The moment Jacob stepped into the fourth level of the Tower of Taurus, a cold, refreshing breeze brushed past his body. This place seemed completely different from the volcanic forge of the third level.
When Jacob looked around, he was slightly surprised to find himself standing at the peak of a mountain, probably thousands of meters high, because around this mountain were nothing but clouds.
At this moment, he noticed something unusual. A few meters away from him was a stone altar, and in the center of this altar was a tiny emerald sprout, which was very strange because there were no plants or even a blade of grass in this place. Jacob quickly opened the cursed immortality to see what this strange trial was about.
"Level Four: The Earth Fruit of Vitality
"Challenge: Help the Earth Tree of Vitality bloom, bear the Earth Fruit of Vitality, and harvest the ripe Earth Fruit of Vitality in two hours!
"Remaining Time: 01H:59M:56S"
'What, now I need to be a horticulturist? And I only have two hours to complete this challenge?' Jacob was shocked. He didn't know there was agriscience involved in these levels, and he was stumped.
Even if he could do it, the time was simply too short because he knew this Earth Tree of Vitality was most likely that tiny sprout. He needed to help it grow up into a complete tree and then harvest this Earth Fruit of Vitality.
Jacob's mind raced as he quickly analyzed this situation. He knew that this challenge was doable since this was a trial; he just needed to find a way.
'Since it has 'vitality' in its name, could it be I need to use my vitality to help it grow? Would the cursed blood work?' Jacob thought that he had some attainment when it came to vitality.
After all, the third stage of the first phase was about robbing others of their vitality, and he was proficient in it.
Furthermore, he knew about the properties of his own cursed blood, but he still hesitated because he knew that if he used his cursed blood, he would be using his own lifespan if he didn't replenish it. That's why he didn't even test the Infinity Blood Sacrifice or Infinite Time Module because both abilities required cursed blood, and unless he had backup, he wasn't planning to touch these two abilities.
But now, he had to make a choice, and he knew this was the quickest way to complete this level.
However, at this moment, Jacob suddenly felt the mountain rumble as if something massive was coming. He quickly looked down and was astounded when he saw the cloud ring a few hundred meters below the peak, stirring. The next moment, something ran past the clouds!
It was an eight-meter-diameter dark skeleton wolf with blue flaming eyes and crimson runes etched on its dark bones. It was a dark beast of Dark Beings.
But what surprised Jacob was it wasn't the only one. After this one dark beast showed up, more and more crept out from the clouds until there were thousands of them, and they weren't showing any signs of stopping; the mountain surface was soon craving with these dark beasts; it was just like an ant hive had been provoked! Furthermore, those dark beasts were charging madly towards the mountain peak from all directions.
'They are real!' Jacob's expression was dignified when he observed with the Eyes of Judge. To his surprise, those dark beasts were all in three steps of legend rank.
'Could it be, not only I need to help this tree grow but also protect it?' Jacob's expression went grave as those beasts were quickly approaching. This was too much even for him, but he had no choice but to play along.
'My soul force is still not completely replenished, and if I use it to suppress them, I'll soon run out of it, and that wouldn't be good for me. So, I can't use it; I should use another method to get rid of them or use the Infinity Blood Sacrifice to help this damn tree proliferate…' Jacob's eyes flickered coldly as he was forced to make a choice.
At this moment, Jacob snapped out of his thoughts because a few black streaks suddenly appeared among the army of dark beasts, and in the blink of an eye, they reached the summit as if they could teleport.
The black streaks suddenly turned into pitch-black crows as dark smoke rose from their bodies. The next moment, they charged directly toward the Earth Tree of Vitality sprout!
"Hmph!" Jacob sneered coldly, and the next moment, his soul force bloomed in full power, and those dark crows instantly paused in their spots under Jacob's soul force.
Although he still ended up using the soul force, he had no choice since he was caught by surprise by their strange ability. But it was only a moment since those crows won't be able to do the same anymore.
With killing intent shining in his flaming eyes, he clenched his fist, and the next moment, those dark crows, which numbered around a hundred, were blown into smithereens. This was the power of a Fable Legendary State soul force!
Jacob quickly retracts his soul force since it is limited, and the threat is far from over. But at this moment, Jacob notices that tiny corporeal crimson marbles are scattered on the ground. They are the dark magic cores of those dark beasts.
However, at this moment, something even more astounding happened. He saw the altar below the Earth Tree of Vitality sprout suddenly lit up. The next moment, under Jacob's flabbergasted look, the dark magic cores released ethereal crimson energy flowing into the Earth Tree of Vitality. At the same time, those glistering Dark Magic Cores turned to dust. The altar stopped glowing once all the energy was absorbed!
It was like a bolt of lightning struck Jacob at this moment when he saw this scene as he looked towards the Earth Tree of Vitality's altar and then that endless stream of charging Dark Beings, realization dawn on him as his flaming eyes burn!
'Blood Vitality, Soul Vitality… how the fuck did I miss something so obvious for so long!? Didn't Dark Beings refine Life Crystals with living beings' Life Force? Life Force should contain their soul vitality as well since they would instantly die once their entire life force turned into life crystals! 'Furthermore, the Dark Beings couldn't have their lifespan or vitality for they required Life Crystals to fuel their dark flame, and the stronger the dark flames, the more chance they had to evolve…so it won't be wrong their vitality is within their dark flames which exist in their Dark Magic Cores!
'This altar had just proved it as well by directly absorbing the vitality within the dark magic core. I can't be wrong about it! How could I have missed this point about the Dark Beings and Life Crystals?! It's not like they didn't have any vitality, but it's just that they kept it in another place.
'If this altar can do something like that, shouldn't I be able to do it as well!? I have to research this!' Jacob's heart raced as he wanted to try this because this matter was too important.
Jacob was forced to calm down since he had to finish these tower levels first. Nonetheless, now that he had discovered this point, he knew how to help the Earth Tree of Vitality grow and bear the Earth Fruit of Vitality.
From the start, the correct method to achieve this was 'slaughter.' Jacob might not have been good at farming, but he was good at slaughtering!