1923 Reason For Sentience

Lin Mu carefully listened to Elder Pear's words and was intrigued by it all. After all, he was getting to listen to the history of the Rust Sky world, which had been witnessed first hand.

"A large amount of Qi? Did you absorb that?" Lin Mu asked. 'If it is behind it, wouldn't it be possible to replicate it?' he wondered.

"I did." Elder Pear admitted, raising Lin Mu's hopes. "But that wasn't what allowed me to become sentient. Rather it was a sliver of energy that was hidden within all that Qi." He said, dousing Lin Mu's hopes.

"What kind of energy?" Lin Mu questioned.

"All my life, I've been searching for that too. But I still haven't been able to figure it out." The Tree said, lowering Lin Mu's hopes even more. "It was very unique though… like a tiny boat floating in a stormy ocean. Within all that Qi it managed to stand out. In fact, I was simply lucky that I happened to be near it. Other creatures could have very easily absorbed it." He revealed.

Hearing this, Lin Mu wondered if Xukong might know more. 

"Could you describe the energy to me?" Lin Mu questioned. "I have information from many places, and I might be able to figure it out."

"The energy was… Full of Life… it felt homely… it felt like it was a missing part of me, something that I never knew I didn't have." Elder Pear spoke with a nostalgic tone.

'Senior Xukong, did you hear that?' Lin Mu spoke in his mind.

"I did." The spider replied. "But that description isn't enough. There are too many things that fit that description. Even Vital Essence would fit it." He added.

"Hmm, yeah that does seem correct." Lin Mu agreed.

"You need more details. Ask him about the sudden surge of the Qi. Something like that doesn't just happen randomly." Xukong suggested.

"Alright." Lin Mu replied before speaking to the tree. "Can you tell me more about the event? Like when did this happen and do you know if it was only in this area?" 

"While I don't have an exact date for it, it certainly happened over a hundred thousand years ago." Elder Pear answered. "As for the phenomenon… it wasn't in this area either. There are records of it happening all over the Rust Sky World." He revealed.

"All over the world?" Lin Mu thought about it and went over the history that he had already heard about back then.

'If it's a hundred thousand years ago, then it should be around the same time as the Haima tribe's creation and when the war happened. The Great Ocean Hippocampus meting out punishment as well as the battle of the Demonic Tribes.' Lin Mu thought about it all.

There were far too many events that had happened back then and it was a time of turbulent changes. 

"Since you've lived this long, Elder Pear, do you know of what happened in the other places in the world? For example, in the Eight Kingdom alliance at that time?" he asked.

"The Eight Kingdom alliance? Hmm… I recall there being a beast that unleashed its wrath upon the area. Its power was great and had been witnessed by many great cultivators of that time too." Elder Pear answered.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mu was now sure that the events were certainly linked.

'The Great Ocean Hippocampus might have something to do with it.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

"Also, considering that the surge in Qi happened all over the world, I can't help but think there were more of those Strange Slivers of energy." Elder Pear suddenly spoke.

"More of them?" Lin Mu raised his brows.

"Yes… from time to time… like once every few thousand years or so, I've felt them." Elder Pear said looking in the distance. "It feels like there are more of them… though it is very far." He added.

"More of them… Could it be possible there are other trees that gained sentience like you, too?" Lin Mu questioned.

"It is definitely a possibility. But it could also be some other creature, like a beast or a human." The Tree answered.

Shuijing Mingzhu was also listening to it all and recalled something after hearing this.

"Umm… there used to be a Monstrous Tree in the Huiqing Continent." Shuijing Mingzhu suddenly spoke. "I heard about it from some cultivators that had come from there. It is a legend there in some of the regions."

"What do these legends say?" Lin Mu questioned.

"They speak of a Tree that ate all humans that neared it. It consumed entire villages before the experts noticed it and went to eradicate it. The tree was said to be very strong too and could actually move around." Shuijing Mingzhu answered. "Oh and the experts that killed it were at the Seventh Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm!" 

"Seventh Tribulation Stage… then that tree must be equally as strong." Lin Mu muttered. "Though the behavior greatly varies from Elder Pear." He added.

"Just like humans, us trees can have different personalities. I was a Snow Glass Pear tree that consumed light Qi to grow. If it was a tree that consumed blood to grow, I reckon it would have a vastly different personality if it gained sentience." Elder Pear explained.

"That is true… and if we consider the fact it had gained sentience around the same time as you, it might have been killing for a long time too." Lin Mu stated.

The three became silent for a while as they thought about it more.

"I think I might know what that energy was now." Xukong interrupted at this time.

"You do Senior!?" Lin Mu was excited.

"I might even know what the sudden surge of Immortal Qi happened," Xukong added. "If we link all the events to the history of the Rust Sky World, one thing falls in common… The evolution of the Rust Sky World. We know it is gonna become a Celestial World in the future, and all this might have started a hundred thousand years ago." He explained.