1849 The Mulberry Saplings

Alex gave Pearl plenty of time to be with his father while he went to meet the Lion to get his Mulberry tree saplings.

There were a few that were growing in the restricted section of the Lion Colony with the larger Mulberry trees growing there.

There were about 7 different saplings in total from what Alex could see in the place and was a little surprised to see so many of them.

"I gave you a seed before, what happened to it?" the Lion asked. "Did it die?"

"I haven't had the chance to grow it," Alex said truthfully. "For the past 20 years, I've been going here and there, never remaining in one place. I needed to be back home to grow it. Now that I have that freedom, I think I will have the chance."

"You are quite greedy to ask for more saplings when you already have a seed," the Lion said. "But then, it is true that the chance of a seed of a Mulberry tree maturing from a single seed is very little."

"How long do Mulberry trees survive?" Alex asked.

"About 40 years or so?" the Lion said. "That's the average at least. Some can be less, some can be more."

Alex nodded and crouched in front of the 7 saplings. "So you have to constantly grow a new one or you will run out of it, huh?"

"That is the problem, isn't it?" the Lion asked with a bit of a chuckle.

Alex looked through the saplings, some which were merely germinated, some which had been growing for a few weeks or a month at least.

One was even nearly as tall as Alex's knees.

"That one is nearly dead," the Lion said, pointing to the tall sapling whose leaves were dryer than the rest.

Alex got close to the plant and took a look at the leaves. He sent his spiritual sense through the plants and got some information back.

"They are very nutrient hungry, aren't they?" he asked. "You must not have enough nutrients for all of them."

"The nutrients we get come from the young beasts feeding on random herbs and that getting absorbed by the saplings. We fertilize this land through that, but it is never certain which sapling will consume it, and which one will die even through it."

Alex nodded. "I believe each one of the saplings is different," he said. "Not in a way that they are different plants, but in a way that they are lacking different things and they need it."

Information about the Heavenly Mulberry trees was flowing through his mind from the Alchemy God's Knowledge, and his Dao of Plant Growth and Dao of Five Elemental Interaction were helping him understand more about the situation.

"The Mulberry plants require specific energy or combination of energies in their sapling form to grow. If you can provide it, you will put the missing piece of the puzzle, making it grow into a mature Heavenly Mulberry tree," Alex said.

The Lion looked surprised. "Are you certain that's the case?" he asked.

"Positive," Alex replied. "Although, I'm having a hard time telling just what this plant is lacking. Give me a moment please."

He closed his eyes and used his spiritual sense to analyze the dying plant as much as he could. At the same time, he used the Dao of Plant Growth to aid in the plant's growth.

The Dao of Plant Growth did give Alex the power to grow any and all plants, but it was certainly a great help to something that was already growing.

If compared to a human child, it couldn't provide the child with the necessary nutrients to grow. But it could help the child's body become better at metabolism or be better at absorbing every nutrient that came his way, sending nothing to waste.

Using the Dao of Five Elemental Interaction, Alex sensed what combination of energy was inside the plant at that very moment.

Somehow, Alex found it incredibly difficult to sense energies in the plant, which made sense to him considering the Mulberry trees were a big part of what made the Heavenly Silkworm's threads so good at blocking spiritual sense.

Still, this wasn't a mature plant, and Alex got exactly what he wanted after trying hard enough.

"A combination of Fire and Earth. More earth than fire," he said out loud.

"What?" the Lion asked.

"The energy combination," Alex said. "That is what this sapling needs. Have your young beasts eat something with a lot of Fire and Earth energy inside of it, just for this sapling, and see if it comes back to health."

The Lion gave Alex's words some thought and nodded. "How about the rest? Can you tell me what they would need? You said each one was different."

"Yes, let me check," Alex said and started going through the saplings. It took him a while to go through the rest of the 6 saplings, but after the first few, he had gotten a firmer understanding of how to search for what he was looking for, so toward the end, he completed it in less than 10 seconds.

Alex told the Lion all the combinations of energies that each of the saplings would require, and the Lion nodded enthusiastically.

"We won't change what we're doing right now just in case you are wrong, but I will have the requirement for just this dying sapling changed. If it shows improvements, I will immediately have the rest of the saplings follow the same requirement. Is it possible for you to teach me how to look for these things?"

"Do you know the Dao of Plant Growth or the Dao of Five Elemental Interaction?" Alex asked.

The Lion shook his head. "If we ever have someone like that, I'll have them sent to you to learn," he said. "For now, you can take any of the three saplings you want."

Alex nodded and took three of the saplings, placing them into his Soul Space. Just as he and the Lion walked out of the restricted section, he heard Pearl communicate to him through his bond.

"Brother, I have a request," Pearl spoke.

"Just ask," Alex said, wondering what it was that Pearl wanted from him.

"Can we hold a funeral for my father?" Pearl asked.

Alex nodded. "Of course. We can do that. We should do that," he said. "Should we wait until we leave or do you want to hold it here? Your great-grandparents won't be able to come here if we do it here."

"We can do it in both places," Pearl said.

"Where do you want his grave to be?" Alex asked.

"In neither place," Pearl said. "This was where he lived, but this wasn't his home. I'm certain there is a grave out there for him back where he came from. We won't have to make one for him here. I just wish to hold a funeral."

"I see," Alex said. "Do you wish to cremate him or… I suppose burial is out of the question."

"I don't know," Pearl said in a solemn voice. "What do you think is the right choice? I don't want his body to remain like this all. He is dead, so he should be put to rest."

Alex thought for a moment. "I… have an idea, but I'm not sure if you will like it or not."