Chapter 207: The Lost and Regained Elemental Power

The busy day passed quickly.

Luo De didn't know what he was busy with; after eating he had a spell of free time, and then he kept running east and west, looking for this or that.

The amount of information received was also a heap that made people's brains boil.

Fortunately.

Most things didn't require him to handle them personally; helping to coordinate and plan was enough.

By today.

What truly required Luo De's personal involvement has arrived.

Early in the morning.

Luo De rushed to the Pure Benevolence Palace.

Nadixa was already waiting.

The news that the Great Merciful Tree King would reshape his body today, Luo De had told her yesterday.

Regarding that.

Nadixa was far more excited than Luo De; looking at her, she probably didn't rest at all last night.

However, this matter is still a secret in Sumeru.

Besides Luo De and Nadixa, only Apep and the lady from Snezhnaya know.

Oh, no.

There's still one person who knows.

"Hey, friend, good morning~~"

Seeing Luo De approach, Venti suddenly popped out from behind Nadixa, waving and greeting him; it's unclear how Nadixa's height managed to block the much taller Venti completely.

"Good morning, Wind God."

Luo De solemnly performed a salute, deliberately emphasizing the words 'Wind God'.

"Heh~~~"

"You're too formal~~~"

Venti scratched his head, flashed aside to avoid Luo De's salute, then chuckled: "Today is a big day; as Teyvat's finest bard, I'll gladly write you a hymn."

"Just a heads-up."

"There's a guest coming today; you'd better be careful—this guest isn't very friendly toward your divine attitude."

Luo De kindly reminded Venti.

Apep will definitely come today.

She is somewhat acquainted with Nadixa and Luo De, at worst exchanging harsh words.

As for Venti, this unfamiliar deity,

Luo De can't guarantee what attitude Apep will have toward him.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Venti tilted his head and asked: "Do you mean Lady Ahe Apep, or Miss Luosa?"

"."

Luo De's mouth opened slightly, then he exclaimed in surprise: "You've seen Apep?"

"I have seen her."

"Lady Apep is very nice and gave plenty of suggestions for my new poem."

"Hmm"

Venti pouted: "Lady Apep's poetic style is just too old-fashioned; it needs a lot of polishing to become trendy."

Luo De remained silent, turning his gaze to Nadixa.

To be honest.

A bit unexpected.

When Luo De first learned that Apep lived in the city, he worried she might still harbor some ill intent.

But looking at it now,

he seems to have overthought it.

At this moment.

Nadixa also spoke about Apep, her tone carrying a feeling of not knowing what emotion to use.

"Apep, lady, she moved in when the city was first built."

"She directly used the name Ahe Apep, but since her active days in Sumeru are so distant, even using the name of the Red King Seven Sages, no one remembers what that name signifies anymore."

"After entering the city."

"She signed up for the engineering team and has been working there ever since."

In the end,

Nadixa and Luo De alike had strange expressions.

Especially Venti's interjected remark: "Lady Apep is quite famous in the engineering team—one person can do the work of twenty; I met her there."

One person can do the work of twenty.

Luo De rubbed his temples.

What is Apep up to? Experiencing life?

Even if he had some doubts, Luo De didn't intend to discuss Apep here, and even in Hope City he wasn't prepared to continue any talk about Apep.

This primordial dragon king's methods have already surpassed Luo De's imagination.

He can't guarantee that speaking ill of others behind their back won't be heard by Apep.

Then it would be embarrassing.

The three of them didn't wait in the Pure Goodness Palace for Apep to show his face; after finishing these few sentences, they went straight to the flower garden.

Apep has always been elusive.

If she doesn't want to be found, then at least in this part of Sumeru, no one can find her.

So it's better to just go find the Great Merciful Tree King; anyway, Apep clearly said she would definitely come, so you'll naturally see her there.

As expected.

When Luo De and the others arrived at the flower garden, Apep was already sitting there, locked in a mutual stare with the Great Merciful Tree King.

"Wind God, long time no see."

Upon meeting, the Great Merciful Tree King first greeted Venti.

