I'm a villain, not a devil

Chapter 720 Origin
Deep in the earth's crust, earth-shaking changes are taking place at this moment.

Sean, who was standing aside, was concentrating on observing the changes around him, while Xiao Ci beside him was nodding his head repeatedly, and it seemed that he was about to fall asleep.

Sean asked about it on the way here. After absorbing the sap of Zan's life force tree, Xiao Ci felt very sleepy, but there was nothing unusual. What was even more outrageous was that she jumped directly to the upper layer of crimson and almost reached the peak of crimson.

Xiao Ci not only absorbed the sap of his natal tree perfectly, but was also not troubled by the upper limit at all.

The only side effect is mental fatigue, in other words - eating too much makes you sleepy.

Holding Xiao Ci with one hand to prevent her from falling, Sean focused his attention on the changes in front of him.

He had been to this deep underground pit more than once, but it only took him a moment to get here from sensing the scent. The scene in front of him made him wonder if he had come to the wrong place.

The smell of corruption and stench disappeared completely, and the dark green swamps and scarlet mist were no longer visible.

The ground that originally resembled the road to hell turned into mud. The surrounding rocks seemed to have changed shape in an instant, and tender green grass seedlings were emerging from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And those weird man-eating plants that had their mouths wide open and drooling now obediently closed their mouths and turned into buds about to bloom. Apart from being a little bigger in size, they didn't look weird at all.

After careful observation, Sean discovered that there were invisible energy fluctuations inside the tree trunk that were constantly sweeping around, like the breath of the God of Life, expelling filth and awakening vitality.

The earth-shaking changes did not last long, and the scene before our eyes turned into a real paradise. Even small animals from nowhere began to roam among the bushes and flowers.

The huge World Tree with its center hollowed out is no longer withered and corrupt as before. Although the center is still empty, a large number of tender green branches have sprouted on its surface, and the leaves at the crown have become lush and green.

It looks a bit like a hairpin under the sea...

Sean was thinking about it, and then he heard a loud but not exciting drum sound coming from the center of the tree hole.

The drum beats continued one after another, and with each beat the bushes, grass seedlings, and flowers grew a little. After eleven consecutive beats, the lowest weeds around had grown to Sean's neck.

He picked one at random and put it in his mouth, and the surprise in Sean's eyes became more and more intense.

There is no trace of pollution, and the energy contained in it is even quite abundant - if there were this kind of wild grass near Paradise City, Sean would definitely have people take good care of it and then grow it on a large scale.

Has the recovery just brought about such big changes?

Sean grabbed Xiao Ci, who was still dozing off, and walked towards the inside of the tree hole.

The tree hole has not changed much, but compared to the previous lifeless and slightly weird atmosphere, the newly emerged branches and flowers can be said to be full of vitality.

Sean noticed that only the light red lake in the center had not changed at all. The surface of the lake was calm, and no one would have thought that there was a terrifying guard named Klar hidden underneath it.

The eleven altars previously used for the ceremony were also hidden by flowers and plants. However, there were many extra saplings on the altars. It seemed that the sacrificed tree people had played their final role.

Sean walked in and soon found the sapling.

No, to be precise, it is no longer a sapling. In less than a month, the shaky sapling has grown into a towering tree.

Compared to the World Tree, this tree is very small, but it is already the largest among normal plants, and its appearance is exactly the same as a shrunken World Tree.

Before Sean got close, the tree began to sway briskly, and the leaves on the crown fell down one after another, and then combined together to form a "leaf man" in front of Sean's eyes.

Although the leaf person could not be seen clearly, she retained obvious female features, and when she opened her mouth, she indeed spoke with the clear and crisp voice of a girl.

"Old friend, you're here!" Ye Ren's voice was filled with affection and a bit of girlish liveliness.

Sean looked strange: "Are you really a girl?"

Ye Ren nodded slightly and said cheerfully: "Old friend, thank you again for your help. The aura you left behind in my previous life helped me a lot, and you saved my revived body in this life. I can't express your gratitude in words."

