Chapter 16: Withered Tree Warriors

Yang Ling got the gist of the situation after listening to the elf elder’s explanation.

It turned out that there were mysterious, powerful Tree Shepherds that had existed in ancient times. They were able to summon Withered Tree Warriors from ancient trees. To them, forests that were sprawled with ancient trees were their territory, the source of their powers. They could instantly conjure countless Withered Tree Warriors to do battle for them.

Ancient Summoner, Tree Shepherd…

The elf elder’s heart shook when his gaze moved from the Withered Tree Warrior kneeling on the ground to the mysterious Yang Ling.

Ancient Summoners could summon large numbers of Magical Beasts to do battle and create a terrifying Magical Beast army; Tree Shepherds weren’t worse off, able to summon countless Withered Tree Warriors from within the ancient trees. The elf elder could not imagine how powerful Yang Ling’s battle abilities would be in the future, now that he knew that Yang Ling possessed both those powers.

The Terras Forest spanned ten thousand miles. To its south was the ocean, to its west the vast Banto Empire and prosperous Livenza Alliance. To the north, past a wide marsh, was the powerful Rossi Empire. The east of the forest seemed to span on and on, and no one really knew how large Terras Forest really was.

There were tall, ancient trees in all corners of this forest. In other words, Yang Ling could summon thousands of Withered Tree Warriors similar to Lebrock. Coupled with the various Magical Beasts existing within the area, the elf elder realized that in this huge primordial forest, Yang Ling was at his most powerful. As long as he was willing to help the elf tribe, they wouldn’t have to fear even the attacks of a hundred Ymirs.

“This vast forest is home to us forest elves. It is also the home and source of power of the Tree Shepherds. Legend has it that in ancient times, each Tree Shepherd lorded over a territory spanning thousands of miles and lived in harmony with us forest elves. We forest elves would be responsible for nurturing and growing ancient trees, while the Tree Shepherds would summon Withered Tree Warriors to protect us in times of need.”

After getting over his shock, the elf elder slowly started narrating the ancient legend. The forest elves had lived on this continent for millennia. Their long historical records were filled with stories of Tree Shepherds.

“Yes, a win-win situation!” Yang Ling immediately understood what the elf elder meant when he narrated the legend of elves and Tree Shepherds helping each other. But this, to him, was a foreign land. It would be a good idea to form a partnership with the elves.

In this world, where the law of the jungle reigned supreme, having powerful abilities was of utmost importance. Otherwise, it might not even be possible for him to be a beggar in peace, much less enjoy life.

Even though the arrow techniques of the forest elves were unparalleled, their close-combat abilities were decent at best. This weakness had been made apparent when they became flustered as soon as they had to engage in close distance combat with Ymir and his gryphons. In such a situation, the powerful Withered Tree Warriors would be their trump card. If they had a large horde of Withered Tree Warriors, Ymir might not even dare to step into Terras Forest, much less exact revenge on the tribe.

The two parties came to an agreement.

After successfully keeping Yang Ling on his side, the elf elder saw how Yang Ling was glancing at Sofia from time to time, as well as Sofia’s blushing face. He had a joy when he recalled how the two were secretly together that late into the night. If he could marry Sofia to Yang Ling, it would do much good for the tribe. With a Tree Shepherd protecting them, the safety of the tribe would be guaranteed.

After a moment, the experienced elf elder left together with the crowd, giving Yang Ling and Sofia some alone time.

“Sofia…”

“Yes…”

“The weather seems to have become colder!”

“Yes…”

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Both Yang Ling and Sofia understood the elder’s intentions after seeing him leave. In that moment, Yang Ling did not know what he should say. Sofia was so shy that she did not even lift her head.

“Lebrock, stand up!”

Yang Ling’s imagination went wild after he commanded the groveling Withered Tree Warrior to rise. He looked at its apartment-sized club and its towering muscles. A Withered Tree Guardian that did not have sentience was already more powerful than a tank, so Yang Ling could not imagine what kind of destructive capabilities a sentient warrior would have.

Looking at the soulful Lebrock, Sofia said in envy, “Yang Ling, Lebrock is a Withered Tree Warrior with spiritual qualities. It can evolve quickly as long as it absorbs an adequate amount of magical power from the surroundings. It is much more powerful than the Withered Tree Guardians our tribe has nurtured painstakingly.”

It can quickly evolve as long as it absorbs an adequate amount of magical power from the surroundings?

