Volume 3 Chapter 46: World Tree Fruit

“Didn’t you want me to save this summoned creature’s life?” Mafa’s voice sounded a little surprised.

“This summoned creature is only useful against ordinary people. If it met a powerful opponent, it probably wouldn’t be as useful as Vine Seeds!” Qin Lun thought about the few battles the black bear had joined and smiled bitterly.

The black bear itself was a temporary protective measure the Albert Family prepared for Qin Lun. At that time, because it was urgent, they could only find this beast for an emergency. The first time it appeared, it was torn apart by the witch’s troll. The second time it appeared, its head was split open directly by the Phantom Demon World’s trap axe. The third time it appeared, it became an experiment for the incomplete Gene Potion.

Besides its large size which could temporarily block enemies for its master, the black bear had no other uses. Even when fighting the lowest level Blade Ashigaru in the Phantom Demon World, Qin Lun never thought about summoning the black bear. This summoned creature was basically unnecessary.

“Extracting a Bloodline Item from a summoned creature is like human transmutation at the law level. You really think highly of us!” Mafa understood Qin Lun’s intention and shook his head with self-mockery. “If the bloodline inside this black bear was Wind Element and Wood Element, there might still be a slight chance. But unfortunately, the attribute it showed was clearly a dark-type soul curse.”

“Dark-type soul curse?” Qin Lun touched his chin. He suddenly realized he had approached the wrong person. Maybe he should ask the Cunning Demon Beruses. The demon race belonged to the dark type, and they were also very good at soul magic.

Seeing Qin Lun’s expression, Mafa knew what he was thinking. She immediately gritted her teeth and then said, “Although we cannot extract the bloodline from the black bear, this black bear has significant research value. If you are willing to part with it, I can apply to the Council of Elders for an unripe World Tree Fruit.”

“World Tree Fruit?” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up, and he licked his lips. The World Tree Dew he used before was very good. This World Tree Fruit…

“World Tree Fruit is not for eating!” Seeing Qin Lun’s expression, Mafa felt both annoyed and amused. “We Moonlit Elves have two ways of birth. One is viviparous, and the other is from the World Tree Fruit…”

“So, an unripe World Tree Fruit… is an elf embryo?” Qin Lun’s expression turned a bit ugly. Was Mafa trying to push an underage elf servant onto him? Elves had good strength, but finding a smart and clever little one like Didi was not easy.

“You could say that!” Mafa rolled her eyes and briefly explained the use of the World Tree Fruit.

When a high-level figure of the Elven Race passed away, they would merge the essence core left by the Elf Elder into the World Tree Fruit. After the fruit successfully gestated, the born World Tree Elf would be a new individual but would retain part of the Elf Elder’s legacy. Combined with their talent, they were usually exceptionally gifted.

This was also one reason the World Tree was so important to the Elven Race. Possessing a World Tree meant preserving the legacies and talents of countless Elf Elders, an important guarantee for the elves’ lasting prosperity.

The World Tree Fruit Mafa proposed to give Qin Lun was an unripe fruit that had not yet merged with an essence core.

“The unripe fruit of the World Tree is the most important component of the Elf Bloodline. Under certain conditions, you could obtain the bloodline of our Moonlit Elf race!” A trace of slyness flashed in Mafa’s eyes.

How could the research value of a cursed black bear compare to the World Tree Fruit? It was just an excuse. Mafa was one hundred percent sure the Council of Elders would agree to this trade. The biggest asset Sapient Races used to win over High-Rank Apostles were Bloodline Items.

The Spiritual Equipment Apostles used mostly came from other worlds. Except for those high-level beings, the Spiritual Equipment produced by the Sapient Races in the Shattered Starry Sky were extremely rare. Otherwise, Mafa wouldn’t have used a crossbow of at most purple quality as a family heirloom.

Bloodline Items were different. Every Sapient Race was essentially stronger than humans, so their bloodlines were naturally superior to many Apostles. Moreover, once an Apostle possessed the bloodline of a certain Sapient Race, they would be considered one of their own in terms of blood relation. They could even intermarry, greatly increasing the sense of belonging.

Ever since that election incident, the Moonlit Elves had been paying close attention to Qin Lun. His several trades at the auction house couldn’t hide from the managing races who were deliberately watching. Although he wasn’t a High-Rank Apostle, he obtained several pieces of Dark Gold equipment in just two Quest Worlds. The quality and potential he showed were enough for the Moonlit Elves to increase their efforts to win him over.

Most importantly, Qin Lun had already shown goodwill towards the Elven Race during the election incident. The Moonlit Elves’ earlier investments in him had yielded some returns, fully complying with the Sapient Races’ principle of equivalent exchange with Apostles.

“Elf bloodline…” After hearing Mafa’s suggestion, Qin Lun frowned slightly. He didn’t show overwhelming joy. Being smart, he naturally understood the pros and cons of obtaining an elf bloodline. He didn’t want to be tied to a particular Sapient Race.

“Haha, don’t worry! Even if the Council of Elders agrees to this deal with you, they will attach some other conditions. They won’t violate the principle of equivalent exchange!” Mafa said with a smile.

Hearing this, Qin Lun felt relieved. He understood Mafa’s meaning. Since they followed the principle of equivalent exchange, the so-called additional conditions wouldn’t involve personal servitude but tangible things like Shattered Crystal or equipment, equivalent to a form of credit or debt.

