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Solar Blood Masters (75)
🕑 Added 2024-11-06 13:00:08 +0000 UTCChapter 75 - Tree Savior
The arched windows of the Golden Prism Citadel was illuminated by Lu Jade's radiant meditative form. Tendrils of green energy swirled around him like a miniature vortex of potent Solar Essence. It coalesced, then with a resonant hum it rushed inward.
Lu Jade's eyes snapped open. They glowed with newfound power. "Yessss! My body has finally become accustomed to these new flow of energies !” He let out a triumphant hiss. Qi Hawk’s treasures, combined with the Citadel's amplified energies and his own unique cultivation techniques, were truly accelerating his growth.
He uncoiled his serpentine form and slithered toward a nearby balcony. The crisp air of Nestoria was a welcome change. It invigorated him. His earlier anxieties seemed like a distant nightmare.
Lu Jade gazed out at the vibrant landscape, taking in the sight of the floating islands with a serenity he hadn’t felt in millennia. This was peace.
“It's beautiful…" He sighed. Those rainbow winds danced between those jade towers. Below, those delicate, bird-like creatures were laughing and chatting. Their melodic voices carried across the distances. Such joy.
He wished Raphael could have shared this moment, this feeling of serenity. “Big Brother…” Lu Jade whispered.
"I wonder what he's doing?" Lu Jade murmured to himself. "I hope he’s safe. I have something important to share."
His gaze drifted back to that vast expanse of the sky above. And for a brief moment, he allowed himself to dream of a future, where bullies were just annoying insects to be casually swatted away, a world he would soon carve.
…
Meanwhile, deep within a murky cave, Raphael lay suspended in the air, motionless as if dead. Countless roots, throbbing with a rhythmic thrum, snaked around his form. It was a mesh of interconnected life-force, feeding and healing. These roots weren’t simply attached to his skin. They pierced deeply like a hundred tiny needles infusing him with a foreign, yet comforting essence.
Above him, the Buddhist Pill Gourd hovered. Raphael's tainted blood that was now refined within the gourd's depths, trickled back down into his open jaws. And at the same time his poisoned blood oozed from his mouth into that Gourd, another set of pulsing roots began injecting fresh, clean energy into his body.
“Ba-dump!”
“Ba-dump!”
Raphael’s heart, faint only moments before, began beating stronger! His breathing deepened as a flush of pink returned to his golden hide. The gourd's light flickered, then the flow of blood reversed. And as if satisfied, the Gourd’s cap magically rose and sealed its opening.
Raphael's eyes shot open. They blazed with an intensity that would make even the bravest Calamity tremble!
Instantly, the roots detached from him.
THUD!
He hit the ground, then blinked as the Gourd settled beside him.
“What…just happened? I remember that poison…” His massive head throbbed as fragments resurfaced. He’d been barfing, desperately attempting to purge that poison with whatever techniques he had. Then his hope had materialized in the form of the Buddhist Pill Gourd which he used blindly before those memories ended.
‘Did I… I was… using it?’
Then he noticed an oddity before him. A radiant purple light throbbed like a beating heart.
"Is that a soul?” Raphael’s hooves shuffled closer as the familiar aroma he’d tasted when he first met Kwan Yuu came rushing to his nose. This was potent, he thought. “She died too? I knew that gas was deadly, but an Emperor Calamity…?”
He’d thought her invincible, yet It would appear as though this world he now occupied, its dangers and wonders surpassed even the most fantastic tales he used to read. He shuddered.
He was just a lowly Calamity, yet he survived. How? This baffled him.
Raphael’s contemplation was interrupted by a soothing, feminine voice that he recognized as being familiar, yet very foreign in its cadence. It had a warmth he’d always longed for, one that he could only associate with Butler Long. But there was also an aura that terrified him deeply, it was more imposing but soothing as well.
"So you are finally awake?" The voice came out more akin to a kindly grandmothers than those ancient, roaring Calamities he'd become accustomed to battling or fleeing.
“Huh?”
Raphael glanced around frantically. He couldn't pinpoint the source.
“Who’s there?!”
There was no reply for a few moments. He repeated his inquiry in an even more panicked tone as his gaze shifted from one cluster of thick vines to another.
“I worked tirelessly to bring you back to life.” It was the same voice!
He watched in astonishment and a touch of fright as he witnessed the mud-laden wall before him begin to shift. Thick and pulsating roots broke free. As the wall continued to crumble, it was slowly revealing an ancient entity.
