Planting Flowers

The instant the contract was completed, the Bloodthirsty Thorn in Zhou Xuan's hand, which had still been struggling wildly, stiffened and fell silent.

All its thorns drew back their sharpness, and the bud that looked so much like a man-eating flower obediently closed. The whole plant drooped limply, like a docile green whip.

At the same time, a strange sensation rose in Zhou Xuan's heart.

He could clearly feel an unbreakable mental link forming between him and the Bloodthirsty Thorn.

Through that link, he could sense a few extremely simple emotions coming from it.

Confusion, fear, then affection and dependence.

It was like a newborn baby seeing someone for the first time and taking them for its parents.

The Bloodthirsty Thorn's intelligence was far too low for any complex communication. It couldn't even express a complete thought.

But Zhou Xuan could clearly feel the absolute obedience and closeness it felt toward him, deep in its soul.

"Finally, it worked..."

Zhou Xuan let out a long breath, swayed, and nearly dropped onto his backside.

An unprecedented wave of exhaustion swept through him, and his head throbbed.

His vision kept going dark. He felt as mentally drained as if he hadn't slept in three days and three nights.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ye, who had witnessed everything, was completely dumbfounded.

His mouth hung open, and his eyes were as round as bells. He stared blankly at Zhou Xuan, then at the docile green vine in Zhou Xuan's hand, as if he'd been hit with a body-binding spell.

What had happened?

What had just happened?

All he'd seen was Brother Xuan grab the man-eating monster, close his eyes, and turn pale. Then the monster had stopped moving, like a dog that had been tamed.

What kind of godly method was that?

"Brother Xuan."

Zhou Ye's voice trembled. His gaze had taken on an almost reverent quality.

"Did you just...?"

He couldn't even find the right words to describe what he'd seen.

"It's nothing."

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and forced himself to stand straight. He didn't want to lose face in front of the underling he'd only just recruited.

He looked at the Bloodthirsty Thorn, now utterly subdued, and felt a rush of excitement.

The process had been perilous and had taken a great deal out of him, but it had all been worth it!

He surveyed the area. The other bizarre mutated plants had a little vitality left in them.

But in terms of both strength and potential, none came close to the Bloodthirsty Thorn in his hand.

Zhou Xuan wasn't interested in them. If he was going to cultivate a plant, he'd cultivate the strongest one.

"From now on, I'll call you Little Flower."

Zhou Xuan weighed Little Flower in his hand and casually gave it a name.

The Bloodthirsty Thorn called Little Flower couldn't understand what the name meant, but it could sense the master's will in Zhou Xuan's voice.

The bud at the tip of the plant swayed gently, sending out a feeling of delight.

"Brother Xuan, what about that rice?"

Zhou Ye finally recovered from his shock and quietly pointed at the dozen or so sacks in the pit.

"That?"

Zhou Xuan's eyes lit up at once, and even his exhausted spirit perked up.

"Of course we're taking all of it!"

He turned to Zhou Ye and gave him an order. "Zhou Ye, this rice is a failed experiment. Ordinary people would explode if they ate it, but it's still useful to me. Remember, don't eat any by mistake."

"Yes, Brother Xuan!"

Zhou Ye nodded vigorously. He would now carry out Zhou Xuan's orders without question.

Zhou Xuan nodded in satisfaction, then looked down at Little Flower in his hand.

He couldn't keep carrying the thing around. He needed to find it a place to settle down.

A place where it could stay hidden, grow freely, and keep watch over his home for him.

Zhou Xuan looked toward his dilapidated thatched hut, and a perfect plan took shape in his mind.

Zhou Xuan looked at the bizarre mutated plants without a trace of apprehension.

After subduing the strongest one, the rest were nothing but a motley assortment of weaklings. They no longer posed any threat to him.

He didn't even bother testing them one by one. With the slightest stir of his soul power, his micrometer-level perception spread out at once.

The plants' internal structures and the weak points in their energy flows appeared clearly in his mind.

Bang!

He kicked a strange flower with a mouth at its roots, right where its energy gathered.

The flower didn't even have time to scream. Its entire plant withered rapidly, as if all its moisture had been drained, and crumbled into a patch of charred debris.

Crack!

He casually snapped off another black plant, like a ground spike, striking precisely at its weakest joint.

The plant, harder than stone, was as brittle as a dry branch in his hand.

The whole thing went as smoothly as flowing water. In just a few dozen breaths, Zhou Xuan had completely cleared the eerie patch of plants that had scared Zhou Ye half to death.

Only the dozen or so sacks full of Mutated Spirit Rice remained, resting quietly in the pit like a treasure trove waiting to be mined. Zhou Xuan swept them all into his Storage Bag with a wave of his hand.

Zhou Ye stood to one side, staring in utter shock, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

He had no idea how Zhou Xuan had done it. All he'd seen was those terrifying plants, which had been baring their fangs and claws and looked ready to devour anyone alive.

In front of Brother Xuan, they were no different from the most ordinary weeds in a field—pulled up and destroyed with ease.

This was beyond anything he'd ever understood about strength. Could someone in the Body Tempering Realm really be this powerful?

And those dozen or so sacks had vanished into thin air. Did Brother Xuan have a Storage Bag? Even Outer Sect Disciples rarely had such a high-grade magic treasure.

He remembered that Zhou Xuan had promised to help improve his Spirit Root aptitude.

At first, he'd only clung to a faint hope. But now, that hope had swelled into a sun in his heart!

Brother Xuan was definitely no ordinary person!

He must have stumbled upon an enormous opportunity!

"Brother Xuan."

Zhou Ye's voice carried a tremor of barely concealed fervor.

"This is a Qi Gathering Pill. Take it. You did well today."

Zhou Xuan dusted his hands off and casually tossed Zhou Ye a pill, as if it were no more than a trivial gesture.

"Qi Gathering? A Qi Gathering Pill! Thank you, Brother Xuan!" Zhou Ye's chest puffed out, and his eyes shone.

Zhou Xuan draped the Bloodthirsty Thorn he'd named Little Flower over his shoulder and headed back to his dilapidated thatched hut.

Once he was back, Zhou Xuan didn't rush to study Little Flower, much less spend his Gold Touch Value to perform that so-called second targeted mutation.

The thing had only been born a little over ten days ago, yet its lifespan was just three short months.

Using Enlightenment on it now would be poor value for money. Besides, he didn't have enough Gold Touch Value to spare.

He planned to keep it for now and study it carefully. Ideally, he'd wait until its lifespan was nearly over before giving it a complete transformation. That would maximize his gains.

At the entrance to his thatched hut, he found an inconspicuous corner and dug a hole over half a meter deep with his bare hands.

Then he carefully placed Little Flower's roots inside and covered them with soil.

From today on, this was Little Flower's home.

It would stay hidden from outsiders and double as the most loyal, most discreet sentry.

Only after finishing all this did Zhou Xuan finally breathe a sigh of relief. But before he could rest, a peculiar sensation came through the soul link.

It was Little Flower.

It was sending him an emotion: hunger!