Even though he had already made up his mind, Feng Qi was still really curious about the abilities that came with this golden seed.
He couldn't help but look at the Elf King and ask:
"How do the abilities of this seed compare to An Mu?"
Hearing this, the Elf King looked surprised, then shook his head with a helpless smile:
"An Mu is the most perfect lifeform I've spent decades creating, and its birth involved many coincidences. This seed naturally can't compare to An Mu."
The Elf King's answer left Feng Qi a bit disappointed, but it made sense.
After all, the Elf King spent decades crafting An Mu, piecing together the most perfect life information, going through countless failures before finally succeeding.
Even though the Elf Seed he was giving him was high-quality, there was no way it could match An Mu.
Even the Elf King's own potential couldn't compare to An Mu.
He then asked:
"So, what abilities does this seed have?"
The Elf King didn't answer directly but smiled and said:
"I can sense that powerful blood energy flows through your body, so your abilities clearly lean towards physique cultivation. I created this seed for you using the Life Furnace, combining fragments of life information from domain creatures with strong vitality. Once planted, it will grant you an endless cycle of life energy, greatly enhancing your physical strength and your body's self-healing ability."
As he spoke, the Elf King raised his hand and gently pushed, sending the golden seed floating toward Feng Qi.
Feng Qi immediately reached out his right hand and caught the golden seed.
The moment his palm touched the seed, a wave of tangible life force rippled out, and Feng Qi's hair fluttered in the wind.
The golden seed began to shine brightly.
With the Elf King's help, Feng Qi let go of his body's natural resistance and started accepting the seed into his body.
The fusion process was strange.
It was like chugging an ice-cold drink on a hot summer day, making him shiver. His body, like parched earth, eagerly absorbed the life energy.
His experience was totally different from what he'd seen during the Elf Festival.
Back then, he'd seen the painful faces of children fusing with Elf Seeds, like they were being tortured.
And he knew why.
After all, when flesh and blood fused with the Elf Seed, it triggered a transformation in the body, like a massive surgical correction—it was bound to be painful.
But for him, it was nothing like that. Instead of pain, he felt incredible comfort.
Cool energy flowed through him, his muscles relaxed, and his whole body felt wrapped in something soft.
This feeling lasted for quite a while and still didn't stop.
The source power of the golden seed split into two inside him—one part moved towards his forehead, and the other followed his blood, finally settling in his heart.
With his awareness, he felt his heartbeat suddenly speed up.
Under the influence of the golden seed, his heart also began to change. His blood vessels gradually turned golden, and soon his heart became a mix of red and gold.
Golden vessels spread over his red heart like a web.
His heart beat stronger and more powerfully, and with each beat, the blood carried the life force of the Elf into every part of his body, giving him more strength.
The boost from planting the Elf Seed far exceeded Feng Qi's expectations.
What mattered most was that this boost would grow with his body, keeping pace as he got stronger.
It was like gaining a piece of equipment that could level up.
Feeling the life force flowing through him, Feng Qi couldn't help but think of his talent in the main timeline—Blood Source… or rather, Blood God now. Every time he used it, it drained his blood energy.
If this golden seed could take root in his main timeline body, it would be like getting a support ability that could extend the duration of Blood God and help him recover quickly after it ended.
But it was a shame. In the main timeline, he could only grow by plundering abilities. He couldn't cultivate or accept any abilities that weren't stolen—except for Miracle items.
The changes brought by the Elf Seed in his body still weren't over.
Another mass of golden source power moved to his forehead and seeped into his spiritual sea.
Feng Qi immediately noticed some subtle changes in his spiritual sea.
He dove into his mind to check.
Above the golden sea of his spiritual world, a seed glowing with faint golden light was slowly blooming.
Golden roots spread and touched the golden ocean, taking root in it. At the top, a golden sprout swayed with the waves.
As it absorbed spiritual power, the sprout grew rapidly, soon becoming a small golden tree.
