Chún stepped out of the trees into the clearing where the battle had taken place the previous week — and stopped.
The landscape had changed completely.
He nodded absently to the Mountain's last remark, but his attention was fixed on the scene before him.
Even without using Essence Sense, everything shimmered with elemental power. It reminded him of the first time Yijing had shown him into the deeper regions of the Mountain — how he had noticed that everything glowed with Essence mist and sparkles of Essence motes drifting lazily from every tree, plant, rock, flower and stream, with the faint scent of living sap and mineral-rich soil hanging in the air.
He had grown accustomed to seeing that, so much so that he hardly noticed it any longer.
Not like this.
Not even close.
This was especially so because the Heaven and Earth Vine released so much free-floating Essence that the clearing and cave where he lived were almost always shrouded in thick Essence mist, illuminated by drifting motes and faint Dao patterns that moved endlessly through the vapour.
The gentle glow of those patterns had become so familiar that the other parts of the Mountain he travelled through often seemed almost dull in comparison.
This, however…
There was so much Essence in the air that Chún's head hummed and his skin prickled as though countless tiny sparks danced across it. The air itself felt thick with power, warm and vibrant against his lungs as he breathed, almost like inhaling living fire.
Light bent in strange ways and seemed faintly tinted orange. Pink grass rippled softly where bare earth had once been, silver water flowed through the stream like liquid metal beneath the light of the Golden Crow, and the leaves of nearby trees glowed faintly blue along their veins, the colour pulsing gently like a slow heartbeat.
The closer he came to the entrance of the small canyon where once evil had flowed forth, the stranger the landscape became.
The rocks of the cliff had transformed into transparent Essence crystal. They shone brilliantly in the refracted light of the Golden Crow, scattering shifting rainbows across the clearing and painting the ground in bands of moving colour.
A sudden rush of air and rustling wings made him look up, and he saw an enormous swarm of colourful butterflies passing overhead and flying into the small canyon, their wings flashing with iridescent light as they trailed glowing Essence dust behind them that drifted slowly downward like luminous pollen.
Chún stared.
The Sound of Essence — the subtle vibration he normally heard only during deep meditation, when igniting Essence sources or when the first light of dawn touched the Mountain — seemed to fill the air around him now, humming softly like distant thunder drums beneath the world. It travelled through the ground and through the bones of his body like a distant storm rolling across the mountains.
He reached the opening in the cliff face and stopped before it.
Wonderingly, he reached out and touched the side of the crystal cliff with his right hand. The wall reacted immediately with a ripple of colour that bounced across the crystalline surface and spread through the cliff like a stone dropped into still water, touching off new ripples each time the wave struck another facet of the crystal.
The crystal was cool to the touch, yet it hummed with barely restrained power, so strongly that Chún felt every hair on his body bristle. If he had still possessed body hair, it would have been standing straight up.
Involuntarily, he gasped and realised he was finding it difficult to breathe.
"Friend? What is happening?" he asked across the link with some effort.
"My apologies. Nothing serious — merely a small miscalculation. Please remain still for a moment," replied the Mountain.
Chún thought he probably ought to feel alarmed, but he could not quite bring himself to care. Standing with his hand resting on the crystal cliff, he watched the colours race through the stone. The patterns reminded him strongly of his own Essence circulation, and he found himself slipping almost unconsciously into a light meditative state, quietly pleased to see that the flow of his Essence matched the rippling patterns he could see moving through the wall.
There was a sound like liquid falling, and the surface of the cliff an arm's span to his right softened and melted downward into a puddle of liquid crystal. Chún watched the transformation curiously, absently wondering whether such things happened often. He suspected they probably did not, or there would not be much cliff remaining.
There was a faint bubbling sound.
The liquid crystal gathered and shaped itself into the form of a woman standing before him — transparent crystal, Essence flowing through her like slow lightning. Elegant crystal garments formed over her body, and her sculpted hair gathered beneath a phoenix crown as the figure completed itself, her wide pupil-less eyes glowing faintly with circulating power.
