Changing the Fate of his Parents
Xue Bai's words were simple and short, but they were bombshells to Xue Feng and Li Rou.
His father and mother were respectfully at the fourth and fifth stages of the Domain Lord realm.
The Domain Lord realm was the last realm in the Houtian Great Realm, and since they had peak Yellow-grade Martial Veins, that meant they were only a few more stages away from the limit of their potential.
Their Marital Veins couldn't absorb the higher quality Spiritual Qi needed to advance to the Xiantian Great Realm, which would force them to stay at the peak of the Houtian Great Realm for the rest of their lives.
So Xue Bai telling them that they could continue cultivating was earth-shattering to them. No cultivator wanted to stay at their strength for the rest of their lives. And after hearing from Xue Bai that these fruits could overcome their lack of potential, his parents were floored.
Xue Feng knew his son was either playing an elaborate joke and was itching for a beating or that he was telling the truth. So immediately laid out a Soundproofing Formation.
Because either way, no sound from what would happen next should leak out of the room.
"Xue Bai, the words you have just said cannot be taken back. So explain to your parents clearly, or you won't like what happens next." Xue Feng's force dropped a few octaves, and he became serious.
Xue shivered. Hearing them call him by his full name scared the life out of him. He couldn't remember a time when they did that, even with his previous host's memories.
"Father, take a fruit. You'll know if I'm lying or not immediately. I wouldn't lie about something so important. While I know you two are always so business with the dukedom, I also know how much your cultivation means to you. If not, how could you guys let me practice at my age?" Xue Bai said.
Xue Bai knew that he wouldn't be able to convince his parents with just words, and instead, he just stepped aside and motioned to Yggdrasil.
His parents nodded. If Xue Bai was lying about this, they could find out just by eating a fruit. So Xue Bai making such a big deal out of it only to be lying would just increase his punishment which would be very stupid for Xue Bai.
However, even with the temptation in front of them, Xue Feng and Li Rou still shook their heads.
"But we are talentless, and at the end of our potential, wouldn't it be better for you to eat the fruit?" Li Rou denied it.
Hearing their selflessness made Xue Bai's heart warm. Such kindness was extremely rare in the cultivation world. Some parents would kill and refine their children for the chance to break through their innate limit, yet now even with the chance in front of them, Xue Feng and Li Rou still put Xue Bai first.
"No, the fruits of Yggdrasil are made for people at the end of their potential. And it also involves the dantian. So if I ate it, I would explode." Xue Bai said as he shook his head.
Xue Feng and Li Rou no longer had any misgivings, and they both walked to the purple and red fruit tree.
"Bai'er, we are your parents, and we trust you with our entire beings, so for one last time, we will ask you. These fruits will not harm us, correct?" Xue Fen solemnly spoke as he plucked two purple fruits.
And as he spoke these words, he looked his son in the eyes for any deceit, but after being met with clear and radiant eyes, Xue Feng stopped being suspicious and decided to eat the fruits.
Xue Feng passed the second one to Li Rou, and after they both sat in the lotus position, the two ate the purple pear-sized fruit with quick bites.
The effects of the Yggdrasil fruits came very quickly, and within a minute, they felt something occurring in their dantian.
Half of the spiritual Qi they had collected within their dantian was being compressed while the other was being mixed as if someone was panning for gold with their Spiritual QI.
The feeling was both bizarre and horrifying, and at first, they thought that Xue Bai had gone mad and poisoned them.
However, once they both looked at him, Xue Feng and Li Rou saw him staring at them with an expectant and hopeful face.
Seeing their son have so many expectations in them, neither Xue Feng nor Li Rou could bear to give up, so they gritted their teeth and decided to brave the odd feeling and see it through to the end.
And soon enough, they realized what was happening in their dantian. The Spiritual Qi they had gathered during their almost 100-year-long life was being compressed and purified.
Their realm was rapidly dropping. However, they kept the same strength.
The phenomenon was bizarre and mind-boggling, but it also coincided with what Xue Bai told them earlier.
Because of their poor talent, the Spiritual Qi they had gathered before was impure and low in quality but high in quantity. And by eating the Yggdrasil fruits, their mistakes were being reversed, and they were being given a new lease on life.
Soon Xue Feng and Li Rou's fifth and fourth stage Domain Lord realm cultivation bases declined all the way to the first stage.
But crazily enough, they didn't lose any strength at all. And with this extremely high purity Spiritual Qi, not only were they confident that they could easily reach the ninth stage of the Domain Lord realm, but also they were sure that the Xiantian Great Realm wouldn't be too far away.
After their cultivation bases declined, the two stayed in the lotus position and meditated for a while to make sure nothing was wrong. But after testing their strength with simple movements, they realized the only thing that had declined was their realms.
Finished checking out her gains from the fruits, Li Rou immediately thought of her brother and asked Xue Bai, "Bai'er, then what about the last fruit?"
"Don't worry, Mother. I was already planning to give it to Uncle LI. It will be my repayment for leaving him with the troubles I made." Xue Bai replied before she could mention the person.
Xue Bai had long sensed her thoughts, and he assured her that the last Yggdrasil fruit would go to LI Hou.
