Thanks for silveralter and Starhero619 for becoming as Supporters!
===BREAK===
After following the floating Hydro Fungi for some distance, they indeed found a Withering Zone at the destination.
Victor Wang and Lumine dealt with it effortlessly. From the spot where the Withering Tumor vanished, the floating Hydro Fungi drew out a cluster of pure Dendro elemental energy and absorbed it into its body.
"So, it really was them… the last of my kin that I knew of. They still couldn't hold on. Hundreds, even thousands of years have passed—if only they had endured just a little longer."
"Thinking about how so many of your family turned into Withering Tumors makes me feel so sad…" Having witnessed the floating Hydro Fungi reclaiming its kin with her own eyes, Paimon no longer had any doubts and couldn't help but feel sorrowful.
"It's alright. As long as the elemental power remains, we remain as well."
Those words, combined with the scene of reclaiming the Dendro element just now, suddenly stirred something within Victor Wang.
He had gone through something similar before. After his death, the Anemo that formed his body dispersed, only to be gathered by Venti and returned to him.
In fact, it wasn't just that one death. Every time his elements were cleansed, it was much the same—part of the elements that made up his being would be stripped away, his body would be damaged in the process, and his memories would suffer some loss.
Elemental beings were different from humans. Their spirit and body seemed to be one and the same, with elemental power forming their physical existence. The companions the floating Hydro Fungi reclaimed… if that was their spirit, then what constituted that spirit was clearly elemental power as well.
Only then could the idea of "as long as the elemental power remains, we remain" truly make sense.
Seen this way, his own body really was constantly drawing closer to that of an elemental being. Or rather… perhaps the moment he became a Hilichurl, the unification of spirit and body had already been completed.
What he was doing now was merely gradually "unsealing" this body that could not freely wield its power.
As for why this body did not display the obvious traits of elemental beings, the difference between it and a purely elemental lifeform lay in being "not pure enough." Not impure in elemental power, but impure in elemental type. Elemental beings usually possessed only a single element, whereas he had seven.
Venti had once said—the more mixed the elemental power, the fewer the traits of an elemental being.
So that was probably the case.
Just as he finished this line of thought, Victor Wang heard Nahida sigh. "If only they had been healed earlier, things wouldn't have come to this…"
The floating Hydro Fungi spoke again. "Form is merely a gift of time. With growth comes change, and sometimes sacrifice is required, but one's essence does not change easily."
"…At the very least, now that we know their locations, we should find them all and send you home together."
Nahida looked at Victor Wang. She knew this would happen. Victor Wang shrugged. "Not all of them. Only those I saw in the information 'Scaramouche' searched."
"Please."
"In fact, very few of their clan have survived to this day. Most turned into Withering long ago… You move with us. I'll guide the way."
Victor Wang first chose to search for the Dendro Dragon elemental lifeforms that had already turned into Withering. For most of them, not even residual elemental power could be found. A fortunate few were reclaimed by the floating Hydro Fungi.
Next came those that were still alive. There was truly not many left—aside from the floating Hydro Fungi, only three remained.
Surprised by the accuracy of Victor Wang's positioning, Paimon praised him. "I saw the information 'Scaramouche' provided too, but the scenes in those images were basically all trees, mountains, and water. They looked almost the same! If I had to lead the way, there's no way I could do it!"
"I couldn't either," Lumine said.
"Hehe, my photographic memory is still somewhat useful."
As they spoke, within a group of Fungi, Victor Wang locked onto a floating Anemo Fungi born of the Dendro Dragon's elemental power.
The floating Hydro Fungi entered the Fungi group and communicated with them amicably, successfully calling the floating Anemo Fungi out.
"Sorry. Language. Hard. To. Understand. Need. Long. Time."
"It's alright. I'll explain it to you in the language of the Fungi."
The floating Hydro Fungi then explained everything to the floating Anemo Fungi once more.
"Apocalypse. Ended. Now. Go. Home?"
"Yes. But I forgot where home is… I hope you still remember."
"I. Remember. Home. Dendro Dragon."
"The Dendro Dragon?" Lumine was slightly surprised.
"The Dendro Dragon… yes, that's right!" After linking the Dendro Dragon with the concept of home, the floating Hydro Fungi faintly recalled something. "I think I remember now. The Dendro Dragon is our homeland!"
"Wait, wait!" Paimon shouted as well. "If I didn't misunderstand… the Dendro Dragon should be an elemental dragon, right? How could it possibly be your homeland?"
"Because our clan lives within the Dendro Dragon's body."
"Ah—this…"
While Paimon was still reeling, Nahida had already sensed that something was very wrong—extremely wrong.
The floating Hydro Fungi continued explaining. "Within the Dendro Dragon exists another world. It nurtures and protects life there, and it once spoke to us in a majestic voice: when we matured, we would be able to live in a new world. But that day never came. Before the apocalypse descended, our homeland was the best place of all."
Paimon grabbed her head hard, speaking in confusion. "I still don't quite understand…"
Lumine tried to explain. "Like how Dendro Slimes give birth to little Dendro Slimes?"
Victor Wang roughly understood and spoke while also asking, "But this was inside its body… or rather, before you were fully born… because of the pollution of forbidden knowledge, you were forced to be born early?"
These elemental lives really were children the Dendro Dragon intended to nurture. Then an accident involving forbidden knowledge pollution occurred, and these children could no longer remain within the Dendro Dragon, resulting in premature birth—or perhaps a forced extraction. Thinking about it that way feels really strange…
Yet the floating Hydro Fungi confirmed it. "A very similar relationship, except the Dendro Dragon is far, far larger than a Dendro Slime."
The simple-minded Paimon didn't overthink it and focused on the key point. "So, your clan's homeland really is inside the Dendro Dragon… That's a rather delicate location, because we don't know where the Dendro Dragon is. It's like we gained no useful information at all…"
Nahida spoke with great seriousness:
"No. This is extremely important information. If the Dendro Dragon is their homeland, and their homeland was polluted by forbidden knowledge, doesn't that mean the Dendro Dragon itself was polluted?
The Dendro Dragon, 'Apep,' is the most adaptable lifeform in this world. The pollution occurred at least five hundred years ago. By now, forbidden knowledge should have become a part of its body.
Then the consequence of completely eradicating forbidden knowledge is… it would produce elemental voids within it as well, just like the elemental Fungi.
Its body and soul are likely already in a severely shattered state. If it cannot endure, elemental power will no longer be able to remain within it in the form of life and will instead dissipate entirely. The concentration of Dendro elemental power involved would likely have an impact even greater than the death of a god.
The rainforest would overgrow uncontrollably. Trees as massive as the Sacred Tree of Sumeru City would appear everywhere. Sunlight would be completely blocked, and Sumeru would no longer be suitable for any animals to survive…"
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa