My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"1. The other party will send you text and image information, which will be automatically converted into a language known to the host. If the information contains content that may harm the host's will or body, this system will block or issue a warning."

"2. The host can send messages to the other party. The language of the messages is not limited. Due to the differences in thinking habits and language context between the two parties, the final result of the conversation cannot be determined."

"Confirm deep link?"

"Confirmed," Xia Zuo murmured.

An invisible rhythm emanated from the branches and leaves of the small golden chaste tree and flowed into Xia Zuo's palm.

A long message written in an unknown language appeared in Xia Zuo's mind and was simultaneously translated into the Temple language by his cheat system:

"I am Homanpus Aronyuk ￥%# · Germain Airi…"

The name of Little Golden Vitex was too long… It took almost a minute to finish reciting it. Within this long string of names, there were also many characters displayed as gibberish; these were contents blocked by the cheat code.

"Why is your name so long? Are all Golden Vitex flowers like this? Do you have a shorter name or code name?" Xia Zuo asked three questions in quick succession.

“Selena named me Menepolina, but she usually calls me Melina.” The little golden chaste tree looked a little tired, and the leaves clinging to the glass dome showed signs of sliding down. “My real name represents my position in the golden chaste tree family... the later in the order, the longer the real name.”

The little golden chaste tree drooped its branches and leaves listlessly, having exhausted much of its energy trying to connect and communicate with Xia Zuo.

Xia Zuo took out a potion to replenish moisture and nutrients and poured it onto the glass cover. After the little golden chaste flower returned to its upright position, he did not reconnect with it, but let it rest well in preparation for the next task.

Inside the secret chamber, eight groups were carrying out the same task. Each group created one or two clones, which were then handed over to the temple guards to be taken to the altar plaza.

Once all the clones were in place, the temple guards placed them at different locations along the edge of the altar plaza, officially announcing the start of this exploration.

A small area in the southwest corner of the altar plaza was assigned to Xia Zuo's blood servants by the temple guards, and a map showing the distribution of personnel in that area was also given to Xia Zuo.

Xia Zuo did not rush to control his Blood Element servants to fly into the thick smoke.

He took out the image box from his alchemy pouch and observed the progress of the other groups through the live video feed from the temple.

There were quite a few groups that shared his thoughts. Out of a total of eight groups, four groups chose to wait and see, while only half of the groups unhesitatingly controlled their clones to enter the thick smoke.

Xia Zuo took a closer look and found that, apart from his own blood element servants which were magical clones, all the other groups had used alchemical clones.

The four alchemical clones that bravely entered the thick smoke each possessed a body made entirely of metal, with an airtight seal protecting the alchemical devices inside their bodies.

Ten minutes passed, and the alchemical clone that had entered the smoke first had not yet emerged from the thick smoke. The secret chamber was also quiet, and there was no movement in the corridor outside the alchemy room.

This indicates that the four groups succeeded. The fully protected clone cores can move in dense smoke, and the same effect should be achieved using materials other than metal.

Xia Zuo nodded, no longer hesitating. After sharing the Blood Element Servant's vision with Little Golden Thorn Flower, he controlled the Blood Element Servant to fly into the smoke.

This blood element servant has a shell that is 30 centimeters thick and has a hardness comparable to high-strength alloys. What a metal shell can do, it can also do.

The moment the Blood Element Servant disappeared into the gray-white smoke, the cheat code sent a message:

"Blood Servant #15 is currently affected by the following effects:"

"Effect 1: [Spirit-Body Separation] It is estimated that the spirit and body of the Blood Element Servant will lose contact in 3 hours. When casting spells other than mind spells or spirit spells using the body as a medium, the spell will inevitably fail and the process of spirit-body separation will be accelerated."

"Effect 2: [Spiritual Enhancement], Blood Element Servants' ability to sense spirits is greatly enhanced, and they can see spirits even without entering a meditative state."

"Effect 3: [Spiritual Summoning], the spirit of the Blood Element Servant is being influenced by an unknown target and will be completely summoned by the unknown target in 3 hours, undergoing unknown changes."

"Attention! Since the Blood Servant does not have a spirit body, effects 1 and 3 will not take effect. The host can cast blood magic normally through the servant."