After the Archon War, it has been the age when Venti was active in Teyvat.

From Liyue to Snezhnaya, every country has his footprints.

He also wrote many of his foolish deeds into humorous poems, and for this he has often been scolded by nuns who don't know his identity.

The Great Merciful Tree King's active period basically matches his.

In fact.

Not to mention the Great Merciful Tree King, the Red King and the Flower God have also once sat together with Venti to drink and chat.

Among them, the Great Merciful Tree King and Venti are the closest.

The Dendro Archon's ability to create bizarre dreams matches Venti's wild poetic creativity very well; whenever Venti visits Sumeru as a guest, his inspiration always bursts forth, producing many poems worthy of being passed down.

It's a pity.

These poems are not popular in Sumeru, so few have been passed down; on the contrary, many records are kept in Mondstadt's archives.

"The last time we met was five hundred years ago, and in a blink all those years have passed."

Venti put aside his usual nonchalant smirk, smiled, and replied: "Congratulations on your rebirth."

"Hmph—"

Without waiting for the Great Merciful Tree King to answer, Apep, who was facing her, let out a cold snort: "The guests have all arrived; it's time."

Saying that.

She stood up and looked around.

Her icy, sharp gaze, even without deliberately exuding malice, made Luo De and Nadixa instinctively step back; only Venti remained unaffected, still able to stand firm in place.

Seeing that Nadixa could not bear her aura.

Apep's dissatisfaction grew more apparent, but she said nothing, merely placing her hand on the bud where the Great Merciful Tree King was, just as Luo De had seen her do before, and began to gently stroke the bud.

This time.

Luo De saw clearly.

While stroking the bud, Apep's hand clearly had a trace of green light faintly trembling.

"No wonder the Great Merciful Tree King's condition recovered so quickly."

Luo De came to a realization in his heart.

Before, he had wondered why the Great Merciful Tree King's condition recovered so well.

Because judging from her state when she was first planted, at least it would take three times the current time to recover to this state.

This is the joint calculation result of Nadixa and the Void.

However, the fact is that the Great Merciful Tree King's recovery speed far exceeds expectations.

At that time, even if she could communicate with people, she had nothing, and Luo De and Nadixa naturally attributed this to the miracle of the Oasis Source.

Now looking at it.

What is called the miracle of the Oasis Source is clearly Apep, without Nadixa's knowledge, continuously watering her with her own elemental energy.

Including this time as well.

Under Apep's elemental energy watering, the last point of the bud finally fully opened, and a flower as big as a fist, a Pati Shah Lan, bloomed in the flower garden.

With the blooming of the Pati Shah Lan.

The Great Merciful Tree King, seated on the flower's stamen, stood up, her body gradually becoming translucent, and finally completely merged into the Pati Shah Lan beneath her feet.

Immediately after.

A phenomenon suddenly arose.

A verdant green light, like a tornado, swept in from all directions, wildly pouring into the central Pati Shah Lan.

Apep and Nadixa also simultaneously reached out, releasing their elemental energy to fill the massive consumption needed for the Great Merciful Tree King to reshape her body.

These have nothing to do with Luo De, who long ago lost the right to use Dendro elemental energy.

He and Venti merely served as witnesses, watching together as this Pati Shah Lan, bathed in Dendro elemental energy light, again broke through the soil to grow, and also releasing their own unique Archon aura.

Soon.

A humanoid silhouette faintly appeared in the air.

This is the outline of an adult's body; the appearance is temporarily unclear, but judging from the blurred clothing and facial features, it matches the Great Merciful Tree King's characteristics, and is not the Flower God possessing a corpse that Luo De had previously suspected.

Archon revival.

Or rather, a revival of an Archon who retains the Dendro Archon's authority.

This naturally won't be just a small affair.

As the Great Merciful Tree King's form became ever clearer, the flower garden beneath her feet instantly burst into bloom, and the birds in the sky above gathered, as if welcoming the return of the Oasis Queen.

That's right.

It is the Oasis Queen, not the King of Plants.

Although the Great Merciful Tree King's power and consciousness are still those of the Dendro Archon era, her body ultimately owes its revival to a hint of the Flower God's spirit.

