Chapter 327 Freedom

 Ten days later, on September 1, Storm Calendar 4425, Duke met the cyclone god, Harpiah, who ruled the entire whirlwind forest.

This is a huge crow, about the size of a house when its wings are folded.

But it can change into a humanoid form, and its size will also shrink to the size of a normal human, and its appearance is similar to that of the crow **** Cuicui.

But most of the time, it remains in the form of a crow.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……

 Because he received Cuicui's communication in advance, Harpie already knew about Duke's existence. And also learned that Duke had killed the Diamond Thunder Dragon and was willing to provide it with diamond oak trees to build its nest. Therefore its tone is very cheerful.

 Ten days were enough for Duke to master the language of the birds, so he could understand what Harpie said: "Hello, human, you are a powerful druid."

 Druid, Bard, and Owad, these are the three levels of local humans practicing the way of nature.

In Duke's opinion, Druids are roughly at the 7th to 9th ring level; Bard is at the 4th to 6th ring level; Owad is at the 1st to 3rd ring level.

"Nice to meet you, Harpie. I am very interested in the power of the wilderness, so I came to ask you for advice on how to use it." Duke responded.

Harpie stretched out one foot, turned her head and scratched the feathers on her head. Her behavior was not much different from that of a crow.

Then he said: "I have seen two groups of humans, from different forests, asking me about the power of the wilderness. But they are all Owad, and you are already so powerful and have become a druid, why do you still ask me about the power of the wilderness? Where is the power?"

"My strength is not given by the power of the wilderness. Now, I plan to study the ways of nature, so I ask you for advice."

"I don't understand." Harpie shook his head, "Why don't druids know the way of nature?"

In the cognition of the whirlwind god, the source of all power is the power of the wilderness. However, as a **** of the wilderness, it can call upon the power of the wilderness at will, while humans need to practice the way of nature and then use mimetic behavior to mobilize it. The power of wilderness.

 Duke is so powerful that he can kill the Diamond Thunder Dragon, so he must have mastered the strongest way of nature.

"You can understand that I come from a more distant forest. Where we don't rely on the power of the wilderness, we don't need to practice the way of nature."

"I still don't understand." Harpie shook his head again, and then said, "But it doesn't matter, I will teach you the power of the wilderness... But I need to go to the Vajra Oak first to make sure that you really kill Vajra Brontosaurus, willing to let me build a nest.”

"Of course." Duke agreed readily.

So Harpiah motioned to Duke, Cuicui, Ogan, and its other crow angels to sit on its back.

It flapped its wings and flew like a bolt of lightning across the sky. In a moment, it arrived at the location of the Oak Vajra.

 After making sure that there were no more thunder monkeys on the Oak King Kong, Harpie played a cheerful tune, as happy as a child who got a beloved toy.

Duke then signaled it to fly forward until it reached the ruins of the battlefield: "Did you see it, Harpie? That's the body of the King Kong Thunder Dragon."

 The corpse was in tatters because Duke had cut off all the essential parts.

 But even if ten days passed, the dragon's power still did not dissipate, so no small animals dared to eat its body.

 The smell of blood and corpses mixed together, making the entire ruins smell bad.

"Quiyagu..." Harpie laughed, "Great, this ugly thunder gorilla is finally dead! From now on, this whirlwind forest will be mine alone! Duke, you don't Lie to me, you really killed the Diamond Thunder Dragon!"

“It’s just a dragon.” Duke sat cross-legged on Harpie’s back and spoke calmly.

Harpie immediately flew back and rushed into the canopy of the oak tree: "I can't wait any longer. I want to recall all the angels to build a nest for me in the oak tree. I will give birth to children here and bring them to life." Cultivate new wild gods!”

As he spoke, Harpie raised her head and let out a sharp scream.

Then, more than a dozen half-human, half-bird crow angels flew in from all over the forest. Duke could roughly tell that these crow angels were of different varieties.

 Some evolved from crows, while others evolved from other birds.

 They range in size from one meter to three meters tall.

Together with Cuicui, these crow angels began to pick up materials and prepare to build a nest on the branches of Quercus Vajra.

Harpie also transformed into a half-human, half-bird form and flew around in the crown of the oak tree. Finally, he chose a branch to build a nest and directed the crow angels to start working.

