Chapter 55: Wood Spirit

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Wood Spirit

Early morning. In the dense, fog-covered jungles of the Northern Border Mountains, the mountain breeze carried a trace of chill. Bright sunlight brought heat down from the distant Void, rapidly evaporating the dew condensing on the blades of grass.

The early bugs came to drink Water, but were simultaneously eyed by predators hiding in the shadows. Just as a life-and-death hunt was about to unfold, Destiny shifted at this very moment because a noisy voice shattered the tranquility of the jungle.

"Mr. Chen, the Governor seemed to want to invite you for some kind of ceremony last night. Why did you just run away?"

The panicked bug swiftly took flight, the inner membranes of its wings reflecting a rainbow of colors under the sunlight.

Immediately after, the vines were parted one after another by an invisible Power—a Level 0 Spell, Hand of Energy. This revealed a young man in a black robe. A crow stood on his shoulder, and a few strange silhouettes trailed indistinctly behind him. The newcomer was none other than Chen Shang.

"No one will think you’re mute if you don’t speak."

"But I feel like—"

"I feel like your control over Flame Runes is too poor. If you still can’t master the most basic Flame Rune, I guarantee you will suffer enough!"

The Golden Crow quickly opened its beak to retort, "I am a world member under the Pan-Wizard Alliance! I enjoy basic human rights! This is abuse!"

Chen Shang suddenly let out a sinister laugh. "Let me tell you, the Pan-Wizard Alliance will protect any random mess of things, but they will absolutely never protect a guy who discards knowledge. Do you dare to refuse to learn?"

The Golden Crow promptly shut its beak. Its feathers puffed up and then flattened back down. It carefully recalled the rules of the Pan-Wizard Alliance. He was right. It then tucked its head into its wing and fell silent.

Seeing that the Golden Crow had stopped making a fuss, Chen Shang led his troops forward, searching for any substances containing Divinity that might exist in the Crown of Thranduil Region.

He actually did not mind a one-night stand. A Wizard might be paranoid and extreme, but they were definitely not robots that discarded all desires. Someone who was not full of passion and curiosity for everything in life would simply lack such a powerful desire for exploration. However, since he was about to explore the Divine Relics, he naturally knew to get his priorities straight. He at least had that much self-discipline.

Meanwhile, deep within the forest.

Yilu was the youngest member of the Wood Spirit Race, but today, it became the second youngest because its mother had given birth to another child. The little one curled up in its mother’s embrace. Yilu leaned over the edge and watched for a long time, carefully touching the little one’s face.

The growth of the race should have been something worth celebrating. Yet, the clansmen did not feel much joy; instead, they all wore long faces because they were out of food. It was all the fault of Demon King Jia Shan for occupying the clansmen’s territory, forcing the entire race to wander in exile!

Thinking of this, Yilu clenched its fists. "Mom, I will definitely defeat that Great Demon King! I will definitely get food for the whole family... and for my sister!"

Its mother looked at it with affection and forced a bitter smile. "Silly child, not sister, it’s Oppa..."

Oppa was a term used by Wood Spirits to address the younger generation. Because Wood Spirits were born without a gender, they would only evolve distinct genders to mate after reaching adulthood and choosing someone they loved. This evolution was irreversible until death.

Watching its father remain silent and its mother put on a brave face, Yilu ran out of the house without looking back. Only one thought occupied its mind: it had to get food. Arriving at the edge of the race’s Barrier, Yilu hesitated for a moment but quickly summoned its courage.

"Come on, Yilu, you are the bravest. You can definitely do it!"

Green light bloomed above its hands, and it soon silently opened the Barrier and stepped out. But it had not walked far when it suddenly heard a majestic voice.

"Oh? There’s actually a Barrier here? What a magical little thing."

Yilu stared at the massive shadow ahead, nearly pissing itself in fear. It never expected to have such a disastrous start, running into the Great Demon King right out of the gate. However, it was too late to run away now. Steeling its resolve, it charged forward. "Go to hell, you despicable guy!"

Chen Shang watched as a palm-sized little creature, which looked like a piece of fruit and was muttering something, rammed headfirst into his boot. It attacked his boot with all its might... and successfully managed to scrape off some dirt.

Chen Shang scooped the little creature up and placed it in the palm of his hand. "Hello, are you a native race here?"

The brave Yilu felt like it was flying through the air and was scared to death. But the next moment, it realized it could actually understand the language of the Giant in front of it.

"Ah... You’re not Demon King Jia Shan? How can you speak our language? Are you also a Wood Spirit?"

"Wood Spirit? So you’re a Wood Spirit?" Casting a few detection Witchcraft spells on it, Chen Shang formed a hypothesis in his mind. This was likely a magical little creature nurtured by the rich Divinity of the Crown of Thranduil Region combined with native plants. Its Power was almost negligible, but the Barrier it made was crafted quite exquisitely; he actually had not noticed it just now.

Seeing that the other party had not harmed it, Yilu grew a bit bolder and stood up in Chen Shang’s hand. "My name is Yilu. I’m here to find food for my clansmen. The damn Demon King Jia Shan has occupied our territory, and my clansmen have nothing to eat!"

"Oh? What do you eat? Perhaps I can help." Chen Shang began to coax it gently. Having met such a magical little creature, he was in no rush to continue moving forward. When satisfying their own curiosity and desire to explore, Wizards possessed an almost despair-inducing level of patience.

Yilu was very pure and, under his guidance, recounted the whole story.

For generations, its race had lived in the Jade Realm. (The Wood Spirits called it the Jade Realm, but there were no records of it in the outside world, so Chen Shang did not know its exact location.) In the Jade Realm, they cultivated crops and grew lots of delicious food, living a carefree life. But a few years ago, a massive monster suddenly invaded the place.

"The clansmen fought it with all their might, but we couldn’t beat it!" Speaking up to this point, Yilu gritted its teeth and clenched its chubby little hands.

Chen Shang’s expression became intrigued as he quickly grasped the key point. "Are you saying that your people are adept at cultivating plants?"

"Yes! All that food was grown by us, and now it’s all been stolen! Damn Demon King Jia Shan!"

Chen Shang could not care less about Jia Mountain. According to Yilu’s description, it was probably just a scaled creature about a meter tall. He quickly pulled out the Automatic Assembly and Growth Device. "What do you think of this thing?"

Yilu examined it for quite a while before marveling, "What a magical plant! I can feel that its Energy is huge, but I can’t understand it."

A smile surfaced on Chen Shang’s face. It would be a wonder if the creature could understand it; the device was packed with knowledge of Runes and Mechanical systems.

"This is a... plant, but its output is quite unstable. Do you have the ability to keep it stable?"