Chapter 157 - The Hymn Of Mankind Is The Hymn Of Wisdom
[Platinum-tier Item—the Sun and Moon Magic Staff (growth period)]
[Effect: The Sun and Moon Magic staff is made from the World Tree branches, the oldest divine tree in the Forest of Eternity. After a thousand years of soaking in the Spring of Life, the tree branches have absorbed a large amount of the essence from the sun and the moon.
After a thousand years of soaking in the Spring of Life, the World Tree’s branches will enter a growth period. A Sun Gem will eventually grow out of it. When one consumes it, it will allow one to obtain the talent for light-elemental cultivation, and one will also receive the strength equivalent to a gold-tier mage.
After another thousand years, it will enter the maturity stage, and it will grow a moon gem. After one consumes it, one will gain the dark-elemental cultivation talent. If one plucked the Sun Gem before the Moon Gem grew, the Moon Gem would not grow.
The staff can block attacks from platinum-tier elites and can heal itself. Even if it were broken, it could heal again as long as there are enough nutrients.]
[Additional effects: vitality (the user gains the effect of delayed aging, the speed of cultivating all-elemental magic and combat aura increases by 100%), Sunlight (the host’s combat strength increases by 100% under sunlight), Moonlight (useful in the night and cloudy days, combat aura increases by 50%), and the protection of the magical source (only 10% of the original magic is required to cast it).]
[Additional skill: Cage of the World (the staff contains a boundless dimensional space that can seal any living creature, including non-living creatures, and can store power).]
After reading the information on the staff, Watson understood that that staff was not a man-made item but a branch of the world tree. The gemstones on it were the fruits of its growth. Unfortunately, that staff had not fully matured yet. Otherwise, not only would there be a sun gemstone on it, but there would also be a moon gemstone.
“Watson, eat the sun gemstone. That will help you get the light-elemental magic talent,” the astrologer said gently from the side.
“Hmm.”
Watson hesitated for a moment before he said, “Master, that staff has not fully matured yet. It has not grown a moon gemstone yet. If I consume it now, wouldn’t it be a waste of such a good treasure? ”
On the one hand, he could not bear to part with the Moon Gem’s effects. On the other hand, he already had the talent to cultivate light-elemental magic, so he did not need to consume the gem to obtain it.
“Watson, I did not expect you to know the branches of the world tree. You know quite a lot! ”
The astrologer looked at Watson with a profound gaze; it caused Watson’s body to tremble. He was a youth, so it was normal for him not to know so much. Just as he was about to explain it, the astrologer no longer cared and continued to speak.
“There are at least a few hundred years before the moon gem grows. A few hundred years is too long. In just a few years, I will be able to nurture you into an elite that is not inferior to me. The treasure must be used at the right time to bring out the greatest effect! I have already given that staff to you. It is now yours. No matter how you use it, I will not feel sorry for it.”
“Since Master has said so—”
Watson was only apprenticed to the astrologer because of the circumstances, but the astrologer’s words made him feel warm.
If the astrologer had wanted to groom him just to use him, he would not hesitate to swallow the Sun Gem and try his best to improve his ability, striving to surpass the astrologer and regain the initiative as soon as possible. However, he felt that the astrologer was not that kind of person. Therefore, he had a better choice.
“Master, you said that I could use the staff, so I won’t stand in ceremony.”
The attributes of the Sun and Moon staff were not bad, but it was not like the Great Sin Mask that was bound to his soul. It could be stolen. Even if no one stole it, what if he accidentally lost the staff?
Therefore, he was prepared to fuse the Sun and Moon staff with the Great Sin Mask. Even if there were no improvements, at the very least, it could turn the Sun and Moon staff into a soul-binding weapon.
As soon as he thought of it, Watson activated the fusion system. In his hand, the Sun and Moon staff turned into a ray of light and fused into his face.
That was the first time he had fused two platinum-tier items since he transmigrated to that world. He was pretty nervous.
After he waited nervously for a few seconds, the system’s voice finally echoed.
[Congratulations, Master, for successfully fusing two platinum-tier items. You have obtained the Shadow of the World Tree, a peak platinum-tier special item.]
[Peak Platinum-tier special item: Shadow of the World Tree.]
