448: Chapter 448 Companion Wood Spirit

The leaves of the fruit vine trembled, as if responding to her.

Yao Guang walked past behind her, saying that fate would bring them together.

Chu Lan gave a hum of acknowledgement and poured another spoonful of time spirit spring onto the fruit vine.

Tianxin sat by the cliff edge, with the Spirit Fox lying on her lap.

Silver Shadow manifested from Gao Feng's wrist and crouched at Tianxin's feet, tilting its head to look at the Spirit Fox.

The Spirit Fox raised its head, and the two little creatures stared at each other for a moment before Silver Shadow reached out a paw and patted the Spirit Fox's nose, exactly as it had done when they first met.

The Spirit Fox did not dodge.

Luo Li walked out of the music room holding the Tianyin Zither, the melody of the Star Battle Song echoing through the valley.

The power contained within the zither music made Silver Shadow perk up its ears; it seemed to enjoy the song, lying down at Tianxin's feet and closing its eyes.

Gao Feng stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.

The beast pattern Seal on his wrist grew slightly warm; Silver Shadow was curled up inside the Seal, sleeping soundly.

Golden Core Sixth Layer Early Stage, Silver Shadow's contract, and the resources in the Myriad Spirit Space were still quite sufficient.

The next step was to stabilize his Realm, integrate Silver Shadow's abilities into his combat system, and then continue to improve.

The threat of the Void Clan had been temporarily lifted, and the Seal on the fissures of the Human Realm had been reinforced, but the words Gu Changkong spoke before dissipating still lingered in his ears—the Void Clan would not go extinct; as long as there was a dark side to the human heart, new Void creatures would be born.

He gripped the vajra sword tightly, the phantom of the War God on the blade appearing exceptionally solid under the moonlight.

Three days after Silver Shadow acknowledged its master, Chu Lan could no longer sit still.

She squatted in the Spirit Plant Garden, muttering while watering the fruit vine: "Gao Feng has Silver Shadow, Tianxin has the Spirit Fox, and I want a companion beast too. I don't want one from the Void Realm; I want one related to Spirit Plants, preferably wood-attributed, the kind that can help me take care of the Spirit Plant Garden."

Yao Guang walked past behind her: "Fate will bring it to you."

"Fate can't be eaten as a meal."

Chu Lan set the watering can on the ground, stood up, brushed the dirt off her robes, and headed straight for the Immortal Cave.

Gao Feng was in the Cultivation room stabilizing his Golden Core Sixth Layer Realm, with Silver Shadow sleeping at his feet.

Chu Lan pushed the door open and entered, getting straight to the point: "Senior Brother Gao Feng, I want to go to the Void Realm to find a companion beast."

Gao Feng opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Tianxin's Spirit Fox was found in the Void Realm, and Silver Shadow also came from the Void Realm, so I want to try my luck too."

Chu Lan's tone was uncharacteristically serious. "I don't need a combat-type companion beast; I want a wood-attributed one, the kind that can help me manage the Spirit Plant Garden. Although shadows run rampant in the Void Realm, there are also some residual Spirit Plant auras. On the way to the Shadow Palace before, I sensed several places, but I didn't have time to look closely because we were traveling."

Gao Feng stood up; Silver Shadow was startled awake, yawned, and transformed into silver light, merging into his wrist.

He walked out of the Cultivation room and gathered everyone to explain the situation.

Tianxin nodded: "The Spirit Fox can indeed sense Spirit Plant auras; it reminded me last time. We can let it lead the way."

Luo Li held the Tianyin Zither, Su Ning was already calculating the teleportation coordinates, Lin Yue checked his protective jade pendant, and Yao Guang prepared Medicinal Pill.

Su Ning's spatial passage lit up on the top of Lingxiao Peak.

This time it was not an emergency mission, so everyone's mindset was much more relaxed than the previous times.

Chu Lan carried a branch of the azure wood holy seed in her arms, hid the Shadow-Eating Vine in her sleeve, and hung several empty jade boxes at her waist.

