Yet, all of this is but a distant memory now.

Chapter 286.

Is she involved? Ever since her visage was marred in the gem from her forehead was torn away, everything had irrevocably changed.

She could no longer perceive the divine powers of nature and could only watch helplessly as she transformed from a noble trant into the most grotesque of lesser tree folk.

Her mother stripped her of her name, robbing her of her final avenue of escape, her true identity.

The divine sect denied her the right to pray, rendering the great deity's name a forbidden utterance upon her lips.

They utterly obliterated her chances of reforming her faith.

As for her betro, that esteemed Treyant, he showed no concern for her plight.

He brazenly mocked her appearance and proclaimed his impending marriage to her sister.

Her half-brother harbored a deep-seated resentment towards her, blaming her for the destruction of their foundation for failing to protect herself and for allowing their younger sister to ascend and seize control of the family, condemning him to a fate of servitude to a lesser trant.

The venomous glare from her brother seemed as if it were laced with poison, wishing to extract her heart and dismantle her bones to stoke the fires.

Her halfsister loathed her as well, resenting her lack of strength and intelligence, which had led to the demise of their once prosperous days.

From henceforth she would be relegated to a meager allowance, struggling to survive outside.

No one cared for her.

Noah made an effort to look after her, regardless of how much they had benefited from her in the past.

She had once lived too well, too naively, too foolishly.

Teban shook her head, attempting to dispel the shadows of resentment that clouded her mind.

For those bitter memories served no purpose in her current existence.

As the shadows faded, she beheld a puddle on the ground, reflecting light that illuminated her frail, emaciated form in her unappealing visage with hair resembling dried grass.

She turned her gaze away from the puddle and focused intently on gathering tendrils and leaves from some nearby vines.

These deep green vines had a hard exterior, and though their inner flesh was slightly bitter and unpalatable, they were edible and could sustain her.

If she could collect enough before the beasts emerged, perhaps she could amass provisions for the winter.

The numbness of her existence had rendered her thoughts rigid, leaving her oblivious to the source of the light reflected in the puddle, until suddenly a commotion rang out from the sky.

The barrier had been breached.

The protective enchantment of the great tree city, Tglas, was shattered.

Sunlight poured through the gaps of the ruined city, illuminating her dwelling in the lower realms that had known no sun.

Teban gazed up in terror as the barrier crumbled, granting her a glimpse of the chaos unfolding above among the treetops.

Flames, sounds, explosions, and destruction cascaded in a relentless display of light and shadow reflected in her eyes.

surrounding her.

A cacophony erupted.

In the depths of the forest, various beasts began to riot, sprinting wildly in search of refuge from the debris raining down from Treas.

Teban did not flee.

As a wanderer, barereft of magic and identity, she possessed no means to escape or even knew where to run.

No matter where she might go, it would be of little consequence.

Against such formidable foes capable of obliterating cities, hiding was feudal.

remaining here might afford her a semblance of peace.

In her final moments, she settled against the roots of a tree.

Using a shard of bone from her own body to peel away the outer skin of the vine in her grasp, chewing on a slightly bitter core, she chewed thoughtfully, savoring the taste that bore a hint of bitterness, yet offered a semblance of satiety.

Her gaze lingered upon the once bountiful and beautiful tree city, now gradually succumbing to the ravages of explosion.

Did any of this pertain to her? Perhaps it did.

And yet it did not.

Her mother filled with a tender yet truly icy demeanor.

Her fiercely competitive younger sister, the man with whom she once fantasized about a future together, and even her once obedient younger brother, who had turned hostile upon realizing he would gain no favor.

Perhaps it was all a mere illusion.

A thought of irreverence danced in her mind.

Chapter 287.

Strange words.

The divine being did not require her faith, rendering her frail existence seemingly feudal.

While Tayan was lost in thought, a radiant orb descended from the heavens, resembling an explosive.

Surely, it signified her demise.

Her life, though unique, was tragically bleak and repugnant.

Yet she did not perish.

As the light before her dissipated, she beheld a deity of unparalleled beauty.

Even at her most exquisite, she could not compare to a single strand of this divine being's hair.

Realizing that the god of this realm was absent, Suzie Han's avatar transformed from a covert observer alongside her companions, the Alyses, into a direct asalent.

