After chatting with the Aranara of Vanarana for a good while, Lin Feng didn't return empty-handed.
Their homeland — that half-dream, half-real place between waking and sleep — fascinated him. It wasn't truly in the material world, yet physical things could be brought into it. That blend of dream and reality piqued his curiosity.
After a short conversation with the village "chief," Arama, Lin Feng learned that the Aranara's nature was integral to building such a dreamspace. And even though he couldn't construct a dream that grand himself, he did gain something he'd wanted for a long time: storage space.
With his Dream's Blessing level already at 7 and the Aranara naturally able to share their power by gifting their songs, the system worked in his favor. In return for helping clear the surrounding whopperflowers, Lin Feng received one of the Aranara's songs — the raw energy to form a personal dream-space.
No luggage, no burden, Lin Feng suddenly felt like a husky freed from a leash. He bounced through the forest with Xiao Bai, ecstatic; the sight was, admittedly, a little embarrassing. When he calmed down, he was quietly relieved he hadn't been filmed—otherwise his antics would have become permanent internet shame.
He couldn't help it. In the game the Traveler carried nothing, sprinted everywhere, and could retreat into the Serenitea Pot at night to be cozy with their traveling companion. Lin Feng had always been jealous of that. Carrying heavy packs restricted movement, made combat clumsy, and soaked food miserable in the rain. The idea of dozens of cubic meters of private storage made his heart race.
Freed from a backpack, he tore along the trails like the wind. The route was remote, so there weren't many people, but a few patrolling rangers were startled by the blur that dashed past them.
In just half a day he cut his travel time nearly in half. He didn't waste the journey either — constantly monitoring the Dendro flow around him, he casually ripped out any nascent Withering seeds he found. Having once been a ranger, he still hated Witherings.
These were small fry, though — the leyline residues didn't amount to much for a level-71 Lin Feng, but every little bit added up. By the time he reached Lokapala Jungle, it might be enough for another level.
After greeting a passing ranger and clearing a handful of minor Witherings, he kept going. Then, somewhere along the way, he stopped.
Ahead rose a vast palace — or rather, the shell of a palace. Built near a cliff, the structure wasn't finished, but its scale and lavishness were breathtaking. Craftsmen swarmed the site, feverishly hammering and carving, and from a distance Lin Feng spotted a golden-haired young man giving directions with the zeal of youth.
A huge palace between Lokapala Jungle and Vanarana, directed by a blond youth — the memory clicked into place.
This had to be Kavi and his Kasazalai Palace — the exact fellow from his game memories.
The palace hadn't been ravaged by the Withering, and Kavi hadn't sold his property to fund the construction. Watching a nascent Withering seed begin to form nearby, Lin Feng thought Kavi was lucky to meet him. If these seeds were left to spread, the building would be wrecked in months.
He cleared the seed on a whim and turned to leave — until the blond youth noticed him staring and actually ran over.
"Hey, you there — wait up!" the youth panted as he reached Lin Feng. Looking him over, he sounded unsure: "Black hair, young, Dendro Vision, with a white pet… are you… the legendary Withering Breaker?"
Lin Feng: "."
That name was gloriously cringe. But it explained things. Because Lin Feng had been quietly removing Witherings en route, sometimes blasting them from afar with concentrated Dendro and sometimes cleaning them up when rangers were nearby, word had spread. The rangers in the Guardian Forest region had begun talking about a nearby specialist who found and nuked Withering seeds before they matured.
So the nickname stuck.
"If you mean the person who's been clearing Witherings along the road, then yes—that'd be me," Lin Feng admitted bluntly.
"That's amazing!" Kavi nearly jumped. "I've had this uneasy feeling — Kasazalai's construction is going smoothly, but Witherings in the Guardian Forest keep popping up. I was worried something bad would happen."
"Could you help check the nearby seeds? I'll pay handsomely!" Kavi asked, earnest and hopeful.
"There's nothing left," Lin Feng answered, killing the dramatic reveal. He'd already cleared the seed. "No need to worry."
"Thank the tree-king!" Kavi exhaled, visibly relieved.
"Wait — nothing left?!" The young man's face went pale as the implications hit him.
Lin Feng blinked. This kid was earnest, but a touch dense.
"What I mean is, there was a Withering starting to form nearby. It would've spread in maybe two months. I took care of it," Lin Feng explained.
"Oh—oh my, you're literally my savior!" Kavi broke into a sweat. He fumbled in his pocket for a business card and pressed it into Lin Feng's hand. "You probably think this was nothing, but to me — you've saved my life. Please, take this. If you ever need architectural work in Sumeru, come to Kasazalai House. I'll do it for free."
Lin Feng looked at the card, smiled, and accepted it.
He politely declined Kavi's invitation to stay a while, thanked the young architect, and — pleased at running into a familiar NPC from the game — resumed his trek toward Lokapala Jungle.
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