I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

As dusk settled, a campfire was lit, its orange-red flames leaping and dancing joyfully.

Hong led his people to carry the python's corpse onto the altar and place it in the very center—the position closest to the tree god.

Then, he took a step back and knelt down.

Behind him, more than a hundred members of the Xia clan knelt down and kowtowed silently.

Yu Su read about the faith and will that had been formed by the Xia clan.

This will was different from any previous sacrifice—besides piety, there was something else that was hard to explain.

Yu Su understood.

It was a pride that ran deep in our bones.

As children of the Tree God, we are proud to be named Xia.

Because of their pride, the Honghe people would rather die than allow the defiled monsters to taint their tribe's sacred land.

Even if the tree god doesn't care, the Xia family will never allow it.

Yu Su remained silent for a moment.

His roots gathered slightly deep underground, as if he were contemplating something.

Then, grayish-brown roots emerged from the soil, winding and stretching out, gently wrapping around the enormous python corpse on the altar.

The Xia clansmen suddenly raised their heads and stared wide-eyed.

They saw it—the roots of the tree god were taking away the offerings.

Instead of letting the offerings rot in the soil and be absorbed as fertilizer as in the past, they actively rolled up the entire python carcass and put it deep underground.

This was the first time the tree spirit had responded to the sacrifice.

After a brief silence, the entire Xia clan erupted in a deafening celebration.

Yu Su did not respond to the Xia clan again.

His entire attention was focused on the python's carcass, which had been entangled in the ground by its roots.

The moment his roots touched the python's corpse, a faint but profound power flowed out from within the python's body.

The power was cold and sharp, carrying the corrosive aura unique to poisonous fog, just like the one I had sensed from the poisonous fog before.

But this time, without the obstruction of flesh and scales, the core of that power was exposed—like a faint, almost extinguished seed, buried deep within the flesh and blood of the python's corpse.

next moment.

The spiritual energy that Yu Su had hidden deep within the wood and never released easily surged and boiled instantly, as if it had smelled a familiar scent, and unconsciously rushed towards that mysterious seed of power.

Yu Su stabilized the tree's core—if the tree had a heart, she manipulated the roots to condense spiritual energy into extremely fine threads, carefully dissecting the giant python.

By following the texture of the python's flesh and skeleton, he could almost trace everything about this strange beast.

Initially, it was just an ordinary python, struggling to survive in the lower and middle layers of the wild ecosystem, no different from countless ordinary creatures in the mountains and seas.

At some point, it came into contact with some kind of magical power.

Perhaps it originated from deities roaming the world, perhaps it was a naturally occurring treasure, or perhaps it was some other wonderful opportunity...

In short, that power altered its bloodline, causing its body to swell wildly and filling its blood with the aura of poisonous mist.

Eventually, it grew a second head, transcending the mundane.

At that moment, Yu Su was shocked.

He seemed to have vaguely touched upon the mysterious existence that traverses mountains and seas.

Gods may not all be born of nature.

He once thought that those creatures standing atop this wild mountain and sea—

The three-legged golden crow, the flaming tiger with wings on its back, and countless other terrifying beings he had never seen before—all were mythical creations favored by heaven and earth.

But the python corpse before him told him that wasn't the case.

One's bloodline can also be altered by chance, allowing one to gain power beyond the ordinary.

This discovery struck Yu Su like a bolt of lightning, piercing the depths of her consciousness.

That incredible power, he actually always possessed—the spiritual energy generated by the fusion of the earth's vein power and the sunlight!

"It seems my application of Reiki is still too superficial."

Yu Su murmured to himself, for many years, out of fear of those divine beasts, he had crudely locked his spiritual energy under the tree bark, not daring to release it easily.

Even though he occasionally channeled his spiritual energy into the branches and roots to aid his movements, he never truly considered the nature of this power.

He skillfully gathered his spiritual energy, feeling the surging warmth flowing through his meridians.

Does this ever-flowing, mysterious energy also contain a power that transcends the mundane?

With a single thought, the world expands.

Yu Su was pleasantly surprised and devoted herself to the research on the demon python's bloodline.

His spirit, nurtured by a century of faith, has long since become immeasurably powerful.

Therefore, he was able to easily mobilize the magnificent spiritual energy accumulated over decades, forging it into a sharp edge, like wielding a mythical carving knife.

Yu Su traced every trace of that mysterious power transforming his bloodline: he saw how that power tore apart the original bloodline, how it injected new, violent energy, and how it allowed life to evolve from the mundane to the transcendent.

To recognize, learn, master, and apply.

After repeatedly verifying the successful knowledge, Yu Su began to adjust the flow of spiritual energy in her body little by little, using this great power to inscribe the path of mythology on her body.

Threads of spiritual energy weaved, twisted, and reshaped within his wooden layers, allowing his body to break free from the shackles of his race and advance once again to a higher level—

His roots gradually merged with the spiritual energy, and strange patterns slowly emerged on the bark. Even the branches and leaves slowly blossomed into a richer emerald green.

This transformation is slow and silent, taking years to calculate.

But as a tree, Yu Su wasn't in a hurry.

The sun rises and sets, the stars shift and the constellations move.

While Yu Su was immersed in his extraordinary transformation, the development of the Xia clan did not stop.

Although Hong lost an arm, his prestige not only did not decline, but reached an unprecedented height.

He led the tribe to expand their hunting grounds from the center of the valley to the dense forest on the north side.

That once-forbidden forest, occupied by a demonic python, has now become the Xia family's new hunting ground.

The hunters of the Xia clan learned teamwork, how to set traps, and how to use terrain and fire attacks.

Every hunt is a real-world training exercise, and every victory makes them more confident.

Those beasts that were once formidable—giant wolves, black bears, and herds of wild boars—fell one after another before these humans, tempered by blood and fire.

The population is growing, granaries are filling up, and houses are being expanded.

The Xia clan ushered in a new wave of prosperity, with the tribe exceeding a thousand people for the first time.

Every day, Hong would come to sit by the roots of Yu Su's tree for a while, leaning against the rough trunk, and stroking the fallen leaves on the ground with his only remaining right hand.

He didn't speak, he just sat quietly, like a child nestled against his father.

Only here can he take a short rest.

His people were accustomed to relying on their leader, just as they were accustomed to worshipping a tree god.

No one remembers, perhaps everyone intentionally ignored it—

Hong is very old.

The former leader, who had always been at the forefront of the hunt, could no longer lift a stone axe and had retired from the front lines of the hunting party many years ago.

At over fifty years old, he became the oldest sage of the Xia clan, and began to guide the tribe with his experience and knowledge.

He didn't know when he would collapse, but he wasn't afraid of death.

However, the tribe still faces many difficulties: the food crisis brought about by the newborns, the unknown terrors on the southeast and west sides... and most importantly, how to uphold their faith in the tree god.

He admitted that he was somewhat afraid.

But he had no one to confide in, and only by leaning on the great tree god could he find peace of mind.

A night breeze rustled through the leaves of the privet.

Suddenly, Hong felt a warm current in his chest.

He untied the animal skin, and the branch and leaf that Yu Su had given him years ago emitted a hazy glow.

An aura transcending ordinary life instantly rippled outwards...