Chapter 1020: Chapter 1020: The Grand Undertaking
Actually, regarding the family education class that Lin Xue and I (maybe we should add Qianqian?) will give Xiao Xue and the others in a few years, I have another guess: perhaps it’s because the two naughty kids are just too good at causing trouble, so their distressed parents have no choice but to toss them into the Ghost House for a bit to let them know how to control their power and authority—if we can’t figure this out before they’re seven, I’m afraid Xiao Xue and Xiao Qian might grow up to be a major threat to the Void…
Okay, let’s talk about something other than naughty kids.
Just a day ago, Dingdang was still a drowsy, muddle-headed little one, needing over sixteen hours of sleep every day and even when awake she was dizzy and unspirited. Yet now, after losing two leaves, Dingdang is somewhat overly excited.
She’s no longer drowsy, and of course, still a bit muddle-headed.
Yesterday, Dingdang summoned a downpour to water her leaves, resulting in our house flooding even though the sky was clear throughout the city (Anwina’s Mysterious Kingdom suffered too), and by eleven or twelve at night she refused to sleep, insisting on staying in the yard to watch when her leaves would sprout. In the morning, she, who usually needed others to wake her up, was the first in the family to get up, going to the yard to loosen soil for her leaves before six-thirty. However, rather amusingly, she soon came back: this muddle-headed one forgot where she buried her leaves and had to return to get Lilina to help her find them.
According to Father God, Dingdang’s current state is normal; every Life Goddess gets slightly overexcited after changing leaves for the first time. Firstly, these little ones are easily pleased by small things, especially significant events in their adulthood. Secondly, every Life Goddess experiences a period of lethargy before changing leaves, so they tend to become thrilled upon suddenly recovering after the leaves fall off. But this state generally doesn’t last long; after all, given the intellectual limitations of a Three-inch Ding, you can hardly say how long Dingdang will maintain interest in something… or even memory.
—She can’t even find the place where the leaves were planted yesterday today!
In truth, her continued excitement doesn’t affect me much. At most, I just cover my head when I sleep at night—otherwise, her wing-flapping sound is rather loud—anyway, the little one’s combat power is there. If she were to take lessons as a Berserker, the worst she’d do is bite to hurt a bit.
In the morning, Lilina spent half the day treating the Tree Elf’s Mother Tree. Now, that gigantic plant is placed in a special space under the Heavenly Garden. This space has been expanded to considerable size, enough to accommodate a continent, only such a size could accommodate the Mother Tree’s enormous figure: don’t forget, this pile of vines once covered the entire Oasis Planet, and Oasis Planet is a satellite slightly smaller than the moon. Once separated from the Oasis around the Mother Tree, it had always been placed in various Other Spaces, otherwise, there was simply nowhere to place that thing. To treat such a gigantic “tree,” one can imagine the vastness of the project. Lilina assembled half of her bishops to extend the plant’s tendrils out of the space cracks and integrate them with the Heavenly Garden. This “grafting” project will take at least half a month to complete. She also summoned a large number of Red Dragons from Azeroth so these naturally powerful life-force dragons could provide the Mother Tree with a continuous stream of life power. Lilina couldn’t directly extract power from the World Tree to charge the Mother Tree; the divine conflict would destroy the latter. Only beings like Red Dragons with strong life power and without Dingdang’s divine aura could take on this role. While these powerful existences were jointly performing this largest-scale surgery in history, Lilina also gathered at least ten thousand Life God Sect trainee priests to observe the scene—she saw this as a rare opportunity to expand religious power. The Mother Tree of Tree Elves is clearly a research sample that is hard to come by, perfectly suitable for teaching demonstration. Out of curiosity, I went to see this grand-scale project the girl initiated, and honestly—it’s quite a shock.
It’s hard to imagine a vine stretching for thousands of kilometers, as broad as the earth, floating in Other Space, when tens of thousands of Divine Magic Arrays simultaneously light up at each key node of this vine, how magnificent the spectacle is. Handing over this project to mortals, it certainly needs an extensive number of personnel and rigorous collaboration. The Mother Tree is set with countless Rune Arrays, almost every few hundred meters a Divine Sect priest or pastor is responsible for providing energy or channeling for the ritual. Green dazzling light filled the Other Space beyond the visibility horizon, and the power generated by mortals united together is also enough to reverse the law: to mark an Other God’s creation with Dingdang’s imprint.
… For some reason, adding the word Dingdang to such a solemn sentence immediately feels like the atmosphere collapsed.
The Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza served as Lilina’s assistant in this extraordinarily grand ritual, extremely admiring Lilina’s attempt to graft the Mother Tree onto the Heavenly Garden while distorting the powers of two gods together.
“This fully proves the Archbishop’s good relationship with her goddess—a typical believer wouldn’t have this courage.”
The Red Dragon Queen said so.
