Gardener of Eden

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Eden and the World Tree

The hum of the surface city was a welcome change of pace after days spent beneath the oppressive subterranean frost of Floor Seven. Rowan flagged down a quiet street cab outside the academy plaza, sinking back into the cool leather seat as the vehicle glided smoothly through the sun-drenched avenues of the residential district.

By the time the cab pulled up outside his Sunny Vale Farm, the afternoon sun sat high in the sky, marking the arrival of lunch. The home was peaceful, filled with the soft ambient light that streamed through the broad glass windows overlooking his courtyard. Stepping inside, Rowan set his trusty hoe against the entryway rack and hung his Enchanted Straw Hat on the peg beside it, letting out a long, easy exhale. The biting glacial winds, the roaring beasts, and the chaotic shouts of the tower exchange vanished instantly, replaced by the grounding quiet of his own space.

Heading straight into the kitchen, Rowan opened the refrigerator. Stored neatly within were several crisp, perfectly ripe sun-blushed peaches his mom had harvested alongside a handful of fresh, leafy garden greens.

After days of surviving on hard rations, thermal broths, and quick alchemical snacks in the Glacial Trench, Rowan craved something light and clean. With calm, practiced movements, he sliced the peaches into thick, juicy wedges, their sweet aroma instantly filling the room. He tossed the fruit into a wide ceramic bowl alongside crisp arugula and tender spinach, dressing the mixture lightly to balance the sweet nectar with a sharp, herbal crunch.

Carrying the fresh bowl over to the sunlit dining table, Rowan took his time eating, enjoying the simple comfort of home. Every bite of the chilled peaches and fresh greens washed away the lingering fatigue of back-to-back boss encounters, resting his mind as much as his body.

Once finished, Rowan cleared the table and turned his gaze out toward the broad greenhouse in his backyard. The rich, sun-baked earth was waiting. Glancing at his system inventory—where the rare Cryo-Gourds and wild spirit-seeds harvested from the lower floors rested—a calm, focused smirk touched his lips.

[Domain: The Virgin Soil]

The golden glow receded into the vast, serene sky of his personal pocket plane, replacing the cramped confines of his bedroom with warm sunshine, rolling green hills, and crystal-clear streams. The air here thrummed with pure, unrefined vitality mana, completely untouched by the harsh atmosphere of the world.

Soil enriched by sovereign earth flows stretched out before him, freshly cleared from his previous harvest and practically humming for new life

Rowan took a deep breath of the fresh air, tipping the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat. Reaching into his spatial storage pouch, he retrieved the wooden seed cases containing the rare specimen varieties he had painstakingly gathered during his recent pushes through the lower floors.

Exotic, glowing husks—some radiating cold frost mana, others pulsing with volatile elemental energy—lay nestled within protective containers. Standard cultivators would struggle to acclimate such wild, volatile Tower flora to regular soil, but Rowan’s domain operates on an entirely different level

With a subtle flick of his wrist, the Hoe of the World-Tiller materialized in his hands, its smooth wooden handle humming in resonance with his core mana.

[Skill Activated: Earthbreaker Plough - Wide Furrow Sweep]

Rowan swung the implement in a fluid, sweeping arc. A localized shockwave of golden terra-mana rippled through the primordial earth, cleanly carving out long, pristine furrows across the dark soil with effortless precision. Moving down the new plot, Rowan carefully planted the exotic seeds row by row, setting them deep within the divine, nutrient-dense ground.

[Skill Activated: Breath of Eden - Mass Seed Activation]

Extending his palm, Rowan released a soothing, emerald wave of vitality mana across the freshly tilled field. The divine earth immediately wrapped around the seeds, softening their aggressive, wild Tower mana and converting it into a purified, stable flow. Almost instantly, delicate green shoots emerged through the topsoil, unfurling radiant, shimmering leaves beneath the golden light

Thanks to the domain’s heightened time dilation and pristine mana flow, these new varieties would soon evolve into extraordinary, high-tier botanicals. Resting the hoe over his shoulder, Rowan smiled as he looked over the newly sown sanctuary, eager to see what incredible yields The Virgin Soil would produce next.

Rowan turned away from the newly sown fields and walked toward the colossal World Tree standing proudly at the absolute center of [Domain: The Virgin Soil]. Its massive trunk reached high into the luminous sky, its thick roots weaving deep into the sacred ground and thrumming with divine elemental energy. Approaching the grand hollow at the tree’s base, Rowan stepped into the ambient shadows of the trunk and descended the winding root-staircase into the subterranean sanctuary below.

The air turned sweet and cool as he reached the subterranean basement, heavy with the divine aura of his domain’s ultimate treasure. Nestled in the center of the underground chamber lay the crystal-clear pool of Primordial Liquid Essence, glowing with a soft, golden luminescence. The surrounding atmosphere was hyper-concentrated with pure life force, smelling of fresh rainfall and ancient earth.

Kneeling at the edge of the subterranean spring, Rowan cupped his hands, dipped them into the glowing pool, and took a long, refreshing drink. The liquid tasted unbelievably crisp and pure, instantly sending a warm, invigorating surge through his core. The primordial water washed away every lingering trace of fatigue, replenishing his mana channels and expanding his natural vitality.

Leaning the Hoe of the World-Tiller against a smooth root wall, Rowan reached into his spatial storage and retrieved a set of high-grade glass bottles. Carefully submerging them into the glowing spring, he filled several bottles to the brim with the dense, golden-tinted liquid essence before sealing each cap tight to preserve its concentrated potency.

[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]

[Primordial Spring Water Consumed!]

