Chapter 179: A Great Merciful Tree King has sprouted!

This is indeed the consciousness of the Great Merciful Tree King.

Confirmed via Nadixa.

The consciousness residing in Luo De's Vision is indeed the remnant consciousness of the Great Merciful Tree King.

Moreover, this consciousness has not been contaminated by forbidden knowledge; it is simply a very pure fragment of consciousness.

However, the consciousness in this fragment is extremely weak—so weak that not only can it not communicate with people, it is like a dying ember in the wind; without the Vision's protection, it could dissipate at any moment, apparently merely preserving the existence of the Great Merciful Tree King.

As for how she got into the Vision.

Luo De recalled something.

Back then, when Nadixa was erasing the Great Merciful Tree King, I had once caught a leaf.

But at that time, the leaf dissipated as soon as it landed in my hand.

Luo De naturally assumed that this leaf had been erased together with the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness.

But he never expected.

This leaf actually carried a tiny fragment of the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness and burrowed into his own Vision.

"How about I check Dina Zedai's condition, and you check the World Tree's condition?"

Luo De hefted the Vision in his hand, not discussing how to awaken the Great Merciful Tree King's lingering consciousness; he now needed to check whether the Magic Scale Disease had disappeared, to determine if this consciousness's existence affected the removal of forbidden knowledge.

This idea received Nadixa's support.

Thus the two split up, one heading to the World Tree, the other to Huma Yi's home.

Not long after,

After separately gathering information, Luo De and Nadixa reconvened in the Pure Good Palace.

"Dina Zedai's Magic Scale Disease has completely disappeared."

"The World Tree still retains the Great Merciful Tree King's information, and its pollution has been cleared, leaving no trace."

Upon meeting, they simultaneously reported their findings.

Now it's quite clear.

The pollution on the Great Merciful Tree King was indeed cleared, and Luo De's Vision also preserved her existence.

A result that could be called universally welcome.

Then a new problem quickly arose.

How to restore this consciousness, at least to the point where it can communicate normally with people.

Nadixa was reluctant to let go of the Great Merciful Tree King, and she also very much wished for this deity, who willingly erased himself, to set foot again on her beloved Sumeru land.

As for Luo De, his considerations were more numerous.

The Great Merciful Tree King did not die.

This also means Nadixa failed to successfully inherit the Great Merciful Tree King's past.

And the problem this brings is

Namely, Nadixa does not know that the Great Merciful Tree King once made an agreement with some displaced fungal beasts to save the Grass Dragon.

The Grass Dragon.

That is, the Grass Dragon King Apep, one of the Primordial Dragon Kings of Teyvat.

An Elemental Dragon King long contaminated by massive amounts of forbidden knowledge.

As a Primordial Dragon King that has survived from ancient times to the present, Apep once directly confronted Heaven's Principles, participated in the war for dominion over Teyvat; although defeated by Heaven's Principles and having part of his Grass Element authority stripped away to become the Dendro Archon's throne, at least tens of thousands of years of accumulation have kept the elemental energy concentration in his body at an extremely terrifying level.

Now Nadixa has cleared the forbidden knowledge contamination from the World Tree.

Thus, aside from the existing dead zones, any disaster related to forbidden knowledge will disappear.

Including the forbidden knowledge within Apep's body.

This caused Apep, who could barely balance his elemental energy and forbidden knowledge within his body, to suddenly develop a massive void inside; if this void is not plugged, Apep will surely die.

A Dragon King with such terrifying accumulation of elemental energy, if he were to die pointlessly, the elemental energy surge and boundless resentment unleashed at his death could destroy all of Sumeru, and even affect Liyue and Fontaine, which border Sumeru.

When previously entering the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness space,

Luo De's thought was: if Nadixa erased the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness, then she, having inherited everything of the Great Merciful Tree King, would roughly retain a vague memory of the past agreement; if he rescued the Great Merciful Tree King, then she herself would remember the agreement and would not need much reminding.

But the current situation is.

However, the Great Merciful Tree King has not disappeared, Nadixa has not inherited his past memories, and the Great Merciful Tree King's residual consciousness remains unable to communicate.

This involves the problem of how to have Nadixa seek the fire seed that can be used to heal Apep, and carry out his rescue.

"Hah—"

"The only advantage is probably that I know how to save that dragon."

