After the Skyfall

Chapter 497 The Tree Spirit's Request

Li Yi looked at the emerald green apple tree on the top of the distant mountain and made a decision after a brief hesitation. He did not turn around and leave this secret place, but walked forward resolutely.

"If all else fails, use the cross-border device to forcefully open the cross-border gate and leave here. Although this will most likely exhaust the energy of the seven-colored stone, it is at least a method."

He has this way of falling back, so he has the confidence to act.

But before the door disappeared, Li Yi left a message to Sun Fei outside the door: "If I don't come back, you can go back to the building. At least you can be guaranteed not to die. If you still want to leave this dark world, then keep going forward along the fork road."

He gave Sun Fei two choices and let him make his own decision.

He walked a few more steps.

The door behind him disappeared completely.

Li Yi was completely trapped in this secret realm, but he was not panicked. Instead, he strode towards the golden apple on the top of the mountain.

Maybe it was because he was wearing the golden mouse skin, but he didn't encounter any danger along the way. There were only barren rocks all around him, and no monsters. Occasionally, only the sound of howling wind in the valley could be heard.

But when he reached the middle of the mountain, Li Yi suddenly saw colorful lights shining from the valley beside him.
Li Yi looked at it with his silver eyes and couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.

The valley was actually filled with colorful gems. Gems of all sizes filled the river in the middle of the valley. Some of the gems even exuded magical powers, floating quietly in the air. You could tell at a glance that these gems were of great value.

"A valley of jewels?" Even an outsider like Li Yi couldn't help but feel dizzy.

Fortunately, he had a lot of wealth, and he was also a martial artist and a Taoist, so these worldly things could not tempt him.

But if a team of adventurers entered here, they would probably rush to the Gem Valley immediately to frantically pick up those precious gems, because after taking these gems back to the building, they can be recycled to the store in exchange for a large amount of gold coins and money. Some magical gems can also be inlaid in weapons and armor to bring powerful power.

Li Yi continued to move forward.

He did not use his internal energy nor his magic power, because a feeling told him that it was best not to show his strength in this place, otherwise it would break a certain balance here and bring disaster.

And now he is wearing a golden mouse skin, disguised as a big rat.

If the behavior is too aggressive, it may also lead to the failure of disguise.

soon.

He immediately approached the golden apple tree. At this time, he found that there was something wrong with the rocks under his feet. Regular lines appeared on the flat rocks. These lines were spread all around, like the scales of some creature.

This discovery made Li Yi feel depressed.

If these are really the scales of a living creature, how big would that creature be?
Fortunately, his arrival did not alarm anything here, and there was no movement under his feet. It seemed that the creature should be sleeping and was not awakened.

"We must take the golden apple immediately and leave here." Li Yi felt something was wrong and he immediately quickened his pace.

Without encountering any obstacles or dangers, he successfully reached the golden apple tree by himself. However, he did not rush to pick the golden apples. Instead, he looked at the tree. He wanted to know how the tree grew on this barren hill.

soon.

He followed the tree roots and made a discovery.

The roots of this golden apple tree are somewhat evil. They are rooted deep in the rocks and are as hideous as blood vessels. They are faintly beating. These blood vessels gather together to form the trunk, and at the end are golden apples.

But in Li Yi's opinion.

This so-called golden apple is more like the condensation of some biological essence, but it only appears in the shape of a golden apple, not a real fruit.

"There are thirteen golden apples in total." Li Yi then counted the number of golden apples again. This was not a very auspicious number.

But since he was here, he should take all the thirteen golden apples no matter what, because he would not have the chance to come here next time.

Thoughts together.

Li Yi immediately reached out and tried to pick a golden apple, but the golden apple was hanging on the tree motionless, and even with his strength he was unable to move it for a while.

Then he increased his strength.

The golden apple remained motionless.

"Can't pick it?" Li Yi's face darkened, then he stretched out his finger and a silver energy condensed on it, then he swung his hand and cut at a branch on a golden apple.

The internal energy collapsed and not even a branch could be cut off.

The toughness of this golden apple tree exceeded Li Yi's imagination.

"Young man, you cannot take the golden apple away with brute force. It is not an ordinary tree, but a tree planted by the gods themselves. It was born at the beginning of the world and is the most precious treasure in the world." Suddenly, at this moment, an old voice sounded abruptly, and then a human face strangely appeared on the trunk of the golden apple tree.

This person's face looked like that of an old man, and he began to speak at this moment.

Obviously, Li Yi's behavior just now woke him up.

"Evil thing?" Li Yi's eyes moved slightly.

"I am not an evil creature. I am the spirit of the golden apple tree."

The old tree spirit immediately retorted and then looked at Li Yi: "You are such a smart little fellow. You actually wore the golden mouse skin to hide your breath and avoid being smelled by the evil dragon here. But even if you pass the evil dragon, it is still difficult to take the golden apple, because the golden apple is different from other treasures. It is very special and needs to meet certain conditions."

"What are the conditions?" Li Yi asked immediately. The old tree spirit said, "It requires an equal exchange. If you want to take the golden apples, you must take out your precious things to trade. The more golden apples you pick, the more you have to sacrifice."

"Precious things? What do you mean?" Li Yi asked.

