# Chapter 20: You Are Truly Worthy of It
After a moment of silence, Galannod let out a soft sigh. She had already sighed many times during her conversation with Joshua today. The Nature Mentor said somewhat helplessly, "Radcliffe, this way of speaking makes it hard for people to know how to respond."
However, she didn't seem to mind, as if she was used to having people around her who spoke without regard for their surroundings. As if recalling a friend, the Nature Mentor shook her head and then said directly, "Then I'll be straightforward. This still concerns the World Tree."
"The World Tree?" Joshua asked back with considerable doubt, and he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with his way of speaking, completely unaware of his own lack of social awareness. "That tree seed?"
"Yes, that tree seed reawakened by the Father of Nature in the Great Aias Volcano."
Galannod said patiently, "You've probably heard about the recent discord among the elves. All of this stems from the World Tree."
To this, Joshua nodded. Since he had come to the Eternal Lake to meet with the Nature Mentor, he had naturally done his homework and understood the internal situation of the elven race. In summary, the nine largest elven tribes were dissatisfied because the Royal Court monopolized the World Tree. They hadn't directly opposed the authority of the Elf Empress, but instead expressed silent protest and non-cooperation through their actions.
Over the past few months, the once-unified elven race had gradually developed cracks. The Royal Court's decrees couldn't extend beyond the city circle of the Eternal Lake, and the nine major tribes couldn't receive core resource support from the Royal Court. Both sides were deadlocked, and all elves felt uneasy about this. In this cold war atmosphere, conflict seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
"Speaking of which, I find it strange. Why don't you open up the Father of Nature's inheritance to those people?"
Since he wasn't an elf, Joshua didn't feel personally involved, so he asked whatever came to mind. He shrugged and said, "The Father of Nature certainly didn't awaken the World Tree seed just to let the Royal Court dominate alone. And based on my impression of you, Lady, I don't think you're the type to hoard knowledge."
Galannod was certainly not the type to hoard knowledge. In fact, she was called the Nature Mentor precisely because she treated all intelligent beings who aspired to walk the path of nature equally and seriously—whether elf or human, dwarf or gnome. She was nominally the being with the most disciples on the entire Mycroft Continent, because theoretically, any Druid or mage related to earth elements had attended public lectures given by this Legendary expert.
"I don't know how to explain it either."
But now, faced with Joshua's confusion, this mentor famous for teaching without discrimination could only shake her head with a bitter smile. Galannod seemed momentarily unsure how to answer. After a brief pause, she spoke softly, "Radcliffe, what do you think the World Tree actually is?"
That was a good question. After thinking for a moment, Joshua replied, "A perfect version of the Mother Tree of Life? Or perhaps, in some sense, a child and replica of the Father of Nature."
"Yes, and no."
Galannod didn't deny Joshua's answer. She looked up at the nine giant trees standing on the surface of the Eternal Lake. The Nature Mentor's eyes reflected the image of the massive trees standing between heaven and earth. After a moment, she lowered her head and met Joshua's gaze again. "The World Tree is indeed a higher existence than the Mother Tree of Life, with many miraculous effects. It even contains Her Majesty's complete inheritance. But besides that, there is also much..."
Frowning in thought for a while, the Nature Mentor finally found a suitable word: "Information."
"My Empress and I analyzed the essence of the World Tree seed. We were astonished to discover that the World Tree seed is less like a seed of a transcendent plant and more like a large 'biological database.' Its core stores the vast majority of the inheritance and information of the 'ancient era' elves."
As she spoke, the Nature Mentor's tone gradually became calm. She explained her and the Elf Empress's discoveries to Joshua in detail, with no emotional fluctuation in her voice.
The World Tree seed was an avatar split from the Father of Nature Himself—His child, and also an experimental product for advancing into the void of other worlds. Its core contained a database sufficient for a team of elves to build a transcendent civilization from scratch. Its contents were all-encompassing, covering everything from constructing cross-world portals to how to farm and stimulate plant growth. Any knowledge could be found there.
"In the late Era of Radiance, our elven ancestors conducted multiple external colonization experiments. Sun ships carried mature Mother Trees of Life and elven elites to other worlds for trial colonization. But because they couldn't transform the local nature, all otherworld colonies required resource support from the Mycroft Continent's main race. Otherwise, the colonies could hardly sustain themselves for long."
The Nature Mentor lowered her gaze. She didn't look at Joshua but instead stared at the newly sprouted flowers and grass. "Her Majesty collected data from the colonies and thus created the World Tree. The plans surrounding it hadn't even begun to unfold before they were terminated by the Final War. But it recorded information about those elves who colonized the outer worlds... They had cut off contact with the Mycroft World before the Final War. Now... they should be lost deep in the endless void."
