Prime Originator

In the Grassland Region, the steam-powered train hooted as it carried tons of raw minerals on the railway tracks from the Old Capital to the New Capital.

The New Capital underwent explosive development in the past four weeks due to the increased number of Transcendent Awakeners.

Even so, only one-third of the inner district's buildings had been completed. Much of the humans and elves still lived in tents and on-site at the construction of their designated homes.

Nevertheless, the completed infrastructures in the inner district were unlike anything built by human hands in the past.

That large deposit of metal imported from the Old Capital has given rise to a number of metallic buildings. Furthermore, they had incorporated elven aesthetics. As a result, the inner district had the final appearance of a metal city covered in vegetation.

It was like a city that had been abandoned for hundreds of years, allowing weeds and plants everywhere; a forest city, in other words. Yet, there was beauty in such a sight.

Nevertheless, unlike useless weed, the growing vegetation on the inner district's infrastructures were all crops. Fruits hung on the vines at every corner.

It was a city that didn't lack food.

…

Inside the New Palace, Heinrich sat in front of his desk in the study room, perusing a pile of reports. However, it wasn't long before the palace maid, Lily, knocked on the door and brought in more reports for Heinrich to read.

"More reports?" Heinrich uttered after a short glance.

Although he was helpless against the workload, there was newfound vigor in his eyes that wasn't apparent a few weeks back. He had become a Metal Transcendent.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Lily confirmed.

Shortly after Lily placed the reports on the desk, Heinrich picked up the first report and perused it. His brows furrowed in the next moment.

"Our reserves of Transcendent Crystals are running out so quickly?" Heinrich uttered with surprise.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Lily nodded.

"Duke Ignis mentioned there hadn't been any Transcendent Crystals found in the underground mines in the past week."

"I guess Transcendent Crystals aren't limitless. Given the among of Transcendent Crystals we handed out to bolster our forces, we were bound to run out of Transcendent Crystals eventually," Heinrich uttered with a frown.

"Alas, this is necessary to strengthen our national security. There's been some friction with the Geyser Kingdom lately, and honestly, our country's strength cannot compare to the Geyser Kingdom…"

After contemplating for a short moment, Heinrich inquired, "Presently, do we have any more visiting envoys from the Geyser Kingdom touring the city?"

"Not for the time being, no, Your Majesty," Lily shook her head.

"However, we are expecting to receive them tomorrow, Your Majesty. I noticed that the envoys from the Geyser Kingdom have been visiting more frequently in the past two weeks. Furthermore, they have been behaving more blatant with each group, showing complete disregard for etiquette and harassing our people."

"I cannot help but feel like the Geyser Kingdom's envoys are purposely causing trouble to start something with us," Lily voiced her doubts.

"I also have the same doubts," Heinrich nodded.

"They seem to be looking for an excuse to start bigger trouble. But considering the Geyser Kingdom had been elusive to us, it doesn't make sense for them to show attention

The obvious conclusion would be the World Tree and its endless supply of spirit energy.

However, spirit energy is ever-increasing. If the Geyser Kingdom is patient enough, spirit energy will eventually find its way to their borders.

"We'll continue to endure for now and see what they want. But, we can't risk an all-out war with the Geyser Kingdom," Heinrich stated.

But after a short moment, he suddenly asked, "What is the Greene family's daughter doing now?"

…

…

…

Near the foot of the World Tree, Neron tailed Lina wherever she went, even when she was visiting her parents in the past three weeks. Although she felt uncomfortable, she couldn't scold her senior disciple-brother.

"Junior Sister, how much longer do you intend to stay in the Crawford Empire? We've already stayed in this place for over three weeks. You can't keep delaying your transcendence like this. Master is still waiting for us," Neron persuaded.

However, Lina was unwilling to leave without her parents.

Alas, her parents were also unwilling to leave with her. They had responsibilities tying them down in Crawford Empire. But at the same time, it was also their home.

