Chapter 22: The Tree of Life and the Moon Well (II)

Upon seeing Donald arrive, the Tree of Life, which had already taken root and transformed into a giant tree, sent out a mental signal.
“Master… I’m fully rooted now. The area covered by the natural barrier is my territory…”
The branches and leaves of the Tree of Life formed a canopy that covered the surrounding sky. To Donald, a faint natural glow emanated from the tree, spreading over a radius of one kilometer and enveloping almost the entire small estate.
After communicating with the Tree of Life, Donald learned that this natural barrier was formed by the tree using natural energy. Units living within it would gain enhancements from natural forces, while enemies would be suppressed to some extent. Any hostile entity that entered the barrier’s range would be detected and alerted immediately.
Another advantage was that crops planted in the fields within the barrier would grow faster and more vigorously than those outside. For an estate whose economy relied on agriculture, this was nothing short of a miracle!
“This is far more powerful than the Tree of Life in the game! Tree of Life, can you still birth little elves now? Can they exist permanently?”
The Tree of Life gently swayed its crown, as if nodding, and its response came through mentally.
“Yes… as long as the master provides… a soul imprint… and energy. I can also… absorb energy from the surrounding environment… but that’s too slow…”
Donald was overjoyed. Did this mean he could keep summoning permanently existing units?
But before he could get too excited, a message from the Book of Truth shattered his dreams!
It turned out that for any living being in the Book of Truth to exist permanently, it had to sacrifice corresponding soul power. The lower the intelligence, the less soul power was required. Ordinary fragments of souls, due to incomplete imprinting, would lose energy over time even if summoned—like a leaky basket, no matter how much water was poured in, it would still leak out. Without external replenishment, they would vanish completely. Only when dozens or hundreds of soul fragments gathered together to form a complete soul with a structured energy cycle could they escape such constraints.
However, units like the Tree of Life, which were half-living and half-constructs and could absorb nutrients and energy from the earth, sunlight, and air, were exceptions—hence the Book of Truth allowed such a rule.

As for the most basic population element in the game, the elves, being life in the form of energy, can also be born by the Tree of Life through magic cores. They are energy-based lives created by natural forces and can gather around ancient trees to survive for long periods by absorbing the weak energy emitted by those trees. However, their lifespan is limited, so they don’t fall under the category of permanently summoned beings.

As for more advanced and intelligent populations and troop types, they cannot survive relying on the Tree of Life. The energy required to sustain them is astronomically higher compared to the weak elemental elves, and even the Tree of Life cannot afford it.

Donald originally thought that after summoning the buildings from the magical world, he could use other resources like golden wood to produce populations and buildings on his own, just like in the game. But the Book of Truth wouldn’t let him slip through even the slightest loophole!

“As expected of a divine artifact! The rules are truly strict!” Donald said resentfully, somewhat disappointed.

Even after summoning various racial building units, whether it’s creating troops, upgrading technologies, or purchasing items, he still needs to exchange them through the Book of Truth, paying in soul power or magical cores or energy crystals. Moreover, if the soul power doesn’t meet the standards, those troops remain temporarily summoned beings and can’t continue to exist once their energy is exhausted.

The only advantage is that if you can provide native candidates from the world who fit the characteristics of a certain building race, you can transform them into troops from the magical world, endowing them with innate talents and skills. All Donald has to pay for is some energy, without the need for magical cores, which effectively means having many more permanently summoned units.

Of course, such troops trained later on can never be as utterly loyal as permanently summoned units, who would die without hesitation for their master. Therefore, Donald needs to carefully and strictly select these candidates—or use other methods to control them.

Given this situation, Donald isn’t in a hurry to build war trees, wisdom trees, or other buildings for raising troops.

“Master… should we start building the Moon Well?”

While Donald was lost in thought, the Tree of Life asked.

“The Moon Well? Does it still serve the same purpose as in the game?”

Donald snapped out of his thoughts and communicated with the Tree of Life, learning about the function and importance of the Moon Well.

As a population-building unit for the Night Elves, the Book of Truth shaped it into a companion structure to the Tree of Life by integrating the laws of this world. It not only helps the Tree of Life convert the energy of moonlight into nourishment but also gains an enhancement by absorbing free energy from the air. In essence, the Moon Well serves as an energy absorber and converter for the Tree of Life, greatly accelerating its energy acquisition and promoting its evolution—hence its critical necessity.

Moreover, the Moon Well has other benefits as well. Its greatest advantage for Donald is its ability to produce the magical Moon Essence, similar to that in the game, namely the water from the Moon Well. Moon Essence is a gentle, life-giving energy liquid that most creatures can consume directly. It not only restores vitality and magic but also has the miraculous effect of fostering the growth of all natural plants. Although the actual production and restoration speed of Moon Essence are not as high as in the game, as long as there is moonlight, it functions like a continuous source of alchemical potion water.

With so many advantages to building a Moon Well, Donald naturally had no objections and immediately ordered the Book of Truth to begin construction. A magnificent stone-carved wellhead, three meters by three meters and resembling a swimming pool, appeared at the center of the tree canopy after being wrapped in vines.

Donald ordered the Tree of Life to use a branch to transport him to the Moon Well. He originally wanted to see the effects of the Moon Well and taste the Moon Essence that could restore vitality and magic in the game. However, it was not night, so moonlight could not be gathered to produce Moon Essence, leaving the well empty.

At that moment, the sound of horse hooves came from afar. Donald ordered the Tree of Life to hide the Moon Well and then lower him down. The visitor soon arrived at the Tree of Life—it was Codd, the loyal butler of the Merlin family. The butler, slightly out of breath, said, “Young master, Sir Jesse from the nobles’ council administration in Giantstone City just arrived. I’ve asked him to wait in the manor!”

Donald was surprised and asked, “Jesse is here? Did he explain his purpose?”

“Yes, young master. Sir Jesse came to ask about the name of your manor!”

Donald knew that ordinary private manors usually had a fixed name passed down through generations. Since the previous owners of these two manors had ended up in tragic fates and left in haste, no names had been assigned. The royal family had only used the names of the original owners as temporary designations when selling them.

Now these two manors belong to Donald, and no accidents have been reported in all these days. So Sir Jesse came here to inquire about the owners of the manors, so as to register them in the official records and officially confirm their names. Of course, the sir’s personal visit was a sign of great respect for the manor owners, and it was also an opportunity to get closer to Donald, a renowned noble mage from the North County, and strengthen their relationship. Otherwise, sending a messenger to ask would have been sufficient. “Since the Tree of Life has been built, and the manors will mainly follow the architectural style of the Night Elves in the future, why not call it ‘Night’?” Donald thought for a moment and decided on the name for the manor.