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The day began with the sun filtering softly through the green canopy above, and Feiyin returned with the Queen to the heart of the Elder Tree. The concoction he had spent nearly a week perfecting was sealed in an essence-tight gourd, its contents pulsing with a faint green light. They made their way down the familiar winding corridor, the air dense with vitality and age, and this time, Feiyin felt a subtle shift in the tree's rhythm. It was still faint, but more responsive, as though sensing his return.
Once they reached the chamber, the Queen activated the formation with her jade once more. The vibrant light of the Elder Tree's heart chamber washed over them. The pulse of essence was still sluggish but steadier now, and Feiyin could feel a deep yearning coming from the tree's core. It hungered not just for restoration, but for the connection it lost.
Feiyin opened the gourd and allowed a few drops of the tonic to drift toward a thinned section of the tree's vascular channel. Using his oscillation sense, he attuned to the weak rhythm and guided the flow with care, dropping the liquid onto key nodes along the bark where essence once circulated strongly. The potion seeped into the wood like dew into thirsty soil.
The effects were slow, but unmistakable. At first, the bark blackened faintly- decaying sections breaking down and rotting away. Yet underneath, faint green lines lit up, new root pathways beginning to grow. They shimmered softly like veins of light, supple yet strong, as if the tree were weaving new threads into its great tapestry.
The Queen's eyes widened. She knelt, pressing her hand gently against the trunk. Her wood elemental intent flared in response, blooming from her hand like ivy.
"It's responding... It's truly responding. I can feel it recovering," she whispered. "Feiyin... we are indebted. My people, this forest, myself..."
Feiyin smiled faintly, his eyes tired but peaceful. "It will take time, but this is only the beginning. As long as the tree has the will to live, it will recover and adapt to be even stronger than before."
The Queen inclined her head deeply. "Thank you."
With the weight of his task lifted, Feiyin excused himself and returned to his room in the palace. He hadn't slept properly in days, and as soon as he laid down, exhaustion claimed him.
He woke later, refreshed, with his mind as clear as the morning light. He stretched slowly, then rose and made his way back toward the heart of the Elder Tree. This time, he walked alone. The air around the tree was subtly different now- richer, filled with the scent of growing life.
When he entered the chamber again using the talisman given by the queen, he was surprised to find Qingling already there. She was seated in still meditation, her features calm and intent, her breathing light. Her presence blended into the environment so thoroughly, even Feiyin had nearly missed her.
He sensed something shifting around her. The elemental resonance that gently danced along her skin hinted that she was close to understanding something profound. Not wanting to disturb her, Feiyin sat nearby and closed his own eyes.
He reached out with his oscillation sense and found that the Elder Tree responded far more readily now. It welcomed him, almost eagerly, and shared its perception with him like opening a gate.
In an instant, his awareness was flung through the vast underground network of roots. He gasped softly as a flood of impressions filled him; trees speaking through vibrations, roots touching roots across vast distances, moss and fungus transferring nutrients like whispers. It was overwhelming at first. There was no single thought- only a chorus of life.
Feiyin steadied himself and narrowed his focus. He found a small section of the forest; a circle of trees, intertwined and ancient. He let himself sink into their rhythm, and slowly, he became one of them. His breath matched the rise and fall of leaves. His skin tingled like bark under the wind. He felt the stretch of roots beneath rich soil and the sun's warmth on every branch.
Among them, he noticed one tree with a broken branch, weathered and scarred from a past storm. Yet as he watched, he felt it; an aching, slow pull from deep within the roots, feeding energy into the limb. The fibers knit gradually, pain giving way to quiet repair. It was not unbreakable, but it could recover. It endured. Even while bearing wounds, it reached for the sun, bending slightly to catch the light. Tough, yet yielding. Alive.
He didn't think. He felt. He existed.
The rhythm of the rain overhead seemed to harmonize with the pulse of the tree, and Feiyin, remembering the feeling of being soaked from his walk yesterday, closed his eyes to let the sensation carry him. The scent of wet bark, the feel of rainwater seeping into the roots, the gentle way it nourished the leaves and blossoms- it all stirred something deep inside.
In that moment, a realization bloomed in his mind like a seed in fertile earth. To be wood was to grow, to endure, to connect.
He realized that water nurtured wood, just as metal birthed water, and earth birthed metal. His own elemental intents formed a cycle- Earth, Metal, Water- each flowing into the next, and now, at last, they brought him here, to the edge of Wood.
He felt it not as a revelation, but as a truth he had always known, yet only now truly understood. In his mind's eye, beside the glowing orbs of earth, metal, and water, a new seed took form. Green and radiant, it pulsed with a gentle rhythm- his nascent comprehension of wood elemental intent.
Feiyin opened his eyes slowly, a deep stillness anchoring his breath. He felt as if he had just awakened from a slumber within the roots of the world. There was a tranquility in his chest- like the solemn quiet of a tree that had endured storms and thrived.
Beside him, Qingling remained motionless in meditation, but her form radiated a vibrant green aura. He could sense the shift immediately: her essence qi had begun to harmonize with the wood element, and the intent seed was taking root within her, baptized by the natural rhythm of the Elder Tree. The understanding was not forced- it blossomed. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. The tree had shared with them both.
