Chapter 12: The Mother Tree
Ignoring the exclamations of "It's Master Nostradamus!" from Ying and Lin behind him, Joshua quickly approached the old mage who had already steadied himself. He had initially intended to lend a hand, but Nostradamus's condition was better than expected. Merely pressing his hand to his forehead and complaining, "My old bones are about to be shaken apart," he quickly became aware of the warrior's arrival and greeted him somewhat weakly: "I knew you'd be here, Joshua. It's really great to see you... By the way, your actions are always so unpredictable."
"Same here. Your appearance is even more unexpected than I imagined... Nostradamus, how did you get here?"
Patting the old mage on the shoulder, Joshua ignored the old mage's look of disdain at the heavy pat, as well as the spatial-temporal aftershocks transmitted through his hand. With an expression of seeing something utterly unbelievable, he looked at the legendary expert before him: "I mean, even if you're a legendary mage specializing in space-time sorcery, it's impossible to come here from the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground!"
This was a fact. Precisely because he was a legendary himself, Joshua knew the limits of those who had just entered the legendary realm. Someone like him could cause massive destruction within the scope of the Mycroft World, roughly the surface of a planet—for example, destroying a mountain range, casually overthrowing and annihilating a kingdom's dozen city-states—but fundamentally destroying the earth itself was impossible. The same went for the old mage. Nostradamus might be able to freely traverse the various realms of the multiverse, but that was limited to jumping from one world to another. It was absolutely impossible for him to instantly cross an infinitely vast distance to arrive at a world called the 'Starry Worlds' by the Dominant Will—something even the gods might not be able to do.
"I'm not entirely clear on this matter either..."
Regarding Joshua's confusion, Nostradamus also felt a lingering fear. He frowned, recalling the situation at the time: "When you suddenly erupted with full force and flew towards the center of the demiplane, I was worried about your safety and immediately used a teleportation spell to follow you—you know I was unfamiliar with that demiplane, so I used multiple short-range targeted teleportations, needing to stop occasionally to confirm coordinates. And once, when I stopped midway, I heard a voice that resounded throughout the entire demiplane."
Recalling that voice from back then, the old mage's expression was unprecedentedly serious: "At the same time that voice sounded, there came a massive energy fluctuation that shook the entire demiplane. Joshua, you might not know this, but at that moment, Barbarossa and the others and I all sensed it. The gazes of the Seven Gods descended from the Boundless Heaven, shaken by this fluctuation. It even lit up a second silver-blue sun on the Mycroft Continent! I thought history had triggered some ancient ruin, so I wanted to hurry over to help. But during the teleportation, I was caught in a huge spatial-temporal vortex."
Joshua immediately knew that the so-called huge spatial-temporal vortex was likely the anomaly caused by the Dominant Will's activation of the multi-dimensional quadrant teleportation. The reason the old mage had come to the Starry Worlds was probably because he had accidentally become part of the teleportation.
"Then you ended up here?"
Thinking this, he couldn't help but ask.
"Of course not—do you know how dangerous it is to be caught in a spatial-temporal turbulence? It means the possibility of eternal sinking, even more dangerous than being banished into the Abyss!"
Nostradamus straightened his somewhat disheveled robe, adjusted the ancient belt inlaid with over a dozen rune stone fragments at his waist, and said with a grave expression: "If it weren't for the help of that demiplane's will, I would probably have been crushed by the multiverse's spatial-temporal vortex pressure at the very beginning of the teleportation—like two pyramid tips simultaneously crushing an ant, effortlessly... You might not understand this analogy, but that's exactly how it was."
"Speaking of which, the civilization of the Era of Radiance was truly powerful. They could actually bestow a world will! Do you know what that means? It means they could almost create worlds! Speaking of this, Nostradamus's expression suddenly became somewhat fanatical. His voice lowered, and he murmured in a tone both expectant and helpless: "If there were a brand new world available for cultivation, how much less conflict would there be on the Mycroft Continent..."
Joshua understood the old mage's excitement and fanaticism very well. After all, if it were him, without knowing the inside story of the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground and the information about the Sage, encountering such a series of events would certainly excite him as well. But since he had seen much and was well-informed, he didn't intend to continue this topic. So the warrior spoke: "Regardless, your arrival greatly encourages me. After all, two strengths are greater than one. With you here, my task will definitely be much easier."
"Naturally. With two legendary experts joining forces, there should be nothing difficult in this world."
