Results and Unexpected Godhood Again

Jie Ning and Arannis returned to the City of Life.

The city hadn't changed much since the two of them left.

But now an elf was following them around.

"Kaixi, you've already comprehended the Momentum of Heaven and Earth. As long as you cultivate well, you'll become a Sanctuary powerhouse soon enough," Arannis urged the elf behind her. "We really don't need you as a servant."

Kaixi laughed brightly. "Sister Lan, becoming a god's servant is something many people dream of, isn't it?"

Arannis tried to persuade her several times, but Kaixi's temperament was far more stubborn than her appearance suggested.

In the end, the Hall of Life had no choice but to accept an elven maid named Kaixi.

Back in his own cultivation chamber, Jie Ning took out the 'Acorn' and prepared to give it a thorough examination.

'This can barely be called a soul anymore. It's basically just simple spiritual residue. Maybe in a few decades, it would have scattered completely.' Sensing the soul's intensity within, Jie Ning couldn't help but sigh.

'Hmm, there seems to be a little bit of memory left in the soul... Oh, it only remembers its own name now. Called Light, is it?'

'...Then I'll call you Tree of Light from now on.'

'Anything else?'

'Nothing else at all. It seems it discarded everything else just to survive.'

Jie Ning carefully inspected the seed of the Tree of Light before him. The seed itself wasn't much of a problem—the issue lay in the soul.

'More precisely, the connection between its soul and body is broken.'

'Working backward from the result, its initial injury wasn't very severe. It was probably caught in some accident that severed the link between soul and body, and the original soul likely had no other damage.'

'For living things, the body itself nourishes the soul. If a normal life form's body nourishes the soul at a rate of one...'

'Then for this Tree of Light, the effect is only one percent, or even one-thousandth. The disconnection between body and soul means the soul can't get enough nourishment.'

'As a result, the nourishment can't even keep up with the soul's own consumption. Over time, the soul's weakening is inevitable. If the Tree of Light hadn't already reached Sanctuary, and its body's protective function hadn't still been active, its soul would have long since vanished completely.'

'Still, I'm curious about where undead souls get their energy. Without life's nourishment, what sustains and grows their souls?'

'I'll have to visit the Underworld and see for myself someday...'

'But for now, I need to solve the Tree of Light's problem first.'

'So the first thing I have to do is reconnect its body and soul smoothly.'

Jie Ning channeled his Life God Power along the faint link between the two, turning it into a bridge that connected the Tree of Light's soul and body.

The Tree of Light's soul sensed the Life God Power. Its instinct to survive drove it to plunge directly into it, accepting the nourishment of the divine power.

In simple terms, Jie Ning's Life God Power was now acting as 'glue,' forcibly strengthening the connection between its soul and body.

For now, the divine power served as a 'bridge.' Once its soul recovered a bit, it could follow that 'bridge' and actively draw closer to its body, and with the god's help, the two could reconnect completely.

Until then, maintaining the link between them would rely almost entirely on Jie Ning's divine power.

'Next, the soul's recovery will depend on itself.' Jie Ning finished his part.

'Once it's healthy, then it'll be time for me to reap the rewards.'

'As for how the soul will recover... my intuition tells me you'll give me a surprise.' Jie Ning looked at the 'Acorn' form of the Tree of Light with anticipation.

Ten years passed quickly. The former 'Acorn' had been planted by Jie Ning in the Garden of the Hall of Life.

Over the decade, the Elf Race had moved most of their people and industries to the Life Duke's Territory.

Elder Biss and several other elven elders had also visited Jie Ning, witnessing with their own eyes their Sacred Tree's 'seed' gradually recovering. Their hearts were filled with hope for the future.

In the garden, two Jie Nings sat facing each other on either side of the Tree of Light sapling.

The Sanctuary Main Body continuously communicated with the Earth Element, making the earth element in the garden more active.

For Jie Ning, this was both for the Tree of Light's growth and a form of cultivation for himself.

The Life God Avatar, meanwhile, had been studying the Tree of Light's changes. Today, it finally yielded results.

'Its soul is really starting to grow. The speed is far faster than relying solely on life energy for nourishment.'

Joyfully sensing the Tree of Light's transformation, Jie Ning had maintained this observation for many years. Today, the payoff had finally arrived.

Suddenly, the life energy around Jie Ning seemed to 'boil.' A few small blades of grass sprouted from the soil in front of him.

'During the stages of birth and growth, a life form's soul and body enter a shared frequency, forming a state of resonance. In this state, both grow rapidly.'

'Normally, all life can only enjoy this opportunity in their early stages. It's a gift from the Life Rule of Heaven and Earth.'

