Root Maker: Tree Cultivation

Year 11, Day 50

Amidst Great Canopies 

“Well, they certainly have come out a little bit… eccentric.”

Root sighed softly as the humanoid butterfly grinned at him, their mandible clicking and clacking as they held the little bird made out of flowers in their hands. Imagine a soft pink flower with the undertone of pale yellow and a hint of green at the tips. Now, mold this flower into the shape of a bird and kaboom- you got the new little bugger that Chrysalis was so proud of: “Behold!” Lifting the little bird above their head, the grin they had on their ant-like mandible was scarily adorable in Root's eyes but would've been abominable in anyone's eyes: “Baby.” The soft thrill sound of the flower bird echoed, a beautiful sound of leaves moving with the wind and the scent of flowers gently moving. 

“Uhm, Lady- nope. Lord- fuck. Uhm… Your excellence?” The new matriarch of the Curator Family looked at Chrysalis as they held up the bird flower thing: “How can I be of service?” Now, Elenor expected to be ignored or outright denied any need for help as it was the normal reaction of every single child of their Patriarch. Sure, they were never rude or aggressive, just dismissive. Lord Leaf was soft with his dismissal, Lady Lily was one to always accept tea and ears to listen to her songs, Lord Ahteus rarely left the forge and when he did he always accepted a drink or two before going back to the forge. Lady Freeze and Lord Frost were very cold to her, not even speaking as they ignored her existence, Lord Fiero was now very occupied with the new members of the Sect, Lady Namis always enjoyed a good cup of tea every time she was awake. “Oh, hi! I don't think we've met-” Chrysalis took her hand, looked at the vines growing on her skin and hummed in curiosity: “-oh, this is interesting! Symbiotic relationship with a Seedling? Dad did say that they could enter a Symbiotic relationship with other beings, maybe constant exposure will cause some sort of evolution to the genus of the species in constant connection to the Seedling? Curious.”

Chrysalis truly looked at Elenor's long fingers, analyzed her Life Qi with great curiosity to see what changes her body had undergone- Immediately, they felt the soft whispers of the Life Qi within Elenor's blood as it channeled through her body. They were truly fascinated by the subtle but great difference between the normal human Life Qi and Elenor's Life Qi.

It was like looking at two different glass windows. One is transparent and the other is also transparent, the only difference is that the one on the left has a subtle and almost imperceptible hue of soft pale green. Elenor's body and genes will undergo rigorous changes in the future as her body adapts to the flowing and constant Nature Qi. “I will gladly study you, dear Elenor!” The soft pale glow on Chrysalis’ eyes as they looked at Elenor was very, very creepy. 

“...help.” Elenor silently prayed within her head: ‘To all the gods that abandoned this cruel cursed world, if you still out there, go fuck yourself…’ Well, she wasn't really a believer in any particular God. I mean, there were stories of cults all around, but she believes that they abandoned this world a long, long time ago.

Root calmly contacted Chrysalis through their mental connection- the moment he did so, Chrysalis let go of Elenor's hand before looking at upwards: “Oh, hello father.” Their eyes clicked together, the eyelid seemed to almost grow on top of itself before it opened: “How may I be of service to you today?” Root easily pulled his Qi through the endless root system that he had on the underground, shaping the Qi into this thin thread that he easily weaved into a sheet of paper. Words soon started to be written on them: “Here, my child, you seem to want to… create… things, so I will help you with that. Here is a list of available resources for your creations.” 

The list Root had just given Chrysalis was something that he was willing to give them to play around with. In that list, he added the Red Swarm ants that Lilith could easily get more of, a few plants and trees that Root could create easily, and even a list of his Lesser Siblings that he could play around with. Lesser Spirits weren't that hard to create and Root could easily make a million of them, even more so now that the Boundless Bountiful was happening. 

“Also, you can ask Bones for help with messing around with biological aspects of the little things in that list.” Root warned his child: “But do make sure that what you're playing with is actually completely safe for you to play with- And if you're wanting to play with something alive, make sure it can't retaliate or escape, please. I don't want a Frankenstein situation.” 

“You got it boss man father!” Chrysalis excitedly read over the list of available “toys”, no humans were on that list because Root didn't particularly think that Chrysalis would enjoy playing around with humans. 

‘I can't wait to see what monstrosities they will create…’ Root smiled softly to himself- 

“DAD!” Lilith's voice suddenly echoed through the family's entire connection: “IT'S HATCHING!!!”

…oh shit.

Endless Mountains of the Raohna Region, Ice Peak, Home to the Icerose Family

Jileng Rong was his name, but it also wasn't his name… It was weird. He woke up within the Icerose Family's Yang Manor, the manor that to his knowledge was the home of the rejected and mistreated people that the Icerose family despised for reasons that he didn't know beyond the simple fact that “they were born to cultivate Yang Qi” or whatever other excuse the told themselves daily. Jileng Rong didn't know exactly what happened, but he remembers one of the people of the Yang Palace really disliked him- “Argh…” Wincing at the sudden and strong headache that threatened to destroy his skull as he tried to remember what happened yesterday, Jileng Rong decided simply to-

“...what is this?” It looked like a weird open book, but it was transparent and restricted to this weird blue floating box on the corner of his eye: “Have I gone mad?” He reached out with his finger to touch it, and nothing happened? He reached out again, this time imagining what could possibly happen but he didn't know what would happen- Suddenly, this bright light flashed before his eyes and he saw himself, but white? It was this image of his own body, floating before his eyes.

[Analysis completed.]

[Suitable host for the Endless Library System has been found.]