Feiyin remained seated in tranquil silence, letting the realization settle deep into his bones. His body felt lighter, as though the wind that rustled the canopy above the forest now passed through him, carrying away fatigue and leaving renewal in its wake. But he wasn't finished yet. Understanding wood elemental intent was only the beginning.
From within his spatial pouch, he withdrew a small jade vial containing a dark-green pill, a primer to align his essence with the wood element and to prepare his body to receive it. He held it for a moment beneath his nose, breathing in the scent: rich with herbal notes, it smelled like spring after rain.
Carefully, Feiyin placed the pill under his tongue. It began to dissolve immediately, spreading a gentle warmth through his mouth and then into his chest. The sensation bloomed outward like vines stretching toward sunlight, awakening something deep within him. He could feel the pill opening gates within him, softening channels and drawing the surrounding energy inward.
He focused. The air shifted.
Wood essence surged toward him, enticed by the pill and guided by his newly formed wood intent. Here, near the heart of the Elder Tree where essence converged in dense tides, the energy was far more potent- almost overwhelming in its richness. It filtered into his body through his 361 acupoints, his oscillation sense allowing him to attune precisely to the frequency of the essence. He began to rotate the elemental intents within him in harmony: earth gave rise to metal, metal to water, and water to wood; each link nourishing the next like roots drawing from soil and streams. With this cyclic resonance, he subtly threaded essence into his body, filling the missing beats he had sensed in the Elder Tree's rhythm with his own. Unlike the turbulent rush of metal or the fluid cascade of water, this energy was patient, coiling and stretching like creeping roots. Each pulse of the Elder Tree amplified the flow, and Feiyin adjusted his intake carefully, harmonizing with the ancient rhythm that beat all around him like the breath of a slumbering giant.
Within his three dantians, the swirling cyclones of essence qi ignited anew. Brown from Earth. Gold from Metal. Blue from Water. And now, vibrant streaks of Green from Wood. The new essence infused itself into the existing spirals, each nexus now threaded with veins of verdant green. The qi pulsed with greater vitality, a sign of true integration. It was as if the wood element had always belonged; now finding its rhythm among the rest, lending life and growth to the foundation Feiyin had painstakingly forged.
Then came the tide.
The newly infused essence qi, now enriched with vibrant streaks of wood element, was sent cascading through his 108 meridians like fresh spring sap flowing through ancient branches. It didn't just pass; it nourished. With each pulse, it reinforced the structure of his pathways, strengthening the conduits and weaving subtle resilience into their walls. His body responded eagerly, adapting to the new vitality coursing through it.
The moment the wood-infused essence qi touched his liver, he felt it ignite. It was as though a dull, half-forgotten drum had been struck anew, resonating across his inner world. Warmth spread through his lower ribs, not fiery, but deeply vital. His liver pulsed in time with the essence flow, filtering energy not only for his body, but for his spirit.
Then his muscular structure.
Like sap drawn through bark, energy flooded his limbs. Every fiber seemed to stretch and flex as if awakening from slumber. Tension evaporated. Vitality surged. His body felt stronger, not only in sheer power, but also in resilience- an inner pliancy like the strong roots of a sturdy tree. He could feel his muscles and tendons reinforcing themselves, growing dense yet flexible, able to endure and adapt. It made him feel like he could weather anything, bend without breaking, and stand firm through storms.
His eyesight sharpened next. Colors deepened. Edges became clearer. Even the way light refracted through the chamber changed. He saw the veins in the tree, the sparkle of dew on moss, the gentle flutter of dust motes suspended in the light. Everything breathed, moved, and lived. His pupils contracted, then expanded, adjusting to this flood of perception.
He could feel the change in his soul as well. It was subtle but undeniable. A sense of connection blossomed, not only to nature, but to people, to the world. His spiritual sense expanded gently, growing and adjusting as it went from 700 meters to 800, already surpassing many Yin Refining Phase cultivators.
When he finally opened his eyes, he saw the Elder Tree differently. Not just as a sacred object or a patient, but as a living entity with its own rhythms and desires. He reached forward and pressed his palm against the trunk. It responded immediately.
The wood intent inside him flared, and for a moment, it felt as though he was not alone in his body. The tree's essence curled around his like a greeting.
They had become attuned.
Turning around, he could feel the lingering wood essence from his recent breakthrough rushing to Qingling, whose presence now felt similar to the blooming flower under the rain he witnessed yesterday.
She had finally understood her own wood elemental intent, and her body was now receiving the proper baptism that she could not achieve before, when she relied only on resources to force the infusion into her essence qi. Now, her foundation responded willingly- nourished and awakened.
He could feel her essence stretching like roots searching for soil, absorbing the surrounding energy and refining it. And faintly, within that pulsing rhythm, he could feel her spirit firming in resolve.
Looking at her growing stronger, Feiyin couldn't help but smile. "She's blossoming," he whispered to himself.
He then glanced upward, thinking about his companions back in the sect grounds.
They should have reached it by now