Chapter 584: The Princesses Arrive
Chapter 584: The Princesses Arrive
The grand, sweeping architecture of the ancient Imperial Palace stretched endlessly before Marcus. Red-lacquered pillars carved with dragons and phoenixes, ornate eaves, and brilliantly colored glazed tiles blended seamlessly with the surrounding gardens, each detail contributing to an overwhelming display of imperial grandeur.Luxury and authority seemed to radiate from every stone, creating a sense of power and majesty that demanded respect.
The Imperial Palace of the Dragon Dynasty had taken the finest elements of every ancient dynasty and brought them together into something breathtaking. Magnificent, sun-drenched, and beautiful enough to resemble a painting, it was the sort of place that made a person understand why countless people would spend their entire lives striving to reach the highest levels of power.
Thanks to Alana, Dr. Harrison was unusually warm and helpful, pointing out various landmarks as they made their way toward the Phoenix Garden behind Princess Phoenix’s residence. Marcus listened with interest, occasionally glancing around at the magnificent palace grounds, until the garden finally came into view.
"What a beautiful garden," Marcus couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw it.
Princess Phoenix’s private garden was enormous, covering an area roughly the size of five football fields. Ponds and elegant pavilions were scattered throughout it, while carefully arranged rock formations, towering trees, and lush groves filled the spaces between them. Threads of golden energy shimmered faintly through the air, nourishing an astonishing variety of plants.
Thanks to the presence of the Immortal Phoenix, colorful birds and small magical creatures also wandered freely through the garden, their calls blending with the rustling leaves as they chased one another among the trees.
This was supposed to be an imperial garden? It was practically a miniature paradise. The sheer extravagance of the Imperial Palace was no exaggeration.
Dr. Harrison led them deeper into the garden until they reached its center, where the legendary Divine-grade Phoenixwood Tree stood. Marcus immediately turned his attention toward it, but before he could examine the tree closely, he noticed the strange arrangement surrounding it.
At nine separate points around the garden, nine ancient mages with white hair and long beards knelt before massive stone pillars, their mouths moving continuously as they recited obscure incantations. With every word, the pillars pulsed with shifting light.
According to Dr. Harrison, those pillars had been forged from a Divine-grade material known as Heaven-Earth Gemstones. Working together with Alana, the nine mages would spend eighty-one days gradually transforming the entire garden into a Natural Growth Array.
Twenty minutes later, the nine Level 90 mages simultaneously activated the pillars. In an instant, they erupted with swirling, cloud-like streams of multicolored light that swept across the entire garden within seconds. The energy became almost tangible, carrying the qualities of the five elements, wind, light, darkness, and life.
Yet rather than clashing with one another, all those different forces merged into a single harmonious current of natural vitality.
Then Alana began her part. She raised her emerald-green bamboo staff, the Divine Artifact known as Asclepius’ Herbal Staff, and began chanting softly.
A gentle green radiance spread from the staff, flowing outward and sinking into the surrounding vegetation. Almost immediately, the plants began to sway as though responding to an invisible breeze. Their leaves and branches stretched toward the multicolored mist produced by the nine pillars, gradually absorbing it as greedily as parched earth drinking in rain after a long drought.
That was the principle behind the entire process. Alana’s ability allowed the plants to absorb the natural energy produced by the pillars and gradually develop an intense, wild vitality. As the days passed, the vegetation would assimilate more and more of the garden, eventually becoming part of the array itself.