The moment the golden sapling fully formed, its leaves trembled, scattering countless golden light particles into the spiritual sea.
A refreshing feeling immediately spread through his mind.
This power felt very familiar.
During his time living in Elf City, he often felt like the plants there had a special calming effect on the spirit. Now, that same effect had appeared within his own spiritual sea.
Along with his surprise, he felt a bit of regret.
This seed couldn't be planted in his body in the main timeline, or it would greatly enhance his resistance to the invasion of negative emotions.
As he enjoyed the wonderful sensation of the golden Elf Seed merging with his body, time passed.
He didn't know how long had gone by, but when he opened his eyes again, a flash of gold crossed his pupils before they returned to their original color.
Not far away, the Elf King was smiling at him.
"How does it feel? I didn't let you down, right?"
"It's great."
Hearing Feng Qi's satisfied answer, the Elf King nodded and said:
"This seed's potential may not compare to An Mu, but it's still one of the top ones among all the Elf offspring I've created. In the future, it will grow alongside you. As long as your potential keeps it suppressed, it will never be able to take over your body and won't cause any side effects."
"Does it have a growth limit?" Feng Qi couldn't help but ask, curious.
"The growth of the Elf Seed is special. It's a parasitic growth system. Besides its own potential, it's also influenced by the potential of its host. As long as you keep growing, even if it hits its limit, it can continue to grow with you. It might even evolve into a completely new form of Elf…"
Listening to the Elf King's explanation, Feng Qi gradually understood the meaning behind the Elf Seed's growth.
The Elf Seed, as designed by the Elf King, was like a parasitic creature in nature, relying on its host for nourishment while also enhancing the host's traits.
After chatting for a while, Feng Qi said his goodbyes to the Elf King.
As the golden scene in front of him faded, he was suddenly choked again, and Xiao You's cries rang in his ears.
Lifting her up in front of him, Xiao You now looked like an abandoned, injured kitten, eyes filled with tears, snot and tears flowing uncontrollably.
Even though she knew he hadn't really left, his disappearance clearly filled her with deep unease.
He could understand that feeling.
To Xiao You, he had long become someone she relied on emotionally.
Placing his hand on Xiao You's straw hat, Feng Qi couldn't help but laugh, and at the same time pulled his hand back quickly, dodging Xiao You's sticky attack.
"Let's go!"
As the words left his mouth, Feng Qi, with the Demon Blade in hand, leapt down from the golden platform and headed straight north without looking back.
"Boss!"
Xiao You shouted, her cheeks puffed up like balloons, and then she quickly flew after him.
Po Jia and Lei Ting also put their masks back on and followed Feng Qi's lead toward the north of the city.
As they walked along, flowers bloomed along the path.
It seemed like a farewell gesture from the Elf King.
Arriving at the northern station, they boarded a green long train heading toward An Mu City.
The station's final stop was a nearly abandoned city.
This place had once been the front line of human civilization in the Central Region, the most dangerous zone resisting the domain invasion.
As human civilization grew and their territory expanded, this place was eventually deserted.
But traces of the past could still be seen among the ruined walls.
There was none of Elf City's prosperity here. Everywhere were broken, withered plants, cracked and weathered under the scorching sun.
Life had almost completely vanished from here. It was now a city abandoned and left to rot.
And replacing this front-line city was An Mu City.
The Central Region's city structure was split into two parts. The main city was Elf City in the southwest, which had also once been the center of human territory.
But as human lands expanded, things changed.
To the south lay the Black Sea Domain Field, which didn't have much desire to expand and stayed relatively calm. The fiercest battles were in the north.
Elf City's growth speed couldn't keep up with the expanding frontiers. To transport resources more effectively and support the north's expansion, another fully functional city had to be built in the north.
That city was An Mu City.
For An Mu City to grow quickly, the Elf King planted the seed An Mu—his masterpiece—as the city's core.
And An Mu City didn't disappoint the humans or the Elf King.