 “Are you pregnant?” Duke flew over and asked.

 “Pregnancy? What is pregnancy?” Harpie didn’t know why.

A crow envoy rushed to answer: "Lord Harpie does not need to be pregnant, and the wilderness elves do not need to be pregnant. Only wild beasts can become pregnant! I was pregnant when I was a hawk, but now that I have become an envoy, I have become pregnant. Out of the wild beast!"

This falcon-evolved crow angel is named Feili. It is very powerful. According to Xiaoyi's judgment, it has reached at least the 6th level.

 “What about your previous descendants?” Duke asked.

"have no idea."

"have no idea?"

"Those are just my descendants when I was a beast. The descendants are also beasts and have nothing to do with me now." Fili said matter-of-factly.

Another crow envoy, Quack, laughed and said: "We are the elves of the wilderness, the children of the supreme mother of all things in the wilderness. Those wild beasts have nothing to do with us. Quack, we are free in the embrace of the wilderness!"

 “Gugu! Be free!”

 “Be free, ah!”

 The crow angels started shouting one after another.

Even Harpiah shouted: "Be free, I am the whirlwind god, Harpiah!"

"That's great, Lord Duke." Ogan couldn't help but feel envious as he looked at a group of half-human and half-birds screaming ghostly. "It's a pity that I'm just an elf, not a wilderness elf. I can't fly freely like them." .”

Duke was somewhat infected by the joy of these birdmen, but he was determined in the end and said with a calm smile: "Why not, Ogan, although you and I have concluded an elf contract, I will not restrict you in any way."

He glanced at the bird people and said: "If you are willing to stay, I will not take you away. You can continue to live with Cuicui."

Ogan looked at Duke and could feel that this was Duke's true thoughts.

But Ogan soon laughed: "No, Lord Duke, I still want to follow you to see the scenery of the city."

 “Okay.” Duke’s smile grew wider.

About half an hour later, Harpie had conveyed all his ideas for the bird's nest to his crow angels.

 At this time, I took some free time and prepared to teach Duke the power of the wilderness.

　One person and one bird found a quiet place.

Harpie looked at Duke and said seriously: "The power of the wilderness is the power given to us by the wilderness elves by the mother of all things. It is hidden in all things, including forests, running water, stones, earth, and wind. The power of wilderness.”

 Duke nodded calmly.

 The power of wilderness is like an active version of the power of nature. The power of nature is the power of plants. Qihai uses plants to control the power of nature.

While observing Cuicui exerting the power of the wilderness, Duke had already vaguely felt that he seemed to be able to control the power of the wilderness with the help of the sea of ​​air.

 But after all, there is something missing that creates a gap between the sea of ​​​​qi and the power of the wilderness.

It is this gap that prevents him from establishing contact with the power of the wilderness, let alone being able to control it freely like the wilderness elves.

"When I was an ordinary crow, I couldn't feel this, and I lived in confusion for countless years. Until one day, I was flying on the wind, and the forest was crawling under me. Finally, I felt the wilderness. The existence of force.”

Harpie looked into Duke's eyes.

He said slowly: "When you integrate into the wilderness, you can control the power of the wilderness and let the power of the wilderness fill your body. Every move you make is the movement of the wilderness, from body and mind to feathers."

 “Integrating into the wilderness?” Duke thought thoughtfully.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't immediately integrate into the wilderness. It was easy to use the breathing method to establish breathing resonance with the surrounding forest, but the so-called integration into the wilderness was confusing.

“Harpie, can you tell us in more detail how to integrate into the wilderness?”

"You can imagine yourself as a bird, flying freely under the blue sky and white clouds, without restraint or shackles." Harpie said softly, "The wilderness is your home, wrapping you like the wind, like The water nourishes you, filling you like fruit..."

 It gives many abstract examples.

Seeing that Duke was still unable to understand, he finally had to shake his head and said: "You have the great power of a druid, but unfortunately, you cannot understand the power of the wilderness. You do not understand the mission given to you by the mother of all things, and you do not understand the meaning of freedom. "

 “Maybe.” Duke frowned.

 He has tried to understand the wilderness and merge into the wilderness, imagining that he is a bird, a fish, a small flower or even a wind.

