Year 11, Day 88

4 Hours After Awakening

Root first decided to spend some time with his family. He spoke to Leaf about what had happened while he was asleep, he spoke to Lily about the new songs she and Zylph were working on, he spoke to Lumin about their temperament and how his gift helped them control their rage, he talked to Chaos about their progress on feeding the seed that was given to them and how they had to slowly introduce their chaotic Qi to the seed because if they went too quickly it would damage the fragile seed, he talked to Lilith about her little lady and how hungry she constantly was (he also gave her a few things to feed Scarlet), he talked to Freeze and Frost about their progress and how they were slowly and steadily growing, he talked to Tahsm about his own progress and the hard time he had healing his soul- apparently his soul was also damaged in the Heavenly Tribulation, good to know -and about the Spirit Egg that he received… He told him that it was close to hatching. He spoke to Fiero about his work with Flareburns and their own progress, he spoke to Namis about her progress and how she had a few projects. At the same time, he also talked to Bones about his own discoveries and new techniques he was trying to develop alongside Chrysalis.

He spoke to Chrysalis about their experiments and what they wanted to accomplish (“Look all around and imagine- Dragons!”), and he spoke to Thrümm about anything and everything he wanted to, because Root wanted to know more about him… And, well, Thrümm was a himbo. Big of heart, dumb of ass.

After speaking to his children, he then had energy to go over the issues that happened while he was sleeping- And one of them were the new residents of his forest.

“”We greet the Patriarch.””

At once, as if they practiced it before (They have. They started practicing as soon as they felt the Patriarch waking up, they practiced for 3 hours and 40 minutes before they finally managed to get the kneel and the speaking to be very fluid and sound respectful), all the Rottenwoods kneeled and spoke at the same time: “”Gracious is the Patriarch. Glory be to the Heavenly Spirit Forest Sect.”

‘...am I the leader of a cult now?’ Root held himself together as he watched all the Rottenwoods kneel before his big tree body. He was rather confused by the way they acted towards him- He could feel their adoration from here! ‘Well, let's see…’ With curiosity, he let his consciousness reach out of his body and softly touch their mind and body, which granted sight of their souls. Immediately he understood why he hadn't first seen them as cultivators but rather some of his Lesser Nature Spirits. The reason was that their souls had the same structure of a Nature Spirit's soul… Let me explain.

As you already know, the bigger something is, the greater the amount of Qi they need to grow stronger and the greater their strength. The bigger something is, the bigger their soul is, which is why they need a lot more Qi, because of their soul's size. Root had started his journey under the Embodiment Path, a path that would increase his strength by leaps and bounds, but would also make Heaven target him and try to get rid of him as he is an “anomaly” to Heaven's Will. The stronger he grows, the larger he becomes, the larger his soul grows- You get the point I'm trying to make.

Before Root became a Great Spirit Forest, he was a human being (as far as he knows- he started doubting those memories the moment he had that vision of that woman calling him her brother) that had reincarnated into the body of a Spirit Tree, so his soul was shaped like the soul of a normal human. Over the course of his 100 years sleeping inside that tree body, his soul adapted to his body, and when he woke up as a 100 year old Spirit Tree, so did his mind and mentality. Now, his soul was the conglomeration of all the souls of all the trees of his forest, and they all gathered to become this enormous sphere of green. It no longer was shaped like a tree, but rather, like a forest. Similarly, the Rottenwoods had souls that didn't truly resemble humans- Imagine a human soul shaped like the form of a human. One head, two arms, two legs, a torso, etcetera etcetera, and condense it into a sphere and you have a human soul! Now imagine a spirit, their soul is just this tiny sphere that feels like and looks like their Qi affinities. For example, Leaf's soul is a perfectly round mostly green sphere with hints of blue and hints of sunlight here and there, each color representing his Cultivation Root of Nature Qi, Water Qi, and Sun Qi.

So the Rottenwoods had souls that didn't feel like human souls, but rather, Nature Spirit souls.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Elder Ahmi Chiang, was it?” His thousands of voices moved with the wind, the very act of speaking by vibrating his Qi was so simple to him that it wasn't even considered a technique. Most mortals that wished to imitate his way of speaking would need to learn how to vibrate their Qi to imitate vocal cords. “Tell me, Elder Rottenwoods, is your family related to Nature Spirits?” Instead of answering his question, Elder Ahmi Chiang looked shocked to hear those words!