She patted her Storage Pouch, confirming she had brought enough Spirit Plant seeds and time spirit spring.

"Let's go." Gao Feng was the first to step into the light gate.

The third exploration of the Void Realm was much more relaxed than the previous two.

Su Ning's spatial anchor bead led the way, the Spirit Fox pointed out the direction from Tianxin's shoulder, and Silver Shadow manifested from Gao Feng's wrist, running joyfully through the Void Realm.

Its short-distance teleportation was like a fish in water in the Void Realm, its silver-gray figure appearing and disappearing in the gray-white mist.

Chu Lan held the Void Sensing Grass; the leaves of the Spirit Plant curled slightly, pointing to the front right.

"There is a Spirit Plant aura over there; it's very faint, but it's not resentment—it's life force. It's alive."

The group followed the guidance and traveled through the Void Realm for about half an hour until a floating debris belt appeared ahead.

The rocks varied in size—some as large as houses, others as small as fists—drifting slowly in the Void Realm.

In the crevices of the rocks, one could faintly see some dead vines and withered tree roots.

The Spirit Plants here had once been lush, but after being eroded by the Void Realm, most of them had died.

The Spirit Fox jumped down from her shoulder, stopped in front of a relatively large rock, and turned back to call out.

Tianxin walked over, crouched down, and gently brushed away the gray-white dust on the surface of the rock with her fingers.

Underneath, a section of emerald green vine was revealed; it was very thin, only as thick as a strand of hair, but the leaves were still tender green and had not withered.

In the Void Realm, there was no Spiritual Qi, no soil, only the eternal gray-white mist.

This vine had managed to survive by relying on the remnants of a Spiritual Vein deep within the rock it was rooted in.

"It's still alive."

Chu Lan crouched down, took the branch of the azure wood holy seed from her bosom, and pressed it against the rock next to the vine.

The vitality of the azure wood holy seed seeped into the rock; the tiny vine trembled slightly, and the green on its leaves brightened for a moment before dimming again.

"It's not enough; the remnants of the Spiritual Vein here are too little, it can't be saved."

Chu Lan shook her head and put the azure wood holy seed back into her bosom.

Tianxin suggested: "Since this one can't be saved, let's find one that is doing well. Its ability to survive here indicates that this area once had a very strong Spirit Plant aura. Perhaps there are stronger Spirit Plant remnants here."

The Spirit Fox jumped off the rock and ran deeper into the area.

The group followed the Spirit Fox through the debris belt.

In the Void Realm ahead, a green light appeared—very faint, but exceptionally striking in the gray-white mist.

It was a dead ancient tree; its trunk was thick enough to require several people to embrace, but most of the bark had peeled off, the branches were withered, and there was not a single leaf.

The root system of the ancient tree had been severed, and the entire tree floated in the Void Realm like a corpse forgotten by time.

The ball of green light was inside the trunk of the ancient tree, and one couldn't see it clearly without looking carefully.

Chu Lan flew to the ancient tree and pressed her palm against the trunk.

The trunk was cold and rough, without any aura of life.

But the azure wood holy seed branch in her palm suddenly became hot, and the pale gold patterns on its leaves flared up.

The green light inside the ancient tree began to flicker violently.

An aged voice sounded in Chu Lan's Sea of Consciousness—not language, but intent—it was the final call of the ancient tree's residual spiritual intelligence before it dissipated.

"Save... save my child..." the voice was very weak.

Chu Lan's spiritual sense probed into the interior of the tree trunk.

There was a fist-sized green ball of light, and curled up inside the ball was a thumb-sized humanoid figure with blurred facial features, slender limbs, and a pair of transparent leaf-shaped wings on its back.

It was closing its eyes, its body slightly transparent.

The ancient tree's spiritual intelligence had guarded this for who knows how many years in this Void Realm, using its own residual energy to maintain this tiny life.

It was about to give out.

"azure wood holy seed, in my name, awaken it."