It was basically impossible for them to have survived.
Hearing this, Joshua couldn't help but sigh softly. In his mind, memories obtained from the Black Mist surfaced: black shadows obscuring the light of the multiverse, all-devouring evil sweeping across myriad worlds and heavens. Under the sweeping assault of swarming Evil Gods, even the 'Sanctuary Civilization'—which spanned many worlds and had allied with the Mycroft World during the Era of Radiance—had collapsed and perished, leaving only the Black Mist barely surviving.
Even the Mycroft World, having defeated its enemies, had suffered a massive regression in civilization and become what it was today. The Era of Falling Stars had only just begun to touch the shadows of the former Era of Radiance, with a long distance still to make up. If the mother civilization was like this, how much worse must it be for those scattered branches?
Having reached this point, Joshua roughly understood the Nature Mentor's purpose.
"So, you plan to join the Empire's external expansion plan? You intend to use the information in the World Tree seed to find those wandering elven colonists?"
Joshua shook his head. "Welcome. Whether it's Israel, Nostradamus, or me, we would certainly welcome your participation. But forgive my frankness—those colonists from a thousand years ago... have probably turned to dust by now."
Joshua's words were fairly reasonable. After all, if they had been devoured by Evil Gods and their minions, there wouldn't even be dust left.
"From a rational perspective, even if those colonists died, the ruins they left behind would be a tremendous gain, providing us with a wealth of experience in otherworld colonization. From an emotional perspective, these colonists left their homeland for the sake of their race, and then the former elven race abandoned them. So now, as their successors, we have an obligation to bring these pioneers home."
The Nature Mentor nodded. She said calmly, "I will personally discuss the joining plan with Israel. The elven race is willing to provide technical and personnel support. But this time, I only want to make a personal request to you. If Count Radcliffe goes out again, I hope you can pay attention to the worlds at these space-time coordinates. The elven race will not be stingy with rewards."
"That's doable... If I have the opportunity, I'll look for these ancient ruins and help these pioneering explorers return home. It's not a difficult matter."
Joshua accepted the large number of space-time coordinates transmitted by the Nature Mentor through psychic communication. He frowned. "But why make this request specifically to me?"
"After all, on the entire Mycroft Continent, you are the one who has traveled to the void the most times and gained the most, aren't you?"
The warrior thought carefully and found he really couldn't refute that. Since arriving on the Mycroft Continent, he had gone to other worlds almost every few months. The time he spent in his own territory probably wasn't much more than the time he spent in other worlds... By now, in the eyes of other Legendary experts, he had probably earned the label of 'Void Exploration Specialist.'
After all, other Legendary experts had their own factions or races to be responsible for. Greater power meant greater responsibility, and naturally greater authority. They were leaders of groups, so naturally they couldn't run around randomly like the warrior could.
"But you still haven't explained why you don't open up the inheritance to the other nine major tribes... Although it's a private matter among your race, since I've met the Father of Nature, I certainly don't like the current state of the elves."
Since it was an internal conflict among the elves, Joshua didn't press further. But the Nature Mentor had no intention of hiding anything. She sighed and said slowly, "Joshua, don't you understand yet?"
"The core of the World Tree seed is the 'ancient era' elven database."
Emphasizing the prefix 'ancient' once more, Galannod closed her eyes and shook her head. "The elven race's inheritance is incomplete. Since a thousand years ago, at the very beginning of the Era of Falling Stars, we have been exploring the path of transcendence almost from scratch. So all elves are extremely eager for a complete divine inheritance. I fully understand the dissatisfaction of the nine major tribes, because that was exactly what I felt in my heart when I was struggling to explore on my own."
"But nature is something that changes in a thousand ways. It is not immutable."
Opening her eyes again, the Nature Mentor said firmly, "The natural path from a thousand years ago is completely inapplicable to today. The natural path passed down by Her Majesty can greatly inspire Legendary experts like me in certain profound aspects, but for those who don't even know what they are cultivating, it is a complete dead end!"
Galannod's tone was extremely firm and confident, showing no sense that she might be wrong. Even when facing the inheritance of the Father of Nature, whom she deeply admired and who was the creator of the elves, she still dared to criticize. "The natural divine arts taught by Her Majesty mostly require borrowing the power of a great existence called 'World.' According to the inheritance's description, that great existence seems to be a will that treats all things gently. But now, that will has disappeared, or even worse—it has begun to hate us. So from the very beginning, Her Majesty's divine arts cannot be applied to today!"
It was the Steel Serpent Mycroft, the World Will.
The moment he heard this, Joshua knew the true identity of that great existence. He didn't know whether the Nature Mentor knew that the World Will was sealed deep within the earth's core. The warrior felt she probably did, but thought he didn't, so she explained it to him in a more roundabout way.
