The World Tree was still in its sapling stage. A long time would pass before it reached its peak.
As a partial manifestation of the World Will, the World Tree's ceiling was nearly level with the world itself — something the technological path could never match.
The technological path required vast knowledge, development, continuous research, and relentless innovation to advance. But as a mystical manifestation of the World Will, the World Tree only needed time.
Boom!
A tremendous sound echoed through the void.
Golden arcane runes pulsed across the World Tree's trunk, and its massive root system began extending beyond Earth, spreading into the cosmos. A soft radiance flickered on Bai Xuan's body.
A resonance formed between Bai Xuan and the World Tree. His perspective began to rise.
The small world's full scope. Earth's full scope. The Milky Way's full scope. Beyond the Milky Way...
Additionally, a strange sensation washed over Bai Xuan — as though, if he merely wished it, he could know anything he desired to know.
It was an illusion, and yet not merely an illusion.
The World Tree, as a derivative of some of the World Will's rules, had originated from the Marvel universe. But under Bai Xuan and the World Will's transformation, it had become perfectly attuned to the native world.
If mysticism had tiers, the World Tree was absolutely its most apex tier.
Any mystical object connected to a world was the most top-tier mystical object.
That was truth, absolute and unwavering.
The World Tree's perspective was naturally different from Bai Xuan's. Even though Bai Xuan had already entered the Divine Realm, he was still far from this world's upper limit.
But the World Tree was different. Though only in its sapling stage, the only thing it lacked was time.
Everything else — it had obtained the moment it sprouted.
What Bai Xuan now saw and sensed was precisely what the World Tree itself possessed.
Through the World Tree's perspective, the unfathomable cosmos felt within reach. Everything in existence seemed to stripped of all mystery.
If he wished, he could observe any corner of the universe, determine whether a civilization existed there, learn its development history, everything it had experienced.
Who knows how long passed before Bai Xuan severed his connection with the World Tree.
He wiped the corner of his eye. A line of bloody tears had fallen.
The World Tree's perspective was still too much for him at this stage. Brief observation wouldn't cause problems, but extended viewing — even he couldn't withstand the relentless barrage of information flooding in.
Still, the World Tree's transformation had succeeded. No difficulties whatsoever. An utterly smooth success.
In the time that followed, he would learn Holy Speech and technological knowledge from Zixin. He'd discussed these topics frequently before, but never studied them systematically. He'd only explored knowledge that interested him — after all, at that time he had no intention of stepping onto the technological path.
Now everything was different. The World Tree was a fusion of the mystical and scientific. To unleash its full potential, relying solely on mystical power wouldn't suffice.
Bai Xuan's thoughts drifted. An involuntary drowsiness crept over him.
The extended observation had drained too much spiritual energy. If he weren't already a god but instead used a mortal body for such observation, the instant he looked, the overwhelming information impact would shatter him.
Ha.
He exhaled deeply. Bai Xuan lay down beneath the World Tree and slowly closed his eyes.
A gentle breeze stirred. The World Tree's leaves rustled, composing nature's music in the wind.
The Pokémon who had been playing nearby tiptoed over to Bai Xuan without him noticing. Ralts nestled against his side, a small hand gripping the hem of his clothes.
Eevee wanted to drape across Bai Xuan's chest but worried about waking him, so it carefully settled on his other side instead.
Growlithe curled up beside his right leg.
More and more Pokémon gradually gathered around, forming a sleeping ring around Bai Xuan.
Zixin recorded this scene. Then she teleported the Pikachu and Eevee beside Bai Xuan to another area, and carefully lay down in their place.
Gazing at Bai Xuan's handsome, pale features in sleep, Zixin seemed to think of something. An involuntary blush crept across her cheeks.
She closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh, natural scent emanating from Bai Xuan, and slowly drifted into sleep.
As if dreaming something wonderful, a smile gradually curved her lips.
Sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, falling gently on them all.
Everything was so beautiful.
In the chat group, while Bai Xuan slept, something interesting was unfolding.
Heathcliff: Why?
Heathcliff: Why can a game like this trigger an isekai incident, but mine can't?!
Heathcliff: The body attribute settings are crude — though mobility is decent, facial expressions are stiff. The skill system is a mess, too.
Heathcliff: The freedom of expression deserves praise, but the NPC intelligence is terrible! They don't even have basic learning ability.
Heathcliff: A trash game like this can isekai people — why can't my SAO?!
Heathcliff: Unfathomable!
Kayaba Akihiko, after trying YGGDRASIL, was as uncomfortable as if he'd had fleas crawling under his skin.
As a commercially released virtual game, YGGDRASIL wasn't bad. But to Kayaba Akihiko, there were far too many things to nitpick.
This trash game — aside from its macro-level setting and a few mixed-in mythological elements — what else was worth praising?
The technical side wasn't even on his level!
And this was after multiple rounds of upgrades. What did the earliest version even look like?
A game like this could isekai people — so why couldn't his SAO?
His SAO was ten times, a hundred times better than this!
You could hear the sheer spite in Kayaba's words.
Of course, YGGDRASIL was certainly nowhere near as terrible as Kayaba made it out to be. The main issue was Kayaba himself.
A man who yearned for fantasy worlds naturally had exacting standards — he strove for authenticity in every dimension. Even a background NPC needed learning ability, growing wiser and more human-like through repeated interactions with players.
But YGGDRASIL was a commercial game. Its purpose was entertainment, profit — it couldn't possibly match Kayaba's obsessive perfectionism in every detail.
That was the difference between them.
Flying Squirrel: .
Flying Squirrel: Even if you say that, we wouldn't know. [ch]
Flying Squirrel: I think even the game company didn't know their game could isekai people.
Seeing Kayaba's complaints, Flying Squirrel didn't know what to say.
After watching the SAO memory copy, he'd purchased a copy of SAO himself. It really was an exceptional game.
(End of Chapter)
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