"My lord," the spirit said to the avatar.

The avatar observed the spirit with elven features standing not far in front of him. She was a mature beauty with long green hair, dressed in a green and golden gown. Her aura revealed her extraordinary cultivation at the peak pseudo-immortal stage.

However, seeing how she suddenly acted in submission, he guessed this spirit must have already sensed his unique quality when she looked at him directly, just like the other world tree spirits had sensed his real body for the first time.

His golden energy was captivating for spirits and spiritual beasts, making them the ones most drawn to him whenever they sensed it.

He then removed his mask and canceled his disguise technique.

"I guess you are the spirit of this world tree, right? Do you know me, since you called me my lord? Earlier, I could sense your observation of me, which made me curious," the avatar asked.

The spirit straightened her body and looked at him directly.

"I don't know you personally, my lord, but your energy… that energy is like what I sensed in the vision I received long ago, a vision that came from the first ancestor of the empire. In that vision, I saw a beautiful phenomenon in the sky, and there would be someone with a special energy likely to appear. If that figure came, the first ancestor left me a message that I must serve him to the best of my ability," she said.

"My apologies if my observation disturbed you, but the moment I sensed my lord for the first time, I was truly astonished and curious. You triggered something deep within me, something I have only felt once in my life. I could say that this is like an innate attraction to you, my lord, which is why I kept observing you. With your unique quality and with my instinct and soul also telling me to serve you, I believe you are the one mentioned in the vision."

Aldrian nodded. It was the same as with the other spirits, and he knew her attraction was not a kind of romantic one but an attraction toward his very being. His golden energy was what made them feel this attraction.

She said that the first ancestor of the Verdyn Empire gave her a vision about him. His real body had already guessed in the past that the first ancestor was Seralis. The phenomenon in the sky must have referred to the aurora that appeared after he absorbed the golden orb in his palace, which was the sign that he had already broken free from the Barisan Continent.

This place was also the location of the Tree of Life, after all, and Seralis must have given that vision to prepare in case he ever visited this place.

"I see. Do you have a name? It would not be good if I just call you 'you'," he asked.

"I don't have any name, my lord."

"Do you want a name?"

"If my lord would give me a name, then it would be my honor," she replied.

The avatar thought for a moment before he found one that he felt was a good name for her.

"How about I call you Viona? That sounds good, right?"

"Viona… Viona…" she muttered it a few times before finally showing a smile and nodding.

"I like it, my lord. Thank you for giving me a name, and from this moment my name shall be Viona."

The avatar smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you like it. Anyway, I would like to ask you some questions. Would you mind accompanying me in conversation?"

"It would be my pleasure, my lord," the spirit replied.

"How old are you? I mean, your spirit form."

"My apologies, my lord, but I no longer count my exact age. However, I am already more than a billion years old. My spirit form was born even before the Verdyn Empire was established. As for the world tree itself, it is far, far older. I do not even know the true age of my real body, but from my understanding, this tree may have grown not long after the Ancient Blue Gate World was created."

The avatar was not truly shocked upon hearing her age. Spirits were beings born from nature itself, taking form in many shapes. Known spirit races, such as the Celestial Night Spirit, in the ancient past were not as they are now, when they could reproduce like other beings. They were born directly from the universe, from nature itself, just like Viona.

After their birth, they will have extremely long lifespans. As long as the place they were born from is not destroyed, they will continue to live. They can cultivate simply by naturally absorbing the surrounding heaven and earth energy without using any specific technique, much like spiritual beasts in their beast form.

But then a question arises, doesn't that mean they could live forever even without high cultivation?

The answer is no. As time passes, a spirit will undergo transformation. They will become more "physical." They gain the characteristics of normal cultivators and become much freer, no longer completely bound to the place they were born from.

Spirits like Olivia, Alice, Vireline, and Viona, cannot remain far away from their birthplace forever. In this case, the world tree. If they are gone for too long and too far, they will lose control of themselves. They will grow weak, and their existence could even disappear, as their connection to the place of their birth becomes too distant and severed.

The only way for them to overcome this weakness is to wait. Wait until the time comes when they undergo the change to become like other beings. However, the problem is that they never know when that time will be, as each spirit has a different cycle. It could be hundreds of years, hundreds of thousands of years, or even billions of years, no one knows.

That is why it is only a matter of time before a spirit of the world tree changes to become more physical. But even now, Aldrian did not know how long it would take. The avatar thought that perhaps, because the spirit of the world tree was a special existence, born from the sacred tree revered by many beings, they would have to wait much longer.

Seralis, as a god, had already undergone the change in his past life, though even he could not remember how long it had taken.

Remembering Seralis, Aldrian asked again,

"Hmm, I want to ask about the first ancestor of the Verdyn Empire. Is she the one who placed the Tree of Life beneath your real body?"

Viona nodded. "Yes, my lord. I saw it with my own eyes, she brought the Tree of Life here by herself from somewhere. To be honest, my lord, I don't really know much about the first ancestor of the empire. However, what I do know is that she was an extremely powerful cultivator, and she was able to flourish this place into the sanctuary of the elves."

"She was truly a great cultivator, and when she came, I felt something I had never felt before. The comfort and reverence I felt toward her were immense." Viona let out a sigh.

"However, one day she suddenly disappeared after giving me that vision. That truly made me feel sad, but life had to go on. Moreover, she had already given me that vision and the message to keep waiting until you arrived, my lord, and to serve you."

Aldrian nodded in understanding. Just as he had guessed, the first ancestor, the founder of the Verdyn Empire, was Seralis. He suddenly found himself thinking about how this world contained so many traces of his past followers, or at least those who had been connected to them.

This empire, the three great sects, the countless treasures, and all the signs they left behind truly made his heart feel warm. It strengthened his will to reclaim the universe. He could not disappoint them after they had already done so much for him.

Aldrian then continued to converse with Viona for the next few hours before returning to his room. The sun was already close to setting, and tonight there was an event he needed to attend with Sylphia.

Tonight, the Silvarin imperial family was holding a welcome banquet for Sylphia, and many nobles would be present. Even the opposition faction would have to attend, as they needed to maintain their image as subjects of the empire in front of her.

Even if they did not wish to attend, they would not risk shaming themselves or creating a bad impression before Sylphia and many people, by refusing to appear at the welcome banquet. Such an absence would be seen as disrespect toward Sylphia, which in the end was no different from disrespecting Aldrian the Great himself.

As the sun finally went down and the sky turned dark, one side of the imperial palace lit up where the hall for the banquet had already been neatly arranged, and many people had begun to arrive. Even though the banquet had not yet officially started, they already seemed eager to attend.

Many carriages passed through, carrying nobles from across the empire to the palace hall.

Inside one of the carriages, Grand Duke Freindor, already dressed in his noble attire, was also on his way to the hall. As he looked at the scenery outside, he couldn't help but smile along the road while thinking about tonight's event.

'Let's see how you will get out of this, Empress Vilena,' he thought.