Chapter 174: Mother Nature's Millennial Worries (13)

Weilan in late summer, the weather still sweltering, cicadas on the trees croaking nonstop.

Fortunately Swan Lake's water is abundant, the lake breeze fresh, and walking under the trees along the lakeside path brings a cool, pleasant feeling.

At the start, Luosen and Mother Nature said nothing, just walked side by side in silence.

After about half a li, Luosen heard a voice beside him, round and gentle like swan feathers.

"Duke, this naval battle was a great victory; for the next few years, no allied kingdoms should trouble you."

Luosen smiled lightly: "Not just a few years; later the Alliance shouldn't have any kingdom bothering me."

"I will also try to control the Alliance's situation, ensuring no large‑scale internal wars again."

Mother Nature was startled: "Without a war, how to unify the Alliance?"

Luosen smiled faintly: "If Your Majesty hasn't laid the groundwork, then unwarred unification is impossible."

"But Your Majesty has already achieved an initial ideological unity for the Alliance, and what I will do is continuously strengthen that until the vast majority of the Alliance feel an urgent desire for unification."

"Of course there will be setbacks, but a massive civil war is not necessary."

Speaking of this, he gazed at the sparkling Swan Lake and said softly, "With a behemoth like the Radiant Empire watching nearby, the Alliance must never suffer a brutal civil war."

Otherwise, once fighting starts, it will be hard to stop.

Because the Radiant Empire will inevitably stir things up from behind, even causing irreconcilable blood feuds among the Alliance's nations.

If that actually happens, there will be virtually no hope of peaceful unification for decades.

Mother Nature remained puzzled: "The pressure from the Radiant Empire is indeed great, but how to make the Alliance unify voluntarily?"

"After all, each Alliance nation has its own ruler, and there are plenty of ambitious people inside. We can't, like Dan Ge, just kill them all, can we?"

Luosen sensed a hint of irritation in Mother Nature's words, instantly knew she disapproved of Dan Ge's actions, and offered an explanation.

"Your Majesty, I didn't know Dan Ge would do it so thoroughly."

Mother Nature nodded: "I know."

She quickened her pace, stopped under a dense shade ahead, then turned to face Luosen.

As she did, a cool lake breeze lifted her thin summer dress against her body, revealing an extremely clear silhouette, especially around her abdomen, for a moment appearing as if she wore nothing.

Luosen glanced then courteously averted his gaze, silently judging in his mind.

"Within gentle motherhood hides a maiden's shy charm; the full curves exude youthful vigor—truly alluring."

Mother Nature didn't notice Luosen's gaze, as she was immersed in her displeasure toward Dan Ge.

"Dan Ge is extremely overbearing, allowing no restraining forces."

"If he possessed extraordinary talent, that would be one thing, but he doesn't. I'm worried he'll drag Aaron into a abyss of destruction."

Saying this, her face was full of worry.

Luosen comforted: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will do my best to restrain him."

Mother Nature felt slightly relieved and waved Luosen over: "Come this way; it's cooler here."

Luosen quickened a bit, approached Mother Nature, and heard her ask: "What exactly is your plan to unify the Alliance?"

Luosen smiled: "I intend to split this major task into a dozen or so small steps, moving forward one step at a time."

"This way, it won't provoke excessive resistance; by the time the other side becomes fully alert, they'll have lost the ability to resist, allowing me to win without fighting."

That's the "boiling‑frog" approach.

This time Mother Nature understood, tilting her head slightly to ponder.

After a while, she whispered: "It's still very difficult and requires a lot of time."

"You might not even have that time."

"Because the Alliance nations are all struggling now; there are too many people and too few resources, a huge resentment is building across society, I'm afraid."

Luosen naturally knew this: "Your Majesty, I understand, and I've thought of a solution."

Seeing Mother Nature's crystal‑clear eyes stare unblinking, yearning for an answer, he realized this nature deity was truly at her wits' end.

"There are only two solutions."

"Either everyone fights fiercely, reducing the population."

"Or find a way to boost the whole society's production efficiency, making more goods, especially vastly increasing grain output."

