Ever since the World Tree ascended, the tree spirit had yet to show any sign of activity like it had fallen into some sort of deep slumber. The reason was not far from the truth. The tree spirit had entered a semi-dormant state to adapt to its new realm.
The rapid growth and absorption of sunlight had tired out its spirits like a person experiencing food coma from eating too much. Nevertheless, the World Tree continues to supply the region with spirit energy autonomously from the tree spirit's will.
As long as the World Tree continues to absorb sunlight, it would produce spirit energy without pause.
In a mere two days, the region had already become rich in spirit energy and began spilling to the surrounding region. People would find themselves more lively and refreshed while they are in this region.
Elder Evergreen and his villagers had not been idle during this period. With the help of the palace guards left behind to acquire materials from the nearby city, the nature spirits had quickly rebuilt themselves a new village by the foot of the World Tree.
The village mainly consists of grass huts, constructed by weaving together oversized grass the villagers had cultivated with their newfound wood abilities. It had grown well under the spirit energy-rich environment, or perhaps it should be said that it had grown a little too well.
"Elder Evergreen, are you helping out the soldiers again today?" Lilith asked in the ancient language. It was still lacking but basic communication had been achieved.
"En, that's right. There are still a lot of wounded soldiers to heal. How about you, lass? Looking at your getup, it seems like you are ready to join the exploration group and exploring the underground?"
"Yup, there are still a lot of relics yet to be uncovered and we have left quite a few things behind due to the danger. I think it should be safer to explore now." Lilith said enthusiastically.
"Hoho, aren't you quite passionate about this?" Elder Evergreen asked. "There's really nothing great about the Nova Empire. This was a civilization that ended up destroying themselves and the world. There's nothing to learn from their relics."
"I have to disagree, elder. This civilization had many amazing technologies we can learn from. If we could learn how they were destroyed, we could also learn to avoid the same mistake and prevent history from repeating itself."
Elder Evergreen shook his head, seeing he cannot convince this lass against it.
"Be careful down there. The danger is ever-present in the subterranean world," he warned.
"I will!" Seeing the exploration ready to leave, Lilith said, "Ah, they're leaving now. I'll see you later, elder. Bye!"
Seeing the lass leave, Elder Evergreen shook his head and made his way over the nearby military camp. The battle seemed to have ended but many wounded soldiers returned to get treated.
"You're here again, elder. We will be in your care again."
A commander wrapped in bandages said to Elder Evergreen with respect. The battle in Eastfell City had been quite fierce.
They had suffered various degrees of injuries, including losing their limbs. If not for the miraculous healing abilities of the nature spirits, a lot of his brothers would have lost their lives even if emergency first aid had been performed.
"En." Elder Evergreen nodded and glanced at the wounded soldiers laying on the stretchers in the hospital tent. "Looks like there is no one severely wounded among today's batch of soldiers. You won't refuse my treatment this time, right?"
"That's right, Commander! We can wait for our turns. You have already waited an entire night, despite being one of the first batches to arrive!"
"You don't have to worry about us, Commander! Please get yourself treated! Taking two sword blows from an inner disciple is already you can brag about for days. Compared to that, this is just a scratch!"
"Just a scratch, huh? Why don't we see whether this scratch will hurt or not if I press it?"
"Please… Please don't… Aiyo… so much pain…" the soldier wailed.
"Alright, stop acting tough and let the elder and the others treat you all first." The commander said stubbornly. "This is what you call a real scratch. See? It doesn't even hurt. Hahaha…"
"Umm… Commander, you are bleeding."
"Nonsense. I know my body well—"
Thud.
The sound of a body slapping the ground was heard.
"The commander passed out!"
"Quick, save the Commander!"
The soldiers shouted in panic.
A soft green glow appeared on Elder Evergreen's palm as he hovered it in over the Commander's bandaged upper body.
