Chapter 30: Two in One

Day 28, Year 11

Beneath a beautiful canopy, covered in shade.

"You seem broken, little human." Root looked towards the half-half girl before him. One side of her body had this soft pale skin, that like any female from a cultivator world, probably was also smooth as silk or jade… maybe something like that. "Oh, poor thing…" Emotionlessly, Root just looked at the girl's injuries, not really caring for her- Until, above her head, he saw it. A particular Fate Thread.

A Rainbow Thread… Rainbow represents a Destined Thread. Someone whose fate has been decided. It cannot be changed. They are destined for great things - Be it good or evil. 

"Oh, poor child…" Root softly sighed, knowing that either her Fate will be the greatest fate or the worst Fate around. There is no in-between. "To be destined, is to be doomed." He didn't know his own destiny, much to his anxiety, but he only knew he could fight against it! Although the definition of the Rainbow Thread says [It cannot be changed], he knows that everything can be changed if enough force or power is used to change it. "Fate…?" He softly placed his hand on the table as the people approached, the half baked woman softly whispering. He turned to look at the mutant moose and hummed as he saw his thread - a second yellow thread that wrapped around his golden thread, making Root know this was the Joy Thread, the one who has it is destined to see great joy soon. "Oh, it's been a while since I last saw a Moose." 

"You, great ancestor, know what I am?" The Moose spoke, his Qi vibrating like vocal cords as his own mind emanated the words he wanted to speak. It was like this that he and all his children could speak, it came naturally to them, so naturally that it wasn't even a technique they had to develop, unlike everyone else who wishes to speak using Qi. "Ah, I do know what animal you remind me of. A great beast, known for being enormous and powerful… for a prey animal." Root chuckled at his last words when he saw how the eyes of the ones who heard him widened in surprise, a few jaws dropped here and there. "What? You think there are no heavens above heavens? No mountains higher than Mount Tai-" shit, did he say the name of that cliche mountain right? "-? We're all frogs within a well. Unknown and greater things are beyond our eyes, we must first leave this cursed well to get to see the end of the horizon, to reach the heavens above heavens, and to climb the highest of mountains." To add a little bit of drama to his words and appear a little wiser, Root made the wind blow his long hair backwards for a moment as he looked towards the mortals before him.

"I…" The great moose whispered: "I am grateful for your words of wisdom, great ancient spirit." 

Well, he didn't need to know that Root was only speaking bullshit and that he - big moose boy - was older than the tree spirit before him by a hundred years or so.

"But I must inquire… Why have you called us here?" The big moose softly tilted his head to the side, almost as if he was analyzing Root's reactions. A cunning moose he must be, because Root felt like he was being analyzed over and over again by him. "A spirit great as you wouldn't give us, mere mortals, the honor of your presence for nothing."

"When a bird lays in a tree to build its nest, it is with the tree's permission that it does so. Without the tree's permission, the bird must leave immediately… If not, the tree shall drop his nest, whereupon their eggs will fall and break, or be even eaten by other animals." Root "wisely" said. His arms within the long sleeves closed together, completely hiding away his hands as he got up from his seat: "An ant colony can only be built if the ground in which it stands allows it. If the ground did not allow the ants to build their nest there, It'll swallow them." He floated gently down towards the mortals before him, his voice seemingly becoming more ethereal as he approached: "A cloud stays in the sky because the sky itself holds it. If it so wished, it could drop the cloud right from its hands… And the cloud would be forever gone." As he stood before the group of new and interesting people, Root said a final word: "And like nature itself allows me to be alive, I shall also allow you to stay alive… Do not cross my rules, children, or else you will become part of nature." 

With that said, Root simply faded before the eyes of many, going back into his own tree body. At the same time, he also transferred a message to his son Leaf, telling him and only him: "Keep an eye on them, I wish to know what they are going to do…" These new residents were… Interesting. "Also, tell the moose, monkey kid, and goat kid to stay, I wish to speak to them privately." Thinking a little extra about it, he also told Leaf to ask the half burnt girl to stay as well, he was seeking to build a little bit of… connections. She appeared here in a very opportune time, which meant this was fate at play, and he isn't stupid enough not to take that opportunity that was given to him. 

This girl was fated to be his doom or his most successful ally, either way, it didn't hurt to establish connections.

"You are all dismissed… except you four, Moose, Monkey, Goat, and Burned Woman." Leaf floated above them all, his siblings had been dismissed by their father and returned to their own business as they usually did before the ants made themselves known and attacked them. "Father wishes to speak to you four." Guided by the old woman, the mortals were taken back to the village where the other mortals lived, and there they would stay. 

Father Moose, Yun Chen, Wei Wei, and Cui Rong. Four names for four faces- well, three and a half, considering the fact that Cui Rong's face is only half-half. 

