Chapter 2202 Extraction

"Indeed."

Fang Heng nodded. He had just heard about this from the Great Elder Senzo not long ago.

So, at the moment, the tree spirit clan was in a state of extreme instability.

"Yes, so this thing is very important to them."

"Huh? Why?" Fang Heng became even more puzzled and asked, "What does the crystal have to do with the selection of the next patriarch?"

"Huh? You don't know?" Sandy scratched his head upon hearing Fang Heng's question.

"Well, let's start from the beginning, according to the information I found in the books..."

Sandy patiently spent some time explaining the selection rules for the next elder of the tree spirit clan from the beginning.

After listening, Fang Heng suddenly felt as if he had just woken up from a dream.

The tree spirit clan.

How interesting!

After all the confusion, Elder Senzo had been concealing crucial information from him all along.

The way the tree spirit clan's next successor was chosen wasn't a straightforward confrontation as Fang Heng had imagined, but rather another seemingly more peaceful ritual.

Simply put, each tribe would cultivate their own sacred tree under the monitoring of the Elders Council. After a hundred years, the tribe that managed to cultivate the strongest tree to inherit the sacred tree would win.

The victorious tribe's cultivated sacred tree could absorb the nutrients from the sacred trees cultivated by the other tribes, as well as the nutrients from the soon-to-wither old generation of sacred trees, ensuring the best growth for the sacred tree.

The sacred tree would also become the new sacred tree for the entire tree spirit clan.

So, at the moment, each tribe of the tree spirit clan was desperately intruding into the Elders Council, even resorting to violence, in an attempt to vie for the resources to cultivate the sacred tree.

However, due to the significant upheaval within the tree spirit clan, the Elders Council had completely disappeared, and the resources left behind by the Elders Council were unallocated.

Whoever seized the Nature's Heart Crystal would be considered the rightful owner.

As for the Nature's Heart Crystal found inside the casket, it wasn't just a simple source of energy, it was also a special conversion device.

Under the blessing of the ritual magic array, the crystal could convert energy in other forms into natural energy that could be absorbed by the sacred tree.

Fang Heng understood now, he weighed the crystal in his hand again.

What a treasure!

No wonder the tree spirit clan was willing to exchange it for master-level knowledge in other areas of natural science.

However, submitting the crystal as a mission item to the Leaf tribe might be a bit of a loss, right?

With these gemstones, he could set a sky-high price!

He could try selling them to other tribes of the tree spirit clan!

Hold an auction or something?

The highest bidder gets it?

No matter what, he had to maximize the benefits, right?

"Sandy, you did well," Fang Heng pondered, nodding in approval. "Alright, I got it. I have something to take care of now. We can discuss further after I retrieve the crystal..."

"Wait!"

Sandy hurriedly intervened as Fang Heng seemed to want to end the communication. He shouted excitedly into the communication, "Wait, you idiot! Mo Jiawei can handle these things. Why do I have to personally come to you? Have you heard of stories like 'buying a chest and losing a gem,' 'greed blinds one to the big picture,' or 'picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons'? There's something more important we need to discuss now!"

"Huh?" Fang Heng looked puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"Just wait a moment. I need to confirm something else," Sandy took a deep breath, calming his slightly excited mood. "Please adjust the direction of the projection lens. I need to observe the main body of the sacred tree."

The main body of the sacred tree?

After glancing at the withered main body of the sacred tree at the Altar of the Wood God, Fang Heng turned his emblem and directed the remote mirror communication towards the sacred tree.

Sandy leaned in, carefully examining the sacred tree, his eyes showing an unprecedented seriousness.

"Fang Heng, I've read some information in the records about the connection with the dead sacred tree," Sandy said as he observed the sacred tree. "I've read that before a sacred tree reaches the end of its life, it gathers its remaining strength within itself and transfers it to the next generation of sacred tree. Usually, this operation is conducted under the leadership of the Elders Council."

"I've just checked, and this should be the main body of the sacred tree, but I'm not entirely sure. I also can't be certain if the last remaining source of life of this sacred tree has been extracted," Sandy continued.

Fang Heng's pupils contracted suddenly as he immediately realized what Sandy was suggesting.

"You mean the strength of the withered sacred tree might not have been extracted?"

Sandy nodded heavily.

"That's very likely."

Yes!

Fang Heng also came to the same realization.

The sudden disappearance of the passage to the Inner World, the abrupt death of the elder sacred trees, and the anomalies with the remaining seeds—all pointed to the inability to cultivate the next generation of seeds.

So, it's very likely that the elder sacred trees didn't complete the energy extraction process!

The Nature's Heart Crystals in these boxes weren't extracted from the sacred tree.

Sandy really hit the nail on the head.

If he were to run away with the crystals now, that would be going on a wild goose chase.

But there was still a question.

Since there were problems with the seeds of the sacred tree, why were the four major tribes still desperately fighting for the energy crystals of various cultivating races?

Wasn't there a lack of seeds? How could they cultivate?

Well, let's put that aside for now, Fang Heng suppressed his doubts and asked, "Sandy, how do I extract the energy from the sacred tree seeds?"

"Just wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Five minutes after Sandy disappeared from the communication mirror, he hurried back, holding a worn-out book in his hand and showing Fang Heng a page from it.

The book depicted a large magic array.

"This is the magic array! It's recorded to absorb and condense the residual life energy of the withered sacred tree."

Fang Heng raised his head, staring at the magic array depicted in the book. A phantom of a rapidly rotating magic array reflected in his right eye's pupil.

[Hint: The player is attempting to replicate the magic array using the omniscient eye...]

[Hint: The target magic array is mid-tier...]

[Hint: Success rate 100%...]

After a minute of channeling, the magic array in Fang Heng's pupils slowly disappeared.

[Hint: The player has completed the replication of the magic array.]

"That's it."

Fang Heng said. He withdrew his gaze and looked at the withered sacred tree.

He wasn't sure if there was any residual energy left in the withered sacred tree before him.

It didn't matter.

Let's give it a try.

It didn't matter if there wasn't any.

If there was...

Fang Heng licked his lips.

This might be the most precious treasure within the holy land of the tree spirit in the Ring of the Ages!

The communication had been lasting for too long, and the remote communication mirror link had become somewhat unstable. Cleriway's face had turned pale, and sweat beaded on her forehead.

Triggering the magic array would still take some time, so Fang Heng decided to temporarily interrupt the remote communication link.

"Hey, you guys."

Fang Heng turned to look at Ana and the others.