After Li Rou asked her question, Xue Feng, who was thinking of the critical questions, asked his own.
"Bai'er, then this 'Yggdrasil' tree, when will it bear fruits once more." Xue Feng asked as he looked at the weird-looking tree.
Sadly, Xue Bai couldn't answer his father's question fully, and he shook his head in response.
"I'm not 100% sure because I only remember its frequency from its peak growth, and currently, Yggdrasil is in a weakened state. But from what I know, once it gets out of this weakened state, then it will produce anywhere from 5-100 fruits every ten years. But now, with its health, I think we should focus on nurturing it more than the fruits." Xue Bai answered, thinking that Xue Fend would become disappointed.
However, in the mind of the Duke, the opposite was happening. Earlier, Xue Feng had thought they had just eaten a once-in-a-millennium fruit and was feeling regretful.
But once he heard that Yggdrasil could basically mass-produce them, he damn near fainted in excitement.
"Bai'er, you understand the implications of this, right?" Xue Feng asked with a trembling voice.
As a Domain Lord realm cultivator, Xue Feng naturally knew all the implications that Yggdrasil would have on the Baishen Plane, but he wanted to make sure that Xue Bai knew them as well.
"How can I not, father? While I haven't started to cultivate, I know the implications of Yggdrasil could have on the cultivation world." Xue Bai replied seriously.
Naturally, he wasn't a fool and knew that Yggdrasil had to be kept a secret.
From almost every single cultivation novel he knew, protagonists would have treasures like this. Then in some odd way, whether he had to expose it to save a love interest or he stupidly left it out for the world to see when he thought he was alone, the treasure would get revealed.
Then the news of the protagonist carrying a heaven-defying treasure would be spread around the world within days, and the entire world would chase him down for 200 chapters.
It was a common troupe, but it was also a terrifying reality that Xue Bai wanted no part of.
While Xue Bai wanted to experience the fun of a cultivation journey, he didn't want to be on the run for ten years of his life. So he had no plans of telling anyone besides his family about this.
Xue Feng and Li Rou sighed in relief after they saw how sensible their son was.
But Li Rou still had one more question to ask.
"Son, you must know that after taking any type of cultivation resource from pills to spirit fruits like that, you start to build an immunity to it. However, what about this Yggdrasil fruit? How many times can one eat it before it's useless?" Li Rou asked with some anticipation in her voice.
Just one fruit was able to give them a chance to break into the Xiantian Great Realm and advance to the Spirit Awakening realm. So what about if they ate two fruits? Would they advance to the Spirit Severing realm?
Would three allow them to break into the Spirit Expansion realm?
The possibilities were endless, and Li Rou felt like she had a whole new world opened up in front of her.
Xue Bai smiled when he heard the question. Indeed this was the ironclad truth in the cultivation world.
This was even the case with Heaven-grade natural treasures, and they weren't exempt either.
However, Yggdrasil's fruits could somehow ignore the ironclad rule.
No matter how many times you ate a Yggradsil fruit, it would still work like the first time.
This was why the Child of the Plane, who owned Yggdrasil, had such a powerful and loyal army behind him. He had brought them up from nothing, given them the world, and allowed them to fight against the geniuses of the entire Baishen Plane.
How could they not at least be loyal to such a man?
However, this wasn't going to happen in this timeline. Yggdrasil was his now. The all-powerful Devil Slaughtering Legion that once instilled fear into the entire Baishen Plane would no longer exist.
Instead, in its place would be whatever Xue Bai wanted to follow him.
Thinking about this, Xue Bai couldn't help but smile.
"Somebody can eat it as many times as they want. So it will always work." Xue Bai announced proudly.
Hearing their son's words, Xue Feng finally couldn't handle the happiness and fainted, and Li Rou was close too.
Xue Feng was rightfully excited. As a general, the thought of raising a personal army with the potential of reaching the peak of cultivation was his fantasy. So once Xue Bai told him that it was not only possible but they were able to do it, Xue Feng fainted with glee.
"Mother, what just happened?" Xue Bai asked, stunned.
When he first saw his father stumble, Xue Bai thought it was just a one-off thing. But seeing him faint floored Xue Bai entirely.
His dad was in the Domain Lord realm and could split seas and sever mountain tops. How did he faint?
"This happened once before when he first broke through to the Qi Sea realm. I think he can't handle excitement too well." Li Rou sounded uncertain as she answered.
She had a guess, but she wasn't too sure about it.
"Then wake him up. I need him to place Yggdrasil somewhere secure." Xue Bai said impatiently.
Finished with his words, Xue Bai wasn't polite and began to slap his father's face.
However, after three slaps, he had to stop as his palms started to hurt, and he even felt his muscles pulsating in pain.
"So this is what they meant by thick-faced," Xue Bai thought aloud. But as he held his hand in pain, his face looked enlightened.
"Mother, you try. I might break my hand if I continue." Xue Bai asked as he turned to his mother.
"Honey, I won't slap your father. Just wait until he wakes up. If anything, you should pray he doesn't remember. He will string you up a tree if he does." Li Rou laughed.
Ignoring Xue Bai's request, Li Rou went over to the fainted Xue Feng, gently placed him in her lap, and waited for her husband to wake up.
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