Qiyu opened the “01 Survival Squad” chat and saw that the group was chatting—they were just discussing the sign-up process.

【Civil Engineering Brother: My combat skills aren’t up to par, so I won’t drag you guys down.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Actually, me too—I didn’t want to sign up in the first place.】Someone in the regional channel called him out—and not just one person—so Money signed up on a whim. With so many big shots at the top of the leaderboard, he never expected to be nominated.

But he might have underestimated his own luck.

Many players were impressed by him—he was the first in the entire region to unlock the Level 2 Shelter blueprint, one of only two players to find the Black Giant tree in the Swallow event, and the very first to unlock the Location Teleportation Scroll…

Truly a Chosen Adventurer!

What if he stumbles upon some huge treasure out at sea?

Let’s get serious about this!

【Civil Engineering Brother: Do you guys need any more supplies for your voyage? I can help out a bit by collecting items.】

Since this involves nautical adventures across the entire region, obviously everyone’s talking about it.

I Am Domineering was also arguing with Little Old Me.

Or rather, I Am Domineering was just ranting at him one-sidedly, while Little Old Me sat back and watched the show.

【I Am Domineering: There’s definitely some under-the-table dealings going on here! That guy, Dare Not Open My Eyes, using his status as captain, is stacking the deck with his own people everywhere! I Love Survival Game, Tranquility Yields Transcendence, and that ‘Money’—aren’t they all members of that little clique?”】

This hasn’t been a secret for a long time.

【Little Old Me: …Weren’t they chosen by a vote among regional players?】

【I Am Domineering: He initiated the poll himself—who knows if he could’ve secretly rigged the votes!】

【Little Old Me: …Don’t you have any idea how popular you are in your own region?】 In fact, he really admired “I Am Domineering” for his courage.

When it comes to rankings, Little Old Me actually ranks slightly higher than I Am Domineering—he’s in the top ten on all three leaderboards. Plus, he went all out during the previous “Star Fishing” event.

But he never even went to sign up with the captain.

For one thing, he knew his own limitations—signing up just to get people to vote for him would be nothing short of inviting humiliation.

The other reason was caution: this was a real-life gathering of many people, and every one of them was a formidable player.

What if someone harbored a grudge over something he’d done in the past and quietly took him out? Who would he turn to for justice then?

Although the likelihood of this happening at an official event like this is very low, what if it did? He was always quick to adapt to the situation and adjust his “public persona.”

Back when Fate was ranked number one, and he was just a lackey tagging along with others, he was nothing but an arrogant and overbearing sycophant.

Now that the top spot has been taken by *I Love Survival Game*, a player who’s aloof and taciturn but kind-hearted, he immediately toned it down with effortless grace.

【I Am Domineering: Why didn’t you sign up?】

【Little Old Me: I’m scared of dying.】

【I Am Domineering: Hmph!】

【I Am Domineering: You’re still such a wimp.】

Little Old Me thought to himself, “One ‘My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’ has fallen, and a new ‘My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’ has taken its place. That’s just fine.”

【Little Old Me: Yeah, I’ve never been as good as you.】

Qiyu pulled out the Scroll of Life Essence Revival.

Since he was participating in this maritime adventure, he was definitely bringing a teleportation scroll. Of course, he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

So, with him away from his domain for seven consecutive days, the domain’s security would require extra safeguards.

In fact, his territory was protected by Butler Xing, alchemy puppets, an energy tower, a snow launcher, and several territory residents with offensive capabilities.

There was no need to fear ordinary threats; if all else failed, there was also a hidden high-level magical energy tower.

【A living being capable of using the Spirit of Life Revival Scroll has been detected. Do you wish to use it?】

Currently, the only eligible target in the territory is the ancient war tree.

Actually, the seven-colored flower would also be suitable, but it’s already growing on its own; given enough time, it will reach maturity naturally.

Qiyu wasn’t in a rush about this, and besides, the seven-colored flower isn’t a combat species.

Earlier, when he opened the Crown of Life and saw the “Blessing of Spring” skill, Qiyu had assumed this skill could revive the ancient war tree. But clearly, he had overthought it.

The black forest remains quiet, with its status displayed as “Reviving.”

According to ancient lore, the ancient war trees are the most powerful warriors among the giant tree-people; every mature ancient war tree possesses strength rivaling that of a high-level professional.

Moreover, ancient war trees possess intelligence and the ability to reason—qualities that are precisely what the domain currently lacks.

Although the butler is highly intelligent, he is, after all, merely a pre-programmed alchemical being. The domain lacks a presence capable of taking charge and making decisions at critical moments.

However, there were a total of 66 ancient war trees in his domain—which one would be the most suitable?

The survival interface offered no guidance, so Qiyu tried to sense them himself, but every single one seemed to be in a deep slumber, emitting only the faintest of life fluctuations.

He couldn’t tell.

So he decided to choose one at random, relying on his intuition.

He selected the ancient war tree closest to him and applied the Scroll of Life Essence Revival to it.

“Confirm use.”

