"I can actually choose two items!"
Han Han was delighted. He guessed it had something to do with his rating. This time, he'd gone from a C or D rating to an E, so it made sense that he could choose two items.
After thinking for a moment, Han Han chose the last two items.
A young Iron Vine Grass and a drop of Locke Divine Water. In terms of value alone, these were the most precious.
Especially the Locke Divine Water.
One cubic kilometer was worth 8.9 million Hunyuan Units. A single drop was worth roughly 445 Cosmic Coins, but that was its value to an Immortal. To them, it was no less than a second life.
After making his selections, two more items appeared in the System Space.
"Just wait a little longer."
"Once I'm back in Thousand Tree District, I can try taking the items out of the System Space." Han Han withdrew his consciousness from that illusory space and began slowly absorbing cosmic energy.
This simulation was a qualitative leap forward.
As long as he followed the steps from the simulation, one by one, he could escape Thousand Leaf Planet.
With a spaceship, Cuilang Coins, and plenty of cultivation resources to support him, he could easily register as a citizen. But would he really be satisfied with that?
Of course not!
That Locke Divine Water was worth 6.3 billion Hunyuan Units. No—in Pansy's hands, it had only just been obtained, and he hadn't yet spent a fortune cultivating Plant Lifeforms with it. Its value was even higher.
If he had no strength, that would be one thing.
But now, he could build up enough strength through repeated simulations, then kill Pansy in the end.
Killing someone to take their treasure was an utterly ordinary occurrence in the Swallowed Star World.
Control room...
The system monitored Han Han's cultivation efficiency, and the results were displayed before Hua Chuan.
"Still the same?"
Hua Chuan's expression turned slightly grave. "At this conversion rate, let alone reaching Planetary Rank, even breaking through to Apprentice Rank Eight will be difficult. Could it be... that he'll suddenly break through again?"
"Damn it!"
"If I'd known he was this strange, I wouldn't have notified the lord first. Now I can't hide it, even if I want to."
After speaking, Hua Chuan sat back down in the metal chair behind him. He propped his forehead up with one hand and fell into thought.
He'd originally suspected Han Han had some sort of secret, but since it wasn't his concern, he hadn't interfered. Yet after a year, Han Han had only advanced one rank.
He panicked.
But even the most advanced instruments couldn't find anything amiss when they examined Han Han. In the end, all he could do was give him another bottle of Inferior Purple Light Dew. If that still didn't work, he'd have to classify Han Han as an ordinary slave.
If that happened, not only would he lose his reward, he'd also be punished for failing to conduct a proper inspection.
"Haah..."
His boundless worries finally turned into a sigh.
Meanwhile.
At the Three Illusion Leaf harvesting area, one young man seemed a little unusual. His expression was tense, but he was doing his best to hide it.
It was Pansy!
At this point, though, he didn't have a name of his own. He'd only chosen the name Pansy later.
"Unit 013-021635 has met the harvesting quota."
The Supervisor examined the Three Illusion Leaves Pansy had collected. After confirming that not a single one was missing, he let him leave. As for Pansy's nervousness...
Thousand Leaf Planet had been enslaved for years. How many slaves had been born here? The Supervisor had seen more exaggerated expressions than nervousness. Why would he care about something so trivial?
Back in his Tree House, he sat cross-legged in the middle of the room.
However.
His Origin Force circulated through his body, and a Silver Token merged with him.
The Tree House's monitoring system was simply too primitive to detect the Silver Token's existence. After all, it was essentially a world-storage device, and even a Domain Lord might not possess one.
Pansy's consciousness entered the Silver Token, and he immediately spotted a lake more than ten kilometers in diameter inside.
Looking closely.
At the lake's edge, a seed had already sprouted, putting down roots in the soil and drawing in vitality.
"So fast!" Pansy thought.
He'd found the Silver Token and the seed by chance while harvesting Three Illusion Leaves. After injecting the token with his mental power, he'd been astonished to discover that it could merge with his body.
Then he entered.
Whoosh~
The vitality, so dense it had nearly turned to mist, made him feel more comfortable than ever before. He realized it was a treasure—a genuine, priceless treasure.
After careful consideration, he decided to keep it secret!
As for the seed beside the Silver Token, he'd casually tossed it into the soil by the lake.
But from the moment he'd found it, to the instant he'd grown tense and feared being discovered, to his return to check on it, only five hours had passed. Who could have expected that the seed had already sprouted?
"This isn't an ordinary plant!"
"Although I haven't gone inside, I can clearly feel that it has more intelligence than a Three Illusion Tree," Pansy guessed.
He tried touching it with his mental power.
Warriors also had Spiritual Force, but compared to that of a Spirit Reader, it was so negligible as to be almost nonexistent. With Pansy's current strength, it should have been difficult to manage.
But where was he?
Right beside a Locke Divine Water Lake. Any Spiritual Force he expended was replenished in an instant.
By chance, he completed the recognition process with the Iron Vine Grass.
"What a strange feeling."
Pansy felt as if he'd discovered many things beyond his understanding. At the same time, he began to develop thoughts unlike those of the other slaves. This was the first sprout of rebellion.
"You want to eat?"
"Go ahead, eat as much as you want."
He sensed the Iron Vine Grass's feelings toward him: utterly affectionate, just like a child toward its parent.
The Iron Vine Grass devoured the water ravenously.
Normally, raising Iron Vine Grass to the ninth level of Star Rank was already the absolute limit. Reaching Universe Rank could be called a miracle. Yet in the original story, the Iron Vine Grass had reached the ninth level of World Lord Level!
That alone was enough to prove how precious Locke Divine Water was.
Next.
Pansy began cultivating too.
His consciousness could penetrate the Silver Token, and the vitality transmitted back to him greatly increased his cultivation speed. His cultivation talent had originally been on par with Han Han's, but now he was cultivating even faster than Han Han had with the Inferior Purple Light Dew.
"Boom~"
Apprentice Rank Two achieved.
Time passed, bit by bit.
Han Han made no changes that year, so each simulation ended almost at the same point: when he asked Pansy for help.
But that was fine too.
He could choose two items each time. Aside from the required Locke Divine Water, he'd chosen items two through five once each. For all the rest, he'd chosen Cuilang Coins.
This was his starting capital.
It might not seem useful now, but it was essential for registering as a citizen and all sorts of other things.
"Beep!"
The metal gate opened.
Han Han looked up. Two Silver-Armored Guards stood in front, with Hua Chuan—the man who had brought him here—between them.
He'd seen this scene so many times in the simulations that he was used to it.
Whoosh!
Hua Chuan moved.
His figure blurred into an afterimage, and then his fist slammed into Han Han's chest. Hua Chuan controlled his strength carefully, making sure he wouldn't kill Han Han outright.
If he could, he would definitely have wanted Han Han dead!
Unfortunately, he was the one who had reported Han Han in the first place. He had no authority to decide the life or death of a slave whose potential was uncertain.
All his anger went into that one punch.
Han Han immediately passed out.
Seeing this, Hua Chuan raised his right hand and waved it behind him. "Take him away. He won't die."
"Yes, sir."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the two Silver-Armored Guards stepped forward and carried Han Han from the Central High Tower to Thousand Tree District.
Before you continue