Chapter 1: Reborn as the World Tree
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*Did humans really have souls?*
*If they did, then what kind of world existed after death? Would consciousness still persist?*
Having too much time on his hands during his lifetime, Yifu often pondered this question.
And every time he concluded his thoughts, the answer was always the same, which was that he certainly had too much time on his hands.
But when Yifu finally had the opportunity and time to verify this question, he found himself a bit at a loss...
This was a dark world.
Staring at the endless darkness before him, Yifu fell into contemplation.
First and foremost, it could be determined that he was indeed dead, and then he had arrived in this strange space.
Although Yifu didn't know why he still had consciousness, it was clear he was trapped here.
Loneliness, darkness.
The only thing he could see was two swirling orbs of light, one blue, and one green.
Yifu tried to reach out his hand and then found that he had no body, seeming to exist purely as a consciousness.
But fortunately, he seemed capable of drifting like a cloud.
*Could this... be a soul?*
This thought suddenly flashed in Yifu's mind.
After pondering for a moment, Yifu tentatively drifted towards the two swirling orbs of light.
The green one was large, its glow flickering, giving Yifu a wonderfully mysterious feeling.
The blue one was small, its hue soft and serene, giving Yifu a sense of incredible closeness.
After thinking for several seconds, Yifu decided to approach the latter first.
However, just as Yifu reached out to touch it, countless indistinct prayers suddenly echoed throughout the space...
The sound was ethereal, soft, and holy, seemingly possessing a wondrous power that caused involuntary calmness.
Yifu was amazed, shifting his attention and discovering that the sound seemed to originate from the green orb of light.
The prayer voices were intermittent, in a language Yifu had never heard, yet it imparted a sense of wonderful beauty.
Although Yifu couldn't understand the content, he seemed to perceive innumerable sorrow and despair contained within the voice.
Curiosity triumphed over everything else.
In an inexplicable impulse, Yifu shifted his attention and reached out towards the green orb of light.
At the moment Yifu touched the orb, the entire world transformed instantly.
His awareness was momentarily dazed as a massive influx of information surged like an explosion.
Yifu felt his vision go dark, followed by countless images flashing through his consciousness—
An ancient, desolate continent...
A mysterious seed falling from the sky...
A bizarre, giant tree emerging from the earth...
Beautiful figures born from the tree...
"Elves...?"
Seeing the figures often appearing in magical RPG games from his past life, this thought flashed in Yifu's consciousness.
Before Yifu could contemplate further, the green orb of light exerted a strong pull, absorbing him in an instant...
...
"Suitable soul detected."
"Conditions triggered, initiating World Tree awakening ceremony."
In a haze, Yifu heard an unfamiliar voice.
It was a peculiar language, yet Yifu was surprised to find he understood it.
As the voice ceased, Yifu's vision brightened.
Yifu found himself in a world surrounded by countless green photons.
It was a realm of countless flying orbs of green light, dazzling and dreamlike, indescribable with words.
*What's happening?*
Yifu was momentarily stunned.
"Commencing soul fusion, initiating World Tree inheritance ceremony..."
The voice rang out again, followed by countless flying particles streaming towards Yifu's body.
Yifu only felt a surge of powerful and mysterious energy pouring into him, accompanied by a multitude of information.
And as the fusion continued, Yifu felt his five senses becoming increasingly clear. That mysterious prayer resounded once more, growing ever clearer.
With the fusion of photons, Yifu's consciousness began to radiate a holy glow, light green energy continuously gathering until it engulfed the entire space...
In the final second, Yifu heard that unfamiliar voice again,
"Fusion successful."
"Welcome back, new World Tree of the Segis Continent—"
"Eve Yggdrasil, Your Excellency."
...
When his consciousness returned, Eve fell into thought.
She no longer resided in that strange space; instead, she seemed to have arrived in a world teeming with life.
In the distance were rolling mountains, surrounded by dense forests.
If ignoring the various plants in the forest that were distinctly different from those on Earth, Eve might have suspected she had arrived in a primordial forest.
However, this forest and the mountains were far too tiny...
This sensation was strange, as if participating in a tokusatsu film of Ultraman, or as if entering a land of Lilliputians; Eve felt as though she was overlooking everything in the world.
The mountains were tiny, the woods were tiny, even the flock of birds in the sky resembled insects.
And her vision was very odd, a 360-degree perspective without any blind spots, utterly unimaginable in her past life...
With a slight shift in attention, Eve saw a small, hand-sized lake not far away.
