Soil Never Betrays Sweat

Rhine's eyes showed a trace of surprise.

Tu Xingsun, Kuliusun's foremost disciple among the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals, had been born short and different from ordinary people, but possessed a unique talent in the path of earth.

During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, his Earth-Evasion Technique had shone brilliantly.

Rhine had not expected the system to identify Neville as Tu Xingsun.

But on second thought, it made sense. Both of them had endured ridicule and insecurity in the beginning, only to become late bloomers later on.

Rhine's gaze soon fell upon the information derived from Tu Xingsun's connections.

Form a Casual Acquaintance with Tu Xingsun to obtain the talent—Farming Dexterity. You will become more attuned to soil, gain insight into the properties of any kind of earth, and possess unique expertise in cultivating crops in soil.

Form a Close Friendship with Tu Xingsun to obtain the talent—Earth Spirit Primordial Essence. Your affinity with the earth veins will rise significantly. While standing upon the ground, you may draw upon earthly energy, gaining comprehensive boosts to your strength. You may also use earthly energy to absorb spiritual energy, providing immense benefits to cultivation.

Form a Life-and-Death Friendship with Tu Xingsun to obtain the divine ability—Earth-Evasion Divine Movement. Merge into the ground and travel through soil, covering a thousand miles in an instant. Other than the divine ability Point Earth into Steel, ordinary divine abilities cannot restrain it. It is one of the finest escape arts in Primordial Fengshen.

Rhine's eyes immediately lit up.

Tu Xingsun truly deserved to be someone who had relied on the path of earth to make his name. Every one of these talents was related to soil.

The first talent, Farming Dexterity, was presumably the foundation for the later talents. After all, if he wanted to borrow the power of the earth veins, he naturally had to first understand the properties of soil.

Although this talent did not offer much of an increase in strength, Rhine saw broad prospects in it.

With this talent, cultivating rare plants in the future should yield twice the results with half the effort.

As everyone knew, pill refinement was greatly beneficial to the growth of one's cultivation.

Especially in a place like the wizarding world, where spiritual energy was scarce. If the day came when Rhine could no longer rely on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to sustain his cultivation, he might have to refine pills from herbs.

The second talent, Earth Spirit Primordial Essence, could both strengthen him and absorb spiritual energy to aid cultivation.

In terms of rank, it far surpassed Rhine's current Feast on Wind and Drink Dew, which could also absorb spiritual energy.

A spark of fervor appeared deep in Rhine's eyes.

He was determined to obtain this talent as well.

In addition, the Owl Roberts had an Essence of Sun and Moon talent, while the "Dragon Palace" in the Black Lake possessed a Dragon's Spirit talent. Both could absorb spiritual energy.

If he fused those talents together someday, he might gain a cultivation-supporting talent of an extremely high rank.

There was even a slight possibility that this talent could approach Achieve Vajra Indestructible Body.

At that point, Rhine would not need to worry about insufficient spiritual energy for a long time. Even without forming connections, his strength could soar through the infusion of spiritual energy.

In particular, the issue of insufficient magical power would be solved with ease!

As for the final reward, Earth-Evasion Divine Movement, Rhine was not nearly as concerned.

After all, in the wizarding world, there were no longer many beings capable of making him turn and flee at his current strength.

He could get it when the opportunity arose.

Thoughts flickering through his mind, Rhine looked at the teary-eyed Neville before him and patted him.

"All right, Neville. Herbology is next."

"Believe in yourself. You can do it."

Neville nodded vigorously and headed toward the Herbology greenhouse with Rhine.

Rhine had seen this greenhouse in films in his previous life, but when he saw it in person, his eyes still widened.

All he could say was that the imagination of those films had been far too limited.

Only by coming here in person could one understand how vast the greenhouse was, and just how many carefully cultivated herbs it contained. It stretched so far that one could not see the end at a glance.

No wonder Hogwarts had produced so many Potions prodigies over the generations, and why Potions professors had always been masters of the craft. To wizards engaged in Potions research, this greenhouse was practically a treasure vault!

In the original story, Slughorn, who had briefly replaced Snape as the Potions professor, often lingered outside the greenhouse in an attempt to persuade Professor Sprout to grow pineapples for him inside, so that he could obtain high-quality supplies for his candied pineapple.

The fact that it had remained so firmly on a Potions master's mind showed just how excellent the greenhouse's conditions were.

This greenhouse, belonging to Hufflepuff, was much like the qualities of the house itself: diligent, hardworking, and willing to endure hardship. It played an important role without ever asking for anything in return.

It was worth mentioning that the Herbology professor, Pomona Sprout, was also Hufflepuff's Head of House.

Pomona, in her name, was the Roman goddess who presided over fruit and fruit trees.

Sprout, meanwhile, carried the meaning of germination and growth.

She was undoubtedly a Herbology master, and she had always treated her students with gentleness and tolerance.

Even when Seamus, the explosive genius, displayed his unique explosive talent not long after class began—waving his wand for no apparent reason and causing the nutrient solution meant for watering the herbs to bubble—Professor Sprout did not deduct points.

She merely announced, her eyelids twitching, one thing.

"From now on, Mr. Seamus should leave his wand outside during Herbology."

"Mm, and you'll sit in the first row. You must work where I can keep an eye on you."

Then, as if performing a magic trick, Professor Sprout produced sweet pumpkin pies for the dejected Seamus and the still-shaken young wizards.

"Have a taste. These were made with pumpkins I grew myself."

"Even the pumpkins used at the castle feasts aren't as good as these."

Only after the young wizards had forgotten what had just happened because of the sweet pumpkin pies did Professor Sprout resume the lesson.

"All right, continue tending to the tubers. You must be extremely careful. It may be difficult, but I hope you'll take care of every single rootlet."

As she explained the key points, she moved among the young wizards, pointing out their mistakes and omissions.

When she passed Rhine and Neville's workstation, Professor Sprout's already kindly face gained an even warmer smile.

"Perfect technique. It's just like the textbook."

Sprout smiled at Rhine.

"Five points to Gryffindor for Rhine Snow's technique."

"And at the same time..."

Her gaze fell upon Neville. As Neville grew so nervous that he did not know what to do with his hands, Professor Sprout's smile deepened.

She carefully examined the plant tuber Neville had tended.

Neville, who had displayed clumsy traits ever since the Sorting Ceremony, was exceptionally meticulous when it came to caring for plants.

Every rootlet, even the tiniest ones, had been carefully tended by Neville.

Perhaps this did not require the kind of talent people constantly praised. Perhaps all it required was diligence, care, and a willingness to take trouble.

But who could say the latter was not a kind of talent?

At least in Herbology, Professor Sprout believed it was a top-tier talent.

"Another ten points to Gryffindor, for Neville Longbottom's care and diligence."

"Perhaps you cannot learn Rhine's technique, but all of you can learn Neville's attitude."

"In this world, your efforts may not always bring rewards, but Herbology is an exception. It is a subject that treats the diligent well."

"Soil and herbs will not turn a blind eye to your sweat, nor will they make empty promises. I believe you will come to understand this more deeply in the future."