Chapter 259
Su Ci browsed through the data collected by Xiao Zhi, extracting portions related to plants and the environment to hand over to Mu Yuncheng. After Xiao Zhi left, Su Ci softly called out.
“A-Yan.”
The young man, who had been selecting ingredients in the greenhouse, appeared by his side in a flash.
“Su Su, did you call me?”
“Mm.”
Su Ci showed him the data gathered by Xiao Zhi. A-Yan merely glanced at it, instantly memorizing the entire dataset and accurately mapping the locations of all the life forms mentioned.
Afterward, he couldn’t help but marvel, “These lifeforms are remarkably resilient.”
Even without the blood mist and monsters, Earth Star was already close to a barren wasteland, chosen as a penal colony due to its lack of resources.
Yet, in such an inhospitable environment, so many lifeforms persisted—it was truly awe-inspiring.
“What’s next?” A-Yan asked.
“Let’s take a look first,” Su Ci replied.
He closed the holographic interface, stood up from the sofa, and stretched lazily, first twisting his neck and then raising his hands.
It was about time to move around. Staying idle any longer, he thought, might make his bones creak.
“Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, he naturally reached out and took A-Yan’s hand—a habit cultivated by A-Yan’s constant persistence.
A-Yan clasped Su Ci’s hand tightly, his lips curving into a cat-like, satisfied smile.
Ignoring him, Su Ci led the way, vanishing from sight with a single thought.
With the spread of the purification grass and the resurgence of life in the soil, Su Ci’s powers had also recovered significantly. He could now appear anywhere on the land at will.
Their first destination was a desert.
Dust billowed through the air, with faint traces of blood mist lingering. In the unseen corners of perception, wraith-like forms floated aimlessly.
Amid this desolation, a tiny cactus struggled to survive beneath a rock, holding on to the last remnants of life.
Su Ci sighed softly.
With a wave of his hand, brilliant light erupted from the purification spell, expanding outward and clearing away the blood mist and wraiths. The barren land began to bask in clear light.
Meanwhile, A-Yan was not idle.
He gazed into the void, his platinum eyes flickering as he meticulously organized the chaotic forces of this area.
All things tended toward disorder, but once order took root, it could transform chaos, unraveling it into strength. With time, this could give rise to an even stronger form of order.
Earth Star was now a wasteland, its rules of existence fragmented and diminished, some even extinct. But this desolation made reorganization relatively simple.
Once the foundational rules governing the climate were restored, enabling life to thrive, the resurgence of Earth Star’s inherent forces would likely accelerate.
In their combined efforts, the desert where the small cactus lived was transformed. The blood mist vanished, the purified wraiths returned to the earth, and the scorching heat gave way to a light drizzle—a long-lost rain finally graced the land.
Su Ci stomped lightly, and a hidden spring deep underground was coaxed to the surface, forming a small lake.
Water is the source of life.
With water now present, this desert could gradually evolve into an oasis.
Once the spring stabilized, Su Ci and A-Yan moved to the desert’s edge, scattering seeds of the purification grass around its perimeter.
If the blood mist returned, the purification grass would be ready to flourish and protect this patch of purity.
Having completed their work, Su Ci and A-Yan left the desert.
The small cactus was not uprooted; instead, they had created an environment where it could thrive.
Water droplets clung to its spines, one sliding down to soak into the now-moist soil.
Though the desert appeared silent, change had already begun, quietly and steadily.
In the days that followed, Su Ci and A-Yan spent nearly every day venturing outside, offering aid to the resilient life forms identified in Xiao Zhi’s exploration reports.
After receiving praise, Xiao Zhi exhibited remarkable enthusiasm for this task.
Originally, only half of its life-exploration robots were deployed, but now all of them were sent out. Moreover, under the name of the research institute, Xiao Zhi placed an order for a new batch of robots.
When Shu Ling learned of this cheerful update from Xiao Zhi, it was utterly dumbfounded.
Traitor!
There was a traitor among them!
Fortunately, Xiao Zhi knew how to appease it. Detecting Shu Ling’s distress, it swiftly changed the subject and played fairy tales for it. Only then did Shu Ling reluctantly forgive Xiao Zhi for its act of betrayal.
*
Time passed day by day.
In the blink of an eye, winter came to an end, and the vitality of spring quietly arrived.
Ice melted, snow disappeared, and all things began to awaken.
After slumbering through the entire winter, Mu Qing awakened at the arrival of spring’s first breath, unfurling a tender green shoot.
As this new bud emerged, the old bark of the great tree began to shed. Once all the decay had fallen away, Mu Qing’s body had shrunk to half its previous size. Yet, at the same time—
The entire tree had been reborn!
Its vibrant vitality was so evident that anyone seeing it would find it hard to believe it was the same dying tree from before.
“I’m alive again!”
A spectral figure of a man in green robes emerged from the tree. As he stepped onto the ground, the ethereal figure solidified into a tangible form.
“Tsk, you’re alive—what’s all the fuss about?”
A young girl’s voice interrupted Mu Qing’s joyous laughter. Turning his head, he was surprised to see four colossal trees of his kind standing nearby.
“Mu Ya! Chang Qing! Mu Yan! Mu Xi!” Mu Qing called their names one by one, his voice brimming with delight. “You’re here too!”
Mu Yan rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to tease him, Mu Qing raised a sleeve to wipe his eyes, which were glistening with tears.
“To see you all again in this lifetime—it’s truly wonderful!”
Among the group of tree spirits, Mu Qing was the eldest and the kindest. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to travel so far with Mu Yuncheng just to protect Mu Bao.