Raphael looked up and began tracing those roots towards the roof until he recognized a massive tree torso. The light it emanated intensified and illuminated the true vastness of this hidden space he now stood within.
“Is this a tree?” His hooves felt something beneath that looked and moved differently than regular swamp roots he’d grown used to stomping around.
These roots, they had segments. They possessed bone-like structures. And within their pale yellow flesh, he saw throbbing veins.
This discovery caused him to step back with apprehension that could send him turning tail to run if they grew bigger, but then his curiosity outweighing all his anxieties as he watched them unfold leaves resembling stars. They glowed with a light that rivaled the skies above on a star filled night. They illuminated the entity he was trapped with, which wasn't exactly trapped like himself but this was a tree.
"Woah!"
Raphael’s head spun as he tried to grasp the magnitude of what his eyes were witnessing. Following the glow from the tree's leaves, he saw a root burst forth from the ground nearby. It was thicker than any he'd encountered. Its flesh semi-transparent. and within that glistening, pulsing yellow flesh, he saw an intricate mesh of bones, veins, even pulsating arteries.
Another one erupted beside the first, shaking the very space he occupied and causing starlight to rain down like a beautiful but frightening show as if the heavens themselves applauded this magnificent and terrifying display. The tremors were unreal.
These roots resembled serpents. Or perhaps… dragons? He stumbled back as he observed silver scales across the roots.
"This place… Is it a creature or a… tree?"
Raphael’s gaze travelled upwards, following the intertwining roots.
He was inside a massive cavern. No. To be more accurate, this wasn't a natural cave.
“This is… its belly?! I’m inside the BELLY of a sentient tree?!”
The realization hit him like a thunderbolt!
He was surrounded by dirt, mud clumps, and roots that now seem to be veins pulsating with life! His mind couldn’t process this reality. “It’s… it’s so big!"
This imposing sight around him was amazing but at the same time he felt fearful of the unknown. As if sensing Raphael’s fears, the soothing voice spoke again:
“Thanks to the Buddhist Pill Gourd, I was able to refine a few drops of your blood, mixed it with my own and transfer my innate healing cells within your very being. You no longer have to fear being poisoned by that toxic essence, for I’ve completely rid it of your system.”
Raphael took a step back. He couldn't comprehend the magnitude of this event.
The sheer scale of this being, its power… And this… kindness?
Hearing what was said, Raphael humbly responded, "Generous benefactor, thank you for saving my life. I am in your debt. How can I repay you?"
“Hohoho, I didn't save you for a reward, young one. I saw what you did when that red gas was spreading and obliterating everything in its path, you absorbed that poison and sacrificed yourself to end its tyranny within this gorge. In essence, I’ve returned a favor in helping you. Though I’ve been operating on you for several days, your body is still not at its peak. Absorb that Solar Consciousness to regain some of your depleted strength.” A massive root gestured toward the purple soul.
This was indeed generosity.
Raphael wasn't about to reject such an offer but… "Thank you again for your assistance. If you don’t mind me asking… who are you, great being?”
The wall before him crumbled away and reveled an enormous star leaf that unfolded down like an inviting carpet. “Climb on.”
“Huh?!” Raphael was confused but intrigued. So he hopped onto that leaf. It was soft and warm.
After his hooves settled, the leaf folded upwards then suddenly,
WHOOSH!
He was falling!
He landed softly on another leaf. This leaf was much larger and he opened his eyes as the swirling space filled his vision.
“Woah!”
It was as if he stood upon a galaxy with thousands of planets circling, shooting past his golden face, leaving trails of glitter and fragrant, soothing energy.
He heard the calming voice once again, "This is my innate Lumber Star Domain."
It was in that moment, gazing upon the beauty and majesty of this realm that he saw what he was speaking to.
The sheer scale of the entity before him stole his breath away. Its bark possessed silver scales the size of a city block, and those scales were semi-transparent, revealing veins and a network of glowing capillaries beneath. Its roots were massive and sprawling, resembled a subterranean city. Her star-shaped leaves of gorgeous pink-and-white nebulae were dancing gracefully, illuminating a being of unimaginable splendor.
The tree's many branches extended outward, each one adorned with countless glittering fruits that resembled a miniature solar system, planets swirling, suns burning. And at the heart of this grandeur, upon the massive trunk, a face manifested—faint yet undeniable. Its eyes, drooped and ancient, peered down at him. Wrinkles etched by time itself creased the bark, a tiny mouth opened, then closed, offering a glimpse of what might be a tongue or a vortex.
This sight was truly mesmerizing.
"You have seen my beauty, Bull, tell me your name?”
