Chapter 539 ·Oak Seed

“Crack—crack—”

As the raindrops infused with the 【Spiritual Light Points】 fell upon the trees, the ones that had long ceased to grow began to sprout anew at that very moment, budding with vibrant green leaves.

Moreover, those trees that once required Janna to place her palm against their trunks to hear even the faintest sound had now become remarkably lively.

It was as if patients who had long lain bedridden were suddenly able to stand again—each sound carried a joy that words could not express, brimming with gratitude and affection toward Janna.

“No wonder those green elves regard the trees in the forest as their kin. Being relied upon for so long, it’s only natural that emotions would form.”

The rainfall grew heavier, and the vitality within the trees gradually recovered. Gazing upon the flourishing trees below, Janna estimated that it wouldn’t be long before her long-delayed 【Main Quest】 would finally be completed.

“Hm? This aura is—”

Just as Janna prepared to further observe the condition of the trees, a faint aura—different from the others—suddenly drew her attention.

“Could it be—the Oak Seed?”

The moment she thought of that possibility, Janna immediately descended from the sky to the empty space surrounded by the trees.

“Sure enough, it’s that Oak Seed. I thought it had completely died out—”

This Oak Seed was the very one once gifted to Janna by the Humanoid Willow outside the White Coral Academy.

At the same time, it was also the designated “Quest Item” of the system’s 【Side Quest: The Servant Who Revives Life】.

According to the Humanoid Willow, this Oak Seed contained the life essence left behind by the 【Oak Giant—Rosen】, follower of 【Ivrecia–Twilight】, and was also his Soul Seed.

However, from the moment Janna first obtained it, she had already determined that the life aura within the Oak Seed had completely vanished. Even the Soul Fire the Humanoid Willow mentioned had long ceased to exist.

If not for the system’s quest reminder, Janna would never have believed that this Oak Seed could possibly be revived—unless she could master the 【Authority of Life】.

“Drip—drop—”

As the raindrops soaked into the ground, Janna pressed her palm upon the spot where the Oak Seed rested.

Sure enough, through her spiritual perception, she discovered that within this long-dead Oak Seed, a faint trace of spiritual consciousness had been born.

“If I’m not mistaken, this spiritual consciousness must be what the Humanoid Willow once called the 【Soul Fire】...”

The Humanoid Willow had once said that the 【Soul Fire】 within the Oak Seed had not truly disappeared—if Janna could awaken the life essence within it, then 【Oak Giant—Rosen】 might have a chance to be revived.

However, this so-called 【Soul Fire】 had eluded not only Janna’s perception but also that of the necromancer Headmaster Anthony-Rook, who gave a similar conclusion—

That this Oak Seed was nothing more than a “dead seed,” completely devoid of any 【Soul Fire】.

“It seems I was mistaken. The 【Soul Fire】 within the 【Oak Giant】 hadn’t vanished—it was merely hidden. Yet such concealment was so profound that even an expert in the Soul Domain like Headmaster Anthony failed to detect it—”

Having reached a preliminary conclusion, Janna’s already good mood improved further.

The trees revived under her natural magic, the Oak Seed’s Soul Fire reignited—either way, both meant that the two long-delayed quests she had set aside finally had hope of completion.

Snap—

About half an hour later, when Janna saw that the trees above the Purified Land had been fully nourished by rain, she snapped her fingers, ending the natural magic.

The wind subsided, the rain ceased, and under Janna’s still-unrefined control, the dark clouds that had shrouded the treetops gradually dissipated until they vanished completely.

“After a heavy rain, even the scent of the soil becomes fragrant. Even the sunlight projected by the 【Solar Simulator】 feels a bit gentler—”

Perhaps affected by the emotions of the surrounding trees, Janna felt a joyful, buoyant energy rising within her heart.

In that moment, she almost felt as though she too had become one of the trees within 【Zoe Star】—reborn from death, brimming with renewed vitality. Her heart softened, and at the same time, she gained a faint sense of enlightenment.

“Although the Authority of 【Growth】 allows me to manipulate the growth cycle of plants at will, it cannot grant them new life. The reason I could revive this dead life form lies in my practice of the Way of Nature—or perhaps, in the spiritual resonance between me and the 【Will of Nature】 that has now been acknowledged—”

Looking at the noticeably taller trees and sensing their continuous emotional reliance upon her, Janna felt the utilitarian mindset she once had—to plant trees merely for the sake of completing a system quest—begin to fade away.

“Professor Eunice once said that one of the prerequisites for practicing the Way of Nature is inner recognition. Only through genuine recognition can one’s spirituality become attuned to the frequency of nature, allowing one to hear the voice of the 【Will of Nature】—”

“Just now, through the 【Spiritual Light Points】, I truly felt the emotions of the 【Will of Nature】. It was a feeling of joy, gentleness, and extraordinary benevolence—”

“A benevolence that revives life—”

Hum— Though Janna had already dispelled her natural magic, at that very moment, the previously vanished 【Spiritual Light Points】 reappeared around her once more.

This time, however, their color was no longer a single shade of emerald green—it now shimmered with a tender hue between green and yellow...

The next morning.

Having just returned from the 【World Inside the Book】, Janna received a letter from the Nightingale Opera Troupe.

The letter informed her that a brand endorsement meeting would be held at one o’clock that afternoon, and her personal attendance was required.

Thus, after finishing her morning classes, Janna began studying the background information of the brands involved to prepare adequately for the meeting later that day.

“If this endorsement negotiation goes well, that’ll make fifteen brands under my name...”

Aside from the endorsements Janna already had, ever since The Withering Rose premiered, over thirty brand representatives had approached her.

Of course, among them, only ten had successfully signed a collaboration contract with her—