Unexpected Anomaly

One of a kind, unparalleled beneath the heavens.

"That's really too much self-praise. Can I take a look?" Chen Song became rather disdainful when he saw Bai Ge boasting so mysteriously.

But his curiosity had been piqued again, and he couldn't help wanting to see what kind of flower it was.

Bai Ge picked up his backpack and said, "Excuse me while I go to the bathroom."

With that, he entered the bathroom as though he knew the way by heart, leaving Chen Song completely baffled.

After a while, Bai Ge emerged with a deathly pale complexion, looking incredibly weak.

Chen Song was startled. Bai Ge had visibly shrunk by a large amount. His previously muscular, tall, and broad-shouldered appearance looked as if it had been deflated, and he had lost at least several dozen pounds.

"Ah! What happened to you?"

Bai Ge was just as bewildered. He hadn't expected manifesting this flower to make him lose forty pounds!

He had originally been heavily muscled and weighed around 150 pounds. Now, he probably weighed only a little over 100.

His appearance had changed dramatically in the time it took to go to the bathroom.

"I... I'm fine."

Bai Ge was unbearably hungry, but he still pretended that nothing was wrong.

He had miscalculated. He had merely created a flower, yet he couldn't understand why the expenditure had been so great.

Compared with the last time he had modified the corpse of a vicious dog, the price had been far, far higher.

As a result, he had no way to explain his condition and could only gloss over it.

"Maybe I ate something bad. I'm just a little weak."

Chen Song was speechless. This wasn't just a little weakness—Bai Ge had directly lost dozens of pounds of flesh!

He couldn't figure it out, but then his attention was drawn to the flower in Bai Ge's hand.

The flower was breathtakingly beautiful, dazzlingly vivid, with crimson fruits and golden branches. It was a sight of exquisite beauty.

Even its roots were exposed, rugged and strange.

Chen Song let out an exclamation and leaned over. "Why haven't you planted it? What if the flower dies?"

He immediately had someone bring over a flowerpot and planted the flower properly.

Chen Song was completely mesmerized by the flower. He studied it back and forth, his expression growing more and more excited.

"It's so beautiful!"

"I've never seen a flower like this... It's somewhat like an orchid, but also completely different. And these fruits... Hiss..."

"What species is it?"

Bai Ge recovered somewhat and said, "It has round leaves and red stems, yellow flowers and red fruits. Its flavor is like maltose, and eating it dispels hunger and lets one withstand fire."

Chen Song widened his eyes. "Danmu?"

The Classic of Mountains and Seas was quite famous, and Chen Song had read it as well. It was just that he hadn't connected the flower before him with the mythical species recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

After hearing Bai Ge's description, he immediately understood. The more he looked at it, the more similar it seemed. This was clearly Danmu!

"Does this plant really exist? How is that possible? Wasn't it fictional?" Chen Song's hands trembled.

He understood all too well how valuable it would be to discover a new flower species—especially one recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas as a miraculous flower.

This was no longer a matter of a new variety. It was a new species!

"The records in the Classic of Mountains and Seas are real! This is an ancient plant! No wonder it couldn't be found in modern times—it went extinct... My heavens, where did you pick it? Are there any more?" Chen Song asked excitedly.

Bai Ge remained impassive. He knew that this was the only Danmu in the world, and there was even less chance he could explain where it came from.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Chen Song didn't ask further. Instead, he said, "I'm contacting Young Master Luo right now!"

As he spoke, he walked aside and answered a call. He first spoke a few humble words, then excitedly pointed at the flower and began introducing it.

Phrases like "peerless miracle flower" and "ancient divine object" came pouring out, leaving Bai Ge speechless.

Earlier, Chen Song had criticized Bai Ge for boasting. Now, Chen Song was even better at boasting than he was!

Soon, Chen Song switched to a video call and aimed the camera at the Danmu.

Bai Ge glanced over and saw Young Master Luo on the other end of the video. He had fair features and an imposing air, and looked no more than two years older than Bai Ge.

Luo Wendi didn't look at him at all. Instead, he stared at the Danmu and said uncertainly, "Move closer."