"Usually the two occur together, but I will try to control the intensity of the former while greatly promoting the latter."

Mother Nature understood and asked: "What can I do?"

Luosen smiled: "Become like the Radiant God, turning from deity back to human."

Because today's Radiant Goddess is actually the same person as the Radiant Empress.

Mother Nature furrowed her brow: "If I become human, in what capacity?"

It seems the mortal world of the Alliance no longer has a place for her.

"Of course, the Empress of the Natural Alliance."

Mother Nature was astonished, her face incredulous, she involuntarily stepped back, her emerald eyes, almost glowing, stared at Luosen in surprise.

"You want to marry me?"

Luosen turned and laughed: "Your Majesty, is that not allowed?"

It's not just personal desire; it's largely political calculation.

If he truly could marry Mother Nature, the difficulty of unifying the Natural Alliance would drop dramatically.

Mother Nature thought carefully, nodded: "Fine, but it's too sudden; I'm completely unprepared."

In her understanding, Nine Rings, especially Ten Rings, peak mages marrying many wives or having many husbands, is normal.

Her grandfather had countless wives, which is one reason the Natural Alliance has so many dukes and kingdoms.

The Lord of Radiance is more numerous, thus there are the Radiant Nations.

However, this branch of the Radiant Empire is more successful, which is why a great empire emerged.

So she fully accepted Luosen's words, but this matter did not fit her personal plan.

After pondering, she said, "Duke, let me be frank: I don't intend to look for a man, at least not for now, so I'm afraid I can't accept you."

Now Luosen was somewhat surprised.

"Your Majesty, I thought this was your fourth condition."

Mother Nature startled, shaking her head repeatedly: "Of course not!"

After a pause, her cheeks unknowingly reddened: "Perhaps my behavior that day led to your misunderstanding; I apologize."

She slightly lifted her skirt and gave Luosen a solemn salute.

Then she lightly coughed: "My fourth condition is hard to voice because it is rather demanding."

Luosen grew more curious: "Your Majesty, please speak; I am fully prepared mentally."

He wasn't insistent on marrying her, after all, forced melons aren't sweet.

Mother Nature took a deep breath and said: "This condition is that I no longer wish to be Mother Nature; I want to temporarily shed this identity, but someone must still hold the role. So I hope you will act as me for a period, even half a year would do."

Luosen was at a loss for words.

He hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Mother Nature's face was full of embarrassment.

"I know this sounds a bit absurd, but I'm really tired of hearing constant buzzing in my ears."

"Since I succeeded to the chief deity position of the Nature Divine Sect, I've never had a moment's peace, even when I was asleep."

"I've had enough of such days!"

As she spoke, Mother Nature completely let go, her jade-like cheeks flushing with a hint of rosy color from her agitation.

Luosen truly hadn't expected this: "This isn't something I can just take over, is it?"

Mother Nature immediately replied: "You can do it; you have up to Ten Rings of magical power, your soul is extraordinarily resilient, and no one is more suitable than you."

"If you agree, I will lend you the divine name 'Mother Nature Qi Ge Rui La Na'."

"Your Majesty, I think this is rather hasty."

"Hasty? Actually I've been preparing for over eight hundred years, and after meeting you I've patiently waited for you for several months."

Her face showed a pleading expression.

"Duke Luosen, I beg you to take this role for a while, or I will truly go mad."

"Are there any side effects?"

"Not many side effects. Just incessant noises of all sizes buzzing around the ears, day and night, audible yet indistinct, enough to drive one mad."

"Any benefits?"

"Benefits? One: it will make your magical power more robust, roughly doubling it."

"I know that's not little, but it's actually not very useful, since it cannot help one break through the ring barrier."

Luosen grew even more curious, as he is curious about any unknown magical phenomena.

"Your Majesty, this amounts to transferring your true name to me; this is no small matter."

Mother Nature shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, no, it's not that serious."

After thinking, she said: "My transfer method actually comes from another plane; don't look at me that way. I know this is somewhat illegal, but when I did it, summoning magic had not yet been declared a forbidden art."

