Prime Originator

"If I had my main body, I could make some preparations to bring to the negotiation table. But, unfortunately, I am only in my soul form. There isn't much I can do in this state," Leon mused.

However, shortly after pondering for a moment, he used his will, and parts of the earth in the core area moved accordingly.

"Seems like I can still manipulate the earth. This should enough to guarantee—or rather, it is the only guarantee I have to get the stone golem interested in me enough to talk," Leon muttered.

He made his way around the World Tree shortly, passing through a few patches of barren ground among what thriving vegetation the place had left.

Leon wondered how the World Tree managed to survive without sunlight for so long before his gaze shifted to glowing magma beyond the barrier that kept the place brightly illuminated.

"Is the World Tree relying on the magma as a substitute for sunlight? This seems to be the only explanation…" Leon assumed.

It was unfortunate that the place was devoid of water. Otherwise, the World Tree could still be thriving—even if the place seemed to be dying.

Suddenly, Leon paused with a thought.

"Maybe I can communicate with the tree spirit first. Perhaps, it would be more reasonable than the stone golem…" Leon contemplated.

Having settled his decision, he changed direction to the World Tree but away from the stone golem's location.

Shortly after reaching the foot of the World Tree, he climbed on top of its tree roots and got closer to the trunk before contacting it with his hands.

His consciousness seeped into the World Tree promptly before he searched for the source of the World Tree's spirit.

"Who dares to disturb this Saint?" the tree spirit of the World Tree woke up with a commanding and matured telepathic voice as it felt the presence of an intruder.

Evidently, it was an ancient tree spirit that had already reached adulthood and could communicate in the ancient language.

At the same time, the tree spirit's strong telepathic voice shook Leon's soul directly, causing his expression to crumple slightly.

Nevertheless, he endured the unsettling feeling before cupping his hands into a fist-palm salute and greeted respectfully within the World Tree's spiritual space.

"Greetings, Senior. This junior has been unknowingly summoned to this strange place and would like to ask Senior a few questions. But, of course, this junior did not mean to offend Senior by disturbing your slumber," Leon said to the empty space.

"You were summoned here?"

The tree spirit shortly manifested in front of Leon before giving him a careful inspection with its scrutinized pair of eyes.

It had the form of a male earth spirit like Elder Evergreen, except younger like a man in his middle ages.

"Are you the 'One'?" the tree spirit asked.

Leon was immediately puzzled by the question before he asked with doubt, "What do you mean by the 'One,' Senior?"

"The One is the person who will change the status quo in this sealed world and close the Dimension Crack," the tree spirit stated.

Leon was immediately surprised.

"Why do you call this place a sealed world, Senior? Is this the core region of Gaia? And by Dimension Crack, did you mean that ominous red spatial rift outside? What is it exactly?" Leon quickly asked.

"Seeing how clueless you are, it seems you are not the 'One' we were waiting for," the tree spirit sighed before saying, "Nevertheless, fate seemed to have brought you here, and you came with many questions."

"I just want to understand the situation, Senior." Leon scratched his cheeks wryly and said, "There's just too many unknowns and dangers surrounding this world, and this junior feels that all lives are at risk."

"And you are not wrong. If the Dimension Crack continues to expand, this core region will eventually be devoured, causing the entire sealed world to collapse and annihilate all life on it. That's why we need the 'One' to stop it before it happens," the tree spirit stated.

"You wanted to know what the Dimension Crack is? It is called the Ender of Worlds—not just this world but all worlds in existence. Its appearance signifies the beginning of World's End. On the other side is the Chaos Sea, the realm of nonexistence that lies outside of Primal Chaos."

After listening to the tree spirit's explanation, Leon was alarmed in his heart. He did not expect the world was ending so soon.

Nevertheless, it was only unexpected and not surprising, as if he knew such a day would eventually come sooner or later.

"From nothing, everything was born. And eventually, everything will return to nothingness, huh?" Leon muttered.

"Oh?" the tree spirit exclaimed softly with surprise before it commented, "This Saint did not expect you to be so enlightened."

"Perhaps there was a purpose for you being here," the tree spirit shortly said after a bit of contemplation before inquiring, "Why don't you tell this Saint what you were doing exactly before you were summoned to this place?"

"This junior was deepening his affinity and understanding of the earth by merging junior's consciousness with it when an unknown force pulled this junior's consciousness here," Leon recounted.

Shortly after, he added honestly, "Actually, this is the second time junior has been here. However, the last time junior arrived, junior was sent back to the surface by the stone golem before junior could exchange even a few words."

"Ha, that woman is impatient and short-tempered as ever," the tree spirit chortled before creasing his bushy brows and said, "But for you to be fine and come back a second time, perhaps you are the one we have been waiting for."

"However, you are much weaker than what this Saint imagined. We were expecting someone on the level of a Celestial Conqueror at the very least, but you are…" the tree spirit studied Leon for a moment and said, "Just a mere Celestial Warrior, huh?"

"Celestial Warrior? This junior has only achieved the first stage of Transcendence recently, Senior." Leon corrected with surprise.

How strong was a Celestial Warrior?