The scroll in his hand transformed into a soft green beam of light and flew toward the slumbering ancient tree.

Starting from the base, the light wound its way upward; with each pass, the withered bark peeled away, revealing healthy, fresh wood.

Little by little, a hint of green covered the original pitch-blackness. In the blink of an eye, the mysterious black ancient tree transformed into a massive, vibrant giant tree.

Qiyu watched the scene with curiosity. To his senses, the life force of this ancient war tree grew increasingly vigorous, soon far surpassing his own.

But that was all there was to it—it still looked like a tree, just like every other tree Qiyu had ever seen, rather than a sentient “living being.”

Until the very next second, when the bark on the thick trunk suddenly began to change—a pair of ancient eyes slowly opened from the trunk, and human-like facial features appeared on its surface.

A tree sprouting human features—that should have been a terrifying sight.

But perhaps because Qiyu possessed ancestral memories of the elves, as well as a powerful affinity for plants, he didn’t find it frightening at all.

“What a truly novel experience,” a slightly muffled voice boomed like a clap of thunder in Qiyu’s ear. “It feels as if I’ve returned to a time when I was still very young.”

Wow.

The tree really has come to life.

Qiyu watched the scene in amazement, not speaking right away.

The ancient war tree had long been aware of his presence, and it spoke in a deep, resonant voice: “Then I’d like to thank you for your help, My Lord.”

Qiyu asked it, “Is ‘Nate’ your name?” 

“Yes.”

The tree was so tall that its brown eyes were almost as big as a person.

The giant tree-person gazed at Qiyu: “Before we fell into slumber, it had been a long time since I’d seen an elf.”

Qiyu’s ears perked up instantly, and he asked curiously, “Have you been sleeping for many years? Could you tell me some stories from the past?” He realized that these ancient trees, which had lived for so very long, were natural “history books” in themselves.

“Tell a story? Oh, that’s no problem at all,” the giant tree-person agreed readily, but soon a look of slight hesitation crossed its face. “However, I’ve been asleep for a bit too long—my mind feels a bit rusty. I think I’ll need a little time to sort through my memories and get my thoughts back on track.”

“That’s fine, take your time,” Qiyu said patiently. “I’m setting out on a long journey tomorrow.”

He cast a blessing spell on the giant tree-person, who responded with a muffled “thank you.”

Qiyu explained his purpose: “As you can see, the place where you stand is my territory.”

“I’ll be leaving on a long journey tomorrow and won’t be back for about seven days,” he said. “While I’m away from my territory, could you help me guard it?”

As this ancient war tree revived, Qiyu opened his Survival Panel to take a look.

In the Territory module, the more than sixty ancient war trees were originally grouped together and collectively referred to as “sleeping giant tree-people.”

However, after this particular tree was revived using a Scroll of Life’s Spirit, it was listed separately and became “giant tree-person Nate.” It’s possible that Qiyu dug it up and planted it in his domain, at which point it automatically became a territory resident.

The giant tree-person Nate’s favor and loyalty are both at maximum.

Nate said in a deep, resonant voice, “To guard the entire Star Forest, my Lord, perhaps one tree—Nate—might not be enough.” 

“There is no ‘entire Star Forest,’” he corrected. “Take a closer look at my domain.”

He was still using the Ice Castle’s territory appearance, so he told Nate, “This Ice Castle—the area within the fence—is my territory.”

Nate was shocked: “While I was asleep all these years, has the elven race fallen so far?”

Is that all that’s left of the domain?

Qiyu:“……”

He didn’t know how to explain it, so he simply said, “Not exactly. The elves don’t really show themselves out here much anymore; my situation is a bit unique.”

The giant tree-person fell silent; Qiyu thought it must be deep in thought. But clearly, a tree that had slept for who knows how many years wasn’t exactly quick on the uptake.

Finally, it said, “If it’s just this small area, then there’s absolutely no problem.”

Right in front of Qiyu, the ground rumbled and shook as the massive tree—towering dozens of meters high—uprooted itself from the ground. Its thick roots became its legs, and its branches transformed into arms.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed from a tree into a giant tree-person.

Thud.

With every step it took, the ground trembled beneath its feet.

The commotion clearly alarmed the other territory residents; two farmers rushed out in a panic, trembling with fear at the sight of this colossal creature.

The plant sprites also flew out; since Qiyu was there—and since they themselves were born from plants—they weren’t particularly afraid.

The bluebell sprite was amazed: “What a huge tree!”

It was filled with envy: “I wish I could be a tree spirit this big, too.”

Nate recognized them and said slowly, “Oh, it’s a plant sprite. Hello.”

In its human form, it was clearly much more agile. After taking a few steps through its territory, it soon spotted the goddess statue in the garden, along with the golden apple tree and the seven-colored flower beside it.

“Praise be to the great and merciful Goddess of Nature.”

Turning to Qiyu, its tone had already changed.

“It’s clear that you are an elf lord deeply favored by the Goddess.”

It couldn’t help but ask, “My Lord, when will we expand our territory?”

In its simple mind, the entire Star Forest should rightfully belong to the Lord.