Chapter 358

Sweet Dew Flower Sea should have been an extremely beautiful place.

There is È gē lì yā's sweet dew living water, there are the Myriad Mother Trees personally planted by the Great Merciful Tree King, and there are the flower spirits differentiated from the Flower God's daughter divine bird Ximoge.

If there were no Abyss.

This place where the power of the three gods gathers should be the most beautiful place in all of Teyvat.

And now.

When Luo De and company arrived at Sweet Dew Flower Sea.

What they saw, however, was a scene of devastation everywhere.

The Myriad Mother Trees that should have been in full bloom.

At this time, they are covered in cracks, their flower branches withered, the surroundings are nothing but decay, and even dark demonic creatures roam here.

They also did not see any other flower spirits.

Everything is a desolate, cold and silent scene.

"Please follow me."

Si Lu Sha's voice was extremely cheerful.

Although Luo De does not acknowledge that he is the identity of the flower spirit 'mother'.

But the identity of the new Flower God still makes Si Lu Sha overjoyed.

Just as the Great Merciful Tree King said.

The appearance of the omen of burning truth means that the dark abyss power suppressed by the Myriad Mother Trees has leaked again.

For the flower spirits maintaining the seal.

They must do something to salvage this situation.

This is also why Si Lu Sha went to cooperate with Xian Zhu Na to seek the Great Spirit Light.

Just didn't expect.

Xian Zhu Na has already betrayed.

If it weren't for Luo De and company arriving, uh... actually it wouldn't matter if Luo De and company didn't arrive.

Ying is here.

She will naturally discern right from wrong.

Moreover, with Ying's abilities.

Even if Xian Zhu Na summons more Abyss apostles, she has the ability to deal with this situation.

However, if only Ying is present.

Then she must go obtain the spirit light to proceed with the subsequent ritual; otherwise, there is no way to clean up the Abyssal pollution that has already leaked out.

But Luo De here is different.

He, who was shaped from the Flower God's discarded molt and also possesses the Flower God's divinity.

In some respects.

That is the most effective strand of spirit light in all of Teyvat.

In this regard.

Even stronger than the Great Merciful Tree King.

That is to say.

If we hold that ritual with him as the main entity.

Even without the Great Spirit Light, we can still achieve a substitute effect.

Under Si Lu Sha's leadership.

Luo De and company passed through the area of the giant tree, casually exterminating a few Abyssal demonic creatures that were secretly nibbling on the Myriad Mother Trees, and then they saw another flower spirit with an even older aura.

"Zu Er Wan senior, look who I brought you~~~"

The cheerful Si Lu Sha even had her flight trajectory go in circles, sticking close to Zu Er Wan and constantly gesturing to Luo De.

"No respect for seniority."

Zu Er Wan appears to be a conservative flower spirit, and his voice sounds even more weathered than the younger Zu Er Wan.

Regarding this junior's frivolity.

She gave a soft hum and criticized, "Since you still address me as your senior, you ought to follow the flower spirits' code, not keep company with those humans harboring ulterior motives."

Her words faded.

Zhuruan's body suddenly stiffened, and her gaze toward Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King froze instantly.

After roughly one or two breaths.

Zhuruan cried out, "King of Plants and Trees, you have returned!!!"

As one of the most ancient flower spirits.

Zhuruan is one of the fragments that split off from the divine bird Simurgh back then.

Unlike the younger junior Selesa.

In her memory.

She retains Simurgh's memory of the Great Merciful Tree King from back then.

The face of the Great Merciful Tree King is deeply etched in her memory.

Thus, upon first seeing the Great Merciful Tree King appear here.

She didn't even have time to observe Luo De before she shouted out.

"King of Plants and Trees—!"

Now not only Selesa, but also Xingye and Paimon looked over in surprise.

They merely vaguely sensed that the Great Merciful Tree King, who called herself Luo De's younger sister, likely had some special status.

But I never thought of it.

Having eaten and lived together with them for so long, Nabu, who showed not the slightest trace of divine majesty, turned out to be that mysterious Great Merciful Tree King.

"No way, the Great Merciful Tree King isn't already dead, is he?"

Blunt-spoken Paimon blurted out a sentence that would embarrass everyone present.

"Paimon—"

Ying hastily covered Paimon's mouth, tightly hugging her in her arms, fearing that her mouth would utter another earth-shattering word.

