Barren wastelands stretched east of Shadow Gorge—cracked earth, wind-scoured rock, and lands even beasts shunned. Once demon battlefields, now forgotten scars. Farmers shook their heads: "Nothing grows there." Merchants skirted wide. But Elowen saw differently.
Her first dawn in the north, the Nature Sovereign walked those wastes alone, emerald robes trailing a faint green glow. Bare feet touched poisoned soil. She knelt, fingers sinking deep. "Life reclaims," she whispered.
Vines stirred. Seeds no one planted burst through the soil. By noon, the grass waved knee-high. Sunset painted fields emerald. Nightfall birthed spirit trees—trunks thick as houses, fruits glowing qi-rich.
I arrived the next morning with Yue Zhilan, with Mo Han stomping curiously. Farmers gaped from ridges. "Impossible," Old Wei muttered.
Elowen rose smiling, hands soil-dark. "Not impossible. Willing. This land hungered too."
She led us through miracle groves. Spirit apples hung heavy—bites healed wounds, juice sparked cultivation. Berry bushes burst endlessly, with flavours foreign kings craved. Wheat fields waved golden, stalks thick as veins.
"Verdant Dominion," she explained softly. "My innate weaves life eternal. Barren drinks my qi and gives back tenfold."
Mo Han plucked an apple, biting it, crunching. Flames dimmed wide eyes. "Tastes like power."
Yue Zhilan touched a leaf, moonlight blending green. "Heaven envies this."
Farmers rushed down, hands trembling. "Lady... can we?"
Elowen nodded warmly. "Yours now. Plant beside me. Learn my weaves."
Academies swelled the next day. Lian led classes: kids pressing palms to soil, mimicking Elowen's qi flow. Farmers-turned-cultivators walked rows, whispering growth chants. Refugee healers brewed leaf teas, potency rivalling saint pills.
Trade exploded.
Waggons couldn't carry fast enough. Spirit fruits piled in crates—apples for Wu palaces, berries for Huang sects, and wheat fuelling Freeport fleets. No taxes choked flow. Merchants begged for routes: "Your escorts first!"
Vulcan hammered crates, laughing. "My steel guards her gold!"
Lin Dao mapped endless wastelands: "Wastelands yield triple old fields. Revenue surges 500%. Foreign kings addicted."
The Wu emperor sent pleas: "Apples heal my qi veins. Double wagons?" The Huang empress offered daughters: "Seeds for alliance eternal." Freeport captains knelt on docks: "Berries power our arrays. Escort seas forever."
I replied simply: "Trade open. Loyalty free."
Elowen's groves birthed wonders daily. Spirit rice, cooked in one minute, fed armies. Vine wines restored meridians. Blossom honey sparked enlightenment. Barren turned breadbasket of realms.
Refugees—no, citizens—thronged fields. A baker's girl led harvest songs, weaving bountiful qi. Old Wei swung the scythe, back strong from fruit juice. "Sovereign," he bowed, "your lady feeds us forever."
Mo Han trained beside groves now—demons sharing ale under trees. "Mortals bloom like her vines."
Yue Zhilan walked with Elowen one dusk. "You give more than food."
Elowen smiled faintly. "Life shared grows strongest. He freed my spark once. Now I free this land."
Foreign envoys arrived waggons-deep. Prince Wu tasted rice, eyes tearing: "Our fields rot beside this." Huang mages begged seeds: "Teach weaves!" Freeport healers knelt: "Honey cures our plagues!"
North hosted feasts—spirit feasts under blooming canopies. Kings tasted paradise, swore fealty sweeter.
Wen Zixing tallied vaults, grinning. "Taxless wealth is endless. Groves fuel everything."
The system chimed lushly.
"Ding! Verdant Revolution Complete. Farmland x10. Trade surge: +700%. Reward: Eternal Harvest Array (Elowen Exclusive), Population Boom +30%. New Title: Verdant Sovereign.
The harvest moon rose full. Fields glowed under it—endless green feeding cities swelling. Caravans snaked horizons, richer with each load. Barren no more. Spirit farmlands fuelled trade empires.
Elowen stood in the grove's heart, vines cradling her gently. "Your north blooms eternal now."
I nodded, Eternal Sovereign's Fang sheathed beside the blooming branch. "You turned scars to strength."
Farmers sang below, kids chasing fireflies qi-bright. Foreign kings knelt at feasts, mouths full of bounty.
Elowen's first gift didn't conquer. It fed.
Wastelands bloomed. Trade is endless. The North is rich beyond dreams.
One woman's green touch changed worlds—not by sword, but by seed.
Paradise grew roots deep. Empires hungered at our gates.