Effect: All Base Attributes Permanently Increased (+1)

[ ATTRIBUTES ]

Vitality (VIT): 26 +1 (27)

Strength (STR): 26 +1 (27)

Agility (AGI): 26 +1 (27)

Intelligence (INT): 27 +1 (28)

Wisdom (WIS): 27 +1 (28)

Unallocated Stat Points: 0

While this divine spring water served as the ultimate growth catalyst for high-tier spirit crops, its potent vitality was equally transformative for ordinary human health. A small portion of this liquid could purge deep internal toxins, fortify physical foundations, and dramatically enhance longevity.

With a subtle flick of his wrist, Rowan stored the sealed bottles directly into his system inventory, keeping them perfectly preserved for his mother, Martha, and his father back in Sunny Vale. Tipping the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat, Rowan smiled with quiet satisfaction, ready to share the finest gift of his sanctuary with his family.

***

Rowan completed the extensive harvest across [Domain: The Virgin Soil], channeling his mana to sort, process, and store every last batch of high-purity produce safely inside his system inventory.

System Inventory: Eden Harvest Tally

Verdant Crown Tomatoes: 60 Units (Grade-B Starlight Variant)

Amethyst Solar Squash: 25 Units (Grade-B)

Aether-Thread Wheat: 100 Sheaves (Grade-B)

Ignis-Bloom Sweet Peppers: 30 Units (Grade-B)

Mature Frost-Melons: 15 Units (Grade-B)

Solar-Flax Flowers: Tier-2 Mana Fiber Batch

Magma-Lily Blossoms: Tier-3 Elemental Heat Blossoms

Vitality Grain: Tier-2 High-Density Spirit Crop

Azure Dew Berries: 35 Fresh Units / 5 Preserved Crates

Earth-Core Roots: 3 Crates (Cleaned & Processed)

Golden Spirit Flour: 10 Crates (Milled Spirit Wheat)

With a smooth wave of his hand, every stacked crate and gathered bundle dissolved into streams of golden light, locking cleanly into isolated stasis slots within his inventory array. Suspended in absolute freshness, the ultra-pure harvest retained its full vitality density, ready to be drawn upon for Eden International’s market demand or personal family use

***

Standing at the center of [Domain: The Virgin Soil], Rowan observed an extraordinary botanical phenomenon unfolding near the World Tree. Sown just seven meters apart, the roots of the two primordial Ancestral Peach Trees and the newly planted Apple of Eden sapling had driven deep into the subterranean leylines, tapping directly into the domain’s sovereign earth flow.

Rather than competing for nutrients, the two legendary strains began to resonate, their subterranean roots intertwining in a glowing mesh of emerald and golden mana. Accelerated by the realm’s extreme time dilation and rich vitality, a symbiotic mutation erupted across both species.

The two Ancestral Peach Trees underwent a magnificent transformation. Their silver bark darkened to an obsidian sheen lined with glowing veins of liquid gold. The pale-pink blossoms evolved into shimmering Amethyst-Gold Peaches, their velvet skin now marbled with translucent ruby patterns.

Infused with the apple’s essence of knowledge and spiritual clarity, these mutated Celestial Peaches of Revelation no longer merely purged physical impurities and extended vitality.

Consuming one now instantly expanded a cultivator’s mind, temporarily unlocking absolute mental focus and granting deep comprehension of high-tier magical and martial concepts.

Simultaneously, the Apple of Eden sapling responded to the ancestral peach’s dense vitality. The young tree surged skyward, its branches twisting into a canopy that braided directly into the upper boughs of the adjacent peach trees. The resulting mutation produced Sun-Crystalline Eden Apples.

The once crimson skin shifted to a brilliant, semi-translucent topaz that revealed a core burning with star-like energy. Eating a mutated apple now provided permanent attribute boosts to both vitality and mana, while granting a passive aura that suppressed status afflictions and cleansed ambient atmospheric mana corruption in real time.

At the precise boundary where their roots fused beneath the mahogany loam, a singular, hybrid sprout broke through the soil—the Tree of Dual Genesis. This mutated graft bore a completely unique fruit resembling a golden-skinned peach with the crisp, dense flesh of a primordial apple.

Containing the dual legacies of pure life and ancient wisdom, this evolutionary miracle represented the absolute pinnacle of high-grade resources for Eden International, a priceless commodity that no noble house or syndicate in the realm could ever hope to replicate

With a smooth gesture, Rowan channeled his mana over the freshly gathered yield. The shimmering, velvet-skinned Celestial Peaches of Revelation and the glowing Sun-Crystalline Eden Apples dissolved into streams of warm golden light, locking cleanly into isolated stasis slots within his system inventory.

Suspended in absolute freshness alongside his other high-tier harvests, the mutated fruits preserved their concentrated vitality and mental-expansion properties, completely secured without needing external spatial storage.

Turning slowly toward the center of [Domain: The Virgin Soil], Rowan looked back at the colossal World Tree towering into the luminous sky. Its massive trunk and deep roots hummed with a low, divine thrum that reverberated through the sacred loam beneath his boots.

A profound sense of gratitude washed over him; without the World Tree’s sovereign earth flow and subterranean leyline resonance, the unprecedented symbiotic mutation between the ancestral peaches and the Eden apples could never have occurred. He bowed his head briefly toward the ancient trunk, honoring the silent provider that anchored his sanctuary.

Slinging the Hoe of the World-Tiller comfortably over his shoulder, Rowan tipped the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat. He focused his mind on the boundary of the realm, calling upon his authority to bridge his personal spatial dimension back to his homeworld. Space folded around him in a quiet, emerald ripple as the warm, ozone-scented breeze of the domain dissolved.

Walking across the quiet room, Rowan approached the wide glass window that overlooked their property. He carefully lifted his Enchanted Straw Hat and rested it on the familiar wooden peg mounted right beside the glass. Leaning his forearms against the sill, he looked out over the sprawling twenty-five acres of Sunny Vale.