Root Maker: Tree Cultivation

Year 11, Day 28

Amidst sand, dry, hot, and full of death.

Cui Rong could not believe her own eyes. Before her stood the most beautiful thing she has ever seen! The large, extensive, and lush green forest was like a sight for sore eyes, sore eyes which only saw the endless sand dunes of the Drought of Death for the entirety of her journey. "This…" As she reached out to touch one of the trees, a hand caught her own only moving arm, pulling her and looking at her eyes: "You're to follow us to be judged by Father, not to touch his children." She pulled back her hand to look at the strange woman there, or rather, the strange ghost of a woman. She was honestly beautiful, beautiful and ethereal-looking! Her gorgeous and dark as night hair was long, reaching and even going beyond her waist, soft as silk, and moving slightly as if blown by an invisible wind. Her skin, by the momentary touch between them, was also as soft as the most expensive of silks in this plane of existence. Her robes were also extremely gorgeous, with these soft red roses against the black robes that created this beautiful contrast between the colors. 

"...sorry." Cui Rong whispered softly. 

It happened right after the fucking largest ant she had ever seen in her entire life fell. She had just witnessed the attack of the Queen Ant when this large spear of bright yellow and red qi pierced through her insectoid head, exploding it into a show of red and black liquid, making the remaining ants despair and fight haphazardly for their own lives, which was like a nightmare to watch as these enormous skeletons began to drip with black ooze that melted and killed the ants, corrupting them into more undeads. It was a scene out of the endless hells, watching as the skeletons of various beasts dripping with this wetness of black oily ooze devoured, bit, and clawed at the ants. Shivers went down her spine and everyone's spines as they watched that scene from afar. Soon after the death of the queen and the other ants, the skeletons simply melted down into these puddles of the same black ooze that dripped from their bones. Those puddles just moved like slime, dragging themselves back to this beauty that stands before her- the black liquid was then absorbed by her shadow, and it was like the ants never even existed. 

What happened to the big ant queen's corpse? 

Well, it was taken by these snake-like roots that bursted out of the ground, and like they were alive, wrapped around the corpse and dragged it down to the earth. Neither Cui Rong nor the others even dared to think of what would become of her corpse… 

They watched from afar, but even so, they were easily noticed- After the death of the ant queen, the most powerful amongst the cultivators there simply floated towards them, and Cui Rong knew he was strong by his presence alone. He had this aura that pressured her, making her tremble. Until he said his first words, and it was like he was the wind, for his words brushed against her mind softly like a breeze: "You, mortals and… cultivators alike, have reached the Heavenly Spirit Sect's forest. Tell us why you are here, and Father might listen." They were stunned and locked in place, even Father Moose seemed to not want to move, until he snapped out of it and bowed, his head reaching and touching the ground: "Esteemed spirit of the forest, we mean no harm to you or your Father, we only seek… hope

." It wasn't a lie, they were hopeless beings that sought hope like a starving man searched for food. "We seek hope for a better life, a life where we don't struggle like insects for misery and rest… We seek life." Father Moose seemed almost emotional, he sounded like he was about to cry, and that was something Cui Rong never thought she would witness in her life. 

And that was how they were brought before the presence of the other eleven humanoid beings that were just ethereal and beautiful in their own ways. They obviously were not humans, but unlike Wei Wei, Father Moose, and Yun Chen, they were more… How can she describe it? Their presence and Qi were the purest Qis of them all, and they felt like they were part of the world around them. The largest of them all, rock-like skin and crystal-like hair, muscles thick and large like boulders and shirtless. He felt like the earth itself, like he was an enormous mountain before her eyes, and he was also fucking hot- Like, why is everyone here hot!? 'Maybe… I'm growing up to become a true lady?' It was a surprise, sure, but a welcomed one! Her sister - she ignored the pain it brought to her soul to think about her beloved sister, thinking about her headless corpse, the hot red blood on her hands - always told her how one day she'd look at someone and just think to herself: "Damn!" And that is when she'd know she was now a true lady. 

Everywhere her eyes looked, she could only think: DAMN! 

Besides the hot big buff rock guy, there was this fiery red man wearing orange and red robes, his hair was fire - literally - and his eyes were like shining suns. His smile was bright and his presence warm like a campfire, but the moment one of the mortals carelessly stepped over this beautiful and delicate golden flower - as they passed by the beautiful grove of various golden, orange, and yellow flora - he lashed out in a very explosive and hot way. Both in temperature and appearance. 

Then there was this cold beauty of pale blue skin and bright blue eyes, her bright blue hair seemed constantly wet, but that only made her skin have this natural glow. She also kept her eyes closed as she moved, not even looking as her body simply turned into water whenever she was about to hit a tree or rock, passing by said obstacle, and reforming her beautiful body after. 

