Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

The snake hissed softly. Although it was well-acquainted with the world, it was actually seeing the Golden Apple Tree for the first time.

It was born in the first era. In the age where Life had yet to be split in two, within that Divine Artifact symbolizing the ‘Origin of All Things,’ nature naturally nurtured the seed of the first plant in the world.

It was the Seed of All Things. If it had continued to be nurtured in the place of its birth, perhaps the moment the Life Vase evolved into the Genesis Artifact, it could have transformed into a deity, becoming a true innate Deity of Life and Plants. The artifact would have been its true form, just as the earth is the true form of Gaia.

It would have become half-great, after countless beings walked upon the earth.

But as soon as Gaia realized this, she decisively stopped the process. The Life Vase was her Divine Artifact, and artifacts do not need thoughts. So, she planted the Seed of All Things and watered it with Life Origin Liquid. From it, the Golden Apple Tree was born, sharing with it the authority over Plants.

“Have you made your decision?”

The golden leaves swayed gracefully, and a sound like a silver bell echoed in the wind, akin to nature’s purest symphony.

The snake looked up at Chaos’s ‘Ancestor of All Trees’ and couldn’t help feeling the similarity among the deities.

Even a god like Gaia would not tolerate her treasures being influenced by other minds. Thus, the deity that should have been born was strangled in the cradle.

Of course, from another perspective, this was also the ‘destiny’ of the current world taking effect. After all, even greatness that already existed was being constantly diminished. How could it possibly stand by and watch new greatness arise?

“…I have already brought you here.”

Dodging the question, Moanda spoke softly to the side.

The snake knew the tangle of emotions the other was feeling at the moment. After all, until now, the other still worried that the snake only wanted to use her authority to enter the Golden Apple Orchard and wasn’t sincerely trying to help her become a god.

So, she did not tell the truth. Entering the orchard and touching the tree were different matters, after all, the orchard existed for the Golden Apples, not the other way around.

Therefore, on the Golden Apple Tree, there were additional protections. Only those who touched greatness could see the power flowing on the tree.

Anyone other than those allowed by Mother Earth to touch it would not only be blocked by this power but would also awaken the Ancient Gods that had fallen into slumber. No one could take the Golden Apple Tree from Mother Earth’s true form. Fortunately, the snake had not come to steal.

“Yes, I have come. The Golden Apple Tree is indeed a rare treasure in the world.”

The snake’s head swayed, causing the branch in its mouth to shake and the golden leaves to rustle.

“So we can begin the next step now.”

“The next step, you must tell me what I can gain from this.”

Gathering her courage, the elf looked directly at the snake on the ground.

She could work for the other, provided the reward was equal to the effort.

Having been by Mother Earth’s side for so long, she had witnessed the Ancient God’s strength and learned many lessons from it.

“Of course.” The snake’s head nodded slightly. Although it always held a branch in its mouth, it seemed to never affect its speech. “Do you know, actually as a Nymph, you and the Golden Apple Tree are quite similar. In some ways, you are even superior to it.”

“Similar, are we both plants?”

With a self-deprecating laugh, Moanda thought that if she were even half as important as the fruit of the Golden Apple Tree, the gods would treat her like an honored guest.

“Isn’t that enough? Both of you are plants. You awoke to Wisdom, but it did not.”

“So what use is that? There are many beings in the world with Wisdom. Once, every human had Wisdom, but now they too have turned to dust.”

The words slipped from the Nymph’s mouth, followed by immediate regret. She felt she should have been more tactful, but clearly, the snake didn’t care about such things.

She saw the snake place the branch it held in its mouth on the ground, gently tap it with its tail tip and then ‘smiled’ at her.

“That’s the purpose of my existence.”

“You both have flaws; neither of you is perfect. You lack power; it lacks Wisdom. You both are incomplete.”

“So what it lacks, you provide for it; what you lack, let it make you whole.”

“Shared existence, twin empowerment.”

The branch of the Golden Apple Tree originally stemmed from the mother tree. Now, in Moanda’s hands, it was reattached to its original place.

The snake’s body disintegrated, right in front of the Nymph elf, turning once more into a fog of black and white, slowly winding itself around the branch.

Gradually, as the original break healed under the powerful life force, it began to nurture a new fruit. However, this time, the fruit was a bit special.

