Recruitment

After bidding Ranaraja farewell, Lin Feng asked him to gather the Aranara in Vanarana who were willing to fight on his behalf.

Lin Feng also asked this reliable elder to keep his request confidential.

Having vaguely guessed what Lin Feng intended to do, Ranaraja readily agreed.

Only then did the reassured Lin Feng leave the village chief's hut.

Although Lesser Lord Kusanali could obtain information from Irminsul, she was still trapped within the Sanctuary of Surasthana, making it clear that she could not conveniently wield that power.

Unlike Nahida, who carried the belief of "lovers" through to the end, Lin Feng's way of dealing with things was more in line with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Having eliminated the possibility of an informant appearing, Lin Feng arrived beside the circular pool in the dream and quietly waited for Aranara who met his requirements to arrive.

He had expected to wait quite a while, but the moment Lin Feng sat down on the steps beside the pool, two little applicants came to him.

They were Laramoth, an old acquaintance with emerald-green leaves, and a round, pale-green little fellow that looked like a cabbage.

Relying on his exceptional memory, Lin Feng carefully identified the other's features and recalled the second little fellow's name—Ranbirika.

As one of the few martial Aranara, Ranbirika possessed the ability in the story to easily defeat Ruin Guards. Even among Vision bearers, such Combat Power made him a rare powerhouse.

With the strongest Aranara in history—Arandias—as his goal, it was not strange at all that he had come here.

"Nara Lin Feng, after sparring with Ranbirika, I became stronger. I can help Nara Lin Feng now!"

Floating in the air, Laramoth was clearly excited. The two green leaves atop his head were practically spinning like propellers.

"Does that mean you beat Ranbirika?"

Seeing Laramoth's smug expression, Lin Feng could not help feeling curious.

"...Not even once."

Laramoth, who had been full of excitement just moments ago, instantly looked like a frostbitten eggplant.

Lin Feng: "..."

He should have known better than to ask. Why were you acting so smug when you had not won even once?

"Even Arandias was not powerful from the moment he was a seed."

"Laramoth works very hard. At the beginning, even mushrooms would scare him away."

"After sparring, he trained from smashing mushrooms all the way to defeating Big Iron Blocks. Laramoth is a very 'strong' seed."

Seeing Laramoth somewhat discouraged, Ranbirika comforted him while explaining to Lin Feng.

Hearing what Ranbirika revealed, Lin Feng could not help looking at Laramoth in a new light.

If the "sparring" Ranbirika spoke of was understood as a special kind of training, then in less than a month, Laramoth had grown from defeating Fungi to defeating Big Iron Blocks—that was, Ruin Guards.

This showed that Laramoth's rate of growth among the Aranara could already be called "astonishing."

It seemed the little fellow before him had not been chosen as the seed of the Awakened King Tree in the story entirely at random.

Thinking this, Lin Feng encouraged him as though he were talking to a child.

"Don't lose heart. Even the legendary Arandias grew from weakness, didn't he?"

"If you can defeat Big Iron Blocks, aren't you already impressive?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, the leaves atop Laramoth's head, which had stopped spinning, began whirling rapidly again. In an instant, he went from a wilted eggplant back to a smug one.

"Nara Lin Feng's praise as a 'friend'... Laramoth is amazing!"

He seemed a little too spirited again.

Pulling his attention away from the smug Laramoth, Lin Feng looked at Ranbirika beside him.

"I'm not surprised that Laramoth came. He has always cared deeply about the Awakened King Tree."

"But Ranbirika, you're already very strong, aren't you? Even if you join this operation, I'm not sure how much growth it will bring you. In the future, you might even have to help me fight bad humans."

"Are you sure you want to join?"

Lin Feng was curious about Ranbirika's thoughts.

This rare battle cabbage among the Aranara shook his round body and spoke firmly.

"Ranaraja said that Nara Lin Feng already possesses the power of the 'King of a Thousand Trees.'"

"Yes, that is indeed the case. So?" Lin Feng asked in confusion.

"Rangalari was originally a song in which the Aranara praised the King of a Thousand Trees, Nara, and their own kind."

Ranbirika began explaining the origins of Rangalari.

"Rana's Memory and Aranana once witnessed the King of a Thousand Trees heal the land, turning a golden land of death into a jungle of life. That is why their Rangalari can resist the apostles of 'death.'"

"Because Arandias traveled alongside the 'King of a Thousand Trees,' he obtained the power to defeat huge, imposing Iron Blocks in the blink of an eye."

"In present-day Vanarana, there are many Aranara like Aranakula, but few Aranara who enjoy training."

"I also hope to gain such power, so that after Rana's Memory and Arandias become stories, I can protect Vanarana."

Knowing full well that most of his companions only enjoyed farming and playing, Ranbirika, an outlier among the Aranara, had taken the responsibility of protecting Vanarana onto his own shoulders.

Therefore, faced with the opportunity to travel alongside someone who could walk with the "King of a Thousand Trees," Ranbirika naturally could not possibly let it pass.

"I understand. I will respect your wish."

Present-day Vanarana no longer possessed powerful fighting strength.

In order to gain power and protect this brand-new home, Ranbirika chose to face the dangerous Withering together with Lin Feng.

Admiring Ranbirika's ambition, Lin Feng said,

"During the journey ahead, I will display as much power as possible."

"Don't worry. This 'memory' will certainly be valuable enough."

Thinking of how he would heal the Awakened King Tree on this journey and clear away the Withering Manifestations that had accumulated over hundreds of years, Lin Feng was somewhat curious what kind of power these little fellows would gain.

While he spoke with the two little ones, Ranaraja also notified every Aranara he could find as thoroughly as possible.

The final number of Aranara who came exceeded Lin Feng's expectations. There were actually more than a hundred of them.

He had thought that among these childlike Aranara, oddities like Ranbirika would ultimately be few. But seeing these summoned Aranara, Lin Feng realized just how powerful the King of a Thousand Trees' appeal was to them.

In the story, even after Lesser Lord Kusanali escaped her imprisonment, she had almost never displayed especially powerful plant-based abilities.

Perhaps Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had depleted the divine throne while clearing Forbidden Knowledge, or perhaps Forbidden Knowledge's corruption of the world had left Nahida somewhat deficient from birth.

In Short, as the successor to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, who had fostered the rainforest and created the Wall of Samiel, Nahida's powers were instead more inclined toward dreams. This was clearly rather unreasonable.

Could it be that my frontal combat ability has actually surpassed Nahida's?

Only then did Lin Feng realize something.