"That should be enough now, right?"
Han Han stopped and looked around. The only things in sight were Three Illusion Trees, forming a barrier like a mountain range. He had gone at least twice as far as he had the last time.
Fortunately, the Supervisors didn't care where he went to gather leaves. As long as he handed in enough Three Illusion Leaves on time, that was all that mattered.
[Simulation Count: 0] [Life Simulation Begins] [At 22, you had grown somewhat accustomed to life in the Thousand Tree District. Your cultivation progressed slowly, but you had far more freedom than in the Central High Tower.] [You headed to Three Illusion Tree Valley.] [You reached the depths of the valley. You seemed to be trying to avoid detection by the various instruments. You didn't understand why, but since you were already deep inside, you decided to gather Three Illusion Leaves there.] [You hadn't completely avoided the instruments. After all, Thousand Leaf Planet was a slave planet connected to the Universe. Still, as long as you didn't make too much of a fuss, you wouldn't be noticed.]
"That'll do."
Han Han was delighted. This was exactly the news he wanted.
Too much of a fuss?
All he'd done was release an Iron Vine Grass sapling and give it Locke Divine Water and Inferior Purple Light Dew.
[At sunset, after gathering Three Illusion Leaves, you returned to your Tree House and devoted yourself to cultivation.] [At 23, you successfully advanced to Apprentice Rank Eight.]
[You'd thought that, since you and Pansy had stood together through thick and thin, she wouldn't kill you even if she rejected you. Unfortunately, you were wrong. Pansy had never considered you her friend.] [You died.] [This simulation has ended.] [Evaluation...]
"Ah..."
After reading the simulation, Han Han let out a sigh. "If only I could control the choices in the simulation. Then Pansy wouldn't keep killing me."
In the simulation, he knew what his talent was like. Without some opportunity, he'd never get beyond Planetary Rank in his entire life.
If he suspected Pansy had a treasure, how could he not ask her about it?
"Choose Locke Divine Water and Cuilang Coins."
Han Han still chose those two items. Two flashes of light appeared in the System Space, and the items materialized inside.
"Let's get started."
"Whoosh!"
His awareness enveloped the Iron Vine Grass sapling. With a thought, a patch of green appeared before him. The Iron Vine Grass hadn't even reached Apprentice Rank yet, and its two vines cautiously reached toward Han Han.
Thanks to the system, it had automatically acknowledged him as its master.
Han Han could clearly sense a connection between himself and the Iron Vine Grass. Its two vines carefully touched his fingers, sending him an affectionate emotion.
"You want to eat?"
Han Han understood what the Iron Vine Grass was feeling. "The resources used to cultivate a Plant Lifeform for the first time can affect its potential to some extent."
"Locke Divine Water should be top-tier, right?"
With a thought, he poured all the Locke Divine Water in the System Space over the Iron Vine Grass.
"Rustle..."
The two vines quivered. Soon, the Iron Vine Grass greedily absorbed the incredibly rich life force within the water.
"These are for you, too." Han Han took out all the Inferior Purple Light Dew he'd obtained earlier. "Absorb them slowly and raise your strength as quickly as possible."
Inferior Purple Light Dew damaged life force, but that small side effect was negligible in the face of Locke Divine Water.
"All right."
"If I don't go gather Three Illusion Leaves soon, I'll have to go rob someone again."
Han Han knew he wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, but he still wouldn't rob people when he could manage without it. Besides, he'd already achieved his goal this time.
"Next time I simulate, everything will be different!"
"Whoosh!"
Han Han flew toward the Three Illusion Trees to gather leaves.
Meanwhile,
the Iron Vine Grass began to grow rapidly. Each vine on the sapling had been just over a meter long, but now they were lengthening at a visible pace.
The Central High Tower was over a hundred kilometers tall, but an Iron Vine Grass at Planetary Level Nine could wrap around most of it.
Back at the Tree House, Han Han sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
"Ah..."
"Once I leave, I should be able to improve my talent."
Cosmic energy flowed into his body, where every cell absorbed it and transformed it into strength. Apprentice Rank was all about constantly strengthening the body.
Many species in the Primal Universe were born with incredibly powerful bodies. They were born at Planetary Rank, or even stronger.
Han Han guessed that
Locke Divine Water could improve one's physical talent and might even trigger a certain transformation of the soul. Otherwise, how could Pansy have broken through to World Lord?
After all, one condition for advancing from Universe Rank to Domain Lord was possessing a domain.
To advance from Domain Lord to World Lord, one had to cross the threshold of the laws.
If Locke Divine Water didn't have that effect, Pansy would have hit her limit at Universe Rank Nine.
Three days passed.
During this time, Han Han didn't go to where the Iron Vine Grass was. He wanted to avoid drawing a crowd and causing trouble. Besides, he had already established a bond with it and could sense roughly how it was doing.
For instance,
after three days, the Iron Vine Grass had already surpassed him, reaching Apprentice Rank Nine. It was even close to breaking through to Planetary Rank.
[Simulation Count: 0-1]
"Start the simulation."
Seeing the Simulation Count change from 0 to 1, Han Han silently gave the command.
[Life Simulation Begins] [At 22, you suddenly acquired an Iron Vine Grass sapling and a batch of cultivation resources. You had no memory of them, but somehow they seemed to have always belonged to you.] [You were delighted because the Iron Vine Grass had surpassed you in strength, reaching Apprentice Rank Nine.] [The next morning, you woke from your cultivation in shock. You sensed that the Iron Vine Grass had already broken through to Planetary Rank so quickly, and you decided to head to Three Illusion Tree Valley at once.] [You arrived at Three Illusion Tree Valley.] [Unfortunately, just as you were about to enter the valley as usual, a Supervisor stopped you. He said there was no need to gather Three Illusion Leaves today and ordered you to leave at once, or he would kill you.] [You were forced to return to your Tree House.] [You sensed something was wrong. This had never happened in the past hundred years, yet it happened just as your Iron Vine Grass broke through to Planetary Rank. Your instincts told you that it was the Iron Vine Grass they were after.] [And that was exactly the case.] [The detection instruments were sparse in the area where the Iron Vine Grass was, but they weren't so ineffective that they couldn't detect the energy fluctuation of a breakthrough from Apprentice Rank Nine to Planetary Rank. As soon as the Iron Vine Grass broke through, the instruments detected it and reported it to the Central High Tower.] [You sensed that the Iron Vine Grass was fighting, but as an Apprentice Rank Seven, you were powerless to help.] [One day later, the Iron Vine Grass died.] [You were heartbroken. You knew that the Iron Vine Grass might have been your only hope of escaping Thousand Leaf Planet, but now that hope had vanished because of your carelessness.] [On the third day, the Central High Tower issued a summons. Every slave had to gather in front of it immediately. Anyone who failed to show up would be killed on the spot. You sensed something was wrong, but you had no choice but to go.] [You arrived at the Central High Tower.] [You saw countless Qianye Star People, but they were all slaves like you. All around them, Silver-Armored Guards hovered in the air.] [You saw Hua Chuan, but he was standing behind an old man. The old man radiated an absolutely terrifying aura just by standing there.]
"It should be over soon."
Han Han watched the simulation. He really had underestimated the detection instruments in Three Illusion Tree Valley. If they couldn't even detect the energy fluctuation of a Planetary Rank breakthrough, the place would have been overrun by a rebellion long ago.
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