Lila Greenleaf was still somewhat reluctant, but she spoke up: "She said, you should stay and go to where they live."
"Stay here? Are you sure?" Evan Yang was secretly pleased, though he was curious why these people wanted him to stay. Could it be because of his Immortal Essence?
"Don't get happy too soon," Lila snorted coldly.
"Uh..." Evan was speechless. He had already said he didn't want to, but she didn't have to be so harsh.
"Alright, let's go," Lila said, gritting her teeth.
Evan had no choice but to follow this group. After a while, they arrived at the place where they lived. The trees here were huge and lush, and their houses were all built in the trees.
Evan's arrival naturally attracted a lot of attention. The people in the trees and around all looked at him.
Evan glanced around and could only ask Lila beside him, "How long have you lived here?"
"A few thousand years, I guess," Lila replied.
"Then why don't you leave? Why stay here all the time?" Evan asked curiously.
Lila said, "You don't understand gods? You're truly ignorant. A god is someone who can create worlds and people. Those born with a special ability are their people."
Evan retorted, "Who says so? Are there really gods? Besides, we weren't created by gods, we were born from our parents."
Lila glared, unwilling to let anyone defile the gods. "Then tell me—how did the first people come about? Did they jump out of rocks?"
Evan hadn't pondered the origin of humanity, nor studied whether such gods existed who could create worlds and people. He replied, "Uh, I don't know. Only people from long ago would know."
Lila said reverently, "Talking to you about this is pointless, but I believe it. I also believe this tribe is truly the children of the Wind and Wood Gods."
Evan asked, "So you mean the Wind God and Wood God had children together?"
Lila glared, "What? Don't insult the gods. Gods don't bear children—they create people."
Evan hadn't expected Lila to be so influenced by god-theories. He sighed, "Fine, you stick to your god-theory, I'll stick to my nature-theory."
Lila said, speechless, "Yeah, nature, right?"
Evan said, "Alright, let's not argue. When you have time, teach me your people's language so I can communicate without needing you to translate."
"She said, you are invited to the tree hollow ahead for tea," Lila said.
"Alright, please thank her for me," Evan said with a smile.
Lila nodded, then spoke to the woman. Afterward, she led Evan to a nearby tree hollow. On the way, Lila explained things to Evan.
This is a tribe, and everyone in the tribe possesses a mysterious power. They're said to be children of the Wood God, so tree spirits and the like never harm them.
At the same time, this tribe deeply loves the trees here. Moreover, their mysterious power is speed—they move as if carried by the wind.
In other words, a child born here, after just a few years, can walk at speeds comparable to a Celestial-Immortal.
Evan was stunned when he heard this. A child matching a Celestial-Immortal's speed was terrifying. When he asked how fast the fastest among them could go, Lila only said that the hidden masters were the quickest, and their exact speed couldn't be measured. Some claimed they could cross the entire planet in a day.
Crossing an entire planet—Evan's face twitched. It sounded exaggerated, but if even children could match Celestial-Immortals, nothing seemed impossible.
"Amazing, right? Jealous? But that's something you can't learn. That's why they might also be children of the Wind God," Lila said.
"Huh—sometimes Wood God, sometimes Wind God? Which god is it really? And what even is a god?" Evan was confused.
"You don't understand gods? You're truly ignorant. A god is someone who can create worlds and people. Those born with a special ability are their people," Lila said. "Who says so? Are there really gods? Besides, we weren't created by gods, we were born from our parents," Evan retorted, speechless.
"Then tell me—how did the first people come about? Did they jump out of rocks?" Lila glared, unwilling to let anyone defile the gods.
"Uh, I don't know. Only people from long ago would know." Evan hadn't pondered the origin of humanity, nor studied whether such gods existed who could create worlds and people.
"Talking to you about this is pointless, but I believe it. I also believe this tribe is truly the children of the Wind and Wood Gods," Lila said reverently.
"So you mean the Wind God and Wood God had children together?" Evan asked.
"What? Don't insult the gods. Gods don't bear children—they create people," Lila glared.
Evan hadn't expected Lila to be so influenced by god-theories. He sighed, "Fine, you stick to your god-theory, I'll stick to my nature-theory."
"Yeah, nature, right?" Lila said, speechless.
"Alright, let's not argue. When you have time, teach me your people's language so I can communicate without needing you to translate," Evan said.