Fantasy about opening up your emotions, breathing and letting go with the wilderness.

However, these methods did not break the barrier between him and the wilderness, which made Duke feel a little distressed.

He suddenly thought of the fog of spiritual arcana, and thought in his mind: "Perhaps blending into the wilderness is like an ordinary third-level arcane mage who will be blocked by the fog of spiritual arcana and unable to see the real spiritual sea clearly."

He had never experienced the fog of spiritual arcana at all before, and he felt very regretful.

Now.

 Having joy in the misery, I thought: "Perhaps blending into the wilderness is a way to make up for my regrets."

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality and asked curiously: "What exactly is the mother of all things?"

"The Mother of All Things is the supreme being of the wilderness, the master of all creation, and the mother of the wilderness elves." Harpie said, "He is everywhere, and our strength is given by Him. Feel it carefully, He It’s right there!”

　　Listening to the murmuring words of God Harpius, Duke guessed that the mother of all things might be a kind of belief, or it might be an existence similar to the real spiritual sea.

 Perhaps my thinking is limited.

 He always felt that the power of the wilderness was another form of natural power, belonging to a major branch of the spiritual arcane system.

However, after careful consideration, he denied himself: "The sea of ​​​​qi is a branch of the sea of ​​​​spirit, and the power of the sea of ​​​​qi is not worth mentioning in front of the sea of ​​​​spirit. But the power of the wilderness is very powerful, at least Harpie who has the power of the wilderness , not much weaker than Yalong."

 In the forest outside, there are even wild gods more powerful than Harpie, or stars whose strength is comparable to that of humans.

From this point of view, the power of the wilderness can no longer be called a branch of the spiritual arcana, but a powerful force on par with the spiritual arcana.

 All day long, Harpie taught and Duke thought.

 But there was no progress.

The second day and the third day were all like this. The power of integrating into the wilderness seemed to be only a thin layer, but it was as difficult to cross as a natural chasm.

"Perhaps you should look for humans, find an Owad, and teach you the ways of nature." Harpie said impatiently.

Then while Duke was free to think, he flew into the canopy of the tree and happily watched his nest being completed little by little.

 It intends to reproduce in the nest.

The gods of the wilderness do not need to mate and get pregnant. They can condense the essence of the power of the wilderness to give birth to children and cultivate them into new gods of the wilderness. Although the gods of the wilderness are called gods, they are actually just a group of more powerful wilderness elves. Like spiritual animals, they have birth, old age, sickness and death.

"What is the power of the wilderness, and how to integrate into the wilderness?" Duke fell into a dreamland with thoughts, at least on the surface.

 But in fact, he activated the earth's replicating ring an unknown distance away.

The earth clone appeared in the Duke Sage Mage Tower. Just like the forest where the real body was, it was also night in Cuihai City at this moment.

 “Sir.” Assistant Ibuprofen greeted him.

"Has Madam Franny's sky clone been activated? If not, please contact her sky clone." Duke ordered. Although the real body had been away for more than ten days, the clone would appear every day, and everything was as usual.

 “Yes, sir.”

 When Ibuprofen used the sky copy ring to transmit the signal, the sky copy ring was soon activated, and Frannie Husky's sky clone arrived.

 “Duke, are you looking for me?”

“How is the progress of your plan to create the Oak Man?” Duke asked.

Franny Husky yawned and said slightly bored: "I can't find the power you described, similar to the bloodline of spiritual beasts. I have searched every tree king, and the acorns you provided are even more... I studied it over and over again, but it was in vain.”

 She looked at Duke and frowned: "Now I'm beginning to doubt whether the plan to create the Oak Man can really be realized."

As she said that, she rolled her eyes again: "Alston Lanhe, this old man, once again spread rumors that the rubber man manufacturing plan will fail. He also joked with me that if it succeeds, he will give us two kowtows each. If he fails, I will kowtow to him twice."

“Really? If you fail, don’t you need me to complain about it?” Duke discovered a blind spot.

"Do you also think we are destined to lose?" Franny Merganser stared, "We all want to pass the Chapter of the Moon Phase through research in the field of spiritual plants, and be promoted to the 8th Ring of Radiant Moon. But I chose to be with you. If I cooperate, he will look down on me."

