Ron didn't dwell on the main quest any longer. Instead, he turned his attention back to the newly matured Emerald Cypress main body.
Under the careful nurturing of the Cultivation Space, the parasitic plant had fully developed.
Once it matured, this flat, bark-like thing pulled itself out of the soil all on its own.
Ron had been distracted by the system panel and hadn't noticed. But when he looked back, he saw the Emerald Cypress's roots crawling across the soil like centipede legs.
Its long, fine roots were attached to the same bark surface as its wriggling tendrils—just looking at them made goosebumps crawl up Ron's arms.
Because the Cultivation Space and Dimensional Plane were separated, the Emerald Cypress was still wandering around inside the planting area—looking very eager, like a hungry beast searching for prey.
Ron plucked it out, glanced around, and tossed it into the Nether Orchid grow space.
The parasitic plant circled the Nether Orchid once, lightly brushing its petals with its tendrils. Then it gave a very humanlike shake, before sitting down to the side.
"Failed matchmaking…" Ron sighed and pulled it back out, then dropped it into the grow spaces for Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum, Scalevine, and Conscious Vine—one after another.
But it rejected every single one.
"What, you only want a strong host now?" Ron rolled his eyes and hurled it into the grow space with the towering Spice Pine—a tree that stood dozens of meters tall.
This time, the Emerald Cypress circled the massive trunk once. It didn't immediately sit aside and pout like before with a "Too ugly, not my type" attitude.
Instead, it slithered up the trunk, extended its roots across the bark, and climbed.
Then, just when it reached a higher branch and touched the needles with its tendrils, it immediately recoiled and slithered back down, plopping back on the ground silently.
"…." Ron stared, at a complete loss for words.
Wow. You're really picky, huh?
You crawled all over the poor tree, poked and prodded everything, then backed off like, "Too tall. Too skinny. Bark's too rough. Not enough curves." That's beyond rude!
Ron rubbed his forehead and turned toward the Puppet Tree, sighing inwardly.
You're my last hope. If even you can't win this thing over, I'll have to try something else.
With that, he tossed the Emerald Cypress into the Puppet Tree's grow space.
Whether it was the Puppet Tree's appealing 8-meter-tall frame, or the soft, snow-white Puppet Fruits hanging on its branches… something clearly worked.
The moment the Emerald Cypress entered, it was like love at first sight.
It skipped the usual "circle-and-inspect" routine and immediately scrambled up the Puppet Tree's trunk like a giddy puppy.
It found a comfortable spot, then, without hesitation, jabbed its tendrils straight into the Puppet Tree's bark, burrowing inside.
At the same time, the Emerald Cypress began swaying, almost drunkenly—like a tipsy fool insisting, "I'm not drunk!" while wobbling side to side.
The bark on its outer surface slowly changed color and texture until it perfectly matched the Puppet Tree's bark.
If Ron hadn't been watching closely, he might not have noticed anything at all.
Wait—it can change color too?
Standing outside the grow space, Ron didn't plan to just sit and watch these two slowly "bond." Instead, he sped up the time flow inside.
So what was supposed to be a gentle, reciprocal relationship—"You give me a bit of nutrients, I give you some back, and eventually we grow together"—
Under Ron's settings, it became an intense scene of mutual energy exchange, bordering on comical.
While the Emerald Cypress didn't change much, the Puppet Tree began undergoing secondary development due to the special nutrients being pumped into it.
With the time flow accelerated, the transformation was dramatic.
First, the trunk.
Originally just 8 meters tall, it looked small compared to the neighboring Spice Pine trees.
But now—10 meters… 20 meters…
It finally stopped growing at 30 meters tall.
To a Spice Pine, it was now barely a petite young lady.
Next came the leaves.
The thin, palm-sized leaves started transforming into scaled leaflets, typical of cypress trees.
The new leaves were rhomboid, overlapping in four neat, opposite-facing rows—creating a new leafy "hairstyle" for the Puppet Tree.
According to the Emerald Cypress description, these new leaves should have healing properties…
Ron thought that was probably the end of it.
But it wasn't.
Because the Puppet Tree's Puppet Fruits had changed, too!
Originally, they were about the size of a fist. As they matured, they would fall to the ground and activate their functions.
But the new generation of Puppet Fruits still looked soft, white, and squishy—but were now melon-sized right from the start.
As nutrients continued flowing, they kept growing—and like before, developed arms, legs, and heads.
What set them apart was the shape and scale—these weren't the cute, chibi-style puppets of before.
They were now slowly approaching… realistic human proportions.
Ron stared at the transformation, jaw hanging open. A bold idea formed in his mind.
Is this… an otherworld version of a blow-up—
Cough. Let's not say that out loud.
Eventually, the new Puppet Fruit fully matured.
Ron focused his thoughts, and the life-sized puppet floated down from the tree, hovering in front of him.
Its outer appearance was still snow-white and soft, lacking facial features, hair, fingers, toes, muscles, or joints.
No chest. No curves. No ripples. No peaks or valleys.
It looked like a roughly shaped humanoid doll—blank and featureless.
Ron examined it for a moment, then tentatively reached out and placed his hand on its smooth head.
In that moment, a spiritual link formed between them.
And the puppet began to transform—completely.
Its limbs gained joints; fingers and toes formed at the ends.
Muscles took shape in the arms and legs. Pectorals, abs, and body lines emerged.
Its face sprouted eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, and its facial structure began to shift—
Into a replica of Ron.
Even the hair—and certain private areas—were like they'd been copied from a mold.
Ron's mouth fell open as he stared at the puppet.
If he weren't wearing clothes right now, he might've thought he was staring into a mirror.
After the Puppet Tree evolved into a Puppet-Emerald Cypress Hybrid, it had produced an unbelievably lifelike humanoid puppet!
Ron reached out and pinched its cheek—still in disbelief.