I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

A temporary research lab not far from the ruins of the World Tree.

The door was half-open, and various instruments were scattered around the lab bench. Several test tube racks were pressed under layers of recording papers, which were covered with hastily written formulas and symbols.

Evan leaned against the doorframe, holding a whiteboard in one hand and a charcoal pencil in the other, his gaze fixed on the giant tree that was growing at a visible speed and the scarlet sky.

"It seems to be progressing well."

He picked up his pen and quickly wrote on the notepad:

[World Tree Rejuvenation Process: Phase One Completed. The main body is approximately thirty zhang tall and continues to grow. The extent of its root system is unknown, but its growth rate surpasses that of any known plant, currently increasing by about half a zhang per quarter hour.]

He looked up again, his gaze shifting to the slowly expanding crimson halo in the sky, then lowered his head to add a few more strokes:

[Crimson Sky: Spreading from above the tree canopy, the radiation range increases over time, and the boundary has not yet been observed. Preliminary speculation suggests it is related to changes in magic element concentration. The unique magic element fluctuations radiated from the tree canopy are affecting the upper atmosphere; their stability is unknown.]

Just then, a loud crashing sound came from the side and rear of the research room.

Evan glanced in that direction, then looked away and muttered to himself.

"Still crashing? That means you guys are still in good shape. I was worried that the amount of magic suppressant I put in your food wasn't enough, but it seems it's just right now."

As he spoke, he added another line to the notepad:

[The imprisoned fairy samples showed significant agitation in response to the World Tree's revival, confirming an attractive relationship. The test subjects are continuously ramming against the barrier, indicating that the attraction intensity increases over time but has not yet reached a critical value.]

He closed his notebook, pushed up his round-framed glasses, and turned to walk into the research room.

The indoor lighting was much dimmer than the outdoor lighting. Several smaller fairies were kept in separate cages reinforced with steel bars and runes.

Without exception, they all huddled in the corner of the cage, either shivering or scratching the cage wall repeatedly with their sharp claws, making a harsh scraping sound.

One of the fairies, which resembled a weasel, was particularly agitated. It pounded on the cage door with its body and made intermittent hissing noises.

Evan walked to the cage of the weasel fairy, squatted down, opened his notebook to a new page, and began to observe and take notes:

The imprisoned fairies generally exhibited extreme anxiety and unease.

[Individual #3 (weasel type) exhibited persistent aggression, individual #5 (bird type) exhibited stillness and rigidity, and individual #7 (lizard type) exhibited repeated licking of the cage wall.]

[It is speculated that the growth of the World Tree is releasing some kind of signal targeting fairies. If the World Tree's growth rate remains unchanged, fairies may actively gather around it.]

He straightened up, walked back to the door, and looked once more at the growing World Tree in the distance.

It had grown taller than when it was first recorded, and the shadow of its canopy was slowly moving toward the lab. The leaves at the edges rustled in the wind, a sound that was particularly clear in the quiet twilight.

Evan stared at it for a moment, then smiled with satisfaction.

He was initially worried that the life force provided by those few hundred people wouldn't be enough to support the World Tree's initial growth, and that bringing in more people might arouse suspicion from his old friend.

After all, there are experts stationed in the kingdom, and without the cover of Prince Ian's identity, the excavation would be easily exposed.

But now it seems he was overthinking it.

The World Tree is smarter than he thought.

In the first few breaths, it did indeed draw life force from the bodies of those humans, but soon its roots began to spread outwards, drawing nourishment from the ruins of the Old World Tree, and even actively seeking out the magic essence accumulated in the soil.

But... the royal family is clearly able to piece together information about the World Tree, so why hasn't they taken any action all these years?

Are they also waiting for the right opportunity to steal the power of the World Tree?

Oh well, it's too late to change anything now.

With this in mind, Evan began to look forward to the performance of the new World Tree.

"Look at this, an experiment using an entire world as a sample—it's enough to satisfy my curiosity."

……

The crimson sky outside the manor window continued to spread slowly, like ink seeping into water, gradually swallowing up the entire sky.

Ian stood by the window, his face ashen, his gaze fixed on the crimson halo that had already spread beyond the horizon, and uttered a heavy sentence:

"I... I think I've been tricked."

His words were interrupted by a deafening roar from outside, followed by the loud crash of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Ji Tian turned around and strode out of the main hall, arriving at the open space in front of the manor.

Jinlong Xiaohua was pressing down on the tiger demon with one of her front paws, while spreading her other wing to block its path.

The tiger demon's condition was completely off.

Its eyes were bloodshot, and murky white foam kept gushing from its mouth. Its muscles were convulsing violently, and its front paws dug several deep marks on the stone slab.

Its body was repeatedly trying to become magically transformed, but each time it was forcibly pushed back into its physical form by the golden dragon.

"Let me go! The world is calling me!"

The tiger demon's voice was distorted beyond recognition, a mixture of bestial roars and indistinct hisses.

Jinlong added more force, shoving the tiger demon's head directly into the ground.

Mia rushed out of the house and, seeing this, immediately shouted, "Little Flower, hold it steady!"

But the tiger demon's struggles grew more and more intense, as if it were being torn apart from within by an invisible force.

Ji Tian stepped forward, walked directly to the tiger demon, and drew his holy sword from his waist.

The moment the sword was drawn, golden light suddenly shone brightly against the scarlet sky, and the aura belonging to the holy sword, completely different from the demonic elements of this world, spread out like ripples.

The tip of the holy sword stopped less than half a foot in front of it, and the golden halo on the sword danced in its scarlet pupils.

The tiger demon's body stiffened, and its eyes cleared somewhat.

"Step back and find a corner to stay in."

The tiger demon didn't dare to breathe, and obediently moved to the base of the wall with its head down, curling up into a ball, but its eyes were still fixed on the southern horizon, obviously still resisting that attraction.

Ji Tian sheathed the holy sword and turned around.

Ian stood in the doorway, his gaze fixed on the sword that had just been sheathed, his expression complex.

He recognized the sword.

After inexplicably arriving in another world, Ian, the "Demon Swordsman," heard that there was a sword on the Holy Mountain that only those with a righteous heart could draw.

At that time, he had just gained a foothold and thought that if he could pull it out, he might be able to find his way back more quickly.

Of course, he failed as expected.

The sword looked exactly like the one in front of me.

"That's... the Holy Sword?"

Ji Tian nodded. "That's right, I am the hero. If you still want to salvage anything, then tell me everything you know."