Chen Song hurriedly held the phone closer to the Danmu. Clearly, Luo Wendi wanted to see whether the flower was fake or merely a special effect.

After a long while, Luo Wendi finally asked, "Where are you?"

After Chen Song finished speaking, Luo Wendi decisively said, "I'll be there right away."

After hanging up, Chen Song was so excited that the flesh on his body trembled.

He patted Bai Ge on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Bai Ge, you were right. Young Master Luo attaches great importance to this kind of miraculous flower. I'm going to benefit from this too!"

Unexpectedly, Bai Ge wasn't very excited.

After giving a few perfunctory replies, he walked to the window and looked in a certain direction outside the residential compound.

"Bell, what happened just now? That energy couldn't have been..."

Bell said, "Just now, a small portion of the reality energy in the 'Non-existence' domain escaped from the back of your head."

"Hm? What exactly happened?" Bai Ge asked.

Just now, when he had taken out the miraculous flower Danmu, he had clearly felt an incredibly powerful surge of energy well up.

The direction he was looking in now was the direction in which he had sensed that energy escaping.

Bell said, "When you took out the Danmu, a trace of that energy escaped through the back of your head. I don't know why, either."

Bai Ge frowned.

Compared with the energy inside the mental universe, the energy that had shot out from it was merely a tiny sliver—not even one part in several billion trillion.

Yet even less than one part in several billion trillion was still an astonishingly vast amount of energy, so vast that Bai Ge still couldn't detect it and had no idea exactly how much it was equivalent to...

He could only describe it in general terms.

"What will happen if this energy rushes into reality?" Bai Ge asked doubtfully, because he had noticed that nothing had happened.

Bell said, "In theory, even if it couldn't destroy Earth, it should at least turn an area spanning several thousand kilometers into scorched earth."

"Hiss..." Bai Ge was shocked. What did several thousand kilometers mean? Earth's diameter was only a little over ten thousand kilometers.

Energy powerful enough to destroy a country would certainly have an enormous impact on the entire world.

Bai Ge looked out the window. The sun was setting, and night was about to fall.

Everything was perfectly normal. No disastrous consequences had occurred.

"Strange..."

Such terrifying energy had been released from the back of his head, yet nothing had happened at all?

He was one hundred percent certain that it had been reality energy, so he couldn't understand what was going on.

"It was staying safely outside the multiverse in my mental universe. Why did a little suddenly rush out?" Bai Ge asked.

"It can only be because there was something special about the Danmu you extracted," Bell said.

Bai Ge asked doubtfully, "But I've taken out other things before, including quite a few real-world materials. Why didn't this happen then?"

Bell said, "What you extracted this time was different from before."

Bai Ge thought about it carefully and found that it really was different.

The expenditure had been far too great. If altering real-world matter required him to provide reality energy from his body, then this was simply too much.

He had merely dispersed some real-world flowers and rearranged them. Why had that made him lose forty pounds?

Moreover, the timing of the expenditure was wrong. If it had only been shaping, the energy should have been consumed inside his mental universe.

But this time, when he took it out, there had suddenly been an additional expenditure. It was extremely strange.

"What do you think caused it, Bell?" Bai Ge asked.

Bell answered from deep within his mind, "Perhaps... some of the properties you assigned to the Danmu received recognition from reality. As the price, you had to provide the corresponding energy."

"Properties? You mean supernatural properties like being able to withstand fire after eating it? Aren't the settings in my mental universe supposed to be unrecognized by reality?" Bai Ge asked.

"That was what I thought at first as well, but this time there was clearly an additional expenditure. Perhaps your settings can indeed be brought into reality, but the required price is simply too enormous. This Danmu might contain a property with a relatively low cost, one you happened to be able to pay, so you paid the corresponding price," Bell said.

Bai Ge thought about it and realized that it really was possible.

Based on his previous understanding, none of the products of his mental universe could be recognized by reality.

That was why he had deliberately bought many plants and herbs, using real-world matter as the foundation to create the Danmu.

Only this way would the Danmu not shatter at the slightest squeeze or die at the slightest touch.

He had even casually assigned the Danmu many properties. In his mental universe, the Danmu was truly a miraculous flower, and eating it allowed one to withstand fire.

