When Nahida, appearing in her maiden form, walked out of the room, the gazes of all the girls in the courtyard converged on her.
"Who is that?"
"What a beautiful young lady!"
"Where is Lady Dendro Archon?"
"Why did she come out of Master's room?!"
Faced with a circle of questions, Nahida smiled and said, "I am Nahida~"
"Eh—!?"
This answer left everyone dumbfounded.
Nahida explained the effects of the Dendro Heart of God and the Electro Heart of God, as well as the [Quicken] and [Aggravate] reactions.
This immediately made Ayexia extremely excited.
"Lady Dendro Archon, can I do it too? I want to get bigger too!"
"You cannot."
Nahida shook her head. "Because my body possesses the constitution of a god, I can resist the erosion of such elemental power."
"If you were to come into contact with two types of elemental power, you would be injured."
Hearing Nahida's words, Dehya crossed her arms. "Why would you want to try that? Being hit by Electro elemental power is very painful."
"Once in the desert, I was hit by a Hilichurl using Electro elemental power, and it hurt for several days."
Ayexia sighed.
Because in this circle of people, only her and Collei's figures were still a bit lacking.
One had to know that the competition between women was brutal, and the figure was the sole criterion for judgment!
Seeing Dehya's indifferent appearance made her teeth itch.
Dehya naturally didn't need to care; her figure was the best.
Ayexia was so envious of the desert people's excellent genes; no matter how they enjoyed delicious food, they wouldn't gain weight, and their figures would remain very full.
The people from the rainforest side couldn't compare; if they didn't exercise properly, they couldn't develop attractive lines on their lower abdomen at all.
On the other side.
Ye Xi was helping the Blonde idiot heal her injuries.
Ever since Lumine was slapped unconscious by The God of Righteousness, she had been paralyzed in bed.
To facilitate treatment, Ye Xi had brought her to his home.
The Emergency Food looked worried. "Master Ye Xi, is the Traveler any better?"
"Much better."
"There are just some fractures; she still needs to lie down for a while to let her body recover properly."
Although he possessed the ability [Basic Heal], this ability mainly dealt with superficial wounds.
Burns, scalds, knife wounds, and the like were easy to handle.
If the bones were injured, the effect was somewhat less effective.
As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days for a bone injury to heal. If an ordinary person injured their bones, it would take three months to recover.
With [Basic Heal], she would still need to rest for at least ten days to half a month.
"Paimon, so you care about me this much, wuwuwu..."
Seeing Paimon's anxious look, Lumine felt very moved in her heart.
Paimon nodded. "Traveler, you have to get better quickly! I'm starving to death!"
"If you don't do commissions, our Mora will be all spent—!"
"Pfft—"
Ye Xi couldn't hold it in.
Lumine's face instantly turned gloomy, and she gritted her teeth. "I remember, we still have a deposit of several hundred thousand Mora!"
"That's right!"
Paimon nodded. "In order to save money, I don't dare to eat too much at one meal now; I eat at most three portions of Sweet Madame!"
"Eh!? Traveler! You—! Why did you stand up!"
"Don't be impulsive! Don't be impulsive!"
"Ahhhhh—! Master Ye Xi, save me!"
Paimon was so scared her small face turned pale, and she hid behind Ye Xi.
Fortunately, Lumine's body hadn't recovered yet; as soon as she got up, she lay back down in pain.
Seeing their appearance, Ye Xi casually took out a bag of Mora.
"Here is ten million Mora. You guys take it and use it first."
"Eh—!?"
Paimon and Lumine were both startled.
Now that Ye Xi had mastered the method of minting coins, he naturally didn't care about Mora.
It was like owning an entire desert; who would care about the sand?
He opened his mouth and said, "After all, you are Aether's blood kin. No need to be polite."
"Wuwah—! Then Paimon won't be polite!"
Paimon hugged the bag of Mora, her face full of fawning flattery. "Master Ye Xi, you are so generous! Paimon wants to hang out with you!"
"Paimon—!"
Lumine gritted her teeth for a while, scaring Paimon into shutting her mouth immediately.
"Master Ye Xi, my brother he..."
"Let's talk about that matter after I return. I still have some things to deal with."
Ye Xi interrupted Lumine's topic; after all, it was troublesome to explain.
There were too many things to do today. Not only did he want to go see Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, but he also had to repair the World Tree.
In addition to that, the Akademiya had undergone huge changes this time, and someone was needed to oversee things.
Hearing this, Lumine had no choice but to nod.
After eating breakfast, Ye Xi told Dehya and Alusha about the day's itinerary.
Going to the consciousness space left behind by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata involved projecting one's consciousness into it, so the physical body would be in a sleeping state.
