The enormous tree reached high into the sky, and its treetop spanned several miles. It practically covered the entire mountain top. In front of the huge tree, whose trunk was hundreds of meters wide, was a small pond with incredibly clear water.
There was also a stone platform that had been created by man. It was obviously a sacrificial altar constructed by the village's ancestors.
When he looked at that immense tree, Long Chen sensed an incredibly strong vitality as well as a majestic and boundless natural energy. It seemed as if this huge tree contained the entire natural will of the world. It was extremely stunning.
"This is your forest god?" asked Long Chen.
"Yes, this is our forest god. You should pay your respects with me. It is the one who really saved your life." After saying that, Xiao Hua reverently kneeled down and kowtowed.
Long Chen looked at this huge tree. It was this tree which had saved him. Since no one had given him any medicinal pills after he had fainted, he probably would have burnt up all his energy and eventually have died. To pay respects to the one who had saved him was acceptable.
Just as Long Chen was about to get on his knees, a soft voice rang over, a voice that made them feel like they were being cleansed by spring wind.
"Please, don't be like this. I'm unable to accept such a thing."
Suddenly, a figure appeared atop the sacrificial altar. It was a female figure in a white dress. Her black hair fell to her waist, giving people a fluttering immortal feeling. However, her figure was extremely fuzzy and her features couldn't be seen clearly.
"Forest god." Xiao Hua who was kneeling on the ground looked up in shock. She had once heard the forest god's voice before, but she had never seen it take form.
Not only her, but even in all the village's history, there was not a single person who had ever seen the forest god take form.
But as soon as Long Chen arrived and before he even knelt, it immediately appeared before him. And furthermore, it even implied it was not worthy of Long Chen's reverence. Xiao Hua became dizzy. Even a god was unworthy of Long Chen's worship?
Long Chen was filled with astonishment as he looked at that figure. He knew that this figure wasn't human, but a soul.
That was something that could only form when one's Spiritual Strength reached a kind of pinnacle. Long Chen was extremely proud of his powerful soul, but in front of the forest god, he was just like a small stream in front of a huge ocean. This was the first time he had ever felt himself to be so minute.
"You are the forest god?" Long Chen asked probingly.
That woman smiled slightly and didn't reply. Looking at the kneeling Xiao Hua, she gently said, "Sleep for a while."
Xiao Hua immediately rolled over to the ground, falling into a deep slumber.
Long Chen was startled. What a powerful technique. Even without using spiritual energy, just her will was able to make people fall asleep.
Only then did she turn to Long Chen. "The words we speak between us aren't suitable for her to hear, so I could only let her sleep for a while. I am no god. That was simply what they called me. The truth is that I am not from this world."
"Not from this world?" Long Chen was greatly startled.
"I come from the distant Spirit World. To the current you, that is still extremely far. But I know that with your talent, it won't be long before you reach it," said that woman.
Her words caused Long Chen's heart to pound wildly. He knew this forest god was definitely a frighteningly powerful existence, but she actually refused to explain just what this Spirit World was.
Spirit World… that was a term that Long Chen was completely unfamiliar with. But when he heard it, he had a kind of deja vu feeling. That was an extremely vague and profound feeling.
Seeing that she didn't continue explaining, Long Chen didn't interrogate her. He cupped his fists. "Long Chen will engrave the favor of saving my life into my memory."
"Actually you don't need to thank me. You should thank those villagers. According to our agreement, no matter what they needed, I would need to meet their demands. At the same time, I also have to put out an equivalent price. This was our agreement, so you don't need to thank me." She shook her head.
"I wonder whether I can ask why you would make such an agreement with ordinary villagers?" asked Long Chen.
This was a question Long Chen had wondered for a long time. This was like a huge elephant making an agreement with a group of ants. It didn't make sense.
She was silent for a while before replying, "Because I need their help."
"Their help?" Long Chen didn't understand. A terrifyingly powerful existence like this actually required the help of ordinary villagers?
"I said that I am not of this world. Due to an intense battle, a crack appeared in time and space, sweeping me away. Originally, I should have died. Although I just managed to survive by luck, my body suffered extremely heavy wounds. After a long time of recovery, my body gradually healed.
"But if I want to return to my world, I need to sacrifice a great deal of blood. I need to accumulate enough fleshly power in order to open a spacetime channel and return to my original world. You must be curious as to why I don't personally hunt myself and rely on their hands," she said.
Long Chen nodded. That was the most obvious inconsistency. It seemed needless for her to rely on the villagers.
"That's because my spirit race has its own restrictions. We can't go kill others for our own needs. We can't personally end lives."
"Why is that?"
