Although Shi Feng had no idea what method Zi Wei had used to ensure that this Tree of Life trunk had completely withered, his Omniscient Eye was different from ordinary appraisal skills — it could yield far more specific information. There might still be a sliver of hope.
The instant Shi Feng activated his Omniscient Eye to appraise the crystalline branch, a casting bar that stretched a full thirty seconds appeared directly before his eyes.
"Even a withered trunk of the Tree of Life is this powerful?" Shi Feng looked at the crystalline branch, silently marveling.
His Omniscient Eye only took around twenty-one or twenty-two seconds to appraise an Epic-grade item, yet this appraisal required nearly thirty seconds.
That alone told him the Tree of Life trunk was worth at least more than an Epic-grade item.
Keep in mind, this was merely a branch from the Tree of Life, not the Tree of Life itself. And according to Zi Wei, it was a withered branch at that — not even comparable to one that was still alive.
In the Divine Realm, the Tree of Life was a sacred artifact of faith for the Elves. Although it wasn't a true holy artifact, its value and capabilities were extremely close.
Of course, not every Tree of Life carried such value, because the Tree of Life was a very special item within the Divine Realm — a living entity whose quality ranged from Epic-grade to Legendary-grade. The most powerful of all was the Elves' Tree of Life, which was said to be near the level of a holy artifact.
The fact that a single withered branch, devoid of any trace of life, held such value meant that the potential of this Tree of Life trunk in his hands was exceedingly high.
"As long as it's not a total write-off… I don't care that it has no life force — as long as the withering hasn't reached 95% or above, there's still a chance!" Shi Feng watched the casting bar, silently praying.
The Tree of Life was not unique. In his previous life, several major superpowers had obtained one, but the branches that ultimately survived and grew into a proper Tree of Life were vanishingly few.
The degree of withering in the branch played a crucial role.
According to the research conducted by various major powers, any branch — trunk or limb — that had withered to 95% or above had absolutely no chance of revival. The lower the withering percentage, the higher the survival rate.
Generally speaking, a Tree of Life branch with no life force had a withering degree of over 80%. The trunk branch in front of him fell into this category.
But as far as he knew, the trunk branches obtained by major powers were usually lifeless ones. After all, trunk branches were far too precious — if they survived, their minimum value would exceed several Legendary-grade item fragments.
Just how rare and precious were Legendary-grade item fragments? Even top-tier guilds that managed to survive into ten years from now typically possessed no more than fifteen such fragments.
And those top-tier guilds were dominant powers that controlled an entire kingdom or a large kingdom, with member counts exceeding a million. With access to such vast resources, they still only had that many. One could only imagine how rare Legendary-grade item fragments truly were.
Time trickled by, and Shi Feng watched the casting bar with growing tension.
Ten seconds… twenty seconds…
Just as Shi Feng was focusing intently on the crystalline branch in his hands, the party leader Zi Wei spoke up once more.
"This time, Guild Leader Black Flame was able to come to our aid so quickly that our Caelum Blade was spared a devastating battle. If Guild Leader Black Flame is willing, our Caelum Blade would like to offer a Tree of Life branch in exchange for a Level 100+ Epic-grade item." Zi Wei looked at Shi Feng, who was still deep in thought, and proposed a new offer.
This time Zero Wing had truly done the Caelum Blade an enormous favor. Had they not arrived even a step sooner, the Caelum Blade would have been left with nothing at all. Handing over a trunk branch with no life force to Shi Feng left her feeling somewhat uneasy.