He wanted Dehya and Alusha to stay and keep watch to prevent any accidents.
"Don't worry. With me and Alusha by your side, no one can get close to you and Nahida."
"Protecting you is my promise to you!"
Dehya patted her chest, and Alusha nodded along.
Hearing this, Nahida urged the power of the Heart of God.
Green light blossomed beneath Nahida's feet, and the Electro Heart of God released a brilliant radiance.
The next moment, an item resembling Canned Knowledge appeared in the air.
The item constantly emitted a golden glow, looking just like the sun.
"This is that god's final memory..."
Dehya couldn't help but exclaim, "What warm light."
Alusha also nodded in agreement. "Although I am a child of the desert, I can still feel Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's gentleness."
"Ye Xi, close your eyes and follow me."
Listening to Nahida's words, Ye Xi did as he was told.
The next moment, both he and Nahida fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing this, Dehya stepped forward and poked Ye Xi's face.
"He's really asleep; there's no reaction at all."
"Dehya, don't mess around. What if you wake Master up!"
"Oh... Hahahaha."
Meanwhile.
In the consciousness space.
Ye Xi followed Nahida to a cave.
A small path led into the distance.
Glowing flowers bloomed on both sides of the path, but the grass on the ground was all withered and dead.
The surrounding life seemed to be withering, and the air emitted the scent of decay.
Seeing this scene, Nahida's small face was filled with worry. "Why is the consciousness remaining from Greater Lord Rukkhadevata so severely polluted?"
"This is the pollution of Forbidden Knowledge."
As Ye Xi spoke, he took a deep breath.
For some reason, he felt a sense of ease here instead.
Probably because he possessed Abyss Power within his body, he felt an affinity for the environment here.
"Forbidden Knowledge?"
Nahida seemed to understand.
A thousand years ago, the Red King of the desert came into contact with Forbidden Knowledge, causing the desert to suffer severe pollution.
It was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata who stepped forward and helped the Red King, managing to bring the Forbidden Knowledge under control.
The price paid at that time was enormous. Not only did the Red King sacrifice himself, but Greater Lord Rukkhadevata also over-drafted all her power.
Given that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness was currently polluted, it was extremely likely that during the Khaenri'ah cataclysm five hundred years ago, a second contamination of Forbidden Knowledge had occurred.
And this contamination was even more severe; he feared it had already endangered the World Tree.
Thinking of this, Nahida was very despondent. "Perhaps Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's death was related to Forbidden Knowledge."
"It is very likely that she gave her life in the confrontation against Forbidden Knowledge."
Ye Xi nodded. "Your guess is correct."
"I remember that five hundred years ago, when the gods descended upon Khaenri'ah, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was not among them."
"At that time, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata stayed behind to repair the World Tree and did not come."
"It must have been that Forbidden Knowledge injured the World Tree, and she had no choice but to stay."
Hearing Ye Xi's words, Nahida sighed sadly.
She attentively felt the aura here, feeling Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's pain.
"Everywhere here is full of madness, chaos, and suffering..."
"Did she persist in fighting against the pollution of Forbidden Knowledge under such circumstances until she died...?"
Ye Xi reached out and patted Nahida's head. "Let's go. The answer lies ahead."
Actually, he knew the so-called answer.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was the avatar of the World Tree. Five hundred years ago, she fought against the pollution of Forbidden Knowledge in Sumeru.
In order to eliminate the Forbidden Knowledge, she created the Void system and borrowed people's dreams.
Using everyone's power, she eliminated the Forbidden Knowledge.
However, by the time she came to her senses, she realized that the Forbidden Knowledge had already polluted her.
To repair the World Tree, she had to completely erase herself from the World Tree.
Ye Xi came this time to stop this from happening and to find another way to erase the Forbidden Knowledge.
"Nahida, you can find the direction, right? Tell me."
"Probably over there."
Nahida's small hand pointed to a direction in the distance.
Ye Xi carried Nahida in one hand and used [Walk on the Wind].
"Eh!? Careful!"
"We are both in the state of consciousness bodies here. If we aren't careful, we could very likely go mad!"
Listening to Nahida's warning, Ye Xi didn't care in the least.
The Forbidden Knowledge here made him feel extremely comfortable; how could he go mad?
Before long, Ye Xi brought Nahida to the foot of the World Tree.
Here was the last pure land in this consciousness space.
The World Tree's massive root system coiled on the ground, and pink grass actually grew on the ground.
And amidst the bushes, another "shuttlecock" was standing.
"That must be Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."
Hearing this, Nahida looked in the direction Ye Xi pointed, and her eyes instantly widened.
"Eh!?"
"How can she look... exactly the same as me..."
