Communicating with the First Spirit Tree

Grace replied, "I'm a Spiritual Alchemist from the Vermilion Kingdom, here for advanced training in the Eastern Alliance. My name is Chloe Zhu."

"Chloe Zhu?" Empress Wendy rose and walked up to her. "Lift your head!"

Grace lifted her head and looked at Empress Wendy.

The Empress of Eastern Luo was just as imposing as her voice.

A beautiful woman, but her gaze was sharp—definitely not someone easy to deal with.

"You say you can break the array and save my young prince?"

"Yes!" Grace answered.

"How exactly will you break the array?"

"The array draws on the Spirit Tree's divine power. To break it, we have to destroy the Array Core," Grace said. "Please take me to the Spirit Tree so I can find the core."

"You're a Spiritual Alchemist, not a Rune Master—yet you claim to understand arrays?" Empress Wendy eyed her skeptically.

"My first mentor was actually a Rune Master," Grace said. "But he also practiced alchemy. So, even though I'm a Spiritual Alchemist, I know a thing or two about arrays and talismans."

"Oh? You—"

"Your Majesty!" Grace interrupted her directly. "It's already been a while since I noticed the array changing! I still need time to find the core. If we don't act now, Goldie won't make it!"

"How dare you interrupt me while I'm speaking!" A powerful pressure swept over her.

Grace showed no fear and said seriously, "There's less than half an hour left. Please, Your Majesty, have mercy on Goldie! If you have questions or want to punish me, wait until I've broken the array core—then you can ask!"

"Empress, let her go! Goldie's life matters most," the emperor said from the side.

The royal family of Eastern Luo carries the surname Bai, so the emperor is also called the White Emperor.

But the White Emperor wasn't giving orders—he was asking Empress Wendy for her opinion.

Grace darted a look at the White Emperor... He definitely had the look of a man afraid of his wife.

"Fine!" After all, Goldie was her own child. Empress Wendy stood up and said, "Chloe Zhu, come with me!"

Grace nodded slightly and followed her.

The place where the Spirit Trees were planted was definitely not somewhere ordinary people could enter.

Even Byron White had to wait outside.

After passing through several grand array checkpoints, Grace finally saw the Spirit Trees again.

But here, there were way more Spirit Trees than in the Blue Moon Kingdom—it was basically a whole forest!

They were arranged in neat squares, and the spiritual energy was so dense it was intoxicating.

"Go ahead and look for it—where's the array core?" Empress Wendy said with a blank expression.

Grace said, "Please allow me to go in and take a closer look."

The Empress didn't object.

But maybe she was worried Grace would steal a tree, so she stuck close the whole time.

So Grace had no choice but to walk around, pretending to examine the Spirit Trees.

This was Grace's second time seeing the First Spirit Tree (not counting Beanie).

But it was her first time actually touching it.

She realized Spirit Trees were different from ordinary trees—they had a special feeling when you touched them.

It was as if she could sense their life force.

There was something indescribably wonderful about it...

Following Shannon's instructions, she found the tree.

"Your Majesty, this is the array core."

"Now that you've found it, what do we do next?"

"We have to... destroy this tree," Grace said.

"What?" Empress Wendy's face changed dramatically. "How is that possible? The First Spirit Trees are protected by divine power—no one can destroy them! Not even me!"

"Your Majesty, let me try!"

"You?"

Grace nodded.

"Fine, go ahead! I want to see what method you'll use to destroy it!"

Her method, of course, was Beanie.

Grace entered her sanctum to find Beanie. But after talking to it for ages, Beanie just kept shaking its head.