A Shi squatted beside the Spirit Mist Spring, his notebook filled with rapid notes. "At 1:15 AM, the Ice-Fire Harmonization was activated, and the concentration of the Spirit Mist and Gray Mist decreased by 20%; at 3:45 AM, the symbiotic zone of Mist-Cleansing Grass and Ancient Tree Decaying Leaves took shape, and the Mist-Dwelling Flower began to sprout new buds; at 1:15 AM, Mistwhisper Bird flew out of the ancient tree caves, and the transparency of the Spirit Mist recovered to 30%!" He also asked the Forest Dwelling Girl to help measure the flow speed of the Spirit Mist and drew a distribution map of the Spirit Mist Spring and the ancient tree on the notebook, marking " The Evil Energy is most concentrated on the west side of the Ancient Spirit Tree, which needs to be purified"—that was what the girl said, because the Mist-Dwelling Flower on the west side withered the fastest every time the morning mist was the thickest.
Just as A Mu was purifying the western side of the Ancient Spirit Tree, a slight tremor suddenly came from the tree— the Evil Energy deep within the spring at the base of the tree suddenly erupted, causing the warm membrane that A Mu had condensed to shake, and the Mist-Dwelling Flower had just regained their faint light began to turn gray again! A Mu hurriedly gripped the hilt of his sword, and suddenly remembered what the forest girl had said about "borrowing strength from the ancient tree," so he immediately adjusted the power of the ice mist, condensing more spirit mist into a band of light, which wrapped around the roots of the ancient tree to form a "forest ring," temporarily blocking the spread of Evil Energy.
"Use the ' Forestheart Stone ' of the forest as a catalyst!" The old patriarch of the forest dwelling walked over, leaning on his ancient wooden cane, holding a stone that shimmered with a greenish light. "This is the Forestheart Stone, dug from the roots of the Ancient Spirit Tree. It can absorb Evil Energy and gather spiritual mist. Mix its power into the power of ice and fire, and inject it into the Spirit Mist Spring in accordance with the frequency of the forest's whispers, and you can purify the deep-seated Evil Energy."
A Mu immediately took the Forestheart Stone and fused it with the power of ice and fire and the spirit mist—the power of fire was tinged with a pale green light, while the power of ice mist shimmered with a very faint, luminous white. The two powers intertwined to form a stream of light of the same origin as the spirit mist, which flowed into the Spirit Mist Spring along with Lin Yu's resonance. The trembling of the ancient tree gradually subsided, and the gray mist at the bottom of the spring seemed to be drawn to the surface by the stream of light, slowly rising to the surface and being firmly absorbed by the leaves of the Mist-Cleansing Grass; the water of the Spirit Mist Spring became clear again, the grayish spirit mist returned to pale green, the tightly closed Mist-Dwelling Flower slowly bloomed, and the translucent petals shimmered with a lustrous light in the spirit mist. Even the Mistwhisper Bird hiding in the ancient tree cave flew out one after another, singing a whispering song around the spring.
"Look at the center of the spring!" The girl from the forest suddenly pointed to the center of the Spirit Mist Spring. Everyone looked up and saw a crystal core with a soft green glow embedded in the stone platform in the center of the spring—half of the crystal core was submerged in the Spirit Mist Spring, and its surface was wrapped with very faint black threads; it was the "Forest Forestheart Crystal "! The light of the crystal core echoed the color of the spirit mist, clearly indicating that it was the core of the forest's vitality, but it was bound by the Mist-Turbid Evil Trace, which prevented it from playing its role in stabilizing the spirit mist.
"This is the ' Heart of the Forest Vein '!" Loran squatted beside the Spirit Mist Spring, his fingertips glowing with a purifying light. "Activating it will completely stabilize the Evil Energy in the Spirit Mist, allowing the Mist-Hidden Forest to regain its former vitality— A Mu, are you willing to give it a try?"
A Mu nodded, gently placing the New Sprout Sword on the stone platform beside the spring. Instead of immediately injecting power, he first allowed the power of ice and fire to resonate with the ancient tree and the spiritual mist. Then, he slowly injected the light stream mixed with the power of the Forestheart Stone into the Forest Heart Forestheart Crystal. The green light of the crystal core instantly surged, and the black threads on its surface quickly dissipated like mist blown away by the spiritual mist. The green light spread along the spiritual mist, covering the entire Mist-Hidden Forest.
"The mist has cleared! The Mist-Dwelling Flower are all in bloom!" the Forest Dwellers suddenly cheered. Everyone looked up and saw that the water of the Spirit Mist Spring was as clear as jade, and the mist was a pure pale green, weaving the forest into a green dreamscape; the Mist-Dwelling Flower bloomed around the ancient trees, their translucent petals glistening with dewdrops condensed from the mist, and the chirping of the Mistwhisper Bird intertwined with the soft rustling of the leaves, like a gentle forest ballad; even the air was filled with the faint fragrance of the Mist-Dwelling Flower.
