Prime Originator

If the scene in the subterranean space was retold by the bards on the streets, many people would be fascinated by the rich imagination, but it would be too ludicrous to believe.

How can a beam of sunlight bring about such great changes? They had lived under the sunlight all their life. Why hasn't anything incredible happened to them?

Many people would think like this, but to begin with, humans cannot be compared to plants. Humans can live without sunlight, but they cannot survive long without due to the environment.

Plants, on the other hand, view sunlight as life itself. All its energy is derived from the sunlight.

The palace guards viewed the beam of sunlight as a beam of sunlight, but to the elder tree and treants, this was not a beam of sunlight but a pillar of lifeforce. 

While Leon watched the Elder Tree slowly transitioned its crimson leaves to lush green leaves, his mind was still preoccupied with the treant's transformation. 

Their new forms no longer had the resemblance of treants but appeared more like something in between an elf and a nature spirit. 

Leon no longer knows how he should define their race. A nature elf? An elven spirit? 

Regardless of what they should be called, this was for them to decide. A new race had been born on this day, in this subterranean space. 

It was not a regression but an evolution.

This should be considered good news, but worry hung over Elder Evergreen's face. Turning to Leon, the elder asks, "Will this change affect the treatment process?"

The nearby treants also tuned in to listen.

Indeed, no matter what form they had taken, they were still human at heart and it was in human nature to desire freedom. If they cannot free themselves from the Elder Tree, it would have no meaning.

Leon did a quick inspection on Elder Evergreen and he was awed by his discovery. Every cell in the elder's body was thriving with activity and lifeforce. It was hard to gauge how much lifespan the elder had now. 

The problem of petrification seemed to have been resolved by the sunlight. The porous and fibrous structural tissues of wood had all been shed, and what is left is the Elder Tree's photosynthetic tissues, but here lies the real problem.

The photosynthetic tissue had all been assimilated and became one with Elder Evergreen's body. It was impossible to separate now. They had become one entity. Leon wore a weird look as this wasn't exactly a bad thing.

"Treatment is no longer necessary. Your body has assimilated the Elder Tree's cells." Leon said with a pondering look.

"Then…"

One could see the disappointment hung on Elder Evergreen and his fellow villagers' faces when this was said. 

However, Leon wasn't finished as he continued, "This isn't exactly a bad thing though. Have you heard of grafting?"

"Grafting? Like joining two different plant tissues and allowing them to grow together?"

"Yes, exactly like that. Previously, your fellow villagers all died from final stage petrification after leaving the Elder Tree because there was no sunlight. The plant tissues within slowly died without the supply of energy, but now, that problem no longer exists. It is getting all the energy it is required from sunlight."

The Elder's eyes lit up once Leon finished his words. 

"Then that means that…"

Leon pointed upwards said with a light smile, "The surface is yours to roam."

The villagers were all moved with heartfelt expression. Finally, they can now explore the whole wide world.

"Thank you."

The villagers all stepped forward to thank Leon from the bottom of their heart after their village chief had done so.

"You all don't have to thank me. I didn't do anything." Leon shook his head helplessly. He did not believe that he deserves to be on the receiving end of their gratitude. 

He did not treat their disease and freed them. That was resolved by nature and not by his own efforts. He was not going to take nature's credit.

"No, you are wrong." Elder Evergreen said sternly. "You gave us hope and made this possible, child. Before you came, no one would have even dreamt about the surface, let alone attempt to dig a hole to the surface. We were prepared to rot down here for the rest of our lives."

The villagers all voiced their agreement with their villager chief. This only happened because they came. 

"There's just one tiny problem left we might have to trouble you with, child." Elder Evergreen said with a pinching gesture, before inching closer and whispered, "Are we still infertile in this new form?" 

Leon was speechless and his lips twitched. He did not have a problem checking before when they were still treants, but now? Sorry, he was not interested in looking at another man's tool. 

"Why don't you ask your villagers to test it out? It won't be the same as two blocks of wood banging each other anymore." Leon said helplessly before cracking a small joke.

Elder Evergreen was not offended by his words and laughed heartily. "Hahaha, that's right. We are not blocks of wood anymore. Hahaha!"

Suddenly, the entire Elder Tree rattled and shook violently as everyone within the village found it hard to stand straight and staggered. Some even fell to the ground.