However, in reality, these properties shouldn't have manifested.

But with such a large expenditure now, could it be that one of those properties had been realized?

At this thought, he suddenly didn't want to sell it anymore. He wanted to take the flower home and study it carefully.

Watching Chen Song excitedly admire the flower, Bai Ge frowned, unsure whether he should grit his teeth and take it away.

Taking the flower away by force would amount to standing someone up, which he was unwilling to do. He also didn't dare make another weakened version of the Danmu to placate Luo Wendi, afraid that he might accidentally realize another property.

After all, he was already extremely weak. If he did it again, he would probably go into shock...

After thinking it over repeatedly, he still decided to sell it.

"The flower isn't important. I'll have plenty of opportunities to study my mental universe after I get home."

"On the other hand, I really wouldn't mind if this mysterious energy obediently stayed in my mental universe. But it actually keeps darting out from time to time..."

"I still can't figure it out. I extracted the Danmu using my own energy, so what does that have to do with that mysterious energy escaping?"

Only Bai Ge could sense just how immense that energy was—so immense that it defied description.

Now that some of it had escaped and made its presence known, Bai Ge was deeply worried.

The more nothing happened, the more he felt that something was about to go wrong.

It wasn't until eight o'clock that Luo Wendi finally arrived.

Bai Ge actually didn't know much about him. He only knew that he was the son of the richest man in the city.

His family's businesses covered Xiangfan City and the surrounding counties and cities.

The Luo Group was involved in everything from retail and hotels to catering and real estate. It also had a good relationship with the government and was a local brand in Xiangfan City that received special protection and support.

Moreover, Luo Wendi wasn't some useless playboy. He was quite capable in his own right, managing an investment company and handling the funds of numerous enterprises.

However, basically everyone who knew about Luo Wendi was aware of these things.

As for more detailed information, Bai Ge didn't know much. Their circles were simply too far apart.

"President Luo, we've finally been waiting for you. Please, have a seat."

Chen Song ushered Luo Wendi inside, exchanging all kinds of polite remarks.

Bai Ge was left aside and tactfully remained silent.

Clearly, it was rare for Chen Song to have the chance to invite Luo Wendi over, so he wanted to seize the opportunity to become more familiar with him and lay the groundwork for future business cooperation.

Luo Wendi didn't interrupt him. He chatted seriously with Chen Song, but his eyes kept drifting toward the Danmu.

The Danmu had been placed in the middle of the living room. It was breathtakingly beautiful, making it difficult to ignore.

After listening to Chen Song spout a great deal of nonsense, Luo Wendi finally grew somewhat impatient and said, "Is this really Danmu?"

Chen Song hurriedly replied, "It closely resembles the description in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. He was the one who brought it..."

As he spoke, he immediately introduced Bai Ge.

Luo Wendi glanced at Bai Ge and asked, "You're the one selling the flower? It really is one of a kind, unparalleled beneath the heavens... Could it have been artificially made?"

Bai Ge froze. Seeing Luo Wendi's suspicion, he really wanted to say, I don't even want to sell this flower anymore.

But in the end, he still said, "I picked it in Shennongjia... Whether it's real or not, you can judge for yourself. If you're suspicious, you don't have to buy it."

At these words, Chen Song and Luo Wendi both froze.

Chen Song panicked. He thought, Don't be so stubborn at a time like this!

He looked at Luo Wendi, only to find that Luo Wendi wasn't angry.

Instead, he smiled and said, "You seem very confident. Well, to be honest, even if your flower was forcibly cultivated using some method, it would still be an extremely precious variety..."

"And if... it grew naturally, then it would be a priceless treasure!"

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas contains records of flowers like this. If it's a natural species, then its added value would be immense... It wouldn't merely be beautiful."

"Let me put it this way: if it was artificially cultivated, I'd be willing to offer ten million yuan!"

Hearing that price, Bai Ge immediately went blank.

Then Luo Wendi continued, "But if it grew naturally, to be honest, I wouldn't dare buy it..."

"You wouldn't dare buy it?" Bai Ge was stunned.

Luo Wendi said meaningfully, "It should be handed over to the state."