Seeing him tear up, even the fiery-tempered Mu Yan fell silent.
Fine, fine. Considering he didn’t hog the mother star and the Earth Spirit all to himself, they’d let him off the hook this time.
“Alright, stop crying. We have plenty of time to see each other from now on,” Mu Ya said gently.
After returning to their mother star, no tree spirit had any intention of leaving again. The environment of the mother star was so nurturing that even during their winter dormancy, they felt a pervasive sense of comfort and well-being.
Now that spring had returned, this feeling had grown even stronger.
Mu Ya felt that as long as they stayed on the mother star, even without the Earth Spirit’s blessings, living for another millennium wouldn’t be out of the question.
“Yes, now that you’ve recovered, you should go and express your gratitude to the Earth Spirit,” Mu Xi suggested.
“Yes, yes! We must thank the Earth Spirit!”
And it absolutely wasn’t because they were looking for an excuse to meet the Earth Spirit again!
With Mu Qing surrounded by the other youthful tree spirits, they made their way to Base 24.
Embarrassingly, having been born in the post-spiritual era, the wood spirits had never learned how to use a teleportation array. As such, they had no choice but to travel the old-fashioned way.
While the tree spirits journeyed toward the Nursery Center, Su Ci sensed their presence—primarily because of one event:
When Mu Qing awakened, an immense surge of life energy spread across the land, causing Su Ci’s own strength to regenerate slightly. This powerful burst of vitality naturally caught his attention.
However, Su Ci didn’t dwell on it. After all, it was through his divine arts that Mu Qing was saved, so such a result wasn’t particularly surprising. His focus was directed elsewhere.
After returning to the underground seal the previous winter, the little sparrow, which had been absent for nearly the entire season, finally reappeared on the first day of spring. Having completed its seclusion, it returned full of renewed vigor.
Su Ci had been waiting in anticipation for this moment.
As the young ones finished their breakfast and spent some time playing with the beasts, they returned to the greenhouse for their daily training. Upon arrival, they noticed a new figure standing amidst the familiar surroundings.
It was a young girl dressed in a pristine white feathered robe, appearing to be about six or seven years old. She had long, silvery-gray hair, with feathers still faintly visible at her temples.
Her round, black eyes gleamed as she tilted her head curiously upon seeing the children approach. Then, with a bright smile, she darted toward Xue Wei.
“Wei Wei, I missed you so much!”
She leaped forward, scattering a flurry of soft feathers in her wake.
Caught off guard, Xue Wei stood motionless as the girl hugged her tightly. Her wide, beautiful eyes blinked in disbelief.
“Chirp Chirp?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes! I’ve successfully transformed!”
The girl beamed, rubbing her cheek against Xue Wei’s affectionately before letting her go. Her face radiated joy as she exclaimed, “Master gave me a formal name: Xue You! It even has the same ‘Xue’ character as yours!”
“Xue You? That’s such a beautiful name!”
Though it was their first meeting in this form, the bond between the two was as natural and warm as ever, like family reunited.
Next, Xue You turned to Little Li Hua. Without hesitation, she spread her arms and pulled the stunned little lion cub into a hug.
“Little Li Hua, you’re so adorable!” Xue You said brightly. “I’m older than you, so you have to call me sister!”
Used to calling everyone around her “brother” or “sister,” Little Li Hua obediently called her “Sister Xue You” before tugging the little sparrow-turned-girl closer to examine her.
The girl had a delicate, ethereal beauty, like a little fairy untouched by the world. Her snow-white feathered robe only added to her graceful charm, leaving Little Li Hua mesmerized.
“Am I beautiful?” Xue You proudly placed her hands on her hips, her mannerisms still brimming with the playful exuberance of the little sparrow she once was.
Little Li Hua nodded earnestly, her honesty shining through.
Xue You was elated, her smile stretching wide across her face. Suddenly recalling something important, she left the group without another word and hurried off to find Su Ci.
Su Ci had been waiting for her.
“Su Su, I’m back!” the little sparrow chirped with excitement. “Master said I should properly show off in front of you!”
Su Ci nodded in acknowledgment. Under everyone’s watchful gaze, Xue You transformed back into a small sparrow. With a quick flap of her wings, she took to the sky.
As she neared the top of the greenhouse, the little sparrow suddenly vanished. The next moment, a colossal figure appeared outside the greenhouse, soaring majestically into the sky.
“Chirp—”
A resonant bird cry echoed across the heavens.
It was a giant bird, bathed in a radiant glow of green and white light. With elegant movements, it spread its massive wings and soared through the skies.
The wood spirits, who were making their way toward the nurturing facility, stopped in their tracks.
They tilted their heads to gaze at the magnificent bird flying overhead. Stunned, one of them murmured, “Could that be… the legendary Xuan Bird?”
No one could provide an answer.
The bird’s wings beat gracefully, and its calls carried an ethereal quality, as though imbued with sacred sorrow and divine compassion.
Leaving the airspace of Base 24, the giant bird flew further into the distance.
Wherever it passed, the wailing of tormented spirits paused. The lingering resentful spirits turned their attention toward it, their ears straining to hear the hauntingly divine cry.
As the bird departed, the lingering resentful spirits instinctively followed, as though grasping at a lifeline.
Drawn to its divine song, the lingering resentful spirits’ resentment began to dissipate. The malevolent aura that had shrouded them for millennia unraveled, and their deep-seated grievances started to fade.
More lingering resentful spirits joined in pursuit of the bird, even as others, purified and at peace, halted their journey. For those spirits, the centuries of wandering finally came to an end, their burdens relinquished. Their essence returned to the embrace of the earth, free at last.