“What characteristics does your Moonlit Elf bloodline have compared to humans?” Qin Lun nodded and asked curiously again.

Hearing Qin Lun inquire about the Moonlit Elf bloodline attributes, Mafa’s face immediately lit up with joy. This indicated the young man had mentally accepted the deal. Speaking of which, this was the sadness of the local races in the Shattered Starry Sky. Although they had an absolute advantage in numbers and their natural bodies were stronger than most Apostles, when trying to invest and win over a future powerful Apostle, they still had to consider the other party’s attitude.

Of course, the life of an Apostle, facing life-and-death adventures roughly every month, was also beyond their imagination. Actually, by now, the cooperation between the local Sapient Races and Apostles was very close, with various methods of attraction and courtship emerging endlessly.

Bloodline trade was only one of them. If Qin Lun acquired the elf bloodline and didn’t plan to change it later, the Moonlit Elves might very well take the next step of marriage alliance. After all, the elf race lacked nothing, least of all beautiful women.

“Our Moonlit Elves belong to the good and lawful alignment. We have good affinity with Wind Element, Wood Element, and most animals and plants. We can change class to most combat professions like Magician, Summoner, Druid, Archer, Warrior, Assassin, etc.” Mafa said with some reserve. “High-Rank Moonlit Elves receive the blessing of the Moonlight Goddess. Bathed in moonlight, our combat power and recovery ability will increase!”

Qin Lun’s eyes shone as he listened. The Moonlit Elves’ affinity with Wind Element could enhance several new skills he obtained. Their closeness to animals and plants could increase his recruitment of summoned creatures. It truly was a bloodline ability very suitable for him.

“Then I’ll trouble you with this!” Qin Lun finally agreed to Mafa’s suggestion. After canceling the summoning contract, he let her take the black bear away in a carriage.

Early the next morning, Mafa sent Qin Lun a message. She said the other Elf Elders at Devil’s Horn agreed to her suggestion in principle. However, they still needed to wait for the Council of Elders’ review result. At the same time, Mafa also sent a projection of the World Tree Fruit so he could examine it carefully.

The World Tree Fruit in the projection was as big as a fist. Its shape was like a green jade pineapple. Patterns circled its surface, and mysterious blue light sometimes lit up inside. The fruit seemed to emit immense vitality. The blue light brightened and dimmed, like the beating of a heart.

This thing wasn’t something you could just eat to fuse with the bloodline. How to use it specifically, even Mafa didn’t know. Perhaps only High-Rank Apostles who had experienced it would know. However, this didn’t stump Qin Lun. He planned to exchange some Shattered Crystal for City Points, then post an information task at the Apostle headquarters.

There were thousands of Apostles in Devil’s Horn. Among them were High-Rank Apostles who had obtained Sapient Race bloodlines. This kind of information task could be obtained without needing many City Points. This was also the biggest advantage of being in the Apostle City; consulting for information was extremely convenient.

Qin Lun closed the projection. He went to the Auction House to retrieve the three Skill Scrolls from his trade with Osiris. Then he went to the Training Ground.

At the Training Ground, Qin Lun first used the low-level Reflex Training Scroll. What annoyed him was that this scroll was much worse than the previous intermediate Reflex Training Scroll. It couldn’t raise Primary Sword Mastery to Intermediate Sword Proficiency. It only increased some proficiency. He might need one or two more similar scrolls to complete this upgrade.

After his mood calmed down, Qin Lun opened the virtual Magic Web scroll. The moment his finger touched the scroll’s runes, Qin Lun’s consciousness instantly appeared in a vast Star Void.

This Star Void was very different from the physical concept of a starry sky. A vast, sky-splitting Magic Web, seemingly formed by countless connected galaxies, unfolded before Qin Lun. Every star on the Magic Web seemed to have its own consciousness. Starlight flickered with countless magical mysteries.

Qin Lun looked at these mysterious starlights with great regret. He suddenly felt he had wasted this Skill Scroll. The creator of this scroll was probably a High-Rank Magician with profound magical knowledge. If he could understand this knowledge, he might not only obtain one Magic Network Core from this scroll. Perhaps he would also get some other magic.

This scroll probably wasn’t meant for Apostles, but rather something like the magical inheritance of Sapient Races. The Apostle combat system was self-contained. It didn’t require foundational knowledge of a single school, so naturally, he couldn’t comprehend such systematic basic knowledge.

The Starry Magic Web existed in Qin Lun’s consciousness for only a brief moment. Most of the starlight began to condense together. The Starry Magic Web turned into a sparkling, translucent, multifaceted, spindle-shaped crystal.

At this moment, the Crystal Mirror Magic Array originally located in his Apostle Soul Mark underwent a strange change. The Crystal Mirror Magic Array shrank infinitely and embedded itself onto the surface of the spindle-shaped crystal, becoming a small magical symbol. The few scattered points of starlight around it actually attached to the magic array. On the four small and one large magic circles, a few tiny runic tentacles appeared.

Qin Lun’s heart stirred. He immediately rubbed his hands together and used the other two Skill Scrolls. When the Summoning Overlay scroll and Drift Technique also turned into silvery light and merged into his Apostle Soul Mark, a favorable change indeed occurred as he expected.