Chapter 509: The Child-Nurturing Tree

Chapter 509: The Child-Nurturing Tree

Is it not too late now?

Ji Xinghuo was astonished. How could their child inherit his current genes when they were about to be born? He couldn't help but glance at Ye Zhen's belly, his gaze sweeping up and down, a conflicted yet expectant look on his face.

"What dirty thoughts are you having?" Ye Zhen chided playfully, her face reddening slightly.

"Nothing," Ji Xinghuo quickly shook his head. "Absolutely nothing!"

Seeing his adamant denial, Ye Zhen could only sigh in exasperation. "You know that I've fused with a plant primal body," she explained. "This allows me to graft plant-based abilities onto myself without the need for expansion artifacts."

"Mhm," Ji Xinghuo nodded.

The plant primal body was a solar eclipse ability, and in addition to ability grafting, it also greatly amplified the effects of all plant-based abilities.

Ye Zhen continued, "Over the past two years, I've grafted over two dozen plant variants onto myself."

As she spoke, the peach blossom mark between her eyebrows blossomed, releasing a delicate fragrance. Her eyes shone like flower buds, and her black hair transformed into a head of lush green strands. Tender branches sprouted from her shoulders, bursting with vibrant life as they extended and bloomed with a myriad of flowers.

Her arms, fingertips, and legs were adorned with various plants, each possessing unique powers.

She appeared ethereal and dreamlike, her entire being overflowing with vibrant life force.

Ji Xinghuo suddenly remembered Ye Zhen's nickname.

Before her retirement, the first-generation global goddess was known as the "Hundred Flowers Green Lord," and at this moment, the title suited her perfectly. She resembled the "Green Emperor," the "Spring God," or the "God of a Hundred Flowers" from ancient myths.

Through electromagnetic induction, Ji Xinghuo sensed that Ye Zhen's electromagnetic field had become extremely unique.

Even though she was only at the Legendary Second Stage, she posed a greater threat to him than many King-level powerhouses.

She's incredibly strong, Ji Xinghuo thought in awe.

The Plant Witch was already a template brimming with diverse abilities, and with the fusion of the plant primal body, it was like adding wings to a tiger. She no longer needed to rely on external mediums to channel her powers.

According to the True Dragon Dynasty's standards, Ye Zhen's potential was sufficient to enter the Hidden Dragon sequence, or perhaps even higher.

After all, she possessed two solar eclipse abilities.

"Reincarnation" extended her lifespan tenfold compared to peers of the same stage, allowing her to live for several thousand years. Her ascension to a Star Shepherd was all but guaranteed.

A radiant smile graced Ye Zhen's face as she said, "I'm not purely human anymore; I'm half-human, half-plant."

"You look amazing!" Ji Xinghuo exclaimed, though his heart felt a little strange.

While he had no qualms about interracial romance, the thought of having deep connections with a semi-plant being and having children together felt odd somehow.

"It's not just about looks," Ye Zhen chuckled softly. "I grafted a 'Child-Nurturing Tree' variant, which not only accelerates plant reproduction and growth but also grants me a unique nurturing ability, allowing me to carry your child."

Realization dawned on Ji Xinghuo, and he said, "So that's how it is."

No wonder she got pregnant so quickly.

Ye Zhen gently caressed her belly and said, "While carrying the children, I've been using the Child-Nurturing Tree to provide them with nourishment and optimize their genes and talents."

Only then did Ji Xinghuo understand why she had been feeling tired, and he reached out to hold her hand.

Ye Zhen smiled at him and said, "As long as the children haven't been born yet, I can continue to optimize their genes and talents. Of course, I can only collect genes from me or their father; others won't work."

"What do you need me to do?" Ji Xinghuo asked curiously.

"I'll need a contribution of your blood," Ye Zhen explained. "Also, I might have to draw some of your lifeforce. Theoretically, the more, the better it is for the children, but it has to be within your tolerable range, without harming your foundation."

"No problem, take as much as you need," Ji Xinghuo said without hesitation. "You can take as much as you want."

Ye Zhen found his resolute expression amusing.

"I'll know my limits," she assured him.

The branches, flowers, and leaves on her body retracted as if time were flowing backward, the blossoms returning to buds and the branches shrinking until they disappeared.

At the same time, the index finger of her right hand, now a verdant green, elongated rapidly, transforming into a green vine. The vine was hollow inside, and its tip was as sharp as a needle. It coiled around Ji Xinghuo's arm like a poisonous snake, seeking a suitable spot to pierce.

Ji Xinghuo controlled his flux-form barrier to prevent it from triggering, and he also softened the muscles of his forearm to lower his defense.

