Chapter 58: Experience

Chapter 58: Experience

On the way back, Shell Woman regained her usual liveliness, chattering excitedly in Chen Shouyi's ear without pause. One moment she spoke of how many giants had died, the next she recounted how many hidden natural spirits she had discovered. She even mentioned every colossal tree and pretty little flower she spotted along the way. Having grown up on a desolate island, this experience was undoubtedly thrilling and novel for her.

Chen Shouyi paddled the canoe, towing another captured canoe behind him. He remained silent, glancing back at the distant island with a somber expression.

This operation could be considered mostly successful. Apart from the escaped canoe, the barbarians' ability to cross the sea had suffered a devastating blow. The remaining canoe could be dealt with on a future visit. Soon, the safety of the passage would be completely secured.

Yet, Chen Shouyi felt no joy. Instead, a heaviness weighed on his heart. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause—whether it was the terrifying mystical energy on the island or the unrestrained slaughter of the barbarians. Perhaps it was both.

Fortunately, he was never one to wallow in pity. Moreover, those living in this world rarely sympathized with barbarians. By the time he returned to the island, his suppressed emotions had already dissipated.

Since the fusion of Earth and the Otherworld twenty years ago, the mutual slaughter between humans and barbarians had never ceased. According to published data, approximately two million people worldwide died annually at the hands of barbarians. When combined with deaths caused by other Otherworld creatures, the toll reached nearly three million—ranking first among all unnatural causes of human mortality.

After securing the two canoes, Chen Shouyi returned to the passage. The round trip had taken nearly ten hours. In the Otherworld, it was just past noon, while on Earth, it was around 4 a.m.

His formidable Constitution meant he felt no fatigue despite staying up all night. Seeing no urgency to return, he ate some of the food he carried with him and began his training.

Assuming the stance, he practiced the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques. After just one cycle, he immediately noticed the difference between the two worlds.

On Earth, after completing a cycle, the mystical energy he sensed was faint, almost imperceptible. But here, the sensation was intense, as if his entire body was immersed in a vast, majestic force. Threads of energy seemed to weave through him, penetrating his flesh. A single cycle left him feeling rejuvenated.

"Practicing the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques in the Otherworld is this effective?" Chen Shouyi mused inwardly.

The dramatic results shocked him. Unable to resist, he opened his Attribute Panel, only to realize he had overestimated the progress. No matter how abundant the mystical energy here was, a single session couldn’t produce significant improvement.

However, his Willpower had increased by 0.1, reaching 11.9—likely a result of his experiences on the barbarian island earlier that day.

Chen Shouyi continued his training.

After practicing five times in a row, he had exhausted all his Strength, and his muscles began to twitch uncontrollably.

Gasping for breath, he collapsed onto the grass.

Staring blankly into the distance, he watched the diligent Shell Woman busily searching for gold grains on her own.

He had to admit, the mysterious creature on the barbarian island had left an immense pressure and shadow over him with the power it displayed.

That power was so terrifying that it even altered the weather and climate, completely beyond his comprehension.

He had never encountered such an existence whose mere aura could make him tremble in fear, nearly turning him to flee on the spot.

At that moment, a thought stirred in his mind, and he suddenly closed his eyes.

His consciousness entered the Gray Mist Space.

He looked up at today’s memory leaf atop the colossal tree and quickly immersed his mind into it.

...

That overwhelming aura had appeared just as he bent down to pull an arrow from a barbarian’s corpse.

The surrounding light dimmed instantly, and a fierce wind swept across the island.

From a third-person perspective, he observed everything.

It was strange—even though he wasn’t inhabiting his own body and was merely in a state of pure consciousness, he could still sense that oppressive presence.

In fact, he had long realized that the images in the Memory Space weren’t just simple memories.

For example, ordinary human eyes could only perceive two-dimensional images, with the illusion of depth created by changes in light and shadow. This was also why 3D paintings could deceive the eyes.

If something was blocked by another object, the human eye couldn’t see it at all.

Logically, if the eyes couldn’t see it, it shouldn’t appear in memory either.

But the Book of Knowledge’s Memory Space defied this logic.

The memories were still memories, seemingly no different at first glance. Yet when one immersed their mind within, they would discover that this Memory Space didn’t present memories in two dimensions but in full three-dimensional depth.

It was like a real space—he could see details that ordinary memories couldn’t reveal, and he could even inhabit other people’s bodies with his consciousness.

This far surpassed the scope of mere memory.

...

For Chen Shouyi, however, this was ultimately a good thing. He didn’t dwell on it and soon turned his attention to the island’s forest.

The so-called "sacred tree" mentioned by the barbarians should, as the name suggested, be a tree.

He wondered if he could find it within the Memory Space.

His consciousness swiftly raced forward.

Towering trees flashed past him in a blur.

The trees on this island had grown for who knew how many years—those thick enough to require two people to encircle were everywhere, and even those with diameters of three to four meters were not uncommon.

But soon, he lost interest in observing the forest.

The deeper he went, the more oppressive the aura became. The overwhelming sense of dread made him almost doubt whether this was truly his memory or a real world.

After flying about two kilometers in just over ten seconds, he suddenly stopped.

His mind trembled as he gazed ahead.

Before him stood a behemoth, hundreds of meters tall like a skyscraper, towering over the island like a crane among chickens. Its enormous canopy stretched over roughly one to two square kilometers, forming an impenetrable green net.

Suppressing the suffocating and oppressive aura radiating from it, he examined the terrifying colossal tree up close.

The emerald-like leaves shimmered with a lustrous glow under the sunlight, displaying strange phenomena. He noticed countless tiny currents of air, resembling spirit snakes, weaving and coiling between the leaves, even affecting areas far beyond. In truth, its presence was strikingly conspicuous. Even from the sea, one could spot it at a glance. It was simply too tall. Yet, from a distance, who could have imagined that this verdant forest spanning one to two square kilometers was entirely the canopy of a single tree, not a grove? At the very least, Chen Shouyi would never have considered such a possibility.

"I want to see just how powerful you really are!" Chen Shouyi muttered inwardly. Without hesitation, he focused his mind on it.

"Boom!"

It was as if a bomb had exploded in his head. Chen Shouyi instantly lost control of his senses.