Tree Lover (4): The Divine Tree Return Scripture
In a ruined world like this, everyone ends up with some backstory they never had before. Just a few years ago, I was your average Joe, but now I've got a dark history worthy of a movie protagonist who racked up ten million viewers. It's that common. So, back when the world hadn't gone to hell yet, there was one unspoken rule among folks carrying those kinds of stories: don't ask about each other's pasts. Don't pry. And if you stumble into a situation where it feels like you might find out, just pretend you don't know and move on.
I decided to stick to that rule this time too.
"Yep. I'm just your average NewbieMod! Lately, I've even been handling ticket duties for the gallery's newbie posts."
"Yep. I've been keeping up with your live updates too, NewbieMod."
"Really?"
"Of course. I want to show them to the trees as well."
After a bit of small talk like that, we got straight to the point.
"Alright, then. Let me explain the secret art I promised to teach you, NewbieMod."
"I'm a slow learner, but I'll listen hard!!"
"Hehe. I get what you're worried about, but you don't need to stress too much about the learning speed. Because most of it is probably stuff you already know."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
That I already know it?
"What does a tree need to grow?"
"Um... good wind, temperature, moisture, soil, light... something like that?"
"Exactly. But think about it—plants and animals generally need those same conditions. In fact, everything alive requires similar things. And those things influence each other in turn. Rain soaks parched earth, sunlight filters through, and plants sprout from the soil. When those plants wither and crumble, they become rich earth or fuel for fire. Those become sturdy iron deep underground, and that iron forms the foundation of great soil. This is the flow of all things in the world. Some call it the cycle of the Five Elements.
Five Elements, huh.
"Yes. It's similar to Pill Seller's Reverse Blood Great Law and Colorless Bird's Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture."
"How so?"
"The ultimate goals might differ, but the principles they pursue are alike. The laws of nature, the truths of all things, the principles of the universe. No matter how far apart they seem, if you're walking the right path, there are points where they connect. It's no coincidence."
I've got some martial arts experience under my belt now. Back in the day, I'd have shot back at those abstract, essay-like words with "What kinda cloudy bullshit is this?" But now, I get it to some extent.
Meaning Shaolin and Wudang arts start making sense at a certain level. A Wudang disciple doesn't call Dharma a 'bald monk,' and a Shaolin one doesn't call Zhang Sanfeng a 'long-nose.' The gods' teachings overlap in some ways.
"So, if I train while thinking about what I've learned before, I'll pick this up faster too?"
"Exactly. In fact, that's pretty much the whole training."
Tree Lover raised the hand not holding her bow. Five orbs of different colors floated above her palm. And then they began to rotate.
"Do you recognize this?"
"It's symbolizing the flow of the Five Elements."
If I couldn't tell after she'd just talked about it, that would be a problem. But I spotted it instantly not just because of that. It was too familiar.
"Right? It's familiar, isn't it? Because something similar is always flowing inside you, NewbieMod."
Yeah. That's exactly the flow Colorless Bird taught me with the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture.
"The World Tree is the same. A bloomed World Tree holds this flow within."
"Ah, so that's why the area around a World Tree becomes ideal for life to thrive?"
"Yes. From the moment the World Tree blooms, that whole region turns into the perfect environment for life to flourish."
What a cheat. It's a tree itself, yet planting it turns the surroundings into the best spot for other trees to grow. Well, with that kind of totem power, it makes sense it carries the name "World Tree."
Anyway, okay. Things are clicking now. The Five Elements flow Tree Lover showed me. And its connection to the World Tree. Put them together, and the High Elf Lord's secret art means—
"Wait. Does this secret art mean I manually construct the Five Elements flow needed for the World Tree to bloom and implant it?"
"Exactly!"
Nailed it. All that grinding wasn't for nothing.
To sum up Tree Lover's explanation: the secret art passed down to High Elf Lords was like making a test-tube baby. If the World Tree seed hasn't bloomed yet and doesn't have its Five Elements flow, you build one externally and insert it. That makes it sprout with nearly 100% success.
