Chapter 359

Following the normal procedure.

They wanted to hold the water-offering ritual spoken of by the flower spirits.

In the current situation where the Abyss's pollution has already overflowed to such a severe extent, it is necessary to first obtain the absolute chant of spiritual light, then enter the Tuhē Abyss where the pollution is most severe, which is precisely the Khaneri'a Nation Gate that originally caused the black disaster, using the absolute chant of spiritual light's suppressive power over the Abyss to awaken the great tree now suppressed by the Abyss, thereby opening the passage to the Myriad Mother Tree, awakening the divine consciousness of the slumbering Egoriyah, thereby awakening the power of the Myriad Mother Tree, and completely purifying the Abyss pollution that has leaked out.

But this is the normal procedure.

For Luo De.

He does not need such a procedure.

Even without Zhurun's request, he was prepared to try to relieve the Myriad Mother Tree of the Abyss's suppression.

But before that.

Luo De first, following the Great Merciful Tree King's words, took a bit of sweet dew living water.

Although this living water is the transformed remains of Egoriyah, he still felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

But the Great Merciful Tree King then gave Luo De some further explanation.

Egoriyah was, when Heavenly Principle controlled the primordial fetal sea, an artificially created heart of the fetal sea made by utilizing the Water Dragon King's authority.

Its essence is merely a part of the primordial fetal sea.

Furthermore, Heavenly Principle used her to suppress the rhythm of the Water Dragon King's rebirth, and also caused the newly born Water Dragon King to lack complete water dragon authority; as long as the Hydro Archon does not die, there is no way to restore Teyvat's ancient dragon order.

This is similar to the situation of Apepu.

Back then, if it weren't for the Great Merciful Tree King and the Red King joining forces, Apepu would certainly have gone to kill the Great Merciful Tree King to reclaim his own authority, and there would no longer be the present-day uneasy cooperation between the Ancient Dragon King and the Dendro Archon.

And the Great Merciful Tree King said all that.

Actually, the meaning is quite simple.

Namely, Egoriyah's essence is the incarnation of the primordial fetal sea, while the Dendro Archon's essence is the incarnation of the World Tree, which is roughly similar.

When Egoriyah died in Sumeru back then, the Great Merciful Tree King used the sweet dew living water she left behind to create myriad spiritual light, thereby successfully suppressing the spread of the Abyss.

It is the same now.

Moreover, not only Luo De intends to drink the sweet dew living water, but the Great Merciful Tree King also prepares to drink it.

"This sweet dew living water has a marvelous mutually complementary effect with spiritual light."

"It's not just good for you; for me now the benefit is even greater."

The Great Merciful Tree King frankly expressed his idea: "My reborn body originally relied on Nabu's legacy and Apepu's help; innately I have many defects, otherwise I would also be one of the Seven Worldly Executors, and even without authority, I would not have suffered severe injury from being unable to bear Balezhebu's authority, while Egoriyah's sweet dew living water can just help me make up for the incompleteness of my body, and the same applies to you."

The Great Merciful Tree King's meaning is very clear.

Luo De also understood.

For these two humanoid spiritual lights, sweet dew living water is indeed the best supplement.

Thus there is nothing to hesitate about.

Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King each scooped out a cup of sweet dew living water, glanced at each other, and then drank it all together.

Just after drinking the sweet dew living water,

Luo De immediately felt something different.

First, his body became warm and cozy, like winter snow encountering warm sunlight.

Next, a thin layer of light mist slowly drifted from Luo De's body and dispersed with the wind, causing no disturbance to the surroundings.

After that,

came the feeling of clear ears and bright eyes, with his whole body feeling transparent.

Luo De let out a long breath, then looked toward Zhurun and Sulusha.

Even earlier, when they first met her,

Although everyone is a manifestation of spiritual light, Luo De actually felt nothing toward them, more like what Sulusha said—just as the true flower god would feel upon seeing her own people.

And after drinking the sweet dew living water,

Looking again at Sulusha and Zhurun, these two flower spirits, a feeling of bloodline connection arose spontaneously, and not only these two before him, Luo De could even sense the positions of all the flower spirits wandering in this desert.

"Whoosh—"

The Great Merciful Tree King beside him also came to his senses from the changes after drinking the sweet dew living water.

Unlike Luo De.

