Chapter 217
While Mu Yuncheng stood frozen in shock, the transformation of the miniature bonsai in his hands continued.
He felt the pot in his hands grow increasingly heavy as the old tree’s shrunken trunk expanded and grew taller. Finally, unable to hold it any longer, he had to set the pot on the ground.
The old tree continued to grow.
The fragile flowerpot cracked under the strain, and the tree’s roots sank deep into the soil. Its trunk kept expanding, the ground trembling so much that Mu Yuncheng could barely stand. Forced to retreat, he accidentally bumped into Mu Bao, who was sitting in his hover wheelchair. He quickly picked him up and stepped further back, gazing up at the ever-growing tree.
It was impossible to tell how long it took, but eventually, the transformation stopped.
On the plain now stood a towering, ancient tree, its crown stretching into the clouds. Its branches were lush with vibrant green leaves and dotted with countless snow-white blossoms.
A gentle breeze swept through, sending a rain of petals drifting down. The air was filled with the intoxicating fragrance of flowers, spreading across the entire plain.
The younglings, who had flown over the river on their hoverboards, stared in awe. The breathtaking beauty of the scene was unforgettable, leaving them utterly speechless.
Mu Yuncheng and Mu Bao were equally stunned. For as long as they could remember, they had never seen the old tree bloom, let alone sprout such dense foliage.
Likewise, the intense waves of excitement and joy emanating from the old tree were emotions they had never experienced before.
What was happening to the ancestral tree?
As they stood in confusion, the ancient voice of the tree echoed in their ears once more:
“Earth Spirit… Earth Spirit!”
The trembling, choked voice seemed to carry countless emotions, but ultimately, it condensed into these two words, uttered like a sigh. Yet, in that sigh was an unmistakable sense of contentment and profound happiness.
A life without regrets.
Although the old tree had not spoken aloud, everyone present could understand its meaning.
As the message sank in, Mu Yuncheng snapped out of his daze. A realization struck him, and his eyes reddened with emotion.
Without thinking, he hurriedly placed Mu Bao back in the hover wheelchair and stumbled toward the tree, his steps unsteady.
“Ancestor!”
Su Ci stood beneath the tree, gazing up at its brilliant canopy of blossoms. He watched as Mu Yuncheng ran toward the tree, his figure filled with desperation.
As Mu Yuncheng approached, the flowers on the tree began to wither and fall. The leaves, too, shed rapidly, scattering to the ground.
Mu Yuncheng nearly fell several times but managed to reach the tree. Collapsing at its base, he clung to the trunk and broke into heart-wrenching sobs.
Although he had known the tree’s life was nearing its end, he never expected this day to come so suddenly. He couldn’t understand why the ancestral tree would use the last of its vitality to bloom one final time.
This final display, so dazzling and magnificent, seemed to extinguish the last traces of its life force.
Mu Yuncheng didn’t understand. He couldn’t fathom the meaning behind the old tree’s final sigh.
But his grief couldn’t stop the inevitable.
In its final moments, the ancestral tree had fulfilled its life’s purpose: to return to its homeland, its roots in the earth, and to offer its fruit to the Earth Spirit.
As the lush greenery and flowers faded, a single black fruit fell from the tree, landing right in front of Su Ci. He instinctively reached out and caught it.
The fruit was black with a hard shell, likely not edible, but it was undeniably the old tree’s final gift, offered at the brink of death.
Though the tree had withered, the joy and excitement lingering in the fruit remained, vivid and undiminished.
Su Ci couldn’t help but sigh.
At that moment, he felt a hand clasp his own.
Turning his head, he saw A-Yan standing beside him, looking at him with a hint of worry in his eyes.
Su Ci shook his head softly.
He placed the black fruit into his spiritual storage bag and walked toward the tree trunk. A-Yan quietly followed him.
The younglings, who had descended from the air, stood on the ground, gazing at the scene with wonder and confusion.
Everything that had just occurred was beyond comprehension. Why had this giant tree, which had suddenly appeared and bloomed so beautifully, withered just as quickly?
However, they could all feel the sadness lingering in the air.
Lang Ze carried Zheng Xing on his back and noticed the small hands gripping his shoulders tighten slightly. When he glanced at Lu Jiao and Xue Wei beside him, he saw that their eyes were already red.
Scratching his head awkwardly, Lang Ze looked into the distance.
The green-haired boy, unfamiliar to him, had been left on the ground by his father. Now, he was directing his hover wheelchair closer to the tree trunk. However, perhaps due to his emotional state, the boy fell off the wheelchair midway.
His legs, stiff and straight, made it impossible for him to bend or get back up on his own. He struggled helplessly on the ground.
Lang Ze quickly ran over. After setting Zheng Xing down, he grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and lifted him off the ground.
“Are you okay?” Lang Ze asked.
Mu Bao, both panicked and heartbroken, had been crying in distress. Startled by being suddenly hoisted into the air, he froze mid-cry, his green eyes widening as he stared at the tall, sturdy boy in front of him.
The boy was much bigger and stronger than Mu Bao, lifting him effortlessly with one hand.
Mu Bao curled up slightly, his legs still rigid, his sobs reduced to soft hiccups from crying too hard. He didn’t look pitiable at all.