Soon after the initial impact, the entire subterranean space began to rumble with the sound of battle.

"What just happened?"

Everyone was alarmed. 

Leon looked around but nothing seemed out of place except the gradual color-changing leaves.

However, the Elder Tree was not undergoing any sudden transformation, which means something else must've struck the Elder Tree and it was incredibly powerful at that.

"I think the Elder Tree is under attack again." He said.

"The ants? That is impossible. They are strong, but far from enough to shake the Elder Tree so violently." A villager denied the claim.

A certain figure among the ants flickered across Leon's mind but he does not mention this. Instead, he said, "We'll know once we have a look."

"Agreed." 

Elder Evergreen nodded. 

Everyone followed them to the outer perimeters of the village before peering down at the ground below the Elder Tree.

Unsurprisingly, it was the ants attacking again. However, the attack this time seems rather different from all the previous attacks.

"It really is the ants, but what the hell is wrong these creatures? It's like that had all gone crazy."

The ants appeared to be desperate and in a frenzy. Everyone could see that the Elder Tree was fully surrounded by soldiers' ants, worker ants and even the humanoid royal guards had joined the battle. 

The army of ants poured into the subterranean space like an unending stream. No one knew why the ants were so rattled.

As Leon swept the battlefield with his gaze, he tried to locate the humanoid ant that filled him with dread.

"Are those humanoid ants? How can there be humanoid ants?!" The villagers exclaimed with shock.

"You guys have never seen the humanoid ants before?" A palace guard asked curiously with surprise.

"Never." 

The villagers shook their heads.

Supposedly, the villagers all took the ants' attack as a regular routine and had long lost their interest in spectating the battle because they knew that no matter what, the Elder Tree would keep them safe.

Elder Evergreen sharp eyes noticed that Leon's gaze was darting across the battlefield in search of something. The discovery piqued his interest. 

"What are you looking for?"

"A very powerful humanoid ant, and possibly their king," Leon replied, but his eyes never left the battlefield. Soon, his eyes locked onto a certain location within the throngs of ants. "There! It's over there!"

Everyone tried to follow the direction Leon pointed, but there were just too many ants to tell. Even the number of royal guard ants were in the dozens among the millions of ants. 

After so many onslaughts, the ants were still so numerous. God knows how these creatures breed. Leon made a mental note that when he possesses adequate strength, he would look for the ant queen and kill it before it lay any more eggs.

Suddenly, his expression dropped, and he shouted in warning, "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

The ground in the distance suddenly cracked as a shadow flickered across the air and…

Boom!

The Elder Tree shook violently again as the figure slammed into the middle stump of the Elder Tree and left behind a large web-like crack on it.

Leon's warning was timely, but many still didn't manage to react promptly and lost their balance. Some almost fell off the tree directly and plunge to their death.

"Holy shit! What the fuck was that!" The villagers almost lost their minds. How much physical strength was needed for a creature of that size to shake such a large tree?!

At the very least, it should have exceeded 100,000-jin. No, even 100,000-jin might be an understatement.

Elder Evergreen began to frown gravely as he said in a low voice, "The ants are going all out this time."

"That's right, they are attacking the Elder Tree directly and not aiming for the power source. It's like taking down the Elder Tree has become their primary objective. What had triggered them so? Have they discovered something that we haven't?" Leon said with a pondering look.

After the monstrous humanoid ant impacted the Elder Tree, it dodged all the tree roots and retreated for a follow-up third impact.

Despite what was going on, the tree spirit of the Elder Tree was nowhere to be seen and only its self-defense mechanism was in place. 

The impact should have hurt the Elder Tree quite a bit, but despite that, the tree spirit was completely silent! 

What is going on with the tree spirit?!

Suddenly, Leon had a faint premonition of danger as he looked back at the beam of sunlight continuing to supply the Elder Tree with endless energy.

"You gotta be kidding me… Don't tell me that it is actually happening…" Leon muttered in horror.

"What is happening? What have you discovered, Leon?" Lilith asked. Her bird sense was also screaming danger.

"No time to explain," Leon said and turned to Elder Evergreen. "Elder, we need to evacuate everyone to the surface immediately!"

Everyone could tell the seriousness and urgency in his tone.. Elder Evergreen nodded and immediately issued orders to his surrounding villagers to round up everyone and regather at the tunnel entrance.