Xia Zuo read through the information about the cheat system, then tilted his head and realized that things weren't so simple.

These three effects on spirits clearly come from the thick smoke produced by the incense during meditation. For people who live and work with their physical bodies, effects 1 and 3 are negative, while effect 2 is neutral to positive.

The Blood Element Servant has no spirit body and is immune to effects 1 and 3, which is a good thing.

However, people in the thick smoke are not immune to these two effects, as they all possess a spirit.

According to the prediction data from the Golden Finger Information, Xia Zuo must get Rexor and the others out of the thick smoke within a few hours, otherwise their spirits will leave their bodies forever, leaving behind an empty shell that can only breathe, eat, and excrete based on bodily instincts.

Following the personnel distribution map provided by the temple guards, Xia Zuo controlled his blood-element servants to fly towards the nearest human.

Within the thick, grayish-white smoke, some glittering white specks appeared. As they continued to drift deeper into the smoke, more and more white specks appeared, and they grew larger and larger, transforming from the size of rice grains into flawless white pearls.

"What are these things?" Xia Zuo scratched his hair and quickly manipulated the blood element servants to stop.

Where the exploration team members should have been, a strange white tree appeared, standing there in their place.

This white tree lacks the woody outer shell and green leaves of natural trees. Its shape is outlined by patterns that emit a white light. Apart from its appearance being very similar to natural trees, there is no other part of it that proves it is a tree.

Xia Zuo cast a detection spell on the tree, but the feedback he received was all question marks and unknowns.

Thinking about the effects of the thick smoke, specifically effects 1 and 3, his mood became somewhat heavy.

This strange white tree that suddenly appears in the thick smoke may be the source of the smoke effects 1 and 3.

A noise came from the cultivation jar where the little golden chaste tree was growing. The little guy stretched out a leaf and tapped the glass cover a few times to signal to Xia Zuo.

"Please let me talk to it," the little golden chaste flower's innocent voice echoed in Xia Zuo's mind.

"Talk? Is this tree alive?" Xia Zuo hesitated for a moment before lending control of the Blood Element Servant to Little Golden Thorn Flower.

Little Golden Bauhinia controlled her blood essence servant to fly to the side of the strange white tree, and somewhat clumsily condensed a blood thread, which wrapped around the glowing branches of the strange white tree.

The little golden chaste tree inside the glass case began to slowly sway.

About three minutes later, control of the Blood Element servants returned to Xia Zuo's hands.

Little Golden Bauhinia's voice rang out again:

"The dimensional exploration team you're looking for has already gone to the [Land of Long Rest]."

Xia Zuo raised an eyebrow and asked, "Then what about his physical body?"

“His physical body is gone. When you see someone separating their spirit from their flesh, you will understand why the physical body disappears,” Little Golden Bauhinia replied.

"Then what is this tree?" Xia Zuo asked again.

"Its true form is called Kamashiberion, the guardian of the Boundary Tree in the [Land of the Long Sleep]. All the strange white trees seen in this thick smoke are its projections."

"Melina, could you ask it for me how to help the people here get out of the thick smoke?" Shazo paused. "Also, what exactly is the [Land of Eternal Rest]?"

"I'm sorry, Xia Zuo. You can't take the person out of the smoke for the time being."

"This place has become a dimensional rift between nature and the [Land of Eternal Rest]."

"The physical body returns to nature, and the spirit returns to the [Land of Eternal Rest]. Any creature with a spirit will immediately separate from its body and spirit when it leaves this place, each going its own way. The only good news is that the dimensional rift will close in 12 hours, at which time the smoke will dissipate, and all the living will be able to save their lives."

Xia Zuo felt heavy-hearted after hearing Xiao Jinjinghua's words.

It continued:

“Selena has known about the [Land of Rest] for a long time. Every human who has been with the Golden Vitex is like that, and now you are one of them.”

"The true name of the [Land of Eternal Rest] is [The Fallen Tree of Bonds, the Land of Eternal Rest of Kamahilbia]. That plane is where the Tree of Bonds, Kamahilbia, rests."