[Effect: able to block attacks from diamond-tier professionals. This tool is bound to the host’s soul and cannot be taken or lost.].
[Additional effects: retains all abilities of the Great Sin Mask, including the transformation of the Great Sin Beast and the protection of the evil god. Retains all effects and skills of the Sun and Moon Divine Staff.]
[Additional skills: World Tree Descent (with the characteristics of a part of the world tree, it can summon the branches of a platinum-tier world tree to attack the enemy to protect itself), Song of Wisdom (after absorbing enough energy, it will grow a sun gem and a moon gem. The more energy it absorbs, the faster it will grow).]
The freshly fused thing slid off Watson’s face as he opened his right hand. The initially transparent womanly mask was dyed green, and a wooden texture had appeared. It gradually curled, and from the shape of the mask, it turned into a shining diamond seed the size of wood. It landed in Watson’s palm.
The heart of the seed pulsed gently as if it had its own life. It wriggled in Watson’s palm a few times before it drilled into his skin.
Buzz!
Immediately after that, the ground beneath Watson’s feet churned, and thick branches rolled. The smooth surface of the branches was like a python, several meters thick and more than ten meters long. After drilling out of the ground, they quickly twisted together and turned into the trunk of a giant tree. The branches and leaves spread along the trunk, quickly transforming into a giant tree that was a hundred meters tall. The tree’s crown cast a shadow across the entire castle.
Watson stood at the top of the tree, supported by a branch, staring down at the horrified people below.
“This is the World Tree Descent. It’s so powerful! But the real World Tree should be countless times bigger than this.”
There were five countries in that world. The Elven kingdom that lived in the southern Forest of Eternity guarded the World Tree and the Spring of Life under the tree for generations. It was rumored that the elven kingdom was built on the World Tree and that the tree could bear the weight of a country. One could only imagine its enormous size.
He bent down and touched the branches under his feet. Even though it was a weakened version of a World Tree branch, it still gave off a powerful aura. He felt that any branch on the tree trunk was harder and sharper than a gold-tier weapon.
‘There’s hope for the Blackmoon Knights’ weapons now. Any of these branches can be used to polish a gold-tier weapon.’
As he suppressed the joy in his heart, Watson began to try the second skill in the Shadow of the World Tree.
‘Song of Wisdom, condense a rich fruit for me.’
There was a widely held saying in that world—the hymn of humanity was the hymn of courage and wisdom.
Watson felt that the saying was the best interpretation of that skill.
After he activated the skill, the newly-grown World Tree shook gently. Light gathered on its branches and leaves, turning them into fist-sized gemstones that were either fiery red or milky-white in color. The fragrance wafted out with the wind, accompanied by a song that sounded like an elven chant.
There were 50 sun and moon gemstones hanging on the tree. Correspondingly, the source of chaotic-elemental magic in Watson’s body had been drained by more than half.
After he jumped down from the tree branch, Watson walked toward the astrologer with a cute smile on his face. “Master, look, I’ve grown more than one moon gem. This method is better than directly consuming the Sun Gem, right?”
His attitude toward the astrologer had improved significantly as a result of his happiness. He did not require two kinds of stones, but his family did. He might directly get the cultivation talent of the light and dark-elementals by ingesting the Sun Gem or the Moon Gem. He could also boost his strength to gold-tier immediately, which was enough to increase the strength of his family members and guards by dozens of times.
Blackmoon Castle would soon be able to enter a new level. That was all thanks to the astrologer. Just because of that, he was willing to call him master.
“Yes, that is indeed not bad.”
The astrologer appeared calm on the surface as if he did not seem to care. In fact, a storm raged in his heart.
He had been in control of the Sun and Moon staff for hundreds of years and had tried all kinds of methods, but none of them could make the staff grow the Moon Gem ahead of time. The only thing that could make the Moon Gem grow was the irrigation with water from the Spring of Life, so he was at ease when he gave the staff to Watson. However, the staff grew hundreds of fruits in an instant. According to his observation, those fruits were not illusory; that could have taken thousands or tens of thousands of years for him to achieve that.
If it were not for the determination of an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years, he would have screamed. What kind of monster was his new disciple?