Chapter 203 First Blessing, Then Subduing
Mu En certainly still remembered the golden apple that had left a deep impression on him.
That was a fruit that grew naturally from a plant called "kiwi" after he came into this world, met Nausicaä for the first time, and blessed her.
The pulp had similar effects to regular blessed fruit, ultimately benefiting Gol, while the seed was inexplicably absorbed by him.
Now that I think about it, the power of those golden threads most likely came from that seed?
The Erdtree is highly inclusive of all laws and concepts, as already evident in the world of the Elden Ring.
Look at other legal factions; fire is fire, and stars and moon are stars and moon. Each faction contains at most two or three concepts.
What about the Erdtree?
Light, holiness, creation, order, life, cause and effect, eternity, death----
Some of these abilities were stolen by Marika from other forces, such as the Rune of Death of the Gloam-Eyed Queen, while others were added by later generations after modification and research, such as the Litany of Proper Death specifically designed to deal with the Those Who Live in Death.
Therefore, it is quite reasonable for someone who came into this world to possess abilities similar to those of the Sea of Corruption.
The Will of the Sea of Corruption said that he possessed similar traits to them, perhaps because that seed contained the laws of the Sea of Corruption of this world.
Mu En used his mental power to lift the ripe golden apple and examine it carefully.
The fruit is about the size of a fist, plump and round, with an outer skin that looks like polished pure gold, almost reflecting a person's image, while the inside is seedless flesh that faintly glows with a pale golden light.
The scent emanating from the fruit was exactly the same as that of the Blessed Dew.
A flash of inspiration struck Mu En, and she immediately manipulated the golden threads that had been used in the experiment to regroup and outline the kiwi plant from memory.
As expected, the silk threads quickly condensed into golden fruits that fell to the ground. The amount of Golden Rune consumed was almost the same as that used to make ordinary Blessed Dew, with no additional burden.
To verify the effectiveness, Mu En decided to conduct another field test.
Before long, twenty ordinary people, led by Mito, arrived at the Erdtree. These were the valley dwellers who had exchanged for the blessing.
After this period of accumulation, and with Mu En intentionally lowering the work points required for blessings, nearly half of the Valley of the Wind players have accumulated enough to qualify for the exchange.
When they received their golden apples, everyone's faces were filled with anticipation and nervousness.
Although Blessed is almost commonplace in the Valley of the Wind, it's still impossible not to feel excited when it's your turn.
After eating the fruit, golden light emanated from within, which was quite different from the Blessed Dew that enveloped the recipient from the outside.
Under Mu En's careful observation, these valley dwellers quickly and successfully transformed into a new batch of Blessed, no different from the normal Blessed.
Furthermore, the golden apple bestowed upon them brought a previously unseen "hidden Fawley "—all testers unanimously agreed that it was the most delicious fruit they had ever eaten in their lives.
Mu En wasn't surprised at all. That was a fruit that could grant extraordinary power and elevate one's life level; how could it not taste delicious?
Even if these fruits themselves were as delicious as the " Devil Fruit " in some comics, the fact that they grant extraordinary powers after consumption would still make people eager to stuff them into their mouths.
"Good, very good!" Looking at the twenty newly appointed subjects, Mu En's satisfaction was beyond words.
He couldn't help but marvel inwardly; these golden threads had truly brought him many surprises.
The ability to create clones, the method to rapidly expand territory, and the means of attack to seize life force—but this ability to create Blessed Golden Apple is even more important than the previous three.
As mentioned before, the Blessed Dew from the Erdtree, used to expand its population and obtain more energy sources, have a major drawback: the recipient must be under the Erdtree or perform a Divine Descent ritual to receive the blessing.
Once the Blessed Dew leaves his root zone, his life force rapidly dissipates, eventually disappearing completely.
Unlike the Blessed Golden Apple, this Sickle preserved, and it's preserved permanently!
In other words, the intangible "blessing" has finally taken on a tangible form, and can even be sold as a commodity without revealing Mu En's true identity.
Imagine, how could those in high positions, desperately seeking supernatural powers and ways to prolong life, resist the temptation of these golden apples disguised as extremely precious commodities and sold through caravans?
If the publicity is done well, and the fame of the Golden Apple spreads throughout the entire Sea of Corruption Kingdom, and even reaches Tolmekia and the Dorok, then the powerful and wealthy will come knocking on our door with their gold and silver treasures to buy it.
This is far more effective than proselytizing by performing miracles or preaching ideas. Not everyone is willing to believe in a stranger, nor is everyone willing to change their faith and convert to the Erdtree.
But if all you need to do is buy a magical fruit and eat it to gain extraordinary power, then the barrier to entry is much lower.
Once you become the Blessed, it's as if you've become one of his people.
Of course, Mu En does not have the ability to forcibly control the thoughts of her people, nor does she intend to do so.
What he needs are people who genuinely agree with his ideas, not enslaved puppets.
Even with Dola and Muska, whom he forcibly subdued, he persuaded them to work for him through a deal that involved exchanging favors.
Therefore, we must find a way to first make people the Blessed, and then truly turn them into "one of us" through the concept.
Now Mu En didn't even have time to research his clone, because he already had a ready-made method to learn from.
Each Blessed can communicate with the Erdtree through the Blessing Link, which he had previously used as a communication channel between Blessed.
Now, Mu En wants to go even further.
He planned to create a spiritual space, like the Will of the Sea of Corruption, that would connect the consciousness of all those Blessed. In that space, everyone could freely share their experiences, learn knowledge, and make transactions, much like the internet in his previous life.
It's important to understand that the emergence of the internet has been a devastating blow to traditional media. Under the bombardment of high-density information, all propaganda methods relying on traditional media will become ineffective, and the same principle applies to the rest of the world.
He didn't even need to deliberately promote his ideas; he only needed to let those who became Blessed through the Golden Apple enter this spiritual space, let them see the prosperous and peaceful life of the people of the Valley of the Wind, and see the fact that everyone can earn respect through their abilities under the order of the Erdtree.
Subtly, people living in regions with backward systems will spontaneously yearn for this ideology and unknowingly become die-hard fans of the Golden Dynasty.
It's exactly the same way the Sea of Corruption expands—wherever the spores and swarms go, that becomes the Sea of Corruption's territory.
Mu En recorded this new blueprint for the future deep within his soul so that he could share it directly with the participants.
Now, the most important thing is to first establish the initial form of this spiritual space.
Fortunately, this matter was not entirely without a clue for him; he had already previously enabled the Blessed to communicate in a simple spiritual manner.
Now, all that's needed is to build a "space" that can hold more information.
Mu En turned his gaze once again to the special space that existed simultaneously in the real and spiritual worlds: the Stone Platform.