Regardless!

Standing before the enormous tree, Father Moose took a step forward to speak, but he was silenced as the voice of the forest itself spoke to them, to their very core: "Ah… You are quite a curious one, a beast with a human mind… Oh? And a human soul? No, two souls… You are quite the curious one I must say, to have two opposing souls within yourself and yet still be alive is amazing." A single root slowly moved like a snake, slithering forward and softly reaching out to touch Father Moose's forehead, but the quadruped took a few steps back, hesitantly asking: "Immortal, what-"

"I wish to help you, child." Root sighed. "Your soul and body are in great unbalance, a distortion of what a beautiful connection should be… Yet, your willpower is astounding, seeing as you remain yourself yet." Root's control over his Qi was immense, so much so that he had already established a connection between his own Qi and the soul space of the giant Father Moose: "Don't worry, I can help you establish that perfect harmony between your Qi, Body, Mind, and Soul that you need."

"...what?" 

"...just let me do my thing." 

Well- Father Moose thought to himself: The big tree was clearly stronger than him, so if the tree wanted to hurt him it wouldn't need to use any tricks, it could just do it. So, it must want to help him instead of hurt him! Father Moose felt the strange Qi push into his body and did his best not to resist the process, but a part of him did resist it. A part he had not much control over- It was instantaneous, the pain quickly came like a spear to the chest. It was like ants were crawling inside his chest, and that sensation overflowed his entire body as the invasive Qi seemed to overtake his body. 

When he opened his eyes, he was in this weird white space. There was only white as far as his eyes could see- "Ah, there you are." Father Moose- No, Da Huren. That was his name, wasn't it? For how long has he forgotten his name? "Come on now, it's time for me to help you achieve a perfect harmony with the soul inside your soul space." Turning around, Da Huren saw… nothing. Where is this voice coming from? "Your willpower will be crucial for this, you will only need to endure the pain, and I'll keep you alive while helping your soul." Da Huren, still confused, felt something tugging his mind towards a specific direction, making him look- And, where nothing was before, there stood a monster so big that Da Huren couldn't even see the face! It looked like him, but somehow very different. 

Covered completely in deep earthly brown fur with jet black spots around its enormous body, eight enormous legs, each leg with powerful jet black hooves that had this golden ring around them. Tree-like antlers that spread out to the horizon in almost all directions, with many "branches" full of lush green leaves. Tail long as well, big enough to flatten a mountain, but it looked extremely fluffy, almost like a ball of cotton. And at last, but certainly not least, six red eyes that stared directly into his own eyes. 

"Big…" Da Huren whispered. The giant beast raised its mountainous hoof and slammed it down towards him, almost as if it was trying to squash a bug- Only for these long roots to suddenly appear from the ground, sprouting and spreading like wildfire, holding the hoof mid-air. "Now, I want you to pull that soul into yourself."

"...how am I supposed to do that?" 

"Will it to be." 

Without any other option, Da Huren did so. He focused, and the very first thought was - how is he going to make that big mountain of a beast enter and fuse with his soul? Easy! By shrinking it. 'Focus…' His whole body felt tingly and burning as the giant monster started to shrink in size. Da Huren was so focused on shrinking the beast that he couldn't even dodge or defend himself against the attacks of the resisting beast. Thankfully, he was not alone! A large wooden barrier appeared before the large stone spear that the Moose monster started to throw at him, and soon he was defended by various sizes by a massive forest of enormous trees. Everywhere he looked, there was bark, there was wood, there were leaves, and there was life. 

Green, beautiful, and sturdy life. 

As the creature shrank, these roots pulled the beast closer and closer towards his human body - a body he hasn't seen in decades. The moment he touched the forehead of the beast, that was now the same size as his body, it stopped struggling. The roots pulled back and let go of the moose as Da Huren simply felt it within himself. 

He had tamed his inner beast. 

Meanwhile, Root had just received a small little notification: 

[Special Achievement Unlocked: Two in One]

[Two in One: You've managed to fuse two souls into one!]

[+20% understanding of Change, Spirit, Nature, and Fate Dao]

[Two in One: You can now freely fuse two things together.]

[Special Achievement Unlocked: Soul Weaver]

[Soul Weaver: Like a tapestry, you've woven a soul. You have an ease for manipulating Spirit Qi and souls.]

'Huh…' Root softly pulled his awareness away from Da Huren, coming back to the outside world. There, his roots all wrapped around the body of the moose now unfurled to reveal a tall, naked dark skinned man with a long and sharp scar across his chest that looked old and healed. 'Oh well.' Letting the guy rest there, Root began to look over his system, ignoring the way the two kids and half-baked girl ran to the naked guy.

…it's time for him to have another child.