After a moment, the statue tilted its head slightly to the left and, despite the lack of expression in its face or pupils in its eyes, Chún had the unmistakable sense that it was measuring him.
He thought it was rather unfortunate he could not move, or he would have bowed.
The statue stepped forward with calm, unhurried grace and stopped just short of his outstretched arm.
It placed its left hand over the hand he had resting against the cliff face. His right arm slipped free from the crystal wall and fell to his side while his hand remained clasped within the statue's grip.
A sudden rush of Essence flowed from his arm into the statue and, if not for the immovable strength of that crystal hand, he would have staggered as his ears popped and his head spun from the sudden rush, the sensation striking him like a sudden bolt of lightning.
Shaking his head, he realised he was breathing normally again. There was movement beside him — and when he looked to his left, he saw the statue's features ripple and shift until it stood beside him instead, now facing forward in the same direction as he was, its left hand still holding his right.
The statue began walking forward through the crystalline canyon at the same calm, unhurried pace as before, drawing him along beside her.
"Follow her," instructed his locus.
"Who is she?" asked Chún as he stumbled briefly and then adjusted his stride to match the statue's pace.
"Not a who. It is a Crystal Empress. A higher level of guardian than the Lord you encountered a few days ago within my Dao node. She is drawing away the excess Essence you are accumulating this close to the World Tree," explained the Mountain.
"Oh. What happened?" asked Chún as he followed the statue's steady pace — not that he had much choice with his hand locked in her crystal grip.
At least it gave him time to take in the increasingly astonishing sights around him.
Plants bloomed everywhere. Wild explosions of colour cascaded from Essence plants that grew directly from the canyon walls.
The scent of flowers hung thick and heavy in the air until it was almost cloying, sweet and intoxicating, while visible clouds of fallen petals and sparkling pollen rose beneath his footsteps.
Here and there, tiny winged spirits darted from flower to flower, carrying small buckets filled with glowing Essence pollen of many different colours. The little creatures saw him and immediately fluttered about in agitation, gathering mid-air in clusters to point and chatter with sharp birdlike cries.
A few seemed frightened and darted further away as the statue drew him close, while several braver ones flew nearer before quickly retreating again. Most eventually returned to their work as he was pulled deeper into the canyon.
"A True Cultivator's body is designed to channel Essence — especially so in your case, since it has been reconstructed several times already. You constantly draw Essence through your body from the world around you. Here the amount entering you exceeds your ability to circulate it back outward. You were approaching burnout simply by standing there," responded his locus.
That explained the dizziness.
"I requested that a guardian assist you and she agreed. The Crystal Empress will allow you to remain here without overloading."
They emerged from the canyon into the open space that had once been a giant crater.
A single tree now filled it.
It glowed brighter than the Golden Crow.
It was so large that standing before it felt like standing before part of the world itself. The curve of its immense trunk was so shallow that it was almost impossible to perceive. Upward it stretched beyond sight, its branches disappearing high above into the clouds.
Chún could only stare upward.
Shifting Dao patterns flowed slowly across the bark in great waves of colour.
He felt as though endless understanding might be gained simply by watching those patterns move and change.
"You have grown greatly," he murmured before he could stop himself.
A rustling noise drew his attention further up the trunk, and he watched in amazement as a whole segment of the multicoloured bark burst outward into an enormous swarm of butterflies that wheeled around the vast trunk before streaming out of the crater and into the canyon beyond, their wings flashing with prismatic light.
The beat of thunder drums was so loud that Chún could not think — he could only stand there, the vibration thrumming through his bones as the overwhelming current of power filled the air. It travelled through the ground and through his body like a distant storm rolling across the mountains.
He did not know how long he stood there until an insistent tug on his arm drew him out of the trance.
