The energy bursting with vitality inside the Wood Elite Zombie was consistent with the Edict Energy of Life. After obtaining the extreme treasure of wood, the Viride Leaf, he was able to evolve even further. Therefore, it shouldn't have any problem crossing the barrier.
Immediately after the Wood Elite Zombie was summoned, he looked around in surprise before pointing at the barrier and telling Han Shuo, "Father, there's something strange inside!"
Han Shuo could sense the abnormality inside, so he was not surprised by the exclamation. He nodded and said, "That's right, there is something strange inside. It might be useful for you. Can you enter the barrier?"
"I don't know!" the Wood Elite Zombie replied. He paused for a second, then continued, "But I can try."
"Then try your best to open it and see what is actually inside," Han Shuo instructed.
"This... This... What is really going on?" the sea monster exclaimed in surprise as he saw another person suddenly appear out of nowhere.
As the five elite zombies gradually evolved, they became less and less like stiff, lifeless zombies. As their strength rapidly increased, the aura of death on their bodies gradually disappeared, and they began to look like normal human beings.
This was especially true of the Wood Elite Zombie. After receiving the Viride Leaf, the Wood Elite Zombie was able to evolve one step further, with no trace of the death aura on his body. It could even be felt that his body was filled with vitality. He even looked quite different from his normal self. His complexion had paled to a more human shade of pink.
"This is none of your business. Stay where you are and don't move an inch!" Han Shuo ordered coldly after casting a glance at the sea monster.
After the previous round of battle, the sea monster was deeply afraid of Han Shuo and dared not disobey any of his words. His heart felt like an unsolved puzzle, but he asked no more questions and fell into dead silence. He focused his attention on the wooden elite zombie, trying to figure out what he was up to.
After stepping to the front of the barrier, Wood Elite Zombie raised his hand. An energy of sheer vitality flowed through his hand and into the barrier.
The same barrier that was hostile towards Han Shuo and spontaneously attacked him when he approached, reacted with calmness towards Wood Elite Zombie.
"Father, I can enter it. This energy makes me feel very comfortable and it's not hostile towards me at all," the wood elite zombie happily transmitted to Han Shuo.
Of course, Han Shuo had expected this. After listening to Wood Elite Zombie's words, Han Shuo thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, go inside and see what is actually inside. If you can, try to remove the barrier."
"Okay!" the elite wood zombie replied in an excited and impatient tone. He seemed very interested in what was on the other side of the barrier.
The Wood Elite Zombie, his palm pressed against the barrier, moved into it as if his body had melted into it. He did not cause the slightest reaction from the barrier.
"He, he disappeared? He disappeared inside! How is that possible?!" the sea monster, who had been watching the wood elite zombie closely the whole time, shouted in surprise as the wood elite zombie entered the area without any resistance right in front of his eyes, something the sea monster had never managed to do in all his time there.
"Shut your damn mouth and watch!" Han Shuo groaned slightly.
The sea monster was silenced once again. Its soul became extremely restless. Many of the tentacles on its body were subconsciously vibrating. They were an obvious sign of its astonishment and disbelief.
Although Han Shuo could still sense the position of the Wood Elite Zombie inside the barrier, he couldn't sense what was going on inside through the Wood Elite Zombie. Just like the sea monster, Han Shuo remained silent and watched from outside the barrier, waiting for any changes that might happen to the barrier.
Not long after, the invisible barrier once again emitted a soft green glow, as faint as the bioluminescence of a firefly. This soft green glow seemed to be gradually being pulled and withdrawn by some kind of energy along with the barrier. Han Shuo could sense that the energy of the barrier that had been blocking him was being eliminated.
The sea monster had also noticed the phenomenon. Its tentacles were vibrating at an even greater rate, but it dared not make a sound.
Soon, the soft green light disappeared completely. The scene that had been blocked by the boundary all along was finally revealed to the eyes of Han Shuo and the sea monster.
A small but lush tree with green leaves was revealed beneath the island. Although the tree appeared small, each of its leaves was emerald green and even emitted a faint green light. The small tree was thriving, its branches intertwined. The aura of life was extremely lush.
The Wood Elite Zombie was standing next to the tree, staring at it as if enchanted.
"How is this possible? How could a tree survive under the sea?" the sea monster shouted in amazement once again.
