Chapter 557 - 447: You’re Not Human, Are You?
Chapter 557: Chapter 447: You’re Not Human, Are You?
With no day or night, time was meaningless in her inner space. She quickly stood up, trying again to retract the energy shield formed from her Life Essence Qi.
A sudden RUSTLE sounded as the Tree of Life shook its trunk in the small farmhouse courtyard, like a mischievous imp making a playful face at her.
This time, Flora Bloom retracted the energy shield with surprising ease, moving it to hover above the seawater area connected to the Spirit River.
At the same time, that familiar feeling returned.
The Tree of Life sapling swayed its few branches and green leaves. Only at this very moment was it branded with the space’s unique sigil, finally coming under her control.
From the time it sprouted from a seed until now, the Tree of Life sapling was only the size of her palm. Despite its small stature, its main trunk was as thick as an arm, with three branches and nine jade-like leaves, brimming with the power of life.
Flora Bloom held it, and the roots it sprouted tickled her palm as if playing with her. A young, boyish voice spoke to her through their mental link.
"Master, you’re so weak!"
Flora Bloom lightly patted its trunk, making the little Tree of Life sapling quiver. "Why’d you hit my tummy! I’m ignoring you now!"
Flora Bloom snorted with laughter. ’A pouting little boy, are we? You’re a good match for my Golden Crow.’
"Golden Crow? What’s a Golden Crow? Is it edible? Does it have lots of Life Spiritual Energy?"
"Golden Crow? Is that a type of crow? It has ’crow’ in its name, right?"
"Is it golden? Is it pretty?"
"Master...?"
Flora Bloom’s thoughts were a complete mess. ’Is this thing a chatterbox? If I put him and the Golden Crow together, they’d probably be noisy enough to tear the sky down.’
"Tree of Life, do you have a name?" Flora Bloom asked, interrupting the little sapling’s muttering.
"A name? Isn’t my name Tree of Life?"
"So you don’t. How about I call you Grove from now on? Grove... Grovel... No, that’s too weird. What about... Mia? Mia sounds nice, right?"
The Tree of Life swayed its branches a few times and tickled Flora Bloom’s palm with its roots. "But why do I need a name? Is Tree of Life not a good name? Mia sounds too weak! Master, I’m very strong!"
"The Tree of Life is the origin of countless lives, the leader of all plant life, so Mia is very strong! But Mia sounds so weak. Mia doesn’t want to be called Mia."
Flora Bloom decided to just ignore the sapling, whose intelligence seemed questionable as it started muttering to itself again. Instead, she checked on the situation outside.
One look, and Flora Bloom found herself in a bind.
Right where she had first entered her space, there was now a mat woven from rattan. On the mat lay a man who looked extremely frail.
’It looks like this is the Family Head of the Vaughn family, right? But... why does the Vaughn Family Head look so unhealthy? To use Mia’s word for it: weak!’
’Incredibly weak. If I had to put a grade on it, from one to three, he was at Level 3 frailty.’
The problem wasn’t that Flora Bloom wanted to stare at the frail and weak Vaughn Family Head; it was that if she exited her space now, she would appear directly on top of his rattan mat!
Flora Bloom scanned her surroundings, trying to map out an escape route in advance so she could bolt the second she reappeared.
’She had already contacted the Golden Crow, and it was on its way. If she timed it right, they would have a single, horrifying encounter and then never see each other again!’
But as she looked around, Flora Bloom was shocked to discover that the once-empty, cold cave’s barren stone floor was now covered in grass, flowers, and even a tree.
The tree was an unfamiliar type of fruit tree, bearing unfamiliar red fruits that were bursting with Spiritual Energy.
All these plants were brimming with Spiritual Energy and an aura of life. Just as Flora Bloom was wondering about this, Mia spoke up.
"Master, all the plants here grew so wildly because my life energy overflowed."
Flora Bloom nodded. ’I see.’
’The Golden Crow was almost here. All she had to do was run out now, and the Golden Crow should arrive at just the right moment.’
However, her plan was beautiful; the reality was a complete disaster.
The moment Flora Bloom exited her space, she materialized in mid-air and landed, butt-first, right on the waist of the Vaughn Family Head, who was turned on his side.
That waist was so thin and frail that when Flora Bloom suddenly sat on it, a horrifying CRACK echoed through the cave.
Accompanied by a muffled groan from the Vaughn Family Head, Flora Bloom scrambled to her feet and began to apologize profusely.
"I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I came out in such a hurry, I couldn’t get out of the way!"
Leopold Vaughn had decorated the cave to serve as his bedroom. A stone platform held a freshly woven rattan mat that passed for a bed. There was also a stone table and two stone stools, created by an Earth Ability User.