After only flying around for less than a minute, the newborn dragon quickly ran out of energy and curled into a tight coil at the basin’s center, its breathing slow and steady.
A faint golden aura radiated from its scales, blending seamlessly with the newly awakened spiritual energy in the air.
With the small amount of spiritual energy now present on the planet, Kain’s thoughts turned to another item in his possession: the seed that he suspected to be from the Tree of Life.
Up until now, he’d avoided planting it, unsure of where a treasure at that level would be safe. But now, standing on his own personal planet planet, he realized it was perfect—as long as the spiritual power here continues to increase.
Not to mention, the seed descended from a tree was known to be a source of immense vitality and life, and transformed deserted landscapes into rich fields in the past.
If planted here, it could accelerate this planet’s transformation from barren to something brimming with life and spiritual energy.
Careful not to disturb the dragon, Kain rose and walked a few steps away while still in the basin.
Through his connection with the System’s Laboratory, he withdrew the seed that pulsed faintly like a beating heart. He also summoned, the Heartwood Catalyst to plant alongside it.
He dug a shallow hole in the stony soil, placing the seed inside before positioning the Heartwood Catalyst above it. The moment the catalyst touched the ground, a faint light spread outward, sinking into the soil.
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The seed began to react almost immediately. Tiny green tendrils sprouted from it, weaving their way into the earth. A delicate sprout emerged from the dirt within moments, its single green leaf shimmering with a faint golden hue.
After the sprout reached only a few inches high, it stopped growing, but Kain could sense that there was nothing wrong with it—the meagre amount of spiritual power currently present was simply not enough to support its growth at this time, but as the concentration continues to increase, it will be able to reach its full potential.
And even as a mere sapling, Kain was able to see subtle changes to the environment.
The ground closest to the where the seed was planted grew darker, as the coarse, rocky soil gradually taking on a richer, more fertile appearance.
Moreover, short and delicate blades of grass, no taller than a finger, began to sprout in a small ring around the base of the sapling.
The faint golden glow from the sapling pulsed rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat, sending gentle waves of energy into the surrounding area.
A faint smile touched his lips. Even in this early stage, the Tree of Life’s influence was undeniable. Though the changes were minor, they marked the beginning of the planet’s evolution.
Maybe one day soon he’ll have a planet teeming with life that was his exclusive property. He still wasn’t quite sure what benefits this planet would bring to him, or if the presence of life on this planet would be a positive or negative influence in the long run, but still couldn’t resist having his imagination run wild.
However, he couldn’t dwell on such thoughts for too long— he still had pressing matters to resolve outside of his star space, especially finding a solution for Gabriel.
As he prepared to leave, his earlier thoughts about the unique nature of this world resurfaced. If spiritual creatures were born here, would they be subject to the same limitations as those tied to the Heaven’s Will of the main world? Is this place, considered merely a subordinate realm of the main world like the underworld where infernal creatures are born. Or will the creatures born here be free of the influence of Heaven’s Will and allow him to bypass the restrictions of having an affinity?
“Time will tell,” Kain said softly. After all, he’d need to wait until there was more life on this planet to begin testing this idea.
With a final glance at the sleeping dragon and the tiny sapling, he willed his consciousness to return to the outside world.
————–
Feeling like the changes to the planet in his star space may be beneficial to Gabriel, he began to turn his attention to researching the origins of the golden dragon.
He knew that Professor Tameridge took it from a relic on the eastern continent and following the clue of the identity of the relic, Kain’s attention was brought to some of the fragmented myths and legends on the eastern continent that were supposedly related to this relic.
One myth, in particular, caught his eye—an eastern myth detailing how this planet was supposedly created.
In the myth, before this world existed, a single egg floated alone in the infinite cosmos.
From this egg hatched Huanglong, the Golden Dragon. It was said that Huanglong wielded immense power, and with said power was able to form the planet.
Moreover, with the remnants of its egg’s shell, Huanglong created four holy beasts: the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North.
These four powerful beasts, shaped the world’s laws and ensured that the elements of the world remained balanced.
The myth described Huanglong as the leader of the Four, embodying the essence of creation itself. It was the dragon’s duty to reignite life should catastrophe ever erase the world—a being of renewal and rebirth.
Kain leaned back, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. While the myth was simply a fairy tale, and he didn’t take majority of the information in the story seriously, but certain details of it struck a chord.
His own golden dragon shared some striking similarities with this Huanglong…
For one, its need to be in a primitive world devoid of spiritual power, may be due to it serving as a catalyst to restart life on the planet in the event that spiritual power is eliminated in some kind of catastrophe.
“If the myth has even a grain of truth,” Kain murmured, “then this dragon wasn’t meant to just exist—it’s a failsafe, designed to rebuild life after destruction.”
That thought gave him pause. If the dragon was meant to restart life after some catastrophic event, then its presence here, in his star space, meant he had unknowingly taken away this world’s insurance policy.
“Oh well…I’m sure if something like that is ever needed in the future, it’d work itself out…”