An Mu's growth potential was terrifying. With the front line's resources, it grew stronger day by day, pushing the northern battles forward.
But unexpectedly, things seemed to be slipping out of the Elf King's control.
Feng Qi didn't stay long in this city. Since the green train tracks hadn't yet reached An Mu City, he'd have to walk the rest of the way.
Leaving the ruins behind, he continued north. Along the way, he saw fewer and fewer plants.
Eventually, a desert appeared at the edge of his vision.
This desert looked completely out of place compared to the surrounding environment.
But Feng Qi wasn't surprised.
He figured this desert probably used to be part of a domain field, which had merged into the human world after the domain was destroyed.
This was normal.
The constant expansion of the human world was the best proof. Every time a domain field collapsed, it would blend into the human world, including its spiritual energy, mineral resources, environment, and more.
By the year one thousand five hundred, domain fields had completely merged with the human world. How vast the land had become, not even Old Mist knew.
After all, each domain field might seem small on the surface, but inside, they were worlds of their own.
Domain fields could be thought of as large-scale spatial artifacts. The space they occupied outside didn't reflect the actual size inside, which was usually several times, even hundreds of times, larger.
The key difference between domain spaces and spatial artifacts was that when spatial artifacts shattered, their internal space vanished, but domain field environments remained even after collapse.
Mountains, rivers—they all became part of the human world.
This was why, after traveling west for more than thirty years, he still hadn't reached the Central Region.
As domains descended more frequently in the future, the human world's land would keep expanding.
In the desert, with no obstacles, strong winds whipped up sand that howled toward them.
But Feng Qi had faced far worse environments. This didn't bother him at all.
As they trekked on, Xiao You flew beside him, opening her mouth to sing, but as soon as she did, she swallowed a mouthful of sand, spitting it out.
"Ptooey, ptooey!"
They crossed the desert in just a few hours.
This desert clearly showed signs of greening. At its edge, many plants were starting to grow.
This was another trait of domain fields merging with the human world.
The domain's original environment would be altered by the human world.
But the change was mutual, not one-sided.
For example, when the Winterfront once defeated a burning domain like a mountain of fire, it brought disaster to the northern ecosystem, raising the northern temperature from below zero to twenty-three degrees Celsius.
But under the harsh northern winter, that burning environment eventually vanished, completely blending into Winterfront's snow-covered land.
Besides the cold, it was also because the small sun that floated in that fiery domain disappeared when the domain collapsed. Without that sun's heat, the drop in temperature was inevitable.
There were many other factors that could affect the environment.
World fusion was always a mutual process, and no one could predict the final outcome.
But for the ordinary plants and animals of the human world, these changes were always a disaster.
By the time of the future world, aside from those plants and animals that had evolved by absorbing spiritual energy, none of the original pre-catastrophe species survived.
Humans included.
Survival of the fittest.
This cruelty wasn't just between races but also unfolded quietly in nature. No progress meant destruction.
After several days of travel, the scenery kept changing.
Along the way, Feng Qi saw many growing green Elf vines.
He knew these well—they were the vine tracks used to build train lines.
It was clear that the connection between An Mu City and Elf City was under construction. Once these vines grew up into the sky and linked together, a sky track for the green trains would form.
The planted vine seeds along the way were like the foundation of a highway, laying the groundwork for future work.
After the golden seed had been implanted, he could clearly sense the vibrant life of the Elf plants along the way.
He could also feel their friendly response.
Sometimes, Elf plants would even pick fruit and extend it to him with their branches.
This showed that the Elves fully recognized humans as allies and had a natural fondness for them.
After days on the road, Feng Qi finally reached his destination.
At the horizon stood a majestic dark-red city, towering against the skyline. The Elf King's banner flew high over the city walls, fluttering in the wind.
"Boss, time to freeload again," Xiao You suddenly woke up, pumped her fist excitedly as she looked at the city glowing in the morning sun.
"Awooo~!" Taihang howled loudly.