About two meters above, Lin Mu saw that there were several cracks in the tree trunk.
The sap was leaking from these cracks and had even solidified around some of the cracks. It looked like a layer of glass coating the trunk once it solidified, which made Lin Mu realize why he hadn't spotted them earlier. With how transparent they were, it just looked like the trunk was there.
~Crack~
Lin Mu rubbed the drop of sap that had hardened on his hand and made it crack.
"It's still fragile in this state, isn't it?" Lin Mu asked.
"Yes, it needs to be further processed." Shuijing Mingzhu replied. "In its current state, it is only useful in making some formation ink that is specialized for light elemental formations or talismans." She added.
"Light Elemental ones?" Lin Mu raised his brows before realizing this was due to the natural affinity of the sap.
"Yes. The sap is better for it and can amplify the light elemental formations." Shuijing Mingzhu confirmed.
"I see…" Lin Mu nodded his head and looked around for more things. "Is there nobody else here?" He asked.
"Usually no. The orchard is only visited by people when it is time to harvest." Shuijing Mingzhu replied. "They harvested the pears not long ago, and the Sap will need some more time to collect in a decent quantity. As such we are here before all that." She explained.
"Hmm, and what about Elder Pear?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Come, he's further in. He should already know we are here." Shuijing Mingzhu answered and guided Lin Mu.
He spread his Immortal sense, trying to get a sense of the area and look for the Elder in question.
'The Snow Glass Pear Tree Orchard is at least ten kilometers wide and twenty kilometers long…' Lin Mu did a circle with his Immortal sense and quickly figured out the size.
He also sensed all of the trees within it but did not sense the Elder.
'Is he camouflaged with the trees or something?' Lin Mu wondered and observed where Shuijing Mingzhu was taking him.
The two walked for about half a kilometer before they came to a halt in front of a Snow Glass Pear Tree.
The Tree looked no different from any other tree here, and one couldn't sense any energy fluctuations from it either. Still, Lin Mu narrowed his eyes knowing that there must be more to this.
"Elder Pear, Elder Pear." Shuijing Mingzhu called out.
~rustle~
Thirty seconds later, the branches of the tree in front of them shook.
"Elder Pear, we're here." Shuijing Mingzhu spoke again.
"Mmmmmmghhhhh." A strange groan was heard coming from the tree, making Lin Mu look at it with an incredulous look.
"It's me Shuijing Mingzhu and I've brought a guest this time. Its Daoist Mu Lin." She introduced.
This finally seemed to rouse the tree from its slumber and it shook.
~CRACK~CRACK~CRACK~
The trunk of the tree started to crack, and openings appeared on it.
Soon enough, a large face formed on the tree trunk. It looked like an old man with lots of wrinkles that were nothing but the natural ridges on the tree bark.
'So he's a literal tree, huh…' Lin Mu didn't know what more he was expecting.
"Hmmm… So you… are the youngster." The Tree spoke, the mouth on it moving.
The voice was rather gruff and definitely did not seem like something that would come out of a human.
"Yes, I am Daoist Mu Lin. Elder Pear." Lin Mu greeted the tree with cupped hands.
~YAWN~
The tree let out a long yawn before it felt a bit more energetic.
"Welcome, to the Snow Glass Pear Orchard." Elder Pear said, with a bit more enthusiasm this time.
It looked like most of his grogginess had finally worn off now.
"Elder Pear, Daoist Mu Lin has some things he wants to ask you. Great Grandfather has asked that you help him out." Shuijing Mingzhu stated.
"Hmm… So Junior Heng has asked that… That is fine, ask away." Elder Pear replied.
Lin Mu was surprised upon hearing the tree's remark.
"Junior Heng?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
"Ah! Great Grandfather's given name is Heng." Shuijing Mingzhu replied. "I guess we never told you that. Though it doesn't come up often, as everyone just calls Great Grandfather Head Elder." She spoke.
"Yeah… I didn't ask either." Lin Mu nodded his head.
He wasn't surprised that Elder Pear had called the Head Elder junior, though. Lin Mu had already known how old the Tree was and could be one of the oldest living creatures in the Rust Sky World. As such, it wouldn't be surprising that most would be junior to him.
"What did you want to ask me, Junior Mu Lin?" Elder Pear questioned.
"I wished to know if all Snow Glass Pear Trees are sentient like you?" Lin Mu replied.
"Sentient like me? Hahaha, I'm afraid not." The Tree laughed. "I am an anomaly." He revealed.
"An anomaly? How so?" Lin Mu questioned. "I've seen plants with Immortal realm cultivation, but they don't seem to have the same level of consciousness that you do."
"You would be correct and that's because I didn't gain it naturally." Elder Pear replied. "In fact, there are many other Immortal plants that are stronger than me and yet, they cannot be like me. They might even be intelligent as humans, but still not respond to humans." He continued.
"Yes, which is why I wished to know what made you like this," Lin Mu inquired.
"It all happened a long time ago." The Tree started to speak. "Back then, I was already an immortal tree and had a limited consciousness. I could sense my surroundings as well as cultivate them. I was also the only Snow Glass Pear Tree that existed in this area, since the conditions for us to grow are a bit harsh and we need Light Elemental Immoral Qi.
But one day, I felt a shift in the world. It was abrupt, and a tremendous amount of Qi suddenly emerged from the earth!"