Nostradamus laughed. The old mage looked spirited. He looked around and asked curiously: "A temple platform on a mountain peak? I sense an aura similar to the Seven Gods... Joshua, where is this?"
Joshua then briefly described their current situation, including the dire state of the Midgardians, the faith in the Sage, and the source and result of the summoning.
"Good heavens..."
Nostradamus widened his eyes. The old mage's beard trembled. He shook his head in disbelief and repeated: "You mean, your daze back in the demiplane was because you accepted the will left by the Sage, took on the task of the demiplane's will, and came to a different world in the multiverse to help them drive out the Chaos?! By the Truth, this is a feat that no hero on the Mycroft Continent has ever accomplished!"
—And it sounded like it wasn't the first time. Nostradamus thought to himself. No wonder Joshua always seemed so busy and his strength progressed so quickly. It seemed he had been tirelessly working on these matters in secret.
"So, what exactly is the situation with our enemies, those Chaos? Is there any intelligence related to them?"
Without too many questions, Nostradamus directly asked for relevant information. He was an elder who had lived for decades and naturally knew the urgency of matters: "With intelligence, we can better formulate countermeasures. Everything needs a plan."
Joshua turned to look at Milharbus, who was quietly standing by. He shrugged and said: "That's exactly what I was about to do."
At this moment, Milharbus, seeing the gazes of the two void lifeforms collectively turn to him, immediately felt a tremor in his heart—and it couldn't help but tremble. Even though the Supreme Executive was long accustomed to being the focus of thousands, being stared at by two super lifeforms that had never appeared in the Midgard Star was another matter entirely. Responding to the message Joshua had specially sent through Steel Force, Milharbus quickly said: "I will immediately take you both to depart!"
To be honest, Milharbus didn't know whether to be overjoyed or worried: A second powerful void super lifeform! And it also possessed intelligence, could communicate, and seemed familiar with the first! This meant the Void Portal ritual was not only a complete success but had far exceeded its goals—this was its greatest political achievement. What was worrying was that a single super lifeform already warranted the Central Fleet of Midgard Civilization to be dispatched to suppress the situation. Two basically meant Midgard Civilization was helpless against them. And the most terrifying thing was that the two super lifeforms had a very close relationship. This not only meant they couldn't betray each other but also suggested that behind them, there might be an entire void civilization!
If they launched a large-scale invasion... then perhaps it wouldn't just be a disaster for the Midgardians. The entire star river might fall into a cosmic calamity. Although the fleet was powerful, even capable of bombarding and destroying a planet's surface bit by bit, for extremely agile super lifeforms, they were merely huge targets.
Especially this one... Milharbus couldn't help but glance at Nostradamus. Compared to Joshua's relatively restrained energy fluctuations, the old mage's powerful mana and spirit, existing between the gaps of space-time, were as conspicuous as a second sun in the eyes of these psionic lifeforms. The Supreme Executive even felt his own psionic energy fluctuate slightly due to the other's breathing, completely influenced by him—this was the most intuitive comparison of power.
"Please, ahead is the Psionic Leap Gate."
Meanwhile, at the dock of the silver-gray cylindrical giant space station, the flagship bridge of the Midgard Central Fleet.
Taquin closed his mouth, sat in his seat, and fell into deep contemplation.
If it were one super lifeform, he might still urge Milharbus to use the psionic light pillar to control it. But with two, he had to abandon that idea. If there were three, even if all the power of Midgard Star were exhausted, victory might not be guaranteed. More than that, even self-destruction would be meaningless. The battle against the Crystal Insects a thousand years ago taught these proud interstellar races a lesson: Although these void lifeforms seemed to lack technology and even appeared somewhat ancient, on another path of civilization, they might have gone further than them.
A path called 'Transcendent Power'.
Leaving aside the Holy Council and Research Center, which were also deep in thought and heated discussion, and the Midgard Star civilians who were nearly boiling over due to the appearance of the second void lifeform, Nostradamus was now carefully observing the teleportation gate at the center of the Lightning Temple.
The temple at the peak of the Holy Mountain on Midgard Star was shaped similarly to the ancient Greek style Joshua was familiar with, supported by huge stone pillars mixed with peculiar cold-resistant plant roots. At the center of the huge, empty temple was a psionic leap gate emitting a silver-gray glow. At that moment, the old mage was circling the psionic leap gate, observing it from top to bottom, blocking the path Joshua and the others were about to take.
"Very interesting."
