As message after message popped up before him, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction welled up in Li Ye's heart.
Especially when the notification about solidifying the spirit essence appeared, he felt a sudden deepening of his connection with the sapling before him. His perspective shifted as if he'd become the sapling itself gaining a novel understanding of the surrounding spiritual energy and space.
It was a completely different experience from ordinary cultivation!
When his consciousness returned, Li Ye vaguely sensed a subtle enhancement in his perception of the world's spiritual energy.
"Huh... Is this real, or just my imagination...?"
He focused carefully, and although pleasantly surprised, a flicker of doubt lingered in his heart.
"No matter… If I receive a few more feedback messages, and once the spirit essence is fully solidified into a trait, I might be able to confirm it!"
Even so, a thought emerged in his mind that made his heart race with excitement.
But Li Ye quickly shook his head, suppressing his emotions no need to rush.
Thanks to the accumulation from nurturing the seed within his body for the past half year and today's gain, the sapling's spirit essence solidification had already reached around 3%. Once it matures, the pace of accumulation should increase as well.
Since he had already made up his mind to remain here and cultivate the land until reaching Foundation Establishment, he would have plenty of time to verify his theory.
And if his guess could be confirmed before breaking through… perhaps it might even boost his success rate!
Perhaps it was the result of having nourished it with his blood and life force for so long, but the Offshoot of the Voidrealm Tree, once planted in this rich spiritual soil, showed remarkable growth.
It kept rising, unfurling leaf after leaf until it finally reached around two meters in height before slowing down and stabilizing.
Looking at it now, the tree had lush green leaves, its trunk tinged with violet hues, and faint silver patterns would occasionally flicker across its surface.
And it had already begun subtly influencing the surrounding space.
It was as if the tree had become the core of a newly forming but still extremely fragile miniature domain of its own.
Normally, such spatial properties were advanced in nature but useless without real power to back them up mere fancy decorations.
But since this tree served as the core of the Green Vine Verdant Wood Array and was now connected with the array's mechanism, its traits subtly began affecting the entire formation.
Among the illusionary trees cloaking the mountainside, a distinct silhouette shimmered for a brief moment before being enveloped and concealed by a subtle reorganization of the entire layout.
At the same time, the array itself suddenly developed a faint boundary-like effect between inside and out its fundamental quality elevated, and its power visibly enhanced.
"All those are just Tier One formations… Yet why does this Green Vine Verdant Wood Array seem even stronger than the Stone-Shifting Earth-Guarding Array? Now that it's activated, I can't even see through it it's like we're completely cut off from the rest of the mountain…"
On the mountainside, one of the older Lan family members who had been observing Li Ye's entire array-setting process muttered in confusion, a trace of reverence on his face.
At that moment, the eldest among them looked toward Lan Xinyi, whose expression was caught between awe and uncertainty, and spoke solemnly:
"Miss… This Senior Li possesses profound cultivation and mastery of formations he is no ordinary man…"
"You know as well as I do: with the family's numbers dwindling and us old bones growing weaker, there's little we can still do. If the Lan family is to preserve its current foundation and flourish again… I'm afraid it all falls to you now."
"Uncle, have you no shame!"
Lan Xinyi blushed slightly, the memories of last night's soul-stirring experience flashing in her mind. She glanced at the hopeful eyes of her clan members and could only nod lightly.
"For the Lan family's sake… I will do my best to hold on to Senior Li."
.......
"This is void evolution..."
Li Ye stared at the changes in the array before him, utterly dumbfounded.
Though he had intended to use the Voidrealm Tree as the array's core, it was merely because he thought a Heaven and Earth spiritual root might offer some enhancements. Yet the actual results far exceeded anything he had imagined!
The power of the void.
A force that, in the realm of cultivation, could only be touched upon once one reached the Nascent Soul stage and even in the path of arrays, such properties only appeared in third-tier arrays or higher.
And yet, relying on this tree alone, the Green Vine Verdant Wood Array, even though it was merely a first-tier array, now possessed such characteristics!
Let alone the dramatic increase in raw power this enhancement had fundamentally transformed the array. Now, even a first-tier Break-Array Talisman could no longer breach it.
At minimum… it would take a second-tier talisman to break through!
But second-tier talismans were of an entirely different caliber in both value and rarity so much so that your average Foundation Establishment clan likely wouldn't even have one on hand!
"And this tree has only just sprouted. Strictly speaking, it's still just a seedling. Once it matures, I can't even imagine how terrifying the effects will become…"
"This first-tier Green Vine Verdant Wood Array might very well reach the power level of a second-tier array purely because of its support!"
Li Ye looked at the Voidrealm Tree in front of him, his gaze becoming increasingly solemn.
"This tree might very well be the greatest stroke of fortune I've had aside from the system panel itself… I must treat it with the utmost caution."
Just then, the small tree swayed gently, as if trying to convey something.
"Hmm… You want that seed?"
Thanks to the secret arts and the panel's help, Li Ye had already established a connection with the tree calling it his life-bound spiritual plant would not be an exaggeration.
That it possessed intelligence and could communicate with him to some extent came as no surprise.
Li Ye immediately took out the other tree seed he had protected with multiple layers of seals. The moment he did, the little sapling began swaying more intensely, as if craving it desperately.
The seed held a tremendous allure for it!
Perhaps absorbing a seed of the same origin could strengthen its foundation?
But Li Ye shook his head and carefully stored the seed away again.
"Such Heaven and Earth spiritual roots are unimaginably rare, and the spiritual vein in this place can't possibly support the growth of another Voidrealm Tree. No matter what, I have to save this one as a spare…"
Still, if he ever had the chance to gather more in the future, perhaps he could try feeding it to the little tree.
The sapling, having been denied what it wanted, immediately stilled. After confirming there were no abnormal fluctuations, Li Ye sat cross-legged beneath the tree.
"With such mystical qualities, I wonder what effects this tree's Voidrealm Spirit Essence might have…"
He muttered softly and a thread of purplish-green spirit essence materialized before him.
The moment it appeared, the wood-element spiritual energy in the area surged toward it, like ministers flocking to a sovereign, surrounding it in reverence and causing it to shine even brighter.
A faint aura spread outward. Li Ye took a gentle sniff and immediately felt his entire body grow lighter. An inexplicable surge of vitality blossomed within him.
"This…"
A look of disbelief crossed his face.
The sensation… was eerily similar to what he had experienced after consuming a Life Extension Pill!
Li Ye no longer hesitated. He channeled a trace of his spiritual power and drew a wisp of the essence into his body.
The fear of being overwhelmed by the power of a high-tier spirit plant never materialized. Though this essence was clearly of an extremely refined nature, it flowed into his body like a warm spring breeze effortlessly fusing with him.
This time, the sense of rising vitality and mysterious increase in his foundational strength was even more pronounced!
At that moment, it was as if flames lit up in Li Ye's eyes. He looked at the purplish-green essence before him, then glanced up at the little tree behind him and without hesitation, swallowed the entire strand of essence.
A wave of comfort and revitalizing energy swept through him, engulfing his senses.
When he finally came back to himself, Li Ye immediately opened his system panel.
He needed to verify something.
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