Reincarnated as the Heavenly Dao

The thirty-one fruit-folk had initially fled in all directions during the ambush, scattering into the dense forest.

Thanks to their superior cultivation, those in the middle stages of the body-tempering realm had been the first to break the encirclement, followed by those in the early stage, and then the non-cultivators.

What was surprising about the ordeal was that the lone late-stage practitioner, Broblie, had remained in the rear to protect the untrained. Making him the last to leave the ambush.

Once out of the encirclement, however, the remaining fruit-folk's worries had not ceased.

A majority of the canines disregarded the group to pursue Bluog and Auopi, but some packs of two to five dogs broke from the swarm and chased after the other escapees.

The fruit-folk's resting outside the ambush barely had time to catch their breath before they were once again forced to sprint for their lives. In the face of death people smacked into each other, tripped over roots and strained their muscles to the limit. 

It was during the chaos that Brobile had taken the initiative to gather three early body-tempering and ten mortal fruit-folk. With its protection they were able to successfully shake off the canines and reach Weodrothis's fog. 

However, to their dismay, no amount of pleading or praying caused the fog to open.

Realizing their attempts were futile, Broblie had ordered the group to re-enter the forest to find their peers.

After hours of relentless searching, all thirty-one members who survived the initial encirclement had been found and rallied under Broblie's command.

The high number of survivors shocked everyone, but there was no time to sit and ponder. Fearing that the swarm was still lurking in the forest, the group hurried towards the supposedly safe monolith. 

It was during this journey that they reunited.

***

There was a momentary silence as the two parties locked eyes.

Recognizing their comrades, Bluog and Auopi quickly lowered their weapons.

Bluog took a glance at Auopi, and saw that she didn't intend to speak.

He didn't want to let the silence fester, so with a resigned sigh he took the initiative to step forward.

His eyes looked at the person in front. Leading the others was a blue fruit-folk and the only late body-tempering stage person among them.

He recognized it as the third individual to be birthed from Weodrothis after Auopi and himself.

Plastering an awkward smile, he tried to break the tension. "Broblie! We're glad to see that you survived, and you even regrouped with the others! It's just terrible luck that we had to encounter such a... unfortunate situation earlier."

Trying to gauge the blank reactions of the thirty-one fruit-folk, he slowly continued.

"But that is ultimately behind us. The horde of beasts are no longer a concern. Though we will have a proper discussion once we reach the monolith."

With the groups feelings over the abandonment still uncertain, he deemed it important to shift their attention to something else, lest it cause an argument.

So, he pointed his finger to the three corpses before saying, "For now we should handle our fallen and give them a proper sendoff."

Broblie followed the finger to the three, um, four bodies. Its eyes couldn't help but twitch as it glanced at the half-destroyed remains of the mummified blueberry.

Averting its gaze from the eerie scene, it coldly responded to Bluog, "While you left us to fend for ourselves, by Weodrothis's grace we came out relatively unscathed. I will adhere to your words and forget about the incident."

Since the duo were favored by the creator, Brobile reluctantly swallowed its true feelings. Even with five times the courage, it wouldn't openly argue with the person before it.

"It's okay, we all knew of the dangers before leaving." A living blueberry in the back reiterated the sentiment.

"I agree, we're all creations of Weodrothis so it would not be good to have animosity." The apple next to it hurriedly agreed.

Since Broblie made its stance clear, the others followed suite and publicly dropped their grievances. As for whether or not their emotions were genuine, only the Heavenly Dao could know. 

Hearing their words, Bluog finally felt a weight come off his chest. The casual reassurance was enough.

With the matter of grievances resolved, Broblie pointed at the fruit-folk who had shrunk to 1/8th its size.

There was a brief moment of hesitation, but it still asked, "What happened to its body? Could the beasts be capable of such a sickening act?"

Hearing the question, Bluog felt his confidence return and responded with a hint of pride, "Broblie, it is anything but sickening! I have simply recited a humble prayer and returned its soul to the great Weodrothis."

The declaration stunned the fruit-folk. His words immediately caused a series of murmurs to erupt from the group.

"Its soul returned?" 

"Can praying really do such a thing?"

A newly birthed living apple looked around in confusion and wondered, "What is a soul? Do I have one?"

Seeing the varying reactions, Auopi cleared her throat and clarified, "It is true. You will see when we reach the monolith, but Bluog has truly received the grace's blessing! Since there's still three bodies here, just stand there and watch him."

Towards the end of her speech, she gave Bluog an expectant look.

The group quieted down upon hearing her words; their focus redirected to Bluog. As they waited, each member had their own feelings, some were curious, others skeptical, but since it involved the creator, they all maintained a reverent attitude.

Even Broblie softened its tone, suppressing its doubt before bowing down and saying, "Forgive me for being blind to the creators miracle. Bluog, please enlighten us."