Duke smiled and said: "Don't worry, it won't fail. I just feel that for this bet, Alston Lanhe is easy to talk to, and he doesn't need me to kowtow to him."

“Let a living saint kowtow to him, and the stars will beat him into a pig’s head.” Franny Merganser also laughed.

But he quickly sighed again: "I won't deny that I have given up hope of walking out of the Moon Phase Chapter on my own. That's why I want to cooperate with you, get a glimpse of the spiritual blessings of the sages, and hope to benefit from the Oak Man Manufacturing Plan. Find your way to the Chapter of the Moon.”

 But as the oak man manufacturing project has made no progress since its beginning, Franny Sanduck also hesitated.

 Although some major research needs to last for several years or even decades.

 But the origin of the Oak Man manufacturing plan is to obtain power from plants. Countless people have studied it for thousands of years, and the results have all failed.

After Duke proposed the plan to create the Oak Man, he also did not bring about any changes.

This couldn’t help but make Frannie Sanduck hesitate. It seemed that the sages could not bring any extraordinary ideas and changes to this research.

"Maybe Alston, the old man, is right." Franny Merganser lay on the chair and said without grace, "The way of chivalry flourished in ancient times, and spiritual arcana rules everything now. And what the Qi Sea corresponds to has never formed any system."

 Sea of ​​air, sea of ​​blood, and sea of ​​spirit.

Among the three seas, the Spirit Sea is now the strongest, the Blood Sea has been strong in the past, and only the Qi Sea seems to have existed in ancient times, but since ancient times, it has only helped grow crops.

Franny Sanduck rolled her eyes and asserted: "The sea of ​​air is the sea of ​​crops!"

  “Not necessarily.”

"How to say?"

"I am looking for a way to decipher the mystery of the Qi Sea, and maybe there will be progress soon." Duke comforted softly.

He originally planned to talk to Franny Sanduck. Perhaps this prophet of stars and spiritual plants could bring some enlightenment to his integration into the wilderness.

 But now I find that the other party did not bring any enlightenment, but only some depressing words.

 Perhaps.

This is the loneliness on the path of exploring spiritual arcana. On the way to find the truth, there are always people who deviate from the course and think that the path they took before is wrong. If you also waver, then the truth will always exist in the unknown.

 “You are still full of confidence.” Franny Merganser was keenly aware of a hint of...sarcasm in Duke's eyes.

She is a woman who has lived for more than two hundred years, and her intuition is extremely powerful: "Do you think I am talking nonsense and you are disappointed with my complaints?"

Duke had to admit that Frannie Merganser had a keen intuition, so he asked: "Can you read minds?"

"Haha, I don't know how to read minds, but the eyes are the windows to the soul, and I can see people's hearts through them." Franny Sanduck laughed, "I think you must have mastered the oak tree now. People are the key to planning.”

　　Sitting up straight, Franny Merganser regained her composure: "Then, Lord Sage, please feel free to order the following experiments."

 “There is nothing to order, the experiment will continue as usual.”

Duke himself didn’t know how to integrate into the wilderness, and how he could draw up the experimental process for the Oakman manufacturing plan. He could only follow the steps and wait patiently.

 …

 The next morning.

The sun shines in the forest from the east, and the uneven tree crowns divide the light into strips, scattering spots.

Harpie was lying in the bird's nest on a branch that she had just built, combing her feathers comfortably.

The warm wind surrounds it, but it is not the wind element condensed by arcane magic, but the real wind of nature.

A wooden house was built on a thick branch not far away, and Duke woke up leisurely from his sleep.

The oak spirit landed on the window, faithfully standing guard for Duke.

Under the tree, Little Dou is lying on the ground and sleeping soundly. The chicken is lying on Little Dou's head, also sleeping soundly.

Ogham passed through the gaps between the leaves, danced gracefully, and soon landed next to the oak spirit. The two butterfly elves came together like two groups of beautiful jade.

 “Lord Duke.” Ogham called softly.

  Duke simply cast a small arcane spell to clean the cavity and face, and then turned his head to look at Ogan.

