On the top floor of the Akademiya's House of Daena, Setaria, assistant to the Great Sage Azar, had been monitoring the dream energy harvested by the Akasha.
However, a portion of the dream energy the Akasha harvested each day would invariably vanish without a trace, yet Setaria turned a deaf ear to this phenomenon.
In her report to the Great Sage, Setaria wrote: "Wisdom output has declined slightly, but remains within normal thresholds."
Azar's reply to this situation was: "Continue monitoring the fluctuations and determine the cause as soon as possible!"
Meanwhile, atop the highest branch of Sumeru's lush Divine Tree, a figure had been sitting upright for an unknown length of time.
It was none other than Yucheng, who had been training in Senjutsu in seclusion.
The first step in practicing Senjutsu was to become one with nature, and nowhere in all of Sumeru City was more suitable than the top of the Divine Tree.
The branch was so slender that there was barely room to stand, yet the figure sat upright and steady as a bell, meditating securely upon it as though he had become one with the entire Divine Tree. Without looking closely, it was impossible to notice that there was actually someone up there.
One Dusk Bird had finally managed to fly to the very top of the Divine Tree and wanted to find any branch to rest on. From a distance, it spotted what appeared to be a ready-made black nest at the tree's summit.
Seeing that the nest was empty, the dim-witted Dusk Bird assumed another bird had abandoned it and landed right in its center without hesitation.
It tested the nest twice with its hard beak, then stepped on it twice with its claws to try out the comfort of the down inside.