As dawn broke through the canopy of the Elven Forest, casting dappled golden light, the footsteps of the Youth Guardian Camp startled the morning dew in the woods. A Mu carried a backpack filled with Icefire Crystal Ore, his New Sprout Sword slung across his waist—thanks to Lei Lin's initial guidance the previous night, he could now make the blade gleam with a faint interplay of ice and fire. A Ya, on the other hand, held a cloth bag full of Ironleaf Flower seeds, a replica of the Illustrated Catalog of Plants " tucked under her arm, a small mark of Icefield Wolf fur still visible next to the newly added mineral vein illustrations in the book.
"The ' Tree of Life Rune Array ' in the Elven Forest was passed down from Elder Aila's ancestors." Loran rode ahead on his Cloudhorn Beast, the golden silhouette of his Icefield Wolf weaving through the forest, occasionally stopping to lightly touch the pale green runes on the tree trunks with its nose. "This array can nourish the entire forest, but last week Liya sent a message saying that the light at the array's core had weakened considerably. Today, we'll go and see why."
Passing through layers of ferns, the outline of the Tree of Life gradually became clear—its trunk was so thick that it would take five people to encircle it, and its newly sprouted branches shimmered with a green light. However, of the six rune platforms surrounding the trunk, only three emitted a faint glow. In the rune slots of the other three, the light traces seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist, so dim that they were almost invisible.
" Loran, you've come!" Elder Aila emerged from behind the tree, carrying a bow and arrows adorned with crystals. Her fingertips brushed across the rune platform, the pale green runes shimmering faintly at her touch, only to quickly dim again. "The ' Life Crystal ' at the core of the array is losing energy. We initially thought it was due to the season, but yesterday we discovered a very faint Evil Energy remaining on its surface—it must be the fel mist that seeped into the crystal's crevices during last year's Evil Bone turmoil."
A Mu immediately stepped forward and took out Icefire Crystal Ore from his backpack. "Lord Lei Lin taught me to charge using Icefire Resonance resonance! Do you think this crystal ore can help?" He placed the crystal ore in the groove of the rune platform, and following the incantation taught by Lei Lin, he simultaneously gathered the power of fire and ice mist at his fingertips and slowly poured it into the crystal ore—the crystal ore instantly emitted an interwoven light of golden red and bright white, and the pale green runes on the rune platform seemed to be awakened, slowly extending along the light trail, but just as it was halfway lit, the light began to flicker again.
"The energy is too rapid; it will shatter the runes!" Liya quickly stepped forward and took the Ironleaf Flower seed from A Ya's hand. " Ironleaf Flower can stabilize the energy flow. We'll plant them around the rune platform, letting their roots grow along the rune slots. This will absorb any remaining Evil Energy and act as a conduit, smoothly delivering the ice and fire energy into the Life Crystal."
A Ya immediately crouched down and used the hilt of her New Sprout Sword to dig a shallow pit next to the rune platform. She deliberately kept the pits two feet apart, based on her experience planting in mineral veins, so as not to block the rune light marks while allowing the roots to spread smoothly. As soon as the seeds were planted, A Mu handed her a small bottle of Soul-Purifying Water. When A Ya watered it, she saw the tender shoots of the Ironleaf Flower instantly break through the soil, and the moment the leaves unfolded, they intertwined with the pale green light marks on the rune platform.
"Look! The light is stable!" A Shi held up his notebook, his pen flying across the page as he jotted down notes. "Fifteen minutes after the Ironleaf Flower was planted, the rune platform's light stability improved, and the residual Evil Energy faded by thirty percent! When injecting the Icefire Crystal Ore, it needs to be charged in three stages, with a half-quarter interval between each!" He was so meticulous that he even marked the brightness of the crystal ore's glow with small symbols. Elder Aila leaned over to look and couldn't help but nod. "He's even more meticulous than the young archers in our clan. From now on, these records can be used as a guardian's manual."
But when everyone turned to the dimmest rune platform, they discovered the problem was more complicated than expected—there was a tiny crack in the rune slot of this platform, and as soon as the ice and fire energy was injected, it leaked out from the crack, and the roots of the Ironleaf Flower could not completely cover it for a while. A Mu was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead, and he subconsciously gripped the New Sprout Sword tightly. Suddenly, the ice and fire light on the blade resonated with the crystal ore, and actually condensed into a thin film of light above the crack along his fingertips.
"This is the prototype of the ' Icefire Crack-Mending Technique '!" Lei Lin's voice suddenly came from the forest—he and Snow Spirit Qilin had come to help and were now standing on the branches of the Tree of Life. "Don't panic. Follow the direction of the crack and let the ice and fire light membrane slowly adhere. The Ironleaf Flower will help you fix the light membrane to the rune."
A Mu took a deep breath, and the light membrane at his fingertips moved slowly with his breath. As it conformed to the crack, he could feel the energy of the crystal mineral seeping into the rune slot along the light membrane. A Ya immediately planted an Ironleaf Flower next to the crack. The roots of the new shoot seemed to have a spirit, quickly wrapping around the edge of the light membrane and firmly fixing it to the surface of the rune platform. When the last wisp of ice and fire energy was injected, the rune platform finally lit up with a stable pale green light, forming a complete halo with the other five.
"Buzz--" The six rune platforms hummed simultaneously, and a pale green halo spread upwards along the trunk of the Tree of Life. Suddenly, tiny white flowers bloomed on the new branches at the top of the tree, and their fragrance drifted on the wind, attracting countless butterflies that glowed with a pale blue light—the " Fluorescent Butterfly " of the Elf Clan, which are said to only appear when the forest's vitality reaches its peak.