Eternal Treant Guardian

There are always those who can't keep their mouths shut.

"Pay them no mind," said the old butler, Hoden. "We must return to the territory immediately!"

"Understood, Butler Hoden!" came the prompt reply.

As they spoke, a squad of Royal Inquisitor Knights summoned their golden griffons. In a flash, the group took to the sky, disappearing beyond the horizon.

"By the gods, golden griffons!"

"And ten of them, all extraordinary grade!"

"Is the Golden Oasis really that powerful?"

"I thought it was just a small, resource-poor oasis. How could such a formidable force base itself there?"

"Perhaps the Golden Oasis has changed."

"No matter how much it's changed, it's still a small oasis!"

"Regardless, any force bold enough to occupy the Golden Oasis, ignore the peace treaties, and still field a squadron of extraordinary golden griffon knights must be powerful indeed!"

"Let's see for ourselves."

"My guild master said we must obtain a batch of elven spring water from the Golden Oasis. If a minor crystal trading guild can manage it, surely we can too!"

"Agreed!"

"Let's go. If we delay, others might beat us to it."

"I heard the Kalar Desert is infested with undead..."

"Who cares? We're merchants, and fortune favors the bold!"

"Besides, bounty hunters have already flooded the Kalar Desert. With their help, opening a trade route to the Golden Oasis shouldn't be difficult..."

Everyone agreed. Soon, various teams set off in the direction the Royal Griffin Knights had flown. Some traveled light, while others brought all manner of goods, but all shared the same goal: profit from the Golden Oasis.

A merchant who misses an opportunity has no future!

Amidst the crowd, one figure stood out. Despite walking leisurely, they left a faint afterimage every few dozen meters, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Damn! Even the nature spirits are eyeing the Golden Oasis??"

In the town hall of the Golden Oasis, Haotian was listening to a report from a Royal Inquisitor Knight.

"Lord, the Rat Kingdom can't hold out any longer. They have summoned the Dark Dragon, Charles."

"The dragon's fiery breath has scorched vast areas of the sandy regions, slaughtering an estimated hundreds of thousands of undead!"

"It actually came out?" Haotian was surprised. He had thought Charles the dragon wouldn't care about the Rat Kingdom's fate and would continue hiding in the dark underground to heal. He had even captured a rat emissary to gather intelligence on Charles, but before the information could be delivered, the dragon had appeared.

"Did you ascertain Charles' level?" Haotian asked.

The Royal Inquisitor Knight shook his head. "We didn't dare get too close, fearing the dragon might detect us. We estimate its level to be at least mid-saint tier."

"Also, it seems there's an arrow lodged in its chest."

"So it's indeed severely injured," Haotian mused. "Keep scouting, but be cautious. Don't reveal yourselves."

"Yes, my lord!" The knight respectfully withdrew.

Haotian sat back, watching the knight leave. He suddenly felt an urge to call him back and order an immediate attack on Charles with his elite squad. A wounded saint-tier dragon was like a cooked feast beckoning him. Even if half his Royal Inquisitor Knights fell, killing Charles would be worth it.

"Patience," he reminded himself. "Just a bit longer. Once the old butler brings back the dragon's corpse and I can breed dragon troops... then I'll have a dragon plus a hundred extraordinary Royal Griffin Knights to ensure Charles' defeat!"

By noon, old butler Hoden returned to the Golden Oasis with his knight squad, bringing back gold and a space ring containing the dragon's corpse, which he handed to Haotian.

The butler first recounted what had happened in Forest City. Then he said, "Young master, our presence has been exposed. Many factions know about our territory now. It won't be long before their teams arrive at the Golden Oasis."

As Haotian's mental awareness probed the space ring, verifying the dragon's corpse inside, he said, "Let them come. Those who genuinely want to do business can be potential allies. Those with ill intentions will be dealt with!"

Hoden nodded in agreement. With their current strength, they no longer needed to hide.

"Come, my dear butler!" Haotian grinned. "Let me show you what top-tier troops look like!"

With that, he strode out of the town hall, followed closely by an excited Hoden.

Upon returning to the Golden Oasis, they saw the towering ancient tree, at least 300 meters high, radiating immense life and natural magic.

Soon, they stood beneath the Ancient War Tree. Spending a full 300,000 lord coins, Haotian upgraded the tree to level nine.