The lake was shiny and clear, vividly reflecting her own image—
Strong, coil-like roots, a massive, towering body, and branches that obscured the sky.
With the influx of the newly received information, Eve quickly reached her conclusion:
"World Tree?"
The World Tree—Yggdrasil.
She was revered as the source of nature, the Mother Goddess of elves, a miracle of life...
She was an ancient, enigmatic being on the Segis Plane, comparable in history to dragons, a true Mythical Creature, with powers akin to Divines.
"Indeed, the World Tree..."
Gazing at the reflection of the withering leaves, Eve didn't know whether to feel melancholic or sighing.
After sorting through the inherited information, Eve roughly grasped her current situation.
She had transmigrated to a magical world called Segis.
As one of the transmigrant army, she... seemed to have been chosen by the dying World Tree, her soul merged with the core of the mother tree and remaining memories, and inheritance, all while retaining her consciousness, becoming the new World Tree—Eve Yggdrasil.
A half-alive existence.
The inheritance of the World Tree seemed to possess a calming power over the spirit; Eve's heart did not stir with panic or confusion. Instead, she was surprised to find herself exceedingly calm at this moment, even with a hint of joy in her heart...
"Joy, huh..."
*It was indeed joy, the joy of surviving a calamity.*
Having fused with the World Tree's heritage, Eve already understood that she'd had a stroke of luck.
As a soul wandering in the void, without an accident, she would inevitably face destruction. However, this transmigration and fusion had offered her a new life.
No, a new tree life.
"No matter how you see it, does this mean... I'm alive again?"
Gazing at the reflection in the lake and sensing her current peculiar body, Eve was filled with curiosity.
But simultaneously, she sensed a certain decadence in this form.
Undoubtedly, her current state was far from good. Just from the reflection in the lake, it was clear—withered branches and leaves, she was entirely in a state of dying.
Yet, even so, Eve could still feel a kind of strong, ancient energy deep within, full of life, restless, as if just awakening from slumber...
At the same time, a strange sensation arose spontaneously.
It was a sensation of mastering the heavens and earth; Eve felt as though she was the ruler of everything in this domain, capable of dominating everything within several kilometers, should she wish to.
Once the thought emerged, it was unstoppable, and Eve glanced towards a nearby withered oak tree, a slight flicker in her mind.
And with her thought, something extraordinary happened.
That withered tree suddenly regained life, budding and leafing, and within mere seconds, it once again became lush and verdant. Furthermore, Eve discovered that she seemed to have formed a mysterious connection with it, as if she could control its every move.
But likewise, she realized that the mysterious energy within was rapidly depleting, and in an instant, a third of it had evaporated, startling her into halting the tree's revival.
Having fused with the World Tree core, Eve knew that energy was life energy, as well as the source of the World Tree's power, or rather... Natural Divine Power.
Once exhausted, the World Tree would fall into eternal slumber.
Which also meant Eve's death.
Sensing the remaining two-thirds of the Natural Divine Power, Eve felt a slight pang of heartache.
*How careless.*
*She hadn't expected that merely attempting "awakening" would result in such a significant depletion.*
Focusing her attention on the revived oak, Eve felt a sense of curiosity.
At this moment, that once withered oak had completely transformed. Not only had it become lush and verdant again, but it had also grown nearly three times its former height.
Comparing it with the surrounding trees, Eve estimated that this newly revitalized oak might be at least thirty meters tall...
And then, to her amazement, the next scene unfolded.
That lucky oak tree trembled slightly and began to struggle free from the soil, pulling out its roots.
Its coiled roots twisted and turned, forming into two strange legs, while the trunk turned into two sturdy arms, the canopy into menacing hair, and a pair of bright eyes formed at the top of the trunk...
In the blink of an eye, it had turned into a majestic Tree-man!
Under Eve's astonished gaze, this thirty-meter-tall oak Tree-man shook the dirt from its legs, then, wobbling slightly, turned toward the World Tree, kneeling on one leg. A deep and powerful voice resonated with excitement and sincerity,
"By the Mother Goddess above... The Oak Guardian thanks you for your favor, please grant me a name, Mother Goddess!"
*Mother Goddess? Oak Guardian? Name granting?*
Gazing at the Oak Guardian, who was the size of a tiny collectible figure, Eve felt a twitch in her mind.
Simultaneously, she sensed a connection had formed with it, as if she could directly convey commands.
A mischievous impulse rose in her heart, a slight movement of thought, and in the mind of the Oak Guardian, a sacred, dignified, ethereal, and chilly voice resounded,
"In that case, you shall be called Berserker!"
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