'But perhaps the Tree of Light comprehended this rule, or maybe it's an innate ability. By disguising itself as a seed and repeating the growth process, it's recreating this state, allowing its soul to grow as fast as its body.'

'Unfortunately, because of its previous soul-body connection problem, the feedback it received was severely diminished. Even if it mimicked this frequency to speed up soul growth after resonance, the effect was minimal, since the fundamental source of this growth energy still comes from the body.'

'Now that I've used divine power to heal its injury, it can naturally get back on track.'

'Since I've also discovered this rule, I have a chance to use it too.' Jie Ning thought with delight.

Jie Ning closed his eyes tightly, continuously simulating various possibilities in his mind, selecting several suitable approaches to attempt.

Jie Ning dispersed a few strands of his soul energy into several grass seeds in the soil before him, the energy mimicking life fluctuations similar to the seeds. Then, using Life God Power, he stimulated their vitality, causing the little grasses to grow rapidly.

Jie Ning could sense that these strands of his soul power had undergone some negligible growth in the process, but this was already enough to surprise him.

After all, these souls were only attached to a few ordinary blades of grass.

If he were to switch to other, more powerful lifeforms, or increase the quantity—say, an entire prairie?

'I'll call this method the Spirit Nourishing Technique from now on.'

Jie Ning's heart was filled with delight, but he still had one experiment to conduct: whether the withering of the Tree of Light held any significance.

Now that the Tree of Light's growth was on the right track, he was unwilling to force it to wither again.

So he would have to try it himself. After all, he could afford to lose a few insignificant strands of soul energy.

The little grasses before him began to grow wildly, spreading their roots, expanding their stalks, and gradually reaching a limit.

The little grasses slowly began to produce seeds, while their main bodies started to wither.

At this point, Jie Ning made a new discovery.

'Clearly, the body serving as the soul's vessel is weakening, yet during this process, the soul has received even more nourishment.'

A sudden realization dawned on Jie Ning. 'If growth is a gift of life, then this moment is the mercy of death.'

'The soul receives the body's final offering, and then goes to the Underworld to be reborn.'

Soon, the little grasses withered and died completely, leaving only their seeds behind. At the instant their bodies perished, Jie Ning felt as though these separated strands of soul energy were faintly being summoned by another world.

Fortunately, the summoning was not particularly strong, and it failed to prevent these few strands of soul from returning to Jie Ning's body.

The moment this soul energy returned, a surge of unique insights flooded his mind.

Jie Ning was instantly immersed in some kind of enlightenment. Unbeknownst to him, his Sanctuary Main Body had also stopped manipulating the Earth Element, instead sinking into the comprehension of another rule.

Beside his Life God Avatar, Life God Power rippled continuously, while near his Sanctuary Main Body, a gray energy gradually began to diffuse.

For a time, the two shone in mutual radiance.

Spring passed and autumn came; in the blink of an eye, three years had gone by.

After discovering Jie Ning's condition, Arannis immediately sealed off the garden, forbidding outsiders from entering to prevent anyone from disturbing his enlightenment.

She herself remained by Jie Ning's side, guarding him at all times.

One day, a familiar fluctuation suddenly jolted Arannis from her closed-eye meditation.

She opened her eyes to see Jie Ning's Sanctuary Main Body floating into the air.

With a familiar sequence of actions, another Divine Spark condensed before Jie Ning, and his soul split once more—the same pain.

Jie Ning felt his new divine avatar and experienced an indescribable sensation in his heart.

Arannis slowly walked over, looking at the three Jie Nings before her, and felt an overwhelming sense of confusion.

"Jie Ning, did you become a god through Earth Law?" Arannis knew that Jie Ning had been comprehending the mysteries of Earth Law, but this newly appeared 'divine avatar Jie Ning' didn't carry any trace of an earth-type aura.

"No, this time it's a divine avatar of the Death Rule." Looking at his new body, Jie Ning's tone was also somewhat strange.

'I had another insight while comprehending Earth Law. It's a pity I can't test my affinity for rules—I always feel like my affinity must be maxed out.'

Arannis, however, accepted the reality immediately. "As expected, Jie Ning, you're a genius."

Jie Ning smiled at her praise. Compliments from family always felt especially gratifying.

I received the monthly tickets from readers 141214200941062, Huà Zuò Fēng Shǎo, and Wú Xiàn Jiàn Mó—thank you all so much.

Tomorrow, I'll have a trial recommendation. I hope it goes well. I'm still asking for monthly tickets and recommendation votes here.

PS: I might have to attend a banquet tonight. It's really unfriendly for someone my age, but I'll try to finish the remaining chapter in the afternoon; otherwise, it'll be posted quite late.