Although his cultivation was high, it appeared that there was a limit to how quickly wood energy could heal a person as compared to cultivating plants.
This soldier had suffered two long cuts across his chest. Although the wound was not deep enough to reach the organs, a lot of blood had been lost.
The elder was amused by the soldier's stubbornness.
…
After having a long talk with his son, Heinrich left the courtyard and returned to his study room to deal with the daily piles of work that did not seem to have an end.
Back in the courtyard, Leon was standing in the open space. From time to time, a ball of flame would light up on his palm. At other times, there was a ball of lightning, a block of ice, a germinated seed, a piece of rock, and a sharp silver glow.
"This is interesting. Each element is at the 8-star level." Leon mused.
Rather than saying that each of his elemental abilities had been raised to the 8-star level, it was more accurate to say that any element he conjured would possess the strength of 8 stars.
He had discovered that when he uses his fire ability, the grey ring of neutral energy within his black cortex would transform into a ring of fiery energy. When he switches to a different element, the ring of energy would transform accordingly to allow him to use the ability of that correlating element.
Leon attempted to conjure a ball of wind, but he failed. He made similar attempts with light, darkness, and space but nothing happened. The grey ring of energy in his black vortex did not transform.
"It seems like I still need to comprehend the required laws if I want to control the related element…" Leon pondered and frowned, "Hold on, I'm missing something. What can I control if the ring of energy remains neutral?"
Leon glanced at a teacup on the table and lifted it with earth manipulation. The grey ring of energy did not change.
Leon was confused.
"It didn't change?"
He waved his hand and separated the tea from the cup with his ice manipulation. The grey ring of energy also did not change. Leon manipulated the tea back into the teacup and placed it back on the table.
He began to ponder.
"The energy only transforms when I'm trying to conjure the element. It doesn't change if I manipulate an existing element?"
As if to confirm his suspicion, Leon did not try to conjure another ball of wind. Instead, he tried to draw in the existing air from his surroundings.
Swoosh…
The air was moved into action and gather to his palm in a whirling motion. Leon widened his eyes in surprise before he shot it away.
The ball of wind whirled through the sky for some great distance before it lost all momentum and dissipated.
"I can't conjure wind, but I can control wind… This doesn't make sense." Leon was a bit dumbfounded, but he found it quite mystical.
Looking down at his shadow, a thought entered his mind.
Soon, something amazing happened. It was like a pair of invisible hands were blocking out the sunlight as his shadow on the ground expanded out of shape and actually formed a circular-shaped dark spot around him.
He was not blocking the sunlight, but bending the light itself with his will. Leon found himself a bit shaken. This kind of ability was… amazing!
Leon continued to test the extent of his abilities. His feet left the ground, but nothing was holding him up. He was suspended in the air without any support.
His body floated higher and all sorts of maneuvers in the air were tested with his will.
"The speed is quite fast, but I think I can still go faster…"
Boom!
Leon kicked against a wall of air in the sky and sparks of fire and wood energy exploded like gunpowder in an instant and his figure shout outside the Capital like a meteor. He flew so fast he lost control and crash-landed on a small hill outside.
Dirt and dust scattered at the crash site before a human head popped out of a little crater in the ground.
"Pfft."
Leon spat out a mouthful of dirt.
"Aiyo, I think I might have broken a few bones…"
He pulled the rest of his body out of the ground before he laid down helplessly. He nearly died just now. He had a big leap in cultivation and did not take any time to stabilize his foundation. He was practically asking for trouble.
Thankfully, his body had undergone a few rounds of tempering and was not so fragile anymore.
Leon rested on the hill as he allowed a green glow to wrap about his body and enjoy the healing effects brought by wood energy.
He had more or less confirmed his new ability. It was the so-called 'mind over matter' ability that only a few selected individuals with powerful mental strength could awaken.
"My soul has grown much stronger."
Leon's eyes beamed.. The soul can grow stronger by comprehending powerful laws.