Luo De thought this, but his face unconsciously showed a hint of unnaturalness.

He also knew some things.

For example, Apep's current state is due to being schemed against by the Red King.

And he now holds the legacy power left by the Red King for his followers.

In other words.

Faced with an Apep furiously angry at the Red King, if Luo De, a wielder of the Red King's legacy power, helps Nadixa find her, they would likely be swallowed by that mother dragon on the verge of madness upon first meeting.

"Tsk"

Luo De rubbed his temples, continuing to focus his attention on how to awaken the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness.

Nadixa tried many methods.

Injecting elemental energy of the Dendro Archon into the Vision, attempting with the Dendro Archon's authority to pull this consciousness fragment into a dream, sending her own consciousness into the Vision, etc.

It can be said she nearly exhausted all conceivable methods.

However, no matter what she did, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, yielding no feedback at all.

After Nadixa finished trying.

Luo De also used Vision to manipulate elemental energy a bit, attempting to communicate with the consciousness fragment.

The result was still the same.

There was no reaction at all.

「Mm」

Luo De stroked his chin and began to ponder.

Nadixa made the same motion.

Both of their gazes focused entirely on this Vision, thinking about what else could be done.

This thought.

It went from daytime to nighttime.

During this period, Nadixa also tried using her own Gnosis and Venti's Gnosis, such divine power, but still got no result.

Thus, in the situation where they really couldn't think of a good solution.

Luo De said: "Lend me your Gnosis for a moment."

「Huh? 」

「Gnosis? 」

Nadixa was a little puzzled upon hearing it, but she didn't ask anything and, as instructed, handed over her own Gnosis to Luo De.

「Huu—」

Holding the Dendro Archon's Gnosis, Luo De did not look at his own Vision, but following the method he once used to manipulate the Wind God's Gnosis, he attempted to guide a strand of power from the Dendro Archon's Gnosis.

However, he didn't have high hopes.

After all, back when he obtained the Wind Element Divine Eye, that Gnosis could no longer be activated.

Indeed, that was the case; no matter how hard he tried, the Gnosis showed no reaction at all.

Seeing this.

Nadixa, who had still held a sliver of hope, immediately showed a look of disappointment.

Luo De, who had also tried here for a long time without success, had no other ideas; after pondering for a while, he suddenly had a brainwave and purely manipulated Hermanubis's power to try activating the Gnosis once more.

And this time.

He finally succeeded.

Under the light of the Gnosis, Luo De's Grass Element Divine Eye burst forth with a soft light matching the Gnosis, and then the Gnosis began to emanate a large amount of grass elemental energy, heading straight for the Vision and enveloping it.

In the blink of an eye.

The Vision wrapped in grass elemental energy turned into the shape of a seed.

It needed no soil, no watering, and no sunlight.

This seed sprouted out of thin air under the stimulation of elemental energy, growing until it reached the height of Luo De's forearm, then stopped.

Luo De recognized it.

This is a Pati Sharon.

It is purplish-red.

It is a plant recognized as having gone extinct from the Tiwatedalu.

Meanwhile, inside the bud of this Pati Sharon about to bloom, Luo De and Nadixa clearly saw a figure within.

The figure hugged its knees, curled up, looking like an infant, and at that moment was asleep with closed eyes inside this Pati Sharon.

The Gnosis's infusion of elemental energy had already stopped when the Pati Sharon first sprouted its bud; even if stimulated again, there was no response.

The seed formed from the Vision could no longer be distinguished in its original form, seeming to have merged completely with this Pati Sharon.

Luo De gave it a try.

Even after leaving this Pati Sharon, he could still normally use grass elemental energy; it seems the Vision being occupied did not affect him.

Luo De then carefully observed the consciousness fragment sleeping in the bud.

It was quite obvious.

Through the nourishment of the Vision and the Gnosis, this consciousness fragment had grown considerably compared to before; although it still couldn't communicate with people, it was no longer so weak as to possibly dissipate at any moment.

As for the current situation.

If nothing unexpected happens, when this Pati Sharon blooms, that should be the moment the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness returns to the world.

Luo De and Nadixa exchanged a glance; besides surprise, they saw the same doubt in each other's eyes.

As the incarnation of the World Tree, did the Great Merciful Tree King not turn into a tree but into a flower? Or does it symbolize the purplish-red Pati Sharon of the Flower God?

(End of Chapter)