【System, I choose the second evolution path】
Since he was already being manipulated anyway, Lin Mu decided not to resist.
Whether it was the World Tree or the Demonic God Tree evolution path, as long as it made him stronger, that was all that mattered.
Staying by Jiang Che's side was the fastest way for him to grow.
【Ding! Host has made a selection. Your evolutionary branch will now progress toward the Evil God path—an unknown road of evolution...】
Lin Mu's system interface shifted from its original transparent hue to a blood-red color, accompanied by faint, terrifying whispers.
"Holy shit, don't scare me like that!"
Lin Mu was startled by the system, even shivering involuntarily.
【Injecting Evil God evolution factor... Altering host genetic template...】
An inexplicable force surged into Lin Mu's body.
An indescribable sensation instantly wracked him with agony, causing his massive trunk—dozens of meters thick—to tremble violently.
His lush green leaves and branches withered in an instant, and even the trunk and roots shriveled up.
Every branch quivered as if granted life.
This bizarre transformation caught the attention of many at the Cultivator Academy.
...
Deep within the academy, Jiang Yunhuang and others were conversing with the envoys from the Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens.
The Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens placed immense importance on Jiang Che's Celestial Physique, sending over a dozen Divine Transformation Realm cultivators to the mortal world.
"Brother Yunhuang, here’s a little token of appreciation from me. Please accept it..." An elder from the Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens stuffed a large bag of spirit stones into Jiang Yunhuang's arms.
Jiang Yunhuang: "..."
How pragmatic—already resorting to bribery?
Because of Jiang Che's existence, these elders from the Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens were all acting uncharacteristically humble.
None of them dared to flaunt their seniority, and even those with higher cultivation realms were shamelessly buttering him up.
But damn... it felt good!
Just as Jiang Yunhuang was happily collecting gifts, the entire Cultivator Academy suddenly began to tremble.
"It's fine, it's fine. The Blue Star's territory is expanding—earthquakes are common now."
"Wrong!!! This isn’t an earthquake!" A Third-Step Divine Transformation expert from the Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens abruptly stood up.
Activating his divine sense, he quickly pinpointed the anomaly.
"Hmm? That tree demon at the entrance is advancing again?"
The others also directed their divine senses toward it.
"This tree demon's evolution path... seems extremely unusual. The aura it’s emitting... feels like the demonic seeds from the Netherworld."
"Could it be a reincarnated demon tree from the Netherworld?"
"Regardless, we must eliminate it immediately!"
In the next moment, all the Divine Transformation cultivators vanished.
...
Lin Mu was in agony. The second evolution path wasn’t as straightforward as he’d imagined.
【Ding! Host has successfully scammed the Son of Destiny ‘Lin Mu,’ earning 4 million Scam Points】
While Lin Mu was agonizing over his future evolution, several figures had already appeared above him.
"Truly the visage of a great demon. This tree demon... cannot be left alive."
The leader, a Third-Step Divine Transformation expert, frowned coldly.
"Wait, this tree demon seems to harbor sinister energy?"
"Sinister energy?"
Clearly, these Divine Transformation experts from the Jiang Clan of the Nine Heavens were far more knowledgeable than locals like Jiang Yunhuang and Jiang Che.
"Why would sinister beings appear in the mortal world?"
"No matter. Kill it! While this abomination is still only at the Sky Shattering Realm, we must act now, or it’ll become an unstoppable calamity!"
Their relaxed expressions vanished as they channeled their magic power, even forming a sealing array.
"Brother Yunhuang, this is a sinister tree demon. It must be eradicated, or it will eventually bring disaster to the entire mortal world."
Jiang Chusheng spoke gravely.
Jiang Yunhuang: "..."
Honestly, he was baffled.
This little sapling had been brought by Jiang Che not long ago and planted in the spirit field.
Though its growth rate was absurd—going from a sapling to a towering tree in just a month—it wasn’t entirely unexpected, given the spiritual revival. All sorts of monsters were emerging these days.
But yesterday, the tree was thriving. How had it turned into this monstrous thing overnight?
Jiang Yunhuang looked down. The massive, withered trunk was now inscribed with eerie runes, its branches transformed into pitch-black vine-like tentacles spewing thick black smoke. It was clearly no ordinary plant.
By now, Lin Mu had fully completed the Evil God genetic template transformation.
With his newfound power, he immediately sensed the figures floating above him.
【Devour them! Devour them! Devouring them will make you stronger, hehehe~~~】
The system began frantically prompting him.
Lin Mu: "..."
Even though he’d embarked on the path of Evil God evolution, Lin Mu was still a coward at heart.
【System, you want me to fight multiple Divine Transformation experts? Are you insane, or am I?】
【Insane... insane! Yes, it’s me, hehehe—】
Lin Mu: "..."
Great. Even the damn system had lost its mind. Was this because he’d chosen the second evolution path, dragging the system down with him?
But why wasn’t he going mad?
The more Lin Mu thought about it, the more unnerved he became.
Seeing the terrifying Divine Transformation experts above, he immediately surrendered without hesitation.
Transmitting his thoughts, he pleaded, "Honored lords, spare me! I’m Young Master Jiang’s subordinate. Even when beating a dog, one must consider its master..."
After his Evil God transformation, Lin Mu’s massive body had become far more agile. To save his life, he groveled desperately, bending his hundred-meter-tall trunk and pressing all his branches and vines to the ground.
Utterly pathetic.
If you mess with Lin Mu, you’re kicking a lump of cotton!
"Hmm? Young Master Jiang’s subordinate?" Jiang Chusheng frowned.
In the Nine Heavens, sinister beings were terrifying entities rumored to originate from beyond the heavens—far more dreadful than demonic cultivators.
"Pfft. Would Young Master Jiang take in a sinister creature like you? How terrifying... A Half-Step Divine Transformation abomination already possesses such intelligence."
"Audacious fiend, I can tell at a glance you’re no ordinary being!"
Lin Mu: "..."
Just as disaster loomed, Jiang Yunhuang stepped in.
"This tree demon was indeed brought into the Jiang Clan by my grandson. But I’ve no idea why it mutated into such a monstrous form!"
Hearing Jiang Yunhuang speak up for him, Lin Mu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Saved!
As expected, nothing else worked—in the end, it all came down to Young Master Jiang!
What a useless system. Sounded impressive, but when it counted, it was utterly worthless.
"That’s right! You have to believe me... I’m just an ordinary guy who transmigrated into a tree demon and bound with a Tree God Evolution System. I’ve already explained all this to Young Master Jiang..."
Lin Mu blurted out all his secrets in one go.
A system?
Such things weren’t rare anymore. The Cultivator Academy alone had dozens of system users.
"Ah! So you’ve bound with a system!"
"The Tree God Evolution System? In the Nine Heavens, beings honored with the title of 'God'... are exceedingly rare."
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