He pointed to a vein and said, "Pierce there."

The vine-needle stabbed with precision.

Crack!

The incredibly resilient vine-needle snapped, failing to leave even a mark on Ji Xinghuo's skin.

Ye Zhen regrew the vine and tried several more times, but to no avail. It couldn't pierce his skin, let alone draw blood.

"What kind of exotic species have you fused with to have such terrifying defense?" Ye Zhen asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

"Well..."

Ji Xinghuo also felt helpless.

The defense of the titanium-cobalt magnetic body was already extremely strong. The titanium-cobalt dragon bullied others with it. After the enhancement from the ancestral dragon vein and electromagnetic polarization, the double amplification brought it to a fifth-grade level, boosting his physical attributes to a level that was hard for ordinary people to imagine.

In fact, he had already weakened his defense as much as he could, but even at its lowest level, it was still beyond the piercing power of Ye Zhen's vine.

"Let me do it myself."

The fingertip of Ji Xinghuo's left hand deformed, and his fingernail became as sharp as a knife. He made a quick cut on his right forearm, causing sparks of electricity and metal to fly, finally slicing open a wound a few centimeters long and exposing the blood vessels without any blood flowing out.

Ye Zhen watched in awe and then stabbed the vine needle into the blood vessel.

After a few seconds.

A viscous, mercury-like liquid was drawn out, silver in color, mixed with dark red and gold, denser than metal. If one didn't see it with their own eyes, it was hard to believe that this was human blood.

Ye Zhen shook her head, "I'm half-human and half-plant now, but you're not even human anymore. You're just wearing a layer of human skin."

"That's what evolution is," Ji Xinghuo shrugged.

The more times one evolves and the stronger their strength, the further their life essence deviates from that of a human, and he had already understood and accepted this fact.

"Umm..."

Ye Zhen suddenly hummed in surprise.

Ji Xinghuo's blood had been injected into her body, and the immense energy it contained almost caused her to lose control of her mind. She quickly focused and directed the blood to her abdominal womb, carefully infusing it through the umbilical cord to the first child.

She was very cautious in controlling the input of the blood, only allowing an extremely small amount, less than a tenth of a drop.

Ji Xinghuo, who was beside her, didn't dare to breathe heavily, his face filled with tension.

Although he knew that Ye Zhen wouldn't do this if she wasn't confident and wouldn't take risks with their child, he still felt nervous and worried about any potential accidents.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

The child easily absorbed the new nutrients, and the father's genes were perfectly integrated without any rejection.

Ji Xinghuo could see through Ye Zhen's belly and directly observe the fetus, and his electromagnetic sensing also probed clearly. When his blood was transformed into nutrients and injected, the child exhibited a wonderful reaction, as if it were evolving.

The electromagnetic field noticeably strengthened slightly and continued to intensify.

"That's a good sign!" Ye Zhen's face remained calm as she smiled at Ji Xinghuo, "Don't be so nervous. I care about the children more than you do. Even if there's a 1% chance of failure, I won't take the risk."

"You should've said that earlier," Ji Xinghuo muttered.

Ye Zhen continued to provide the new nutrients to the second child, and soon all three were done.

She retracted the vine needle.

"Didn't you say that you also need to draw out my lifeforce?" Ji Xinghuo asked in confusion, as only less than 20 milliliters of his blood had been drawn.

"It's not that fast." Ye Zhen explained, "We have to wait for the children to first adapt to the new nutrients, initially absorb your genes, and undergo enhancement before they can withstand the infusion of your lifeforce. This will take a few days, and we have to take it step by step."

Ji Xinghuo nodded to indicate his understanding.

He kept his gaze fixed on Ye Zhen's belly, constantly monitoring the children's conditions, and their vitality was noticeably more robust than before.

"Will they receive all of my genes?" Ji Xinghuo asked curiously.

"Not necessarily."

Ye Zhen stood up to stretch her body, her large belly leading the way as she walked out of the wooden house for a stroll in the garden, with Ji Xinghuo following by her side. She said, "The Child-Nurturing Tree can only determine that our offspring will definitely inherit our genes, but what talents they will awaken depends on luck. I can't decide that either."

"Then isn't it all in vain?" Ji Xinghuo frowned.

"How can that be?"

Ye Zhen laughed, "At the very least, our children will definitely become Exotics. They won't need to train and can undergo their first evolution and awaken their talents before the age of three."

Ji Xinghuo was extremely excited upon hearing this.

Becoming an Exotic before the age of three and also awakening innate talents would surpass most humans on Earth. Even among the countless races in the Starry Galaxy, very few could compare.

The earlier one becomes an Exotic, the greater their potential.