She, who is essentially the Dendro Archon and still possesses part of the Dendro Archon's authority, after drinking the sweet dew living water, the divine aura emanating from her became markedly greater than before; with the rhythm of her breath, the sweet dew flower sea that had already shown signs of decay under the Abyss's erosion began to display signs of recovery.

However, those plants had only just grown a little, and quickly withered again under the Abyss's power, returning to their previous dilapidated state.

But then came,

the withered Myriad Mother Tree exhibited a long‑absent rhythm, and the tumors on its body formed from condensed Abyss pollution also gradually showed signs of shrinkage under the Great Merciful Tree King's authority, with even new trunks and leaves sprouting green buds.

"That's all I can do."

The Great Merciful Tree King, having recovered from his divine state, shook his head.

Under the meddling of these traitors, Kelinsuoer,

The Myriad Mother Tree being suppressed by the Abyss pollution is truly too severe.

Even though his body is now complete and his authority has been filled with the power of the primordial fetal sea, making him more focused on the abyss, the Great Merciful Tree King still finds it hard to awaken the Myriad Mother Tree by his own strength.

"But with my power, opening a path for you is still possible."

This, however, matches the earlier prediction.

The Great Merciful Tree King drank the sweet dew living water also for this purpose.

If there were no help from the sweet dew living water,

Luo De's attempt to enter the Myriad Mother Tree would be somewhat more troublesome.

At the very least, they would need to work together to figure out how to open the gate sealing the Myriad Mother Tree.

Now the situation is different.

Soon the Great Merciful Tree King arrived before the Myriad Mother Tree, placed his hand on the cracked bark, and immediately a crystal‑clear green light shone from his palm.

Before, her elemental energy was that dull, grass‑green shade.

But after receiving the help of the Ambrosial Living Water, her elemental energy became what it is now.

As her elemental energy's light grew ever brighter.

A transport gate quietly opened on the trunk of the Myriad Mother Tree, and countless nauseating foul breaths surged out from within.

Zu Er Wan and Si Lu Sha were unusually sensitive to such Abyssal aura, and instinctively stepped back a few paces.

On the contrary, Ying and Paimon curiously poked their heads into the gate, trying to see clearly what lay inside.

"You may go in if you wish."

Luo De shrugged, handing the choice to Ying and the others.

Actually, it would be fine even without them.

Awakening the Myriad Mother Tree is something he can do himself.

"Uh." "Forget it, we won't go in."

Although she wanted to go in with Luo De to see the situation inside the Myriad Mother Tree, after seeing the Abyssal aura rising again near the Ambrosial Flower Sea, Ying chose to stay and help the Great Merciful Tree King and the flower spirits clear the Abyssal monsters here.

Having received a definite reply, Luo De no longer wasted words, stepped forward, and directly entered the gate opened by the Great Merciful Tree King.

A flash of green light flickered.

When Luo De's vision returned to normal once again,

what met his eyes was

a crowd of Abyssal monsters exuding thick black mist, frenziedly attacking a crystal coffin.

Around the crystal coffin hovered a thin layer of blue light protecting it.

Even if those Abyssal monsters attacked with all their might, they could not easily break through that protective layer.

But it is precisely because of these Abyssal monsters

that the blue light, which should have dissipated to suppress the Abyssal power, was now tightly suppressed by the dense black mist.

Inside the coffin lay a corpse—a girl in a white dress, lovely‑featured, eyes shut tight, with no trace of consciousness.

"The previous Hydro Archon, Ege Li Ya."

Luo De did not know what Ege Li Ya looked like.

But she was still easy to recognize.

Sealed within the Myriad Mother Tree and yet fiercely assaulted by the blackness, yet possessing the power to cleanse the Abyss, it could only be Ege Li Ya herself.

Since the true target had been found, Luo De wasted no words, brandished and summoned the Piercing Rainbow Spear; with a gust at his feet, he swept the man‑long spear sideways like cutting grass, easily clearing a large swath of the black monsters surrounding Ege Li Ya's coffin.

Yet after these monsters were slain, they did not immediately dissipate; instead they reverted to their original forms, ignoring Luo De and continuing to assault the crystal coffin.

"."

"Tsk."

Luo De flicked the Piercing Rainbow Spear, raised his hand to the sky; the grass‑green and lake‑blue lights merged and overlapped, instantly forming a rain cloud that poured down fine droplets.

Luo De did not gain any new water‑related authority from the Ambrosial Living Water.

