With the level of artifact crafting mastery that Li Ye had accumulated over his cultivation journey, crafting a life-bound treasure for himself at the highest standards posed no challenge whatsoever.
Moreover, the Wood God Art offered a wide array of choices from the most common sword-type treasures to whips, wooden staves, even seals and cauldrons each with unique divine abilities, all equally formidable.
Rather than worrying about finding suitable designs, he had to carefully consider and choose the type of treasure that best suited his combat style.
After reviewing the many blueprints within the Wood God Art, Li Ye had long since made up his mind on what form his treasure would take.
"Now the only problem is... choosing the right material for my life-bound treasure."
He muttered softly, his gaze flickering.
In truth, after looting the Jiuding Valley's sect treasury, and later scavenging the remnant secret vault within the Lava Palace where he obtained the Soul-Subduing Wood Li Ye had already amassed several high-quality third-grade spirit woods, each possessing unique divine properties.
Furthermore, among the congratulatory gifts from visiting cultivators, there were likely to be even more fine third-grade spirit woods.
His options were abundant.
For an ordinary newly-advanced Golden Core cultivator, any one of these spirit woods would be more than ideal for crafting their life-bound treasure.
But Li Ye had other thoughts.
"My current Void Realm Realm Tree is just a sapling... Back when the mother tree long used to suppress the descending world portal was felled by those two, Feiyu and Zixuan, it already seemed to be in a weakened state. I wonder if the invading demons destroyed it afterward..."
"The [Tongtian] trait only activates on plants I cultivate, and even then the activation rate is extremely low. Even if I carefully plant the other seed I kept, it's unlikely I'll get lucky enough to trigger it again..."
"If I want to quickly elevate my Void Realm Tree to the fourth grade, or even beyond the current sapling's fifth-grade cap, then retrieving the remains of the mother tree and using it as nourishment to bolster its essence is practically essential!"
Though this plan still seemed a bit distant given Li Ye's current situation, it was crucial for the long term.
Once the Void Realm Tree reached third grade, it would unlock a third round of innate spirit infusion, raising the [Tongtian] trait to level three and upgrading his spiritual roots to the Earth-grade level.
Achieving this alone would take at least several decades.
Even reaching the Nascent Soul stage would be much more secure with Heaven-grade spiritual roots.
Still, given that the Void Realm Tree hadn't even reached the third grade yet, and that there were no fourth-grade spiritual lands in the Four Nations' Cultivation Realm, it wasn't yet an urgent matter.
However, when it came to the immediate need for a life-bound treasure material that was a different story.
"The Void Realm Tree possesses void-related divine abilities, purest wood elemental power, and incredible longevity it is a mystical existence among the world's spirit roots. If I could harvest a portion of its body to forge my life-bound treasure, it would no doubt grant it remarkable divine abilities from the outset, with vast potential for future growth!"
Exactly!
In Li Ye's plan, given his cultivation in the Wood God Art and his deep connection to the Void Realm Tree, the best material for his life-bound treasure would naturally be the Void Realm Tree itself!
Of course, thinking about it was one thing doing it posed many challenges.
The main issue was the unknown status of the mother tree.
Even if the demons hadn't destroyed it, due to its mystical nature, it was likely heavily sealed and hidden deep within the now-demonized Ancient Tree Secret Realm.
It was even possible that it had been transported back to the demon realm before the descending portal was fully sealed!
Thus, Li Ye would at the very least need to capture a Golden Core-ranked demon to extract critical information.
If luck favored him, and the mother tree hadn't been taken away but was still being used as a spatial anchor within the secret realm, there would still be a chance to reclaim it.
But to achieve that, he would have to assault the demon-occupied secret realm and wipe out the entrenched demons within!
"Although being swept into this demonic invasion in the Four Nations' Cultivation Realm was unavoidable..."
A faint smile appeared on Li Ye's face.
"But it works out perfectly, after all, I need to exterminate those demon scum to claim the Void Realm Tree for my own!"
Had it not been for his own goals, with his temperament, he might have helped repel a demon assault or two when the other two nations were attacked, at most assisting in defeating a single Golden Core demon.
He would never have gone so far as he had today publicly subjugating the third-grade black flood dragon, intimidating the gathered cultivators, and establishing undeniable authority.
All of it was in preparation for the future cleansing of the demonic infestation and the reclamation of the Void Realm Tree.
From now on, the cultivators of the two allied nations would be the forces he would lead to seize the mother tree!
...........
Later that evening, as the grand feast on the towering tree platforms outside the mountain began to wind down, Hong Yao gracefully made her way back to the palace in search of Li Ye.
"Mountain Lord, here is the detailed list of gifts offered by the visiting cultivators today. All the spirit items have already been properly sorted and stored in the vaults," she reported respectfully.
Li Ye took the jade slip and gave it a quick sweep with his divine sense. His eyebrows lifted slightly in mild surprise.
"Such generosity?"
Hong Yao covered her mouth with a soft laugh. "Master, you are now the only Golden Core Real Man left in the entire Four Nations Cultivation Realm, apart from those demon scum..."
"Your display of divine power earlier thoroughly convinced everyone."
"Naturally, they wish to win your favor, hoping you might offer them some protection in the upcoming battles. None of them dared to be the least bit careless with their offerings!"
"Hmm..."
Li Ye nodded noncommittally, his mind already sifting through the various spirit items listed.
Though the fall of Huan and Yue had plunged the Four Nations into chaos, for many cultivators and factions, such turmoil was also an opportunity. First the wars between Jing and Wu, then the demonic invasions of Huan and Yue this constant upheaval meant that rules and orders were in flux, providing plenty of chances for opportunists to seize rare benefits once beyond their reach.
Take today's gifts, for example.
Among them were several third-grade spirit woods and plants that would have been exceedingly difficult for Li Ye to find in normal times. Those offering them had done their homework, knowing exactly what a wood-element spiritual root cultivator like him would need most.
A few items were even specially noted as still viable for planting and nurturing those instantly stood out to Li Ye.
"Make a record of the cultivators or factions who offered living third-grade spirit plants or the most valuable gifts. Look into their backgrounds. If battles break out in the future, we can give them some... preferential treatment."
"If any issues arise, you may relay them to me at once."
Li Ye spoke casually but did not attempt to hide that he would be favoring those who catered to his preferences.
If others wished to deepen their ties with him in such a practical way and save him the trouble of hunting down rare spirit plants he saw no reason not to reward them appropriately.
"Rest assured, I will handle it properly," Hong Yao replied seriously with a nod.
Then, after a brief hesitation and biting her lip, she softly added,
"Master... some people are claiming to be your old acquaintances who wish to seek an audience. How should we handle them?"
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