The Forest Dwellers emerged from their tree-hole huts, carrying " Mist-Dwelling Flower Cakes" baked with spirit mist and sweet "Ancient Tree Sap." The old chieftain handed the boys a bowl of warm Ancient Tree Sap, smiling as he said, "This is made from the sap of the Ancient Spirit Tree; it's good for the throat. Thank you for bringing the forest back to life!"
A Ya took out her paintbrush and knelt down beside the Spirit Mist Spring to sketch—she deliberately included the scene of spirit mist swirling around the ancient tree, the blooming of Mist-Dwelling Flower, and the scene of Forest Dwellers playing with Mistwhisper Bird in the drawing. She also marked next to the Forestheart Crystal, "The core of the Mist-Hidden Forest's vitality, requiring monthly monitoring of spirit mist concentration and Mist-Dwelling Flower status." The Icefield Wolf came over and gently touched the Spirit Mist Spring with its paw. The green light from the Forestheart Crystal condensed into a small Mist-Dwelling Flower -shaped light pattern in its paw, making the forest dwelling girls and boys laugh.
As the mist thinned, the tranquility of the Mist-Hidden Forest was brimming with life: the spiritual mist flowed slowly through the trees, the Mist-Dwelling Flower swayed gently on the ancient trees, the chirping of the Mistwhisper Bird mingled with the breeze, and warm light shone from the tree-hole huts of the Forest Dwellers. A Mu compiled today's patrol records into a "Forest Guardian Log," with a symbiotic diagram of the Forest Heart Forestheart Crystal and the Ancient Spirit Tree drawn on the title page; A Shi, on the other hand, compiled the data on the restoration of the spiritual mist and the blooming rate of the Mist-Dwelling Flower into a table, saying he would take it back to the sacred land to compare with the starry sky ecological data of the canyon, and study the differences in the dissipation of Evil Energy under different forest environments.
On the return journey, Forestheart Crystal suddenly emitted a green light that extended towards the " Dawn Grassland " on the eastern side of the forest. Loran temporarily protected the crystal core with Spirit Mist Protective Membrane (to prevent it from being corroded by moisture) and said to the boys with a smile, "It seems that it sensed the vitality fluctuations of the grassland. Next time we patrol, we can go and take a look at the Dawn Grassland."
A Mu gripped the New Sprout Sword tightly, the Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern on the scabbard echoing the green light of Forestheart Crystal: "Whether it's the grasslands or somewhere else, we can protect the vitality hidden in the forest, the starry sky, and the moonlight!" The laughter of the boys echoed in the forest, and the golden figure of the Icefield Wolf ran along the path of decaying leaves, a blooming Mist-Dwelling Flower dangling from its mouth, as if collecting a souvenir for the next journey of protection.
As night deepened, A Mu placed the Forest Logs into the "Guardian Bookshelf"—the shelf was already filled with fourteen logs, from the water veins of the Clear Creek River and the flowers and grasses on the edge of the abyss, to the Ironleaf Flower of the mines and the Fluorescent Butterfly of the Elven Woods, to the wind Windwhisper Stone Tidal Crystal Core the grasslands, the Marshheart Crystal Fallen Star Crystal the marshes, the meteorite Icefield Crystal of the woodlands, the Molten Fire Crystal of the ice plains, the Tidal Crystal of the archipelago, the Moonheart Crystal of the wetlands, the Star Core of the canyons, and the forest Forestheart Crystal of the forests. Each log was filled with the growth and protection of the young people. Moonlight shone through the gaps in the tent onto the logs, reflecting the ice and fire warning crystals and the specimens of mist -Mist-Cleansing Grass beside the bookshelf, as if telling a story: the path of protection has no end. Those subtle beauties hidden in the spiritual mist of the forests, the starry sky of the canyons, and the moonlight of the wetlands, those protection methods tailored for each piece of land, will eventually weave a vibrant net covering the continent in the passage of time.
The story of " The Qilin of Falling Maple " continues to grow amidst the forest's spiritual mist, the light of crystal cores, and the laughter of youth. There are no thrilling battles, only the Mist-Cleansing Grass planted by hand, the forest ledger recorded by pen, and the forest whispers echoing beside ancient trees—these ordinary acts of protection, like the Mist-Hidden Forest, are gentle yet steadfast, slowly converging into a protective river that illuminates the continent, flowing gently towards the distant Dawn Grassland and the vast ecological lands.