Chapter 349

Seeing a bottle bowing low to oneself is a very strange sight.

But as for Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King's feelings,

Li Lu Pa Er was indeed bowing and worshipping before her mistress.

Madam?

Luo De looked suspiciously at the Great Merciful Tree King.

He was quite sure he hadn't looked wrong.

What's before him is indeed the Great Merciful Tree King, not someone wearing the Flower God's face.

That town spirit, which once constantly accompanied the Flower God, most likely also saw the Great Merciful Tree King.

Why would she mistake the person? Is it because her soul was torn apart and her mind went wrong, or is the Great Merciful Tree King saying "Because my inner child is now Naboo?"

The Great Merciful Tree King quietly gave an explanation.

Inner child?

Luo De raised his brows slightly, then glanced at the horizontally floating Lilu Paar: "In this form, can you see through my inner child?"

The Great Merciful Tree King is a lingering soul preserved with a bit of the Flower God's divine light.

Then, relying on Apep's Oasis Source and Luo De's Vision, she restored her body.

Except for this face.

Indeed, they all look like the Flower God.

But the problem is, how can the remnant soul Lilu Paar see through the Great Merciful Tree King's outward appearance to the inside?

Never mind the remnant soul.

Even if it were the complete version of Lilu Paar.

Probably couldn't even do that.

Although nominally a retainer of the Flower God.

But the strength of a town spirit cannot compare with divine retainers like Yae Miko Tatarasuna.

Even the fiercest fighter among the town spirits, Philygis.

She is still far short of an Archon's level.

Speaking more accurately, the town spirits' functionality far exceeds their combat ability.

So.

With such feeble strength, and Lilu Paar torn into several pieces by the Red King, how could she instantly recognize the Great Merciful Tree King's Flower God inner child? Regarding this.

The Great Merciful Tree King spread her hands, indicating she didn't know either.

Thus Luo De turned his gaze back to Lilu Paar.

There's still another question.

Speaking from the inside.

He is much purer than the Great Merciful Tree King.

This is truly the embodiment of the Flower God's genuine divine light.

How come Lilu Paar's eyes only see the Great Merciful Tree King, not herself? It's strange.

Just as Luo De was pondering whether to speak, Lilu Paar, having completed the great rite in the form of a bottle, swiftly turned and said to Luo De: "You must be the incarnation of the mistress's daughter."

Lady!?

Luo De's face instantly darkened: "Which of your eyes saw me as a woman?"

Sorry.

In this form, I have no eyes.

Lilu Paar spoke a truth, then asked again: "Are you the mistress's daughter?"

No!

Luo De, exasperated, spoke with a voice a bit more impatient than before.

This Lilu Paar is probably deliberately trying to anger me.

On the other side.

The Great Merciful Tree King, laughing till she doubled over, patted Luo De's shoulder, then after a while managed to say: "How about it? Want to be my daughter?"

You're just joining in the fun, right!

Luo De, displeased, shook off her hand, then grabbed the bottle sealing Lilu Paar and snapped: "Look well, she is my sister! Sister! Sister! Do you understand?"

He said the important thing three times.

Lilu Paar's bottle turned bright red directly, and she wondered: "I recall the mistress having no brother, and yet you have this aura."

"Past is past, present is present!"

Luo De's face grew ever more angry; after arguing a few sentences with Lilu Paar, he tossed her to the Great Merciful Tree King, said "You speak," then stormed off in a huff to the wind‑swept sands outside to breathe fresh air.

Although Lilu Paar is quite aggravating.

But the outcome of meeting her is still quite good.

Through Lilu Paar's reaction.

The information conveyed to Luo De.

Namely, the town spirits will likely, like her, directly regard the Great Merciful Tree King as the Flower God's reincarnation and treat Luo De as the lingering divine light left by the Flower God.

That is actually a good thing.

At least it can save a lot of talk.

By then, whether bringing them to the Flower God's birth festival or sending them to the desert to become oasis sources, they will surely not refuse.

"That Philygis should be fine too."

Looking at the yellow sand still covering the earth, Luo De rubbed his chin.

Unlike Lilu Paer, the warden spirit who only wishes to confirm his mistress's life or death, Filijisi is a very stubborn warden spirit; knowing that the Flower God is dead and the Red King can no longer be her mistress, she remains stationed before the gate of the Eternal Oasis for a thousand years out of sheer obsession, never yielding an inch.