The old man in the forest said, "Your life, health, strength, wisdom, and courage are all very valuable things. I will evaluate their value and decide how many golden apples you can take."

"Those are very cheap to me and not valuable at all. What are really rare and precious to me are ugliness, disease, ignorance, obesity, and shortness. You can take away each of these. They are priceless and can definitely be exchanged for all the golden apples." Li Yi said, looking at the old tree spirit.

"."The old tree spirit.

"Young man, are you kidding me? But this is not funny at all."

Li Yi said: "What I said is true. I can't help you if you don't believe me. But anyway, how could you take away my precious things?"

The old tree spirit said: "Just put your hand into my mouth, and I will absorb your life, health, strength, and wisdom."

"You sound like you are not a very serious tree, but more like a very hungry old pervert." Li Yi said.

"You are insulting a golden apple tree spirit. Your actions will disgust me and you will lose the chance to get the golden apple. Young man, I advise you to take care of yourself." The old tree spirit showed an angry expression.

"Then tell me, what is the function of the golden apple?" Li Yi said, "I want to know whether it is worth making a deal with you. What if this thing is useless and just looks good? Wouldn't I lose a lot? You are a tree spirit, don't tell me you don't know the function of this golden apple tree?"

The old tree spirit said immediately, "What an ignorant boy! I can tell from your lack of knowledge that you have never read any books. The legend of the golden apple has always been circulating among adventurers, but you don't even know that when you eat the golden apple, you will gain strength, power, immortality, wealth, and luck."

"But no one knows what is inside a golden apple. You need to taste it yourself to find out."

Li Yi's face darkened at this moment: "You are playing dumb. It's the same as saying nothing."

"Of course, the golden apple can also help you dispel the evil god's curse on your body." Suddenly, the old tree spirit added another sentence, obviously it had noticed the brand on the back of Li Yi's hand.

Li Yi didn't say anything, but walked around the apple tree, seeming to be thinking.

The old tree spirit urged, "Young man, have you thought about it? What do you want to exchange for my golden apple? I suggest your life span. As an adventurer, life span is not the most important thing. You can also look for the Fountain of Youth to make up for your lack of life span. You should know the Fountain of Youth, right? It is a treasure that can make people immortal. If you get the golden apple, then finding the Fountain of Youth is not a particularly difficult thing."

It also gave its own suggestions at the end.

"Exchange? You misunderstood. I have no intention of trading with you." Li Yi said.

“If you are not willing to take out your most precious thing in trade, then you can’t take the precious golden apple, and you will be trapped in this valley forever. The door to freedom will no longer be open to you, and once the evil dragon wakes up, you will become its food.” The old tree spirit said angrily.

"You have to know that sometimes you don't have to make a deal to get what you want. Robbing is also a very effective means." Li Yi said.

He had no intention of making a deal with this tree spirit.

Immediately, he took out a glass bottle containing the Feimu Needle from the Five Elements Bracelet.

With a thought, the soul controlled the object, and a magic needle sealed by clear water immediately flew out.

"Young adventurer, you are too rude. You have offended me and will forever lose the qualification to trade with the golden apple tree. And don't even think about snatching a golden apple. I will awaken the evil dragon sleeping in this valley and kill you." The old tree spirit was completely furious at this moment.

But Li Yi stopped talking. The Feimu Needle he controlled instantly slashed towards a branch. A heavy golden apple hung under the branch.

"It's useless. Your despicable means can't hurt the golden apple tree at all." said the old tree spirit.

But the next moment.

Something happened that shocked the tree spirit.

As the Feimu needle passed by, the golden apple branch with emerald leaves actually broke, and then fell quickly from the tree canopy along with the golden apple.

"Very good." Li Yi was immediately delighted when he saw this.

The sharpness of the Feimu Needle has never let me down.

He immediately put the golden apple into the Five Elements Bracelet, and then continued to control the Feimu Needle to chop at other branches, determined to pick the remaining twelve golden apples as soon as possible.

"Stop, stop now, you savage robber and thief." The old tree spirit shouted in fear and anger at this moment, and then it struggled desperately.

The whole golden apple tree was shaking violently.

This behavior, however, also led to serious consequences.

Because this golden apple tree is rooted in the body of a certain creature, absorbing the essence of the creature to grow, like a tumor. Now the severe pain caused by the shaking of the golden apple tree immediately awakens the creature that has been sleeping for a long time.

The ground was shaking, the mountain was swaying, and large boulders kept rolling down to the foot of the mountain.

The hill where Li Yi was located was also being rapidly lifted up by a terrifying force.

But Li Yi did not dodge at all. Instead, he took advantage of this moment to chop down five more golden apples and put them all into the Five Elements Bracelet.

"The sixth, the seventh, the eighth." The Feimu needle shuttled through the treetops, and in an instant Li Yi collected eight golden apples.

Yet at this moment.

An angry roar that resounded through the heavens and earth came from under his feet. The next moment, the sky above Li Yi's head suddenly dimmed, and a huge scaly claw suddenly slapped towards him. The terrifying power was unleashed, and before it got close, the pressure of the power made Li Yi's movements stagnate, and his whole body bent over.

(End of this chapter)