Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

Duke, through the Slave Contract, clearly sensed that the Life Power inside the seed, which had been dormant for countless ages, was accumulating at an unprecedented speed, much like a riverbed dried up for numerous eons finally welcoming the flood from upstream.

When the last batch of Philosopher’s Stones was completely absorbed, a faint, crisp sound emanated from within the Light Cocoon.

This sound of shell breaking seemed to be something that had been silent for too long finally deciding to awaken; it was life itself declaring its birth.

A very fine crack appeared on the surface of the Light Cocoon, extending from the top downward, growing larger and larger, as pale golden light burst forth from the crack, coating the entire spring and surrounding grassland in a warm golden hue.

Then the Light Cocoon split open, and a tender green sprout, only as long as a little finger, emerged from the crack. It appeared exceedingly fragile as if a gust of wind could easily break it.

Yet, in Duke’s perception, the Life Energy contained within this sprout already surpassed the sum of Energy from all those Philosopher’s Stones.

It was the most primal Life Essence accumulated by the World Tree over countless eons, and at this moment, it finally found an outlet to release.

The water surface of the Spring of Life automatically retreated, making way for the sprout to occupy the core position.

The concentration of Life Energy in the air multiplied several times within a short few breaths, and the already vibrant Divine Court now seemed as if injected with a powerful stimulant. Wildflowers on the distant grassland blossomed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even the spores floating in the air became more active.

Duke stood by the spring, looking down at the tender sprout, able to sense its emotions through the Slave Contract.

It was a pure, untainted joy, like a baby opening its eyes for the first time to see light.

The moment the World Tree’s sprout broke out of its shell, the entire Light God Court started to change.

This change was not gradual, but as if a giant beast, asleep for countless eons, finally awakened, each breath pulling at the foundations of the Plane’s prototype.

Duke stood at the edge of the Spring of Life, clearly sensing the ground beneath his feet extending outward.

The boundary areas of the Divine Court, previously enveloped by the gray-white void cloud sea, steadily and firmly retreated.

The void withdrew as reality expanded, with new land solidifying into form from the chaos every instant, covered in dense grass and low shrubs, as if the World Tree itself was using its roots to weave new frameworks for this space.

Life Energy concentrated in the air continued to rise; the already incredibly dense Energy now almost condensed into a faint green mist visible to the naked eye. Each breath could feel Life Force pouring into the lungs like warm tides, flowing throughout the body along blood vessels and Magic Circulation.

Above the dome, the sky light, which remained bright without a sun, became more gentle and profound.

If looked closely, countless minute golden light threads could be seen slowly swirling in the sky; it was the natural Life Rules aura emitted after the World Tree sprouted, intertwining and merging with the existing Rules system of the Light God Court.

The Rules of the Divine Court were initially a simple framework, barely maintaining the basic operation of the space.

But now, the World Tree’s roots are reweaving this framework.

The conjunctions between Rules have become tighter, the circulation of Energy more orderly, even the flow of air and the distribution of temperature have begun to exhibit a certain delicate balance.

The entire Divine Court is slowly transforming from a Plane prototype into a truly independent Plane.

Duke stood by the spring, looking down at the tender sprout, only as long as a little finger.

Through the Slave Contract, he could sense its state at the moment.

It was a pure, untainted joy, like a baby opening its eyes for the first time to see light, using its naive perception to touch this new world.

However, at the same time, he also noticed the Contract itself was changing.

The original Slave Contract was a clear, one-way binding; he, as the master, issued orders, while the other end of the Contract passively complied.

But at this moment, the boundary of this Contract was becoming blurred.

The consciousness of the World Tree was no longer passively receiving but actively transmitting something to him through the Contract.

This feeling was extremely subtle, like a canal that could originally flow in only one direction suddenly turned into a two-way river path, where what surged from the other end was not water but something deeper, more primal.

Then Duke sensed the Life Rules, through the roots of the World Tree, he directly touched the essence of Life Rules.

The feeling cannot be accurately described in any language, like a person who has lived underwater upon birth suddenly being brought to the surface, inhaling air with lungs for the first time, seeing sunlight piercing the water surface waves for the first time.

Life Rules are omnipresent, existing in every leaf vein of grass, in every breath and expansion of the Divine Court itself.

They are Rules older than fire, deeper than light, more inclusive than Shadow, quietly existing in every living being.

As soon as Duke perceived the Life Rules, he realized that this window of perception would not last long.

The World Tree has just sprouted, its Life Rules aura is being released outward in the purest, most concentrated manner; this is the best time for him to capture the Life Rules. Once the window closes, trying to comprehend an Advanced Rule from scratch by himself would be as difficult as forcibly opening a new Gate of Rules without a Key.

He immediately sat cross-legged beside the Spring of Life, gathering all his Spiritual Power back to the Spiritual Sea, leaving only a thread of consciousness connected to the Slave Contract, tightly following every pulse of Rules transmitted from the ends of the World Tree’s roots.

Duke immersed himself in this perception for an unknown length of time.

When he reopened his eyes, he found a brand new branch added to the Skill Tree.

It was a verdant green tender branch, exuding a gentle Life sheen, with surface threads identical to the pale golden light threads on the World Tree’s sprout, each light thread was a complete vein of a Life Rule.

[Life Rules: Level 1 (1/10000)]

Duke immersed all his spirit into the Spiritual Sea, and his consciousness slowly extended along the verdant new branch.

The vein of Life Rules was completely different from the Six Elemental Rules; it flowed quietly like a silent river, spreading to every corner of his body along the vein of his Spiritual Power.

He could clearly feel his Life Force being reorganized in a new way.

Before this, his physical body’s recovery abilities mainly relied on the robust physique brought by the Elemental Holy Body and the stacking of several Passive Defense Magic, but now, Life Rules itself was becoming the core engine of all vitality operations in his body.

Duke no longer needed to wait for wounds to heal naturally or rely on external intervention from Magic Potions or Healing Magic.

As long as he wished, the power of Life Rules could instantly infuse into any injured part of the body; torn muscle fibers would reattach in the blink of an eye, shattered bones would be filled by newly born bone tissue in a breath, and even torn Magic Circulation could self-repair at a speed far beyond normal under the immersion of Life Rules.

Duke lowered his arms and turned his gaze to a newly blooming wildflower at the edge of the Spring of Life.

He reached out a finger and gently touched the petal of the flower.

This time, he attempted another application, infusing his own Life Force into another life form. The flower trembled slightly under his fingertip, then blossomed again at an almost incredible speed.

The edges of the petals, once a little curled, became full and relaxed again; their color shifted from pale purple to deep purple, and a few droplets of extremely fine nectar oozed from the flower’s core, glimmering with a pale golden light under the gentle glow of the Divine Court.