Chapter 1 The Maturation

In the quiet inner courtyard of Athens, the moment Shifeng took out the seedling of the Tree of Life, the magic power of the entire courtyard seemed to go berserk, frantically converging toward the seedling in Shifeng's hand.

The seedling of the Tree of Life seemed to come alive, allowing Shifeng to clearly feel its pulse. Moreover, the aura of life it exuded was visible to the naked eye. The emerald green color caused the surrounding flowers and plants to grow wildly.

"Finally!" Shifeng looked at the vibrant seedling of the Tree of Life and couldn't help but breathe a deep sigh of relief.

If it hadn't worked, he would have had to give up on nurturing the Tree of Life and wait until Shilin City was promoted to a main city before trying again. There were no other possibilities.

However, it was no easy task for a guild city to be promoted to a main city. Not only did the guild need sufficient strength, but it also required a lot of time to manage the city.

Immediately, Shifeng planted the seedling of the Tree of Life directly in the center of the courtyard.

The entire inner courtyard had been specially designed by Shifeng, leaving a patch of soil in the center specifically for the Tree of Life. It was surrounded by pools of water, which were engraved with energy-gathering magic arrays and inlaid with many magic crystals. This kept the pools full of rich magic power at all times. The daily consumption of magic crystals was about two hundred, to supply the daily needs of the Tree of Life. This was considered the standard configuration for major superpowers to cultivate the Tree of Life in his previous life.

If he didn't have the Philosopher's Stone, just the cost of these magic crystals would be enough to drive people crazy. It could be said that the Tree of Life was simply not something ordinary forces could cultivate.

As soon as Shifeng finished planting, the air in the entire courtyard suddenly trembled.

In an instant, the quiet and cold courtyard became hot and dry. Even Shifeng, as a Tier 3 class, felt a wave of heat rushing toward him.

After this situation lasted for two or three seconds, the seedling of the Tree of Life visibly grew into a large emerald tree that took two or three people to hug.

The moment the emerald tree formed, a rich aura of life directly spread throughout the courtyard, not only making the entire courtyard verdant and lush, but also making it indescribably warm. The entire courtyard completely lost its previous quiet feeling, instead giving people a bright and sunny sensation.

"Is this the effect of a Sacred Object Fragment?" Shifeng was secretly shocked as he looked at the changes in the courtyard.

Just planting it had filled the entire courtyard with an aura of life, and the concentration was unbelievably high.

Being here not only allowed the strange energy in his body to dissipate quickly, but also made him feel incomparably clear-headed.

This clarity was different from the cold and emotionless calmness brought by magic power in the past. Now, his mind was simply very clear, as if everything in his mind had a clear path, knowing what he should do and what to do.

If players were to comprehend combat techniques here, it would be extremely helpful in improving them. After all, combat techniques were not like magic skills. They required players to have a clear understanding of them in order to better execute and practice them.

"It's a pity that although the effect is good, it cannot be easily shown to others," Shifeng said with a wry smile as he looked at the Tree of Life in the center of the courtyard.

The Tree of Life had already taken root in the courtyard. Any player who came here could discover it. As long as they used an observation skill, they could find that it was a Sacred Object Fragment. If the news were to spread, not to mention players, even those NPC forces would not let Zero Wing off. They would definitely try to snatch it.

Unless Zero Wing had the strength to contend against NPC forces, the only outcome would be death if the news leaked out. There were no other possibilities.

Even so, Shifeng was quite satisfied. After all, his initial goal was not the extra effects brought by the Tree of Life, but the items it produced.

Whether it was the Water of Life or the Core of Life, they were both items he urgently needed now, especially the Fruit of Life, which was produced every seven days. That was a divine object for nurturing NPCs and players.

All he needed to do next was to wait quietly for the Tree of Life to continuously produce these items.

"Qingxue, how are things arranged on your side?" After dealing with the Tree of Life, Shifeng couldn't help but contact Bai Qingxue.

"Everything is in place. As for the city entry fee, after discussing it, we feel that we can adjust the price to twenty silver coins. Anyway, the players who can come to the level 100 neutral map are all experts, so they should be able to afford this price," Bai Qingxue said.

Previously, when the entry fee was ten silver coins per person, Shilin City was still overcrowded. Now that Shilin City had been promoted to an Intermediate City, not to mention the concentration of magic power in the city, the NPC merchant missions alone saved players a lot of time and money.

In their opinion, even if the price was doubled now, not only would the number of people in Shilin City not decrease, but it would increase sharply. After all, the benefits that those NPC merchant missions brought to players were considerable. Otherwise, so many expert players wouldn't stubbornly stay in NPC cities to develop.

"Twenty silver coins, you guys are really ruthless." Shifeng couldn't help but smile wryly as he looked at Bai Qingxue's expression, which seemed to indicate that the price was still a bit low. "This price is indeed not a loss for the players entering the city, but we need to develop Zero Wing as much as possible now, so we need Shilin City to attract a large number of expert players. Ordinary expert players all have their own small groups, and these small groups are not without players who are not very good. If these players cannot survive in Shilin City, their expert friends probably won't come to Shilin City either."

The current Shilin City was much larger than before. Even accommodating seven or eight million players was not much of a problem. There was no longer a need to restrict ordinary players from entering Shilin City for development like before. After all, the more players a city had, the more prosperous it would be, and the more NPCs it would attract, especially NPCs of other races.

Zero Wing could travel back and forth between the two continents. Making money was no longer the most important thing. Improving Zero Wing's strength as much as possible was the most important thing. Currently, the number of people in Zero Wing who had advanced to Tier 3 classes was becoming more and more stable. If they wanted to increase it significantly in a short period of time, they could only absorb more new expert players.

"Then is it still ten silver coins?" Bai Qingxue asked, feeling that it made sense.

Previously, many of those who came to Shilin City were expert players from various forces and players from well-known adventure groups. There were very few truly free experts, but because Shilin City could only accommodate so many players, they didn't care too much about it.

Now that the levels of mainstream players had reached level 100, in order for Zero Wing to recruit more experts and produce more Tier 3 classes, it was indeed not appropriate to set the city entry fee too high.

"No, change the entry fee to the lowest, five silver coins," Shifeng said.

"Five silver coins?" Bai Qingxue was stunned.

Now that Shilin City had been promoted to an Intermediate City, maintaining the original price for the entry fee would already be very good. If it was changed to the lowest five silver coins for an Intermediate City, it was unimaginable what Shilin City would become.

"Yes, just five silver coins," Shifeng nodded. "It's time for Zero Wing to change."

Afterward, Shifeng asked Bai Qingxue to adjust the entry fee for Shilin City to five silver coins and open up Shilin City.

Outside Shilin City, the various forces and free players waiting in the forest were like ants on a hot pot, making various guesses about the promoted Shilin City.

"Zero Wing isn't really going to make us wait outside for a day, is it?"

"That's probably impossible. The entry fees from so many of us would be enough to make the various forces jealous. How could Zero Wing let it go?"

"Look! Shilin City is open!"