Chapter 88: Black Maple Tree
In the rest area of the arena, Su Xiao closed the arena information. His ranking had dropped from 9573rd to 9576th. This was the benefit of a winning streak—being interrupted wouldn't cause a significant drop in rank.
After winning 98 consecutive matches, Su Xiao's opponents were basically all within the top 9000. The difficulty was imaginable. Even with sufficient mana, given his current strength, breaking into the top 8000 of the fourth-tier arena was very tough.
Su Xiao wasn't in a hurry. He had only just advanced to the fourth tier, and there was still a long way to go before he could challenge the top five.
Leaving the arena, Su Xiao began to wander around the trade market. Since he had stocked up on a large amount of recovery items and ammunition before entering the One Piece world, he didn't need to buy more. He only needed to replenish some emergency supplies, such as diving equipment and protective suits with radiation and poison gas resistance.
Originally, Su Xiao had 70,000 Paradise Coins left. Earlier, he had given the blue pendant appraised by Reid to Xia as compensation for over a dozen times he had forgotten to pay. As for the pendant that Reid disdained to appraise, Su Xiao sold it to a first-rank contractor for 3,000 Paradise Coins.
Su Xiao estimated that the item was likely green quality. He didn't know its attributes, but factoring in the appraisal fee, as long as the first-rank contractor wasn't too unlucky, he wouldn't lose money and might even make a small profit.
After shopping in the trade market, Su Xiao only had 20,000 Paradise Coins left. These were for emergencies. Many worlds ago, the scene of Brother Umbrella having no Paradise Coins to exchange for a parachute left a deep impression on Su Xiao. He wasn't about to try free-falling.
While purchasing supplies, Su Xiao noticed that the prices of equipment and recovery items in the trade market had increased by at least 10%. This vaguely made him feel something was wrong.
Returning to his exclusive room, Su Xiao came to a wooden table. On it was only a flowerpot containing a 10-centimeter-tall sprout.
Su Xiao had originally just tried planting the Black Maple Tree on a whim. To his surprise, it had actually sprouted and was growing well. The root part had turned brown, with faint signs of hardening.
The survival rate of a sprout was completely different from that of a small tree. Therefore, this thing had at least a 10% chance of surviving.
10% seemed low, but it was actually quite high. The Black Maple Tree originally grew in the deepest part of the Black Abyss. Over 98% of the races in the Void had never seen it with their own eyes, at most having heard of it.
Earlier, Su Xiao had spent 4,000 Paradise Coins to exchange for some information about the Black Maple Tree through Reincarnation Paradise.
[Black Maple Tree]
Growth Environment: Requires 1 to 2 hours of sunlight within 24 hours. No ordinary freshwater within a 5-kilometer radius of the root system. No vine-type plants.
Species Classification: Plant Kingdom · Angiosperm Phylum · A Wood Family.
Distribution Area: Exclusive to the deepest part of the Black Abyss.
Growth Cycle: Depends on the environment. The Black Maple Tree can grow to maturity in 2 months or take 4,000 years to reach maturity.
Reproduction Method: Roots, branches, and leaves can all be used for transplanting. Survival rate is low. After transplanting, there is a 90% chance of sprouting, but in most cases, it withers within ten days after sprouting (time to adapt to the environment). If it successfully adapts to the environment and nutrients are ensured, it can thrive.
...
After learning about the Black Maple Tree's information, Su Xiao understood how precious the dozens-of-meters-tall Black Maple Tree was. Ordinary Black Maple Trees simply couldn't grow to that height, nor could they leave the deepest part of the Black Abyss.
The fact that Su Xiao could successfully cultivate this sapling was 90% due to the vitality of the mother tree.
As for why he wanted to cultivate the Black Maple Tree and its uses, that was a long story.
First, if Su Xiao took this sapling to the Void to sell now, it would definitely fetch a sky-high price. 99% of major forces would be interested in buying it.
Once the Black Maple Tree grew to maturity, its value would be almost incalculable. When Su Xiao had sat under that Black Maple Tree to meditate earlier, he felt that his meditation efficiency had increased dozens of times, and his understanding of the blade technique had also changed.
He had only meditated for about half an hour. If he cultivated his own Black Maple Tree and often meditated under it, what would happen?
It wasn't just a boost to meditation and blade techniques. The leaves of the Black Maple Tree were nearly top-tier conductors, usable as materials for magic, alchemy, and more. The Lomi Crow Clan in the Void even ate these leaves when they came of age to aid in awakening their racial talent. Moreover, this was a privilege of the Star Clan (royal family) within the Lomi Crow Clan; ordinary Lomi Crows couldn't get Black Maple Tree leaves at all.
As for the trunk of the Black Maple Tree, it was one of the most coveted things for spellcasters. With a magic guide loss rate of 0.0012 and almost perfect energy storage, the trunk of the Black Maple Tree was destined to be the main material for top-tier spellcasting auxiliary tools—no exceptions.
If only spellcasters needed the Black Maple Tree trunk, it would be fine. But the Demon Race could also use it as a central hub for demonic power, speeding up their ability to mobilize the demonic energy within their bodies. Some old demons could even turn a small swallowed piece of Black Maple Tree trunk into a part of their own body, forming an organ specifically for combat assistance.
After long-term development, at least 1,300 races in the Void had a demand for the Black Maple Tree. Unfortunately, the yield was too low, and it grew in extremely dangerous places like the deepest part of the Black Abyss.
Even so, after prolonged logging, the Black Maple Tree was on the verge of extinction. Arcane Eternal Star issued a mandatory decree, making private logging of the Black Maple Tree a capital offense—a soul-destroying capital offense.
As of now, there were only three Black Maple Trees left in the deepest part of the Black Abyss. One was claimed by the Abyssal Dragon, another was protected by Arcane Eternal Star—twenty-seven Mage Sages worked together to tear off a large piece of space in the deepest part of the Black Abyss and transplant the tree away—and the last one was at the center of the Living Flower Sea. This was the tallest known Black Maple Tree in the Void, standing at 27.54 meters. No one could obtain it, or rather, no one could enter the Living Flower Sea.
If Su Xiao could cultivate a Black Maple Tree, he would be set. His only advantage was the constant environment in his exclusive room.
Even so, the survival chance of this sapling was less than 10%, or even lower. Otherwise, the Black Maple Trees in the Void wouldn't be so scarce.
"It feels... a bit taller than when I left last time."
Su Xiao picked up a ruler beside him and measured. He found that the sapling had indeed grown about 2 millimeters.
"Did you water it?"
Su Xiao turned his head to look at Bubu Wang.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang's dog face looked bitter, meaning: 'Watering this thing is expensive—10,000 Paradise Coins each time.'
Not only had Bubu Wang paid out of pocket, but Amu had also paid. Su Xiao had watered it once, Bubu twice, and Amu once.
Su Xiao took out two Soul Crystals (Medium) from his storage space. After hesitating for a moment, he decomposed the two Soul Crystals (Medium) into 19 Soul Crystals (Small). He inserted the Soul Crystals (Small) in a circle around the sapling. He was afraid that the nutrients from the Soul Crystals (Medium) would be too strong and kill the Black Maple Tree sapling.
As soon as Su Xiao inserted the Soul Crystals (Small) into the soil, five slender tree roots slowly extended from the dirt. These five tender white rootlets wrapped around five Soul Crystals (Small).
Crack, crack...
A faint sound of breaking came. The five tender white rootlets pierced into the Soul Crystals. In a short time, the five Soul Crystals were completely absorbed, and the rootlets retracted into the soil.
Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu looked at each other. They all had the same feeling—this thing seemed to have a chance of surviving.