Chu Lan pressed the azure wood holy seed branch against the tree trunk and injected her Spiritual Qi.

The roots of the branch dug into the dead trunk, conveying the vitality of the azure wood holy seed bit by bit to the green ball of light.

The tiny humanoid figure in the ball of light slowly opened its eyes.

Its eyes were emerald green, without pupils, only two balls of soft light.

It looked at Chu Lan, tilted its head, and then floated out of the ball of light.

It was only the size of a fist, its leaf-shaped wings fluttering gently behind it, floating in the air.

It flew in front of Chu Lan and reached out to touch the tip of her nose.

Chu Lan couldn't help but smile.

"Are you willing to come with me?"

She reached out, and the Wood Spirit hesitated for a moment before landing on her palm.

Its body was slightly cool, as light as a feather.

Chu Lan bit her fingertip and dripped a drop of her essence blood onto the Wood Spirit's forehead.

The essence blood sank into the center of its brows, transforming into an emerald green pattern.

The Wood Spirit's body lit up with green light; after the light faded, it floated up from Chu Lan's palm, flew around her twice, then landed on her shoulder, rubbing its tiny cheeks against her ear.

The Wood Spirit's intent entered Chu Lan's Sea of Consciousness—Master, I am hungry.

Chu Lan took a bottle of time spirit spring from her Storage Pouch and opened the cap.

The Wood Spirit flew to the mouth of the bottle, took a deep breath of the mist emanating from the time spirit spring, its leaf wings spread out, and its body lit up.

It was full and landed on Chu Lan's shoulder, feeling satisfied.

Tianxin asked: "What abilities does it have?"

Chu Lan closed her eyes, and through her connection with the Wood Spirit, those abilities emerged one by one in her mind—it could merge into Spirit Plants to accelerate their growth and improve their quality, sense the direction and concentration of underground Spiritual Veins, and even purify toxins.

The Wood Spirit's Cultivation was not high, only Foundation Establishment Third Layer, but its auxiliary abilities were exactly what Chu Lan needed most.

It could also coexist with Chu Lan's azure wood holy seed branch, increasing the growth speed of the holy seed several times over.

Chu Lan's Cultivation began to climb the moment the Wood Spirit acknowledged her as its master.

The Spiritual Qi of the Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer surged within her, her Meridians expanded, the Spiritual Qi concentration increased, and it was not until the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer Early Stage that the Spiritual Qi finally stabilized.

"Did you have a Breakthrough?" Yao Guang asked.

Chu Lan nodded: "Eighth Layer Early Stage. The Wood Spirit fed back some life force when it acknowledged me as master."

She looked down at the Wood Spirit on her shoulder.

The Wood Spirit was hugging a strand of her hair, dozing off, its leaf wings drooping down like a cloak.

"Give it a name," Tianxin said.

Chu Lan thought for a moment: "Let's call it Wood Spirit. It was originally transformed from the ancient tree's spiritual intelligence, so Wood Spirit is most appropriate."

The Wood Spirit seemed to hear its name, raised its head from the hair, blinked its emerald green eyes, and then lay back down to continue sleeping.

Lin Yue stood not far away, looking at the Wood Spirit on Chu Lan's shoulder, then at the Spirit Fox in Tianxin's arms, and finally looked down at his own empty hands.

He grinned: "My defensive formation is the best companion; I don't need a companion beast."

Luo Li held the Tianyin Zither and said indifferently: "My zither is my best companion," before saying nothing more.

Su Ning reopened the spatial passage.

Everyone returned in single file.

Returning to the Meteor War God Realm, the first thing Chu Lan did was take the Wood Spirit to the Spirit Plant Garden.

When the Wood Spirit saw the garden full of Spirit Plants, its eyes shone like two stars.

It flew up from Chu Lan's shoulder and flew around the Spirit Plant Garden, touching the leaves of the fruit vine, lying on the Time Holy Vine, and rolling in the Spiritual Qi grass.

The leaves of the fruit vine trembled slightly, as if responding to its greeting.