“Patriarch, I- well, I am not completely sure about what you are talking about.” Elder Ahmi Chiang was nervous. She wasn't sure about what the Patriarch was talking about- She stopped, memories coming back as she focused… Maybe, just maybe, her great grandfather was not as crazy or as unhinged as he grandfather liked to imply all the time. “...No, I think I have an idea about what you're talking about, Patriarch… You see, my great grandfather spoke of legends about us, legends about the Rottenwoods and how they came to be.” She paused for a moment, reminiscing of memories that at times she wished to forget and at times she wished to remember. Her childhood was not a happy nor easy time, but she survived and worked hard to keep her family alive, and right now her perseverance has granted her the privilege of witnessing the rebirth of the legendary beings of old times. “He used to say that we, the Rottenwoods, were born from the union between Cultivators and Nature itself. He claimed that his first wife was a Flower Nymph, a flower that cultivated for enough time that she was able to make her own body… My great grandfather was an old man, and my grandfather loved to deny his claims as nothing more than delusions of grandeur that he had about his past. He used to say that all Rottenwoods were the fruit of the union between Cultivators and the desperate spirits of the forest.”

She paused for a moment, considering her words because it has been such a long time since she spoke of this to anyone! “Legends have it that when the world was first cursed, and the Cycle of Chaos truly began, the Spirits of Nature, Spirits of Trees, and Spirits that lived in the never-ending grasslands united to try and keep their lives, but the rate at which Nature Qi was withering and decaying was faster than anything they could actively fight against. They resisted, resisted and kept fighting for their own survival, but such a thing was not meant to be- They withered away like the ones they protected. In an act of desperation and faith, the Spirits of Nature reached out for the Nature Qi Cultivators that were also suffering from the Cycle of Chaos. They joined hands, in alliance and marriage, and they gathered together to try and resist the never-ending cycle of death and rebirth that plagued their lives… Her name was Woods, she was the first Matriarch of the family that would later be known as Rottenwoods. Our stories tell that she was the last true Nature Qi Cultivator that this family had, because she was the one to create our Cultivation Technique.”

Root, a little curious about their Cultivation Technique, asked: “Your Cultivation Technique…?” He reached out for their bodies and analyzed it- severe stress, insomnia, starvation, dehydration, and even necrosis in some parts of their internal organs. “Ah, you poor things… Death Qi.” He could easily identify the aftereffects on their bodies for messing with Death Qi! He also eyed the young man that hid away by the shadows and watched, he also felt like death. He eyed all the Fate Threads above the heads of every single person around him- He could feel and see their threads all weaved into one. All Rottenwoods have their Fate Threads weaved into one big thread that he could feel a connection to his own. Although he couldn't see his own Fate Thread, he was well aware that this meeting was meant to happen. “Yes Patriarch… We, Rottenwoods, consume the dead withering corpses of Demonic Beasts to gather their Death Qi and use our Cultivation Technique to turn that Death Qi into Nature Qi for our use.”

Ah, that explains some things.

“I see.” Root did feel a bit conflicted about how to feel about them- Physically, they looked human. But their souls felt like the souls of every single one of his Lesser Nature Spirit children, and that made him feel really weirded out about the Instinctual fondness he had for them the moment he saw them. He's a hypocrite through and through, and the only ones he feels deep care for is his children- Leaf, Lily, Ahteus, Zylph, Fiero, Namis, Chaos, Lumin, Lilith, Freeze, Frost, Tahsm, Bones, Flare, Chrysalis, and Thrümm. Others? Well, there are some that he has a little bit of care for… Zhu Tei is kind of his only Spirit Qi Cultivator, so he is a little more careful with him, mostly because he's curious about his future strength.

It's not like he cares about him.

He might not be a good guy- No, he's not a good tree- oh fuck, he's not a good forest, but doesn't see himself as a bad forest. At least his children agree that he's not a bad father. ‘...okay, Zhut Tei is an exception.’

“Well, you don't need to eat rotten flesh anymore, lost saplings, you've found your forest. Sit and cultivate, for you're now one of my trees.” They felt like his children, their souls were shaped like his children, and seeing as they didn't have a home, they were basically homeless. A part of him didn't want them to suffer, and they also were Nature Cultivators, so he easily accepted them into his Sect: “Of course, each and every single one of you will have to sign a Soul Contract with me to swear upon your very soul to be loyal to this sect and protect it with you life, should that be needed.” The answer he got was a sigh of relief from the majority of the Rottenwoods- “Also, that name, Rottenwoods… I don't like it. From now on, you and your children shall be named Novuswood.” A rebirth was necessary for the Rottenwoods to truly become part of his sect, stripping away their past name and giving them a new one was the beginning of the journey- And what better name than the Latin word for “fresh” or “new”?

“Now… Novuswoods, tell me, what is this about robbery, murder, and chaos within my forest. I heard that the perpetrators came alongside you, are they yours? Do you claim responsibility for their actions?”

He wanted to know- Were they or were they not allies? Would there be harsh consequences for killing the ones that not only tried to steal his children but also killed mortals under his protection?

Elder Ahmi Chiang opened her mouth and started to explain-