"It's fine."

"I was actually planning to tell you all along."

The Great Merciful Tree King had no intention of hiding anything.

After Zu'erwan bluntly pointed out her identity as the King of Plants, she nodded and said, "Hello, daughter of Ximoge."

She looked around, then her gaze fell on a spring ahead, and she softly sighed, saying, "You've also worked hard guarding E'geliya's body these years."

"Not hard, not hard—"

Somewhat startled and honored, Zu'erwan immediately waved her hands, flew quickly to the Great Merciful Tree King's front, respectfully yet excitedly said, "Are you here to help us awaken this deity's divine consciousness?"

"Not me."

The Great Merciful Tree King shook his head, pointing at Luo De and said, "It's him."

Only then.

From the moment she heard the Great Merciful Tree King was the King of Plants, Sirusha, who had been stunned, finally came to her senses, eyes wide with astonishment, saying, "You, you really are the King of Plants!"

"Sirusha, don't be rude."

Zu'erwan immediately spoke up to reprimand, then turned to the Great Merciful Tree King and said, "Great King of Plants, please forgive Sirusha's rudeness; she is still young, and besides, the Sweet Dew Flower Sea has been abnormal these years, I really haven't had time to properly guide this junior."

On the surface, she was scolding Zu'erwan for her rudeness before the deity.

In reality, Zu'erwan was protecting Sirusha, preventing her from being blamed by the Great Merciful Tree King for losing etiquette before the deity.

This little thought.

Everyone present, except Paimon, could see it.

The Great Merciful Tree King wasn't the type to hold grudges; he smiled and let it pass.

And then.

It was another moment of Zu'erwan spacing out.

She sat upright, eyes locked on Luo De; after a long time, long enough for Sirusha to want to wake her, she finally spoke with tears welling up.

"Great female, master."

"Yes, yes, it's you, you've come back!"

In the eyes of ancient flower spirits like Zu'erwan, they, like the guardian spirits, regard the flower goddess as their female mistress, not as Ximoge does, directly regarding the flower goddess as mother.

On the contrary, new-generation flower spirits like Sirusha have none of those strange considerations and thoughts.

In their view,

To them, flower spirits are Ximoge, and Ximoge is the daughter of the flower goddess, so they should address the flower goddess as 'mother,' just like Ximoge does.

But these are just minor issues.

Luo De's status as the new flower goddess has been certified.

Zu'erwan's excitement was naturally beyond words.

Realizing that the myriad mother trees could be saved and that her mission was finally about to be fulfilled, she circled Luo De several times, constantly murmuring about what had happened years ago in the Sweet Dew Flower Sea.

"After the divine bird Ximoge passed away back then."

"As one of the spiritual lights she transformed into, when I first awoke from the flower sea, aside from this small patch of pure land, everywhere I saw were visions of the Abyss, and outside was entirely the domain of demons."

"Following the divine bird's last wish, I gathered the scattered spiritual lights' power, left the flower sea to suppress the demons on the ground, until I encountered a blond man in the wilderness."

"He was a strange fellow whose half of his body had already become like a demon's, yet he bore no demonic aura; when I found him, he was unconscious in the desert, still clutching an iron ring tightly in his hand."

"So I brought him to the flower sea to recuperate; after he woke, he called himself a swordsman of Tuhe, surviving only because of a curse, and came to the desert to destroy the Abyss here. For a while thereafter, I traveled with this masked swordsman, jointly opposing the dark demons invading the flower sea."

"Not long after, a group of scholar-clad people came from the east of the desert, led by a one-armed sage holding a holy object personally bestowed by the Great King of Plants."

"They claimed to be warriors who once fought side by side with the Tuhe people, but they did not know that blond Tuhe swordsman; according to them, their allies were a group of warriors who, even knowing they bore infamy, still followed their original aspirations—the White Egret Knights."

"Later, I, that swordsman, and the one-armed sage entered the ruins left by the Tuhe people, discovering the mechanisms that once fought demons; however, those mechanisms, which had once been alongside the scholars, had already been swallowed by darkness, becoming black claws that blocked our way."

"During the exploration of the ruins, the one-armed sage, relying on Tuhe documents gathered along the way, found a method to pass through the Abyss and enter the mother tree; using this method, we all entered the mother tree together, successfully purifying the heavenly and earthly impurities with sweet dew."

