Cultivation is Creation-Chapter 161: The Greedy Genesis Seed

I opened my eyes to find myself back in Han Renyi's body, standing before the Ancestor's Tree at the Three-Leaf Clover Sect. The transition from the crystalline heart-space had been seamless – one moment discussing plans with Astralis, the next materializing here in the physical realm. Han Renyi's consciousness remained asleep, still recovering in that strange space between worlds.

Looking up at the massive tree before me, I couldn't help but smile at how it responded to my presence. Its branches swayed with obvious excitement, despite the complete absence of wind. If trees could wiggle with joy, this one was definitely doing its best impression.

"Someone's happy to see you," Astralis commented, materializing beside me with a faint shimmer of starlight. In the physical world, he looked somehow both more and less real than he had in the heart-space, but the stars in his hair were barely visible now.

"Well, we did have quite the bonding experience," I replied, remembering how the tree had helped me put the Seventh Ancestor in his place.

Though I suspect it had more to do with the World Tree Sutra's influence than my sparkling personality.

"Shall we begin?" Astralis asked, his boyish features taking on that serious expression that always looked slightly out of place on his young face.

I nodded and stepped forward, placing my palm against the tree's enormous trunk. The bark felt warm beneath my touch. Closing my eyes, I focused inward, reaching for the familiar energy of the blue sun in my inner world.

The connection formed instantly, like two old friends reaching out to clasp hands. I felt the moment my eyes began glowing with that distinctive blue light – not that I could see it myself, but the sudden gasp from a nearby sect disciple told me everything I needed to know. Poor kid had probably just been heading out for morning practice, only to stumble across what looked like that same mysterious figure from before back but now communing with their sacred tree.

The energy flowed smoothly from my blue sun into the tree, and the response was... spectacular.

The entire trunk began to glow with a soft, azure light that spread upward through every branch and down into every root. Where before there had been signs of age and wear – subtle imperfections in the bark, slightly drooping branches – now everything seemed to straighten and strengthen. It was like watching decades of decay reverse itself in moments.

But that wasn't even the most impressive part.

As the blue energy spread through the tree's system, it began to pulse in a distinct rhythm. Each pulse sent out a wave of power that I could feel rippling through the very fabric of reality. The air became easier to breathe, colors seemed sharper, and I could actually feel the local rouqi becoming more concentrated.

"Fascinating," I heard Astralis whisper. "The stabilization effect is far stronger than I anticipated. How are you—"

His question was cut off by a sudden change in my inner world that demanded my immediate attention.

"Master," Azure called out, "you need to see this."

Without breaking the connection to the tree, I divided my attention and looked inward. What I saw made me glad I was already leaning against something solid.

The Genesis Seed was... growing. But not in the way I'd expected. Instead of spreading its roots through my inner world as it had before, it was somehow extending them through the blue sun itself.

"Azure," I thought carefully, trying not to let my surprise show on my face, "what exactly am I looking at?"

"It appears," Azure replied with that tone he used when he was both fascinated and slightly concerned, "that the Genesis Seed is using the blue sun as a conduit to extend its influence into the Starhaven Realm."

I watched as ghostly roots stretched through the blue sun like threads through a needle's eye, disappearing into... somewhere else. "Is it trying to annex the realm?"

"Yes and no," Azure answered. "This is unlike any annexation attempt I've ever heard of. It's more subtle, more... symbiotic? Instead of trying to forcefully absorb the realm, it seems to be establishing a connection that's actually helping stabilize it."

“But that means it is creating a path to annex the realm?”

“Yes, Master, it does appear so.”

I glanced at Astralis out of the corner of my eye, but the immortal boy seemed completely focused on the tree's transformation. If he noticed anything unusual, he wasn't showing it.

"The world's stabilization is exceeding all my expectations," Astralis said, practically bouncing with excitement. "The energy distribution is perfectly balanced, and the decay rate has dropped by at least thirty percent in this area alone!"

I managed what I hoped was an appropriately modest nod while still keeping most of my attention on the Genesis Seed's activities. "Azure, how long will this process take?"

"Hard to say," he replied. "We'll have a better idea after we visit the other trees – assuming the Genesis Seed attempts the same connection with them. This could be a one-time thing, or it could be establishing a network. We'll know more soon."

The tree's branches swayed gently, and I felt a distinct sense of... welcome? It was more than just recognition now. There was something almost proprietary about it, like a host welcoming an honored guest into their home. I had a feeling my relationship with this particular world-stabilizing artifact had just become a lot more interesting.

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"I think that's enough for now," Astralis said after a few more minutes. "We don't want to overwhelm it, and we still have two more trees to visit."

I nodded and carefully began withdrawing the energy flow. The tree's glow dimmed slightly but didn't fade entirely – instead, it settled into a subtle luminescence that made it look more alive than ever.

"Remarkable," Astralis murmured, studying the tree with an intensity that made the stars in his hair flicker rapidly. "I haven't seen it respond like this since..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "Well, it's been a very long time."

I decided not to press him on that particular topic. Some memories were better left undisturbed.

"Next stop?" I asked instead.

His boyish grin returned. "Hope you like heights!"

***

Sect Master Bai Yun of the Mountain Dweller Sect had seen many strange things in his two hundred and eighty years of cultivation.