Then we have the twins- Hot damn, never had she seen a man and a woman so beautiful that looked like them. And better yet, they were Ice Qi cultivators! She could feel the cold of their presence, and they felt like… like they were part of her, in a weird way. Because of their presence almost blending with the world around them, they also felt like the light of the moon and the coldness of the night. They felt like the Qi that flowed inside her veins whenever she cultivated, they felt like the coldness of her cultivation, they felt… Like they felt like they were her home. 

"You've been looking at us for way too long." She snapped out of her thoughts as a voice whispered into her ear, making her shiver softly: "You feel like us… but weaker, way weaker." A similar voice spoke to her other ear, but this one sounded more feminine: "So, dear sister, what should we do to this little one?" The brother asked, and Cui Rong didn't know if she should be scared or aroused - maybe both? "Let's let Father decide their fate first, only then we shall decide…" Their voices vanished, and she turned to look for them, and they were far away from her, their faces unmoving as if frozen.

She and her group kept moving deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees seemed to grow larger and larger the deeper they went, and they seemed to almost look more and more vibrant! These beautiful mushrooms grew on the bark of many trees, flowers and bushes of green… Then she noticed these small beings that floated around. A small red salamander walked upwards a tree, it felt like fire… Then a small owl-like bird flew above them, she barely noticed it, if it wasn't for the fact that they showed themselves physically for her eyes to see, because if she had to rely on detecting that Wind Spirit with her spiritual senses alone, she would've missed them easily because it felt like the wind itself. On the trees and floating around, these green little beings floated, then there were these beautiful little moles, ferrets, and even snakes holding stone pickaxes that walked up to the big buff rock man and saluted him formally. 

"Huh?" He looked down at them until this small golden fox jumped out of the ground, looking proudly at him: "You've finished cleaning the battlefield? Good job, little guys!" The little moles, ferrets, snakes, and other small weird animals all waved their pickaxes happily: "Go back down, I'll be joining you guys at the forge soon!" They all nodded before jumping into the earth, vanishing. 

As they stepped through the trees, they came face to face with this humble mortal settlement. The houses were made of stone bricks and wood, the rooftops were made of bright red clay tiles and had the shape of triangles slightly spread out and circular at the bottom. These houses were built far from this massive, absolutely massive and thick tree- Its bark was dark green and brown, the leaves also had these bright pink petals that would occasionally fall from above, bathing the ground in a shower of beauty and splendor. Staying so close to it, she could feel the tree's Qi, and she must confess… She only felt such powerful Qi from Elder Yon Rong, one of the few elders that used to visit the isolated section of the Yang Cultivators regularly to boast and humiliate them whenever he felt bad about his own pathetic existence for not ascending in cultivation already. 

"Ah…" She sighed- This mortal settlement was close to the tree, but not very close, seeing as they were - I'd say - about 150 meters from the tree, and even from here, the canopy started to cover the homes in eternal shade. "Greetings, esteemed visitors." This old lady wearing a white silk dress with pink petals bowed to them, she had this beautiful flower on her head as this little root humanoid sat right by her shoulder, in fact, her left arm and leg were made out of wood too. "I am Andromeda Curator, Head Maid of the Curator Family, and under the guidance of the Patriarch, I am here to serve you." She bowed softly, the little buddy on her shoulder wiggled the little pink flower on top of their head, almost as if they were greeting them with a little wave. "Pelase, follow me. Lord Leaf, Lord Ahteus, Lord Fiero, Lady Namis, Lady Lily, Lady Zylph, Lady Lilith, Lady Freeze, Lord Frost, Liege Chaos… Lord Root also asks for your presence." She turned around and did not wait for them, and the others - those were their names? - simply followed her. Looking at her fellow wanderers of the desert, Cui Rong gulped and walked forward.

Ah, right, she walked.

That's something that happened early on! Lord Leaf - was that his name? - looked at her leg and simply whispered, and from the earth, this soft root touched her black skin and she felt like she could move it again. Sure, it hurt, but it worked! She could walk, with a lot of effort, but she could walk. 

As they followed the old lady, the Lords, Ladies, and Liege simply floated. One of them - big earth muscular boss man - floated rather clumsily, much to the soft amusement of his siblings, who helped him by teaching how to "balance" his body in the air. As they walked further and further, there were simply a lot of trees beneath the canopy of the giant trees. They approached the tree, passing by these houses that seemed to make an inner circle, and came to the base of the tree. There, at the base, there was a simple wooden chair and table, and sitting on that chair was a man.

He sipped on a crystal cup containing this pale white liquid: "Ah…" He sighed softly, and they all felt a pressure under their spirits as they stood before an ancient spirit. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

(Meanwhile, all his children, in their minds and across their bond: "TO DEFEAT, THE HUNS!"

Root:."...I am so proud.")