kvmb Chapter 216 The Heart of Wood
Chapter 216 The Heart of Wood
Suddenly, a long sword gleaming with cold light was placed against his neck. Bai Lu suppressed her anger and questioned, "Shen Xu, I think you should give me an explanation!"
Bai Lu never imagined that her momentary lapse of judgment would bring such a terrible disaster to Qing Lingxi, bringing the ancient forest left to her by her mother to the brink of extinction in just one night.
If this man cannot give her a reasonable explanation, she will definitely not hesitate to slash his neck with her long sword.
"I know you won't believe me if I say all this has nothing to do with me, but I have a way to save this ancient forest," Shen Xu said hurriedly.
"How dare you! What can you possibly use to save me!" Bai Lu's sword drew even closer to Shen Xu's neck, and tiny beads of bright red blood gradually oozed from the blade.
“Actually, I think this ancient forest should thank me, and your sword is no threat to me at all.” After Shen Xu finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed Bai Lu’s sword. The blood in his palm instantly stained Bai Lu’s longsword, and then dripped onto the ground, bright and eye-catching.
The three women were immediately shocked by Shen Xu's actions.
"Shen Xu, do you really think he wouldn't dare kill you?" Bai Lu said, biting her lip and her eyes red.
Sensing Bai Lu's out-of-control emotions, Li Xiaoyi flashed forward and grabbed Bai Lu's right hand holding the sword. "Bai Lu, don't be impulsive. There are still many doubts about this matter."
“Miss, Miss Xiao Yi is right. This matter may not necessarily be related to Shen Xu,” Guan Bi also nervously advised.
Hearing their words of persuasion, Bai Lu could no longer suppress her emotions. Tears welled up in her eyes, and the long sword in her hand fell to the ground. A series of tears flowed silently down Bai Lu's sorrowful face. She didn't make a sound, just let the tears keep flowing.
“When I was a child, my mother loved this ancient forest the most, but now they are all dying.”
Li Xiaoyi gently embraced Bai Lu, patting her back softly, letting her tears soak her shoulders.
Seeing Bai Lu's sadness, Guan Bi couldn't help but tear up as well.
"Sigh! I told you I have a way to save them, why don't you all believe me?" Shen Xu's somewhat helpless voice suddenly came from not far away.
The three women stared in shock at the two Shen Xus before them. Suddenly, the Shen Xu beside them vanished into mist before their eyes, and the blood on the ground disappeared instantly.
Before the three women could react to what was happening, Shen Xu continued, "Guanbi, you should also have the meaning of wood, right? You can sense the state of the sandalwood next to you."
Upon hearing Shen Xu's words, Bai Lu looked at the ancient tree next to Guan Bi with teary eyes, and Guan Bi then placed his hand on the trunk of the sandalwood tree next to her.
Sensing the current state of the sandalwood tree, Guanbi exclaimed with great joy, "Miss, this tree is truly slowly regaining its vitality!"
"You're not lying to me?" Bai Lu asked, her face streaked with tears, in disbelief.
"When have I ever lied to you, Miss?" Guan Bi said with a smile, wiping away her tears.
At this moment, Shen Xu had no time to watch their melodramatic scene. He needed to quickly imbue all the wood hearts in the ancient forest with his wood essence, as he estimated that some of the ancient trees that had suffered too much loss of vitality would not survive until tonight.
He felt that the loss of vitality in these ancient trees was somewhat related to him, but probably not very much.
Even if he were burst, he couldn't absorb that much life force. Moreover, the special ability of his newly awakened Wood Intent reminded him of the colossal tree that had absorbed countless primordial energies in his dream, and the final black seed.
"Shen Xu, can you tell me what happened?" Bai Lu came to Shen Xu's side and asked, somewhat puzzled.
“I’d like to know too! But Miss Bai, look how many trees I need to save, so could you please be a little quieter?” Shen Xu said politely with a smile.
Controlling the Will of Wood to find the Heart of Wood is a very mentally taxing task. Even though the ancient trees themselves are very cooperative, they are too large and their reactions are too slow. Often, he has already found the Heart of Wood before the ancient trees finally react, which makes Shen Xu somewhat irritable.
"You...you're still under suspicion. I can leave you alone now, but you have to give me an explanation later," Bai Lu said slowly, suppressing her urge to explode.
After saying that, he angrily said to the two women beside him, "Let's go!"
"You should leave! I want to stay here a little longer," Li Xiaoyi refused.
“You’re right. This is my place. I have to stay here and make sure he brings every single ancient tree back to life. If even one dies, I won’t let him off the hook.”
“You can leave. I’ll keep an eye on him for you.” Li Xiaoyi couldn’t help but glance at Bai Lu.
“I should do my own things myself; there’s no need to bother an outsider.”