The Mother Tree’s current form is a vine; this mutation offers Lilina considerable convenience, allowing her to more easily change the Mother Tree’s growth form: Now, this plant is coiled into a massive looped network, with the thick ancient vines connected head-to-tail, forming a star-ring-like structure in Other Space. And within the center of this ring, with a radius reaching thousands of kilometers, Lilina is ordering the construction of a Giant Tree Temple, which is a smaller version of the World Tree Temple. The temple enshrines Dingdang’s divine statue—well, that’s not important. What is important is, within the temple are also placed the leaves she obtained from Dingdang.
At first, I thought she meant to fuse the leaves with the Mother Tree by digging a small hole in it and simply planting the leaves in, only to realize the process required such a complex ritual, needing to build a unique everlasting temple. The form in which the Mother Tree encircles the temple periphery is also systematic and purposeful for receiving more modifications by Dingdang’s divine power. Consequently, the project is inevitably so grand.
Lilina commanded the construction of the temple onsite, designed by herself… well, just straight copying the blueprint of the World Tree. Although this girl has learned quite a few miscellaneous things now, building houses is not her expertise. Luckily, buildings in the Life Goddess system don’t require sophisticated construction technology. You just need to provide enough Star Gold Stone and other auxiliary materials, then plant an ancient tree in the midst of this pile of rubble, and you won’t need to do anything else, the ancient tree will evolve into the temple itself—this method of construction feels very intimate to the Dark Night Elves.
“You can’t just plant leaves on dead vines,” Lilina dragged me to inspect her massive engineering with a face full of exuberance, “Divinity counteraction, the goddess’s divine power could even burn the Mother Tree in half at the waist. The so-called fusion actually uses this ritual to form a union between the Mother Tree and goddess leaves, then simultaneously provide strength to the Heavenly Garden—well, that’s the gist of it.”
I’m somewhat half-understanding these things, and what gives me a bit of balance is, Dingdang, peeking out her head from my pocket, is also observing around with a half-understanding expression, which makes me feel having a partner at the current level is wonderful.
… Wait! How come Dingdang herself is half-understanding!
“The goddess has divine solutions, mortals have mortal workflow,” Lilina explained on Dingdang’s behalf, “I saw two sets of Divine Canon in the World Tree Temple, one is understandable by gods, the other is specially prepared for mortals like priests.”
Upon Lilina’s explanation, I understood. It’s just like lighting; mortals never comprehend how to ‘Let there be light,’ while Dingdang probably never knows the principle behind a flashlight in her lifetime, though ‘Let there be light’ is much more advanced than a flashlight.
“The first phase of the project is mainly to engrave runes on every vine of the Mother Tree,” Lilina pointed to the camps glittering with magical brilliance in the distance: Divine Sect pastors from other worlds directly set up simple sheds on the Mother Tree vines, next to rune-inscribing altars and arrays. When the night falls in Other Space, these shed clusters light up like villages, “The runes have been written, official pastors and priests can handle this job.”
I looked at those camp lights flickering, focusing my Spirit on my eyes and even saw the Divine Sect pastors conducting post-dinner prayers before the sheds. They wore robes adorned with branch patterns in green. In the world that worships Dingdang, they occupy the upper ruling class, but here they dig, work in tents, carve vast symbols on the Mother Tree’s tough bark, and have to recite prayers each time they carve a mark—why do I suddenly feel these Otherworld nobles summoned by Lilina are essentially being coaxed into a small coal mine?
And they don’t get paid a dime!
“Ascetic practice is also one of the ways for clergy to temper their mind and body. They voluntarily live in tents.” Lilina explained seriously.
I nodded: “It does seem somewhat convincing, but isn’t it a problem for such a serious religion to be under Dingdang’s name?”
Lilina glanced at Dingdang, who was sneakily rummaging through my other pocket for candy, still serious: “A competent scammer must lead the believers unyieldingly even when the God himself loses the way…”
Me: “…”
We arrived at the self-growing Central Temple. For now, it’s just a chaotic floating island, an inverted cone shape made of obsidian with eternal divine magic applied inside, ensuring it floats stably in Other Space. Its upper surface is a flat terrace paved with huge slabs, piled with raw Star Gold Stone to support temple partitions. Amidst these precious boulders, vibrant green vines spread and shake at speeds visible to the naked eye, leaving deep grooves on the Star Gold Stone’s surface as they pass: the stone’s mineral content is absorbed by the vines. At the center of these vines grows an ancient tree hugged by three people—this is the prototype of the future temple. Once absorbed, the vine transfers the Star Gold Stone to the ancient tree, which uses it to gradually form different parts of the temple as it grows, while the purified Star Gold Stone is used for temple carvings and columns.
A glorious temple only requires one seed to build—can I ask for a seed?