With everyone's attention on him, Bluog puffed out his chest and confidently strolled to the nearest corpse.

It was the body of an apple fruit-folk, and like the earlier blueberry person, it also had a reputation of being timid. Considering the trend, it had probably collapsed at the first sign of battle.

Firmly grasping the wooden blade, Bluog closed his eyes and focused his attention on the mystical sensation stemming from his chest.

Since the incident at the monolith, he had noticed a golden leaf starting to manifest within him. It held an uncanny resemblance to the leaves found on Weodrothis's crown and bore a sense of familiarity.

From this golden leaf came a series of words that flashed across his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip and loudly proclaimed, "Servant of Weodrothis! Heed my words and return what has been given. In life you obeyed the creator and in death you shall start anew." 

As his prayer came to an end a sharp swish whistled through the air as Bluog stabbed the apple person.

Upon contact with the body a familiar sensation tugged on his sword. Then as expected the apple person proceeded to rapidly shrivel up and compress to 1/8th its size.

The fruit-folk watched as the originally plump body morphed into an empty husk. Their expressions betraying a mix of awe and disgust at the process. Those with an exceptionally high degree of faith even felt their bodies shake from the wave of fervor coursing through them.

In the current cultivation realm where spells didn't exist, Bluogs actions were nothing short of a miracle. Until now the fruit-folk had only seen similar mystical feats being achieved by Weodrothis.

Those who were originally skeptical admonished themselves for being ignorant. Witnessing a prayer followed by such a spectacle; wouldn't they be seen as fools to continue doubting?

Concerning the gruesome nature of the ritual, as long as it was done in Weodrothis's name, then to them it was nothing short of the most beautiful view imaginable!

Bluog only spared the awed crowd a quick glance. Compared to them he was more concerned about someone else's reaction. 

He turned around to face his qi-refining partner but was startled by the sight that greeted him.

Standing in the glistening sunlight, Auopi was watching him with a faint longing in her eyes. A gentle smile rested on her face, with every breath seeming to radiate a warmth that washed away his worries.

As their eyes made contact, he froze. Streams of pollen escaped his pores, and his heart began to race.

With great effort he barely forced a smile before turning around and shamelessly moving to the next body. His mind still reeling from the experience.

Thankfully the unevolved fruit-folk remained blissfully unaware. Their thoughts centered around the shriveled corpse rather than Bluog.

He quickly performed rites on the remaining bodies and reconvened the group. Now with thirty-three people, they resumed the march to the monolith.

With the imminent danger gone everyone started to share the things they experienced and ask the questions they had been holding on to. At the forefront of discussion was of course the canines, with topics generally revolving around their origin and strange behavior.

Bluog had actually noticed something peculiar from the mutilated bodies, but didn't share it with the others. He planned to first do some more research to verify his hypothesis.

While some of the fruit-folk still felt wronged by the duo's actions, Bluogs performance had effectively squashed a majority of the group's dissatisfaction. 

The quiet atmosphere was soon replaced with vibrant conversations and lighthearted banter. Albeit with a tinge less enthusiasm than when they first left the fog.

Spatial Boundary

Daozi was able to see much more compared to the fruit-folk fumbling about on the ground.

When the living blueberry was casting prayers and stabbing corpses, he noticed 'white blobs' being propelled from the dead bodies and returning to Weodrothis.

These 'white blobs' were naturally their souls.

Once they returned to the big tree these souls entered its core. Moments later new leaves started to grow on its branches.

What he found fascinating was that these new leaves were not a perfect gold, rather three held a hint of blue and one a hint of red. The exact colors of the fruit-folk that had perished.

By scrutinizing these leaves further, he gleaned that should it bear new fruit-folk, they would actually be able to inherit part of their predecessor's cultivation.

Retaining souls to re-cultivate was not uncommon in the myriad realms, but it was not something the big tree should be capable of. The manipulation of souls, even for demon beasts, was generally only possible at Soul Consolidation.

Sigh.

Considering the number of surprises this tree brought him; he could only internally lament the struggles of being the Heavenly Dao.

Other than the big tree, he had also diverted some attention to the two qi-refining cultivators. Naturally their feelings couldn't escape his gaze, but he wasn't interested in their budding romance.

Instead, he learned that the blueberry person seemed to have retained a hint of the crimson tree's aura inside the golden leaf. With his limited knowledge about faith energy, he was able to roughly understand the implications.

It was essentially a portable Weodrothis. Able to channel the purple mist and communicate with the main body when necessary. Interesting, but not revolutionary.

Watching the thirty-three fruit-folk head to the monolith, he shifted his gaze to another side of the forest.

In this area, twenty of his surviving canines were currently in pursuit of the five fruit-folk dispatched by Weodrothis.

Unknown to the people fleeing, they were currently being reared to a distant point on the far side of the realm.