But with the addition of the Ambrosial Living Water, the authority he received from the Flower God's divinity became far more focused against the Abyss; when the bean‑sized raindrops struck those black monsters, what had been impossible to erase now screamed and was shattered anew into weapons.

And this time.

In the fine downpour of authority, the black mist into which the Abyssal monsters transformed, even if they struggled to recover, could not again coalesce their bodies.

As the authority rain fell,

the blue light guarding the crystal coffin was no longer suppressed, expanding outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The situation reversed.

Luo De's released authority rain, combined with that blue layer of light, caused the Abyssal‑formed mist to suffer successive defeats, making it impossible to regain its former suppressive stance.

Yet Ege Li Ya's divine consciousness still showed no sign of awakening; she kept her eyes shut, and her blue aura, after expanding to a certain extent, ceased moving, remaining stagnant in place.

"Is it lacking the water‑offering ritual?"

Luo De guessed the reason.

The place where Ege Li Ya's divine consciousness slumbers is completely suppressed by the Abyss, and this suppression has plunged her consciousness into extreme chaos; merely using these authority rains to dispel the dark arts still makes it hard to pull her out of that chaos.

"As expected, we still have to do it this way."

After muttering a sentence, Luo De stepped forward, passed through the pervasive black mist, and arrived before the crystal coffin where Ege Li Ya slept.

Gazing at the sleeping girl before him,

Luo De raised his hand and pressed it against the coffin.

The reason he need not perform the water‑offering ritual upon entering is

because he is the strongest extant spirit light in Teyvat, and having also received the infusion of Ambrosial Living Water, in the ability to dispel dark suppression, neither the Spirit Light's Ultimate Song nor the Rite of Departure can compare to him.

What Luo De needs to do is

simply to pour the authority he controls into Ege Li Ya, granting her enough power to counter the Abyss.

This effect is immediate.

The darkness that previous attempts could not fully dispel,

as Luo De infused his authority, Ege Li Ya's blue light began to spread again; these darknesses seemed to suddenly lose their regenerative ability, and under the increasingly strong blue light they vanished in an instant.

This state lasted about a quarter of an hour.

Ege Li Ya, who had remained asleep, twitched her eyelids; shortly afterward she slowly opened her eyes, meeting the gaze of the one leaning on the crystal coffin.

"You?"

Luo De tilted his head, wishing to greet Ege Li Ya's divine consciousness properly.

But Ege Li Ya paid him no heed.

Although E Ge Li Ya had awakened, her eyes were dull and lifeless, looking like a mechanical puppet, completely lacking the liveliness a normal person should have.

At the same time.

The blue light supported by E Ge Li Ya's divine sense exploded loudly, with the momentum of wind sweeping away scattered clouds, instantly sweeping across the entire pitch-black land, at a speed visible to the naked eye, clearing all the darkness accumulated in the Myriad Species Mother Tree.

Luo De did not know how the outside world was.

He only knew that his vision suddenly opened up.

The originally pitch-black suppressed sealed land, under the eruption of E Ge Li Ya's power, without even the time of a blink, fully restored to light and purity, without a trace of tainted breath.

Unfortunately.

Even though the darkness had been dispelled, E Ge Li Ya still had no intention of regaining consciousness, as if the divine sense she left behind was merely a tool purely for clearing and suppressing the black abyss.

""Hmm.""

Seeing this, Luo De, who was still waiting for E Ge Li Ya to awaken, rubbed his chin and immediately prepared to open the coffin, to see if he could extract that bit of divine sense of E Ge Li Ya as before.

Unexpectedly.

He had just reached out when a soft voice sounded beside his ear: "Please don't open it; the divine sense I left behind is very fragile, if it leaves, my divine sense will soon dissipate, and the Myriad Species Mother Tree will also wither completely."

""Huh.""

Luo De stopped his hand, blinked, and said: "Do you still have consciousness?"

However, this was like a stone sinking into the sea; no matter how Luo De asked, E Ge Li Ya's divine sense did not say another word.

Luo De, after trying again, was very disappointed.

Of course.

He also did not again try to open the coffin to take out E Ge Li Ya's divine sense, but chose to collect the entire coffin.

Before leaving.

Luo De also imitated E Ge Li Ya's practice, storing a bit of his divine sense in a sharp blade, to replace the function of the crystal coffin, ensuring the divine power of the Myriad Species Mother Tree would not dissipate.

(End of chapter)