Sure enough, it is related to the previous life. No wonder I could sense the complete aura of the Deceitful Heart here before...

Sean nodded slightly: "I don't even know your name yet?"

The leaf man replied, "My name is Lian, the same as in ripples. I should have been called Lian because I was originally a bracelet worn on my wrist, but... Lian doesn't sound very girly, and since I was born with the water, I was called Lian."

The names of your world trees are all one character? Then why is the Wen Na tree three characters long?

Moreover, Zan also mentioned that he used to be a hairpin, so he is called Zan. So Lian was also a bracelet before?
Who are they wearing? Sean felt that it was definitely not him, otherwise the hairpin would definitely recognize it. He thought, maybe it was a true creator or something like that? After all, the World Tree Clan was a natural race born from heaven and earth, a natural god.

Sean nodded: "Lian... I see, you know me, right?"

Lian affirmed: "Of course, old friend, but to be precise, I knew you in your last life, but I don't know your name in this life."

Sean introduced himself: "Sean."

Ye Ren's not-so-obvious facial features also showed surprise: "Still called Sean?"

This time it was Sean's turn to be puzzled: "My name was Sean in my previous life?"

Lian nodded: "Yes, the name I know you is Sean. When you were approaching the end of your life, you said that you would try to change. I thought you would be called another name."

Sean was thoughtful. He was also called Sean before he traveled through time, but it should not be the life that Lian knew. And his previous life in this world was also called Sean...

He found a place to sit down. Lian noticed Xiao Ci, who was being carried by him, and said uncertainly, "What is this? I can sense a trace of the breath of the tribesmen, but it's a little strange..."

Xiao Ci was still in a daze. Sean grabbed her face and rubbed it, but when he failed to wake her up, he gave up.

He looked at Lian: "I brought her here to ask you, is my sister the World Tree? Or, is she the residual consciousness of a certain World Tree or something like that? Anyway, she once resonated with the residual consciousness space of another World Tree, and was even mistaken by an evil god as a substitute for the World Tree."

Lian walked over curiously and placed a leaf on Xiao Ci's forehead. However, as soon as she placed it on the leaf, Xiao Ci seemed to sense something.

She reached out, plucked the leaf and put it in her mouth.

The orange-haired loli's throat moved, and Sean and Lian stared at each other.

Lian was surprised and asked, "You ate it right away?" Sean asked, "What does that mean?"

Lian shook her head uncertainly: "This is the way our World Tree clan identifies its members, but either they are integrated into the body, or veins inconsistent with their identities emerge on the leaves... Eat them..."

She seemed to be at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "I have never seen such a situation. Generally speaking, it should not be eaten."

Xiao Ci was still dizzy, and the leaf seemed to have no effect on her.

Sean asked curiously, "What can eating it prove?"

Lian shook her head: "I can't prove anything, but I can be sure that she has a great connection with the World Tree Clan, or maybe..."

She seemed unsure, but said it after Sean asked her.

"Perhaps, she is an alien race among the World Trees. Just like humans, there are also a small number of unique individuals in the tribe. But there is no royal family among our World Trees. Every tree is the same, except for the alien race... well, can it be regarded as an individual of our race that is more aggressive and has stronger mobility than the ordinary individuals?"

Sean didn't quite understand: "Isn't this still the World Tree? Why can't we be sure?"

Lian explained, "Because it hasn't appeared for a long, long time, the World Tree is rooted in the world, but this individual likes to, uh, wander between different worlds. Traveling between different worlds consumes a huge amount of energy and also damages the integrity, so this individual will unconsciously absorb energy, causing some abnormalities in the world it travels through."

"Anyway, this kind of individual brings a lot of problems, so the operating rules of each world have begun to exclude them. With the collapse of the previous special individuals, the World Tree Clan has not seen this kind of individual for a long time."

Xiao En looked at Xiao Ci in surprise. Is there such a saying? Even the hairpin had not been mentioned before.