"Nothing is impossible!" Han Shuo replied. He immediately transmitted to the Wood Elite Zombie, "Try to absorb the energy in the tree.
By now, Han Shuo was no longer ignorant and ill-informed. Through the memories left by the original owner of the Skeletal Staff, as well as certain knowledge from Bechymos and the person trapped in the Holy Grail, Han Shuo knew a thing or two about those living in the great material planes.
That small tree with an intense aura of life was supposed to be a Tree of Life, according to the legends. It was said that those who cultivate under the Edict of Life could pass on their life energy by transforming into a Tree of Life just before they died, under certain unique circumstances.
Eons ago, there was probably a cultivator of the Law of Life who, knowing that his life was coming to an end, transformed himself into the Tree of Life in front of his eyes through certain unique means. In a sense, this divine being who had transformed into a Tree of Life did not actually die, but lived on in a different way.
Not only did the Tree of Life contain an immense amount of the energy of life, it might even have retained the knowledge that the god possessed. A Tree of Life was beyond precious. However, Han Shuo had only heard of the legend that those who cultivated in the Edict of Life could transform themselves into a Tree of Life, and that the trees were very miraculous. Han Shuo didn't know much about the details.
Han Shuo believed that the Tree of Life would be extremely useful for the wood elite zombies. From Han Shuo's point of view, by taking over the Tree of Life, the Wood Elite Zombie would be able to maximise its profit. There was no better way to do this than to absorb all the life energy inside the Tree of Life.
Wood Elite Zombie stood in front of the Tree of Life and stared blankly for quite a while. It remained silent and did not immediately react to Han Shuo's command.
After a while, the wood elite zombie seemed to finally understand Han Shuo's instruction as he pulled out his extreme treasure of the wood attribute, the Viride Leaf. He then pressed his hand on the Tree of Life with the Viride Leaf in between.
In an instant, both the Tree of Life and the Viride Leaf blossomed with an enchanting green radiance. A powerful energy suddenly erupted from the Tree of Life and flowed through the Viride Leaf into the Wood Elite Zombie.
"It's actually possible!" Han Shuo was stunned.
Although Han Shuo had given the Wood Elite Zombie the order, he wasn't entirely sure if the Wood Elite Zombie could actually absorb the life energy inside the Tree of Life. Therefore, when the overflowing energy within the tree began to rush into Wood Elite Zombie's body, Han Shuo was in awe.
"Wha... What is he doing?" Again, the sea monster couldn't help but ask.
"He's absorbing the energy inside - the same energy that transformed you from a small octopus into the giant monster you are now!" Han Shuo said ecstatically as he laughed out loud.
"I, I want some!" the sea monster said after staring blankly for a long time.
"You? Haha, this will kill you!" Han Shuo looked at the sea monster as if he was looking at a clown and continued contemptuously, "There is absolutely no way that your body could hold much of that kind of energy, so give up the thought."
Han Shuo was telling the truth. Wood Elite Zombie was able to absorb the energy because the energy he cultivated in was analogous to the energy in the tree. In addition, the Wood Elite Zombie was born with a unique body structure that allowed it to absorb and store the energy from the Tree of Life.
It was true that the life energy from the Tree of Life had caused the sea monster's transformation. However, Han Shuo reckoned that the transformation must have happened a long, long time ago. The power that the sea monster now possessed was not directly from the bit of vital energy that hit it, but from the slow and gradual evolution of the sea monster. The bit of life energy that had hit it had merely opened a door for the sea monster, and it should have been its own effort to evolve after that.
If one were to compulsively absorb an excessive amount of energy that one had not cultivated in, one would end up dying. The sea monster was lucky that it was only hit by a little bit of life energy back then. If it had been hit by an excessive amount of that energy, it probably wouldn't have survived and would have died on the spot, never getting the chance to evolve to this stage.
Under Han Shuo's watchful gaze, the energy within the Tree of Life quickly turned into the Wood Elite Zombie, while the brilliant glow of the tree gradually faded.
Soon, the Tree of Life began to wither. The leaves browned and dried before falling off one by one. The exuberant energy was gone. In contrast, the pale face of the Wood Elite Zombie turned rosy, looking more youthful and healthy. The Viride Leaf in his hand also looked green and full of energy.
