Alex fell into a dilemma that had always existed in the back of his mind but was never at the forefront long enough for him to think upon it.

He had always known from the start that he would have to drop off the trees at some point once he arrived at the Sky God’s palace. That was the mission he had taken upon himself from the moment the two trees had taken root in his Soul Space.

This whole journey was partially to get these trees here after all.

However, after all the years he had spent taking care of the trees, he had established a connection with them.

He had less emotion for the Nine Yang Divine Tree than he did for the World Tree, but even then, he cared for it deeply. It was the tree that had saved his life back in the deserts of the Forbidden Fields, giving him life after he had nearly died from being poisoned.

In a way, it was the tree that had given him his freedom back as well, while evolving his body to the Celestial grade.

Alex understood that the Nine Yang Court cared for the tree too and would likely take care of it much better than he could. As such, while he believed he would be a little saddened by it, he would be willing to part with it.

However, the World Tree was different.

It was something he found inside the storage ring he had found in the same desert. Once he understood its importance, he had taken care of it too. And even though there were moments when he hated the fact that the tree was difficult to raise, he had done so.

And after so many years, his and the others’ hard work had borne fruit. The tree had grown big and established a consciousness.

Since he was the Sun God, the World Tree considered him her father. In a way, he might even be the father.

Was it really different from the situation with Ronron? She was his daughter, and he loved her as such, but he was never directly involved in her birth.

That didn’t change their relationship at all.

In the same way, even though he wasn’t technically involved in the birth of the World Tree, he was still the father, wasn’t he?

’I might be even more involved with the two trees,’ Alex thought. ’If not for my Soul Space, the seeds would have never taken root anywhere.’

That much was true from everything he learned about the World Tree and how it had been with the gods for over a hundred thousand years and still had managed to never grow it.

"Do you have something you wish to say?" the Sky God asked upon noticing Alex’s expression.

Alex thought for a brief few seconds and nodded sharply. "I have two matters that bother me at the moment," he said. "Would you mind hearing them?"

The woman shrugged. "Go ahead. What is on your mind?"

"My first thought was this. Since the World Tree is technically a treasure of the demons, would it be fair for the humans to use it?" he asked.

Newheaven’s eyes narrowed. "Why wouldn’t it be?" she asked. "We won the war, after all. These are the spoils of battle."

Alex couldn’t exactly argue on that point.

"I understand that, but are the demons happy with losing their tree that they celebrated as their god?" Alex asked. "From what I hear, they worship this tree, don’t they?"

"They do, but so what?" Newheaven asked. "It is ours now."

"Would the demons be angry at us?" he asked. "How would they respond were they to find out?"

Newheaven remained silent for a while.

"He’s right," Bladedance said, crossing her arms. "If the demons were to find out the tree exists, it would be war."

"Only if the demons find out," the Sky God said. "The majority of the people on the human side that wish to go to war are doing so because of their hope to return more Qi to the world. If they were to find out that there is plenty of Qi right here with us, they won’t head out to war."

"In fact, the main argument they had for the war was to find a way to get the seed to take root. If we can show them that it has taken root, we can stop the war."

"There’s no saying that’s possible, right?" Bladedance asked. "It’s been, what, 3 millennia since the seed had gone missing. Those that were obsessed with war had to have already switched their arguments to something else. And those that haven’t will have no arguments if the tree continues to remain missing."

Newheaven listened to their words while remaining silent for a while.

"It is true that what you are saying might be the case, but it is also true that just revealing the trees would be a much better option," she said. She appeared fidgety all of a sudden, as though she hesitated in saying something. "The truth is that my influence over the gods is dwindling at a much faster pace than I could have ever anticipated. I need to reveal the World Tree so I may regain my influence. I need that influence to stop the future war from happening."

Bladedance considered her predicament and frowned. "But it is also true that the demons would start a war on their own should they find out about the tree. At that point, your influence will do nothing."

"Not if they don’t find out," Newheaven said. "I can form the most secure spatial pocket that would hide the tree from the outside world. The demons would never be able to learn about it."

Bladedance thought through it. She wasn’t exactly wrong.

"That won’t work," Alex said with a shake of his head.

"Why not?" the Sky God asked.

"Because you rely entirely on the hope that no demon will find out the truth," Alex said. "And the truth is that the demons already know."