Chapter 856: Seed of the World Tree
Chapter 856: Seed of the World Tree
After several minutes passed, the tiny wisp of the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life in the ground eventually exhausted all its power of life.
However, not long after, the grass and magical plants began producing small amounts of spirit energy.
Although the moon's surface was incapable of supporting plant life due to its barren soil and absence of water, the grassland and magical plants appeared vibrant and full of life force.
Even if they didn't receive attentive care, it didn't seem like they would wilt and die anytime soon. In fact, they were very tenacious and could survive in the unkind environment for approximately three months at the very least.
It was mind-boggling that a wisp of the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life could produce such extensive results.
As long as the new grassland and magical plants were provided with a stable source of water, their tenacious lifespans could increase to several years. During that time, the moon's surface would greatly change due to their existence.
If Vaan wanted to, he could completely transform the entire surface of the moon into a habitable and blessed environment, given the sheer amount of the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life that was still buried deep within the Purpleflame Territory's subterranean region.
At the same time, the stable source of air provided by the lush vegetation and plant life would allow dragons and humans to explore the moon freely.
They wouldn't need to be confined inside the moon colony or require special space helmets.
In other words, they would no longer be restricted by limited living space. As such, they could bring in far more dragons and people, allowing them to develop the moon countless times faster as well.
Nevertheless, they still had to be mindful of the moon's mass while terraforming and developing it.
After all, if the moon's mass increased too much, it would lead to catastrophic effects on Pangea, such as massive tidal waves, extreme climate changes, or even orbital instability. Regardless of the effects, life on Pangea would become more difficult or possibly impossible. That said, Pangea was already being split between a few territories of Gehenna. By the time the moon was developed to a substantial extent, Pangea may have very been fully integrated with Gehenna.
As such, it wasn't something Vaan needed to be very concerned about. The risks existed, but the chances were almost non-existent.
"Myuu?" Emerald suddenly emerged from Vaan's body.
The little Wood Spirit appeared to be attracted to the grassland with few magical plants. However, after sniffing around for a bit, she soon found her way back to Vaan's palm, which held the remaining Essence of the Divine Tree of Life.
"Myuu, myuu!" Emerald clamored around the special soil in his palm with excitement. "How rare for you to come out, Mera. So you can smell the good stuff, eh?" Vaan softly chuckled before offering the special soil to his Wood Spirit.
However, Emerald quickly shook her head and pointed at the patch of grassland.
Clearly, she wanted him to use the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life on the grassland to develop it further.
"I see. You also wish to develop this land," Vaan nodded with approval before saying, "Since it is your sincere wish, I have no choice but to grant it. Say, how should we develop this place, Mera?"
"What type of trees or plants shall we use to cultivate this place? It can't just be a plain grassland, right?" Vaan mentioned, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look.
At the same time, Emerald also mimicked his action of rubbing his chin. She appeared to be contemplating very hard.
"Myuu..." Emerald hummed deeply in thought, her head hanging down and with a small frown on her cute forehead.
Suddenly, she raised her head as if she had been struck with a great idea.
"Oh? You've thought of what to plant in this land, Mera?" Vaan asked with interest, curious to learn what she had thought up.
"Myu!" Emerald nodded vigorously.
Shortly after, Emerald brought her small hands together and concentrated her wood- attribute magical energy in the center of them.
Over time, the concentrated wood-attribute magical energy took form.
At first, it was only the size of a grain. But later, it quickly took the shape of an oversized, green-colored, sunflower-looking seed that was bigger than the Wood Spirit's head by threefold.
"Myuu!"
Emerald excitedly raised the big, green sunflower seed as if saying they would cultivate the land with it.
Although the seed seemed to have taken up all her power to create, she was also very proud of her creation.
"Oh? What kind of seed do we have here?" Vaan casually focused on the green seed.
[Seed of the World Tree]
The Seed of the World Tree can be planted to grow a World Tree, which is considered the mother of all trees and the symbol of worship for all wood spirit races.
If the Seed of the World Tree can be successfully germinated, all plant life within its area of influence will flourish and become a blessed land.
After looking at the information, Vaan blinked twice, rubbed his eyes, then looked again to confirm he was seeing it correctly.
The corners of his lips twitched shortly after.
"You had such an incredible thing hidden in your Plant Compendium this whole time, Mera?"
