Chapter 236: Star Ancient Tree

In the dark universe, amidst shimmering stars, a sphere hurtled forward. Enveloped by a vast white atmosphere, its oceans teemed with life, undergoing rapid evolution.

A hot wind swept across its surface.

On the surface of this planet, exposed to the cosmos, things had become exceedingly strange. Without protection from the terrifying cosmic radiation, an extremely harsh environment had emerged. Yet, the oceans remained vibrant, with flourishing plants swaying and drifting, a scene full of life.

The oceans contained only plants, no marine animals! Normally, marine plants would gradually evolve into marine animals, but this wasn't the case. Animals seemed unable to survive in such radiation.

Days passed. While animals were still absent, the plant life became increasingly vigorous. Gradually, small clover-like purple flowers began to stubbornly spread from the ocean, growing outwards and taking root in the land. They began to withstand the intense cosmic radiation, even absorbing it as if it were sunlight for their growth!

"Plants have appeared on land, yet no animals have been born. Will this truly be a world without animals?" Di Qi, from deep within the planet's core, couldn't help but voice his question.

Hours passed. These plants grew taller at a visible rate, soaring skyward, piercing through the clouds. Initially, they reproduced via their root systems. Gradually, these towering trees began to absorb various forms of cosmic radiation as energy, producing fruits.

"From root system reproduction in small herbaceous plants, has evolution led to fruit reproduction in trees?" Di Qi was astonished. The birth and evolution of life, he mused, was the most beautiful process in the world, containing an unparalleled, ultimate beauty. "But still no animals. When will they finally appear? Or perhaps, in this desolate ruin, the environment is simply too harsh, with the scattered stellar light being a deadly poison that utterly prevents the existence of animals." He referred to the cosmic radiation as "stellar light."

Di Qi continued to observe.

After a long time, these plants reached their zenith. The entire planet became covered with towering trees, appearing vibrant and extremely lush from a distance. The plants gradually began to differentiate, forming two distinct factions: purple and red. To compete for nutrients and light, the dark red, umbrella-shaped plants continuously expanded their size. Resembling colossal broccoli, they stood immensely tall on the land, casting vast shadows, thereby optimizing their nutrient absorption! The original purple plants, only a third of their height, were severely deprived of light and gradually began to go extinct.

After another period of time. As they faced extinction, the purple plants gradually began to mutate. One by one, enormous purple trees, resembling ancient war trees, rose from the ground and began to move slowly, causing the earth to hum. Indeed! The previous absence of animals was due to the intense radiation. It was precisely those dark red plants, by blocking and absorbing the radiation, that created an environment where the Ancestral Witch bloodline within the purple plants could awaken, gradually transforming them into mobile creatures. Or rather, a hybrid life form – part animal, part plant! This world was truly astonishing. At this very moment, the first animals began to emerge.

The immense war ancient trees moved exceedingly slowly. As semi-plant life forms, they began to develop a hazy consciousness. They even started pulling up smaller purple trees and chewing them in their gaping mouths, much like giant pandas eating bamboo, thereby becoming herbivores. After eating, they would re-root themselves in the earth, too sluggish to move, transforming back into trees to continue absorbing nutrients from the ground.

In the days that followed, they entered a period of prosperity. With no natural predators, the number of purple war ancient trees steadily increased. They fed on the red plants, causing the latter to gradually diminish and face extinction.

"This is the passage of time," Di Qi couldn't help but exclaim. "No life remains the eternal protagonist, unless it retreats behind the scenes. In the ebb and flow of temporary gains and losses, who can truly foresee the future? The red plants defeated the purple plants in the struggle for sunlight and cosmic rays, seemingly a great victory as they monopolized the light. Yet, the purple plants, by losing the stellar light, turned misfortune into blessing. Without the toxic rays, they seized the opportunity to become the first animals, starting to feed on plants."

Just as Di Qi believed the purple war ancient trees were on the verge of complete victory, amidst widespread extinction, the red plants also adapted and survived. For the continuation of their species, they too began to mutate and launch a counterattack!

One such red plant, soaring into the clouds, produced fruits that were inexplicably unable to reproduce. In human terms, it was a defective, infertile specimen. However, in the center of its plant fruits, small spaces began to form. If the purple plants, the war ancient trees, inherited the terrifying physical bodies of the Ancestral Witches, then the red plants inherited the Ancestral Witches' inner space attribute. Within these plant fruits, each space began to gather the stellar rays and sunlight collected by the giant tree. The spatial energy within each fruit continuously intensified, and within these spaces, a tree seed slowly floated. It seemed to be stirring with life.

"Is this... a primordial spirit? Within the fruit, it has given birth to its own primordial spirit, or rather... a demon!" Di Qi clearly understood that the birth of a demon, the awakening of sentience, could only occur in an energy-rich space. And these stellar fruits perfectly met the conditions, transforming their tree seeds into demons!

"Those mobile purple ancient trees, being too physically strong, shall be called True Ancient Trees. And these red ancient trees, which are nurturing life, shall be called... Life Ancient Trees. I want to see what kind of life they will nurture."

Several more years passed. A dark red stellar fruit, covered in complex, mysterious patterns, seemed to have reached its full gestation and swiftly fell to the ground. Immediately after, a slender humanoid figure gradually emerged from the fruit. It was an exquisitely beautiful woman, with fair skin, pointed ears, and delicate features, as if she were a darling of the heavens. These beings, possessing the bloodline of the Ancestral Witch Heavenly Emperor, were perfectly powerful.

As the first fruit, having absorbed stellar light and sunlight, landed, a second one quickly followed. One by one, women slowly emerged. They began to inhabit the trees, constructing treehouses. To protect their mother trees and their species from being devoured, they began to pick up stones and spears, charging towards the massive, sluggish war ancient trees.

They roared fiercely, smearing mud on their faces to create patterns, and charged forward with their spears. A radiant light fell upon their faces, as if a new era had begun.

The war ancient trees, with faces as aged as centenarians, pulled up purple trees, using them as gigantic black clubs, and began to swing them at these tiny "fleas" on the ground. To Di Qi's astonishment, another war between the purple and red tree factions had erupted!