But it wasn’t going as smoothly as Dean Pond had imagined.

Beth was more forced into launching the sacrifice prematurely.

Time rewound.

When Saul hadn’t yet left the Inverted Tree, due to the special spatial properties, Shaya had already arrived at the tree heart space.

The moment Shaya entered, Beth discovered his presence.

“You actually came back on your own. I thought you wouldn’t show yourself until the very last moment.”

Her voice was hoarse and devoid of any emotion.

If Shaya hadn’t been very clear that he had completely offended Beth, he might have thought she was truly calm.

Shaya still appeared human, but his body was glowing faintly.

It also illuminated Bethstana at the very bottom.

She lay naked on a floating, hollow magical formation.

The naked Bethstana wasn’t truly exposed, because currently only her cheeks, neck, and limbs retained some pale skin—everywhere else had already become densely packed rootlets.

There were almost thousands upon thousands of rootlets, hanging and curving like silk threads on a weaving machine.

The rootlets also had equally numerous tiny hairs.

They seemed to be the product of combining human skin characteristics with tree roots.

This meant that Bethstana didn’t need to see Shaya to sense his arrival.

At the same time, Shaya was also clear about this.

He was even clearer that Bethstana relied on these hair-bearing rootlets to control every spirit body within the Inverted Tree.

When she didn’t need them, the spirit bodies would remain motionless according to predetermined designs, or repeat single actions.

But when Bethstana needed them, those spirit bodies could instantly become killing weapons.

Absolutely loyal to their master, relentless against enemies.

Until the last trace of energy in their spirit bodies was exhausted.

It was precisely because Shaya understood this so well that he would risk soul annihilation to steal the tree seed.

He hadn’t told Saul that the tree seed was inside his body.

First, this was his only means of confronting Bethstana. With this tree seed, Bethstana would be wary of whether he might destroy it if pushed to desperation.

Second, Shaya temporarily had no ability to extract the tree seed from his body, because he couldn’t truly control it.

However, if Shaya could really defeat the currently movement-restricted Bethstana, he wouldn’t mind fulfilling his deal with Saul and handing the tree seed over to him.

“Bethstana, I’ve returned. I know your current state is very poor, and even if you forcibly launch the sacrifice, there’s a great possibility of failure. So I’ve come back. As long as you give me a promise, I’ll return the tree seed to you, which will increase your chances of success.”

For some reason, when Shaya said these words, he suddenly thought of Saul, who had made a deal with him earlier, and unconsciously imitated Saul’s movements and expressions.

Bethstana was indeed very weak. She knew that Shaya understood this, so she didn’t hide it either.

“What promise do you need?”

Shaya straightened his chest. “I want to become a branch of the Inverted Tree like Pond. Afterward, I can serve you, but you must grant me freedom when I can survive independently.”

“Agreed. Come over. After I extract the tree seed from your body, I’ll give you a branch to inhabit.”

Bethstana was so straightforward that Shaya hesitated instead.

“How is this different from what I expected?”

But despite his unease, Shaya had no way back.

He was like a warrior facing death with resolve, flying toward Bethstana.

The densely packed rootlets actively parted to both sides, making way for Shaya.

Shaya continued flying forward. “I don’t trust you. I need to sign a magical contract. We’re both in spirit body states now, but I have a type of contract here that can be signed without requiring magic power.”

As Shaya spoke, a candle suddenly appeared in his palm.

This candle was entirely white and unremarkable, just like ordinary white wax used by nobles daily.

As soon as the candle was brought out, it automatically ignited, with a stable flame, though it was unclear what was burning.

Bethstana, who had been somewhat indifferent, also focused her attention.

Magical tools that could be preserved within a spirit body were definitely not simple.

Two rootlets suddenly coiled rapidly toward Shaya, seemingly trying to snatch the candle from his hand.

Shaya quickly shouted, “Don’t move carelessly, or I’ll leave immediately…”

But he had only spoken halfway when, with all his attention drawn to the attacking rootlets in front of him, a man with a full black beard suddenly appeared behind him. This man embraced Shaya from behind and bit his shoulder.

Shaya immediately understood that Bethstana had no intention of making a deal with him and had prepared an ambush behind him all along.

Just as he was about to break free from the person behind him, he felt numbness spreading from his shoulder.

The numbness quickly spread from his shoulder, and Shaya immediately felt his consciousness becoming sluggish.

He turned his head with difficulty and finally saw the appearance of the man behind him.

Shaya had never seen this man in the Inverted Tree before.

He had a full beard, and where there was no beard, his skin was completely festering.

He didn’t know how a person could make their soul look like this.

The man ambushing Shaya was naturally Wilder’s soul, brought to the tree heart space by Bethstana.

Although he was very dissatisfied that Bethstana had directly extracted his soul without even greeting him, the situation was already done and he was powerless to resist, so he could only first follow Bethstana’s request and help her restrain Shaya.

When he bit Shaya’s shoulder, he used all his strength to activate his spiritual body, transmitting mental fluctuations into Shaya’s spirit body.

At the same time, he also transmitted the elf pollution lurking in his spirit body.

Shaya, just encountering elf pollution, was indeed restrained by this domineering pollution and could do nothing but desperately resist the pollution entering his spirit body.

Wilder immediately escorted Shaya toward Bethstana at the center of the space.

“Hurry up. Although elf pollution is domineering, it’s not completely impossible to resist.”

Shaya was brought to Bethstana’s side, his eyes still showing terror.

However, just when the two were less than three meters apart and Bethstana had begun scanning Shaya’s spirit body, Shaya, who had been struggling in numbness, suddenly blew on the white candle in his hand.

Because his face was numb, the breath Shaya blew out was very weak.

Logically speaking, such airflow could hardly disturb the flame.

But with Shaya’s gentle blow, the steadily burning white candle suddenly extinguished.

Then the candle in Shaya’s hand disappeared and transformed into a transparent crystal bottle the next second.

The crystal bottle contained equally transparent liquid that looked like the most ordinary spring water.

Before others could react, Shaya’s finger gently removed the cork from the crystal bottle.

Immediately, a sweet fragrance spread out.

Just as Shaya smelled this scent, the numbness on his body quickly receded.

As if it had encountered some nemesis.

The most shocked was Wilder behind him.

Because he also smelled the scent of the spring water that had suddenly appeared.

And the elf pollution that had troubled him for years actually retreated so easily under the influence of this sweet fragrance!

Wilder immediately became excited and, disregarding Bethstana’s presence, blurted out, “What is that bottle of water?”

Shaya didn’t speak but instead pressed his hand against Wilder’s face. Light flashed, and the other party was instantly moved outside the tree heart space.

Shaya couldn’t immediately kill Wilder, but possessing the tree heart, he could first throw this unexpected person out.

After dealing with Wilder, Shaya immediately rushed toward Bethstana, while in his hand appeared a white tooth sealed in gray amber.

Bethstana paid no attention to the tooth in Shaya’s hand that emitted no threatening aura, but stared at the crystal bottle in Shaya’s other hand, suddenly shouting like a madwoman, “Wishing Candle! What you just held was a Wishing Candle! That legendary cursed object is actually in your hands!”

(End of Chapter)

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