"What about spirits, souls, the transformation of human souls into elements after death, and the elements becoming the spirits of newborns? And where do physical bodies come from? Are they products of nature or the [Land of Eternal Rest]? How do you know all this?" Xia Zuo felt his head was a bit of a mess.

“It’s a very, very long story…” Little Golden Vitex shook its branches and leaves. “I’ll tell you about it slowly when I have the chance.”

“Okay…” Xia Zuo took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing his doubts.

He controlled his blood-element servants, transforming them into human form, and bowed to the strange white tree.

After the Blood Element servants transformed back into spheres, they continued exploring in another direction.

This time, Xia Zuo found a member of the investigation team who was undergoing a separation of body and soul.

This person sat cross-legged on the ground. Except for his head, which was still his head, the rest of his body no longer had flesh and bones. Instead, it was a pure ball of life force.

A human head rests atop a round, vibrant ball of life force; this is the person's current appearance, somewhat resembling a melting snowman.

As time passed, the life force orb continued to be eroded by the smoke, visibly shrinking slowly. The human head was also gradually decomposing into life force, flowing into the life force orb to replenish its depletion.

It is conceivable that when the life force orb is completely eroded, the separation of spirit and flesh is completed, and the complete disappearance of life force means the annihilation of the physical body... No wonder the previous member did not leave behind his physical body after the separation of spirit and flesh.

Xia Zuo unleashed his detection technique.

The feedback indicates that this person will complete the separation of body and soul within one hour, which is roughly the same time it takes for the life force orb to be completely consumed.

From this, it is not difficult to conclude that:

How long a flesh-and-blood creature with a spirit can stay in the thick smoke depends on its vitality—the higher its vitality attribute value and maximum health, the longer it can stay, and the longer it takes to complete the separation of spirit and flesh.

For every additional 100 points of vitality attribute value, an extra hour is required to perform the spirit-body separation.

Rexor and other Witchers have vitality attributes of over 800, allowing them to stay in thick smoke for up to 8 hours.

Nearly two hours have passed since the thick smoke appeared.

Shazo decided to speed things up, abandoning the search area assigned to him by the temple guards and heading straight for Rexor's location.

He had an idea that he wasn't sure if it was feasible:

They continuously supplied Rexor and the other Witchers with life force to counteract the separation of body and soul until the thick smoke dissipated on its own.

Chapter 21: Ingredients, Microorganisms, Monitoring Instruments, Finished Products – The Truth of the World is "Fermentation"

Just as Xia Zuo was manipulating his blood element servants to search for Rexor and the others, the presence of the white strange tree was noticed by the other groups.

Several alchemists left their alchemy chambers and reported the strange white tree to the temple guards who were stationed in the secret room.

The temple guards entered the alchemists' chamber and, through the alchemical apparatus, saw a strange white tree emerging from the thick smoke. Afterwards, a group of scholars from the tower were summoned into the secret chamber, where they swarmed in, instantly enlivening the space.

Although this mission was carried out jointly by multiple groups, there was no competition between the groups. Everyone worked closely together under the command of the Holy Mark Department.

Therefore, each group shares its findings, and they do not avoid communicating with other groups when exchanging ideas with the Tower scholars.

The groups that reported the strange white tree to the temple guards simply opened the doors of their alchemy labs, welcoming everyone to come in and discuss it. They were eager to figure out what this strange white tree was and hoped someone could provide an answer.

Xia Zuo opened the door and went into the corridor. He stood outside the crowded alchemy room for a while and listened before noticing a strange phenomenon in the secret room:

Surprisingly, no one from the Golden Bauhinia Alchemists Association participated in this operation.

Little Golden Vitex knows what the strange white tree is, so the core alchemists of the Golden Vitex Association, who possess Golden Vitex flowers, should also know some of the inside story.

If these alchemists were here, the people on site wouldn't have to rack their brains trying to figure it out...

Is the Golden Thorn Alchemist Association deliberately avoiding this mission? Are they trying to protect the secrets of the [Land of Eternal Rest]?

Xia Zuo fell into thought, feeling that something was not quite right.

If the Golden Vitex Alchemist Association is deliberately avoiding this, then why send Selena and Little Golden Vitex to help?

Or rather, Selena's actions were her own will, and not something she was told to do by the Golden Thorn Alchemist Association.