Compared to the “Golden Apple,” it should rather be called the “Fruit of Samsara.” Anyone who consumed it would experience a mini-cycle of rebirth and then be reincarnated as a part of the Golden Apple Tree’s will.

This was actually an impromptu idea. Initially, when it was still uncertain whether a complete cycle of rebirth could be established, this branch was used to ‘enlighten’ the fruit tree. But compared to a newly born tree spirit naturally close to Mother Earth, clearly a nymph who had betrayed Gaia was more suitable.

Thus, Moanda watched the blossoms grow on the branch and made her judgement based on experience.

“One hundred years, or at most three hundred years, and it will mature,” she estimated.

“The Principal God probably won’t wake up before then…” she murmured nervously.

She was a spirit, transformed from an oak accompanied by heather, having been watered by undivided Life Origin Liquid, and thus took form. But beyond that, she wasn’t particularly special compared to her kindred.

However, in the future, as long as she consumed this divine fruit, she would become a nymph of the ‘Golden Apple Tree’, merging her vague consciousness with it, becoming the origin of all plants in the world and symbolizing one half of life.

And as the only deity transformed from a plant, Moanda would naturally become the monarch of all her kind in the world. Unlike her predecessor, the Goddesses of the White Oak born of Father God’s Divine Blood, the Golden Apple was the plant itself.

Mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, flowers, and trees—a restriction on the birth of the spirits of all things had been lifted in the Spirit Realm since the Silver Age. Chaos’ nymphs could now, as in myths, be born from all things. But among all the spirits, those of plants were by far the most numerous; those of mountains and waters were but a fraction because the former were more prone to amass Spirituality and awaken consciousness.

Once she took form as the Golden Apple Tree, all nymphs naturally born from plants would become her subjects.

“Moanda, what are you doing here? Isn’t it your day to be at the Oracle?” a voice rang out suddenly.

“Ah—”

Startled from her thoughts with an exclamation, Moanda was shocked by the unexpected voice. But a moment later, she quickly recovered.

Covering her chest, pretending to be frightened, Moanda turned around and ‘glared’ at her friend who had approached quietly.

“Veda, how could you approach without making a sound?” she exclaimed.

“It’s because you were too engrossed in your thoughts, nothing to do with me,” Veda retorted.

As a nymph born from flowers, Veda had grown in the shade of Moanda’s tree before she became conscious, so the two were very good friends.

“Has the Golden Apple sprouted new branches again? I didn’t expect a new fruit to start growing so soon after the last one,” Veda remarked casually, feeling it might relate to Mother Earth’s slumber. Maybe because of their mistress’s slumber, the Golden Apple too became more vigorous.

“Right, if it weren’t a Divine Artifact of the Principal God, I’d really like to pick one and try it,” Moanda said, keeping her expression unchanged while agreeing with her friend. She knew no one would believe that a nymph would dare go against the Principal God’s orders and claim the Artifact for herself.

In fact, up until now, she still had a tiny bit of hesitation.

Although it was just a tiny bit, she felt that if the divine fruit were ripe, she would definitely put it in her mouth.

“Indeed, I’ve tasted many fruits, but I still don’t know what a Golden Apple tastes like,” Veda admitted, also yearning a little, but without overthinking it.

“You haven’t said yet, why did you come here today? Didn’t you go and check on the Oracle?” Veda pressed, curious.

Though the so-called ‘overseeing’ was just a formality, no one thought that places like the Golden Apple Orchard or the Oracle of Delphi could be damaged, and if they were, it was not something they could contend with. But still, it was necessary to go there.

Not all nymphs were harmonious, and there were quite a few who disliked Moanda’s presence.

“It’s the duty the Principal God left before his slumber. The new Divine King of Olympus has arrived at the Oracle, and I was naturally kicked out,” Moanda said, spreading her hands relaxedly.

What was done was done, there was no longer any room for regret. All that remained was to wait.

“You know it, we don’t really matter to a True God. I suppose that Divine King intends to place his own symbols in the temple. We can go check it out together in a while,” she proposed.

“The Divine King?” Veda asked, clearly surprised. “What does he look like?”

“Let’s go out first; I came here to tell you about this,” Moanda urged.

“I’m telling you, the new Divine King looks like…”

With ease, Moanda captured her friend’s curiosity, and together they walked out of Mother Earth’s orchard. Behind them, the Golden Apple Tree swayed gracefully.

In the crown of the tree, a new divine fruit was growing. But this time, perhaps it would not be a god who would eat it.