"Actually, it's not completely banned even now, for it is an objective force that can erase existing knowledge but cannot stop people's inner curiosity to explore the unknown." Luosen nodded in agreement: "Blocking is not as good as guiding."

Mother Nature sighed: "What you say is correct, but fear often clouds reason, prompting an impulse to destroy the object of fear without discerning right from wrong."

She continued the previous topic: "The principle of transferring the true name is to insert you between me and the nature believers, making you my 'Grand Chancellor of the Cabinet'."

"This way, I can be much more relaxed."

Luosen understood and smiled: "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that I, as your Grand Chancellor, might seize power?"

Mother Nature spread her hands, looking indifferent: "If you truly enjoy these tedious duties, you may continue as my Grand Chancellor; I don't mind."

"You and I both know that in this era, the decline of divine authority is merely a matter of time."

Luosen agreed with that, and with a mindset of researching new knowledge, he said: "Your Majesty, when will the transfer take place?"

"That depends on whether you have fully mastered the power of nature."

Luosen immediately replied: "I have fully mastered the knowledge you gave me, and it has benefited me greatly."

He had already studied nature's power in depth, and the book Mother Nature gave him filled some gaps, allowing him to advance further.

One could even say that in certain specific aspects, his understanding of nature's power has surpassed that of all nature deities.

Mother Nature was not surprised either, given that he possesses Ten Rings of magical power and exceptional intellect.

"Then we can proceed with the transfer now."

While speaking, she took from her sling bag an exceedingly archaic-looking ring made of a material resembling blue jade.

"This is a True Name Marker; I bought it secretly 700 years ago from a planar-traveling mage."

"To add, the planar-traveling mage was not summoned by me; he came on his own, usually a mage of the Seventh Ring or higher."

"They use various strange methods to shuttle between planes, profiting from the price differences of goods across planes."

After a pause, she explained the transaction: "The traveling mage told me that the world laws of all magical-ring planes are consistent, so the problems encountered are similar."

"So when I mentioned my dilemma, he sold me this ring."

She handed the ring to Luosen.

Luosen took it and examined it carefully: "What is its principle?"

Mother Nature nodded: "I don't know, and the traveling mage didn't know either."

"He told me it is a naturally formed exotic material, then shaped by simple craftsmanship."

"What I did was use a special soul spell to engrave my true name upon it, turning it into my personal marker."

Luosen nodded in confirmation: "The craftsmanship is indeed somewhat crude; as for the composition of this stone, let me see... Hmm, interesting."

He discovered that this thing would actually automatically deflect external probing.

He consecutively used four or five probing techniques, all were deflected; even when he directly used pure magical power, it was still deflected.

But he could feel that the rebound force wasn't strong; if strongly suppressed, probing should still be possible.

"I've probed it too, but I couldn't see clearly. But it really does have an effect."

Mother Nature wore an expression of "I already knew this": "Try putting it on your finger."

Wearing it on the finger and holding it in the hand made no difference, so Luosen complied.

After putting it on, Mother Nature again said: "I, Mother Nature Qi Ge Rui La Na, appoint Duke Luosen Sachsen as my church administrator."

As she spoke, she extended a finger, concentrating a wisp of strong soul aura at her fingertip, and lightly tapped Luosen's ring.

At that moment, Luosen felt a buzzing noise fill his head—'buzz buzz buzz buzz~ buzz buzz buzz buzz~'—extremely loud, as if he were standing in a bustling square crowded with countless people.

He raised his head to look at Mother Nature, only to see her let out a long sigh, looking relieved: "You heard it, right?"

Luosen nodded: "I heard it, and it's indeed very uncomfortable."

He immediately took off the ring, and the buzzing in his head vanished at once; looking again at Mother Nature, worry reappeared between her brows.

"The annoying sound is back again."

Luosen then put the ring back on, and the sound reappeared in his head.

Mother Nature's face showed deep remorse.

"How about this: we each take half the time. You during the day, me at night, or vice versa."

Luosen was puzzled: "It seems like just randomly finding someone to wear the ring would transfer it."

Mother Nature shook her head: "It can be transferred, but ordinary people can't stand it."