While I was lost in thought, the ancient tree ahead suddenly shuddered, revealing a deeply lined face on its trunk. Alongside it, two hefty branches extended; these were the tree’s “hands,” holding an oversized blueprint. The ancient tree glanced at Lilina, and in a deep rumbling voice asked, “Bishop, the foundation has grown, preparing to grow a layer of corridors. But what does this baroque style mean?”
“Didn’t I give you the photos?” Lilina looked at the ancient tree with slight dissatisfaction, “Just follow the photos, I’m not sure if it’s truly baroque style, but it looks good. Adjust the corridor on the first floor according to that.”
“Should I grow entirely based on your photos?” The ancient tree frowned at the booklet in its hands, “Hmm, first time growing like this, Bishop, you’d better prepare some pruners, I worry that unchecked growth will misalign my branches—also, water me more these few days, growing the upper structure is quite taxing.”
“Alright,” Lilina patted the ancient tree’s big face, “Oh, add a side door beside the temple for the Tree Elf civilians as a worship path; decide the specific location yourself.”
The ancient tree’s crown shook, and a thunderous rumble erupted from its belly, the deeply lined face grimaced like constipation for half a minute, then it sighed, “Hmm, the side door is ready…”
I watched in bewilderment from the side.
Have you ever seen a designer consult with a house on how to build itself?
Only those bizarre creations of the Life Goddess can play like this!
“Ah, Bishop, you’re here!” A girl’s voice suddenly called from nearby, causing Lilina to involuntarily shudder. I turned toward the voice to see a new friend—Lu E!
“Boss, let me hide!” Lilina left this line and turned to flee, luckily I swiftly grabbed the back of her neck. The Loli bishop, caught in midair, greeted Lu E with embarrassment, “Aha, good morning, have you eaten? I won’t accompany you; you chat with Boss…”
After saying this, Lilina took two steps in midair, turning with an aggrieved face looking at me, “Boss, let me go—”
I ignored the girl, curiously looking at the Elf Girl, “Lu E, weren’t you in the Heavenly Garden?”
“Work finished early, thanks to the Divine Water, all embryos matured prematurely,” Lu E sweetly smiled, slightly shy, “Um…can you let the bishop down?”
I released Lilina but warned before she greased the soles, “Don’t run, or no meals for two months.”
Lilina plopped on the ground, “Why don’t you just finish me off!”
Lilina was doomed to shake off this sticky-toffee-like Elf Girl, first because she couldn’t be violent, second—refer to the first point. As a race executing tasks unwaveringly for millennia, the Tree Elf is patient; as long as Lilina can’t reject Lu E with force, the latter will always find ways to approach. Of course, assigning Lu E a task can briefly get rid of the trouble, like letting her be an ecological prototype in the Heavenly Garden, but you can’t deny her rest, right?
I could already imagine Lilina’s happy future: eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing—constantly followed by a little tail—alright, a big tail considering their height ratio.
This level of clinginess has a precedent, like Little Qijing residing in my Spirit World 24/7, becoming my companion creature; no one can keep her away from her ‘father’ over 100 meters alone for more than ten minutes. The situation between Lu E and Lilina mirrors that. The sole difference is that Lilina apparently can’t accept this tail, and Lu E can’t reside in others’ Spirit Seas like Little Qijing…
Helplessly, Lilina nodded, “Alright, alright, follow if you want, but no chaos, no speaking, no cuddling, no touching—hey, what are you doing! Let go! Didn’t you hear what I said! Don’t…don’t touch me! My orientation is normal… Boss! Boss, help! Your Loli’s chastity is endangered! Somebody help…”
By the time I rescued Lilina from Lu E, all she had left were swirling eyes.
“Anyway, I let many Tree Elves join this project, some in the Heavenly Garden caring for their kind’s embryos, others like Lu E, helping on the Mother Tree, who studied Tree Elf magic.”
Leading us through the unfinished temple, Lilina explained while cautiously watching Lu E to keep her at a safe distance, “They possess inherited ancient magic, which is fascinating. Tree Elves are a technological race, yet signs indicate they were more advanced in magic civilization in the Ancient Era. Green Star hosts libraries with more magic scrolls than Dalaran; it’s unclear how they shifted to technology later. Tree Elf’s Life Magic relates to their origin from a Life Goddess. Though current magic has drastically changed, experts can see hints of divine magic, making them quite suitable for the ritual. It’s delightful, with minimal training these Tree Elves can fill divine positions in the Goddess Sect, the first good candidates since the Azeroth’s Red Dragons…”
I glanced at the close-at-hand Lu E, “Discussing how to recruit their whole race to the sect right in front of them isn’t a problem, is it?”
Lilina rolled her eyes, “Lu E, are you confident in recruiting everyone you know to the Goddess Sect? Including scamming, swindling, coaxing.”
The Elf Girl nodded happily, “Yes!”
Me: “…”
“Boss, rest assured, this kid is already completely corrupted…” (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)