“Uhmmmm!”
Aksai felt a slight pain in his hippocampus.
The neural link injected the basic understanding of the corrupted druid’s language directly into his mind.
It was an odd sensation, like learning a lifetime’s worth of language skills in mere minutes. As the initial discomfort faded, Aksai’s vision filled with spectral windows displaying charts, diagrams, and cryptic Essence Equations.
“I wish the neural link fabric evolves to the point in the future that I won’t have to feel this headache while doing these things,” Aksai murmured to himself while massaging his forehead.
Aksai had given the task of deciphering the contents within the book to the neural link fabric. Since it didn’t have any information regarding the content or any previous document to compare it to, the neural link fabric tried the long and arduous process of figuring stuff out one step at a time using trillions of permutations and combinations.
This was why the neural link fabric had taken so long to finally finish decoding all of the content Aksaid had found in the book that belonged to the corrupted druid he had killed. He had picked this book along with the corrupted druid’s corpse and the demon tree seed.
The neural link fabric was bound to take a few more years to decode the content within the druid’s book. However, its processing power has increased after Aksai broke into the Foundation Building realm. This was why it managed to decipher the content faster than the initial estimation.
“Time to see what that tree guy was up to in Martial World Sharang,” Aksai thought as he brought one of the spectral screens to the front and started reading from it.
This time, Aksai could clearly understand what he read. It was as if it was one of the languages Aksai had learned from his childhood.
Aksai began examining the diagrams and handwritten notes left by the corrupted druid, marveling at the intricate details and complex calculations. The neural link fabric continued to assist him, overlaying translations and explanations in real time.
“This… This is a demon tree!”
One diagram caught Aksai’s attention—a detailed sketch of the demon tree, its roots entwined with symbols representing various stages of bloodline refinement. Besides, the druid’s notes elaborated on the bond formed between the druid and the tree, which was crucial for the refinement process.
“I… I see. Some of it is just what I vaguely imagined it to be. So, he was indeed trying to break into the 2nd Spirit cultivation realm while refining his bloodline. This was why he couldn’t leave the city center. His bloodline refinement process would have halted midway had he left his place.”
Aksai muttered to himself, engrossed in the information. The notes revealed that the druid had used the demon tree as an Array Eye to create a Devil’s Den, a dark, oppressive space.
The later parts of the note contained information on how one could set the formation. Using its instructions, one could use a demon tree as an Array Eye to erect Devil’s Den around it.
This isolation formation could be used to cultivate the negative emotions of those trapped within. This malevolent energy was harnessed to enhance the corrupted druid’s cultivation progress.
“Hmm. It says the speed of Spirit cultivation increases tenfold if the negative emotions are used to fuel a druid’s Spirit cultivation.”
Aksai frowned, shaking his head. “Absolutely not. I’m not using negative emotions to fuel my Spirit cultivation,” he decided firmly.
“Forget about the whole morality of doing this thing, this is not some minor world but Cultivation World Dadangar. My head would have to be hit hard by a running truck multiple times before I make the mistake of underestimating the Spirit cultivators of this world.
For a mysterious and high-level cultivation technique like this, I’ll be hunted down immediately by the Big Five sects if they find out I practice a technique like this. Then, they’ll rob this technique from my dead body and use it secretly among themselves.
I don’t want to become a stepping stone for the Big Five sects. I also have no interest in tormenting people who have not done anything to me or harmed my interests.
I already have Sun-Moon Duality as my standard cultivation technique. Why use something risky and heretic when I can progress steadily and safely using the normal methods?”
Aksai thought to himself and sighed. He was reminded how the corrupted druid had acted inside the Devil’s Den and started to get some clarity on his actions.
As Aksai kept on reading the information, a rough picture started to form in his head. He used this information to come up with his own set of hypotheses.
“I think I’m starting to understand this whole thing. Druids are masters of nature energy as well as various aspects of life. Harnessing of emotions are just part of their inherent powers.
That being said, I don’t think someone with a druid bloodline should be harnessing the negative emotions of people. Someone modified the technique along with the whole bloodline genesis of the druids.
It would have been fine if there was a technique that let me harness a select group of emotions or the vitality in the region itself. For example, all the emotions related to farming. Now that was something I could have implemented right away no matter how much investment I would have to make in the beginning.
But what the corrupted druid did was purely demonic.
I don’t think this is any aboriginal’d druid’s go-to cultivation technique. I’m sure this process was added later on with the way things are according to this book.
I have already refined the Spirit bloodline once, removing all the strands that would make me compatible with harnessing the negative emotions. So going back to being a corrupted druid would be plain wrong.
I don’t want to become the enemy I killed. So I’ll just scrap this part of the book.
But… the blood refinement process. This is some interesting stuff. So the druid bloodline I acquired from the corrupted druid can be refined to unlock more druidic bloodline powers.”
Aksai summarized things in his head before closing the spectral window.
He then brought another spectral window to the front and swiped his hand in the air to enlarge the spectral screen.
This time, he focused on the bloodline refinement aspect, intrigued by the possibility of enhancing his own powers through the druid’s method.
The neural link fabric highlighted key points in the notes, helping Aksai piece together the druid’s process.
It became clear that the bond with the demon tree was not just a ritual but a symbiotic relationship, where the tree’s growth and the druid’s bloodline refinement were interdependent.
“I get it now. The Devil’s Den is just a tool,” Aksai concluded. “The real magic lies in the bond with the demon tree.”
With newfound clarity, Aksai planned his next steps. After reading the book, Aksai had many strong reasons to believe that the corrupted druid he had killed in Martial World Sharang was part of the distinct lineage of druids who had abandoned their roots in search of rapid growth.
It meant that the original druids had their own ways to progress in their cultivation. However, the corrupted druids had modified that way by introducing the demon tree and using the Devil’s Den to cultivate negative emotions.
Aksai wasn’t one of the aboriginal druids. But he wasn’t a corrupted druid either. He had decided to refine a unique druidic origin for himself with him as the progenitor of his bloodline.
He would plant the demon tree seed in the secret mountain cave beneath his palace and establish the bond required for his bloodline refinement.
The corrupted druid’s techniques held the key to unlocking greater power without resorting to malevolent practices.