Vaan ca
speechless.
"Myuu?" Emerald replied with a smug look, asking if he was surprised.
However, a few moments later, she explained that it was the voices from the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life that taught her how to recreate the Seed of the World Tree.
Furthermore, it was also the wish of the Divine Tree of Life to be revived.
After listening to Emerald's explanation, Vaan quickly grasped the full picture regarding the
Divine Tree of Life.
While the Divine Tree of Life could enter a dormant state to preserve its essence and avoid extinction, it could not revive itself without external help.
"I see. So that's how it is," Vaan nodded with understanding before softly stating, "Unfortunately, you can't plant that here, Mera."
"Myuu?" Emerald immediately looked devastated and betrayed.
However, Vaan shook his head and said, "This is not a suitable place for the World Tree. Look
at how small the moon is. It will be too cramped for the World Tree to mature."
"So, let me onto that seed for now, okay? I'll promise we'll find a more suitable place for it,"
Vaan promised.
Emerald reluctantly handed the Seed of the World Tree over.
Vaan only felt at ease after he stored the Seed of the World Tree inside his Heaven-
Swallowing Space.
If he actually let Emerald plant the Seed of the World Tree on the moon, the end of the world
wouldn't be far away.
After all, it was said that World Trees could grow frighteningly big.
If the World Trees were also nurtured by the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life, one could only imagine how much bigger they would grow.
Nevertheless, Vaan already had a suitable place in mind for the Seed of the World Tree. However, it would also take some time before it could be realized.
More importantly, Vaan was surprised that Emerald could commute with the Divine Tree of
Life through its essences when it wasn't anything different from being dead in its current
dormant state.
He wondered if Emerald shared some special connection with the spirit of the Divine Tree of Life due to her high affinity with it as a member of the Wood Spirit Races. Nevertheless, Emerald pouted on Vaan's left shoulder when she understood she couldn't plant the Seed of the World Tree and satisfy the wish of the Divine Tree of Life right away.
At the same time, she also became disinterested in cultivating the moon. In fact, she felt too sleepy and weak to do anything after using all her mana.
Thus, Vaan ultimately decided what to plant and grow using the remaining Essence of the
Divine Tree of Life.
A much larger grassland region filled with trees and magical plants was soon created. After Vaan was done, he left Narvim in charge of studying the plants in the new grassland region and assessing any potentially harmful effects they might have or develop.
As that was happening, Vaan took Emerald deep into the Purpleflame Territory's subterranean region, where the rest of the Essence of the Divine Tree of Life was located.
Originally, he had avoided investigating too deeply as he was cautious about getting too close to the surface and exposing the existence of the pure mana in the subterranean region. However, now that he realized they were possibly far, far deeper underground than he had previously imagined, he wished to continue his investigation.
'If I'm not wrong, the Divine Tree of Life should have grown in a secret realm deep beneath the earth... That's why the beings of Gehenna never discovered it,' Vaan mused along the way. Naturally, such a location was very out of place for a divine tree to grow.
However, Vaan figured a powerful being artificially planted it in the distant past. Although he didn't know the reason, it must have served some purpose.
More importantly, since it was where the Divine Tree of Life grew, there must have been countless miraculous and high-quality magical plants growing around it.
If Vaan could get his hands on such precious resources, he could further improve himself or
even achieve the Wood Spirit Body for Emerald.
That said, Vaan wasn't hopeful.
After all, even the Divine Tree of Life was forced to give up its main body and enter a dormant
state with its essence.
How could the rest of the magical plants around it survive?
However, since it was also located in a secret realm deep underground, the Divine Tree of Life
and the other magical plants around it shouldn't have been destroyed by the Eternal
Purpleflame.
If that was the case, why did the Divine Tree of Life retreat into a dormant state? Vaan figured the Divine Tree of Life's overwhelming life force was the reason the Pure Earth Elemental Worm was attracted to the Purpleflame Territory's subterranean region in the first place.
At the same time, the Divine Tree of Life must have sensed the great threat from the Pure Earth Elemental Worm. As such, it chose to kill off its main body and retreat into dormancy with its essence.
As a result, the Pure Earth Elemental Worm lost track of its target after the powerful life force
withered and disappeared. Since it couldn't sense any other life force, it ended up staying in the subterranean region.
That was until Vaan stumbled upon it and woke it up from its long slumber.