Luo De isn't sure whether Filijisi would also agree that the Great Merciful Tree King's current incarnation is the Flower God.

If possible.

Better to avoid conflict as much as possible, so that this person can stay and help.

After all, they are a great warden spirit.

In terms of functionality, they are still very useful.

Soon.

While Luo De was still thinking about Filijisi, the Great Merciful Tree King had already brought Lilu Paer out.

Their conversation went very smoothly.

Lilu Paer's awareness of the Great Merciful Tree King is very high; on the surface, she appears completely subservient to the Great Merciful Tree King, acknowledging it as the Flower God.

Thus, even if the Great Merciful Tree King lets go of her hand, she continues to circle around it, with no intention of seeking out Luo De, the 'Flower God's daughter'.

Next, the purpose became clear.

With Lilu Paer leading the team.

Luo De and the others easily broke the seal laid by the Red King, extracted her soul one by one and merged them, successfully allowing this great warden spirit to return to its peak state.

Actually, it cannot truly be called the peak.

At best, it has merely returned to the state after the Flower God's death.

A considerable portion of a deity's retinue's power comes from their own deity.

As a warden spirit, being a retinue of the Flower God.

Its very ability to reshape the oasis comes from the Flower God's authority.

Later, the Flower God died.

The Red King accepted all the warden spirits, and when he contained them in bottles, he also bestowed his own power upon them to make up for the oasis‑shaping strength they lost after the Flower God's passing.

And after the Red King also died.

Lilu Paer's power had in fact already fallen to a godless state.

She could only rely on instinct to generate a tiny oasis around herself, just enough for one person to set foot on.

She wanted to recreate a large oasis like Juer City.

Authority from the Great Merciful Tree King is therefore indispensable.

Fortunately, during the era of the three gods' joint rule.

The Dendro Archon's authority is shared jointly by the Flower God, the Dendro Archon, and the Red King.

Thus the Great Merciful Tree King's authority can also be seamlessly integrated into Lilu Paer's body, allowing her to return to the state when her former authority was still present.

However, since the Great Merciful Tree King is ultimately not the Flower God.

And being different from the warden spirit race created by the Flower God, it cannot restore her to her prime.

But this is enough.

With Lilu Paer's current ability.

Even without deliberately constructing an oasis, merely standing there causes green leaves and fresh flowers to automatically appear at her feet, bringing a splash of different color to this lifeless yellow sand.

Lilu Paer, who was already talkative, became unable to stop speaking after her soul recovered; besides naturally offering the Flower God's loyalty to the Great Merciful Tree King, she constantly circles Luo De, the 'Flower God's daughter', trying to extract from him more information about the Flower God.

Really annoyed by the noise, Luo De simply sealed Lilu Paer's mouth, preventing her from speaking.

But every time he does that.

the Great Merciful Tree King will smile and undo the seal on Lilu Paer.

With the backing of her own mistress.

Lilu Paer then chatters on even more incessantly.

Not to mention when idle.

Even when rushing along, she chatters nonstop around Luo De, as if trying to spill all the words she has bottled up for a thousand years in one go.

Such a situation.

Until they successfully opened the Divine Chessboard and found the entrance to the Eternal Oasis.

Lilu Paer, whose mouth had never stopped, fell unusually silent as she followed Luo De and the others deeper into the ruins, successfully locating the warden spirit Filijisi guarding this place.

Compared to Lilu Paer, who can still move freely.

Filijisi's situation is obviously much worse.

She is sealed inside a mechanism about the height of a person; even if she wants to move, she lacks the ability to do so.

"Filijisi sister, I'm back."

Seeing her sister in this state, Lilu Paer's usually lively voice became much more subdued and low.

"Oh~"

"You, the archdestroyer of Juer City, mother of countless treacherous villains, what do you call me? Sister?"

Filijisi's memory seems to have become somewhat blurred.

Regarding Lilu Paer's friendly gesture.

She did not return the kindness; instead, her tone carried extreme dissatisfaction, reproach, and questioning.

However, Lilu Paer did not agree, repeating once more: "Yes, Filijisi sister, I have returned."

"Are you here to pay respects to your mistress?"

"Let me take a look."

"Oh, you even brought your new master and"

"Huh?"

