Chain Reaction

Bana Continent, on a certain day more than twenty years after Jie Ning's Earth God Avatar had departed. (This counted as time passing in Hell.)

On this day, Jie Ning's Life God Avatar took a branch from the Tree of Light's trunk. This was not the first time he had done this.

The Tree of Light shook twice, clearly protesting.

Jie Ning comforted it, "Today should be the last time I do this. Success or failure depends on this attempt. I won't cut your trunk anymore after this."

Decades earlier, Jie Ning had been trying to see if he could achieve cutting propagation in the Panlong World. If it worked, he thought he could have a grand plan.

But reality told him he was still a bit too naive.

Some ordinary plants could indeed generate entirely new individuals of the same species this way, with both being independent life forms.

However, once something became a Magic Beast, this could no longer be achieved.

This method could still cultivate new life individuals, but the new life could only be a subordinate individual of the original plant.

For example, if the original plant was a sixth-rank Magic Beast, then the cultivated branch could not exceed fifth-rank at most.

Even if it were a first-rank Magic Beast, its branch would directly degenerate into an ordinary plant.

Moreover, during this process, the original plant would have a certain degree of dominance over the subordinate individual. The extent of this dominance remained to be studied.

Still, although this plan failed, Jie Ning had a new plan.

The Tree of Light was now located in the forest Jie Ning had once used to strengthen his soul. Around it stood many trees extremely similar to it.

These were all subordinate individuals of the Tree of Light, cultivated by Jie Ning using its branches. For the sake of these, the Tree of Light's consciousness had protested to Jie Ning more than a few times.

After comforting the Tree of Light, Jie Ning used Life God Power to catalyze roots from the branch in his hand. He had performed this operation many times and completed it skillfully.

Next, Jie Ning planted the branch in a predetermined spot.

"Little Light, how does it feel?" Jie Ning asked the Tree of Light.

This forest had long been remodeled by Jie Ning according to the Elf Valley, and the Wind Element within it was extremely dense.

At this moment, as Jie Ning planted the branch.

"Lord Jie Ning, I feel... it seems to have succeeded." At this, the Tree of Light's voice came through, and Jie Ning felt as if he detected a hint of shyness in it.

The moment the Tree of Light finished speaking, the Wind Elements began to gather at its crown in a miraculous trajectory, forming a small rotating vortex that showed no sign of dispersing.

Watching this wondrous scene, Jie Ning's spirit jolted. He cast all strange thoughts from his mind and said happily, "It really succeeded."

Although all of this was within Jie Ning's planned arrangement, he had actually been uncertain whether it would achieve the expected effect.

This time, he wanted to create a god—or rather, to recreate a 'spirit' divine beast similar to the Elf Progenitor.

The close connection between the Tree of Light and the elves made him extremely curious about the Tree of Light itself. They were clearly two separate individuals, so why had the Elf Progenitor's fall caused the Tree of Light's soul and body to separate?

Unfortunately, the reawakened Little Light did not know the secret. Aside from its name coming from the past, everything else about it was no different from a newborn.

Unable to get an answer, Jie Ning began observing on his own.

Through observation, Jie Ning discovered that the Tree of Light itself had an instinct to gather Wind Elements, but it did not absorb them. Instead, after gathering, they flowed toward a certain spot at the crown's top and then naturally dispersed.

Jie Ning repeatedly deduced this phenomenon and arrived at a startling conclusion: the Tree of Light's instinct was to 'bear fruit.'

At the original position where the Tree of Light gathered Wind Elements, there should have been another 'organ' that either bound all these Wind Elements or directly absorbed them.

Combining these findings, Jie Ning made a bold guess: the Elf Progenitor was this mature 'fruit.'

Thus, after spending some time persuading the Tree of Light to agree with his idea, Jie Ning's new plan was set in motion.

The outer Tree of Light Offspring also possessed the same instinct to gather Wind Elements as the Mother Tree. Their role, under Jie Ning's calculations, was to use this instinct to offset and adjust at suitable positions, ultimately converging at the Tree of Light's crown to form a Wind Element Cluster, binding it so it would not disperse.

Finally, Jie Ning placed a God Crystal of Life God Power, which he had specially condensed, atop the Tree of Light's crown. This God Crystal would slowly release divine power.