But.
Hmm, that's rough.
How?
"Can... can I even do that...?"
Extract the Five Elements flow from my body? Sounds easy, but it's obviously not.
It's like saying since my body's already got a liver, heart, and gallbladder, just cut bits out. No biggie.
If exporting and importing the Five Elements was that simple, I'd already be a swordmaster juggling all five elements freely. But just as my worries peaked, Tree Lover spoke in her usual gentle voice.
"Yes. Because you've already had similar experience, right?"
"Huh?"
"The Spirit Spring Stone Mushroom."
"Ah."
Right. Thinking back, the Spirit Spring Stone Mushroom that popped out while I was trying to make Wall-Grain Pills was basically the same deal.
"You've already dipped your toes into many fields by learning arts from various gods. Their lofty realms are the culmination of countless truths from all creation. It's just a matter of how you weave them together—several streams from the river of all arts have already flowed through you, NewbieMod."
The answer's already inside me. Just a matter of how I weave it.
In that case—
"Please take care of me, Master!!!"
I dove right in headfirst.
After that, things followed the familiar pattern. When have I ever taken time to ponder cryptic formulas from the gods one by one? It was always cyberpunk-style: implant it like a surgical procedure. This time was no different.
Except the hurdles were way lower than before—impossibly so.
"That's it. Do you understand?"
"Yep. Thanks to your great teaching."
"Hehe. What did I do? It's thanks to the others who already taught you."
Yeah, she's right. The Divine Tree Return Scripture Tree Lover transmitted to me was shockingly similar to my other arts. Reading the root Five Elements flow? Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture. Systematizing it? Heaven's Mechanism Calculation. Shaping it into a virtuous cycle? Reverse Blood Great Law. Assimilating with nature? Ley Line Resonance Art. All familiar faces.
But familiarity didn't make transmission easy. Now that I've built up enough proficiency to introspect my inner self, I can confirm it: lessons happened in realms I didn't even know existed, through complex processes.
Remodeling tangled spaghetti code is always harder than building from scratch.
The badass developer Tree Lover remixed what I already had into a new tool, and it slotted perfectly into my core. I can say for sure now.
"I'll... grow that World Tree...!"
I vowed, gazing at the rotating Five Elements flow above my palm.
"I'll cheer you on!"
Tree Lover smiled brightly in encouragement.
Right as we were about to head out for serious World Tree growing—
"Hm."
I stopped on my way out of the Bi-Wu Field and turned back.
"What's up?"
Tree Lover asked. I hesitated a moment, then asked straight up.
"What’s that favor you want?"
Tree Lover had asked for one favor in return someday, in exchange for teaching me the High Elf Lord's exclusive secret art. No real enforcement, just "if you can, sure"—pretty casual. But
I don't like that kinda thing.
I hate making promises I might not keep. Even in this world, I want to stand by my word. Or maybe especially because it's this world.
Tree Lover paused at my question, hesitating. Say it or not?
So I just went for it.
"Is it... related to your World Tree?"
"...!"
She flinched visibly.
"...D-Does it show that much?"
"Yeah. Hard to pretend I don't notice."
The gentle smile faded from her face. In its place: regret, guilt, and desperation from someone who's lived countless ages. Unspoken words became a sigh, vanishing into the dense forest somewhere. Seeing that, I didn't pry further. Instead, I said:
"Do you believe in fate?"
"Fate?"
"Yeah."
Honestly, I'm not big on fate myself. If that bastard existed, I'd have beaten the crap out of it on sight. It's that guy's fault I'm marching through this hell, right? But I don't think it's totally meaningless either.
"I figure the guy who made the gallery and fate are cut from the same cloth. You can't see 'em, not sure they even exist... but they do. So, there's gotta be a reason we met like this."
Might be baseless bravado, but I declared it loud and clear anyway.
"Just wait and see. I'll grow you a big, fat one."