Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 591 The Tree of Origin
The streetlamp stood alone beside the straight insect tunnel, its dim light spilling onto the dust-covered road sign. White spore clusters drifted back and forth in the air like snowflakes.

An old insect with a hunched back stood under a streetlamp, gazing silently into the darkness.

The sound of rustling footsteps approached, and a tall figure pierced through the darkness, gradually becoming visible under the light.

"Travelers, you have returned."

Old Oss waved his hand shakily.

Li Xia nodded, while the three little ones behind him sized up the 'Pale Spirit', but Old Os seemed unaware of their scrutinizing gazes.

It slowly turned around:
"It's good that you're back. Let's go, it's warmer inside."

The fireplace inside the house burned with orange flames, and the crackling sound of the burning firewood was not noisy, but rather carried a unique warmth.

The warm firelight filled the entire room, and Li Xia noticed that the crystals she had brought back had not been used, but were simply placed on the shelf.

The pale green sap, carrying the fresh scent of herbs, emitted white steam.

"We went to the address you mentioned, but unfortunately, this is the only place we found."

Li Xia broke the silence first, handing over Xiao Ous's letter, a yellowed letter bearing many folds.

Old Os's hand trembled slightly as he took the letter. He looked at it silently, like a statue, without any movement, only two clear tears sliding down his face and landing on the letter.

So insects can cry too.

Old Oss slowly and carefully folded the letter along the creases, then nodded to Li Xia:

Thank you. You are a very unique traveler.

Which of the Seven Pale Knights are you?

Without any warning, Li Xia simply asked the question.

Old Os paused, seemingly without any surprise, wiped away his tears, and said in a low voice:

"Have you guessed it yet? It's a statue of a king? Then it should be wearing armor."

He paused for a moment, then shook his head:

"None of that matters anymore. The King is dead, the Hive Kingdom is destroyed, and my mission is over."

Old Os looked at Li Xia and slowly said:

“That’s right, I was once one of the Seven Pale Knights, Wrath.”

It pulled out a silver badge and stared at it blankly, as if it were recalling many things through the badge.

"That's a very long story, would you like to hear it, traveler?"

Li Xia sat up straight, and the three little ones quickly set out a table of tea and snacks in front of them, each with a thermos cup, their eyes wide with surprise.

That's a very long story.

Once, this world was shrouded in darkness, a darkness that was quiet and peaceful, like the deepest curtain, enveloping all living beings.

Insects rely on their antennae, their scents, and their sounds to explore the world, but one day, for some unknown reason, a light suddenly appeared in the world.

One lucky insect happened to be bathed in the light. It received the power of the light, endured the burning pain, and withstood the maddening heat. It was the Pale King.

The Pale King brought about a unique change to the world. He made the insects yearn for light, and under his leadership, they built a magnificent insect kingdom from scratch.

In the process of establishing the kingdom, seven insects were fortunate enough to become the Pale Spirits, and they became the Seven Pale Knights.

"The king means more than just a king to us; he is like an inextinguishable light, forever guiding us forward."

Old Oss's eyes were empty and lingering:

"later."

They thought the world would continue to prosper, but the Pale King sensed increasingly frequent celestial light, so it began to search until it discovered the Valley of Sacrifice, where the scene enraged the Pale King.

His own people were slaughtered, kept like livestock, and even their light was drawn away by evil means.

The enraged Pale Spirit summoned seven knights. When the strange creatures once again gathered a large number of insects, the Pale King and the seven knights rushed into the light of day. The Pale Spirits, who had already been transformed by the light, were bathed in it and gained unprecedented power.

They easily defeated those strange creatures and captured them, taking them back to the insect hive kingdom.

The Pale King, relying on his special ability to enter dreams, invaded their dreams and interrogated them about many things. Even though they seemed to have exploded into a pile of minced meat because they had touched some taboos, the Pale King still managed to vaguely guess the general outline of what had happened.

Those were advanced beings from beyond the heavens. They were powerful, greedy, and cruel. From their dreams, the Pale King even discovered that many advanced beings had once visited the World of Seeking Light, but they were more like travelers who merely passed through in a hurry.

On these higher beings, the Pale King discovered those peculiar beads. Since these beads could attract the light of heaven, he wondered if studying them might allow him to gain the ability to summon the light of heaven at any time.

If it had this ability, could it protect the insects in the insect hive kingdom?
"Wang then plunged headlong into the study of the beads."

Old Oss fell silent for a long time after saying this.

The three little ones also sighed. Could the condensed aura of the Void Abyss be studied? That thing was even more disgusting than the aura of the Old Gods. The Hall of Light could tolerate the Old Gods, but it would never tolerate the Void Abyss.

Therefore, the research on the Pale King is considered complete.

"Then one day, Wang suddenly found us."

Large, clear tears welled up in Old Os's eyes again.
"The king said it seemed to be corrupted by some kind of pollution, constantly wanting to destroy everything in front of it, and it was about to reach its limit."

It pleaded with us to completely destroy it and those black beads.
We have failed the king's expectations. No matter how hard we try, the king's soul seems to have merged with that black bead, and that black aura will be resurrected no matter how many times it is destroyed.

In the end, we had no choice but to seal the king's soul away.

Of the seven knights, three chose to become the chains of the seal, sacrificing their lives, while the other three each took a part of the king's indestructible body with them to prevent them from being pieced together and becoming an empty shell that could only kill.

I have always been the guardian of the kingdom's borders, so I have returned here to continue guarding it. The story that follows is as familiar as it has been seen countless times before: without the suppression of the Pale King and the seven knights, the insects that later became the Pale Spirits became the new nobility. They and their offspring became maggots fed on by other insects, and the kingdom was corrupting and decaying at an alarming rate.

