Under the clear sky, it was the brightest sunshine since spring.
By Brags River, this is the scene that should be seen around April and May. The lush meadows extended all the way to the end of the river beach; the forest was filled with verdant trees, and at the turn of the golden river, one could vaguely see a waterwheel or a sawmill.
The water was crystal clear, flowing past the pebbles on both banks, along with the wind from the Songshan Mountains, sent downstream to the Vieiro Region. But for the locals, this river seems to flow like an endless poem, encapsulating the wisdom of the ages.
Brand felt the same way, walking along the riverbank and listening to the sounds of the forest. There were bears in the forest, but they were hard to spot. In one of his memories, this was his grandfather’s favorite place to take him. But in another memory, this area was his most familiar newbie zone. The forest had animals of several levels; the bear was the local boss, dropping a high-quality leather.
Two memories intertwined in his mind, blending together.
The third memory was about the Golden Magic Tree——
Looking at this familiar scenery, his thoughts involuntarily returned to a few minutes ago:
"Frey, Romantic. I’ll make this short, you should have already noticed; to be able to control so many Demon Servants and offspring through mind control——the true ability of the Golden Magic Tree lies in the power of the mind."
"Romantic, don’t interrupt."
"Yes, the power of the mind. Peering into thoughts, remote mind control, creating mysterious illusions, imprisoning souls." Brand answered, "In fact, when we are dealing with the Magic Tree People, the Golden Magic Tree has already started to affect our thoughts because it has been dreaming a long dream, which will soon become one with you and me."
"Yes, soon we will each enter our own dream world. You will see some incredible things there, but before that, I have some key points I must tell you..."
Brand pointed to the center of the valley; there, the Golden Magic Tree was becoming more beautiful in their eyes. Its branches seemed to spread out in all directions, exuding vibrant vitality—this was the dream of the Golden Tree extending into the real world.
In the game, the Shepherd Tree Man bestowed the Golden Tree with Divine Blood, causing it to awaken, but also trapping these Elf Holy Trees in an eternal dream. These dreams were fragments and snippets of a dark world, and even a fleeting gaze from a mortal would drive them insane.
A single fragment of these dreams is fatal to players; once involved, they could lose their lives at any time. Yet, to fight the Golden Magic Tree, one must enter its dream.
This will be the first stage of the battle against the Golden Magic Tree, illusion. Originally, this stage of the battle was unanimously considered the hardest by players in the game, but the guild called ’Mutian’ used a clever method to solve this problem.
This method was a little-known secret earlier, but Brand happened to come from a time when it had already spread widely among players.
And as luck would have it, he just happened to have the resources to complete this plan with him.
But these were not enough——
Because when the first stage ended, the second stage battle in reality would rely on real Strength to determine the victory. This stage was relatively simple in the game, but on the contrary, for Brand and his party, it was somewhat difficult to complete.
The reason was simple, in the game players entering this instance were generally level 25 or above, but the highest level among the three at this moment was Brand at only 10, even with the help of excellent Equipment, it would be hard to finish the battle within fifteen minutes before the Withered Beast herd arrived.
That’s why as soon as Brand grasped the Destiny Card: Holy Sword, he immediately set his sights on the Golden Magic Tree. Because with the right use of the Destiny Card, all conditions to kill the Golden Magic Tree seemed to be met.
"Key points?" Frey’s voice pulled him back to reality.
Brand was momentarily dazed, then nodded: "Since it’s the dream of the Golden Magic Tree entering our dream, you must remember that you are the masters of this dream. Therefore, no matter how it constructs the dream, no matter how fierce the beasts it creates, they won’t exceed your limits——"