Nevertheless, Lina understood that she could not delay her transcendence forever. As her senior brother said, their master was waiting for her to return.

Furthermore, it was difficult to suppress her cultivation around the World Tree, which was brimming with wood energy.

"Let me try convincing my parents one more time," Lina sighed.

However, half an hour later, she left her parent's house in disappointment. Her parents were firm in their decision, especially her father, Robert Greene; he was the current minister of agriculture.

"Failed?" Neron uttered.

Lina nodded.

Shortly after, Neron said, "It's actually not a bad idea to leave your parents here. The air is very pure, and the spirit energy is abundant here. With the proper cultivation technique, the opportunities to grow here wouldn't be inferior to the Starlight Archipelago."

"Heck, it might even be better than the Starlight Archipelago," Neron added.

After listening to her senior disciple-brother, Lina found out he spoke a lot of sense. She wouldn't be able to find a better place to live than the current World Tree.

Taking her parents away from the World Tree wouldn't do her parents any good.

"Senior Brother is right. I was thinking too selfishly. Let us head back to the Starlight Archipelago and look for Master, Senior Brother. I've made up my mind," Lina stated.

Neron finally sighed with relief after receiving Lina's answer.

"When we return, we'll probably get a scolding from Master," Neron smiled wryly. It shouldn't have taken them so long to visit and check up on his junior sister's parents.

Nevertheless, it was surprising that their Master had enough patience not to come and look for them himself.

Sometime later, Lina bid farewell to her parents before making her way back to the Geyser Kingdom with her senior brother on his mini airship.

However, halfway through the old Valaran Kingdom and leaving the region covered by spirit energy, Lina frowned at the unpleasant air.

Having stayed by the World Tree for the past three weeks, she had grown accustomed to the pure air in the Crawford Empire's Grassland Region.

At the same time, the foul air of the Cataclysm made her body feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Lina felt the airship shake with instability before she immediately glanced towards her senior brother with surprise.

If there's anything wrong with the airship's flight path, there must be a problem with her senior brother, the one controlling the airship.

Lina was immediately startled when she noticed Neron's face, which was pale and full of perspiration. However, the weather wasn't exactly hot.

"What's wrong, Senior Brother?" Lina asked with concern.

"There's something wrong with my Fire Transcendent Crystal. The foul energy in the atmosphere is resonating with it. I feel like the energy in my Fire Transcendent Crystal is about to go berserk…!" Neron replied with difficulty.

It was too difficult to power the airship while suppressing his Fire Transcendent Crystal from going out of control.

Nevertheless, Lina was even more startled after hearing her senior brother's words.

"The foul energy in the atmosphere is resonating with your Fire Transcendent Crystal?" Lina repeated her senior brother's words with shock.

She quickly realized why she was feeling a sense of discomfort ever since they left the domain of spirit energy. The foul energy in the atmosphere was also impacting her wood seed.

However, it was evident that discomfort was all she felt. Her problem wasn't as severe as her senior brother's.

Why does the foul energy affect them differently? What was the difference between them? Their element? Their cultivation level?

"Shall we descent and take shelter from the sun for the time being?" Lina quickly suggested.

Neron nodded.

Shortly after, the airship descended to the ground level in an empty field not far from a small forest. Then, they made their way over the forest and took shelter in its shade.

Only then did Neron's condition improve, albeit not much. His face remained pale, but his perspiration had stopped.

"How are you feeling better, Senior Brother?" Lina inquired while handing over a bottle of freshwater for her senior brother to drink.

"Better, but not exactly in peak shape," Neron smiled to lighten the mood.

"Nevertheless, the shade is helping a fair bit despite the foul energy in the air. It seems like the sun is the main problem. What about you, Junior Sister? Are you feeling alright?"

"Better than you at least, Senior Brother; just a bit of discomfort," Lina replied with knitted brows.. She couldn't understand why this was happening now.