Chapter 1321 Secret and Pursuit

In the bright star s.p.a.ce, Han Xiao’s figure was speeding away.

“So, that’s what happened. Information Form alert…”

Thinking back to the information he had just received, Han Xiao’s expression was grave.

Barbani had told him quite a lot of secrets, including the Information Form warning networks, high-dimensional information vision, and so on. Han Xiao finally knew how the other party had discovered him, and he could not help but have a headache.

Unless he possessed Information Form technology that surpa.s.sed the World Tree, such detection methods were almost impossible to solve. No wonder the three Universal Civilizations had exposed themselves so quickly. It was indeed difficult for outsiders to do anything in the World Tree Civilization’s territory.

When he triggered the alert, it should have been because he had observed the earth yellow planet and the World Tree Root at a close distance. As an outsider, he had interacted with the World Tree Civilization’s information gathering, so he had been discovered. That was why the Holy Tree Emissary had come to check, using his high-dimensional information vision to track the traces he had left behind. Even with the mark of Destiny’s Child, it was not effective in completely s.h.i.+elding him.

It was like having an extremely strong sixth sense. Anyone looking at him would allow him to be able to sense the direction of their gaze, and it might even be able to allow him to pinpoint their position.

“This won’t be easy. I don’t think I’ll have a chance to complete this mission…”

Most importantly, as long as the alarm was not triggered, the World Tree would not be able to detect it even if he left a trace.

However, now that he had been discovered, the World Tree Emissaries could follow the traces and track him. Under such circ.u.mstances, if he used the energy of Destiny’s Child to encircle the area, he was worried that he would be discovered by the high-dimensional information vision, and this would make it inconvenient for him to even leave a Throne behind.

According to the system of the Information Form Alert Net, it was not impossible to avoid it. As long as he had the awareness to avoid the interaction of information and only flew within the barren universe, not coming into contact with anything related to the World Tree, it was still possible to hide. Just like when he first teleported over, there was no information entanglement, so the World Tree did not discover it.

However, this was easier said than done. At the very least, the alarm had already been triggered this time, so there was basically no chance to hide anymore.

As for the other secrets, Barbani had also told him some of them. Some of them were already known by Han Xiao, and some were unknown to him.

The most important thing to him was the ability of the World Tree to sense the external locations where there was information about it. The more people who knew about it, or the deeper the conflict between the two sides, the more accurate the directions to the explored universe would be. This was not good. “Although the three Universal Civilizations hid the information, they still let a portion of their people know about this in order to explore in secret… If we don’t take further measures to keep it a secret, the number of people who know will only increase.” Han Xiao’s eyes twitched.

The more one knew, the easier it would be to sense them. The World Tree’s anti-tracking ability was too troublesome.

It was a pity that this information did not contain the coordinates of the World Tree’s main body. According to Barbani, he had never read any related information in the mind network. None of the Holy Tree Emissaries or upper echelons that he had come into contact with knew anything about it either.

Even so, the value of this intelligence exceeded all the results of the previous explorations. It was probably the biggest gain of this trip. Only after uncovering the various methods of the World Tree could they take measures against it.

“Luckily, virtual purification is effective. Otherwise, I would not have been able to obtain these secrets.”

Han Xiao thought that he was lucky. The intelligence that he had now exceeded that of his previous life.

After witnessing Barbani’s resolute action, he realized that the effect of virtual purification might be beyond his expectations. There were many foreign races that had been a.s.similated by the World Tree. If everyone received the same awakening through purification, they could all become potential spies.

The World Tree would definitely target this move once it was prepared. Once someone ‘lost control’, it would immediately rewrite their mind and cause the duration of the virtual purification to plummet. However, at the very least, they should be able to have some time for self-destruction. This way, the foreign experts that the World Tree devoured might not be of any use.

However, the emissaries of the World Tree would not completely die. Once one died, they would turn into a seed and return to the World Tree, falling into a deep slumber. The World Tree could consume resources and time to mature the seed, allowing them to reawaken and revive. The mechanism was somewhat similar to the Underworld, but there were also subtle differences.

The foundation of an Underworld Spirit’s existence was its soul. By obtaining a physical body, it could recover its combat power. As long as the Hero Spirit existed, it did not matter if its body died because it was still ‘alive’.

The revival mechanism of the World Tree was different. It was an information-type ability, and every individual was unique. Because of the World Tree’s connection, the information was refreshed in real time. When an individual died, they would not be able to maintain their consciousness like Hero Spirits, and their thoughts would become dormant as though they had really died, turning into ‘seeds’. Only when the World Tree replenished their nutrients could they be revived.

From this perspective, the revival of the World Tree and the Sanctums had similarities. However, the revival of the Sanctums only required the activation of the Sanctum and did not require additional resources and time. The revival of the World Tree required a lot of resources and time, which meant that as long as one died, they would not be able to revive in a short period of time.

Han Xiao could not help but think of the ‘military barracks’ of the strategy games he played in his previous life. The production units needed to be trained, and the stronger the unit, the longer it would take.

“The revival principles of the World Tree and the Sanctums are related to the information form, but there is a unique principle. What will happen if the Sanctums revive the expert that has been devoured by the World Tree first? Will the connection still exist?”

Han Xiao could not help but be curious.

If it was possible, the Sanctum Revival might be able to continuously take away the powerhouses controlled by the World Tree, causing the strength of both parties to even out.

However, the possibility of failure could not be ruled out. After all, the individual had a symbiotic relations.h.i.+p with the World Tree, so even if the individual died, as long as the individual’s information form template still existed, the individual who died might be judged by the Sanctum as still alive. That way, they would not be able to revive and would forever be enslaved.