Living at the highest peak in the region tended to expose one to all sorts of unusual phenomena – strange weather patterns, mysterious beasts, and the occasional lost cultivator who somehow discovered a long lost treasure.

But nothing in his experience had prepared him for what he saw that morning.

He had been performing his daily inspection of the Star-Catching Tree, their sect's most sacred treasure, when he noticed something was... different. The massive tree, which normally stretched its branches toward the heavens like a giant trying to pluck stars from the sky, was moving strangely.

At first, he thought it might be nothing more than an unusually strong wind. The peak of Mount Celestial Anchor was known for its unpredictable air currents, after all. But then he saw the figure.

It was hovering – hovering – in front of the great tree, wrapped in a cloak that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. Even Bai Yun's spiritual sense seemed to slide off it like water off oiled paper.

His first instinct was to sound the alarm and prepare for battle. Any unknown entity powerful enough to reach this height without using their sect's special techniques was a potential threat. But before he could even move, he saw something that made his blood freeze in his veins.

The Immortal Boy materialized beside the cloaked figure.

Bai Yun had never seen Astralis in person before. No one had, not since the Celestial Sovereign's disappearance. But there was no mistaking that form – the child-like figure with stars in his hair, radiating an authority that made Bai Yun's knees weak despite being nearly a quarter mile away.

As he watched, unable to move, unable to even think of interfering, the mysterious figure reached out and placed a hand against the Star-Catching Tree's ancient bark.

What happened next would feature in Bai Yun's dreams for years to come.

The tree blazed with blue light, its entire form illuminating like a beacon that could probably be seen from the neighboring province. But it wasn't just light – Bai Yun could feel waves of power rolling off it, each pulse making the very air feel more substantial, more real.

The figure remained in contact with the tree for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, both the cloaked stranger and the Immortal Boy vanished, leaving behind a glowing tree.

Bai Yun approached cautiously, his heart still racing. The Star-Catching Tree had always responded to him before – a gentle acknowledgment of his position as sect master, a subtle warmth when he meditated beneath its branches.

But now?

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Now it felt like trying to get the attention of a profound expert while being an ant. The tree's consciousness was focused on something vast and distant, something far more interesting than a mere Tier 2 sect master.

Chen Yun stared up at the softly glowing branches and wondered if he should feel honored or terrified that his sect had just been visited by what was clearly a power beyond his comprehension.

After careful consideration, he decided the appropriate response was probably both.

***

Deep beneath the surface of Pearl Heart Lake, in a palace crafted from living coral and ancient magic, Sect Master Yan Mei of the Deep Sea Sect was having a very interesting morning.

She had been in the middle of her regular communion with the Deep Root Tree when she felt it – a disturbance in the water that had nothing to do with currents or tides. Something was approaching, something that made the very waters of the lake part before it.

The figure that descended through the crystal-clear depths wasn't swimming so much as simply choosing to exist in progressively lower locations. Their cloak billowed around them in a way that completely ignored the natural movement of water, and Yan Mei could have sworn she saw stars twinkling in the space between its folds.

Then she saw who accompanied them, and suddenly the strange method of transportation made perfect sense.

"Lady Yan," the Immortal Boy's voice carried perfectly through the water, "I hope we're not interrupting anything important?"

Yan Mei, who had lived beneath the lake's surface for over two centuries, knew better than to waste time asking questions like "How are you speaking underwater?" or "Why has no one seen you in three hundred years?" Instead, she simply bowed deeply and replied, "The Deep Sea Sect is honored by your visit."

The cloaked figure moved toward the Deep Root Tree with a grace that made Yan Mei's most accomplished water-walking techniques look clumsy by comparison. As they approached, the tree's massive water-roots began to move, shifting like the tentacles of some ancient sea creature awakening from a long slumber.

Yan Mei held her breath (metaphorically, since her cultivation allowed her to extract oxygen directly from water) as the figure reached out to touch the tree's submerged trunk. She had spent decades studying the Deep Root Tree, learning its moods and habits, understanding its role in maintaining the fundamental laws of their realm.

Nothing in those decades of study had prepared her for what happened next.

Blue light exploded outward from the point of contact, spreading through the tree's entire structure like lightning through water. The illumination was so intense that fish from the deeper parts of the lake – species that had evolved to live in perpetual darkness – began swimming up to investigate this new sun that had appeared in their realm.

But it wasn't just light. Yan Mei could feel the changes rippling through the water around her. The pressure became more consistent, the water itself seemed to become more... real? It was as if reality itself was being reinforced, given new strength and stability.

The cloaked figure maintained contact for several minutes, during which Yan Mei found herself holding that metaphorical breath again. When they finally stepped back, the tree continued to glow with a subtle blue luminescence that made it look like something out of ancient legend.

"Thank you for your hospitality," the Immortal Boy said cheerfully, as if they hadn't just fundamentally altered one of the most important artifacts in the realm. "We'll be going now!"

Before Yan Mei could even form a response, both figures vanished, leaving behind only the softly glowing tree and about a thousand questions she knew would never be answered.

She approached the Deep Root Tree cautiously, reaching out with her spiritual sense as she had done countless times before. The response she got back nearly made her lose control of her water-breathing technique.

The tree's consciousness, which had always been vast but somewhat sleepy, was now alive with an energy she had never felt before. It acknowledged her presence in the same way a mountain might acknowledge a passing cloud – with complete disinterest.