Start as a Spiritual Planter: I Have a Game Panel

Within the inner layers of the space mizzen around the Blue Star, one huge oval-shaped object covered in white glowing crystal faced off against a huge formless dark creature with multiple forms.

Looking from above, the dark creature constantly shifted between monstrous forms—one moment a massive black whale, the next an ancient serpent with a gaping maw, then a towering humanoid giant.

Its shifting body pulsed like living shadows, writhing and distorting as it relentlessly battered the glowing white crystal shell before it.

Each attack sent deep, resonating tremors through the space mizzen, its echo stretching into the void.

The dark creature's efforts were ruthless, its massive jaws snapping or clawed limbs pounding against the crystal barrier, desperate to consume or shatter it.

The enormous oval-shaped crystal shell, despite its resilience, bore the scars of this unending assault.

Over the decades, the repeated strikes had left numerous cracks spiderwebbing across its pristine surface, some thin as hairline fractures, others deep enough to ooze pure life energy leaking into the surroundings.

This leaking energy shimmered like liquid stardust, diffusing into the space around it, creating a soft glow that contrasted starkly with the looming darkness of its attacker.

Scattered around the colossal crystal shell were several smaller, broken crystal shells, each resembling tiny eggs placed beside a massive ostrich egg.

These smaller shells, once whole, now lay in shattered pieces, their fractured remains still tethered to the main crystal by glowing white ribbons—umbilical cords of pure energy.

Despite their broken state, the ribbons pulsed faintly, as if trying to draw energy back into them, as if clinging to a lifeline.

Each of these smaller shells contained a miniature world within its glassy interior.

Looking closely, one could see breathtaking landscapes—lush green forests stretching endlessly, towering mountains crowned with snow, and cities bathed in twilight.

Every world within these shells pulsed with life, frozen in moments of beauty and serenity.

But among them, a few that were larger than others around them stood in stark contrast to the others. A particular shell, though still mostly intact, housed a scene that clashed with the harmony of its counterparts.

Inside, there was no verdant forest, no thriving civilization—only a half-decayed, lifeless wasteland stretching for thousands of miles. Its skies were perpetually gray, filled with sluggish, swirling clouds that blotted out the light.

The land beneath was cracked and barren, littered with the remnants of past—ruined structures, skeletal trees, necrotic beasts, and rivers of stagnant, murky liquid.

At the heart of the decayed world, a towering dead tree stood like a skeletal remnant of what once might have been a great Sylvan Soul Tree.

Its bark was dry and crumbling, with deep cracks running through its twisted trunk, as if it had suffered ages of decay.

The jagged branches stretched out like gnarled fingers, clawing at the thick, gray sky, lifeless yet somehow still holding a presence of authority over the land.

Perched atop the broken limbs of this ancient husk were countless necrotic creatures, each twisted and malformed in its own way.

Some were massive, their bodies draped in rotting flesh, eyes hollow yet glowing with eerie light.

Others were smaller, their skeletal forms darting from branch to branch like restless shadows.

Some lay draped over the branches, their ribbed chests rising and falling as if mimicking breath, while others moved in jittery, erratic motions, pacing mindlessly, their heads twitching as if searching for something unseen.

Beneath the tree, the ground was cracked and lifeless, with dark mist swirling around its roots like sluggish veins of poisoned energy.

The air was thick with a deathly stillness, disturbed only by the occasional guttural growl or the dry rustling of bone against bark.

Deep within the core of this cursed tree, beyond the layers of rotten wood and twisted roots, something sinister lurked.

A phantom—its form a grotesque, two-headed human skull—hovered at the heart of the dying tree, its hollow eye sockets glowing with an eerie light.

The skull pulsed as it fed, inhaling the dwindling remnants of Life Energy and soul essence that still clung to the tree's core.

Faint tendrils of silver and green light were drawn into its gaping mouths, consumed hungrily as if draining the last vestiges of vitality from what had once been a sacred tree.

With every passing moment, the devouring continued, and the already withered tree seemed to shrink further, its bark cracking, its essence being stripped away layer by layer. But something else was happening.

A change.

Within the depths of the phantom's form, dark energy churned and twisted, growing denser, more defined.

Then, slowly, beside the two-headed skull, a new shape began to emerge—a third skull with a new form different from the previous two was forming from the swirling darkness.

At first, it was faint, like a distorted reflection in water, but as the moments passed, it solidified, its hollow sockets flickering with an unnatural glow.

The two-headed skull was evolving...

Its sinister presence was growing within the heart of the dead world, feeding on what little remained of the once-sacred Sylvan Soul Tree to complete its evolution.

And as it did, the necrotic creatures perched on the tree seemed to stir, their movements becoming more agitated, as if sensing the shift, as if waiting for something to be unleashed.

....

Outside the shattered crystal shell, at the final movements of this broken Sylvan Kingdom, a towering humanoid shadow remained motionless, watching silently, its massive form flickering as if woven from divine power itself.

The endless void around it seemed to ripple with its presence, an oppressive force that demanded attention without a single movement.

It was at this moment that the formless dark entity, which had been relentlessly assaulting the Wood Spirit Realm for decades, suddenly ceased its attacks.

Its shifting forms—whale, serpent, giant—froze mid-motion, and with an eerie stillness, it turned toward Orion.

Yet, it did not advance.

Instead, it lingered, watching him with silent, calculated vigilance. The tension between them thickened, the air humming with an unspoken standoff.

Master Orion didn't bother to look at the creature, but his expression twisted with displeasure.

His glowing eyes, sharp and filled with centuries of wisdom, narrowed as they locked onto the decayed world within the broken shell.

His arms remained crossed, fingers drumming lightly against his forearm—a small, absent-minded gesture betraying his inner frustration.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, low and resonant, carrying the weight of his thoughts like a distant rumble of thunder.

"Alas, I thought you might be able to hold on a few more years, or win this small battle... " he muttered, his voice filled with disappointment and resignation. "But I didn't expect there to be a sudden change in the plans of those alien gods… nor the upcoming battle that looms ahead."

His gaze swept across the desolate scene—the skeletal branches of the dead tree, the grotesque necrotic creatures swarming its decayed limbs, and at the heart of it all, the phantom skull devouring the last vestiges of the Sylvan Soul Tree's sacred essence.

The life energy within the tree was nearly extinguished, its once-pure essence now corrupted, twisted into fuel for the undead and power of curse.

Orion clenched his jaw, his fingers twitching ever so slightly as he weighed his options. He had come prepared, knowing the cost of intervention.

He could extract the last remnants of the Sylvan Soul Tree's soul essence, using it to save his student's life. It was a desperate measure but a necessary one.

However, it would not come without sacrifice.

If he did this, his student's cultivation would be crippled. The path he had walked for centuries, the power he had painstakingly built—it would all crumble.

His hand moved, ready to act. Then, something changed.

His fingers froze mere inches from sealing the extraction, his instincts flaring as he sensed a sudden disturbance.

A small group of Life Energy and spiritual particles began to appear around the Sylvan Soul tree and were soon absorbed by it, helping the Sylvan Soul tree to hold on longer.

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Sorry, guys, I didn't expect it to take so long... My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!! I also needed some time off to care for my daughter and wife... I had to take on additional responsibilities.

I'll be updating regularly from now on...