After a dozen seconds, Nostradamus stopped his observation. He stared at the silver-gray leap gate before him and said thoughtfully: "The design is exquisite. Perhaps even more so than—or rather, far more so than the teleportation network set up by our Empire. It consumes very little energy, only one-twentieth of what our teleportation gates require. Of course, this is mainly because the Mycroft Continent is rich in free energy, so there's no need to be overly frugal. But without a doubt, this civilization is very advanced."
"This is a technological tendency brought about by different environments."
Joshua nodded in agreement: "The Mycroft World might surpass in terms of high-level individual strength, but it's far inferior to this civilization in other aspects—as far as I know, the Midgardians have even achieved universal psionic awakening, which is almost equivalent to the entire Mycroft Continent having professional classes."
Regardless, after the observation, the group, led by Milharbus, headed to the other side of the space-time gate, to the so-called [Mother Tree Hall].
...
Mycroft Continent.
A shocking piece of news spread among the upper echelons of the entire world.
In the artificial demiplane of the ancient Era of Radiance, located behind a space-time distortion point near the Mycroft World, legendary warrior Joshua van Radcliffe and legendary mage Nostradamus went missing while exploring the central area of the demiplane, with no news of them to date.
In response, the three other legendary experts temporarily halted their exploration. This was not only because they were frightened by the disappearance of the two but also because the ancient super-large mana puppet, named [Giant Divine Soldier], had restarted amidst the massive energy fluctuations. The entire central area of the demiplane was shrouded in thick mana mist, within which roamed countless artificial killing puppets from the ancient era.
A single Giant Divine Soldier could be dealt with by a legendary expert with a snap of their fingers. But now, hundreds of these Giant Divine Soldiers roamed the periphery of the central area. Without intending to use their full power and provoke the existence suspected to be the demiplane's will, even Barbarossa and Faina couldn't handle those ferocious Ultimate-rank or even Ultimate Peak-rank puppets. They could only temporarily withdraw and wait for an opportunity. Because of this, the demiplane had become an extremely dangerous place. The Empire officially began preparing for the next formal joint exploration with the Eastern Plains to search for news of the two missing legendary experts.
At this moment, in the Morlai Palace, Emperor Israel sat in his seat, crushing the golden cup in his hand like modeling clay. He stared at the sky with a gloomy face, his gaze seemingly piercing through to the demiplane in the outer void.
"Lord Radcliffe is one thing—he's the inheritor of the Sage. When exploring ancient ruins, he might trigger something and then disappear for a while. I was mentally prepared for that."
Thinking this, he sighed heavily: "But Teacher, what's going on with you? How did you get caught up in this too?"
Suddenly losing two legendary experts, the gradually clarifying situation of the Empire immediately became murky and unpredictable. This made Israel, who had been in a very good mood, feel extremely frustrated. He could only look at the ornately decorated ceiling of the Morlai Palace and mutter to himself: "Plans can't keep up with changes."
"It seems the reforms will have to be put on hold."
Every move of a legendary expert could affect the world's situation, let alone two legendary experts from the same faction leaving simultaneously. But at this moment, Joshua and Nostradamus had no energy to care about the situation on the Mycroft Continent—or rather, since caring was useless, the two pragmatic legendary experts put it out of their minds and focused entirely on the current task.
For example, heading to the Mother Tree Hall.
Midgard Star, Far East Continent, Great Maelstrom Sea Area.
Joshua, with Ying and Lin, who had wide eyes and slightly open mouths, stood with Nostradamus, gazing at the awe-inspiring spectacle before them. Even the light orb poked out from the warrior's pocket, peeking and emitting 'ding-ling ding-ling' sounds of awe.
A scene that could make two legendary experts stop in their tracks was naturally awe-inspiring. And the sight before them fully lived up to the name 'wonder'.
Standing on a cliff on the eastern coast of the Far East Continent of Midgard Star, looking into the distance, beyond the blue nearshore waters, in the pitch-black deep-sea area, a colossal super-vortex, with an estimated radius of over a dozen kilometers—enough to swallow a large city—was roaring like thunder. Countless pitch-black tornadoes swirled around it. This grand scene was merely the result of a super plant lifeform, rooted in the deep-sea crust, with tree trunks and branches as massive as mountains, gently shaking its roots and tendrils to absorb nutrients from the seawater and continental shelf. At the very center of the vortex was a tree that seemed like a willow magnified millions of times. Its countless willow branches stirred in the seawater and mid-air, creating this super-vortex and tornadoes that could affect the coasts of half a continent.