Over the next ten-plus years, Jie Ning devoted himself entirely to monitoring the changes in this Wind Element cluster, periodically adjusting the positions of each Tree of Light Offshoot based on their growth.

At last, on this day, under Jie Ning's watch, these Wind Elements gathered by the Tree of Light became distinct from other Wind Elements. They suddenly gained spirituality, and the surrounding Wind Elements no longer showed any tendency to scatter. Instead, they began to slowly converge around this 'Wind Element' cluster.

"So this is how it is. The secret of soul birth was never simply Life Force alone."

"This is the rules," Jie Ning finally understood the mystery of soul generation.

"As long as conditions are right, all things in the world can gain spirituality and be born with a soul. This is the rule of heaven and earth."

"And naturally, all energy in the world can, under suitable conditions, be directly converted into Soul Power."

With a thought, Jie Ning's Life God Avatar quickly retreated.

He did not want fluctuations in the heavenly rules to affect the gestation of the new 'spirit.'

Just as he flew into the distance, Jie Ning released his suppression. The heavenly rules descended, a Divine Spark flew out—Mid-level Life God, achieved.

Feeling the changes within his body, with a single thought, Jie Ning's Life God Power began to rapidly deplete, converting into Soul Power.

"It really works. From today on, as long as my divine power is not exhausted, my Soul Power will be endless."

"But for ordinary soul growth, it's still not as suitable as the 'Spirit Nourishing Technique,'" Jie Ning calculated silently. "Otherwise, replenishing divine power also requires drawing from the Divine Power Ocean, which still wastes some time."

"Then can I achieve the effect of the Soul Stone that the Purple Thorn Sovereign gave to Linley—artificial Soul Mutation?" Jie Ning felt himself swelling with ambition, his mind buzzing with ideas.

Of course, Jie Ning also knew that these were nothing more than his own fantasies.

"What am I thinking? Leaving aside the other uses of Soul Stones, I can't even make my soul as condensed as a Soul Stone—the best I can manage is a Soul Golden Bead."

"To a Sovereign, Soul Power is Overgod Power, and Overgod Power is limitless. Even so, the Purple Thorn Sovereign himself cannot create a Soul Stone out of nothing. What am I even fantasizing about?"

"I'm still just a Middle-God, really..."

Returning to the vicinity of the Tree of Light, Jie Ning once again calmed the somewhat flustered entity, then sat down nearby.

The birth process of a divine beast still held great significance for Jie Ning.

Hell, Blade City. (Returning to the current timeline)

Jie Ning, cultivating inside his room, pondered the insights gained from his Life God Avatar.

"Elements turning into life itself?"

"Does the earth not only nourish countless lives?"

"Life formed from Earth Element?"

Murmuring to himself, the Earth Element around Jie Ning began to converge toward him.

Jie Ning suddenly looked at his own body. "Isn't this body of mine a life formed from Earth Element?"

Recalling the feeling of merging with Earth Element while using the Earth-walking Technique.

Jie Ning once again transformed into Earth Element and merged with the earth. This time, he felt a sensation different from before.

The earth regarded him as its own child. An endless stream of Earth Element surged toward him, establishing a connection with his soul. A feeling of being nurtured and protected arose spontaneously.

Such a familiar feeling.

It's like being cared for by the Power of Life when using the Spirit Nourishing Technique.

Only this time, it was the Earth Element protecting Jie Ning's soul and nourishing his growth.

Perhaps if I abandon everything and let the earth reforge me, I could be reborn as a divine beast,

After a long while, Jie Ning reappeared in his original spot, his eyes filled with emotion for life, and his heart felt as if he had just awakened from a great dream.

The 'Power of Life' profound mystery was complete.

Jie Ning felt a much tighter connection between his divine power and his soul. With a thought, his soul was wrapped in a garment. This garment was primarily yellow, faintly shimmering with green light, and those lights carried an abundant sense of vitality.

Feeling the changes happening within himself, Jie Ning was filled with surprise.

Although he couldn't directly convert divine power into Soul Power like his Life God Avatar, his soul had clearly undergone a brand-new transformation.

"Moreover, I can sense that as long as I continue to infuse Soul Power into it, this 'garment' might one day become a Soul Divine Artifact."

This was a gift from the earth.

Thanks to "Book Friend 20211013203324541" for the monthly ticket.

Still asking for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

PS: Recently, I've had no feeling when writing at night. Daytime is a completely different story.