Chapter 24: The Sacred Rune Tree

Inside the underground cavern.

After bidding farewell to the elder, Qin Yuan walked alone through the village. He cast his gaze around with keen interest, observing the village, which was filled with an exotic, otherworldly aesthetic. The unique style was quite a novelty to him. From time to time, slimes nearby would cast curious glances in his direction.

"I do know a thing or two about that vein..." the voice of the Grimoire of Whispers echoed in his mind. "However, magic crystals don't take shape immediately upon extraction. The vein only produces raw ore. Trading raw ore is very likely to attract unwanted attention and lead to danger. We need to purify it into magic crystals before we can trade it."

"Then how do they purify it?" Qin Yuan asked curiously, taking out a magic crystal and admiring it in his hand for a moment.

"It's simple. Slimes possess the ability to purify. After they swallow the raw ore, they can decompose the impurities directly in their stomachs, though this process consumes quite a bit of energy." The Grimoire of Whispers paused, then added, "I do have a rough idea. In any case, you have enough magic crystals for your current needs. Later, if you can completely clear the abyss creatures from the sky island, you can entrust the slimes with the mining and purification, and then simply trade with them. After all, you can return to the outside world, and finding something that interests the slimes is quite easy."

Qin Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

His peripheral vision caught sight of a peculiar structure. It was also a mushroom house, but much larger than the others and crafted with greater finesse. Most striking of all was its black-and-white color scheme, which stood out sharply among the vibrant colors of the surrounding row. Although curious, Qin Yuan did not turn back to ask the village chief; he decided to mention it casually next time they met.

Additionally, Qin Yuan planned to purchase a batch of fruit to bring to these slimes the next time he returned to the real world. The amount he had bought in the village earlier was far too little, barely a drop in the bucket. He felt guilty about accepting so many magic crystals for nothing.

For now, he had more important things to attend to: heading to the area where the Sacred Rune Tree was located and attempting to communicate with the Tree Spirit.

...

Back on the surface, a gentle breeze brushed against his face. Looking at the beautiful, sunny landscape before him, Qin Yuan took a deep breath, summoned his feathers, and headed toward the center of the island. He planned to hunt some abyss creatures along the way. The experience points provided by these high-level monsters were far superior to those of the level one or two creatures. Moreover, with the teleportation crystal now in his possession, he had an advantage: if he encountered an unbeatable monster, he could simply run away using the crystal. The delay was only a few seconds, which was easy enough to buy.

Perhaps because the island was quite large, the abyss creatures were not densely distributed. For the next few hours, Qin Yuan did not encounter any monsters head-on. He did spot quite a few owls in the sky, but they were too far away, making it not worth the effort and likely to delay his main task, so he gave up on them for the time being.

...

By the afternoon, Qin Yuan was drawing closer to the Sacred Rune Tree. Finally, dense sounds erupted from the woods ahead, and the feathers in the sky quickly descended. The frequency of the sounds was rapid, one after another.

[Notification: You have encountered an Abyss Spider (LV3).]

The spider's level was not very high, which was easily distinguishable from its size. Qin Yuan didn't even need to strike personally; the feathers unleashed two clean wind blades. Although the Abyss Spider realized the danger and quickly curled into a ball, exposing its hard outer carapace, its level was too low, and the carapace was far less resilient than the one he had first encountered. It was swept through by the peerlessly sharp wind blades and sliced clean in two.

[Notification: Your spirit pet, Feathers, has killed the Abyss Spider (LV3). This unit cannot provide experience points; you will receive all experience instead.]

The entire battle was effortless—the benefit of level suppression. Qin Yuan was about to continue moving forward when his peripheral vision caught a flickering, luminous object left behind after the monster's corpse dissipated.

Did it drop loot?

He immediately stepped forward and gently picked up the item.

[Magic Rune Paper (Mimicry★Common): A magical paper dropped by monsters. Upon use, you will directly activate the corresponding magic rune.]

[Mimicry★: You can, to a certain extent, simulate and emit any sound you have heard.]

This was his first time obtaining Magic Rune Paper from a monster, and it was a rare non-combat spell at that. After a brief consideration, Qin Yuan decided not to learn it immediately. The spell slots available through Magic Rune Papers were limited, and he didn't need this skill at the moment, so it was better to save it. Otherwise, if his slots were full and he came across a better piece of Magic Rune Paper, he would have to agonize over which skill to replace. Furthermore, when washing skills with a Forgetfulness Potion, the Magic Rune Paper is not returned. It was better to keep it on him; if he found a use for it later, he could simply use it then.

...

He encountered no other creatures afterward. After some effort, he finally reached the base of the Sacred Rune Tree. He discovered that about a few dozen meters from the trunk, a transparent barrier blocked the path, preventing anyone from entering.

"Hum..."

Just then, the barrier contracted, and a space suddenly opened up to the side, looking large enough for a person to pass through. The Grimoire of Whispers immediately remarked, "It seems its consciousness isn't completely dormant; it has noticed us."

Approaching the tall, majestic Sacred Rune Tree, Qin Yuan looked up to see white magic runes faintly shimmering beneath the thick trunk, suffused with a holy glow. Just as Qin Yuan stood looking up at the canopy, which seemed to reach endlessly into the sky, feeling at a loss, a voice suddenly emanated from the tree.

"Hm, a guest has arrived?"

The voice was ancient and deep. Then, a shocking scene unfolded: the branches of the giant tree rippled, coalescing into a massive human face. Its gentle gaze first fell on the human standing nearby, then, as if realizing something, shifted to the Grimoire of Whispers.

"So it is you." The Sacred Rune Tree let its gaze linger on the magic book for a moment, sighing, "That means you must have arrived via that teleportation crystal from long ago."

"Is the one who nurtured me and helped me sprout no longer here? Why is the aura I sense from you so weak..."

"You have come to claim the Sacred Rune Fruit as promised..."

As the Sacred Rune Tree spoke, its voice began to tremble, as if it were suppressing some sort of agony, and its face began to contort.

"What's wrong?" the Grimoire of Whispers asked in confusion.

After a long while, the contorted face of the Sacred Rune Tree gradually relaxed, and it continued, "The Sacred Rune Fruit is indeed here, but it is not in good condition..."

Following this, the giant tree extended a branch a full meter in diameter. Qin Yuan saw a heart-shaped fruit the size of a fist growing at the very tip. The fruit, which radiated a rich, holy light, seemed to have a life of its own, beating slowly. However, one could faintly see it covered in fine, dark red spots.

Then, the branch flicked gently, tossing the fruit into Qin Yuan's arms.

...

[Sacred Rune Fruit★★★ (Magic Material): A rare epic-grade magic material. Upon consumption, it will cleanse the constitution, increase elemental affinity, and produce a random positive effect. Cannot be used repeatedly.]

[Status: Corrupted (Suffering from the erosion of abyssal power. The corruption must be cleared before consumption, or you will be infected with abyssal corruption.)]