As Chen Xuan looked down at the wolf, he was debating whether he should use the insignia now.
After a few moments of contemplation, Chen Xuan decided to wait, as he didn't know what side effects might occur. He didn't know if the wolf might worsen in condition, as the wolf already had a 50/50 chance of surviving.
Leaving the wolf alone, Chen Xuan relaxed, waiting for the wolf to wake up.
Only after 12 hours did the wolf begin to open its eyes, which was noticed by Chen Xuan immediately.
The wolf looked up at Chen Xuan, wanting to get up, but Chen Xuan stopped it, sending some signals to the wolf to stay still.
Sending the message, Chen Xuan felt the dull ache increase slightly for a few moments, straining as the wolf resisted the command slightly due to its state; it couldn't last long.
Forced to stay down, the wolf looked up at Chen Xuan, curious about the tree that moved.
Once Chen Xuan made sure that the wolf would be fine after a lot of rest, he followed the system activation method, connecting to the flower-like crest in his mind.
The Blossom Crest was a deep golden color, forming a lotus flower blossoming within a circle made out of its golden lines.
The Blossom Crest acted like another flower on his body, able to activate and control it with ease, just like moving a finger or, in Chen Xuan's case, a branch.
As Chen Xuan connected to the insignia, a deep golden lotus flower slowly grew from Chen Xuan's trunk, curled up and closed.
Unlike the other flowers, this crest could be manipulated and moved across his body, which Chen Xuan took advantage of.
Carefully maneuvering the small flower, Chen Xuan brought it to a branch that was wide enough to hold the flower before lowering the branch to the back of the wolf's neck, just above the nape.
Just like any other one of his flowers, Chen Xuan made the golden lotus bloom, causing it to let out a low golden light and a subtle heat.
With the flower bloomed, Chen Xuan brought it down on the wolf's neck, causing a whimper as the flower detached from Chen Xuan's branch, sticking firmly to the nape of the wolf.
A low sizzling sound spread from the flower as the wolf whimpered. Within a few moments, the insignia slowly melted into the nape until fully dissolving into a 2D pattern, just like the insignia in Chen Xuan's mind.
Once the Crest fully formed on the wolf's nape, the golden pattern that shone lightly from the wolf formed a faint connection to Chen Xuan, more stable than simple hypnosis.
The wolf, meanwhile, felt a deep connection form, feeling a strange sense of trust in the tree before it. Its original wary gaze turned more friendly, its ears flattening on its head.
Seeing such a gesture, Chen Xuan smiled before using his connection to the wolf to send a simple message but not an order: "Sleep, you need rest."
With the unconditional trust instilled in the wolf via the crest, the wolf shut its eyes and let itself sleep, just like a child sleeping with their parent.
Smiling slightly as he looked down at the smaller wolf, Chen Xuan thought to himself, "Hmm... I think I'll name you Fenrir."
With that, Chen Xuan relaxed peacefully in the forest, doing nothing but ensuring the wolf was safe, keeping away any ants or other insects, for the next few days.
After a few days, Chen Xuan gathered enough points to break through once more, wasting no time in pressing upgrade, causing the warm energy to surge through him once more.
Surging through his body, strengthening and enhancing every aspect of his body from his roots up to his crown, all of it strengthening.
The enhancement this time took a bit longer, lasting a full minute before dissipating, while previously it had lasted only a few dozen seconds.
After the minute was up, Chen Xuan felt that he had been strengthened far more than he used to be.
Once the general strengthening was finished, Chen Xuan went to the skills tab, opening the available options to see what he needed most at the moment.
Crown (high combat ability)+
Trunk (energy storage and health)+
Roots (energy absorption efficiency (how often you absorb)+
Flowers (hypnosis and control)+
Size (overall size) +
After a minute or two of contemplating, Chen Xuan ruled out the size and trunk as they would provide no real help at the moment.
After ruling out the currently useless options, Chen Xuan decided to first put 2 points into his roots before contemplating where to use his 1 point.
While his roots strengthened, Chen Xuan deliberated before he put it into his crown, strengthening his branches and leaves.
"Hey, a man's gotta defend himself, right?" he muttered, talking to himself due to not having any real communication in days.
Once fully assigned, Chen Xuan relaxed once more as he allowed the warm energy to bathe him again.
Upon the dissipation of the energies, Chen Xuan went back to relaxing, enjoying the sun on his trunk and crown.
The feeling of the sun on his leaves was very soothing, even more so than the sun on the skin. This is because, as a tree, Chen Xuan can generate energy from his leaves, so that even without roots, he would still strengthen.
As Chen Xuan relaxed for a few days, he noticed a stirring in the wolf. Usually, when the wolf wakes up, it just lies still for hours, occasionally eating whatever rabbits or insects Chen Xuan caught for it.
This time, however, Fenrir nuzzled Chen Xuan's trunk, whimpering lightly as it looked towards its stitches. The gestures, combined with the feelings Chen Xuan sensed from his connection to Fenrir, made him guess that Fenrir wanted its stitches removed.
The feelings Chen Xuan sensed were ones of pleading and discomfort, assisting his guess.
Sighing, Chen Xuan reached out one of his branches, gently touching the stitches that were created from his branches. Focusing his mind, Chen Xuan stabbed the end of one of his branches into the stitches' end.
This formed a connection with the stitches just like any one of his branches, albeit weaker than most.
Using some delicate precision, Chen Xuan carefully wove the stitches from Fenrir's leg, leaving only a few holes.
As Chen Xuan carefully extracted the stitches, Fenrir whimpered and whined lightly, trying to keep its voice down while also feeling the pain.
After the stitches were out, Fenrir looked to Chen Xuan with gratitude, feeling better from having the wood removed from its leg.