177: Magical old ginkgo tree!

Gong Shiyi thought for a moment, then, without concealment, honestly said:

"I originally had seventeen of these leaves. However, the others have all been used, and now only these three remain."

"As for the process of obtaining the leaves, I was actually planning to tell it to you, esteemed sir, as a price."

"In my hometown, there is a very ancient Ginkgo Tree."

"According to my grandfather, the Old Ginkgo Tree already existed in the time of my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather."

"On the first day of the apocalypse, my son died unexpectedly, and my heart was filled with unbearable grief. After burying his body, I prepared to end my own life."

"However, when I climbed the Old Ginkgo Tree, preparing to tie the noose, I suddenly felt a daze and found myself from the tree to the ground."

"I climbed up several times, repeatedly falling into a daze."

"Later, I thought I had encountered some Secret Realm."

"After various explorations, I still had no idea how to enter the 'Secret Realm'."

"Finally, I leaned against the tree, dejected and despairing."

"It was then that, for me, a miracle occurred!"

"I seemed to hear the sound of wind chimes, and I also seemed to feel the afternoon sun, the croaking of frogs, and the chirping of cicadas…"

"That feeling was very peculiar, as if you were recalling some vague memories hidden deep within your consciousness, which you had not deliberately tried to preserve."

"Then your entire consciousness became hazy and blurred."

"At that time, I seemed to hear the rustling of the Old Ginkgo Tree's branches and leaves."

"When I regained normal consciousness, more than a dozen ginkgo leaves had fallen all around me."

"I instantly realized the abnormality of those leaves."

"Because at that time, the leaves growing on the Ginkgo Tree were all golden yellow, warm like sunlight."

"Only the seventeen fallen leaves were a fresh green."

"So, I spent time experimenting and researching, and finally discovered the secret of the ginkgo leaves."

"Later, I also thought about picking more ginkgo leaves."

"But the golden ginkgo leaves on the Ginkgo Tree had no effect at all. I also didn't know how to obtain more green ginkgo leaves."

Gong Shiyi's story about the Old Ginkgo ended here.

Lin Chuan listened with great interest, and some surprising and shocking conjectures arose in his heart!

He had heard in his previous life.

The arrival of the Killing Game brought all sorts of strange equipment and items to this world.

But in addition to those foreign items.

A very small portion of some indigenous things in this world also mutated!

For example, a certain ancestral bracelet turned into a dimensional bracelet.

A unique space with mountains and water was opened inside, where one could raise chickens and farm.

Another example is someone's mirror mutating, allowing them to have an extra mirror clone without needing a Talent!

These strange things, originally existing in the native world but gaining magical abilities after the apocalypse, were called "Exotic Treasures" by players, meaning mutated treasures.

Exotic Treasures varied in strength.

The strong ones could even surpass artifacts!

The weak ones could be even worse than the most basic white-grade equipment.

However, the use of Exotic Treasures required recognizing a master.

But the way Exotic Treasures recognized masters was not like the equipment given by the Killing Game, which was bound by the system after dripping blood.

The method of recognizing a master for each Exotic Treasure was different, requiring players to explore it themselves.

However, one thing was certain—

The pre-apocalypse owner of an Exotic Treasure had a greater chance of gaining its recognition as a master.

When Lin Chuan heard Gong Shiyi's description of the Old Ginkgo Tree.

The words "Exotic Treasure" immediately floated in his mind!

If it was truly an Exotic Treasure…

Then the Old Ginkgo Tree was the only living Exotic Treasure Lin Chuan had known in both his lives!

And its ability was extremely powerful!

It could influence "time"!

The Old Ginkgo Tree gifted Gong Shiyi seventeen ginkgo leaves.

In a sense, it was a form of acknowledgment for Gong Shiyi.

But later, Gong Shiyi was unable to obtain green ginkgo leaves from the Ginkgo Tree again.

This indicated that the Old Ginkgo Tree had not truly recognized Gong Shiyi as its master.

It had merely helped the desperate Gong Shiyi as a "friend" rather than a "servant."

And even with just the simplest help, it allowed Gong Shiyi to join the ranks of world-class powerhouses!

If someone could gain the Old Ginkgo Tree's recognition…

Lin Chuan swallowed.

Calming his agitated emotions, he continued to ask Gong Shiyi for more details about the Old Ginkgo Tree.

Time passed quickly.

Terao had previously said their meeting would last two hours.

But when the meeting actually ended, it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon.

The players' actual meeting time was only a little over an hour.

Soon, two o'clock was approaching.

Beside Gong Shiyi, there was an extra child, his son Gong Mian.

This was not easy to explain to outsiders and could easily make Gong Mian a target for those with ulterior motives, using him as Gong Shiyi's weakness.

So, Lin Chuan experienced the feeling of being a father coaxing a child for the first time.

He coaxed Gong Mian until he had no guard against him, and then, with Gong Shiyi's cooperation, he used the Death Seal on Gong Mian.

The Talent of the Death Seal was plundered from Zhong Qinger's corpse in this world.

With Lin Chuan's ability, he could seal a person for 24 hours.

During this period, Gong Shiyi could place the sealed Gong Mian into his dimensional ring for safekeeping.

After completing all this, the two then left the room, deliberately went their separate ways, and returned to the conference room at different times.

Soon, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the new meeting began again.

The seats in the conference room were still the same.

Everyone noticed that after more than an hour, Terao, who reappeared before them, had changed a lot!

His entire demeanor, spirit, and even the way he looked at people had changed!

He appeared more aloof, and from time to time, a joy he tried hard to hide would show on his face.

Everyone speculated—

Terao's change must be related to the strategy Lin Chuan gave him!

This made the strong individuals present even more restless and eager to know what strategy Lin Chuan had given Terao!

However, they had no chance to contact Lin Chuan when the meeting adjourned earlier.

Now that the meeting was in session again, they naturally had even less access to him.

Terao's expression was no longer as grim as before.

When he proactively shared about the World Sovereignty Secret Realm, his tone was also enthusiastic and joyful—

"Time is pressing, so I won't waste words here and will get straight to the point!"

"The World Sovereignty Secret Realm has a total of five stages!"

"The first and second stages are purely welfare stages. I will explain the specific strategies in detail once we enter the Secret Realm!"

He was about to continue when someone below suddenly interrupted: "Wait! Esteemed sir, are you sure we won't be separated after entering the Secret Realm?"

Terao nodded with great certainty: "As long as we all come from the same world and the number of people exceeds one hundred, the World Ranking will be activated, and we will experience the Secret Realm together. After all, we are a collective and must jointly contend for World Sovereignty!"

When he said this, the others nodded, agreeing for him to continue.

"The third stage is the Underwater Mirror Maze. In this stage, we will enter different mazes and will not be able to communicate. To avoid unexpected situations, I will first briefly explain the strategy for the Mirror Maze here, and everyone should remember it!"