Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1000 - 115: The Existence Between Reality and Illusion

Chapter 1000: Chapter 115: The Existence Between Reality and Illusion

"You mean to tell me that this is Lord Yuktiraxil’s true form?" The girls felt so shocked that they were almost numb, and Lina, with a vacant look in her eyes, gazed up at the massive tree whose canopy stretched like the sky, and murmured, "Or could it be, this is the Forest Goddess’s incarnation in the Mortal World? This is too inconceivable."

"No, this isn’t the Goddess’s true form, nor can it be considered her incarnation in the mortal realm." Flare, however, shook her head in denial: "When the essence of plants incarnated as the Goddess, she indeed existed in the form of this tree, and indeed emerged from this tree, but once she left the tree, she became an independent entity. This tree can only be considered the remains after the Goddess’s metamorphosis. Can you say that a cicada’s shell is the cicada itself? Essentially, this tree is akin to a cicada’s shell. As for the incarnation, the Goddess represents the essence of all plants, each plant can be considered her incarnation in the mortal world, not just this tree alone."

"Even so, this giant tree has a unique significance." Lina pondered for a moment and after grappling with the implications in Flare’s words, she said, "For the followers of the Forest Goddess, this tree is probably more sacred than any Holy Image or Sacred Item, being near this tree is akin to standing by the side of the Deity."

"You are wrong again." Flare shook her head once more and said, "Denia was born of the earth, Lord Caleto of the water, but would you consider a piece of land or a body of water to be a sacred entity? Of course not, because the entire land and the whole ocean are extensions of the wills of Denia and Lord Caleto. Just like these two primal deities, Lord Yuktiraxil was born from the Tree of the Beginning, but the Tree of the Beginning cannot be considered as one and the same with the deity."

"Oh, I think I understand now." Lina nodded thoughtfully: "The Tree of the Beginning once carried the will of Lord Yuktiraxil, just as the earth carries our Lord’s will and the ocean nurtured Lord Caleto’s spirit. But now, the will of the Forest Goddess has already detached from the World Tree—no, wrong, the Forest Goddess has never left the World Tree. Initially, there was only one plant, so only the World Tree carried her will, but now countless plants exist, so her will envelops the entire world. In fact, from beginning to end, each plant represents her will, and what has changed is merely the number of plants."

"Quite right, quite right, indeed a child dearly loved by the lord of the earth, the only Sage of Denia in the Mortal World, you understood my meaning so quickly." Flare nodded appreciatively: "Unlike a certain someone who, no matter how much I explained, just didn’t get it, forcing me eventually to give up explaining to her. Hmm, someone’s turning away pretending not to hear. Alright, alright, I won’t talk about her anymore. Come with me now; let me take you to the Royal Palace to rest a bit. The banquet will be held inside the Royal Palace."

"I still don’t quite understand, though." Catherine, still full of doubt, furrowed her brows and scrutinized the tree known as the World Tree, questioning: "I think my eyes are fine, and even if my eyes had problems, it couldn’t be that all of our eyes failed at the same time. With such an obvious tree, how could we have possibly missed it when we flew over just now on Horned Eagle Beasts? Given its height, it definitely couldn’t be obscured by the outer walls of the city created by the Divine Gift Trees; there’s absolutely no reason it could have been overlooked. And even if we overlooked it while flying, what about after landing? As we walked towards this direction, initially, Yvelin trees obscured the view, so not seeing this tree could be justified, but as we got closer, there were fewer obstructions, making the view clearer, yet, we only suddenly saw it when we reached here. Is it me who is wrong, or is there something special about it?"

"Do you remember what I said, that we placed the functional hub of the city’s public infrastructure deep within the Royal Palace, because we considered our Royal Palace to be the safest and most secure place in the Lost Forest? I can imagine, you might not have spoken up at the time, but certainly had some reservations in your minds, of course. The Yarran World is so vast, no matter how tight the defense, powerful thieves and assassins can come and go freely, let alone a Royal Palace," Flare didn’t answer Catherine directly but instead smiled mysteriously, and said softly: "But still, I hold to my views. Do you know why? Heh, the reason is actually very simple. Our Royal Palace exists inside this World Tree, along with the World Tree itself. And the World Tree is not just an ordinary entity, it exists between reality and illusion, unless a deity more powerful than the Forest Goddess, powerful enough to deny the existence of the Goddess, no one can defy the rules of the World Tree. As for the rules, if we don’t want you to see it, then you won’t see it; if we don’t want you to touch it, you can’t touch it; if we don’t want to let you in, you can’t enter. And even if an enemy sees it, touches it, even enters the World Tree, they still cannot disrupt its power supply, because unless you pray to the Goddess, you can’t destroy any part within the World Tree. These are the rules the World Tree abides by. Thus, even in the chaotic eras at the end of the Third Epoch, no one harbored thoughts of harming the World Tree."

"So... when we don’t need to see it, it simply doesn’t exist?" Catherine said with a wry smile: "Such a precaution truly is unbreakable, after all, no one can destroy something that doesn’t exist."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Lina suddenly raised her voice, asking in surprise: "You built the Royal Palace on the World Tree? Regardless of what Lord Yuktiraxil’s will is now, she ultimately emerged from the World Tree, and you actually built a palace on it?"

"Is that so strange?" Flare calmly countered: "Isn’t Denia’s temple built upon the earth? You should ask Doris, isn’t Lord Caleto’s temple built within the deep sea? The way we built the Royal Palace and temple on the World Tree, is there any real difference from your methods?"

Lina opened her mouth to argue, but found she couldn’t refute Flare’s reasoning. The Elves’ actions were astonishing, but on reflection, they quite aligned with what Flare had just explained.

"Don’t overthink it, if it were disrespectful to the Goddess and if the Goddess didn’t agree, we simply wouldn’t be able to build the Royal Palace at all." Flare waved her hand dismissively: "Come now, the Royal Palace is just ahead."