Impulse to Bang His Head
Within the known universe, while it is true that all life had an equal opportunity at attaining the everlasting through divine practice, their difficulty in ascending the realms defers from one another because of existing balance.
In the mundane world, which was devoid of spirit energy, perennial plants like the elder tree still had a natural lifespan that far outstrips any other lifeforms between heaven and earth, but in return for being endowed with such a long natural lifespan, it takes a long time for them to gain sentience and develop their intelligence.
Judging by the extent of the elder tree's growth, Leon speculated that the elder tree was at least 10,000 years old. It should be possible to establish basic communication between them, hopefully.
Leon expanded his senses and reached out for the tree spirit within the elder tree with his consciousness. The tree spirit was quickly startled by Leon's sudden presence and retreated in alarm.