However, at present, Xiao Ci is most likely a world tree...

Lian added, "But considering that she is now a human, she is definitely not an orthodox world tree. I can tell that she is not a transformed member of the tribe, but a thorough human being. Since you call her sister, I think it is very likely that she knew you in the previous life and had a very deep connection with you. She may have done the same thing as you."

Xiao En reacted and said in surprise: "You mean, Xiao Ci was reincarnated like me? But in her previous life, she was the World Tree and an alien?"

"At present, this is the most likely possibility." Lian said with an apologetic expression, "I was born too late and my life span is relatively short, so I don't know much. I'm sorry, old friend, I can't help you confirm it."

Sean didn't care too much. He already had a general idea of ​​Xiao Ci's identity, so he just had a rough idea in his mind.

And Xiaoci is fine now, Sean doesn't plan to treat her like a tree, he will just continue to raise her as a sister.

He turned to Lian and pulled Xiao Ci to sit down: "Okay, it's time to tell the real secret."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sean noticed that Lian on the opposite side seemed to become strange all of a sudden.

She looked at Sean with her blurred facial features, and her eyes actually revealed a hint of sadness and nostalgia.

Without waiting for Sean to ask, Lian took a deep breath and spit out leaves all around him.

After organizing his words, Lian spoke slowly.

"Let me start with myself. As you can see, I am a world tree, but I am not the one that was born from the source when this world was born."

Sean raised his hand and said, "I know, the first tree is a hairpin."

Lian was slightly stunned: "You actually found Senior Zan? Then there is no need for me to explain many things. Considering Senior Zan's situation, he probably told you everything."

Xiao En couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is the hairpin famous?"

Lian showed a slightly embarrassed expression: "Of course, the only World Tree that gave up its integrity is often criticized by the older tribesmen for giving up the pride of the World Tree. Although I have never seen him, I know that he hid himself just to, uh, live a long life."

Sean couldn't help but laugh.

Lian also laughed, and then explained: "But Senior Zan is not the first World Tree in this world. The first World Tree has collapsed for a long time."

Sean nodded and asked, "How many world trees are there in this world?"

Lian's expression was slightly heavy: "It's beyond your imagination. From what I know, there have been no less than ten World Trees in this world."

"So many?" Sean asked in surprise.

He knew that there was more than one World Tree, but he never thought that there would be so many in this world.

Doesn't that mean that there were at least ten true god-level beings in this world?

Lian explained: "I said once, but not at the same time. As far as I know, except for the special Senior Zan, there have never been two World Trees appearing at the same time in other time periods. The reason why the World Tree appears frequently is also very simple, that is, the speed at which the previous World Tree collapsed was too fast."

"Too fast?" Sean remembered that Zhan said that the lifespan of the World Tree is generally 50,000 years. In a world with frequent killings, it will be reduced to less than 40,000 years. The unlucky ones may only live for 20,000 years.

But Lian said the next second: "As far as I know, there is no world tree in this world whose life span exceeds 5,000 years, of course, except for Senior Zan."

This time Sean was really surprised. Five thousand years was too short for the World Tree.

Lian's expression was somewhat sad: "Five thousand years... this is only the time it takes for the World Tree to mature. Some World Trees even collapsed before they reached adulthood."

Sean couldn't help but look at her: "What about you?"

Lian forced a smile and said, "There is a me in the World Tree that collapsed before it matured. According to your era, I existed in the Second Era."

"The Second Era?" Sean was surprised. "During the Second Era, there shouldn't have been any living things on this continent."

Lian nodded: "That's right."

"When I was born, this continent was in the midst of destruction. Only the cavity in the earth's crust still had some peace. I was too weak when I was born, so I could only try to survive in this position."

"Although it was difficult, the World Tree is a natural race after all, so I managed to make it through. And just then..."

She smiled: "I met you."

Sean couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He always felt that this tree seemed... interesting to him?
(End of this chapter)