Furthermore, according to the mechanism of the World Tree, Han Xiao even suspected that the World Tree was like the previous owner of the Underworld, keeping the information form of his subordinates and not allowing them to enter the Sanctum. Thus, there was no way for them to revive.

Han Xiao pondered. “For now, I can only guess. I’ll only know if I try it myself… Hmm, but it’s not convenient to take the risk now.”

Since Barbani was dead, Han Xiao did not want to take the risk of using the Sanctum Revival. If the connection between the World Tree was not broken because of this, it would bring many more risks. This could be tested after the war broke out. At that time, he would not have to worry about being discovered.

All kinds of thoughts flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. After digesting the new information, he opened the interface.

The mission (Nowhere to Hide] that he had triggered previously had been completed, and he immediately collected the rewards.

A notification popped up on his interface, showing that he had received 210,000,000 EXP, two Random Reward chances, and a Barbani Character Summon Card. However, the card was an offensive skill and was not very useful to him.

Other than that, it also indicated that the Favorability of the World Tree Faction had greatly decreased. At the same time, a new mission was activated.

You have triggered the urgent mission: World Tree’s Rage!

Mission Introduction: Your actions angered the World Tree, and it sees you as a huge threat. It has decided to launch a large-scale operation to hunt you down.

Mission Requirements: Face the pursuers and escape from the territory of the World Tree Civilization.

Reward depends on mission rating. Mission rating depends on the amount of resistance put forth while escaping.

Remarks: The moment you activate this mission, it means that the World Tree has remembered you. No matter when it discovers you, it will hunt you down. This will take effect permanently.

“Heh, I really poked a hornet’s nest.”

Han Xiao clicked his tongue.

It seemed that the virtual purification had left a deep impression on the World Tree, and it saw him as the number one threat. As long as he was discovered, the World Tree would immediately chase after him.

The mission itself was very simple. If he wanted to escape, he could just use the King suit to escape. However, the rating depended on resistance. If he completed the mission so easily, he would probably get the lowest rating He did not have a chance to complete his original mission this time, so he could only come again at some point. However, Han Xiao thought for a while and did not plan to retreat immediately.

Since he had been discovered, he might as well use virtual purification to obtain more intelligence and kill some of the World Tree powerhouses at the same time, allowing them to return to their seed state and temporarily reduce the World Tree’s advanced combat power. It was a pity that he did not know what would happen to the connection between the World Tree and the individual after the s.p.a.cetime Amber sealed the target. He did not dare take the risk at the moment, afraid that he would be remotely located after taking the amber away.

“However, this is the enemy’s base camp after all. There are many strong people here, and there are many factors that can threaten me. If I treat this too casually, I’m afraid I’ll fail.”

Han Xiao calmed himself down and took out bombs that were specially used to remove traces. As he sped forward, he set them up along the way.

This type of bomb could remove the usual traces of information form, other than the high-dimensional information forms, preventing the information form from being read by the Information Form Camera.

Setting up these bombs could also expand the area that the World Tree Army could not detect, which was beneficial to him.

Behind Han Xiao was a huge fleet in pursuit.

In the command room, a group of Beyond Grade As looked out the window, using the power of the World Tree to light up the high-dimensional information traces.

“The outsiders have begun to eliminate their traces on a large scale. The other party already knows about the existence of the Information Form Camera from Barbani’s mouth. This is most likely a targeted measure… Send more people to search the area to prevent the outsiders from leaving anything behind.”

The tall figure standing at the front slowly spoke with an unquestionable tone. Everyone present followed his lead.

Tedrian, a Nine Leaf Executive Officer, was in charge of this chase and was the highest ranked person present.

There were five Great Tree Kings in the World Tree, and each of them had two Executive Officers who were ranked from One Leaf to Ten Leaf.

The Tree Kings were usually in a deep sleep, absorbing the power of the World Tree to strengthen themselves. Therefore, these Executive Officers were the highest Executive Officers who dealt with the affairs of the World Tree Civilization. Not only did they have a high position and authority, they also had powerful personal strength. None of the Executive Officers under the Kings were below the pinnacle Beyond Grade A level.

Other than him, there were other pinnacle Beyond Grade As in the room.

“If we just chase from behind, it will be easy for the other party to escape. I’ve already informed some Holy Tree Emissaries to use their roots to intercept them,” a person beside him said with a deep voice. This was a high-level Holy Tree Emissary. He had a deeper connection with the World Tree, as well as stronger personal strength. He was far from what Barbani could compare to.

“There seems to be only one outsider. He’s very strong, at least at the level of an executive officer. Be careful not to let him ambush you,” another person said. This time, it was an ancestral spirit. This ident.i.ty was usually responsible for matters related to faith.

The person who spoke was not an ordinary ancestral spirit but a member of the Thirteen Ancestral Spirits’. This represented the strongest thirteen of the ancestral spirits, all of which were at the pinnacle of Beyond Grade A.

“Don’t worry, His Excellency Tree King has been paying attention. If the situation isn’t right, he will come personally,” Tedrian replied coldly before looking back.

“Barbani was bewitched by others, but there are no weak-minded people who are following me in this pursuit. I hope all of you can resist the strange bewitching methods of the outsiders.”

Everyone nodded.

Although the World Tree did not know the theory behind the virtual purification, it felt threatened when it saw the performance of Barbani through the mental network.

To be on the safe side, the people who were sent to chase after the World Tree were all individuals who were loyal to the World Tree. There were no ‘outsiders’ who had their mindset overwritten.