[Species: Homo-sapiens, Alternate 347-A.]

[Bloodline Variation Detected]

[Double Soul Detected…]

[Partial Past Life Memories found…]

[Partial past life memories analyzed.]

[Past life world detected: 1st Cursed World, Earth.]

[Would you like to see the fragmented memories of your Past Life?]

[Welcome, Chosen Host, you're lucky to be alive.]

“...what?” Jileng Rong was very overwhelmed by this sudden emotionless voice that was speaking words he couldn't fully understand- Past life? What-

[Automatic Healing has been activated]

[Your injuries have been healed… Energy Deviation detected within the Host's body.]

[Energy Deviation has damaged essential resources and metaphysical roots.]

[Database has been accessed.]

[Solution has been found- Technique is being engraved within Host's mind]

Suddenly, Jileng Rong had knowledge. Knowledge that he never imagined could come from somewhere beyond the greatest mind of the greatest genius! “Woah…” It was a technique that he never heard of before, such technique was aimed to flow Qi through his body and through his Cultivation Root in a way that would strengthen it and stretch it further of what it was currently, which meant that it would no longer be as atrophied as his Cultivation Root was- Apparently that is a thing? Jileng Rong was given the knowledge of what the technique was going to treat within himself, apparently his Cultivation Root was broken in a way, it was shorter than it should have been, which made his cultivation be staggered by a lot! ‘Huh…’ He weighed his curiosity for the technique for the curiosity of his “past life” and found his curiosity of the technique to be greater than his curiosity over his past life. He closed his eyes and started to slowly flow the technique in the way he was instructed through the technique. 

‘What is this…’ Jileng Rong always had a hard time cultivating. So much so that he easily gave up on cultivation as a whole, because not only he spent a lot of time cultivating just a little bit of Qi that gathered inside his body. It was like trying to fill a bathtub with a cup with a hole inside it. The technique he was flowing through his body was like closing the hole in the cup, so that he could now fill the bathtub without losing any water. Normal cultivation techniques were like various different types of different ways to fill the bathtub, some could use bigger cups (a better technique) while others could build these intricate “tubes” or “waterways” (more complicated and intricate techniques) that connect the source of water (source of Qi) to the “bathtub” so it can be filled more automatically and faster. His new technique healed the hole on his “cup” so he can heal his small “bathtub” that should've been bigger than it actually is. 

So, in this very metaphorical way, the Heavenly Emperor's Root Healing Waves Technique could make him better at cultivating. It wasn't a cultivation technique in and of itself, it was only a technique made to improve and heal the Cultivation Root and nothing more. 

[Warning: Hostile Entities approach.]

Suddenly, from the endless black of his mind, a weird emotionless voice echoed. His eyes snapped open against his will and he found himself back at his shabby room- Ever since he was thrown in the Yang Palace, he had found out that the people here lived very miserable lives. He wasn't one to leave the house, always surrounded by servants and others who had to do anything he ordered them to, so when he was thrown on the Yang Palace, he was lost. He never cooked, never cleaned, never even took out the trash! Now? Now he had to learn to do all those things, he was forced to comply with everything the others in the Yang Palace did to him and what the others of the Ice Palace were able to do. 

He was beyond humiliated by them- The Yang Cultivators of the Yang Palace really, truly hated him. 

They blamed him for their suffering- Well, not him essentially, but his father. And when you can't beat the father to release your anger, why not beat the son? 

“Hey, Icerose bastard, you'll do our chores today!” 

“Hurry up, bastard!”

Even though his eyes were open and could see the feet quickly approaching him, it didn't mean that his body was fast enough to react to it. So when he felt the impact against his solar plexus, all he could do was heave and try to catch his breath that was unceremoniously kicked out of his lungs. 

Meet Ghun Rong and Won Rong. The two that enjoyed his suffering the most. 

Well… It seems he has work to do, or else his legs will be broken.

Endless Greenery, Pink Petals

Year 11, Day 50

“...” Root could only stare.

“Mama!”

“Awn~ She's so cute!” 

“...why is she bleeding? Is that even blood?” 

“Holy shit, I'm an uncle.”

“I should make her crib, you think she likes gold?” 

“She is so adorable.” 

“Maybe I should have a child- Oh, I should make them breathe fire! Or maybe make them a giant moth? Mothra is pretty cool.”

“You think she would like an ax? Or maybe a sword?”

“She was just born, Ahteus.”

“Well, gotta start early!”

Looking at his new granddaughter, Root couldn't help but agree- She was adorable in a horrifying way. Her blood scarlet red chitin plate armor hugged her insectoid body, her abdomen was larger than her head, and she had this crown of blood on her head. It was made of hardened blood and her own egg shell. She also had these beautiful pale crystal-like wings on her back that fluttered every time Lilith patted her crown. In fact, Lilith was holding her new daughter with a large smile on her lips. 

“Mama~” The little ant lady clattered with clicks of her large ant-like mandibles: “Hungry?”

“Oh, of course little one-” Lilith reached out and pulled a large piece of wood that Root gave her the moment he heard that the Red Swarm Princess was hatching. “-here you go.” 

Like a giant cartoon termite, the ant princess chewed through the piece of wood quickly. She swallowed down everything, clicked her mandible once more, and lifted her hands to ask for more. 

“Well, what should we name her?” Ahteus asked.

“Oh, I want Father to give her a name.” Lilith looked at the floating form of Root and smiled, waiting patiently. Root looked calmly at the Red Swarm Princess before he said the first name that came to mind: 

“Scarlet.”