Shen Zheqi, losing his footing, felt himself falling rapidly downward.

Thankfully, instinctively extending his hand, he quickly grasped something, halting his fall.

"What am I grabbing...?"

In the video, Shen Zheqi muttered to himself, turning his head to look at what he held.

It turned out to be a branch as thick as an adult’s arm!

Then something even more incredible happened.

Looking down, Shen Zheqi saw countless dense branches growing from where the sapling had been.

Unlike the typical understanding of upward growth,

that sapling, once nourished, didn’t grow upward but instead downward, stretching into an unseen deep abyss.

Upon escaping from this strangeness, Shen Zheqi immediately uploaded the video to the Celestial Net forum, tagging himself afterward.

"Don’t you think the sapling looked very familiar?" Han Zhan suddenly remarked after watching the entire video.

"You mean...?"

"That’s the World Tree, shrunk countless times!"