Even though Lin Feng had mentally prepared himself, parting from the Forest Rangers still left him a little heavy-hearted.
After the farewell banquet, and after saying goodbye to Nasrin and the others—and once again refusing Farbod's invitation to "eat mushrooms together"—Lin Feng accepted the graduation gift Tighnari had promised him back when he first joined.
"Go on, open it. I hope you'll like it."
Tighnari handed over a long rectangular box.
Lin Feng accepted it and lifted the lid. Inside lay a longbow, its body a deep, vibrant jade-green.
"I did say I'd prepare you a graduation gift, but with how quickly you… 'graduated', the bowyers in the village only had enough time to finish this much. Don't mind the craftsmanship too much."
Tighnari clearly wasn't satisfied with the gift—Lin Feng had advanced far too fast.
"No, this is already great. You know I'm not reliant on weapons anyway."
Lin Feng picked up the bow, but didn't draw it.
—At his current level, most weapons were basically toys. Anything that could meaningfully improve him probably belonged to lost ages.
Still… maybe it could keep him from accidentally killing everything he touched.
Lin Feng glanced at the extremely lightweight bow and sighed inwardly.
"Also, if you don't mind… can you tell me exactly what level your strength has reached now?"
"The thing that happened in the rainforest today—it was you, right? You scared Nasrin and the others so badly they thought the Lord of the Woods had manifested."
Having not fought alongside Lin Feng for months, Tighnari was more than a little curious.
Without a proper frame of reference, Lin Feng found the question tricky.
He scanned Gandharva Ville—his gaze lingering on the suspended wooden walkways and old bridges worn down by wind and rain.
He suddenly had an idea.
If he was leaving, he might as well do one last thing for this place.
Lin Feng closed his eyes.
Tighnari immediately noticed it.
—With a single thought from Lin Feng, countless strands of Dendro energy converged from sky and earth alike, as if racing to pay homage to their king.
Across all of Gandharva Ville, the long-decayed planks and fixtures suddenly breathed with life.
—Broken bridges reconnected.
—Collapsed signposts righted themselves.
—Rotten fencing became tall, neat, and vivid with blooming flowers.
Not only Tighnari—even passing merchants and residents were stunned by the vast scope of the "miracle."
A few Forest Rangers even dropped to their knees, shouting about the blessing of the Lord of the Woods.
"…This is unimaginable."
"In front of you, I doubt anyone alive has the right to call themselves a genius."
Though shocked beyond belief by Lin Feng's growth in less than half a year, Tighnari ultimately felt pride more than anything else.
After saying farewell one last time, Lin Feng left Gandharva Ville with Xiao Bai perched on his shoulder.
Finally beginning the journey he'd longed for, Lin Feng felt the freedom and ease spreading through his body with every step. Listening to the insects and birds around him, he realized that, unlike in his past life, he now had the opportunity to truly travel—and the thought made him unexpectedly content.
When he grew old someday, he thought, he'd settle in a small village like Qingce, strolling with Xiao Bai every day, visiting neighbors, living a slow, peaceful life.
—Even though only six months had passed, Lin Feng—still looking like a teenager—was already imagining his retirement plans.
Setting aside his wandering thoughts, he began seriously planning the steps needed to defeat the Withering Avatar.
To fulfill his agreement with Nahida, his first destination was Vimara Village, not far from Gandharva Ville.
A nice perk, though—unlike the Traveler, he didn't need to run around hunting for scattered Aranara. As a responsible employer, Nahida would recall all the wandering Aranara back to Old Vanarana for him.
Lin Feng simply needed to head to Vimara Village and travel by boat along the waterway to reach Old Vanarana.
With Dream's Blessing Lv.7, entering Old Vanarana was as simple as a thought. And with Nahida helping from within, Lin Feng believed this "speedrun version" of the Aranyaka would not take very long—at least, that was what he thought.
He didn't deliberately hurry, but his stamina was far beyond normal now. Even with a pack on his back, he moved astonishingly fast.
On the road, he occasionally saw caravans passing by. Merchants from every nation traveled along this route—he even spotted two dressed like they were from Fontaine.
Which wasn't strange. Vimara Village was a major node on the waterways of Sumeru, and practically every caravan bound for Port Ormos passed through. But precisely because it was such a convenient transit point, merchants rarely stayed long.
Even after hours of walking, Lin Feng wasn't the least bit tired—he was hardly human by this point. But as dusk approached, he still pitched a tent by the roadside for the night.
It was the same rainforest, the same wilderness—but curled up in a tent with Xiao Bai in his arms, Lin Feng's heart was nothing like when he first came here.
The forest's murmurs now were gentle, comforting.
He found
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