She found great delight in waging war against the deity when they were away.

where Lanki and the death knight entered the fry while the restless Xihon sought out major cities to execute her bomb maker plans.

At that moment, she noticed an exceptionally unattractive trayant.

Its appearance was withered and unsightly with hair resembling a clump of dry grass at top its head.

Had she not encountered the primary intelligent races of this world and sense their essence, she might have struggled to identify this creature species.

Unlike her kin, who were vibrant youths, this being bore a semblance to humanity with skin of a pale yellow hue, wrinkled and parched like dehydrated vegetables.

Its large eyes and pointed nose created a rather unappealing visage, accentuated by a dent in its forehead that was unlike the gem-like features of the Trey in this world.

Nonetheless, it possessed redeeming qualities.

What captured Zihan's attention was the purity of this creature's soul, exuding a refreshing aura.

Most notably, it lacked the scent of the divine being's mark, indicating it was a free entity, a trayant that had slipped through the cracks.

Zihan approached for a closer inspection.

Amusingly, she observed the creature not shying away, but mechanically gnawing on the vine in its grasp, appearing indifferent to her presence, as if its sole desire was to feast.

Xihan's avatar did not overlook the spark of intelligence that flickered in its gaze upon noticing her, confirming its awareness and sensience.

What delectable vine could entice this being to forego escape in the face of calamity, remaining focused on its meal, even amidst adversaries? Was it truly so dectable? Xihan attempted to inquire using the language of the outer gods, a dialect she had practiced with the mermaids for some time, though she was uncertain of her proficiency in its application.

Taam looked up, tilting her head in confusion.

The unfamiliar divine figure, this beautiful deity, was conversing with her, even asking if she was delicious.

The divine tongue carried a slight accent, somewhat unrefined, yet she comprehended it.

She glanced at her own form, her flesh hanging loosely upon her bones.

Not delicious, she thought.

Lacking moisture, she was rather desiccated, her texture likely more aid than the vine she held.

Even boiling would not restore her to a succulent state.

Once she had been a vibrant tray ant, but without pure spiritual dew, and with the inferior water sources available, her body could only grow increasingly parched.

To the unfamiliar deity, I may not be particularly appetizing.

However, should you desire taste, I am willing to oblige.

" Tbby Nin untied the withered leaves that adorned her body, revealing her chest.

It seemed that she possessed but a single heart of wood, still rather tender, it appeared.

Offering a morsel to this divine being might not be so bad, Tbinan pondered.

Shiao Xihan gazed at the tree spirit before him, peeling back the dry leaves that enveloped her form, exposing a wrinkled and desiccated chest, and then began to utter peculiar words.

Chapter 288.

An unexpected opportunity one do not wish to consume you, Shiao Xihan stated, shaking her head.

With a flicker of divine energy, she adorned the trant in garments, concealing its withered, cadaavverous form with leaves.

While she could easily feast upon raw corn, she declined the notion of gnawing at the trant.

Yet she sensed a robust heart nestled within the desiccated body, pulsating with peculiar energetic waves, excluding the insatiable hunger of the dark sun, which was indiscriminate in its cravings.

Shiao Xihan's gaze fell upon the vine, clutched in the trant maiden's grasp.

Her curiosity peaked.

The trant, sensing the foreign deity s intent, tentatively raised its hand.

Presenting the meager sustenance intended for lesser trayants, a food that offered minimal satiety, imbued with only a faint trace of magical essence.

Grasping a vine, Shiao Xihan wiped it briefly and took a tentative bite.

The exterior was crisp yet unyielding, while the interior was bitter and devoid of moisture, exceedingly dry.

However, at the core of the vine lay a high starch content, imparting a faintly powdery texture that proved unpleasant when consumed raw.

Perhaps roasted over a flame, it might yield a more palatable flavor.

Previously, the trant had been consuming this vine, leading her to believe it was sweet and crunchy, akin to sugarcane or sweet stalks.

Perhaps her hunger had distorted her perception.

Enduring the unsatisfactory taste, she swallowed, sensing a flicker of spiritual energy within a vine, albeit of a low caliber, inferior even to the stone wheat she had always regarded as mere packaging in her divine realm.

An audacious thought sparked in her mind.