"Who would've guessed..." Grace thought back to how Chloe Zhu looked—quiet, knew when to speak up or keep quiet, obviously smart and sensible...
Clearly, she's part of the conspiracy.
And a pretty important part, too.
Grace could feel her adrenaline surge.
If we've found her, maybe we're close to the person who planted the Hex Worm.
......
"When I get back, I'm definitely going to ask her what's going on!" Quentin Chin declared.
Grace nodded.
"Louis Lin, Quentin Chin, what are you two up to?" a voice called from afar. "You already owe a ton of stone. Slack off again, and I'll chop your hands off!"
"Coming! Coming!" they shouted back in a hurry. "Miss, thanks for checking on us! We gotta get back to work."
Grace nodded and watched them leave.
......
After Louis Lin and Quentin Chin left, Grandpa Gene the High Saint led her away from Drake Abyss and into a valley hugged by mountains.
Not a single blade of grass grew in this valley.
At the very center stood a towering, dead tree.
The shape of the tree looked just like the Elder Spirit Tree.
But it was at least twice as tall as the King's Spirit Tree in Drake Abyss! Under the gloomy sky, it looked especially desolate and majestic.
"I just saw a warning sign," Grace said. "Are we out of Drake Abyss now?"
"That's right! We're not in Drake Abyss anymore," Grandpa Gene the High Saint replied. "But this place is surrounded by the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans, so it's super safe."
"Is that a dead Elder Spirit Tree?" Grace asked, pointing at the massive tree.
"That's right." Grandpa Gene the High Saint nodded solemnly. "This Elder Spirit Tree is the very first one in the world. It withered not long after the ancient war against the Demon Spirits."
"Wow! I can't believe it's still here..."
"The body of the Elder Spirit Ancestor Tree will never rot," Grandpa Gene the High Saint explained. "Anyone who comes to Elderworld, no matter their race, has to pay respects to this Ancestor Tree! So I brought you here to bow to her."
Grace nodded, and the two of them landed on the open ground in front of the divine tree.
There were traces everywhere that people had been here before.
Just as Grandpa Gene the High Saint said, everyone who comes to Elderworld pays their respects to her.
Grace followed Grandpa Gene the High Saint and bowed before the Elder Spirit Ancestor Tree.
Then she gazed up at the tree with wide, curious eyes.
She was the very first Elder Spirit Tree in this world.
Because of her magical power, she sparked the miracle of cultivation in this world.
She shaped Elderworld into this vast, boundless realm of the gods.
She created countless powerful beings.
Though she'd been gone for who knows how many millennia, you could tell from that massive trunk and those branches—the Ancestor Tree was once incredibly lush and vibrant.
......
"Let's go," Grandpa Gene the High Saint said.
Grace nodded, just about to leave, when suddenly she spotted something.
It was a shriveled little gourd hanging from the tree.
There was a crack at the bottom of the gourd.
Seeing that gourd instantly reminded her of the Elder Spirit Tree in her own space—it had grown a gourd, and then Ray was born...
"High Saint," Grace called out. "Look! There's a gourd up there!"
"Mm-hmm!" Grandpa Gene the High Saint nodded.
"Elder Spirit Trees don't usually flower or bear fruit. So why is there a gourd on the Ancestor Tree?" Grace asked him.