Nahida was very astonished and hurriedly ran to the front, asking, "Are you... Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata turned her head and nodded gently. "Yes, it is me."
"Does this appearance... surprise you?"
The Tree King smiled gently and explained, "This place recreates the appearance of the World Tree and the earth from back then, but ultimately it is a consciousness space."
"Since you and I share the same [essence], we appear in exactly the same form."
"Same essence?"
Nahida's heart was filled with doubts and confusion.
To her, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had always been the god she yearned for.
From the moment she was born, she had been compared to the Tree King by people, treated as a substitute for the Tree King.
The grievances and pain within this were best known to herself.
The Tree King was too wise, so intelligent and so great; compared to the Tree King, she was not worth mentioning at all.
As a newly born blade of grass, she could only desperately chase behind the great tree.
For five hundred years, she was confined in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, forgotten by people, and disdained by people, but she never gave up learning.
She definitely wanted to catch up to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and become a god like Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
All along, she had been working hard with this as her goal!
However.
At this moment, she met Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, only to discover that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata looked exactly the same as herself. This was hard for her to accept!
"As Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, I am the avatar of the World Tree."
"And you are the purest branch snapped from the World Tree."
"It is just like... even if a tree dies, the branch will one day take root and grow up, continuing life in another form."
"So, you are me, and I am you."
Hearing this definite answer, Nahida lowered her head.
She had always been chasing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata as a goal, but in the end, she realized that the person she was chasing was herself.
Suddenly, she felt so sad.
"If you put it that way, does that mean... one day I will also become a great god like you?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata smiled and said, "Although you and I share the same essence, our fates are definitely different."
"Just like when a branch grows into a new great tree, it cannot be exactly the same as the original one."
"Precisely because of this, you will not become me again..."
Hearing this, Nahida's gaze was filled with loss.
On the other side.
Ye Xi did not disturb their conversation; instead, he calmed his mind and sensed the surrounding Forbidden Knowledge.
This was a consciousness space; what the Forbidden Knowledge polluted was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's spirit.
But Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was the avatar of the World Tree; she was a part of the World Tree.
Therefore, if the Forbidden Knowledge corroded Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's spirit, it would spread to the World Tree proper through [overflow].
Even though the Tree King had already died, her remaining consciousness had always been protecting the World Tree, preventing this [overflowing] Forbidden Knowledge from spreading outward.
However, her power was already considerably weak. Even if she used all her strength, the Forbidden Knowledge still inevitably spread out.
This led to the World Tree being polluted again, triggering The Withering in the rainforest, and sandstorms and earthquakes in the desert.
To thoroughly resolve the pollution of Forbidden Knowledge, there were only two methods.
First, eliminate the Forbidden Knowledge in Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness space.
Second, directly erase Greater Lord Rukkhadevata completely.
Ye Xi's purpose for this trip was to find the possibility of the first method.
He activated the ability [Drain].
Subsequently, a system notification sound came from his mind.
[Ding~]
[Detected a large amount of Forbidden Knowledge, currently absorbing!]
[Hint: This place is a consciousness world; absorption efficiency is insufficient, requiring an extremely long time.]
Hearing this notification, Ye Xi felt joy in his heart.
He thought this ability could only absorb Forbidden Knowledge in the real world; he didn't expect it to work in the consciousness space too!
This meant he could clear away the Forbidden Knowledge in Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's consciousness space.
It was just that the efficiency was very low.
It didn't matter, as long as it could be cleared!
Just then, the sound of Nahida sobbing came to Ye Xi's ears.
"...Wait, that's not right..."
"No... this isn't right!"
Ye Xi turned his head and heard Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's gentle praise.
"Do you understand what that implies? It seems you really are very smart."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata smiled and said, "Just as you thought, all the knowledge and memories of this world exist within the World Tree..."
"If you erase me from the World Tree... it would be equivalent to me having never existed in this world at all."
"But... this is also the only way to truly save the World Tree."
Hearing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's words, Nahida shook her head continuously. "People love you so much; everyone has always been missing you. I... I also..."
"How can we... just forget you like this..."
"Is there really no other way?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata lowered her head, a forced smile appearing on her face. "You are the God of Wisdom, Buer."
"You should know; other than this, there is no other way."
Nahida's small face was full of sorrow. "But... this is too cruel..."
Both of them lowered their heads. As Gods of Wisdom, they both knew that there was no other way for this matter.
But just then, Ye Xi's voice suddenly came from beside them.
"So that's how it is."
"Has such a simple problem stumped two Gods of Wisdom?"
Hearing Ye Xi's words, both "shuttlecocks" looked over in surprise.
"Descender, could it be... you have a way!?"
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