"I have been thinking about it all night, Lord Duke, maybe I can give you some answers to your troubles." Ogan said softly, "Integrating into the wilderness, from the time I met Cuicui, I came into contact with the power of the wilderness, and even I am part of the force of the wilderness."

 “Are you part of the power of the wilderness?” Duke asked in surprise.

"You see, Lord Harpie's bird's nest has twisted the branches of the oak tree. The oak tree is part of the power of the wilderness, and I am naturally part of it." Ogan said, looking at Duke and making a serious proposal. Said, "Master Duke, let's unite!"

 Duke was stunned for a moment, then thought of something quickly, his eyes shining brightly.

 Then he nodded slightly: "Okay."

 Hand out your index finger.

Ogan bit into it, and the next moment, Ogan turned into a pool of cool brown liquid and melted into Duke's palm.

 Duke's body began to pull, and it instantly grew into an Avatar form more than three meters tall - which was very different from the Avatar form brought by the Oak Spirit.

“Lord Duke.” Ogham’s voice sounded in Duke’s mind, “Let’s go and feel the power of the wilderness!”

With his wings flapping, Duke in his Avatar form flew into the sky. He controlled the flight of his body but let go of his mind.

 Let Ogham's mind dominate the senses, and feel the power of the wilderness from this forest.

 This is a brand new feeling that he has never experienced before. He frees his mind and uses the feelings of the great elf as his own feelings.

 Slowly, he felt that he was different.

The forest beneath him is no longer the original forest, but a piece of flowing notes. The wind is singing a cappella, the trees are reciting, the flowers are humming, the water is playing chords, birds and beasts are dancing, and insects are cheering for joy...Nature is in Ogan's eyes. , turned out to be so full of life.

And then.

 In Duke's empty mind, along with Ogan's perspective, there appeared groups of colorful and dense auras. This aura was everywhere and encompassed everything.

Gradually, what supported him to fly was no longer spiritual energy, but became the ubiquitous colorful mist.

His body is more flexible and natural, like a wisp of smoke, without any restraint, blowing around with the wind. No matter how fast the wind is, it can blow from one end of the forest to the other end of the forest and across mountains and rivers in an instant.

 There is no gravity and no bulky body. At this moment, Duke truly experiences what it means to be unrestrained.

He waved gently, and the big trees in the forest stretched out their branches one after another, as if they wanted to shake hands with him.

 He waved his hand again, and the weeds on the hillside grew rapidly. Then he bent down under the blow of the wind and bowed to Duke.

 Turn around, spin, land.

　　The fishes leaping high by the river, the butterflies flying in the flowers, everything is welcoming Duke's arrival.

 No, not coming, but joining.

 “It’s the power of the wilderness!”

Duke's free thinking gradually understood what the power of the wilderness was. Then Ogan's mind quietly retreated, and his body and feelings about his surroundings were returned to Duke. He also handed over the ubiquitous power of the wilderness to Duke.

 Perception was not interrupted. Duke dominated his body, continuing the way of perception that Ogan taught him, allowing his heart to be closely connected with the surroundings.

 He knelt down and reached out into the river. Countless fish gathered over and kissed his fingers.

Suddenly, a black fish rushed over and bit one of the fish hard. The fish that had gathered dispersed with a splash.

 But without interruption, Duke’s understanding of the power of the wilderness.

  Beasts hunt, insects mate, flowers and grass breathe, trees grow, all the behaviors of all things constitute a natural picture, and the power of the wilderness is the order that dominates it all.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　click.

As if something was broken in his stomach, Duke suddenly heard the rhythm of the sea of ​​​​qi, which was the breathing method resonating with the surrounding plants.

But at this moment, as something breaks, the rhythm of the sea of ​​​​qi actually not only resonates with the breathing of plants, but stretches infinitely, resonating with the breathing of everything in the surrounding space, even the silent big rocks. .

 “The power of wilderness…the way of nature…”

 Duke looked into the distance, and the colorful aura filled every corner of the world, rolling and flowing continuously.

His heart seemed to be following the colorful breath, rolling to the end of the world.

The sun penetrated the canopy of the trees and shone on Duke by the river. He suddenly opened his arms, as if embracing the entire nature.

Then he opened his mouth and shouted loudly into the forest: "Be free!"

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 (End of this chapter)