Evolution From the Big Tree

“Extracting Spiritual Energy…” muttering to himself, Yu Zi Yu’s eyes flickered slightly.

After a moment, as if he had thought of something amusing, his gaze turned toward the nearby White Tiger. 

White Tiger appeared unusually excited at the moment. However, there was no helping it. White Tiger was always like this; he could never calm down after a battle. In times like these, he would either be hopping around energetically, or maybe even break into a mad dash, creating quite a ruckus.

“Let’s use you for an experiment,” uttering this, a playful look appeared on Yu Zi Yu’s face.

Soon after, with a flash of his thought, a root, as thick as an arm and resembling a black serpent, silently emerged from the ground.

Immediately afterward, it swiftly shot toward the nearby White Tiger with a swish. Before he could react, the root had quite cleverly wound around White Tiger. 

*Roar, Roar, Roar…* With a touch of grievance, consecutive Tiger roars resonated within the gorge.

“Divine Tree, what did I do?” 

Yu Zi Yu could understand the meaning behind the roars, but he did not respond. Instead, he subtly activated the power of the root. After a moment, an unusual Spiritual Energy began flowing along the root, much to his surprise.

His Spiritual Energy was draining away, and at an alarming rate at that. In just a few breaths, he had lost over 3,000 Spiritual Energy. 

It must be brought to notice that he only had a bit over 9,000 Spiritual Energy to begin with. But before he could cry out in despair…

*Zoop* A surge of familiar Spiritual Energy abruptly returned.

What astonished White Tiger even more was that this surge not only replenished most of his Spiritual Energy, but it also seemed purer. 

“Uh…” Wearing a bewildered expression, White Tiger’s gaze turned toward a colossal tree concealed within the depths of the dense mist not far away.

“Stupid Tiger, train diligently and don’t be mischievous anymore, or I won’t mind using you for more experiments.”

Roaring in succession, White Tiger also trembled involuntarily. He did not want to go through the same sensation of Spiritual Energy loss a second time.

…

Meanwhile, as he witnessed White Tiger diligently practicing now, a satisfied smile appeared on Yu Zi Yu’s face.

[Excellent! Much better now!]

How well the Spiritual Energy could be extracted depended upon how complex the roots had intertwined around their prey. The more complex the roots had entwined the target, more quickly could they draw the Spiritual Energy. 

Furthermore, after extracting, this Spiritual Energy would be temporarily stored within the roots. One purpose was to serve as nourishment for the growth of the roots. The other purpose was for it to be converted into his own Spiritual Energy.

However, the conversion ratio to his own Spiritual Energy was a bit low.  But that was likely due to White Tiger being too weak.

After giving it a thought, Yu Zi Yu was not bothered by it. At present, the abilities accompanying these roots were already quite remarkable. After polishing them a bit more, it might even become another one of his trump cards.

After all, in Yu Zi Yu’s memory, the terrifying aspect of Wood Release, as legend told, was its energy absorption capability. 

And now, he could achieve that too.

With a faint smile, Yu Zi Yu seemed to envision countless powerful Mutant Beasts in his mind, their forms writhing in despair as they became entangled in his tree roots.

“The larger the size, the greater the despair when they face me,” whispering softly, Yu Zi Yu was now looking forward to encountering those powerful Sea Creatures in the depths of the ocean. After all, when it came to size, who could match the enormity of the Mutant Sea Creatures?

…

After exploring the abilities gained by the Mutated Roots – especially the Spiritual Energy extraction – Yu Zi Yu’s focus shifted back to his Innate Talents.

Innate Talents grew stronger as one’s own strength increased. They were the abilities that every Transcendent relied upon the most.

And due to the system’s influence, after his advancement, he could choose a specific direction in which to advance his Innate Talents.

Furthermore, he now had two Innate Talents.

One was ‘Super Regeneration’ and the other was the ‘Seed of Life’, which he had taken from the blood-red vine.

However, the blood-red vine was too weak, preventing him from fully extracting its essence, leaving it incomplete even now.

And what did incomplete imply?

Seeing the ‘Upgradeable’ label beside the Innate Talent ‘Super Regeneration’ on the status screen, and noticing that the Seed of Life remained unchanged, realization dawned upon Yu Zi Yu.

“As expected, I’ll have to plunder the essence of the blood-red vine once more.” Sighing, Yu Zi Yu made up his mind.

If all went as planned, when Thorns had become a Transcendent, he could plunder once again. At that time, Yu Zi Yu would be able to get his hand on a complete and fearsome Innate Talent.

Thinking this, he gazed toward the heart of the canyon, where a silhouette happened to be swinging on a swing in the middle of a forest, his gaze becoming a little hotter.

[Grow quickly.] Sensing the aura of Thorns at the peak of Tier-0, Yu Zi Yu smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

[This girl is improving quite swiftly. By the looks of it, it’s about time for the second round of plunder.] Shaking his head, Yu Zi Yu redirected his attention.

Currently, what was more crucial than completing the Innate Talent, Seed of Life, was advancing Super Regeneration.

“System, I want to advance my Innate Talent, Super Regeneration.”

As soon as Yu Zi Yu’s words fell, a cold synthesized electronic voice sounded in his ear.

[Ding, please choose the direction of Innate Talent development.]

[1: Upgrade Regeneration Speed – Regenerate damaged parts at a faster rate.]

[2: Reduce Regeneration Consumption – Greatly increases the number of times you can regenerate.]

[3: Upgrade Regeneration Ability…]

But before the system could finish, Yu Zi Yu interjected, “Upgrade Regeneration Ability.”

He had already undergone a refinement of his regenerative ability when he became a Tier-2 Transcendent.

Due to that enhancement, even if his body was mostly destroyed, he could slowly regenerate using the remaining parts.

As for how slow that regeneration was, Yu Zi Yu had no idea, nor did he want to know. Perhaps it would need several months, or maybe even a few years. It might even need a hundred years or more, for all he knew.

However, no matter how long it takes, this ability would truly be a lifesaver. For this reason, Yu Zi Yu did not hesitate to choose to upgrade it.

And now, Yu Zi Yu chose the same.

He was not lacking in other means; even in terms of offensive capabilities, he was more than sufficient. What he truly lacks are life saving methods.

If his Innate Talent could undergo a qualitative change and become his trump card for survival, then Yu Zi Yu would have no worries.

At this moment, as Yu Zi Yu’s words fell, an inexplicable fluctuation suddenly emanated from his body.

The next moment, a green glow surged from within Yu Zi Yu’s robust trunk.

Countless specks of emerald lights, resembling fireflies, started gathering on Yu Zi Yu’s trunk.

As they gathered, Yu Zi Yu’s trunk became increasingly radiant.

Faintly, the specks of emerald light intertwined into something like a heart.

Even more astonishingly, the Spirit Flowers cultivated by Qing Er near Yu Zi Yu started growing at a visible speed.

They had grown by several years in just a few breaths.

Some of the Spirit Flowers even started emanating an enticing fragrance, causing the Mutant Beasts in North Canyon to rise one after another, their eyes burning with greed.

Ashish: ‘Wood Release, as legend told, was its energy absorption capability.’ 

No legend, just plain manga, Naruto.

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