Sicily World.

"The roots of the Devil Tree have already spread beneath our feet. We have no hope left."

At the Grinding Cliff Mountain Monastery, a tall, thin, stern man wielding a broad-handled great sword, with some bronze rust at the edges emitting a green ghostly glow, shrouded the man in an indescribable melancholy.

Under the man’s feet is a floor paved with the strongest rock from Grinding Cliff Mountain. The cold wind mixed with ice shards at the mountaintop blew by, freezing the helpless and despairing tears at the corner of the man’s eyes, and with a "thump," he suddenly knelt to the ground.

In front is a majestic female statue sitting on a tall stone chair, with a dazzling gem in her left hand symbolizing the guidance of light, and an Emperor’s sword in her right hand symbolizing the supreme royal power of the Ancient Sicilian Dynasty!

Thump, thump, thump, thump...

An old crone walked in, leaning on a wooden staff, her hunched back arching. Her cloudy eyes were completely white, half of her face’s skin was burned away, exposing the muscle fibers beneath, fierce and intimidating.

"The Emperor of Sicily is the strongest figure in the history of this world. A thousand years ago, the Emperor led the world’s most elite corps to ally with the Wizard World to fight against a powerful, evil invading enemy and never returned. Now, even my life is about to end."

With each step the crone took, a layer of faint yellow halo would arise beneath her feet, spirals of earth vein spiritual qi evaporated from the ground, absorbed by the deathly body, compensating the wrinkled skin.

The crone walked to the tall, thin man’s side, bowed slightly to the statue, and let out an almost inaudible sigh.

"Its roots are tearing at the spirit gathered here. Even inside the Spirit Honoring Coffin, I can no longer sustain this last breath."

The crone seemed to be explaining to the man the reason for her emergence.

Surprise faded from the sunken eyes of the man with prominent cheekbones; he spoke in a low tone: "If the Emperor of Sicily hadn’t taken away all the elites of this world without a trace, and those lord nobles hadn’t continued their wars for power, plunging the continent into chaos, allowing the Devil Tree to pass through its most vulnerable juvenile period in peace, how could the world be in such a passive state today!"

"Do you still blame the Emperor for not taking you with her back then?"

The crone perceived the sadness in the man’s words, her cloudy white eyes looking at the man, strangely mysterious.

The man said nothing, just stood quietly, looking at the majestic statue, recalling the perfect woman once in his immature eyes, who embodied wisdom, majesty, beauty, and virtue. Back then, he was just a vigorous and heroic youth, and even now, as one of the continent’s top masters, he could not forget the Emperor’s visage.

No one in this world can reach the supreme holy power level of the Emperor’s single sword penetrating mountains.

"You have misunderstood her. She was my most satisfactory disciple, with a delicate mind and exceptional wisdom. Leaving you, who had already achieved something at that time, was because she wanted to leave some hope for this world. The Sicilian Dynasty signed a Destiny Contract with the distant and powerful Wizard World that can’t be betrayed, yet the Emperor of Sicily also wanted to leave hope for the future of this world."

The rough hand, holding the sword’s hilt, tightened, and the man looked at the crone in disbelief.

"Hope? I..."

Just as he was about to say something, both of their expressions changed simultaneously, feeling the world’s tremor in horror.

From ocean trenches to vast sea surfaces, from the core’s magma to mountain peaks, from minute details to the world’s origins, it felt as though an unimaginably enormous entity had collided fiercely with this world, and the turbulent vibrations caused everything within the world to feel unsettled, as if doomsday were imminent.

"Could it be that..."

Old Ou and the man flew into the sky together. From the high sky above Grinding Cliff Mountain, they gazed at the horizon’s end, where the winds rose, clouds surged, lightning flashed, and thunder roared. The vague outline of a colossal entity could be faintly seen.

"The Emperor of Sicily!?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Both thought of that name simultaneously. According to historical records, the Emperor of Sicily’s strength had surpassed individual limits, reaching a level where every move would change the heavens and earth. Even the most exquisite technique was no match for her sword’s power, and no speed could rival her nearly infinite precision.

That had already transcended the realm of the Sword Saint, a legend revered by the ultimate sword masters in that extraordinary domain, named the Sword God!

And upon the Emperor’s violent force at the horizon’s end, there stood an incomprehensibly tall tree, thousands of meters high, extending its vigorous form, its branches and leaves vividly green, countless new life forms proliferating and evolving around it in rules entirely different from those of Sicily World.

In shock, the swordsman and crone swiftly flew towards that direction, could it truly be the Emperor of Sicily!?

......

Upon opening the true body of a thousand meters, Green peeled back the World’s Veil, overlooking the subtree of the World Tree within the world.

"Hiss... Has it already grown to such an extent!?"

Initially, hearing the World Tree’s avatar mention the seed within this Sicily World only grew to level three over a hundred years, Green hadn’t paid much attention, assuming it to be another easy task like that of an activated world, simply needing to open a world loophole for smooth success.

However, upon arriving at Sicily World across the void with the World Tree’s avatar, confidently opening this world’s veil, Green was taken by surprise under the perception of the Face of Truth!

Just the trunk of this level-three World Tree alone already possessed the volume akin to the Seven-Ring Holy Tower Tree of Life, reaching sky-high, endlessly growing all the time.

Through the Face of Truth, powerful perception penetrated the earth’s surface, revealing the World Tree’s netted roots stretching far and wide, reaching the limit of world perception. To transfer this World Tree subtree out of this world would be akin to moving out half a continent. It is a fundamentally impossible mission, even for Green now!

After a full half-hourglass of time, Green’s six black flaming arms carefully retracted from the World’s Veil, allowing the rift to heal anew. The horned head beneath the Face of Truth turned towards the avatar of the World Tree in the void.

Though the purity of energy between the two was vastly different, in terms of their carrying volumes within and outside the world, they were already extremely close.

"Is there a problem?"

The will of the World Tree inquired.

"No, this is simply an impossible mission. The volume of this World Tree subtree is far too large. I have no ability to assist it."

Seemingly prepared for this, the grand will of the World Tree avatar spoke in a deep tone: "It has yet to learn to condense and regenerate the world’s original energy. This means it’s only a tree parasitizing this world, not a World Tree or Tree World. Then... wait."