Nine-Leaf Sword Grass

Although White Cogongrass is a weed with extremely tenacious vitality.

Strangely, however, there weren't many White Cogongrass plants in this valley; within the area covered by the Willow Tree, there was only this one.

Its branches, imbued with the Life Enlightenment talent, fell upon the White Cogongrass.

In an instant.

From the White Cogongrass, which was over a meter tall and growing vigorously, came the rustling sounds of roots growing and plant fibers rubbing together.

Compared to other plants that had successfully awakened, the White Cogongrass's vitality was even more robust, and the commotion it caused during its mutation was even more astonishing.

First, the delicate white fuzz at the tips of the grass stalks disappeared. Then, even the thick main stalks began to degenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After about a few minutes.

The meter-long stalk of the White Cogongrass completely vanished.

Most of the surrounding grass leaves, which had been growing lushly around the stalk, began to slowly fade and wither, as if a season had passed in an instant, directly entering autumn.

But there were also a few other leaves that began to grow rapidly.

It was as if the entire cogongrass plant was concentrating all its vitality onto these few leaves.

The leaves began to grow and swell at an accelerated rate, and their edges became sharper.

In the end, though it was merely a leaf from a weed.

Under the moonlight, it shimmered with a cold radiance, like finely tempered steel.

There were a total of nine such leaves.

Each leaf appeared incredibly sharp, resembling dark green blades.

[White Cogongrass]

[Status: Healthy]

[Life Level: 1]

[Vitality: 0.47]

[Talent: Sharpness (Rare Quality): Leaves born from the concentration of a large amount of vitality mutation, as sharp as sword blades, capable of even unleashing invisible sword energy to damage distant enemies.]

"Exaggerated!"

Another rare-quality talent.

However, it was a pity that there was only this single White Cogongrass plant near the Willow Tree.

Otherwise.

If dozens or hundreds of such White Cogongrass plants grew beside the Willow Tree's Template, with their leaves flowing, it would be a cascade of sword energy, and no enemy would be able to approach the Willow Tree.

But…

Such a scene could only be imagined for now.

White Cogongrass is a weed with extremely vigorous vitality. Under normal circumstances, if one was found in a field, it wouldn't take long for that entire field to be overgrown with this weed.

In his previous life, White Cogongrass caused severe damage to crops.

Once discovered, it would be immediately eradicated.

Yet, in this valley where the Willow Tree was located, the environment was very suitable for White Cogongrass, but only this single plant grew there in isolation.

Su Heng had reason to suspect that there was something special about this particular White Cogongrass plant itself.

"Alright, this should be about enough."

Having worked all night, Su Heng was also a little tired.

The Life Enlightenment talent consumed the Willow Tree's vitality.

However, each time its vitality was depleted, that unbearable weakness was fully fed back into Su Heng's consciousness.

The Red Moon had long since disappeared. Above the eastern forest, a streak of crimson dawn illuminated the sky.

It looked beautiful, possessing a breathtaking grandeur.

Especially from the Willow Tree's 360-degree unobstructed view, it was a quite novel experience for Su Heng.

"Chirp chirp..."

Six Peregrine Falcons, each half a meter long, had patrolled all night and now slowly landed on the Willow Tree's branches from above the valley.

They preened each other's feathers and then began to rest.

In a corner of the valley, a few butterflies flitted, lingering among the morning glories and wild peas. Occasionally, tiny crystalline specks fell from their wings.

At the entrance to the valley stood two White Oak trees, like giants.

Their dark green canopies were gradually tinged with a layer of crimson.

The Red Moon disappeared.

The sun rose as usual.

"Hoo!"

In a dilapidated apartment in a remote suburb of Qingcheng.

Su Heng threw off the covers and sat up in bed.

Looking at the sunlight gradually brightening outside the window, Su Heng was stunned for a moment.

"This feeling is unbearably awful!"

Ruffling his messy hair, Su Heng took off his pajamas and couldn't help but exclaim.

Normally.

Dreaming doesn't consume much energy. After waking up, at most, there's a slight discomfort. With Su Heng's current physique, which surpasses that of ordinary people, he can recover quickly.

However, if he expends a lot of energy while in a possessed template state, or if the template sustains damage.

Then, this negative state will also affect Su Heng, the template editor, to some extent.

Of course, the effect of this influence isn't fatal nor is it particularly strong.

But for Su Heng, it's still very unpleasant.

He had clearly gone to bed early yesterday, but upon waking up, he felt like he had stayed up all night in an internet cafe.

A weak and powerless fatigue emanated from every organ in his body.

He had slept long enough and didn't intend to go back for another nap.

After changing his clothes and tidying his bed.

After washing up, Su Heng planned to go downstairs to grab a simple bite to eat. Upon his return, he would then research the characteristics of the various martial arts schools in Qingcheng.

At the small eatery downstairs.

Because it was a workday, the small shop was quite crowded, almost full.

The people eating here were all residents of the neighborhood.

Some of the older folks were quite familiar with Su Heng and greeted him with a smile.

Su Heng responded to them one by one.

"Boss, two donkey burgers and a bowl of spicy soup, please."

Su Heng called out towards the kitchen and then scanned the QR code to pay according to the prices on the menu.

The technological development in this world is truly remarkable.

Due to the appearance of the Red Moon, most of the technology left over from the Golden Age was gradually lost over the past few hundred years.

And the vast distances between different cities.

Coupled with the mutations in various plants and animals in the wilderness outside the cities, and the mysterious Forbidden Zones radiating outwards.

It became difficult for effective information transmission between different cities.

Therefore, each city presented a vastly different appearance.

Some cities inherited a large portion of the industrial and informational infrastructure from the Golden Age, making their technology relatively advanced, such as the human settlement of Wangjing City where Su Heng lived.

While other cities, due to their more remote geographical locations, did not preserve the technological foundation of the Golden Age.

This resulted in a technological gap or even a regression of civilization.

The Moon Country near Gamia was quite unlucky; it had regressed to an era of swords, spears, and clubs.

However, even in such seemingly backward cities.

It's possible they might possess high-tech weapons excavated from Golden Age ruins; one can never be sure.

Thanks to Jin Chan on the Bodhi Tree, No Pirates in England, Eternal Sunshine, Shen Mus, and System, You Have a Problem, and other readers for their monthly votes.