What comes into view is a towering tree hundreds of meters tall, its canopy large enough to house a huge castle.
The Tree of Life, which has grown for four or five thousand years, exudes a rich life force.
Although both are Tree of Life, this one is clearly much taller and older than the one in Gilneas's Blackwald.
Strangely, there were no Moonkin or other creatures living here, only some relatively gentle creatures such as groundhogs and deer, and their numbers seemed to be fewer than expected, decreasing the closer one got to the Tree of Life.
Everywhere you look, there are moss-covered, white rock buildings of Night Elf, somewhat like the temples on Mount Hyjal, undoubtedly built by Druid.
In order to plant and cultivate this World Tree, many Druid must have lived here for a long time. Judging from the buildings alone, there were probably hundreds of Druid who came here at that time.
Now, however, all these buildings are abandoned, and there isn't a single Druid left. After completely resolving the Saronite issue here, the Druid left, eventually gathering in Northrend to plant the famous " Vordrassil ".
"Strange, there's a very powerful pressure emanating from the Tree of Life. Could it be...?"
Jiang Jie frowned slightly. The griffins and Moonkin seemed to have encountered their natural enemy, and dared not go any further. They appeared restless and agitated, and even the power of nature could not soothe them, nor could Anveena.
" Anveena, you stay here with them, I'll go check on them."
Without giving a chance to explain, Jiang Jie rode his griffin " Sharpbeak " into the sky, quickly crossing the dense jungle and arriving not far from the Tree of Life. At the base of the Tree of Life, he saw a stone door entangled by intertwined roots, which were actually swirling green energy vortexes—the energy of the Emerald Dream, the purest natural energy.
The problem is, when Jiang Jie sensed those energies, he felt a little uncomfortable, because they were no longer pure Emerald Dream energy. They contained a trace of power that was terrifying, frightening, and caused nightmares—the power of Nightmare, the power of Emerald Nightmare!
The gate is actually a passage connecting Azeroth and the Emerald Dream.
On the stone platform in front of the door, a giant jade dragon lay crouching.
The term "Emerald Dragon" is a specific designation for adult green dragons, and the Emerald Dragon before them was much larger than an ordinary adult green dragon, even larger than Farad.
Nightbane and Sapphiron looked like children compared to it, only half its size!
Of all the dragons Jiang Jie had ever seen, its size was second only to the Red Dragon Queen and Krasus, and it was even not much smaller than Krasus, measuring over forty meters, nearly fifty meters.
In other words, this is an ancient green dragon that has lived for over ten thousand years, a Legendary, whose strength is likely comparable to Krasus. Its body is covered with beautiful, emerald-like scales, and its horns, jagged like a stag's, and majestic face make it clear to everyone who sees it:
It was born to be the noblest creature in Azeroth.
The gateway to the Emerald Dream should naturally be guarded by nature's Keeper. It's perfectly normal for green dragons to appear when the Night Elf are absent.
However, the number of Legendary green dragons is limited, and the entire Green Dragonflight can only have a few. Each one has its own duties and missions, so how could they possibly come alone to guard a passage?
Jiang Jie continued looking and quickly noticed something amiss.
The ancient green dragon was hiding in its belly, where the emerald scales seemed to have become diseased, their color no longer so bright, but rather somewhat dull, with a hint of blackish-gray.
Those dark gray areas are precisely where the power of the Nightmare is most concentrated.
No wonder no animals dare to approach the Tree of Life, no wonder there are so few animals here, only gentle creatures appear, and even then, their numbers are extremely small. It turns out they've all been scared away by the power of the Nightmare!
"Has the Emerald Nightmare gotten this bad?"
One view holds that,
The Emerald Dream is actually the dream of the Titans " Azeroth," and the Titan Keepers " Freya " merely wove this dream into a world. Therefore, the Emerald Nightmare is the Nightmare of Azeroth.
Azeroth is still young, a little girl, not yet grown up, not mature enough, and even a bit timid.
The Old Gods came here to parasitize Azeroth, corrupt it, and ultimately transform it into Dark Titan, helping the Void Lords devour the entire universe.
After the Old Gods were imprisoned in the Titans Cage by the Titan Keepers, they tried every means to continue corrupting Azeroth. One of their methods was to invade Azeroth's dreams, causing Azeroth to have nightmares, instill fear in her heart, and ultimately corrupt her. This is the Emerald Nightmare.
Ten thousand years ago, the Old Gods N'Zoth corrupted Xavius, the " Nightmare Lord," and began to invade the Emerald Dream, creating the Emerald Nightmare.
When the roots of Vordrassil invaded the prison of the Old Gods Yogg-Saron four or five thousand years ago, the power of Yogg-Saron and other Old Gods directly entered the Emerald Dream through Vordrassil, and the Nightmare began to intensify.
In Jiang Jie's memory, the Emerald Nightmare truly began to worsen about a year later when Malfurion got lost in the Emerald Dream, and three years later when the Four Green Dragons of the Nightmare appeared.
But now that I think about it, the Emerald Nightmare was actually quite serious all along!
This was a conclusion Jiang Jie had already reached, because neither the Green Dragon Queen Ysera, nor even the entire Green Dragonflight, participated in the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Even Malfurion and Cenarius couldn't find her.
When Malfurion awakened the Druid, many Druid were not awakened, indicating that some Druid and green dragons were actually trapped in the Emerald Nightmare.
The ancient green dragon before us was clearly the same.
But which one is it?
" Cenarius, are you there? I have something very important to tell you, it concerns the Emerald Nightmare..."
Jiang Jie called out in his heart.
Despite Blessing of Cenarius, it was actually not easy for Jiang Jie to contact Cenarius from a distance, especially far from Mount Hyjal.
Powerful Druid can directly call upon each other through dreams, but Jiang Jie is far inferior to Archdruid in this respect. Blessing of Cenarius only narrowed the gap between him and Archdruid; in reality, he had never even been to the Emerald Dream.
Blessing of Cenarius contained a wisp of Cenarius's soul. But this wisp of soul, in reality, had no connection with Cenarius over time. It even disappeared completely after Jiang Jie learned the Stag Form.
It would be relatively easy for Cenarius if he took the initiative, given its immense mental power. Just as the Lich King could summon others across continents, Cenarius could as well.
However, while it's easy for Jiang Jie to directly summon Cenarius near Mount Hyjal, it's much more difficult here.
There was no response.
Jiang Jie sighed softly.
Any ancient dragon would be difficult to deal with.
Farad is probably the weakest of the ancient dragons, only about thirty meters long, much smaller than Krasus, which means he is also much younger than Krasus. Even his true strength is far inferior to Krasus's.
Nevertheless, it would be difficult for Jiang Jie to deal with him on his own.
Krasus, while one of the younger of the ancient dragons, already possesses the strength of a High-tier Legendary dragon, and his overall power is in no way inferior to that of a fully armed Kael'thas.
The ancient green dragon before them was only slightly smaller than Krasus.
The problem is that green dragons are said to be smaller than red dragons, so this ancient green dragon might be older than Krasus.
A dragon's strength is normally linked to its size.
This ancient green dragon might also be High-tier Legendary dragon!
Jiang Jie wasn't confident he could fight it alone, so it was best to stay far away and wait until he could contact Cenarius.
However, at that moment, the ancient green dragon opened its eyes.
Recommended reading: "Yuan Zun" by Tiancan Tudou, and "Da Dao Chao Tian" by Mao Ni.