Chapter 6475

The ancient tree was not towering or massively thick. It was only wide enough for two people to wrap their arms around. Its trunk rose straight and upright, without bend or twist. Rough, heavy bark in a deep brown covered it, and the surface was packed with dense natural markings, some deep, some shallow, all layered close together.

Those markings wound and crossed over one another in strange, countless shapes. Some tangled and twisted together like distorted human faces, each one trapped in struggle, each one crying out with pain and refusal. Others stretched long and far, like great rivers of time running across eternity, flowing without end.

Thread after thread of dim black light seeped faintly from beneath the bark’s markings. It was neither vicious nor baleful, yet it carried the heavy breath of ancient desolation, of ages settled layer upon layer.

The ancient tree’s branches were thick with leaves. Each leaf was a deep jade green, its texture warm and fine, as though it had been carefully carved by nature from flawless jade. The veins were clear, and the luster stayed restrained beneath the surface.

Under the warm sun, the leaves gave off layers of soft, gentle light. They were full of life, forming a sharp contrast with the trunk’s dark, old simplicity.

Elderheart Soulwood.