In the end, the Tree of Life was completely drained of energy. Surprisingly, right in front of Han Shuo's eyes, the base of the Tree of Life turned into skeletal remains with no trace of any wooden quality. It seemed that after the life energy was drained, the original appearance of the god who had transformed into the Tree of Life would be revealed.
While the Wood Elite Zombie enjoyed the massive amount of energy he had just received out of the blue, Han Shuo concentrated on observing the area around the skeletal remains. He found nothing to indicate or reveal his identity.
After a long time, while Han Shuo was still looking around for any clues, the Wood Elite Zombie suddenly said to him, "Father, I know that you are injured. I can help you!"
Han Shuo, who had been deep in contemplation, was immediately roused. He asked in a rather startled manner, "Help me? What do you mean?"
"I don't know why, but I believe I can use this new energy to speed up your body's recovery process!" the Wood Elite Zombie said.
Han Shuo was startled. He thought for a moment and felt that perhaps the life energy really could help him rejuvenate his body. So he nodded happily and said, "Alright, let's try it!"
Upon finishing these words, Han Shuo once again carefully examined the base of the Tree of Life, which had been reduced to skeletal remains after losing all of its vital energy. With a wave of his large hand, he stirred the ground. The remains of this god, who had died so long ago, were buried deep underground.
So what if you cultivate according to the Law of Life? You will still face death. Those are the laws of nature. Who can escape them? Does changing your life form really mean that you can live again? Han Shuo thought as he rose to the surface.
The sea monster pitifully followed Han Shuo back to the surface of the ocean. Seeing that Han Shuo was leaving, the sea monster asked cautiously, "Um, have you forgiven me?"
"Yes, I have forgiven you. But I need you to stay in one place for a while," Han Shuo replied indifferently after thinking for a while.
If those from the Church of Light or the Shrine of Ice were to find the sea monster, they might be able to crack it open enough to discover Han Shuo's hiding place. Therefore, Han Shuo decided to take the sea monster to the cemetery of death until the matter was resolved.
"But, but I can't leave the water for too long," the sea monster replied anxiously.
"In this realm, can't you change your body size?" Han Shuo asked smiling after thinking for a moment.
"Actually, I can," the sea monster replied honestly.
"That's enough then. All right, make yourself a little smaller. I will make sure you get some water," Han Shuo said, beaming from ear to ear.
The sea monster had a bad feeling about this, but complied anyway, shrinking for fear that Han Shuo might kill it. In the end, it had transformed into a strange-looking octopus with shell-like armour, only slightly smaller than an adult human.
A large glass container suddenly enveloped it. After filling the glass container with water, Han Shuo said with a sinister smile, "See? This will do just fine. There's no way you can run out of water."
"Ahh! No! I don't want to be like this. This is too humiliating!" the sea monster complained loudly. He seemed on the verge of tears.
"You have no choice!" Han Shuo said with a mischievous smile. After placing several boundaries around the large glass container, Han Shuo carried it back to the gourd island and returned to the cemetery of death.
After casually placing the sea monster somewhere, Han Shuo and the Wood Elite Zombie walked to where its main body was. The injuries on Han Shuo's main body were extremely severe. Even with his remarkable healing ability, it wouldn't be an easy task to recover in a short period of time.
When the Wood Elite Zombie arrived, he placed the Viride Leaf on the chest of Han Shuo's main body. The energy of life was slowly injected into Han Shuo's severely injured main body through the Viride Leaf.
Since Han Shuo's main body did not contain any of the elemental energy of death, the exuberant energy of life did not repel his main body. Under the control of the Wood Elite Zombie, an amazing transformation took place immediately.
The slow recovery process of the main body was accelerated by several dozen times under the effect of the energy of life. His organs, meridians and bones healed at a rate that could be seen with the naked eye. It was a miracle.
Soon, all the major organs and parts of Han Shuo's body were functioning normally. Not a single wound could be found on his skin. His Demonic Yuan was able to circulate quickly and freely throughout his body. Most of the injuries that Han Shuo had suffered from activating the Demonic Blood Disassembly Technique were healed all at once.
"A miracle! The life energy is absolutely amazing!" Han Shuo's main body stood up and exclaimed with a laugh.