The True Dragon Clan uses this standard to select the Dragon Masters.

"Whether the talents our children awaken come from me or you, they won't be ordinary abilities.

With three divine dragon species and electromagnetic abilities, each was no less impressive than Ren Jie's plant and optical abilities, and perhaps even stronger.

"I think so too," Ye Zhen agreed softly, not wanting to argue with Ji Xinghuo and instead hoping that their children would inherit his genes.

No one understood the extent of Ji Xinghuo's terrifying talent better than her. In just over five years, he had gone from an ordinary man to a Legend First Stage, and then to a King Stage in two more years. At the Seventh Stage, he was practically invincible!

She gazed at his face, then at Qinghong and Doomsday playing in the garden, and said softly, "It all depends on the children's luck now."

For the next few days, Ji Xinghuo stayed by Ye Zhen's side.

He learned how to take care of a pregnant woman, improved his cooking skills, and even picked up some gardening knowledge. In this secluded pocket dimension, he didn't cultivate or train, but instead spent his days with his beloved, reading, cooking, and chatting in the garden, immersed in a warm and joyful atmosphere that felt both delightful and fulfilling.

"It's time to infuse them with lifeforce." Sitting on a swing in the garden, Ye Zhen spoke softly.

"Alright," Ji Xinghuo replied. He slashed his arm, allowing her vine needle to pierce his flesh, but this time it wasn't to draw blood, but to extract his lifeforce.

Suddenly, he felt a suction force.

His lifeforce was being drained away.

"How do you feel?" Ye Zhen asked with concern as she extracted his lifeforce. "If you feel uncomfortable, be sure to let me know immediately."

Ji Xinghuo smiled, unperturbed.

"I told you, go ahead. Your extraction speed is like a tickle. The loss is negligible compared to my natural recovery rate."

The Xu Kun Dragon physique could directly absorb vacuum energy and convert it into lifeforce. Upon reaching the fifth grade and becoming the "Xu Kun Giant Whale," the rate of vacuum energy absorption would skyrocket. If he had a massive body, his lifeforce would be as vast as an ocean, rendering the extraction insignificant.

Seeing that he truly felt nothing, Ye Zhen said, "Then I'll increase the extraction rate."

"Hurry up," Ji Xinghuo urged with a smile.

However, Ye Zhen remained cautious and gradually increased the extraction efficiency, first channeling the lifeforce into her body, where it was purified by the Child-Nurturing Tree, before sending it to the three children in her womb.

Ji Xinghuo watched as the triplets, infused with his lifeforce, grew even stronger.

They were absorbing his genes at a faster rate, delving deeper into his bloodline.

Ye Zhen carefully extracted for half an hour, but Ji Xinghuo remained vigorous, his complexion unchanged.

If it were anyone else, even a peak King Stage expert would have been drained of their energy by now.

"The Xu Kun Dragon physique is that amazing?" She was incredulous.

"Of course!"

Ji Xinghuo wore a proud expression.

"Your lifeforce far exceeds what the children need, and they can't absorb such a vast amount of energy," Ye Zhen shook her head. "Most of the energy is stored in my body, and over the next few months, I'll continuously supply them with it."

In fact, Ji Xinghuo had already noticed this.

If Ye Zhen were a bit more selfish, she could have absorbed the energy herself, resulting in a rapid increase in her strength, akin to riding a rocket to faster cultivation.

Of course, she wouldn't do that.

A thought occurred to Ji Xinghuo, and his gaze seemed to see through Ye Zhen's body as he asked, "Can your body handle it?"

Ye Zhen nodded.

"Since you can absorb my lifeforce through the plant primal body and increase your strength, don't hold back," Ji Xinghuo said to her. "Go ahead and extract more, preferably enough to help you reach the King Stage in one go."

With reincarnation, Ye Zhen was reborn.

Having gone through the experience before and now possessing the solar eclipse ability of the plant primal body, her strength had skyrocketed despite carrying three children. In just two years, she had reached the Legend Stage, and was currently at the Second Stage.

Ye Zhen shook her head instinctively. "It's too damaging, and the conversion rate of lifeforce into stellar power is extremely low."

"Even if the conversion rate is low, it's still countless times faster than your own cultivation!"

"The stronger you are, the better."

"If the children are in danger and I'm not around, you'll be able to protect them better."

Ji Xinghuo insisted.

Even with a conversion rate of less than one percent, the constant supply of his lifeforce would save her years of cultivation.

Touched, Ye Zhen continued extracting his lifeforce.

Ji Xinghuo still felt nothing, and he even found her extraction speed too slow, so he urged, "Use more force."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end