Chapter 168: Divine Tree

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a week has passed since the Withering Goddess attacked Sky City and unleashed chaos.

Although many lives were lost, especially due to the turmoil caused by the parasitic relationships, which left the city in confusion for quite some time, those who died could not return. With Xi Fu sealed away, the various effects brought by the “Withering” were also rapidly diminishing.

Over the past couple of days, things finally began to return to normal, and people started restoring their original way of life.

The armies from various nations on the northern front had cleared out the Abyss Beasts. While the heavily slaughtered Wasteland would certainly undergo huge changes as a result, that’s a matter for another time.

It’s unclear why, but the deadly mist no longer wafted up from beneath the Abyss Well, and the accumulated gray haze in the sky gradually dissipated with the passing of time. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

Although the economy and various aspects were significantly impacted by the unrest, Sky City, known as the City of Wings, didn’t become desolate; instead, the rumors of the “God of Sky manifesting and saving the people” spread rapidly, attracting more pious Winged People to come to this sacred place dedicated to the divine.

I even heard that a leader from another faction in the Kingdom of Azure—the Sky King—sent a messenger to come and pay homage due to the “Divine descent to combat the great Abyss Demon attacking the City of Wings.”

Of course, none of this had much to do with Miss Vilyric. Well, okay, it did relate a bit since the divine image emerging alongside the miracle was that of a certain Priestess.

Despite looking fuzzy due to the radiance, anyone familiar with Vilyric would easily pick up on the signs.

After all, those big white wings could represent not just the God of Sky but also the Priestess.

Vilyric later learned about this from Philena and was left dumbfounded for quite a while.

Without a doubt, that so-called image was still the vile high-level magic’s information flow pollution.

However, since she typically kept her wings hidden, it was somewhat fantastical to think a passerby could identify Vilyric just by her black hair, white robe, and that blurry face.

Feeling that it was a hassle, Vilyric decided to bury her head in the sand and ignore it, as she had more important matters to attend to.

It seemed Xi Fu Lin wanted to create a Divine Tree using the authority of the Life Goddess at the Temple of Sky, specifically at the location of that Spire, to replace the barrier that had stopped functioning due to the loss of the “Divine Core” and also suppress the sealed Withering Divine Spark.

For the past few days, Xi Fu Lin and Vilyric had been preparing this matter.

Naturally, Aistini had no hesitation in agreeing to the Priestess’s proposal since the Temple of Sky was originally a place of worship for the divine. It was entirely reasonable for the deity to make such a request.

Even though Aistini had regressed to legendary status due to the loss of the Divine Core, she was still the High Priestess, and besides, the Wing Emperor Aistini would never dare to oppose her on such matters unless her head was bashed in.

In fact, that guy even sent back a confirmation message that very night.

Creating a Divine Tree strong enough to suppress a Divine Spark and seal two world portals wasn’t something easily achievable, even with the deity’s intervention.

First, a seed was needed—not that kind that Xi Fu Lin was weak enough to entrust to Tilysha, but rather one created with the complete authority of “Life,” containing the essence of the divine hierarchy.

In simple terms, it was a manifestation of the Life Goddess.

Secondly, a caretaker was required, a task that was already taken on by Aistini, who had agreed to become a Priestess of the Life Goddess. So that was settled.

Finally, there remained a somewhat troublesome task.

As the saying goes, a lone tree cannot stand; in order to construct a stable world seal, merely having one Divine Tree wouldn’t suffice. It might work in the short term, but over time, it would lead to a situation where the supply wouldn’t meet the demand, overburdening the Life Goddess with excessive divine power.

Thus, “branch trees” needed to be planted throughout the world to create a special structure akin to a magic formation, enhancing the power of the Divine Tree.

Those who took on this task were called “Planters.”

Of course, because Vilyric thought that name sounded too uncool and lacked class, she unilaterally renamed it to “Blessers.” After all, once the Tree of Life took root, it would bring immense blessings wherever it went, except for places like the Land of the Dead.

Tilysha was the candidate for the Blesser that the Goddess had her eye on.

While she was just a Little Village Girl, being noticed directly by the still-sealed Xi Fu Lin was a testament to her remarkable talent.

The tree spirit bloodline was actually a branch descended from the Earth Mother Goddess, and Earth Priests were particularly close to the goddess’s bloodline. According to Xi Fu Lin, the concentration of bloodline wasn’t particularly crucial; what mattered was a property known as “Divine Kinship.”

Gods, possessing a Divine Spark and Divine Realm, exist on a level that parallels the world. From a certain perspective, they can’t even be classified as “living beings” but rather as special concepts, akin to the “Life” represented by Xi Fu Lin.

Tilysha possessed the talent to be close to such higher-level conceptual beings, meaning her prayers were more easily heard by the gods, and the divine incarnations could more readily manifest through her.

That’s why the Earth Priests initially became a group dedicated to serving the deities, and although Tilysha’s tree spirit bloodline wasn’t particularly thick, her “Divine Kinship” was remarkably high, enough for even Xi Fu Lin to marvel at based on past experiences.

She was the most suitable candidate to serve as the deity’s representative, sowing seeds around the world, essentially “blessing” them.

The growth of the Divine Tree wouldn’t happen overnight; creating a god-level manifestation would require Xi Fu Lin to stay here for quite some time, at least until the branch trees grew up, to maintain and monitor the main tree’s condition. Thus, the efficiency of the Blesser’s actions became particularly important.

When they shared this idea with the Little Village Girl and sought her opinion, surprisingly, Tilysha readily agreed without much hesitation.

Although she didn’t explicitly explain why, Edwina later quietly told Vilyric that Tilysha had been feeling frustrated for a while because she lacked power and could only anxiously watch others suffer. Perhaps the fact that by becoming a “Blesser” and establishing a connection with the deity could allow her to borrow even a tiny bit of divine power excited her.

After all, even a mere drop of divine power was beyond what mere mortals could imagine, and the Life Goddess was best at healing.

Moreover, the Priestess mentioned that she would likely travel with the “Blesser” to help plant branch trees. After all, this way, Xi Fu Lin, who couldn’t leave Sky City for the time being, could occasionally meet with Vilyric through divine descent.

Once everything was prepared, today was the day to plant the Divine Tree seed.

The Wing Emperor Aistini had already issued notifications and decrees in advance, declaring that miracles would again descend upon the City of Wings today to prevent the panicked citizens from being overly alarmed.

Of course, the entire vicinity of the Temple of Sky was sealed off with guards, making it impossible for anyone to disrupt the proceedings.

   

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