Zheng Xing, despite being blind, could sense far more with his spiritual perception. Picking up on the instability in Mu Bao’s emotions, he hesitated before gently tugging on Lang Ze’s sleeve.
Lang Ze had been distracted, curiously observing Mu Bao’s hair, which was transforming into fine vines with tiny leaves sprouting.
Snapped out of his thoughts by Zheng Xing, Lang Ze placed Mu Bao back into his hover wheelchair.
The wheelchair, which had been spinning in circles and emitting alarm sounds after Mu Bao fell, finally calmed down once he was seated again.
Meanwhile, Mu Yuncheng, still engulfed in grief, noticed the commotion and hurried over to check on his son.
The ancestral tree was gone—he couldn’t let anything happen to his son as well!
Seeing Mu Bao start crying again as soon as his father arrived, Lang Ze scratched his head. A thought occurred to him, and he quickly retrieved a Star-chain Fruit from his spiritual storage bag.
“Do you want this?” he asked, not waiting for a response before placing the fruit into the boy’s hands.
Mu Bao’s sadness was interrupted once again.
Holding the Star-chain Fruit, he looked at the wolf-eared boy grinning at him. Swallowing his tears, Mu Bao managed to respond in a tearful, soft voice, “Thank you…”
As the words left his lips, the vines growing from his hair, which had been sprouting leaves, finally stopped.
Lowering his head, Mu Bao caught a glimpse of his hair and panicked. He quickly looked up, expecting to see disgust or rejection, but instead, the wolf-eared boy only stared back at him with curiosity.
There was no malice or disdain in his green, clear eyes. Behind him, a black-haired boy peeked out, his expression calm and composed.
Mu Bao, who had been worried about being disliked, felt his panic dissipate and began to calm down.
He blinked, looking at the two unfamiliar boys in front of him, as well as the other younglings gathering behind them. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly felt a tug in his heart and turned back toward the old tree.
Being so young, Mu Bao’s bond with the ancestral tree wasn’t as deep as his father’s. After being repeatedly interrupted by Lang Ze and the others, his sadness had already begun to fade.
He gazed at the withered old tree and the man in the gray-blue uniform standing beneath it, someone who inexplicably felt familiar and comforting to him at first glance.
Mu Bao had a strange feeling that the “Earth Spirit” the ancestral tree had called out to earlier was referring to this man.
Under his watchful eyes, he saw the man raise a slender, pale hand—seemingly devoid of strength—and lightly place it against the ancestral tree’s trunk.
Suddenly, an intense, dazzling light radiated from beneath his palm.
Mu Bao instinctively shut his eyes, while Mu Yuncheng, standing protectively beside him, widened his eyes in shock, his heart racing.
This light… this is…
The revival of a withered tree.
Su Ci once again performed this divine technique. This time, with much of his strength restored, his actions seemed far more effortless than before.
However, what he faced now was not an ordinary withered Star-chain vine but a sentient ancient tree that had lived for over ten thousand years.
Indeed, with just one glance, Su Ci fully understood the tree’s condition.
He was certain this tree had originated from Earth—not the descendants of plants brought into the interstellar world by humans but a true, original plant from Earth itself.
Although Su Ci had never seen this tree before—having been asleep for the last hundred millennia before humanity fled Earth—a tree of such ancient origins was something he could not allow to perish.
Whether out of compassion or for the sake of Earth’s future development, Su Ci knew he had to act.
Fortunately, although the ancient tree had withered, its massive body had not entirely died.
As the Earth Spirit’s energy of vitality continued to pour into it, by the time Su Ci withdrew his hand and the soft golden light faded, the ancient tree underwent a visible transformation.
Small streaks of green began to spread across its dry, cracked bark.
At the same time, a faint, ethereal figure slowly materialized beside Su Ci and A-Yan.
It was an elderly man with a long white beard and eyebrows, dressed in a simple robe. Though he appeared incredibly old, his posture remained upright, exuding an air of wisdom and kindness.
The elder opened his eyes, initially dazed, but quickly understood what had just happened.
Although he had never seen the Earth Spirit before, legends of the Earth Spirit had long been passed down among the Wood Clan. The moment he saw Su Ci, Mu Qing knew without a doubt—this young man was the Earth Spirit!
Ignoring Mu Yuncheng, who was running toward him with Mu Bao in his arms, Mu Qing adjusted his robe. Then, to the astonishment of father and son, he knelt down with deep reverence before Su Ci.
“Earth Spirit above, please accept my bow!”
However, just as Mu Qing’s knees were about to touch the ground, a gentle force lifted him back up.
He looked up to see the divine figure who had just used a sacred technique to save him. Hands in his pockets, the deity yawned lazily and said, “Go recover quickly. Once you’re better, come help me with some work.”
With that, he turned and strolled away with an air of nonchalance.
The platinum-haired young man who had been by his side smiled warmly at Mu Qing before following the Earth Spirit’s footsteps.
Mu Qing stood in silence, watching their retreating figures for a long time.
“Ancestor…” Mu Yuncheng hesitantly spoke from the side, though his words quickly trailed off because—
“The Earth Spirit just spoke to me,” the elder muttered, his voice filled with awe. “And… and he blessed me…”
“Sniff… sniff… He also said I could work for him in the future…”
“Sniff… sniff… I’m so happy… so, so happy…”
Mu Yuncheng: “…”