And it didn't stop there. Joshua could see countless dense psionic fluctuations from all directions of the world, even from beyond the cosmic void, converging on this mother tree. Immeasurable amounts of information were contained within these psionic fluctuations, entering the mother tree and being transmitted out by it.
"That is a subsidiary plant of the Mother Tree, named 'Tide-Maker Lagopus'. It is responsible for stirring the seawater, absorbing surrounding plankton and minerals, and supplying nutrients to the Mother Tree."
Faced with this awe-inspiring scene, Milharbus knelt on one knee from a distance in reverence, performing a salute. After standing up, he said softly: "The Mother Tree's main body is located deep in the earth's crust. The entrance to the Mother Tree Hall is at the center of the Great Maelstrom. The psionic energy there is violent (kuang bao), making teleportation impossible, so we have to use special... ah, I forgot, you two can just fly over."
Thinking of their strength, Milharbus said apologetically.
Joshua didn't pay much attention to his words. He just nodded and remarked: "This is quite different from the mother tree I imagined."
The old mage, on the other hand, instinctively began to compare: "It seems this foreign race's mother tree is even more powerful than the Elf Clan's Mother Tree of Life—although I've heard the Mother Tree of Life was just a transitional product during the Elf Clan's decline, and their deity was a giant tree that supported heaven and earth... Indeed, this civilization cannot be underestimated."
Having personally seen the Father of Nature, Joshua naturally knew that although this mother tree appeared powerful, it was far inferior to a true god. Not to mention the Father of Nature's divine power, which could influence the rise and fall of magic throughout the entire world and overwhelm the world will to forcibly alter the natural environment, just its size was incomparable. The Father of Nature's canopy alone, rising above the ground, formed the Origin Mountains of the Ilgena World. If its main body fully emerged from the surface, it could break through the atmosphere. That was a true world tree supporting heaven and earth in the literal sense. But such comparisons were meaningless. Regardless, the mother tree's power was still somewhat beyond the warrior's expectations.
Just as Joshua and Nostradamus were both marveling, a vast will projected from the distant sea area onto the seaside cliff where the group had arrived. Sensing the descent of this will, Milharbus, who had just stood up, immediately knelt again—this time on both knees. He called out in a respectful tone: "Mother of Midgard—"
"Rise, my child..."
The will responded gently to Milharbus's words. Then, it turned to Joshua and Nostradamus, or more precisely, focused on the warrior.
"It is you..."
It called out softly: "The Sage. We still remember this aura, as if it were yesterday."
"Mother Tree... how should I address you?"
Joshua was not surprised by its peculiar self-reference. He calmly responded in his mind: "Have you seen the Sage before?"
"You may call me Mother of Midgard, though Mother Tree is also fine. We do not mind."
The Mother Tree's voice laughed: "To be precise, I have not, but a part of me has seen the descent of the Sage. He decreed the future direction of our race and is the most venerable Holy One... Psionic energy is the gathering of souls and memories, the product of will and spirit. Psionic energy is omnipotent. I am the collective will of many Midgard psionicists and their information hub. So, if one part of me has seen it, it can be said that I have seen it."
Upon hearing this, Joshua understood immediately. As someone from the era of information explosion in the universe, he naturally knew what the Mother Tree meant by this statement. Clearly, both its peculiar self-reference and its aura, similar to the Father of Nature, proved that this existence called the Mother Tree was likely the product of the psionic energy—that is, the souls—of countless Midgardians after death. It was very possible that the so-called Mother Tree was the final destination for all Midgardians after death. That was why Milharbus, despite being the Supreme Executive of Midgard, was so respectful to the Mother Tree, because his future was also to become part of the Mother Tree.
This was a prototype of a foreign world's Father of Nature. And it seemed that if the Midgardians' psionic link was a network, with each person as a terminal, then this Mother Tree was their information relay hub, the so-called server.
"How peculiar... With such conditions, the Midgardians didn't become a collective will civilization. Could this also be the result of the Sage's descent back then?"
Thinking this in his mind, Joshua didn't waste words. After all, he hadn't come here for pleasantries. The warrior directly asked: "Since you say you are the information hub of Midgard, then tell me, what kind of existence are you about to face?"
"How direct, Descender. You wish to know the information about the Void Enemy?"
The Mother Tree's will seemed unsurprised. Its voice became ethereal: "The power within you two is too great. If it weren't for the Central Hall within my body, I wouldn't be able to transmit the complete information to you... But even so, some basic information is no problem."
"But don't be frightened, inheritor of the Sage."
"It might be a terror you have never seen before."