Chapter 0269: Tree Totem

Chapter 0269: Tree Totem

Qin Yun was filled with joy. He was now certain that Mo Mo was indeed the high priestess of the Demon Spirit race.

Inside the First Pearl, Mo Mo, hearing the voice outside, worriedly shouted, "Cloud Brother, please don't send me back. I don't want to go back. I only want to stay with you. Trust me, I can do great things for you. Please, don't send me back..."

Mo Mo pleaded desperately, tears streaming down her delicate face, her green eyes brimming with tears, looking incredibly pitiful.

Qin Yun looked inside the First Pearl at Mo Mo, his heart nearly melting at the sight. Even if Mo Mo hadn't pleaded so sorrowfully, he would never have handed her over.

"Teacher... why? They had already abandoned that little creature. Why do they want it back now?" Qin Yun asked. "You know I bet all my wealth on that auction."

Du Gui said, "The higher-ups of Star Profound Martial Academy didn't tell me much. In short, after meeting an old man from Blue Spirit Star Palace, they made a decision! They are willing to return your Xuan Points and even give you five Demon Beast crystal eggs."

"What if I refuse?" Qin Yun said with a troubled expression.

Du Gui frowned. "I don't know. But that little one must have some other extraordinary abilities, which is why they are in such a hurry to take her back. If you refuse, they will probably send more people."

"By the way, where is that little one?"

Qin Yun stammered, "That little one isn't in good condition... I haven't spent enough time with her yet, so I'm not giving her back! Since they're so eager to get her back, I must have hit the jackpot."

"Qin Yun, that little one is very particular about her needs, and you can't afford to keep her. Think it over carefully," Du Gui said.

"I've decided to raise her," Qin Yun nodded and asked, "Teacher, is there any good tree around here?"

"Good trees? Of course, it's this Starlight Treasure Tree!" Du Gui looked up at the towering tree and smiled.

Qin Yun knew it was a special tree but couldn't place it inside the space of the First Pearl.

"Can I get a branch?" Qin Yun pointed to the dense foliage above and asked.

"Go ahead, there's plenty. Just don't cut it all down," Du Gui waved his hand and said, "I'll go back and tell them that you refuse to return her, so they can give up."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Qin Yun said, then flew into the air, took out the Spirit Essence Blade, and chopped off a branch over twenty meters long.

It was a young branch, with leaves as wide as a basin, all new and green, giving off a soft green glow.

He placed this branch and a large piece of soil into the First Pearl, planting the large branch as if it were a tree.

Mo Mo was absolutely delighted, flitting around the tree, jumping on the large leaves, laughing non-stop.

"Mo Mo, if they try to take you back, I'll leave this place. Don't worry," Qin Yun was unwilling to part with Mo Mo.

This little girl trusted and relied on him so much, treating him like family. How could he bear to let her go?

"Cloud Brother, where did you get this branch? Trees that can grow such branches are very powerful," Mo Mo, sitting on a leaf, said.

"I'm inside the tree hollow of this giant tree. Why? Do you know this tree well?" Qin Yun, aware of the extraordinary nature of the Starlight Treasure Tree, asked hurriedly.

Qin Yun used his mental energy to transmit his voice into the First Pearl and communicate with Mo Mo.

"A tree that has grown for many years and can become so massive must have a powerful spirit within it!" Mo Mo said delightedly. "Let me out, and I might be able to find the totem of this tree!"

Qin Yun quickly let Mo Mo out, letting her sit on his shoulder.

"It's up there!" Mo Mo, closing her eyes, soon sensed it and said.

Qin Yun quickly emerged from the tree hollow, his feet firmly on the ground.

He floated upward as soon as he stepped outside.

Momo told him to stop once they reached a height of seventy meters.

"Can you get inside the tree at this height?" Momo asked confidently. "Inside, there's the Tree Totem, and it's hidden within the tree's core!"

Qin Yun circled the tree and quickly found an empty hollow.

He entered the hollow and began to carve his way deeper into the tree. After more than half an hour of hard work, he finally reached an empty space in the center of the tree.

In the center of this space stood a towering, transparent crystal pillar!

Qin Yun stared in shock at the transparent crystal pillar.

He remembered seeing a similar pillar deep underground in the circular stone chamber of the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum.

That pillar was the energy source that maintained the operation of the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum.

"Momo, do you know what this crystal pillar is for?" Qin Yun circled the crystal pillar, observing it closely.

The last time he was in the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum, he had found the Ling Xi Xuan Pen and a mysterious pattern soul.

"This is the Tree Totem! The totem is hidden inside the crystal pillar!" Momo, flying around it, said. "I’ll try to extract the totem and imprint it on your body."