In other words.

She is now using Apep's elemental energy, and also possesses half of the Dendro Archon with the flower deity's body.

In the eyes of beings who have once received the oasis queen's favor, the celebration of the Great Merciful Tree King's return is an instinct that comes from the heart.

At the same time

Luo De also heard the tribespeople in the city offering reverent kneeling to the flower deity Nab·Marikataka.

"What did you do?"

Luo De furrowed his brows slightly, asking Venti beside him.

He really does have sharper ears than before, but he hasn't yet reached the ability to precisely discern sounds.

Combined with his experience in Mondstadt.

Then it can only be Venti's doing.

Heh~

Venti neither admitted nor denied, just laughed and prepared to bluff his way through.

Don't even think about bluffing your way through!

This time Luo De didn't grant his wish, but instead pressed on: "Why did you deliberately let me hear these sounds? Any problem?"

As he said this, Luo De once again frowned at the Great Merciful Tree King, which showed no abnormality, trying to find some flaw.

"It's good for you."

Venti threw out that comment in a mysterious way, and thereafter no matter how Luo De questioned him, he continued to play deaf and dumb or give irrelevant answers.

"`."

Listening to the sound growing louder by his ear, Luo De's lips twitched, and an urge to quickly plug his ears welled up.

Too bad.

This is the Wind God's doing.

Even if he plugged his ears, it would be impossible to stop these sounds from pouring into his mind.

"Why?"

After repeatedly encountering the riddler's antics, a big question mark popped up.

Yesterday.

The Great Merciful Tree King had once specifically and repeatedly reminded Luo De that he must come to watch her rebirth process, openly not hiding the expectation that he must come.

Even if she hadn't said so, Luo De would certainly have been present.

But precisely because Luo De could not possibly be absent, the Great Merciful Tree King's special reminder appears especially unusual.

Luo De had speculated why she would say that.

But in the end he still couldn't figure it out, so he could only conclude that this abnormal behavior was perhaps the Great Merciful Tree King wanting to thank him, or give him some benefit, to compensate for the loss of the Grass Element Divine Eye.

But.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Luo De abruptly sensed something was off.

Following his feeling, his gaze shifted from the flowerbed all the way to the sky.

Then he saw where the problem was.

That was an ornate throne, floating in the sky, with three transparent strands hanging down from it to the flowerbed.

Two of them were undoubtedly on Nadixa and the Great Merciful Tree King.

What made Luo De's heart tremble uncontrollably was.

that this third strand was actually connected to him.

"What the hell?"

This discovery was no small matter; Luo De's mind instantly felt as if it had exploded, a 'buzz' sounded and he couldn't hear anything.

"What is that throne?"

Without a doubt.

The Dendro Archon's throne.

This throne representing the Dendro Archon is connected to the Great Merciful Tree King and Nadixa, which is quite normal.

But

Why is this thing connected to me?

I clearly am not using Grass element abilities anymore, and I haven't felt any Dendro Archon's authority on me.

Logically speaking.

This thing should be related to Apep, which would make more sense, right?

After all, that guy is the Grass Dragon, and the throne is made by splitting her authority, so it should naturally be connected to her, right?

What the hell is it doing connected to me???

Luo De bit his lip and raised his hand to check again.

Contrary to what he saw before him.

He still couldn't use Grass elemental energy.

Then what's the deal with this connection hanging down from the Dendro Archon's throne?

Hey!

You little human!!!

Apep's voice interrupted Luo De's thoughts, pulling him back from all sorts of random ideas.

As Luo De just lifted his head to look, he saw Apep reach out from afar and grab, pulling the strand that connected him to the Dendro Archon's throne over to him, and veins bulged on his hand.

Immediately a crisp 'crack' sounded in Luo De's ear.

Immediately after.

Then he saw the thread that connected him and the Dendro Archon's throne, being forcibly torn apart by Apep!!!

Furthermore, Luo De clearly felt — no, it should be a visible discovery — that he could use Dendro elemental energy again!

(End of chapter)