Without a word, Elaine did as she was told.
She was taking a risk, but if it paid out, she would regain her cultivation, which was well worth it.
Once she was lying on the bed, the reincarnation soul didn't waste any time and placed a hand on her stomach, transferring nature element mana into her and directing it to the remains of her spirit tree.
It was not easy, as only two parts of the root were intact, but it was enough.
The soul directed the mana through these two root parts, slowly revitalizing the remains of the trunk.
Then it started connecting the severed roots one at a time by directing mana into the severed parts, allowing them to regenerate and reconnect.
Elaina felt warmth coming from her stomach; she sensed her connection to her spirit tree had returned.
At first, it was faint, but with each root reconnected, it became stronger and stronger.
Soon, she could see her spirit tree again, and she was terrified at the devastation the goblin shaman had caused to destroy her cultivation.
Her once beautiful spirit tree was reduced to its roots and a trunk.
However, as the regeneration progressed and the roots were reconnected, she saw a few small branches grow out of the trunk.
It was a clear sign that her spirit tree was alive, and it was healing.
Two hours later, all the roots were reconnected, and even though the spirit tree was nowhere near as beautiful and majestic as it was before, it was alive and even had some leaves on its small branches.
-It is done.
The reincarnation soul said, once the last root was reconnected.
-The rest is up to you.
It said, before relinquishing the control of the body back to Paul.
-That was amazing.
Paul said once he got control of his body back.
As easy as it looked from the outside perspective, he now knew that this treatment required maintaining precise control over his mana.
Which is why the reincarnation soul requested to take over his body.
-How do you feel?
He asked Elaine.
-I feel fine, the connection to my spirit tree is now fully restored, but it will take time for me to regain the level of cultivation I previously had.
She answered with a slight smile, which was the happiest expression Paul had ever seen on her face.
-What level are you right now?
He asked, unable to tell, since he never found anything about the elves' cultivation levels.
-I should be at the equivalent of the second-stage cultivator if I were a human.
She answered.
-Thank you, both of you, for giving me my spirit tree back.
She suddenly said with tears in her eyes.
Paul smiled.
-I'm glad we could help and that it worked.
He said.
A few minutes later, Elaine left his room to rest, and Paul did the same once he was done preparing his equipment.
He was woken up by Anna a few hours later.
-Paul, it's time to get ready.
She said, gently shaking his shoulder.
It took him a moment before he came to and started getting ready.
All the ladies were waiting downstairs already in their beetle gear.
The sky outside was still dark with stars clearly visible, but the streets of the city were bright from all the lamps and magical spheres of light used by cultivators to illuminate the way as they rushed to the western gate.
They found a crowd of thousands of cultivators and soldiers at the west gate.
As soon as they arrived, some soldiers escorted them to Xiao Han.
-Uncle, how many people will we have with us?
Paul asked after greeting Xiao Han.
-Around 35 thousand, including both soldiers and cultivators.
The ladies were shocked, as this was a massive army, and everyone in it was at least a stage two cultivator.
-Do we have some more news about the devouring ants?
He asked, curious if there were any updates.
-Nothing so far.
The ants were spotted 35 kilometers north of the imperial capital by a group of mercenaries.
Of this group, only two people managed to escape and brought the news to the capital.
The emperor sent scouts to verify the information, and at that time, there was already an army of them on the surface, but they didn't start moving yet.
Xiao Han explained.
-That is all we know so far, and there were no new updates as of yet.
He added.
Then he proceeded to explain the route the army would take, which was the shortest route possible to reach the imperial capital.
However, even with the shortest route, it would take at least a week for them to arrive.
-When do we leave?
Anna asked.
-We move out at sunrise, which will be soon, so you should get ready.
Hearing this, Paul took the ladies outside the city, where they joined the cultivators awaiting the order to move out.
There were still some merchants going around, making some additional money by selling medicine, food, and weapons.
Paul called over a girl who was going around with a basket of buns stuffed with meat, trying to sell them, with little luck.
He bought all the buns on the spot.
-We didn't have breakfast, and I doubt there will be time to prepare something to eat before making camp.
He explained while distributing the buns to the ladies.
The girl who sold them bowed and thanked him a few times before taking the two silver coins he gave her and returning to the city.
-Or you just wanted to impress a pretty girl.
Anna said, with a teasing smile.
It didn't escape her notice that the girl was quite pretty.
-Is that jealousy I hear?
Paul also asked with a smile, surprising Anna, since she expected him to start defending himself or making excuses.
She never expected that he would tease her back.
All the ladies started to laugh at her stupefied expression.
-He got you good, and what's worse, you started it.
Natalie said while laughing.
Anna was unable to find a retort that would turn the tables on him.
Luckily, she was saved from further embarrassment by the gong, which sounded as the sun started rising above the horizon.
At the same time, Xiao Han appeared at the gate, with Luo Feng and Luo Mo following behind him, and at least a dozen high-ranking officers following behind them..
They were leading the army of over five thousand soldiers, which was half of the whole garrison of the Storm Wave City.
The rest were ordered to stay behind and protect the city.
Once the soldiers marched before the cultivators, they followed them.
Without any orders, the cultivators formed ranks of six people and joined the column, following the army.