"Afterward, flower spirits continually sprang up in the flower sea, while the demons on the ground gradually disappeared."

"Later, the masked blond swordsman departed the flower sea together with a blond-haired youth; the one-armed sage went alone into the underground ruins and never returned, while the scholars who had come with him stayed behind, partnering with the newly born flower spirits; they abandoned the name Nagajuna and henceforth called themselves the Correct Theory Group, living in this region, just like us, devoted to utterly eradicating the Abyss here."

Zu'erwan's original intention was to report to the new flower goddess the work she had done over these years.

This flower spirit, who has lived over five hundred years, has none of the naivety and worldly ignorance of the newly born flower spirits.

For her, who understands worldly affairs extremely well,

Saying these words is obviously meant for Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King to hear, meaning that they have never neglected their duties these years; the heavenly phenomenon of the Burning Truth has nothing to do with their flower spirit clan.

Actually, saying this is somewhat redundant.

Whether it's Luo De, the Great Merciful Tree King, or Ying and Paimon,

they all know very well.

This abnormal heavenly phenomenon was caused by the Correct Theory Group's traitor, Najuzhu, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the flower spirits.

Just as Luo De was about to tell Zu'erwan about Najuzhu's matter,

Sirusha jumped in first, explaining in one breath how Najuzhu had betrayed the Correct Theory Group and the flower spirits, falling into darkness.

Although she spoke hastily, she was very clear, laying out the whole cause and effect and everything Najuzhu had done, while also pointing to the evidence, Krinsor, who was there condemning the actions of the Abyss Sect.

Hmph, it's you.

Earlier I had no time to deal with Kelinsuoer, but as soon as I saw him just now, Zu'erwan let out a cold snort.

Eh?

Senior, do you also know this guy?

Sillusha was stunned; she never expected that her senior, who had always been guarding the Sweet Dew Living Water and hardly ever left the Sweet Dew Flower Sea, would actually know such an Abyssal Envoy.

This guy was originally also a member of the Correct Doctrine Sect.

Several hundred years ago, an investigation team came from the forest, claiming to be here to explore the secrets of the Tutoh people, and they completely disregarded the Correct Doctrine Sect's warnings, insisting on entering the relics left by the Tutoh people.

To prevent any mishap, the Keeper of Knowledge at the time ordered this guy to go along.

But who knows what they found in the relics; anyway, when we saw this guy again, he had already received the blessing of pollution, becoming a filthy pitch-black lackey, and those forest investigation team members also vanished without a trace.

Later, under the guidance of this traitor, the followers of the Black Abyss gathered, they set their sights on the Spirit Light's Ultimate Chant, and for that they summoned numerous pitch-black demon beasts to attack the Flower Sea.

Although relying on many flower spirits and human warriors, the Sweet Dew Flower Sea was ultimately preserved.

But we failed to completely eradicate the followers of the Black Abyss.

To prevent them from taking advantage, I had no choice but to use the power of the Spirit Light's Ultimate Chant to seal off the various relics of the Flower Sea, and the once bustling, warrior-filled Correct Doctrine Sect also suffered great vitality loss from this betrayal—not only were its members heavily casualties, but even its inherited classics were burned to nothing, gradually turning into the sorry state it is now.

Zu'erwan stared intently at Kelinsuoer, and as expected said: 'Earlier when you lot talked about the Black Abyss, I suspected his shadow was behind it; I just didn't expect that this time even the leader of the Correct Doctrine Sect would be bewitched by them and become a pitch-black lackey.'

Having said that.

Zu'erwan stopped looking at Kelinsuoer and no longer continued to recount the past history unknown to the Great Merciful Tree King; with a solemn expression she faced Luo De and said: 'Flower Goddess, the seal of the Black Abyss has loosened again, and the pitch-black phenomena it caused have appeared on the Myriad-kind Mother Tree. Moreover, the Mother Tree has over the years accumulated a great deal of Abyssal filth, and now, under the erosion of the Black Abyss phenomena, it can no longer maintain the power of the Spirit Light.'

If possible,

I implore you to lend your aid, enter the Myriad-kind Mother Tree, cleanse the Abyssal filth within, thereby awaken the divine awareness of the exalted deity, and completely eradicate these pitch-black pollutions.

(End of chapter)