The Crystal Empress turned and walked back toward the canyon exit, pulling him along with her.
Chún managed a hurried bow toward the World Tree — which had once been his old, trusty herding staff.
"I will return. I am glad to see you are well," he managed, before he was pulled away from the tree and back along the flower-filled crystal canyon.
As he walked, he noticed the flowers and plants seemed even brighter now, their colours deepening as dusk approached and the light of the Golden Crow softened.
The Crystal Empress led him out of the canyon, across the clearing and into the tree line before giving him a firm push, releasing his hand as she sent him tumbling ten paces into the forest, dry leaves scattering beneath him as he struck the ground.
After a moment, he pushed himself upright and brushed the forest litter from his clothes.
"Very well. I take the meaning. It seems gathering plants was not permitted."
His cloak shifted and the Dao pots appeared, each filled with large quantities of herbs, plants and softly glowing Essence-rich soil. The Dao patterns carved into the pots were drawing Essence from the air as quickly as possible in order to sustain their contents.
"These you cannot sell," warned the Mountain. "Bring them back to the clearing. The Essence there is strong enough that they will grow well, if not quite as vigorously. We will add them to your garden, though they must remain in the pots at first until they have adjusted. They will be cultivated to be used sparingly along with the other, more ordinary Essence herbs and plants in the medicines I will teach you."
Chún rolled his eyes.
"'Ordinary' Essence herbs," he muttered. "Says the Mountain."
He leapt into the trees and travelled swiftly through the forest canopy, the cool evening wind rushing past his ears as branch after branch bent beneath his weight and sprang back again. As he moved, he realised his body felt lighter and stronger than it had since the beast wave.
"I believe my understanding of 'ordinary' continues to change, my friend."
He laughed softly as he bounded faster and faster through the canopy, moving so smoothly between branches that it almost felt as though he were flying.
"At this rate, I shall soon forget what ordinary even means."
"The other benefit to that visit," the Mountain continued calmly, "is that your body and meridians were cleansed and restored once more. Your physical body now matches that of a solid mid-rank Sky Cultivator."
Chún shrugged as he dropped down into the Heaven and Earth Vine clearing, landing lightly upon the soft soil.
"The rest of me might as well not be a cultivator at all. Still… it will do."
He jogged over to his garden and examined the ground carefully with his Essence Sense, searching for the place where the concentration of Essence was strongest.
"Plant them around the apple trees. They are releasing the most Essence and the new herbs will strengthen both the seedlings and the surrounding soil, increasing the quality of the Essence," instructed the Mountain. "Remember, leave them in the pots for now. Simply bury the Dao pots in the soil with the plants still inside them. Make certain the soil rises just above the rims."
Following the directions of his locus, Chún planted the pots in specific positions around the two apple saplings, forming a Dao pattern with the two trees at its centre that would draw Essence inward and gather it within the area.
"This is merely a formation, is it not?" asked Chún. He wiped his hands on his robes and stepped back to study the pattern.
"Except… connect to the leftmost tree with your Essence," instructed the Mountain. "Good. Now, as you did with the concealment formation, reinforce the flow and hold the excess from the ignition."
Chún pulsed his Essence, and the sapling responded immediately beneath his hand. Its trunk thickened and rose until it reached the height of his shoulder. Fresh silvery leaves unfurled along its branches and faintly glowing pink blossoms burst into bloom as a wave of Life, Earth, Wood and Water Essence motes scattered outward.
The ignition wave surged outward but was almost immediately swallowed by the newly planted herbs and plants, a faint brightening the only sign that they had absorbed the excess Essence.
"Good," approved the Mountain. "Now feed that line of Essence into the first herb. Pulse your Essence as you form the connection. It will not advance, but a small excess will be generated — and the herb will allow you to maintain the link rather than consuming the energy entirely."