"Here you go, take your time to study it." Lila handed him a wooden tablet, which recorded the methods and meanings of communication between the two peoples.
Evan took the wooden tablet, glanced through it, and memorized the contents. Though he wasn't fluent yet, he could now match many phrases.
Arriving outside a tree hollow, the woman spoke in her tribe's language: "Welcome to our place."
"Thank you," Evan replied in their language. Seeing how quickly he learned, the woman smiled and said, "My name is Sylvia Greenwood."
"Sylvia Greenwood?" Evan thought their names sounded strange.
Seeing Evan's odd expression, Sylvia laughed, "We're all children of the Wood God, so our names are chosen this way. It's a bit different from your people."
"I see, that explains it," Evan said with a smile.
After leading Evan inside, Sylvia smiled and said, "Wait here, I'll go find the chieftain."
Lila replied, "Alright, go ahead."
Evan sat and waited. The tree hollow wasn't large, but could fit dozens of people. The seats were made of grass and leaves.
At first, Evan had trouble adapting, but soon got used to it. Feeling bored, he asked Lila, "Don't you plan to leave? Will you live here forever?"
"No, I like living with them. It's peaceful for cultivation, no one bothers me, and I can learn to communicate with plants in the forest," Lila replied.
"Got it," Evan nodded.
After a quiet moment, Evan spoke again, "Is there only one tribe here?"
"Yes, there's just one tribe on the whole planet," Lila said.
"How do you know? Did you travel the whole planet?" Evan asked curiously.
"Yes, the chieftain once took me around," Lila said.
"Around?" Evan asked skeptically.
"Yes, it only took a few days to tour the whole planet," Lila said.
Evan's eyes widened. A few days? That must require incredible speed. He asked skeptically, "Really, just a few days?"
"I told you, they're children of the Wind God—their speed is amazing. If you don't believe me, ask the chieftain yourself," Lila said.
Evan could hardly believe it. If he had that kind of speed, he'd be a legend.
Just as Evan was imagining this, a man with a staff walked out from the tree hollow with Sylvia Greenwood.
The man gave Evan the feeling he could see right through him—very intimidating. After a brief pause, the man smiled and said, "So it's true."
"Chieftain, do you think so?" Sylvia asked.
"Yes, your judgment is correct. It seems another arrival has descended," the chieftain replied.
Evan had no idea what they were saying and could only watch the two speak. Lila stood up and said, "Chieftain."
"Alright, I understand. You two go on ahead, I have something to discuss with him," the chieftain said.
Lila and Sylvia left the tree hollow. Evan wondered why he was being left alone—was the chieftain about to attack him? The thought made him nervous.
Seeing Evan's tense expression, the chieftain laughed. "Don't be so nervous, young man." With a wave of his hand, Evan's vision blurred, and suddenly he was high up in the air, surrounded by pale green clouds.
It was as if all the green plants were releasing their aura into the air.
"What is this place?" Evan asked curiously.
"We're still on this planet, just in a special spatial location. This is my cultivation space—outsiders can't see it," the chieftain said with a smile.
"Your own space?" Evan asked.
"Yes," the chieftain nodded.
"May I ask why you brought me here, senior?" Evan asked, curious.
The chieftain smiled at Evan. "Do you carry the Heaven-Cold Seed?"
The secret of the Heaven-Cold Seed was known only to Evan, or to those he'd told, or the senior who gave it to him long ago.
"How did you know, senior?" Evan asked, intrigued.
"I can see it. Only those with the Heaven-Cold Seed would have that unique aura," the chieftain explained.
"How can you tell?" Evan asked, puzzled. Was it really possible to see such things?
"You don't need to know. Now that you're the bearer of the Heaven-Cold Seed, do you know what it truly is?" the chieftain asked.
"The Heaven-Cold Seed... I guess it's a very mysterious seed," Evan replied. He couldn't define it exactly, but it had saved him many times and now suppressed his bloodline.
"A mysterious seed? That's one way to put it, but to be precise, it's a god-seed—even gods would strive to obtain it," the chieftain said. "God-seed?" Evan had no concept of gods; if not for Lila's explanations earlier, he wouldn't understand what gods are at all.
Evan still couldn't fully grasp why they insisted gods existed. Were people really created by gods, then gave birth to more people?