Fei Li Ji Si's words halted abruptly mid-sentence.

Although she had no physical form, her appearance could not be seen.

But Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King could clearly sense it.

This guardian spirit, who had abandoned its body and poured its soul into the mechanism, had been guarding this place for a thousand years, and was now observing them with a scrutinizing gaze.

No time was wasted.

Fei Li Ji Si's murmuring voice echoed in this vast space.

"Mistress"

Upon hearing these words,

Luo De's face instantly broke into a smile.

The worst-case scenario did not occur.

It seems even a powerful guardian spirit like Fei Li Ji Si cannot discern the true difference between the Great Merciful Tree King and the Flower God.

Having this understanding as a basis.

Li Lu Pa Er spoke for the two, saying, "Fei Li Ji Si sister, the mistress has already awakened and is about to go retrieve her own body; please let us pass."

"Retrieve her own body."

Fei Li Ji Si repeated those words, then her voice suddenly changed: "No, that's wrong, you're not the mistress! The mistress, she clearly——"

Just as Luo De had previously thought.

Fei Li Ji Si knew the Flower God was dead.

She also knew the Red King had broken his oath and failed to resurrect his mistress.

After initially being startled,

She immediately reacted, and the previously calm mechanism suddenly went berserk, ready to attack Luo De and the others at any moment.

This was not the scene Luo De wanted to see.

Given the difference in strength between them and Fei Li Ji Si,

Once a fight broke out,

Fei Li Ji Si would certainly have her soul scattered, leaving not a trace.

This would run counter to Luo De and the others' original intention of subduing the guardian spirit Fei Li Ji Si.

So, after Fei Li Ji Si showed her hostility,

Luo De stepped forward.

He raised his hand and lightly pressed down.

An invisible wave spread outward from him as its center.

The berserk Fei Li Ji Si instantly fell silent and exclaimed in surprise: "You, this is, the mistress's?"

Your mistress certainly left plenty of tricks up her sleeve.

You just don't know about it.

Luo De walked up to her and said lightly, "There are many things you don't know; not to mention you, even the Red King himself doesn't know many things—how can you so crassly and arbitrarily judge that Na Bu·Ma Li Ka Ta cannot return?"

Invoking the Red King still works well.

Because the Red King initially deceived the guardian spirit clan to successfully establish the Eternal Oasis.

The guardian spirits only found out later.

It turned out the Red King had no means to resurrect the mistress; he merely deceived them into serving as jailers to contain them.

And that is precisely why.

Because of the Red King's betrayal.

This caused Fei Li Ji Si, while despairing over the Flower God's resurrection, to still retain a sliver of hope.

Just as Luo De said.

Even such a powerful deity as the Red King still doesn't know many things.

Let alone a guardian spirit trapped for a thousand years like her.

Moreover, she could not help but admit one thing.

The Great Merciful Tree King's interior indeed bears the Flower God's aura.

Li Lu Pa Er appears not to have mistaken the person.

As for Fei Li Ji Si herself.

After Luo De easily suppressed her berserk state, she began to calmly analyze.

But no matter what she was thinking,

As soon as she thought of Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King's bodies, which were entirely formed of spiritual light, she could no longer let her mind wander to other things.

After being torn like this for a long time,

Fei Li Ji Si made a decision.

I will let you pass.

This sentence seemed to drain all of Fei Li Ji Si's strength.

Her words fell.

Inside the ruins, a booming sound rang out again, and the mechanism beneath her feet began to tremble and shift.

And Fei Li Ji Si's spiritual aura grew ever weaker.

A one-time mechanism.

Seeing this, Luo De naturally figured out the principle behind the mechanism sealing Fei Li Ji Si.

Simply put.

The mechanism exists, the person exists.

If the mechanism is broken, the person must die first.

Li Lu Pa Er watched all this happen; usually lively, she fell silent at this moment, and the soul fragments in the bottle also turned a sorrowful color.

With the mechanism's activation.

The platform beneath their feet shot up, continually soaring higher.

During this process, Fei Li Ji Si's consciousness grew ever weaker.

Just before entering the Eternal Green Isle, Luo De smashed the mechanism on the platform with one blow, pulled the dying Fei Li Ji Si from inside, and directly stuffed her into the bottle sealing Li Lu Pa Er, allowing the two sisters to temporarily reunite in this peaceful way.

(End of chapter)