"The wearer must have a strong soul, the stronger the better—at least eight-ring magical power. If insufficient, over time they'll become a madman. If a three-ring mage or lower, putting it on will instantly doom them."

"My father is seven-ring, my mother also seven-ring, so they can't share the burden. My grandfather is nine-ring, but he's so old he's barely hanging on."

"Alright, I am indeed a suitable candidate."

Luosen silently chanted: "Laifu, try to shield the spiritual noise."

"'The noise has been shielded.'"

"'Detected massive mixed spiritual power; attempting to isolate it.'"

This is also normal, because believers' prayers are spiritual surges; over time, believers and the deity develop spiritual resonance, and this should be the source of the 'buzz buzz buzz' noise.

With Luosen's magical power, isolating the influence of these non-aggressive mixed spiritual forces should be a piece of cake.

But soon, an unexpected change occurred.

"'The spiritual power has been isolated, but a new power has been detected, estimated at order level 0.5, lower than Law Ring power but higher than soul power.'"

"'This power cannot be isolated; it is merging into the soul.'"

Luosen already faintly felt this power.

It is extremely faint; one must focus to sense it vaguely, and the soul's sensation is somewhat like Law Ring power, but its concrete manifestation differs.

Because Luosen has reached this level, Law Ring power can no longer strengthen his soul, but this strange power continues to gradually strengthen his soul.

Although the speed is extremely slow, almost imperceptible, it is indeed increasing.

Luosen exclaimed in surprise: "There's even this situation?"

He has never encountered this strange power before; he needs to study it carefully.

So he said to Mother Nature: "Your Grace, I'll try wearing it for a year first."

"Then thank you!"

Mother Nature's brows and eyes relaxed, she waved at Luosen, turned and was about to leave.

But after walking a few steps, she seemed to feel that leaving like this was somewhat unfair to Luosen.

So she walked back: "I know you must be dizzy and swollen-headed now, but I have nothing else to repay you with, so let me give you a hug as comfort."

She walked up to Luosen and gave him a light hug.

She had intended to hug and then leave, but Luosen immediately seized the opportunity to pull her into his embrace.

She struggled a bit but couldn't break free, so she let Luosen hold her, but softly reminded: "Only this is allowed, no going further."

Luosen nodded slightly and then asked a few related questions.

"Does the ring impose any restrictions on our actions?"

"No, just wear it. You can go wherever you want; even crossing planes doesn't affect it."

"If it's really uncomfortable, take it off, rest a few days, then wear it again; don't push yourself."

Luosen earnestly promised: "Your Grace, rest assured, I will keep wearing it."

Mother Nature pursed her lips, lifted her gaze to meet Luosen's, and said seriously: "Duke, sometimes a simple sentence may entail a huge cost."

"I hope you don't push yourself; if you can't endure it, take it off, so you don't end up hating me over this."

Luosen didn't argue: "Time will prove my words."

He asked again: "So, Your Grace, are you planning to become a planar travel mage?"

Mother Nature blushed and smiled: "Yes, I've had this idea for a long time, even made many preparations, but family duties have kept me bound."

Luosen felt moved inside.

Countless people yearn to possess Mother Nature's glory, but she herself only wants to be free of all this.

Truly, everyone has their own aspirations.

"Open your heart and go forth; the annoying noise will no longer disturb you."

Mother Nature, however, did not immediately leave Luosen's embrace.

After a while of silence, she also showed a feeling: "The feeling of embracing a man is much better than I imagined."

"I won't travel too long either; when I grow weary of the planar traveler's life, and if you haven't changed your mind, I'll return to be your queen."

After saying that, she tiptoed and kissed Luosen's cheek.

Then she turned and jogged away.

After running a dozen meters, she suddenly turned back and quickly bowed to Luosen: "Duke, thank you again for your help; I now feel unprecedentedly light."

Then she ran off swiftly, like a bird freed from its cage.

Luosen wanted to laugh, then raised his hand to look at the blue jade ring in his hand, called the True Name Dao Marker, and his thoughts grew solemn again.

"This is truly a good thing."

(End of chapter)