The Martial Unity

Chapter 3117: The Evolution of the Nature Path

Relative to the other five original newcomers, the dark elves were having the time of their lives. They had purchased a patch of land sold to them by the Emperor of Harmony on the continent in exchange for intelligence on their enemies and other forms of support.

They spent most of their time collecting samples and specimens while studying the exotic fauna from the continent, learning about its precious secrets.

”Incredible…!” one dark elf murmured with a stunned expression. ”These exotic forests are actually quite young despite how dense they are; they must have been recently forested across the land, and yet they are already so lush and green, almost as if they have been here for a long time.”

”These exotic substances allow them to overcome many of the limitations that our flora have. They have a more powerful body with much greater energy reserves. The root network that they are connected to is also more powerful!”

”Indeed,” a human woman with green hair, garbed in attire comprised of organic fibers, remarked. ”The exotic matter in these trees is what we refer to as chemically pluridynamic esoteric matter; the kind of esoteric substances that are capable of chemically bonding with ordinary matter with great chemical diversity. In particular, I have mapped out dozens of esoteric substances that form the vast majority of all flora esoteric chemistry.”

The dark elves grew absorbed into the Ecologerʼs expert opinion with great interest and curiosity as the woman herself cooperated with the dark elves to form a bond among them. From the very moment the Emperor of Harmony learned that elves followed the Nature Path of power, a completely different path of power compared to the Martial Path of power, he immediately had the Ecologer serve as an ambassador and a bargaining chip of sorts.

He knew from how much more technologically advanced the true world civilizations on average were that it was worth sending an immortal sage to wow them with her knowledge.

”Your knowledge of the exotic flora of this continent is quite remarkable.”

The aged voice of the elder drew the Esoteristʼs attention.

”We wish to learn about the power of these so-called esoteric substances and the pluridynamic esoteric matter that you mentioned,” she remarked with a tone of eagerness. ”We wish to harness this power to enhance our Nature Path. We wish to enhance our World Tree. Even now…”

She bent down to touch the soil with her palm, closing her eyes.

”I sense powerful, sapient flora lifeforms far, far away from here, connected to the flora root network,” she continued with a knowing tone. ”The fact that such a powerful tree lifeform can exist naturally in nature is truly astonishing. While we have powerful flora lifeforms ourselves, they exist because we created them to be as powerful as they are, either by evolving existing trees and plants, or creating an entirely new artificial lifeform from scratch with our mastery of botanical technology.”

The Ecologer was surprised that the elder dark elf could sense the two elder tree specimens that were so far away, just by touching the ground. The dark elves seemed to possess an unfathomable affinity for flora and nature, allowing them to sense, understand, and eventually even control nature through means she couldnʼt even fathom.

She was instantly envious the very moment she learned of it.

The Ecologer smiled friendlily. ”Of course, Iʼm more than willing to pass on this knowledge to you. However, you will need to share your knowledge in return as well.”

”We have already shared all the intelligence we have on the enemies that attack you,” the elder reminded her. ”Iʼm afraid it wonʼt do you much good when your problem is more fundamental.”

The Ecologer winced.

She knew that the strategic outlook of the Panama Continent was not good.

It was why she had decided to part with human civilization.

”Teach me your ways. Teach me how to follow the Nature Path,” the Ecologer requested them. ”In return, I will teach you mine.”

From the very moment she learned of the Nature Path of the elves, she grew profoundly driven and determined to get her hands on this path. She had also been excited by the Beast Path of the therianthropes, but lacked the ability to get her hands on it because of their hostile relations with human Civilization

The elder elf woman shook her head. ”That is impossible. Our ability to pursue our Path of Nature is tied to our species, it is an ability that we evolved to survive the Age of Tumult in our world was subjected to shortly after the Epoch of Evolution.”

The Ecologer raised an eyebrow.

”Epoch of Evolution? Age of Tumult?”

The elder nodded. ”The former occurred 187,000 years ago, roughly. It gave birth to the Age of Tumult, which destroyed human civilization across the six continents and almost made the human species extinct. And thus…”

Her tone grew heavy. ”…the human species of the six continents were forced to evolve through natural selection, causing us to diverge from each other. Each of the six groups of the ancestor human species evolved in unique ways. The ancestor humans of the Genora Continent learned and evolved to survive with our bond with flora. With each generation, our connection and affinity to nature evolved, until some of us…”

She pointed to her long ears. ”…gained the ability to ʼhearʼ trees and communicate with them, increasing our integration with flora, which in turn increased our affinity for flora, making it a universal trait of our species.”

The Ecologerʼs eyes widened with shock. ”I see… thatʼs why there are six different species of humanoids on six different continents.”

”That is why you cannot follow the Nature Path, no matter how much you want to,” the dark elf elder said with a sympathetic expression. ”No human can ever gain command over nature—!”

”RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The elder froze while the dark elves turned with a shocked expression at the roaring command of the Emperor of the Beast Domain. The Ecologer shook where she sat as her expression morphed with horrified recognition.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook as the Beast Excursion charged towards them.

And yet, what really alarmed the dark elves was the change that the flora around them had undergone.

It became hostile.

It became hostile to the dark elves despite their affinity to them.

”Impossible…!” the elder gasped. ”This… this is the Authority of Alpha of the Beast Path, but how can it possibly extend to flora?!”

She turned in the direction of East Panama with a stunned expression.

”Just what manner of being possesses such command over nature?”