"Roar!"
The intense pain drove the black bear completely mad.
Unfortunately.
The black bear was already severely injured, and now its heart was pierced by the root, causing a massive loss of vitality, which the root absorbed and devoured, leaving it no room to resist.
Gradually.
The black bear's struggle weakened, its massive body withered at a pace visible to the naked eye, turning into a dried corpse within moments, dragged into the soil by the root to serve as nourishment for this land.
"Devoured a first-tier mid-grade fierce beast, gained 100 evolution points!"
First-tier mid-grade fierce beast!
100 evolution points!
The information that surfaced in his mind brought joy to Gu Qingyang's heart.
He hadn't expected the black bear's tier to be first-tier mid-grade. The rabbits he had killed earlier were merely at zero tier.
"Moreover, the black bear came already severely wounded, and even in such a state, it gave 100 evolution points. This means that a fully intact first-tier mid-grade fierce beast would surely give more evolution points!"
Gu Qingyang understood.
In any case, by killing a first-tier mid-grade fierce beast, he finally met the breakthrough requirement.
As expected.
When Gu Qingyang focused his consciousness on himself, he noticed that the panel had already changed.
...
Name: Gu Qingyang
Essence: Ancient Tree
Life Span: 10/500
Tier: Zero Tier (160/100 for breakthrough)
Innate Divine Techniques: Death Root (Zero Tier)
...
After the tier, the words "breakthrough possible" appeared.
With a thought, Gu Qingyang directly chose to break through.
The moment his thought settled, he felt a tremor in his mind, and then a mysterious force gathered from all directions.
The ten-meter-high Ancient Tree seemed to receive an enormous amount of nutrients, growing rapidly at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Twelve meters!
Fifteen meters!
Eighteen meters!
...
In just a moment, Gu Qingyang's height had broken through to thirty meters.
At the same time.
The roots within the earth rapidly expanded, from previously occupying a thirty-meter radius to now covering a hundred and fifty-meter radius.
In addition.
The roots in the soil became thicker, more than twice as strong as before the breakthrough.
After a long while.
The turbulence in his mind gradually calmed down, and Gu Qingyang awoke from the breakthrough state.
"Thirty meters tall!"
"Roots spreading across a radius of a hundred and fifty meters!"
Noticing the changes brought by his breakthrough, Gu Qingyang felt a surge of joy, and then he turned his attention back to the panel.
...
Name: Gu Qingyang
Essence: Ancient Tree
Life Span: 10/1000
Tier: First Tier Low Grade (60/500)
Innate Divine Techniques: Death Root (First Tier), Vigorous Growth (First Tier), Spiritual Energy Affinity (First Tier), Ancient Tree Talent (First Tier)
...
Compared to the panel at zero tier, the current panel is undoubtedly much more splendid.
Among them.
The life span section.
In zero tier, Gu Qingyang could only live for 500 years, but now it directly doubled, allowing him to live for a thousand years.
Moreover.
The number of innate divine techniques also increased significantly.
Firstly, Death Root evolved from a zero-tier innate divine technique to a first-tier, allowing Gu Qingyang to control ten roots simultaneously, with much greater power than before.
Then.
Gu Qingyang turned his gaze to the other innate divine techniques, and as he focused his attention on them, the corresponding information surfaced.
[Vigorous Growth: Passively refines Sun and Moon Essence, gaining one evolution point daily]
[Spiritual Energy Affinity: Passively refines Spiritual Qi, gaining corresponding evolution points, the amount of evolution points gained is directly proportional to the concentration of Spiritual Qi]
[Ancient Tree Talent: You possess a more powerful foundation, far surpassing those of the same tier, but at the same time your breakthrough becomes more difficult]
The descriptions of the three innate divine techniques are simple and clear.
Sun and Moon Essence refers to the brilliance of sunlight during the day and the glow of moonlight at night.
As for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Gu Qingyang had only heard about it in legends and had never truly experienced it, but after breaking through to the first tier, he could clearly feel a different kind of power lingering in the air.
The branches and leaves on his body, as well as the roots embedded into the earth, would instinctively refine and absorb this power, slowly nourishing himself.
"It seems this is what's called Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!"
Gu Qingyang mused.
Then he looked at the Ancient Tree Talent.
This talent is also very straightforward, granting Gu Qingyang a foundation that surpasses his peers, but at the cost of more challenging breakthroughs, making it a double-edged sword.
Nonetheless, Gu Qingyang was very satisfied with this breakthrough.
Having entered the first tier.
He could understand how weak he had been at zero tier.
"I used to slay zero-tier fierce beasts, and when I was in zero tier, there was no so-called tier distinction, probably because zero tier is too weak.
It's only after entering the first tier that there is a distinction in tiers."
Gu Qingyang is currently at first tier low grade, and to evolve to first tier mid-grade next time, he needs 500 evolution points.
In comparison to breaking through from zero tier to first tier, it's five times more.
Gu Qingyang suspects.
Under normal circumstances, breaking through from first-tier low grade to mid-grade shouldn't require so many evolution points.
The fact that he needs five times the points is likely influenced by the Ancient Tree Talent.
However—
The formation of talents is beyond Gu Qingyang's control.
Furthermore.
Though the Ancient Tree Talent makes his breakthroughs more challenging, the Vigorous Growth and Spiritual Energy Affinity talents compensate for some deficiencies.
"The evolution value growth from Spiritual Energy Affinity is unknown, but Vigorous Growth provides me with one evolution point daily; even without any other gains, it would take less than two years to break through to first-tier mid-grade."
This is a good thing.
Even without devouring other fierce beasts, Gu Qingyang can gradually grow through the innate divine techniques of Vigorous Growth and Spiritual Energy Affinity.
But there's a caveat, and that's the absence of external influence.
"There are numerous fierce beasts in the mountains, and many ancient trees over a hundred years old have perished due to the battles among fierce beasts. With my current first-tier low-grade power, I need to reach a stronger level swiftly!"
Gu Qingyang's resolve strengthened.
Relying solely on the slow growth from the two innate divine techniques is tantamount to entrusting his fate to the wind, hoping that no fierce beast would affect him, granting him enough time to grow.
Only by strengthening himself with the two divine techniques while actively hunting other fierce beasts can he truly ensure his long-term survival.
With this thought.
The joy from the breakthrough gradually settled in Gu Qingyang's heart, and he began observing the situation of his expanded territory.
Roots spread throughout the land, and wherever they touched, it was akin to seeing through the eyes of a living being, perhaps even more acute.
Meanwhile, the branches and leaves on his body also functioned like eyes, although not as sensitive as the roots, they could see much farther.
Suddenly.
Gu Qingyang felt a sense of anticipation.
If one day his roots could spread across the entire mountain range and even beyond its confines, perhaps he could witness the true face of this world.