Guan Bi looked at the two of them with some confusion. They seemed to be getting along very well just a moment ago, so why were they suddenly at odds again?
Shen Xu didn't hear what the three women were saying at all. He was filled with a heavy heart. His efficiency was too low. At this rate, he definitely wouldn't be able to finish the job before dark. Now he had to make a choice.
“If you three have nothing to do, you can help me find those severely damaged ancient trees. I’m afraid they won’t survive until I can save them. Only by saving them first can they live,” Shen Xu said in a deep voice as he approached the three women.
"Which type is the most severely damaged?" Bai Lu asked with concern.
"Guanbi, you teach them. I don't have time." After saying that, Shen Xu walked deeper into the ancient forest.
Upon hearing Shen Xu's words, Bai Lu's face immediately darkened, and she said through gritted teeth, "Guan Bi, teach me how to identify it."
With the help of the three women, Shen Xu finally managed to imbue most of the ancient trees, whose vitality was severely damaged, with his wood essence before nightfall, which was about one-fifth of the entire ancient forest.
In the dim light, Shen Xu could hear the faint heartbeat in the ancient forest, which was gradually awakening the weak consciousness that had fallen into slumber.
But his work could not stop. He felt that only by infecting more than half of the Wood Hearts could the entire ancient forest turn in a positive direction; otherwise, it would only be a matter of prolonging its existence.
Moreover, as the sunlight disappeared, the vitality of the entire ancient forest was rapidly fading away at an extremely fast pace, a situation he had not anticipated. If this rate of decline continued overnight, most of the ancient trees in the forest would wither and die.
"Leave the rest to me, you all go and rest!" After saying that, Shen Xu went to the center of the ancient forest alone.
But seeing Shen Xu's tired expression, the three women couldn't bear to leave him alone, so they followed behind him to see if they could help him in any way.
Shen Xu sat quietly in the very center of the ancient forest, as if he had become one with the ancient forest. Beneath him was a soft grass, and all around him were the hearts of wood that had been imprinted with his wood intent.
At this moment, Shen Xu closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, relaxed his whole body, and focused his mind on one point. A faint, imperceptible aura of wood slowly spread outwards from his body, gradually enveloping the ancient trees around him.
This essence of wood gently seeped into the interior of the ancient trees, easily invading their heartwood.
Then, Shen Xu carefully began to manipulate the wooden hearts, making them beat in sync with his own heartbeat. At first, the beating was quite weak, but as time went on, the rhythm became more and more obvious.
The three women standing not far away were all curious about what Shen Xu was doing, but only Guan Bi could feel the powerful wood aura emanating from Shen Xu. She could even clearly hear the slow but exceptionally strong heartbeats, as if the entire ancient forest was dominated by these heartbeats.
"The surrounding spiritual energy seems a bit denser," Li Xiaoyi suddenly said.
Looking at the primordial energy mist constantly gathering around Shen Xu, Bai Lu couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Is he cultivating?"
“It’s not that he’s cultivating on his own, but that he’s cultivating along with the surrounding trees.” Guan Bi looked up at the white energy swirling among the tree canopies.
Time passed quietly without him realizing it, and the wooden hearts surrounding Shen Xu had achieved perfect synchronization with his heartbeat.
Immediately afterwards, Shen Xu took a deep breath and began to gradually increase the speed of his heartbeat. At the same time, the wooden heart inside the ancient tree beside him seemed to be summoned by something, and gradually accelerated in line with the rhythm of his heartbeat.
This change spread rapidly like ripples, soon affecting those Wood Hearts that were also imbued with his Wood essence in distant places.
"Did you hear a series of very strong heartbeats?" Bai Lu asked, somewhat puzzled.
Li Xiaoyi suddenly felt that the heartbeat sound was so familiar and warm; just hearing it made her feel warm inside.
“That’s Shen Xu’s heartbeat. I think I understand what he’s going to do, but with his current strength, it’s impossible for him to do it,” Guan Bi said in disbelief.
As more and more ancient trees imbued with the essence of other trees joined this resonance of the heartbeat, soon even those wood hearts that had not been marked by the essence of other trees began to beat intensely in sync with his heartbeat, which quickly triggered a chain reaction.
In the blink of an eye, the entire heart of the ancient forest beat in sync with his heartbeat, breathing in and out the rich and mellow primordial energy of the Clear Spirit Stream.
The three women listened in utter shock to the deafening heartbeats emanating from all directions of the ancient forest, and witnessed countless white energies, rising and falling with the heartbeats, surging and sweeping in from the other side of the Qingling Stream like a tidal wave, before receding just as dramatically as the ebb and flow of a real tide.
"This is impossible!" Guan Bi murmured in disbelief as he looked at the scene before him.
Bai Lu stared intently at the ebb and flow of the vital energy in Qingling Creek, while Li Xiaoyi's face flushed as she listened to the heartbeat beside her.