"This has to do with the secret cultivation technique of my spirit race. If I personally kill anything, absorbing its flesh will cause me to also absorb its resentment at being killed. That is a kind of unresolvable poison to us," she explained.
Although Long Chen felt a bit out of his depths when talking to this white-dressed woman, he supposed he now understood a bit of why she would make such an agreement with Xiao Hua's ancestors.
"You are someone with limitless potential. This time, your meridians were extremely injured. I didn't only heal them, I also expanded them a bit. I also used my core energy to increase your meridians' toughness. So your medical expenses were a bit higher."
Long Chen was surprised. After awakening, he had sensed that his body seemed to have changed a bit, but he hadn't figured out just what kind of change it was.
Now that she brought it up, he quickly examined his meridians and went wild with joy. His meridians had actually become over twice as wide as they had been before.
And most importantly, his meridians which were like glass tubes before had changed to become like flexible tubing. Such meridians could endure a much greater amount of spiritual energy without bursting.
That was a huge surprise. If the current him fought with Marquis Ying once more, his meridians would definitely not crack again. At that time, he would definitely be able to kill him.
"Many thanks." Long Chen was completely sincere. Thinking back to how angry he had been when he had first heard of this sacrificial offer, he couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself.
She shook her head. "As someone from the spirit race, I was only following the agreement. So you don't need to thank me."
Long Chen laughed. "Let me ask you this: if I were to slip away after you cured me, what would you do?"
That female figure seemed to laugh and shook her head. "You wouldn't. Members of my spirit race are extremely sensitive when it comes to other people's hearts. If you were a wicked person, I would have been able to sense it immediately and absolutely wouldn't have saved you. And even if you left, there would be others to pay back the debt. But in that case, I would forgive that debt and the previous agreement would be void."
"Then wouldn't you suffer a loss?" smiled Long Chen.
"It can be considered so. But it would be of no matter. This is the rule of my spirit race. The agreement must be followed according to that initial premise."
"Like with the village's ancestors?" Long Chen suddenly thought of the story Xiao Hua had told him.
"Yes, that is our custom."
Such a custom was definitely a good one, but within the world of the royal capital, such a thing would guarantee that you would suffer great losses. Long Chen sighed inside.
This was an agreement based on good faith, an agreement based on the heart. It was definitely much more effective than any signed contract. The most assured agreement was one that was on the spiritual level.
Long Chen began to feel profound respect for this woman from the so-called Spirit World. She was a pure and innocent soul that had yet to be contaminated by the mundane world.
"Right, how much more Magical Beast flesh do you still require here?" Long Chen took out the Burst Bear's corpse and threw it onto the ground.
Suddenly, countless roots tore out of the ground and dug their way into the Burst Bear's corpse. In less than a breath's time, the corpse was sucked dry. Even its bones were sucked away, leaving behind only a couple pieces of skin.
After that Burst Bear was sucked dry, Long Chen was startled to sense that the huge tree's vitality grew even stronger, and its leaves seemed to have become much more spiritual.
"In order to heal you, I injured my core. I need ten first rank Magical Beasts and one second rank Magical Beast before being able to heal," replied the white-robed woman.
"Then wouldn't you have made no profit?" Long Chen was a bit flabbergasted.
She lightly replied, "It's still the same as what I said before. That was the agreement set up at the beginning."
"I understand. But I, Long Chen, am not someone who likes owing others. Having received such a great favor from you, I will definitely remember it," nodded Long Chen.
He didn't want to owe others favors. But if someone did help him, he would repay that favor back ten times. Just like how fatty Yu and the others had only helped him out at the beginning by lending him a bit of money, but Long Chen would remember that favor forever.
His meridians had been broadened now, and whether it was to his future cultivation or his use of Battle Skills, it was an enormous benefit. Such a favor was incredibly enormous.
After talking to the forest god, Long Chen gently woke up Xiao Hua. They left the area of the forest god and returned to the village.
After arriving, Xiao Hua excitedly gathered everyone and showed them the wild boar she had killed, as well as telling them about how Long Chen had easily killed a Burst Bear and how the forest god had taken form in front of them. Everyone stared at her with wide eyes.
The most shocking thing was that the forest god had taken shape in front of them. After hearing that, all the villagers knelt down towards the distant direction of the forest divinity.
Because of the agreement between Long Chen and the forest divinity, the forest divinity had given them an allowance on their debt. That very night, everyone celebrated with a large serving of wild boar meat.
Xiao Hua then showed everyone her new spatial ring. She took out the weapons within it one by one, causing everyone in the village to become incomparably excited.
After eating, Long Chen disappeared into the night alone. There was one thing that he absolutely had to do.