[Ancient War Tree]

Level: 9

Recruitable Troops: Ancient Treants

Recruitment Quantity: 1,000 Ancient Treants per day

Next Level: Ultimate Building

Upgrade Requirement: Ultimate Troop Building Blueprint

Special Note 1: Higher building levels allow recruitment of more troops.

Special Note 2: At ultimate level, daily recruitment increases tenfold.

"Recruit Ancient Treants!" Haotian commanded.

The Ancient War Tree glowed with a brilliant green light. Moments later, large orbs of light emerged from the tree, breaking apart to reveal towering Ancient Treants, each over thirty meters tall, even larger than the extraordinary golden griffons.

As more information flooded Haotian's mind, he discovered that 147 of the recruited Ancient Treants had evolved into Eternal Treant Guardians!

In terms of size, the evolved Eternal Treant Guardians weren't much different from the Ancient Treants, both standing around thirty meters tall. The difference lay in their armor: Ancient Treants wore bronze armor, while Eternal Treant Guardians sported golden armor, indicating their higher rank.

"This is... incredible!" Butler Hoden gasped at the sight of the treant army, struggling to contain his shock. Known for their defense, these treants were each clad in heavy armor, resembling giant iron barrels. Who could withstand such a force?

"Iron barrels?" Haotian chuckled, finding the term fitting. Treants had a uniform long trunk body, with numerous movable roots at the base, a tall central trunk, a head at the top, and two branch-like arms. With their thirty-meter height and heavily armored trunks, they indeed looked like giant iron barrels.

"Master, it's unbelievable that you can summon treants, the sacred guardians of the nature spirits," Hoden remarked.

"These aren't ordinary treants," Haotian replied. "Even the weakest among them are Ancient Treants, and some have evolved into Eternal Treant Guardians. Ordinary treants are the lowest tier."

Haotian had learned from the Lord System that the gap between ordinary treants and Ancient Treants was akin to the difference between ordinary griffons and golden griffons—not even in the same league. The evolved Eternal Treant Guardians were even more formidable, representing the pinnacle of treant evolution.

Hoden said, "I've heard of Ancient Treants. They are the backbone of the nature spirits and are rarely deployed in war due to their value."

Treants weren't invincible. Against stronger foes, they could fall in battle. Nature spirits typically sent ordinary treants to war, reluctant to risk their precious Ancient Treants, as their cultivation was exceedingly difficult.

Comparatively, Haotian could summon a thousand treants daily, all of them Ancient Treants at the minimum, with many evolving into Eternal Treant Guardians. The disparity was staggering.

Hoden believed that if nature spirits saw the vast number of Ancient and Eternal Treants in the Golden Oasis, they would be green with envy, potentially even launching an attack.

If it were him, he wouldn't be able to tolerate it.

Hoden sighed, "Ancient Treants, Eternal Treants... these are legendary, fearsome beings. No wonder you call them top-tier troops."

Compared to them, even the Royal Griffin Knights seemed less impressive. In a head-to-head, Ancient and Eternal Treants could likely decimate the Royal Griffin Knights, as treants excelled in throwing wooden spears that could pierce even dragons.

In the history of the Holy Continent, there were records of powerful treants bringing down dragons with a single spear throw.

Meanwhile, Haotian was reviewing the information on Ancient Treants and Eternal Treant Guardians.

[Ancient Treant Warrior]

Rank: Crown-tier troop

Initial Level: King-tier mid-level

Growth Potential: Saint-tier peak

Traits: Sluggish, Tenacious, Life Recovery, Mighty Strike

[Eternal Treant Guardian]

Rank: Crown-tier troop

Initial Level: Extraordinary-tier initial level

Growth Potential: Demigod

Traits: Sluggish, Tenacious, Life Recovery, Mighty Strike, Impenetrable Defense

"Amazing!" Haotian exclaimed. "This is what crown-tier troops are like? Even the weakest Ancient Treant has a growth potential reaching the peak of Saint-tier, while the Eternal Treant Guardians can grow to demigod level! This is unbelievable!"

He had expected the Eternal Treant Guardians to cap at the peak of Saint-tier, with Ancient Treants at regular Saint-tier, but their actual potential was far beyond his expectations.

[Lord System] seemed to sense his amazement and provided an explanation: [The Ancient War Tree is a top-tier troop building even among crown-tier structures, comparable to dragon troop buildings.]

"So, I essentially summoned a thousand dragons?"