[You guessed they had discovered that the Iron Vine Grass had already been claimed by someone. Aside from the guards, the only ones who could have claimed it were slaves like you.]
[The old man paid special attention to the 132 slaves, yourself included, who had recently been near the Iron Vine Grass.]
[The old man was less suspicious of you, though. In their view, slaves like you had no way to obtain the abundant resources needed to cultivate Planetary Rank Iron Vine Grass, which would take at least several years. And you had only arrived less than a year ago because of Hua Chuan.]
[The old man began searching everyone. You were 112th in line.]
[You were a little nervous, but so was everyone else, so that alone wouldn't arouse suspicion. Besides, you hadn't left behind any traces, nor had you kept any resources for yourself. You knew they wouldn't find anything even if they searched you. You were only worried they might have some special means of detection.]
[Your worries were unnecessary.]
[Or rather, someone else took the fall for you. When they reached the 67th slave, countless vines burst out of that slave's body.]
[You recognized the vines. They were Iron Vine Grass. You were shocked that there was a second plant, and that another slave had cultivated it. At the same time, you were relieved that someone else had taken the fall for you. Now all the guards' attention was focused on that slave.]
[You sensed that the Iron Vine Grass was only around Apprentice Level 7. It couldn't last more than a few moves against the old man, and the guards quickly subdued it.]
[What you didn't know was that the slave was the future Pansy. Unfortunately, afraid of being devoured by the plant, Pansy had never dared to raise the Iron Vine Grass's strength too high. As a result, once discovered, it had no chance to fight back.]
"Was Pansy in the Thousand Tree District too?!"
Han Han was stunned. "Right. If I calculate the timing, he was already Apprentice Level 8 when he first appeared. Even if he was slow, he must have reached Apprentice Level 5 by now."
"So he'd gotten the Locke Divine Water this early."
"What a pity!"
"What a waste!"
If he'd gotten it this early, he could easily have cultivated the Iron Vine Grass to Universe Rank. But even by the time of the rebellion, the Iron Vine Grass had only reached Planetary Level Nine.
[You were dismissed and sent back.]
[Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the old man take a Silver Token from Pansy's corpse.]
[Afterward, the entire Thousand Leaf Planet seemed to fall into paralysis. Nearly all the Supervisors disappeared. You were troubled: on one hand, you were relieved to still be alive; on the other, you feared you would never escape slavery.]
[Three days later, you noticed that the guards had been replaced.]
[The new Supervisor was far stricter than the previous one. The Three Illusion Leaf quota had increased by 50%, which meant you had only about two hours to rest each day.]
[You dared not complain.]
[At 23, you broke through to Apprentice Level 8. The new Supervisor decreed that anyone who reached Apprentice Level 8 had to be implanted with a Slave Chip.]
[You were taken into the Central High Tower.]
[You were implanted with a Slave Chip. You had become a slave in the truest sense.]
[That same year, a silver-haired young man arrived on the Thousand Leaf Planet. He said he needed a batch of Apprentice Rank cannon fodder, and you were chosen for sale.]
[At 24, you were sent to a barren planet along with 320,000 other Apprentices. You were issued basic weapons and battle suits.]
[A message informed you that only 100 of the 320,000 Apprentices would survive.]
[You were troubled, because at least half of the 320,000 Apprentices were Apprentice Level 9. Just as you were pondering how to survive, a dark shadow flashed past you.]
[You died.]
[This simulation has ended.]
[Evaluation: B-12]
[You unexpectedly acquired Iron Vine Grass but didn't know to keep it hidden, so your hopes of escape were crushed early. Fortunately, someone else took the fall for you, allowing you to survive. But you couldn't escape the fate of a slave and were sold into a deadly game. With so little combat experience, how could you possibly stand against the others?]
[You may choose one of the following options:]
[One: Apprentice Level 8 cultivation]
[Two: 10 vials of Inferior Purple Light Dew]
"So few!"
Han Han looked at the two options. "No, that's not it. There were plenty of items in the simulation. Pansy's Silver Token even appeared. My score must be too low for those items to be chosen."
"I don't need to choose right away."
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"... A figure darted through Three Illusion Tree Valley.
According to the simulation, the Iron Vine Grass would break through to Planetary Rank at dawn the next day. But what if something unexpected happened?
He'd had a simulation where it broke through early, after all. Cultivation couldn't be followed to the letter; the circumstances could never be exactly the same.
A moment later, Han Han stopped.
At first glance, nothing about the surroundings seemed out of the ordinary. If not for their mental connection, he wouldn't have noticed anything either.
"Iron Vine." Han Han sent the words through their mental connection.
"Rustle~"
The vines stirred, and soon a tender green tendril reached out to touch him affectionately.
"Don't break through to Planetary Rank yet. For the next few days, just stay here quietly. Don't attack anyone, even if someone passes by." Han Han gently stroked the Iron Vine Grass.
He really had forgotten.
In the simulation, Pansy had been able to cultivate the Iron Vine Grass without worry, so Han Han had unconsciously assumed that Thousand Leaf Planet's detection equipment was very primitive.
But Pansy had a Silver Token!
That thing was equivalent to a Small World Ring. He could cultivate his Iron Vine Grass inside it. It wouldn't just hide a mere Planetary Rank plant—even if it broke through to World Break, the outside world still wouldn't detect it.
The Iron Vine Grass rubbed against Han Han, indicating that it understood.
Once a Plant Lifeform had acknowledged its master, it remained loyal until death. Unfortunately, Pansy knew too little at this point to even understand what a Plant Lifeform was.
After that,
once he'd finished gathering Three Illusion Leaves, he returned to the Tree House, sat cross-legged, and brought his consciousness to the options at the end of the simulation.
"I'll choose the second one," Han Han murmured.
There were two options.
He couldn't choose the cultivation level right now, because in the simulation, Hua Chuan hadn't stopped paying attention to him during that year. If he showed another sudden increase in strength, there was no telling whether he would be taken back to the Central High Tower and locked up to be strengthened again.
He didn't want to go back.
So he would have to break through to Apprentice Level 8 by cultivating on his own.
"Those cultivation levels aren't a big deal. Now that I have the Iron Vine Grass to help me, I only need one simulation where I escape. If I choose the cultivation level then, I'll break through to Planetary Rank at once." Han Han thought to himself.
"Time to cultivate."
"My strength is increasing so quickly."
Pansy's consciousness descended into the Iron Vine Grass inside the Silver Token. "It's only been a short while, and it's already reached Apprentice Level 9."
"This won't do."
"I don't know what this thing is. If it gets much stronger than me and I lose control of it, it'll be over."
With a thought, he moved the Iron Vine Grass away from the Locke Divine Water.
At the same time,
the Iron Vine Grass sent a feeling of reluctance into his mind. As a Plant Lifeform, it naturally loved Locke Divine Water. How could it not feel reluctant when it was moved away?
But Pansy ignored it.
Before you continue