Tokyo, Mt. Arana.

In the mountains, about 40 kilometers from the center of Tokyo, several people are walking along the mountain trails accompanied by a guide.

"This is Mt. Arana Mountain, and it looks very deep and secluded, right? Mt. Arana, the largest mountain in the vicinity of Tokyo, is a mountainous mountain that is inaccessible to the people, with dense forests and steep terrain that has been used by many explorers......

“…… And it's not just mountaineers buried in the mountain - Mt. Arana also has a name, which is 'Buried God Mountain'. ”

"Burying the Sacred Mountain?"

Some of the tourists wondered.

"That's right."

The guide nodded.

"Hundreds of thousands of years ago, there were many farmland villages at the foot of Mt. Arana, and people gathered for it, and Shinto beliefs were born. At that time, the villagers had a belief in the gods with different names on this barren mountain, and they worshipped in the mountain at the same time. At its peak, there are hundreds of shrines in Arainayama at the same time, and the incense is extremely vigorous......

“…… However, as the times changed, these villages fell into ruin, and the villagers gradually moved away, and Mt. Arana became a barren mountain, and those Shinto beliefs also declined. The existence of those shrines is only meaningful to folklorists and Shintoists. Without the support of faith, the gods who had been worshipped were forgotten, and the mountain became the 'Buried God Mountain' – a mountain range where the shrine was buried and a mountain range where the gods were buried......"

The guide gushed endlessly, and at this moment, something suddenly floated by in the corner of his eye.

- Could it be that the forgotten and buried gods in this mountain range can't help but show up when they hear what they say?

"How is that possible!"

The tour guide himself was amused by this thought of his own.

He put aside his doubts and continued to tell the tourists, going forward to visit Mt. Araina, and complete his own work.

……

In the depths of Mt. Arana, a place hidden by dense bushes.

Just like the legendary "land of demons", the red paint on the torii gate has been completely eroded, and even half of it has collapsed, and when you look down from the outside to the inside, you can only see the half-collapsed appearance of the main house of the shrine, like a portal to the strange world.

If it were in other parallel planes with extraordinary powers, I am afraid that this place would become a place where demons are entrenched, and places where ghosts and gods are wreaking havoc.

But Xi Gu knew that in this world, where there was no supernatural power other than himself, and his own derivatives, the so-called demons and ghosts were nonsense.

So without any hesitation, he stepped in.

When I came to the door of the main house of the shrine, I looked at the blurred text on the stone monument that was about to be rusted by the wind and rain.

Even though the words had been rusted and unrecognizable, Xi Gu's eyes were open enough to discern the changes in the molecules, and according to the traces on the stone tablet, he could easily restore the record on it in his mind.

"Suen Imperial Shrine...... The place of Hachiman, the wood of spring. Bless the households, the wind and rain are smooth......"

"I see, the object of faith in this shrine is actually the thousand-year-old tree behind the shrine?"

The account written in ancient Japanese was completely grasped by Xi Gu, and a look of clarity appeared on his face.

For Xi Gu today, the evolution level of more than 380 not only made his physical strength reach a level unimaginable to humans, but also raised his brain's computing power and memory to an unprecedented level.

Although it was the first time he had seen this passage in ancient Japanese, it only took him a moment to restore the original meaning of this passage in his mind.

With a deep groan, Xi Gu came to the back of the shrine and looked at the towering tree that the shrine worshipped.

It is a sacred tree that has been worshipped for hundreds of years, and it looks significantly taller and older than the other trees around it.

And probably because its roots absorb all the nutrients and water in the surrounding area, there is a space vacant within a few meters of the large tree that worshippers call "Suen Gomei Shinami", and there are no other trees.

"Suen Imperial Shrine ......"

Xi Gu came to the ancient tree, looked at its blue-black skin, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He came to Tokyo, Japan, to pick out the next transcendent, to see if the new transcendent can produce spiritual transformation like Yang Luo, and awaken the extraordinary ability that he can replicate through spiritual transformation.

However, as he made his way to Tokyo, he had a whim, as if he could find something.

And the landing point of that premonition is the sacred tree behind this shrine.

"Premonition ......"

Xi Gu thought thoughtfully.

From an intuitive, ordinary person's point of view, this kind of sixth sense-like thing makes no sense.

But from Xi Gu's own point of view, this premonition may not be groundless.

As his level of evolution has continued to increase, his perception has become more and more acute, and now what he can sense has been refined down to the molecular and even atomic level.

In such a microscopic field, quantum effects are infinitely amplified, and the so-called "premonitions" and "whims", if you look downward, may be some kind of future possibility that emerges from quantum fluctuations.

…… And that possibility, in the end, fell here.

Xi Gu raised his hand and reached out to cover the ancient tree's body.

It has no particular sentience, and the atoms and molecules that make it up are the same as the other trees around it.

But Xi Gu didn't give up, and the next moment, a drop of red blood appeared in his hand.

It is the "blood of evolution" that splits out of one's own body.

"In all past attempts, the blood of evolution has only worked on animals - and humans are at the best of this, and can even conjure up new supernatural abilities.

"Outside of animals—plants, microbes, and even non-living and non-living organisms—they cannot absorb my evolutionary blood and become transcendent beings.

“…… However, since it has hit you on a whim today – why not give it a try? ”

Thinking like this, Xi Gu dripped the blood of evolution into the torso of the "Suyuan Imperial Divine Spirit".

Red blood slowly seeped into the blue-black body.

Until it disappears completely.

Still no change.

Xi Gu shook his head.

- Does it seem that that whim was really just my own misunderstanding?

He wanted to leave.

But at the moment of lifting the footsteps.

A strong sense of impact came.

"Huh?!"

A look of shock appeared in Xi Gu's eyes.

- He turned his head and looked at the ancient tree.

- He looked back and saw himself.

The former is his essence, his perspective as a human being.

And the latter......

"Xi Gu" stretched out its branches. In the dense jungle, feel a part of your body moving in the rustle.

Just in front of him, "Xi Gu" felt that "himself" was staring at him in shock with his plant-like sense.

Mankind.

Tree.

The combination of two different somatosensory sensations is at the same time divided and unified, both contradictory and harmonious.

"I ...... Turned into this ancient tree - no, it's this ancient tree, after dripping with 'evolutionary blood', it turned into my doppelganger?! ”