Following the instructions of his locus, Chún connected each herb and plant together in the same order in which they had been planted. By the end of the cycle, he felt as though he were holding a coiled serpent of power in his grasp. The new herbs and plants produced only small amounts of excess individually, yet the energy was extremely potent and accumulated quickly, and this small Manifestation now seemed to contain almost as much power as the far larger one he had created previously.
"Connect the power to the other apple sapling now. Be careful when you release it into the tree — pulse with it or you will receive a heavy backlash," warned the Mountain.
The thump of Essence rushing into the tree was accompanied by a far larger ignition pulse, and Chún felt his body instinctively releasing Essence back into the Dao Manifestation as the second tree grew and ignited as it advanced. The Dao pattern naturally reached out and reconnected with the first apple tree. The Manifestation glowed with contained power and all the herbs and plants — as well as the apple trees — flared brightly with Essence, illuminating the clearing as a vast fountain of energy surged upward into the air above the formation.
Chún felt a familiar prickling along his skin as the air in the clearing grew almost saturated with Essence. Looking down, he saw that the new herbs and plants were glowing as strongly as they had near the World Tree itself.
Alarmed, Chún slipped into Essence Sense and saw a vast current of Essence spiralling through the clearing.
Previously, the Essence released by the Heaven and Earth Vine had drifted downward in a broad dome over the clearing before slowly dispersing into the surrounding forest.
Now the energy was being drawn inward by the garden formation in a great spiral, concentrating around the Dao Manifestation before being refined and expelled outward once more.
The plants and trees absorbed the incoming Essence and released smaller fountains of far purer Essence back into the clearing. A larger plume of brilliant new Essence flowed outward between the two apple trees as the formation stabilised.
The new plants and the Dao pattern were purifying and strengthening the Essence throughout the clearing.
Chún could see the refined Essence spreading outward and being absorbed by everything nearby, including the Heaven and Earth Vine itself, which trembled before releasing a fresh plume of Essence in response — echoed by every other plant in the clearing.
"Now that is how a Manifestation of a formation should function," remarked the Mountain smugly. "It is also self-sustaining. It does not alter the natural cycle of Essence in the clearing — everything eventually returns to the land, only stronger."
The young teen frowned thoughtfully. "Is it also… creating something? After all, have we not created a natural treasure that did not exist before — something that improves the world rather than consuming it?"
"Well done," applauded his locus. "Yes, this is Creation. Something new that strengthens the World without harming the rest. Her Highness says thank you, by the way — cleaner, stronger Essence means she will not need to produce quite as much herself."
"Just paying rent, Your Highness," joked Chún. The Vine's leaves and branches rustled softly in response.
"The best part," the Mountain continued with satisfaction, "is that each cycle will gradually increase the quality of the Essence produced by the Manifestation as the overall Essence of the clearing improves. Diminishing returns mean it will never match the power of the World Tree itself, but as the Vine advances it will eventually come quite close."
"As for the amount of Essence contained within the Manifestation, it is already strong enough to sustain the new plants — and it will only improve," the Mountain added.
Chún nodded and was about to reply when a curious chirping sound reached his ears.
Looking down, he saw a pair of familiar tiny creatures peering out from the mist of his cloak.
The Mountain's satisfaction brushed across the link.
"You have brought tiny followers. These creatures normally tend the plants around the World Tree itself. They cannot survive where Essence is weak — the mist within the cloak must have contained enough for them to endure the journey… and now that the Manifestation is active, the clearing will soon have sufficient Essence for them to live here as well."
Chún watched as the tiny beings darted toward the apple trees and began examining the blossoms with great interest.
"Will they be all right?" he asked.
"As long as they remain near the Manifestation most of the time, they will be fine," his locus reassured him. "They will likely spend time near the Vine as well. They will help care for her — pruning, cleaning and protecting the plants from pests."
"Nothing I need concern myself with then," said Chún as he turned toward the fire pit, the faint scent of smoke from the embers drifting through the evening air.
"In that case… it is time for dinner."