Ever since he came into contact with the mysterious Wizard Mantra, Yang Ling noticed that the Horned Bee Beasts and Evil Eyes he tamed would evolve with the increase of his own wizard powers. If what Sofia said was true and a tamed tree spirit could also evolve, it would be wonderful indeed.

Seeing Yang Ling’s confusion, Sofia gave a more detailed explanation. It turned out that forest elves, having lived in the forest for generations, were adept in natural magic and could boost the growth of trees. As long as they were persistent, they could summon Withered Tree Guardians from those trees when the time was right.

But Lebrock, who was filled with spiritual qualities, was different. The Withered Tree Guardians that were nurtured by the elves had no intelligence, and their movements were slow. It was even harder for them to evolve. Furthermore, the time needed to nurture them was long, and thus most elf tribes only had a few in their possession.

“So why are plants sprouting from Lebrock’s body?”

“Yang Ling, the sprouts on Lebrock’s body mean that its power is that of regeneration. Even if it were to suffer severe injuries, it could slowly recover as long as it hadn’t stopped breathing!”

As Sofia explained, Yang Ling found out that the Withered Tree Warriors summoned by Tree Shepherds all possessed unique powers from birth. For example, Withered Tree Warriors that were born from evergreens such as pine trees would have powers of regeneration, and Withered Tree Warriors born from hardier trees would have steel-like skin, resistant to blades and cannons.

Surprised, Yang Ling instructed a Horned Bee Beast to bite Lebrock’s body. Indeed, the blood stopped flowing instantly from the deep wound and started to regenerate. He was a champion fighter that practically could not die.

After understanding how powerful the Withered Tree Warriors were, Yang Ling quickly put away the towering Lebrock and returned to the tribe with Sofia. He started searching for ancient trees before dawn, hoping to quickly enhance his abilities. The attacks of his Evil Eyes were powerful, but they lacked defensive abilities. His Horned Bee Beasts were adept in stealth attacks, but they could not launch effective attacks against a group of experienced spellcasters. What he lacked now were powerful subordinates like Lebrock.

There more ancient trees than anything else around the elf tribe. But what disappointed Yang Ling was the fact that he only found five trees with spiritual qualities after half a day of searching. What was even more frustrating was that even after using all his wizard powers and blood essences, he could only tame one Withered Tree Warrior a day.

After understanding Yang Ling’s troubles, the elf elder did not hesitate to take on the mission of helping Yang Ling find ancient trees. He sent out all of his priests. At the same time, he sent messengers to elf tribes around them in hopes that they would help search for ancient trees with spiritual qualities. He also hoped that he could obtain Water of the Spring of Life to help Yang Ling increase his wizard powers.

The elf elder understood that increasing Yang Ling’s powers was akin to increasing the powers of his tribe, and thus spared no effort in helping him.

The Water of the Spring of Life could rapidly enhance Yang Ling’s abilities, but he had already exhausted the Water of the Spring of Life his tribe had saved over the years. He could only depend on the other elf tribes now. The elf elder believed that after they realized Yang Ling’s identity as a Tree Shepherd, they would definitely not be stingy with the Water of the Spring of Life they had. After all, the appeal of the Withered Tree Warriors to the elf tribes was too high.

In the following days, other than taming ancient trees with spiritual qualities, Yang Ling spent most of his time commanding his Magical Beast army to hunt for him, crystallizing the prey’s blood essences for his own consumption. Without the Water of the Spring of Life, consuming the blood essences of Magical Beasts was the fastest way to increase his wizard powers. At the same time, he could also develop the coordination between the Withered Tree Warriors, Horned Bee Beasts, and Evil Eyes.

Ever since he tamed the Withered Tree Warriors, Yang Ling noticed that the dark red wizard powers in his body were now mixed with a shred of green. His training became faster and more effective. Every time he meditated in the treetops, he could feel a massive amount of spirit energy entering his body; at the same time, the trees and grass around him would release streaks of green energy, which seeped into his body through his skin.

A month later, Yang Ling had control of a full fifteen powerful Withered Tree Warriors. Amongst them, ten were Pine Warriors with regeneration abilities, while the other five were Hardwood Warriors with impenetrable skin. At the same time, his wizard powers had also increased by leaps and bounds. He could now tame two ancient trees with spiritual qualities a day, and he had arrived at the last stage of the Blood Wizard. With a little more effort, he believed that he could soon arrive at the stage of the Spirit Wizard.