"Thank you, Senior Willowthorn," Vaan expressed his gratitude after the Elder Spirit offered to help him achieve the Wood Spirit Body for Emerald.
Given each magical plant in the Garden of Thyia was like an unborn Wood Spirit, it wasn't an opportunity the Elder Spirit would give to just anyone.
After all, it was no different from killing an unborn Wood Spirit to raise his body's wood affinity to the Wood Spirit Body level, no matter whichever magical plant the Elder Spirit picked for him.
However, Vaan had underestimated the Elder Spirit's values; the Wood Spirits would never harm one of their own.
When Vaan arrived at the Elder Spirit's humble dwelling spot, the latter suddenly inflicted self-harm to extract a portion of wood essence from his humanoid body.
"Senior Willowthorn, you..." Vaan uttered with surprise.
"Hoho, you didn't expect this Old Man to do this, did you?" Senior Willowthorn chuckled before casually saying, "However, this Old Man's wood essence is the most potent elixir in the Garden of Thyia."
"This Old Man couldn't think of a better gift to repay you for what you have done for the Holy Wood Spirit and our Wood Spirit Race as a whole," Senior Willowthorn said.
"Even so, this is too much. Repaying favors shouldn't be done at the expense of one's well- being," Vaan stated.
"Hoho, you don't have to worry about this, Junior Vaan. Wood Spirits can recover from this little loss of wood essence, especially if we can have the Mother Tree blessing us again," Senior Willowthorn assured before sighing.
"Unfortunately, other beings have no considerations for Wood Spirits when they catch our kind. They just consume or refine all our wood essences for short-term gains; they don't think about the long-term benefits."
"That said, it's not okay for other beings to regularly extract our wood essence either. Even so, it's still better than dying."
As the Elder Spirit spoke, he refined his extracted wood essence into the form of a small green pellet. Once the wood essence pellet was completed, he finally offered it to Vaan.
"Although I have only extracted a tiny portion of my wood essence, it is far too much for someone at your level to absorb at once," Senior Willowthorn stated before continuing, "Thus, I have refined it into a pellet for you."
"After you consume this wood essence pellet, it will steadily release its potent energy throughout your body over time, slowly transforming it. The initial release of wood energy should be enough to help you achieve a Low-rank Wood Spirit Body."
"By the time the energy in the wood essence pellet is fully released into your body, you should be able to achieve a Peak-rank Wood Spirit Body at the very least, even if your body's absorption ability is poor," Senior Willowthorn explained.
Vaan silently nodded in understanding.
Indeed, the wood essence of a Rank 8 Divine Lord was truly potent beyond belief for someone at his level.
With the system and Heaven-Swallowing Space, Vaan did not have to worry about losing a single wisp of energy from the wood essence pellet. As such, he was bound to achieve an even higher level than a Peak-rank Wood Spirit Body.
"Thank you, Senior Willowthorn. It would be disrespectful if I do not accept the wood essence pellet after you went through such efforts to extract and refine it," Vaan said before popping the wood essence pellet directly into his mouth.
The Elder Spirit was quickly stunned by Vaan's action.
Even though the wood essence pellet was something he had casually refined, it was still considered a top-tier miraculous elixir to other races. As such, it shouldn't be consumed recklessly.
One would need to condition the body and mind to ensure they could absorb the wood essence pellet effectively with minimal waste.
At least, that was supposed to be the standard procedure.
However, Vaan was someone who didn't follow the norms, nor could he be measured by them.
Due to the Elder Spirit's keen sense, he was further stunned by the rapid changes that immediately took place in Vaan's body.
True to the Elder Spirit's word, Vaan acquired a Low-rank Wood Spirit Body with the first round of energy released from the wood essence pellet.
However, due to his perfect absorption, he had almost acquired a Mid-rank Wood Spirit Body
Naturally, the Elder Spirit could sense the state of Vaan's Wood Spirit Body and felt
speechless. He had never seen such a heaven-defying being.
Significant improvements were guaranteed, but how could it be so perfect and quickly
The Elder Spirit almost suspected that Vaan was a Divine Spirit in human form.
After all, how could a non-spirit absorb such an astonishing amount of energy so casually, like as if they were just breathing air?
Nevertheless, besides Vaan's rapid improvement and the Elder Spirit's amazement, Emerald was undoubtedly the most excited in that instant.
"Myuuu!" Emerald cried happily.
Shortly after, she immediately dived into Vaan's body before popping back out occasionally to express her approval and content. It was like she was inspecting a new home and found it to
to her liking very much.
Her happiness could be easily observed by the way she tilted her head left and right
repeatedly with glee.
"Seeing the Holy Wood Spirit so happy makes this Old Man's little sacrifice worth it," Senior
Vaan couldn't help but agree.
Emerald's happiness was contagious and brought smiles to everyone lucky enough to witness
Now that Vaan had acquired the Wood Spirit Body, he could finally put one worry to rest. He no longer needed to feel guilty for not providing Emerald with a suitable living space.