The Professional Watershed

Zhou Qing gave a detailed account of everything that had happened at Longwind Fortress.

Chen Siwei's expression gradually shifted from calm to shock.

When she had first sent Zhou Qing to investigate Longwind Fortress, it had merely been out of curiosity toward the man who had guarded the fortress alone for three years.

After all, by any normal person's logic, what fool would stand watch alone for three years in a fortress abandoned by the state?

Yet someone had done exactly that, and had seen it through to the end. Such conviction was both admirable and somewhat laughable to Chen Siwei.

However, the news Zhou Qing had brought back completely changed her mind.

An Ability User of unknown strength, and a plant-type one at that, who now had a group of followers.

That was hardly a good sign.

"No wonder Ye Yuan wants him dead. With that intolerant personality of his, if a fourth major city rises in Jiangzhou, he'll probably go mad with rage. Just thinking about it is funny."

Chen Siwei rubbed the collar of her clothes, where a golden dragon-shaped clasp glimmered softly.

Ignoring her previous remark, Zhou Qing asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Chen Siwei blinked. "You brought this thing back, so haven't you already made your own decision? Why are you asking me?"

Zhou Qing took out the material exchange list Lincon had given him from inside his clothes.

Chen Siwei took it and glanced over it. "What are these things?"

"Holy Flame Seed, Sunstone... Are you sure he isn't deliberately messing with you?"

Zhou Qing recalled the solemn look on Lincon's face. He did not seem to be faking it, so Zhou Qing shook his head.

"Probably not. There's no reason for him to fool me with these."

"So these things really exist?" Chen Siwei stroked her chin.

"He seems to know more than we do. Have someone look into it. I remember we've accumulated quite a few strange things over the years. They're just gathering dust in the warehouses anyway, so haul them over and trade him for some food."

Zhou Qing nodded and was about to leave when Chen Siwei suddenly called after him.

"Oh, right. Have the lab people study this and see whether we can cultivate it ourselves."

Zhou Qing nodded and left.

Chen Siwei instructed a female butler behind her, "Go call Wen Yan and Hong Qi's group over. They've always thought a woman like me isn't suited to hold power, and they've been stirring up trouble in secret for so long. It's time to put them in their place."

The struggle for power persisted even in the apocalypse.

Although Chen Siwei had silenced most Ability Users with her strength as a B-Class Ability User, quite a few people still resented her.

Of course, that involved certain events from when Black Iron City had first been established.

A long wind swept through Deer Watch. Emerald-green shoots shimmered under the sunlight like translucent green gems, reflecting a warm glimmer brimming with life.

[Seed of Life: Glimmer Life Sphere]

[Centered on the Seed of Life, deploys a stable domain with a radius of 500 meters. Within the domain, soil is slowly purified, air is filtered, and the growth speed of sunlight-type plants increases by 50%.]

With the Seed of Life domain's enhancement, the plants within Longwind Fortress grew remarkably quickly. Many ordinary weeds and plants sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.

Children occasionally ran laughing through the fairly spacious streets, while adults went about their own work, creating a peaceful and harmonious scene.

The Ancient Maple Guardian swung its thick maplewood arms and dug through the final canal. In an instant, water from Longwind Lake surged past the front of the fortress, splashing up waves of spray.

Smaller tributaries branched densely toward the fields and Sunlight Sunflower plots planted on both sides of the fortress.

"The canal work is finally done! From now on, no one in the fortress will have to walk several kilometers to fetch water!" Zhang Rui wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes full of joy and excitement.

Lincon stood some distance away, watching the water flow past his feet and into the Sunlight Sunflower field. Countless faint emotions emanated from the young shoots poking out of the ground and flowed into his sea of consciousness.

With the ashes of the previous generation of Sunlight Sunflowers as nourishment, the new generation grew better and stronger.

This time, Lincon had also planted quite a few Sunlight Man-Eaters in the flower fields. He had ordered them not to hold back if Dark Creatures or intruders tried to enter—just eat them.

There were also Explosive Berry Thickets, Lantern Mushrooms, fluorescent moss, Hunting Pea Pods, Tentacle Thorns...

Lincon lived with his Sunlight budget stretched tight nearly every day. At night, he constantly went out to find chances to clear out Dark Creatures, while during the day he spent mental energy cultivating and evolving plants.

Now, he had set aside a separate area within the city to grow Explosive Berry Thickets.

After all, if those things were not properly controlled, their destructive power was quite alarming. If they exploded in groups, they were almost comparable to missiles from the old era.

Meanwhile, newly cultivated plants such as Hunting Pea Pods and Tentacle Thorns had been prepared for resisting darkness or large-scale invasions in the future.

Hunting Pea Pods were plants that grew beneath the soil. They had highly developed root systems, and a single root could often produce dozens of pea pods.

Once they entered attack mode, those pods would open like animal traps, lurking beneath the soil as they waited for enemies to appear.

Tentacle Thorns, on the other hand, were specifically meant for defending the city walls.

Longwind Fortress's walls had long since decayed and been damaged by the relentless erosion of darkness. Although their overall structure had not yet collapsed, they could no longer provide any real defense.

So Lincon spent 150 Sunlight to cultivate Tentacle Thorns beneath the walls, allowing them to coexist with the walls. Their thick vines could sway freely like octopus tentacles, covered in spikes and as hard as steel. Their only weakness was fire.

As Lincon continued hunting Dark Creatures and cultivating Spirit Plants, his profession levels had also risen rapidly during this period, both breaking through to level fifteen.

Level fifteen was the watershed for professions.

After reaching level fifteen, he could no longer increase his level by killing Dark Creatures or through any other means.

Instead, he first had to complete a class advancement mission. Until he did, he would no longer gain any experience.

Lincon's current panel attributes were already quite terrifying, but the truly troublesome part was the class advancement missions.

[Bound User: Lincon]

[Strength: 102--Agility: 99--Mental: 108--Charm: 26--Reputation: 3086]

[Main Profession: Longwind Fortress Guardian (Novice Level 15)]

[Lord—Class Advancement Path (Fixed): Longwind Lord]

[Mission: Hunt a C-Rank Weird Calamity alone.]

[Secondary Profession: Plant Cultivator (Novice Level 15)]

[Seed Mark—Class Advancement Path 1: Botanist]

[Mission: Fuse and cultivate a C-Rank Plant. (Note: The Seed Mark cannot be used during the mission.)]

[Seed Mark—Class Advancement Path 2: Plant Mage]

[Mission: Successfully form a contract with a war plant with B-Rank or higher growth potential as a companion.]

[Seed Mark—Hidden Class Advancement Path 3: Ecological Architect]

[Mission 1—Resist the Black Tide: Together with your plants and fortress, successfully withstand a C-Rank Black Tide assault.]

[Mission 2—Ecological Trial: Clear the Trial Space.]