Then the plague in the dream spread, and everything came to an abrupt end. Only a few knights became lonely watchmen, sitting alone in the ruins of the kingdom. Some insects went mad, some died, and some reminisced about the past.

"I guarded the border for a long time and fought for a long time. I finally felt exhausted, so I married and had children here."
Little Os has always lived here with me. He has no idea who I am or what happened in the past.

His dream was to go to the City of Tears, the place most longed for by the insects, so I gave him one of my former houses, telling him it was money I had saved from selling cassava.
That silly child actually believed it.

Old Os covered his face, letting tears stream down his face.

Li Xia stood up and nodded slightly:

"Thank you for your story."

The three little ones stood up with a sigh and followed Li Xia to leave. The little knight also stood up quickly, looked around, and trotted after them.

As they reached the door, old Oss's hoarse voice sounded behind them:

“Traveler, you are different from the higher beings I have ever seen. You have only the pleasant fragrance that insects like, while they are covered in stench.”

Does the fragrance represent the world's blessings and gratitude?

Li Xia paused for a moment, then waved goodbye without turning around.

Actually, he just wanted to hear a story.

After passing through the hole that he had once carved out, the stone tablet beside the gate still stood silently.

Li Xia stopped and looked at the stone tablet again before continuing his journey.

The road gradually narrowed, the rolling hills were gradually replaced by plains, the number of fallen insects decreased, and the piles of strangely shaped insect shells along the roadside slowly disappeared.

Every short stretch of road, the exquisite spiral-shaped streetlights reappear.

The fluffy seeds, like snowflakes, flutter and dance in the wind, soaring into the sky year-round.

The occasional chirping of insects did not break the silence; on the contrary, it made the tranquility even more profound.

Darkness was like a soft blanket, enveloping everything, and the whole world was exceptionally quiet.

The little knight didn't know where Li Xia and the three little ones were going; it just wanted to stay with them. It was extremely familiar with this wasteland, but this time, it didn't feel as lost or lonely as before.

Because the little knight had a 'companion', it and the black charcoal rode on the puppy's back, just like when they first came here, marveling at the scenery they had never noticed before.

But this journey will eventually come to an end. When the tall white mountain appeared before them, Li Xia slowly flew towards the summit, and the three little ones followed suit.

When they reached the top of the mountain, they discovered a small platform there, which looked as if it had been specially prepared.

"This should be it."

Awoo circled around, carefully checked everything, and nodded seriously.

"Ah."

Li Xia took out the Pale Container, the Deep Green Crystal, and the Tear of Regret. Following the steps given by the Hall of Light, he first placed the Pale Container on the ground of the platform.

Next, place the dark green crystal into the container, and finally, hold the teardrop above the container and crush it.

The glistening fragments slid from Li Xia's palm and spilled into the container. The three little ones held their breath, watching as a pool of clear water magically appeared as the fragments melted.

"This Pale King sheds quite a few tears!"

After holding it in for a long time, Awoo finally managed to utter a sentence. Under the watchful eyes of the three little ones, the deep green crystal suddenly shattered, and a tiny sprout emerged from the crack.

The three little ones: ?
The bud grew at an unbelievable speed, reaching the height of a person in the blink of an eye, twisting and coiling like a vine, with even fan-sized leaves trembling slightly.

Li Xia's eyes flashed, and following the hall's instructions, he leaped up and stood on the leaf.

The vine wasn't very big, but it actually supported Li Xia's weight. The three little ones quickly jumped onto their leader's back, and the little knight looked around and simply followed suit and jumped up on top of the three little ones as well.

The vines continued to grow wildly, carrying Li Xia towards the sky, making the ground seem farther and farther away. Soon the platform became the size of a sesame seed, and then disappeared from sight.

The shadows in the sky gradually appeared before their eyes, until the vines carried them over the shadows, and the three little ones realized that they were not clouds, but leaves that were incredibly large.

As the vines continued upward, winding nimbly through the gaps in the leaves, they saw more and more leaves, densely packed and layered, the branches on which the leaves were located like pillars supporting the sky, some even exceeding the limits of their field of vision.

Li Xia looked up and realized that the surrounding environment had gradually become brighter, no longer dark as before. Faint light shone through the gaps, gilding the huge leaves with a golden edge.

As the vines grew faster and faster, the light grew stronger and stronger. When they passed the last leaf, the whole world suddenly became exceptionally bright.

The blinding light filled everything in sight, even carrying a strong burning sensation.

But then a cool sensation came from all around. Li Xia turned his head and found that the vines had started to spray a light mist of water. This mist seemed to have a magical power. When the light shone on the mist, it was as if it was neutralized and turned into a soft light.

Li Xia gradually got used to the light, and when he finally saw this world filled with light, even with his experience, he was still shocked by the scene before him.

A colossal tree swayed in the boundless space, while beneath its feet lay a spherical object enveloped by roots and leaves—the World of Seeking Light!

Cold, desolate planets slowly rotate and move in the distance, which is enough to show how enormous this tree is.

On the swaying canopy grow fruits that are as bright as the sun, so dazzling that the light they radiate is too dazzling to look directly at.

This is the Tree of Origin!

A look of astonishment appeared in Li Xia's eyes; he remembered.

I've seen this kind of tree before!
More than once!
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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Ugh, I'm in a bind. I was halfway through writing this when my wife told me that our little carp has a fever of 39.6 degrees Celsius. I need to rush out and buy some medicine.
(End of this chapter)