"So I cannot make this inheritance public. On the contrary, I must completely erase it and bury it."
Ending with such a decisive statement, the Nature Mentor's tone gradually softened. She seemed to have noticed that her attitude had been somewhat extreme earlier. "Her Majesty is not wrong. The world is wrong. Heaven and earth have changed, so we must change with them. We cannot blindly follow ancient inheritance."
"That takes courage. But why not explain this to those tribes? Given your authority, even if they have doubts, they would tentatively believe you."
Joshua understood the Nature Mentor's approach. Indeed, if the ancient natural divine art inheritance was related to the Steel Serpent, the best response was to completely eliminate it, leaving no trace. No one knew whether the Steel Serpent Mycroft might have some backup plan to escape through the fluctuations of natural divine arts. It was, after all, the will of a world, and no amount of caution was excessive.
But while the Nature Mentor's grand strategy was correct, the details were too rough. If the elven Royal Court, which also knew the truth, had handled things a bit more carefully, it wouldn't have come to the point where the elves were now on the verge of internal conflict.
"Because many elves don't understand what 'nature' truly is."
In response to Joshua's words, Galannod simply smiled lightly. She said leisurely, "Many elves, including outsiders like you, might think that nature is synonymous with the world, that the ecosystem equals the world we live in. But in reality, that's not the case. Without the interference of that great existence, the power of nature has already transformed into a completely new, different kind of power. But the vast majority of elves haven't noticed this, which is why I say they 'don't know what they are cultivating.'"
As she spoke, the Nature Mentor slowly turned around. With her back to Joshua, facing the Eternal Lake, she spread her arms. Galannod's entire body began to surge with waves of light green patterns. They gradually spread outward, transforming into a warm breeze. Joshua looked up, watching the light green wind sweep across the lakeshore and the surrounding forests. He sensed the entire surrounding nature beginning to tremble gently, as if a massive living being was vibrating its lung cavity, taking a deep breath.
"Nature is not the world. On the contrary, it is the symbol of life triumphing over the world."
Galannod said softly. At first, her voice was calm, but the more she spoke, the heavier it became. As if trying to prove something to someone, she declared loudly with an unusually resolute attitude, "The current elves' understanding of nature is completely wrong. The ecosystem was never born to protect the world. It was created by life to protect itself!"
"The world is eternal, and natural life was born to conquer this eternity. We must multiply on this land until the end of this world, or the end of our race!"
The Nature Mentor suddenly turned her head and met Joshua's gaze. The warrior could sense that this Legendary expert was now emotionally agitated. She took many deep breaths before calming down.
"The Father of Nature's philosophy is outdated. I must fundamentally reverse the elves' understanding of nature, with no compromise. This invitation to all the tribal leaders is precisely to show them the true form of the natural path."
After a long silence, Galannod spoke in a barely audible voice, "Joshua, you are the only human who has seen the Father of Nature."
At this moment, her tone carried an indescribable confusion. "Tell me, is Her Majesty's path more suitable for the elves, or is my path more appropriate?"
Asking this question must have been an immense torment for Galannod.
Joshua let out a breath. He knew that for this lady, who had always revered the Father of Nature as the origin and benevolent protector of the elves, deviating from His path was already a painful matter. The reason she had asked Joshua to come might not have been to give him the Mother Tree of Life, nor to discuss joining the expansion plan. Galannod's purpose was simple: she just wanted to get an acknowledgment or denial from Joshua, the only human who had seen the Father of Nature.
She was firm in her attitude externally, but internally, she still harbored confusion.
The warrior understood clearly that the Nature Mentor's confusion stemmed from her being too powerful. Galannod had walked too deep and too far on the path of nature, to the point where even the Father of Nature could not guide her forward. Now, she had arrived at a fork in the road that no one had traveled before, and she didn't know which path was more suitable for today's elves.
Legendary. All Legendary experts walked paths that no one had walked before. They were pioneers of the road, naturally facing many confusions and choices unknown to those who came later.
"I don't know, Lady."
Watching this scene, hearing Galannod's question, Joshua didn't know how to answer at first. But then, he smiled. "But I think you shouldn't doubt yourself."
The warrior recalled his experiences in the Ilgena World. He remembered the Steel Serpent Ilgena's disdain and anger toward the Father of Nature. The world hated this deity for transforming His own body for the sake of His children, just so they could live safely in other worlds.
For the elves, He changed His path.
For the elves, He chose this path.
Vaguely, the Father of Nature's wrinkled tree face overlapped with Galannod's beautiful face before him. The two were completely different, yet completely the same. Their starting points were entirely different, but in the end, they converged on the same path.
So, Joshua bowed slightly to Galannod and said sincerely, "Because you are truly worthy of being the Nature Mentor."