Qin Yun stared at the crystal pillar, but all he saw was a swirling mist of white light inside. He couldn't see any totem at all.

Yet, Momo claimed she could see it, which he found very strange.

"Where is the totem? I can’t see it!" Qin Yun leaned closer, his eyes almost touching the crystal pillar, but he still couldn’t see anything.

"It's normal! The totem of the giant tree exists in the form of a soul body, so of course, you can’t see it, but I can," Momo smiled. "Cloud Brother, it’s best if the totem is linked with a soul from the beginning. Have you decided where to place the totem?"

Qin Yun had three martial souls, two of which were in his heart and arms, already occupied by the Heaven Lion Totem and the Dragon Tiger Totem.

Now, only the Ming Yang martial soul was still vacant.

"Place it in my dantian. That's the only place I can put the totem," Qin Yun said. "Is there anything I need to do?"

"Just lie on the ground, close your eyes, and relax your whole body," Momo said, as pale white light threads began to wrap around her.

She controlled these light threads, sending them into Qin Yun's dantian, injecting them into the Ming Yang inner elixir.

"Momo, will this harm the giant tree?" Qin Yun asked worriedly. The Star Sun Treasure Tree meant a lot to Du Gui, and he didn’t want to harm it.

"It won’t harm the giant tree. I’m just copying the totem and fusing it with your martial soul. It won’t damage the tree at all. However, the totem is in its infancy and will need a long time to grow before it can be of use to you," Momo said, comforted by Qin Yun’s concern for the tree.

"That's fine. I already have the Heaven Lion Totem and the Dragon Tiger Totem, which will keep me busy for a while," Qin Yun nodded, amazed by Momo's ability to so quickly integrate the Tree Totem into his Ming Yang martial soul.

"Tree Totems are extremely rare! Much rarer than beast totems and weapon totems. I’m not sure about all their powerful aspects, but they must be very useful," Momo said.

Qin Yun stood up and looked at the crystal pillar, suspecting that the crystal pillar beneath the Tian Xiao Imperial Mausoleum also hid a totem.

"Let’s go out! We don’t want anyone to discover this place!" Momo said.

Qin Yun quickly hid Momo and then left the "dantian" of the Star Sun Treasure Tree. Afterward, he sealed the tree hollow.

"Cloud Brother, I just helped you obtain the Tree Totem and consumed a lot of energy... I might get hungry again in two or three days," Momo said somewhat embarrassedly, her voice very soft.

"Don’t worry, I’ll get food for you as soon as possible," Qin Yun smiled.

Even if it costs a few more spirit Demon Beast crystal cores, it would still be worth it for Mo Mo to help him obtain the rare Tree Totem.

"Cloud brother, I just switched out a pair of wings... If they still refuse to let me go, just hand over the wings and say I starved to death. That way, they won’t give you a hard time."

Qin Yun took out a pair of very small transparent wings from his storage space. They were tiny and beautiful, as if meticulously crafted from crystal.

He carefully stored the wings and returned to his tree hollow to wait for Du Gui’s message.

Du Gui held a relatively high position in the Star Profound Martial Academy. Otherwise, the academy’s senior officials would have come personally to negotiate the Magic Sprite with Qin Yun.

After waiting for more than half an hour in the tree hollow, Qin Yun heard Du Gui calling outside, "Qin Yun, come out for a moment."

He hurriedly went outside and sensed several powerful auras—there were several Martial Artist experts outside!

When he went out, he saw Du Gui and Pan Dawei.

Next to them stood five elderly men with long white beards, silver hair, and weathered faces.

Three of the elders were dressed in white robes, while the other two wore blue robes from the Blue Spirit Star Palace.

"Qin Yun, we’ve heard you’re refusing to hand over the Magic Sprite. We offered very good conditions; don’t be too greedy," said an elderly man with a hunched back, his tone cold and unfriendly.

"The Magic Sprite was bought by me and belongs to me. What do you mean by refusing to hand it over?" Qin Yun sneered. "You were the ones who gave up on the Magic Sprite back then. Now why are you trying to take it back?"

"You disrespectful brat, how dare you answer back!" The hunched elder shouted angrily, knocking Qin Yun backward.

Du Gui quickly walked over and stood in front of Qin Yun, saying, "Elder Zhang, the young man has a bit of a temper, but it was you who was in the wrong first."

"It was I who was in the wrong? Clearly, he wanted to keep the Magic Sprite for himself because it’s so precious," the elder surnamed Zhang angrily retorted.

"Pfft! You put it up for auction, I bought it fair and square, and now it’s mine. What business is it of yours?" Qin Yun shot back furiously. They were acting like the Magic Sprite still belonged to them, just like a bunch of thieves.